Shadow Exorcist: Duality Unbound
My name is Hikaru Kage.
I live in a world where power determines your worth.
At the top of my world stood the Heavenly Clans, powerhouses within Japan itself. They produced warriors who could level mountains, heal entire armies, or split the sea with a single swing of their blades. Their names were etched into every history book, their emblems flying proudly above academy gates and government halls.
And then… there was my clan.
The forgotten one.
The Kage Clan.
To the rest of Japan, we were barely even a clan at all—nothing but powerless descendants destined to live in the shadows of giants.
And maybe they were right.
Except… on the night I was born, everything changed.
The elders whispered of an omen. A prophecy, sealed within the old texts, long before the first power ever appeared. “When the world drowns in its own hatred, one child shall be born to the lowest clan. He shall carry within him the five gods of emotion, and by their hand, salvation or ruin will be chosen.”
The Five Gods of Emotion.
Legends said they were ancient beings, fragments of humanity itself, sealed away at the dawn of time. Love. Hate. Joy. Sorrow. Rage. Emotions that shaped civilizations, emotions strong enough to move heaven and earth.
And somehow, impossibly… I was born with all five.
Of course, to the Heavenly Clans, that meant nothing. To them, prophecy was just a fairy tale. A “savior” from the weakest clan? They laughed. They mocked. They called me a mistake of blood.
But deep down, I’ve always felt it.
A fire not of flame, but of feeling. A power I can barely control, one that terrifies even me.
And so I live… caught between scorn and destiny.
And somewhere, deep in the silence of my soul, a single question keeps echoing:
If I really am the savior of this world…
Then what exactly am I supposed to save it from?
But honestly… I don’t care.
Prophecy, destiny, gods, whatever—they can all burn for all I care. My life… is mine.
And yet, people never stopped staring at me with those eyes. Some filled with pity. Others with fear. But most of all—expectation.
He will save us.
He will change everything.
He will become the strongest.
That’s what they wanted me to believe.
That’s what they forced on me.
But the truth is far simpler.
I am not a hero. I am not a savior. I am just… empty.
Somewhere along the way, I lost it. My emotions. The things that make people human. I don’t even remember when it happened.
Now, when I look in the mirror, I see a face that doesn’t smile. Eyes that don’t shine. A mouth that doesn’t laugh or cry.
An emotionless shell, wearing the skin of a boy who was supposed to carry the gods of emotion.
They say I was born with the five gods of emotion inside me—love, hate, joy, sorrow, rage. That my feelings alone could someday save the world.
But how can I save the world with emotions… when I can’t even feel them myself?
