Arc: Danger
Chapter 10 – Unveiling the Darkness
As Fushiken turned the final page of his script, the world around them began to change.
The sky darkened further. The energy emerging from the pages wasn't just power—it was sorrow, regret, and fury, all from a soul reborn in the shadows.
"What… is this?" Kitsui whispered, the ground trembling beneath her feet.
Fushiken's voice echoed hollow and cold.
"This is the truth of a reincarnated soul. My script doesn't run on emotions—it is fed by the regrets of the dead."
His body started to transform. Black markings crawled across his skin, dark shadowy limbs burst from his back, and his arms grew heavier, more monstrous. His face remained calm, like someone watching a funeral.
"Now do you understand why Kazan Kaga chose me?"
Bokuro clenched his fists. "He gave you power, but this doesn't belong to you. It's stolen."
Fushiken raised his hand, and the shadows on the ground twisted into the forms of villagers—shaped from pure darkness, holding weapons born from despair.
"These are the ones I couldn't save in my first life. Now they fight not for me… but for their unfinished existence."
Yamakaze, Gekjin, and Tatsuto charged forward together.
"Then let's end their pain!" Gekjin roared.
But every strike they landed was useless. The shadow figures fell only to rise again, stronger, faster, and more ferocious.
Kitsui pulled Bokuro out of the way of a strike. "These aren't ordinary shadows. They're forged from memory and guilt."
Nensudo tried to spread fear through them, but they only grew wilder, feeding on the emotions thrown at them.
Bokuro's eyes tightened. "We're falling behind. Our scripts… still aren't enough."
Then Fushiken stepped into the battle himself.
He flashed toward Tatsuto and struck him down with a powerful blow. Tatsuto collapsed to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
"TATSUTO!" Kitsui screamed, unleashing a wave of blinding light. It wounded Fushiken's arms, but he barely flinched.
"You feel it now, don't you?" Fushiken said coldly. "The difference between us."
Nensudo tried to drag Tatsuto away, but he was already drained.
Bokuro looked at Kitsui.
"If we don't give it our all… someone's going to die."
Kitsui nodded. "Then let's burn everything we have."
Together they charged. Bokuro's emotional armor clashed with the shadowy figures while Kitsui's blades of light danced like wind. Nensudo and Gekjin flanked them, trying to open space.
But even together… Fushiken held his ground.
"You're brave," he said. "But bravery without power is meaningless."
He lifted his hands, ready to strike Bokuro directly—
BOOM!
A golden shield erupted around the battlefield, pushing back all darkness like sunlight at dawn.
Fushiken turned, surprised.
At the edge of the village stood two figures.
The first—a man with sharp focus in his eyes, confident in every step. His presence radiated strength and composure. It was Master Yusugo, fully healed and stronger than ever.
Beside him stood a tall man with a piercing gaze and a glowing sword in hand—Captain Akishi.
"You talk too much," Akishi said in a calm, cutting tone. "And you've hurt my team."
Yusugo raised his hand, etching a symbol in the air. A wave of golden energy surged forward, dispelling the shadows.
"The kids have fought long enough. It's our turn now."
For the first time, Fushiken hesitated.
There was something different in his eyes—uncertainty.
And in that moment… the battlefield shifted.