The aftermath of the battle hung over the ruined landscape like an oppressive fog. Shin Noragetsu stood atop a crumbled structure, his Abyss Eye still faintly glowing as he surveyed the destruction. The fight with Tenkai had been brief but brutal, and despite forcing the Void Cult warrior to retreat, Shin knew this was only a temporary reprieve.
Hana approached, her expression grim. "He escaped."
Shin nodded. "For now."
The distant rift still pulsed, its unstable energy crackling through the air like distant thunder. Whatever Tenkai had been doing here, it was tied to the Void's growing influence.
A groan from the rubble below pulled Shin's attention. He descended swiftly, finding one of the surviving samurai—a young man barely out of his teens, his armor shattered, his face smeared with dust and blood.
"Can you stand?" Shin asked.
The samurai coughed but nodded weakly. "Most of my squad… they're gone. The Void Cult ambushed us. They—they weren't human."
Shin helped him up, glancing at Hana. "We need to move. If the Cult is capable of opening rifts at will, then we're already running out of time."
Hana nodded. "Agreed. But where do we go from here?"
Shin turned his gaze eastward, toward the distant silhouette of a mountain range. "We find out what they were after."
The journey was harsh. The further they traveled, the more unnatural the land became. The trees twisted at impossible angles, their shadows stretching in directions that defied logic. The air itself felt heavier, charged with an unnatural energy that gnawed at their senses.
Shin could feel it pressing against his mind, a whisper of something ancient and malevolent. He didn't need to voice his concerns—Hana felt it too.
"This place… it's wrong," she murmured.
Shin nodded. "It's close to the rift. The Void's influence is leaking through."
The samurai they had rescued struggled to keep pace, his breath ragged. He had insisted on accompanying them despite his injuries, claiming he owed a debt to his fallen comrades.
"Something's ahead," Hana said suddenly, halting.
Shin focused his Abyss Eye. Through the shifting haze, he spotted movement—a cluster of dark figures gathered around what looked like an ancient shrine, half-buried in the earth.
The Void Cult.
Shin signaled for silence as they moved closer. The cultists were chanting in low, guttural tones, their hands raised toward a floating stone monolith pulsing with black energy.
"That's not a natural formation," Hana whispered. "That's a seal."
Shin's grip tightened on his katana. "They're trying to break it."
A deep, resonating crack split the air. The monolith trembled, and the energy surrounding it flared violently. The cultists stepped back as the seal began to fracture, revealing something hidden within—a doorway, leading into darkness.
Shin didn't hesitate. "We stop them now."
The ambush was swift.
Hana struck first, her wind-infused kunai slicing through the nearest cultist before they could react. Shin followed, his katana flashing in the dim light as he cut through another. The element of surprise worked in their favor, but it wouldn't last.
The cult leader, a robed figure with an eerie, glowing mask, raised a hand. The ground beneath them trembled as tendrils of Void energy surged forward.
Shin evaded, flipping backward as the dark tendrils tore through the earth where he had stood. He landed beside Hana, who was already preparing her next move.
"Shin! The seal—it's breaking faster!"
Shin glanced at the monolith. The fractures were spreading, the doorway widening. If they didn't stop the ritual now, whatever lay beyond that gate would be unleashed.
The cult leader raised his arms. A pulse of dark energy radiated outward, sending a shockwave through the battlefield. Shin gritted his teeth, pushing forward through the force.
He had one chance.
Drawing on the power of his Abyss Eye, he channeled the energy into his blade. The katana pulsed with a deep, violet glow as he leapt forward, aiming directly for the cult leader.
The moment the blade struck, the world seemed to shatter.
Light exploded outward as the seal collapsed completely. The ground buckled, and a deafening roar echoed from the depths of the newly opened doorway.
Something was coming.
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