The communicator vibrated at 3:17 a.m.
Kikoshin didn't sleep. Not anymore.
He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the cracked ceiling, listening to Vorlan's drunken snores from the living room. The device pulsed once—soft, insistent—like a heartbeat synced to his own.
He picked it up.
[System]: Mission Available — Breach Level 5. Location: Abandoned Metro Tunnel 7-B, Sector Crimson Hollow. Target: Shadowmorph Class C — "The Hollow Maw." Reward: 200,000 credits. Minimum Rank: C7. Team Assignment: 8 Hunters. Estimated Survival Rate: 68%.
He stared at the screen.
Sixty-eight percent.
Better odds than his father ever had.
He pressed ACCEPT.
—
The rendezvous point was an old subway station buried beneath District 9, sealed off after the Umbral Incursion of '38. The entrance was hidden behind a collapsed bookstore, its shelves still half-stocked with rotting paperbacks and dust-covered romance novels.
Kikoshin arrived first.
He wore dark, durable clothing—black cargo pants, reinforced boots, a sleeveless armored vest he'd bought with part of his payment. No weapons. Not yet. The Association provided gear on-site.
He leaned against a crumbling pillar, arms crossed, watching the shadows shift unnaturally along the walls. They didn't move with the flickering emergency lights. They moved… independently.
He flexed his fingers.
Felt the warmth beneath his skin.
The Sixth Instinct was awake. Not raging. Not screaming. Just… watching. Waiting.
One by one, the others arrived.
First, a tall woman with shaved sides and a crimson undercut. She carried twin curved blades strapped to her thighs. Her shadow slithered behind her like a serpent, tongue flicking in and out. Rank: C9. Tag: "Riven — Crimson Fang."
She glanced at Kikoshin. Snorted.
— "No shadow. Rookie?"
He didn't answer.
Next came a hulking man with a face like cracked stone and arms thicker than street lamps. His shadow was a bear—massive, snarling, claws scraping the concrete. Rank: C9. Tag: "Brask — The Ironclad."
He grunted at Kikoshin.
— "You the one they warned us about? The 'special case'?"
Still no answer.
Then came a pair—twins, maybe. Lean, agile, dressed in matching gray bodysuits. Their shadows moved in perfect sync: twin panthers, eyes glowing violet. Rank: C9. Tags: "Sil & Sol — The Twin Blades."
They didn't speak. Just nodded.
After them, a wiry man with goggles and a satchel full of glowing vials. His shadow was a swarm of bats, fluttering nervously. Rank: C8. Tag: "Vex — The Alchemist."
He adjusted his goggles.
— "Hope you all brought extra socks. This tunnel floods when the Maw breathes."
Then, a girl. Barely sixteen. Pale. Silent. Her shadow was a child—small, weeping, clutching a ragged doll. Rank: C9. Tag: "Lull — The Mourning Shade."
She didn't look at anyone.
Last, a man in a long coat, face hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat. His shadow… wasn't there. Or rather, it was everywhere—stretching across the walls, the ceiling, the floor, like ink spilled in every direction. Rank: C9. Tag: **"Wraith — The Unseen."**
He spoke first.
— "Eight of us. Target's a Class C. Should be easy. But listen close—the Maw adapts. It learns. If you hesitate, you die. If you run, you die slower. Stick to the plan. Cover each other. And if someone falls… leave them."
No one argued.
Kikoshin finally spoke.
— "What's the plan?"
Wraith turned his head slightly. Even beneath the hat, Kikoshin felt the weight of his gaze.
— "You follow me. You don't lead. You don't improvise. You survive. That's the plan."
A panel in the wall slid open. A woman in a white coat stood behind it, holding a tray of weapons.
— "Gear up. You have five minutes."
—
They moved as one.
Down rusted escalators. Through collapsed maintenance tunnels. Past graffiti-scarred walls that whispered as they passed. The air grew colder. Thicker. Heavier.
Vex sprayed a vial of glowing liquid on the walls.
— "Shadow residue. Fresh. We're close."
Riven unsheathed her blades.
— "Smells like rot and regret. Classic Maw signature."
Brask cracked his knuckles.
— "Let's smash it before it wakes up."
They reached a massive steel door, half-melted, covered in claw marks and dried black ichor.
Wraith placed his hand on the surface.
— "Vex, dissolve the seal. Sil and Sol, flank the entrance. Brask, you break the door. Riven, cover the ceiling. Lull, stay back. Kikoshin… you come with me."
