Why…
Why was I the one left with this?
That… thing.
That monster… gave me this.
I hate it.
I hate everything.
Everyone I loved.
Gone.
Turned their backs.
Now they whisper my name like it's a curse.
They want me erased.
But one voice…
Faint.
Soft.
It called my name like it meant something.
"Yura… Come on, you're gonna get left behind!"
A laugh.
A hand pulling mine.
Warm.
Who was that…?
…No.
Lies. Memories that don't belong to me anymore.
I'm alone now.
That part of me is dead.
But I hear them.
Footsteps. Two.
One walks like a child pretending to be brave.
The other… wrong.
Not fully human. Not fully anything.
This place is mine now.
My prison. My grave.
If they step closer.
I'll erase them.
Like the world tried to erase me.
*
Kentaro and Tengen's journey up the sloped ridge started strong… for exactly thirty seconds.
"GAHH!! This hill's built by Satan himself!" Tengen wheezed, dragging his feet like a dying soldier.
Kentaro limped beside him, clutching his lower leg. "Bro my Achilles is writing its will. I can hear it sobbing."
They collapsed on a flat patch of stone near the peak, gasping. The air was humid but somehow… thinner. Kentaro turned to look at the island behind them. From this angle, a small woodland unfurled below — thick trees knotted together like a web of moss and branches.
But no birds chirped. Not a single rustle in the leaves.
Then Kentaro saw it, a rabbit darting out from the thicket, pausing at the hill's base… only to twitch, shiver, and scurry back the way it came.
He squinted.
"Maybe it's your predatory aura," Kentaro muttered.
Tengen perked up, scandalised. "I'm not a pred, you dick."
Kentaro smirked, but that rabbit's reaction still lingered in his mind.
They finally reached the summit. Before them stood a narrow, stony cave, almost too narrow to be real. Vines hung limp like wet hair, and from within, a cold breath of air rolled out… colder than it had any right to be.
The inside was pure black. No light penetrated its depth. The ceiling wept a slow, rhythmic drip onto jagged rocks.
"Why does this feel like it's like some horror movie and we're about to get murdered?" Kentaro whispered.
Tengen, naturally, walked further in and ignored him. "We came all this way might as well look. Gold, baby. Imagine if there's a treasure chest and I get to pose with it."
He took a step inside, his voice echoing unnaturally loud. Kentaro lingered at the edge, watching shadows swirl along the cave wall.
Something felt off.
He stared down… and froze.
Footprints. Fresh ones. Pressed deep into the soft mud. Bare feet.
He gulped.
"Tengen. Come back. Now."
Tengen's voice echoed from within. "Relax! I'm like, two steps from legendary loot. Probably a pirate sword. Or a cursed tiara. C'mon, live a little!"
Kentaro didn't answer. He just pointed to the floor, his finger trembling.
"T-t-those are new. Someone's in there."
Tengen blinked. Then laughed nervously. "Footprints? That's it? Dude, it's probably a hiker or a freaky animal. It's not like-"
"Pests… in my den?"
The voice didn't shout. It didn't growl. It coiled — cold, elegant, full of venom and loathing.
Every echo inside the cave vanished.
Tengen's face drained of colour.
"...RUUUN!!!"
He bolted out of the cave like the cartoon wind had just carried his soul. Kentaro didn't need convincing his legs had already turned on autopilot, lungs burning, heart slamming like war drums.
From behind them…
Nothing.
No footsteps.
Just breathe. Quiet… watching… waiting.
Kentaro was already halfway back down the slope when Tengen caught up, panting like he'd just won a marathon.
"YOOO! DUDE! THAT WAS SICK!! LET'S GO AGAIN!" Tengen grinned, fists pumping like he'd discovered hidden treasure.
Kentaro blinked. "Are you insane? That thing had the vibe of a serial killer."
Tengen wiped the sweat from his brow and held up a peace sign. "Nah, bro, trust me. That was a tsundere voice. Like… you know, classic 'I hate you but secretly I want you' kind of vibe."
Kentaro stared at him. "You're actually delusional."
"Dude," Tengen said, nodding sagely, "I've seen this exact arc in like five different manga. You walk back in, arms raised, and boom exclusive secret waifu route unlocked."
"No. Nope. Not." Kentaro backed up like he'd seen a ghost. "I am not walking into that cave again."
But Tengen was already turning around, climbing back up toward the mouth of the cave.
"Goddammit," Kentaro muttered, before sighing and jogging after him. "Why am I always the responsible one…"
As they neared the entrance again, the air had changed. It was colder now. Still. The sunlight didn't reach the cave anymore, as if even the island itself was holding its breath.
Tengen raised both hands. "Excuse me, mysterious beautiful cave-dweller! We come in peace! I'm Tengen, and this here's Ken-"
"Ken…"
Kentaro froze.
It wasn't Tengen who said that.
"…Did… Did you hear that?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Tengen turned, grinning. "Aw hell yeah. She's already saying your name. Bro, you're in."
"Ken…"
There it was again, louder this time. Whispered, breathless. A voice not quite human, but not quite broken either. It sounded like it was remembering his name… like it had once known it in a dream.
