The village of Tsuyuhana lay nestled between two rivers and backed by the sprawling darkness of the Forest of the Black Eclipse Null. It was small, a place where generations passed like quiet seasons, where everyone knew each other by name, and strangers were as rare as snow in midsummer.
To six-year-old Yuzuki, Tsuyuhana was the whole world.
He spent his days helping his mother at the riverbank, feeding the chickens with his little sister Aira, and chasing dragonflies through the tall grass. His father, a broad-shouldered man named Daichi, worked in the fields and carved wooden toys for him in the evening. Their home was modest but full of laughter. No gold. No glory. Just warmth.
That warmth shattered on the fifteenth day of the Month of Crimson Suns.
---
It started with hooves.
Dozens of them. Loud. Too many for a traveling caravan.
Yuzuki had been outside, kneeling in the grass by the village pond, watching the water ripple. When the first trumpet echoed across the valley, he turned his head, blinking.
Down the dirt path came a procession of black-armored knights, their horses sleek and silent. Behind them: a banner of silver fire and a red lion.
The emblem of House Rengoku. Nobles of the central plains. Known for their cruelty and pride.
Behind the knights rode the Lord of the Eastern Province, Lord Seijuro Rengoku, draped in fine silk robes despite the summer heat. His lips curled into a mocking smile as he passed the villagers who knelt in confusion and fear.
He claimed it was an inspection.
A reward for their loyalty.
A chance to elevate Tsuyuhana to "greater status within the province."
He lied.
---
By dusk, the first houses were already burning.
It began with accusations.
"Missing taxes."
"Failure to report inventory."
"Disrespect toward nobility."
Yuzuki stood frozen in the village square, his small hand clasped tightly by his mother. He watched as his father was dragged forward by two soldiers. His face was bleeding. One of his eyes was already swollen shut.
Daichi said nothing.
He simply turned toward his son and gave him a nod.
Not of farewell. But of instruction.
Run.
Yuzuki didn't. He couldn't.
---
They made the villagers watch as the soldiers executed Daichi on a wooden stake.
His mother screamed.
His sister clung to her leg, crying.
Then came the worst part. The man who stepped forward beside Lord Seijuro—wearing the crest of their own village on his chest—was Uncle Renjiro. Daichi's cousin. The man who used to bring sweets and spar with Yuzuki in the fields.
He smiled as Daichi's body burned.
He whispered something into Lord Seijuro's ear, and the soldiers moved again. This time, toward Yuzuki's family.
---
His mother fought like a wolf.
They stabbed her anyway.
She fell, reaching for Yuzuki, fingers brushing his cheek before she collapsed. His little sister's screams were cut short.
The blade entered Yuzuki from behind—twice, three times. He didn't know who held the weapon. He only remembered the cold. The wetness.
Then the dirt.
The silence.
The stars above him.
And the voices—laughing. Leaving. Thinking him dead.
---
He didn't cry.
He couldn't.
His body was broken.
But something deeper refused to die.
He lay among the corpses of his village, the fires crackling behind him. And in that place of pain and silence, something inside him snapped.
It was not grief.
It was not rage.
It was something colder. A vow.
> "I will kill them all. Not for justice. Not for peace. But so they scream the way she did. So they burn like he did."
In that moment, the world shifted.
---
> [Unique Skill Acquired: Merciless]
— Born of a soul too shattered for mercy.
— Activation Condition: "Sworn vengeance while dying."
— Trait Gained: Absorb Essence of Slain
— Current Rank: D
— Evolution Status: Dormant
— Warning: Emotion Suppression Imminent
Yuzuki gasped.
His wounds—still there, still fatal—suddenly stopped bleeding. A faint, almost invisible haze coated his skin. His eyes, once brown, shimmered faintly red in the light of the burning village.
The pain remained.
But death… paused.
---
Night passed slowly.
He did not sleep. He did not move.
Only when dawn came did he crawl—inch by inch—toward the trees.
Toward the Forest of the Black Eclipse Null.
A cursed place, they said. A land that swallowed men whole. But Yuzuki no longer feared curses.
He welcomed them.
Behind him, the ruins of Tsuyuhana smoldered.
Ahead of him, only darkness.
---
To be continued…