Darkness.
I didn’t know how long I had been trapped there. There was no up or down, no direction, no sense of time. Only my breathing echoed around me—
or perhaps it wasn’t my breathing at all.
“Then… send me back,” I repeated, this time more quietly.
YOU WANT TO LIVE.
“Yes.”
THEN YOU MUST PAY.
I clenched my fists.
“My sight… you’re going to take it?”
NOT ALL AT ONCE.
The voice drew closer.
LITTLE BY LITTLE.
EVERY YEAR.
My chest tightened.
“And if I refuse?”
YOU WILL REMAIN DEAD.
There was no choice.
“If I live… what will I become?”
YOU WILL BECOME A VESSEL.
“A vessel… for what?”
FOR IRON.
The word fell like a hammer.
FOR METAL.
FOR BLOOD THAT CONTAINS IRON.
I flinched.
“Blood…?”
ONE DAY, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND.
I took a long breath.
“…Fine.”
DO YOU ACCEPT THIS CONTRACT?
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.
IN THAT INSTANT, SOMETHING ENTERED ME.
A freezing sensation pierced straight through my bones.
CRRRK.
I screamed—but no sound came out.
Iron.
I could feel it.
Something moved around me—countless invisible particles colliding, grinding against one another like interlocking gears.
WAKE UP.
-----------------------------
I coughed violently.
“UGHK—!”
Air forced its way into my lungs. My chest burned as if it had been torn open.
I was lying on the floor of the empty room.
“…Still alive?”
Iych’s voice.
I turned my head.
My vision blurred.
“Your eyes,” she murmured. “You’re bleeding.”
I touched my face.
Warm.
Wet.
Red.
“What… happened to me…?”
Iych crouched in front of me.
“You passed out for a long time. I thought you were dead.”
I tried to stand, but pain throbbed violently inside my head.
THE FLOOR—
No.
IRON.
Tiny metal fragments on the ground began to tremble.
“…What is that?” Iych stepped back.
The fragments moved.
They gathered.
Merged.
Forming a thin blade as long as my arm.
“Stop…” I whispered.
The blade froze midair.
My hands trembled.
“So this is it…”
The iron blade slowly rotated, responding to the movement of my fingers.
“Your power,” Iych said quietly.
I shut my eyes.
The pain behind my eyelids sharpened.
YOU HAVE PAID YOUR FIRST INSTALLMENT.
The voice returned.
“…Shut up,” I muttered.
Iych stared at me for a long moment.
“From now on, your life will never be the same.”
I already knew.
Inside me, something had awakened.
And it was hungry.