Takeshi found himself standing in a battle-ready stance in front of Rin—the same position he had been in when the previous night ended. The only difference now was that his left arm, which had also been holding his sword, was gone.
As a result, he stood in an awkward pose: his right hand still gripped the blade, while his other hand remained frozen in place, as if it were still holding a weapon that no longer existed.
He glanced ahead and saw Aiko and Renji standing in the middle of the now-empty street. There was no sign of the undead army that had once filled it.
Just then, a look of surprise crossed Takeshi's face.
It wasn't due to the disappearance of the skeletal horde—that, he had expected. It was something else.
In Renji's hand was the same sword he had snatched from the first skeleton he had slain. Its blade still burned with a thick layer of fire, born from his demon powers.
But from that cloak of flame, thousands of illusory strings extended outward—all the way to Takeshi.
It was the same sensation he felt whenever there was an object within range he could steal. But this time, instead of a single thread, there were thousands.
What is this? he thought, confused.
He quickly ruled out the idea that he was trying to steal the blade—if that were the case, there would still only be one string.
Naturally, his curiosity was piqued.
So he decided to try something: he would attempt to grasp the thousands of strings the same way he would a smaller object.
He focused all of his attention on the threads, slowly accepting each and every one of them as an extension of himself.
As soon as he began this process—what he instinctively named grasping—a wave of immense fatigue swept over him.
It felt as if he had been training nonstop for an entire day. And the longer the grasping lasted, the worse the exhaustion grew.
After about thirty seconds, he managed to fully grasp all the strings and accept them as part of himself. By that point, he was barely standing.
Once he recovered slightly, he pulled the strings inward.
But unlike before, no item appeared in his hand.
The only thing that changed was this: the instant he pulled the threads in, the fire surrounding Renji's blade vanished.
It wasn't extinguished—it simply ceased to exist.
A few seconds later, Takeshi felt something stir within him.
A strange and unexplainable sensation buried deep in the core of his being.
He tried to understand it… but he couldn't.
After finally coming to his senses and getting used to the strange feeling inside him, Takeshi looked up and saw Aiko and Renji approaching.
Once they came close, Renji asked, "Are you two all right?"
Both him and Rin nodded in confirmation, but as Renji looked them over, his eyes suddenly widened.
He quickly lifted his head and locked eyes with Takeshi. Without hesitation, he asked, "What happened to your arm?"
Seeing that there was no blood, Renji immediately understood that the wound wasn't fresh—it had happened in the real world.
Takeshi glanced at his missing limb, then looked back up and said, "Ah, this. I made a contract with my demon. I offered my arm as a sacrifice."
Renji nodded in understanding. "That's good. Now you can protect yourself."
After a short pause, he added, "So… what kind of powers do you have?"
Takeshi hesitated for a moment before answering, "I'm still not fully accustomed to them, but in general… my powers revolve around the domain of theft."
As soon as he said it, both Renji's and Aiko's eyes widened.
There were two reasons for their reaction.
First, they were caught off guard by such a strange and intangible power.
Second—and more importantly—the moment Takeshi mentioned the nature of his ability, both of their demons stirred.
It wasn't something as obvious as a gasp or a shout, but both Aiko and Renji felt an undeniable shift deep within them. Something had reacted.
And in that moment, they both knew: Takeshi's power held far more secrets than he was letting on.
A brief and awkward silence settled over the group before Renji finally broke it.
"Well… thankfully, we survived." He let out a light chuckle. "I can't believe we got lucky again. Time really is on our side."
After that, they continued exploring the village.
They moved from house to house but ultimately found nothing of interest.
The entire village gave off a bizarre, unsettling atmosphere—something about it just felt… wrong.
When their exploration was over, the group decided it was time to leave the village behind.
They once again embarked on their journey through the towering bones.
After a few minutes of walking, the ground beneath them began to tremble as if struck by an earthquake.
Instinctively, they all stopped and looked at each other, tense and alert.
Before anyone could say a word, the very ground they stood on started to rise.
They quickly rushed off the elevating terrain, putting distance between themselves and the shifting earth.
Layers of soot-covered, gray sand rose with the bones atop them, forming a hill-sized mound—until, suddenly, it all began to collapse.
A massive cascade of sand and a dozen bone pillars came crashing down.
And then it stood up.
From beneath the debris, a monstrous figure emerged—an enormous undead skeleton.
It looked almost identical to the one Takeshi had seen the first time he entered the Shadow Realm, except this one had legs—and it used them to rise to its full, terrifying height.
The creature towered over them, nearly ten meters tall.
Just as Aiko opened her mouth to scream for everyone to run, the skeleton raised its hand and swept it through the air.
In an instant, all of the nearby bone pillars—those within a radius of about a hundred meters—transformed.
Their solid structures turned semi-liquid, flowing like a river toward the perimeter of the area.
When the liquid bone reached its destination, it wove itself together, forming a dome-like structure around the entire battlefield.
Though the dome had small gaps to let moonlight pour in, they were far too narrow and strange shaped for a human to squeeze through.
At that moment, the reality sank in—they were completely trapped with the monstrous creature.
Frantically, the group looked around, searching for any possible escape, but the dome was sealed tight.
As expected, Aiko thought of something.
With her ability to jump into and hide within shadows, she could potentially slip through and escape.
For a brief moment, hope bloomed within her.
But then she looked at her companions—Takeshi, Renji and Rin—and the hope turned bitter.
She didn't want to leave them behind.
The decision weighed heavily on her.
After a moment of internal struggle, she chose to stay.
Still, she silently promised herself: if everyone else fell, she would escape.
The others, having realized there was no way out, turned their eyes toward the towering skeleton.
Fear was evident on each of their faces.
They all knew the truth—they were going to have to fight and struggle for their survival against a foe they couldn't possibly defeat.
Takeshi tensed at the sight, dreading what was about to unfold.
Instinctively, he reached for the hilt of his weapon, ready to draw it.
But just then, a dark and ethereal voice echoed within his mind.
"Let's see if you are worthy."
The words sent a chill down his spine.
In that instant, Takeshi understood what this was—it was the test his demon had spoken of.
How the demon had arranged it, he didn't know, and in that moment, he didn't care.
The only thing he truly desired—the only thing he silently prayed for—was survival.