"Uhhh… she's really into you, bro," Tengen said, trying to keep his tone light, but even he was blinking a little faster now.
Then, footsteps. Light. Bare. Echoing toward them from the darkness.
Each Step coming closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
The silhouette grew sharper as the sun finally touched her slowly, as if even light was cautious to unveil her.
A woman stood there, unmoving. Her frame could have come from a sculptor's maddest dream tall, divine in posture, her every curve whispering symmetry. But what truly pulled them in was what she wore.
Her clothing that looked like armour shimmered like dark glass, part bodysuit, part ceremonial. Obsidian-black and sleeveless, it clung to her like a second skin, the chest cut sharp in design neither modest nor vulgar flanked by purple lines that pulsed like veins of starlight. The high collar arched around her throat like a crown of shadow. From the waist down, it split like a petaled gown over armoured leggings, as if unsure whether it was born for war or worship.
"…Umm. You interested in Ken?" Tengen blurted, his smile melting into regret almost immediately.
Her face came into view next not just beautiful, but haunting. Cinematic. Movie-poster perfection. Except for her eyes, they were wrong. Too still. Too sad. Like she'd stared at a thousand funerals and never once blinked.
She looked at Tengen.
No. She didn't just look.
She stabbed him with her gaze. His heart stuttered.
Then, slowly, her head tilted toward Kentaro.
When her eyes landed on him they widened. Just slightly. Just enough to register. As if she knew him. As if some memory clawed its way up from a buried past.
But just as fast… her expression vanished, washed clean like a chalk drawing in rain.
Her voice came low. Smooth. Too calm.
"What is it you want here, humans?"
The word scraped Kentaro's nerves. Not because of the insult but because it was empty. Flat. Cold.
Tengen blinked. "Humans?"
Kentaro tried to step in. "We just… heard there was treasure here. A rumour or something."
The woman no, this presence turned fully toward him now. Her eyes narrowed, purple like lightning about to strike.
"Greed," she spat. "That's all you ever want. It's why your kind is worthless. It's why I can't stand you."
Kentaro's spine locked. He took an involuntary step back. His throat was dry enough to scrape.
Tengen, ever the disaster, grinned.
"I mean, yeah we like treasure, but… what's a hottie like you doing up here anyway?"
Kentaro paled.
"…We're dead," he muttered.
There was a pause.
Then, crackling power in the air.
"HOW INSOLENT."
Her voice was no longer soft. It cracked like thunder across the cave. She raised one arm and with a single swipe carved through the stone beneath her. The very air split open.
The force hit them like a divine slap.
The shockwave hurled both of them through the mouth of the cave and into the open air.
"OH MY GOD I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD TENGEN!" Kentaro screamed as the sky twisted above him and the ground rushed up like a grinning monster.
They were falling. No cushion. No help.
Just two idiots and a goddess who wanted them gone.
*
The blast echoed across the island like thunder splitting the sky.
From the abandoned building, Serica and Kira stared at the pillar of black smoke curling above the distant mountain.
Neither moved.
Not at first.
Kira's eyes narrowed. Her instincts flared like sparks.
She spun around, ready to bark at Kestrel,
But the room behind them was empty.
Gone.
Completely.
"…He's up to something," she muttered, stepping away from the cracked window. "And I bet this has his name all over it."
But as her heel turned, something on the floor flickered in the low light.
Kira crouched. It was a slim, black earpiece, its red light blinking faintly like a dying heartbeat.
She squinted.
Bzzzt
Crkk-kzzhh…
A voice crackled through the earpiece, low and garbled.
"Agent K. Retreat immediately. New Alberline wave detected near mountain coordinates."
Kira froze.
Her fist clenched.
"Agent K…? New Alberline?"
Her pulse surged.
She slipped the earpiece into her pocket and without a single word, stormed toward the door.
No banter. No sarcasm. No games.
Since she had no gear no backup up there was only one personal mission, she had given herself, something that burned bright through every other thought.
Protect Kentaro.
Serica blinked. "Kira!? Wait, where are you going?!"
No answer.
Kira marched across the clearing, hair flicking behind her like a war banner.
"Kira!"
Serica caught up beside her, panting. "You can't just walk off like that!"
Kira didn't stop walking, but her voice was sharp as a blade.
"There's trouble, and you should run back to your cubby-hole, i'll protect Kentaro."
Serica flinched, but not from fear.
"Oh please," she snapped, pushing ahead to block Kira's path.
"Whatever the danger is, I will protect Kentaro. Not you."
Kira's jaw tightened. "Tch."
Without another word, the two girls broke into a strange power-walk sprint, bumping shoulders like angry businesswomen in a hurry to save the same CEO.
"One of us will reach him first," Serica growled.
"Doubtful," Kira smirked. "I've got long legs and no conscience."
And together, the two barrelled down the hill toward the hotel.
Not as friends. Not as teammates.
But as rivals caught in the same storm.
Leaving the abandoned building, the air still smelled of static. Faint traces of a mysterious presence lingered.
Neither girl noticed.
And neither of them knew.
Kentaro wasn't near the hotel, or even at the hotel
He wasn't safe.
He was in the centre of what woke up.
Right where she waited.