The door screeched open.
Beyond it, the tunnel was drowned in a darkness that breathed.
And then… it moved.
—
The dungeon wasn't a place. It was an organism.
The walls pulsed like living flesh. The floor was coated in a sticky substance that clung to their boots. The air smelled of rusted metal and charred meat.
Lull whispered.
— "It's playing with us. It's watching."
Wraith advanced without hesitation.
— "Don't react until it attacks. Don't break formation."
Every step echoed like a heartbeat.
Suddenly, from the ceiling, black tentacles—like living cables—lashed down, seeking throats, ankles, eyes.
— "Now!" Wraith roared.
The hunters' shadows sprang to life.
Riven's serpent sliced three tentacles in one motion. Brask's bear crushed two more against the ground. Sil and Sol's panthers leapt, tearing through the darkness with spectral claws. Vex's bats formed a defensive cloud, distracting the remaining tentacles.
Kikoshin summoned nothing.
He didn't need to.
His body moved on its own.
He dodged a tentacle aimed at his throat—not with thought, but with instinct. He rolled, rose, grabbed a knife from Vex's belt, and plunged it into the base of another tentacle. The creature shrieked—a sound that wasn't sound, but pain drilled straight into the brain.
— "What the hell are you?" Brask growled, glancing sideways.
Kikoshin didn't answer. Just advanced.
Wraith watched him. Attentive. Calculating.
They pressed forward.
The dungeon narrowed. The walls bled shadow. The ground trembled.
Vex threw a pure-light bomb. The explosion illuminated a vast chamber—and at its center, hanging from the ceiling like a giant fetus, was the Hollow Maw.
It was a shapeless mass of flesh and shadow, with dozens of eyes blinking in unison, and a circular mouth filled with broken teeth and twisted tongues.
Riven whistled.
— "Pretty beast."
— "Not pretty," Lull whispered, trembling. "It's… smiling."
And it was.
The Maw opened its mouth wider.
And screamed.
Not a scream. A command.
From the walls, the floor, the ceiling—dozens of lesser creatures emerged. Shadows with claws. With fangs. With broken wings and weeping eyes.
— "Delta Formation!" Wraith ordered.
But it was too late.
One creature lunged at Vex. Knocked him down. Tore out his throat before he could scream. His shadow—the bats—disintegrated into ash.
Lull stumbled back, screaming. Her shadow—the little girl—hugged herself, crying.
— "Don't look! Don't think! FIGHT!" Brask roared, charging into three creatures at once, his bear tearing them apart with jaws and claws.
Sil and Sol moved like one body, dancing between shadows, cutting, leaping, killing. But one creature ambushed them—from below. It impaled Sol through the chest with a spear of black bone. Sil screamed—a scream that split the air—and lunged at the creature, tearing it apart with bare hands. But it was too late.
Sol fell.
His shadow—the panther—vanished with a final cry.
Sil dropped to his knees beside his brother. He didn't cry. Just closed his eyes.
And then, his shadow changed.
No longer a panther.
Now—a tiger. Enormous. Furious. Eyes burning with black fire.
Sil stood. And killed everything that moved around him.
Kikoshin didn't shout. Didn't pant. He moved like water—fluid, precise, lethal. Dodged. Counterattacked. Killed. Not with learned technique. With something deeper. Older.
Riven watched him as she fought.
— "What are you?" she murmured.
A creature lunged at her from behind. Kikoshin didn't see it coming—but his body did. He spun, threw his knife. The creature split in two.
Riven nodded. Once. In respect.
Wraith observed everything. Calculating. Waiting.
Brask roared, crushing creatures under his fists, but one of them sank a claw into his side. He ripped it out, but the wound bled black.
— "Wraith! This is getting ugly!"
— "Hold on!" Wraith shouted, not moving. "The Maw hasn't entered yet!"
As if on cue, the hanging mass detached from the ceiling.
It landed with a shockwave that shook the chamber.
And changed.
No longer a formless blob.
Now—a man.
Tall. Lean. Clothed in black rags. A crown of thorns floating above his head. And eyes… eyes that weren't eyes. They were holes. Windows into a void that devoured light.
[System]: WARNING — ENTITY "THE HOLLOW MAW" HAS ASCENDED IN RANK. NEW RANK: B3. ALL HUNTERS: IMMEDIATE RETREAT ADVISED. ESTIMATED SURVIVAL RATE: 19%.
