The night in Kurogane was unnaturally silent, as if the entire city had been swallowed by something invisible. Shinomiya Reiji walked through its abandoned alleys, his footsteps echoing against cracked stone walls, his hand hovering near the hilt of his blade. The deeper he moved into the district known as the Abyss Quarter, the heavier the air grew—laden with the metallic scent of dried blood, and the faint sound of something breathing where no living soul should be.
Reiji's mind was not quiet. The memory of the last confrontation with the Silent Veil gnawed at him: faces that melted into nothingness, voices that whispered through the darkness, and the red mark now etched across his left arm like a curse. Each pulse of the mark sent shivers through his nerves, a reminder that his battles were not merely against enemies outside, but against the encroaching shadow within.
Suddenly, the sound of chains rattling cut through the silence. From the corner of a ruined shrine, a figure emerged—its body tall, draped in crimson robes stained with ash. A mask, carved from obsidian, covered its face. Behind it, several chained silhouettes dragged their feet, eyes blank, mouths sewn shut.
> "You've walked far enough, Shinomiya Reiji," the masked figure said, voice deep and hollow.
"Your choices echo louder than you realize. Every step you take is paid with another soul."
Reiji gritted his teeth. "And who the hell are you supposed to be? Another phantom of the Abyss?"
The figure tilted its head, almost amused. "I am Crimson Echo. The Abyss remembers those who defy it. And you… you are its greatest defiance."
Without warning, the chained silhouettes surged forward, their movements inhuman, jerking like puppets. Their sewn mouths split open, threads snapping, unleashing distorted screams that could shatter the nerves of the strongest soldier. Reiji's blade cut through the first, but the wound only split the figure into two twitching halves that crawled forward, clawing at his legs.
His breathing grew heavy. Not human… not even alive.
The red mark on his arm throbbed, urging him to draw upon the power hidden in the shadow within. His vision blurred—half the alley drowning in crimson haze. For a moment, he saw himself reflected in the mask of Crimson Echo: not as Shinomiya Reiji, but as a hollow shell consumed by black fire.
> "You will become what you fear," Crimson Echo whispered, though its lips never moved.
"The Abyss doesn't kill you, Reiji—it absorbs you."
Reiji tightened his grip on the blade. "I'd rather be destroyed than become part of this filth."
With that, he launched himself forward. Each slash of his blade was filled with raw defiance, sparks of steel against shadow. But the Abyss distorted his attacks—walls twisted, ground vanished beneath his feet, time seemed to fracture. Every strike returned to him as if he were cutting through his own reflection.
The chains suddenly wrapped around his body, tightening like serpents, pulling him down into the crimson void beneath the shattered stones. The faces of the chained souls pressed against his skin, whispering in agony, pleading for release, begging him to join them. His heart pounded, his mind blurred, his voice almost lost—
And yet, through the crushing silence, one thought burned within him:
"If I disappear here, everything ends. If I endure, I can carve a path even through this hell."
The mark on his arm ignited, not with crimson this time, but with a blinding white light—his will forcing back the shadow for an instant. Chains snapped, the silhouettes screeched, and Crimson Echo staggered.
Reiji rose to his feet, panting, his blade dripping with both blood and shadow. His eyes locked on the masked figure.
> "If the Abyss wants me, it'll have to choke on me first."
Crimson Echo's mask cracked, a faint, guttural laugh spilling out like broken glass.
> "Then come, Reiji. Show me if a man can truly defy the shape of the Abyss."
The alley collapsed into endless darkness, and their battle truly began.