---
Far from Yuki's room, the wind howled unnaturally high in the mountains.
Ren's eyes snapped open.
He stood atop a high cliff, arms folded, letting the gusts rush past him. But this time, the wind didn't carry the usual harmony of the world—it was screaming. Whispering madness.
He gritted his teeth.
"The void is moving again…" he muttered. "No, something inside it is waking."
A swirl of air gathered around him involuntarily, reacting to his rising tension.
Behind him, Himari stood still, her eyes locked on a fading mark in the sky that no one else could see. A subtle crack in reality—barely visible to the untrained eye.
"He's close to awakening," she whispered.
Ren turned slightly toward her, sensing the weight of her words. "Are you saying it's time?"
Himari shook her head slowly. "No… something else is stirring with him. Something even I can't see clearly."
At that moment—far away in the heart of a quiet temple—Aiko gasped, jolting awake.
Her forehead glistened with sweat. Her aura vision had triggered by itself, pulling her into a space of absolute black. She had seen the same silhouette Yuki had seen… and it terrified her.
"That… thing was watching him," she whispered to herself, clutching her chest. "Watching all of us."
Her connection to Yuki had grown stronger, enough that she could feel when his energy shifted. But this—this wasn't just him. This was something else trying to reach through him.
Who are you?
Meanwhile, deeper in the forest, cloaked in shadows and silence, a figure stood with his back pressed against a gnarled tree.
Nogitsune.
His smile was unreadable, eyes closed, yet perfectly aware.
"So, the void finally growls back," he whispered.
He reached out, fingers slicing the air with precision. For a second, the wind around him twisted—before being sucked inward, as if space itself had blinked.
"Little brother… you're catching up faster than I expected."
His eyes opened—sharp, glinting with restrained excitement.
"But you'll need more than raw power. You'll need to know who your enemies really are."
He vanished, the shadows swallowing him whole.
---
"If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to leave a power stone or a comment—it really helps this grow!"