— "Shit!" Brask yelled.
— "We can't run!" Sil roared, his tiger howling with him. "Sol is here!"
— "And dead!" Wraith shouted. "If we don't leave now, we all will be!"
The Maw opened its mouth.
And spoke.
— "Welcome… children of light who dare touch the dark. Do you believe you can kill what is already dead?"
Its voice was thousands of voices. Screams. Laments. Broken laughter.
It raised a hand.
A wave of pure shadow swept across the room.
Brask tried to block it with his bear. The shadow passed through as if it didn't exist. The bear vanished. Brask fell to his knees, bleeding from his eyes.
— "NO!" Riven screamed, lunging at the Maw.
Her serpent bit. The Maw didn't even blink. It caught the serpent in one hand… and crushed it.
Riven shrieked—a cry of agony—as her shadow died within her. She collapsed, convulsing.
Lull stumbled back against the wall, crying. Her shadow—the little girl—clung to her, trembling.
Sil charged, his tiger roaring. The Maw looked at him. Just looked. And the tiger disintegrated. Sil fell, screaming, clutching his head.
Wraith finally moved.
His shadow—the ink—spread across the floor, climbed the walls, wrapped around the Maw.
— "NOW, KIKOSHIN!" he roared. "WHILE IT'S DISTRACTED!"
Kikoshin didn't hesitate.
He ran.
Not toward the Maw.
Toward Lull.
He grabbed her arm.
— "RUN!"
She looked at him, confused.
— "BUT—!"
— "RUN OR WE ALL DIE!"
He dragged her toward the exit.
Behind them, Wraith's scream turned into a howl.
Then… silence.
—
They stumbled out of the tunnel, gasping, covered in blood, sweat, and shadow.
Lull fell to her knees, vomiting.
Kikoshin leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
His arm… was bleeding.
A deep wound, from shoulder to elbow. A claw had grazed him on the way out.
He felt the warmth.
The Sixth Instinct stirred beneath his skin.
Stronger.
Hungrier.
He closed his eyes.
— "Not yet… not now."
But it was too late.
The wound began to heal.
Not like a normal wound.
The flesh twisted. Muscles reknit. Blood stopped flowing. And where there had been pain… now there was power.
Strength.
Speed.
Absolute clarity.
And a hunger… for more.
He opened his eyes.
They were black.
Completely black.
Lull looked at him. Backed away.
— "W-what are you?"
He didn't answer.
Just looked back at the tunnel.
Where Wraith had died.
Where the others had fallen.
Where the Maw still waited.
And for the first time… he smiled.
Not his smile.
The smile of something inside him.
Something that had just awakened.
—
**[System]: Mission Failed. Target not sealed. Confirmed casualties: Vex, Sol, Brask, Riven, Wraith. Survivors: Kikoshin Suyo (C9), Lull (C9). Reward voided. Penalty: 50,000 credits. Warning: Entity "The Hollow Maw" has escaped Sector Crimson Hollow. Threat Level: B3 — EXTREME. All B-rank and above hunters: maximum alert.**
Kikoshin turned off the communicator.
Lull was still trembling.
— "What… what do we do now?"
He looked at her.
His eyes were normal again.
But something inside him… wasn't.
— "We'll go back," he said, voice hoarse. "And this time… we won't fail."
She looked at him with terror.
Not because of the Maw.
Because of him.
—
That night, Kikoshin returned to the hospital.
His mother was asleep.
He sat beside her. Took her hand.
— "Soon… I'll get you out of here."
She murmured in her sleep.
— "Kiko… don't go…"
He squeezed her hand.
— "I won't. Never."
But as he said it, he looked at his arm.
The wound was gone.
Only a black scar remained. Like a rune.
Like a warning.
Outside, the moon hid behind the clouds.
And on the wall… for an instant… his shadow appeared.
Not a normal shadow.
A silhouette with glowing eyes.
And it was smiling.
—
[System]: User: Kikoshin Suyo. Rank: C9 — "Broken Lantern". Status: ACTIVE. Hidden Ability: "SIXTH INSTINCT" — STATUS: PARTIALLY AWAKENED — CONTAINMENT LEVEL: 87%. Warning: Each use reduces humanity. Next mission available in: 24 hours. Accept?
Kikoshin didn't respond.
But in his chest… the heartbeat was stronger.
And this time… he didn't stop it.
________________________________________
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