The night felt wrong.
The air over Hoshino City carried a strange heaviness — a silence so complete that even the neon hum of the buildings seemed afraid to breathe. Akira walked alone along the dim riverbank, the moonlight cutting across his face, his eyes half-shadowed.
He had been trying to clear his mind.
Trying to forget the vision.
Trying not to think of the woman he loved most being chained in a world meant for monsters.
But then it came again.
A whisper.
Soft. Fragile. Shivering.
"…Aki…ra…"
Akira froze mid-step.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
The voice drifted from somewhere deeper in the darkness — the exact same voice he had heard as a child when he woke from nightmares.
"…my…son…"
Akira's breath trembled.
"M-Mom…?"
The pendant on his neck pulsed faintly. Yamitsurugi shook inside the seal — like it was warning him.
"Masahiro… did you hear that?" Akira whispered.
Masahiro's voice echoed faintly, strained.
> "Akira… you must not follow it. That voice is not truly her. It is a lure — a shadow wrapped in her memory."
Akira clenched his fists. "But it's her voice."
> "A piece of her… maybe. But not her will."
Akira's jaw tightened. His mother — Miyuki — the warmth of her smile, the way she held him when he cried, the gentle hum of her lullabies… all of it pulled at him like gravity.
Then the voice came again — broken, desperate, calling from the far side of the river.
"…Aki… help me…"
His knees weakened.
He took one step forward— Then stopped.
"No," he whispered. "This is what Varek wants."
Masahiro exhaled.
> "Good. You're thinking. Keep resisting. If you follow that echo—"
Masahiro's voice cut abruptly.
A cold wind surged across the river.
The world darkened.
The water stilled into unnatural silence.
And then another presence bled into the air — smooth, corrosive, familiar.
A laugh.
Varek's.
> "You resist well, Akira. Better than I expected."
Akira's pulse spiked. "Varek…!"
> "But resisting is not enough. Not tonight."
Akira felt reality warp around him.
The moon dimmed.
The shadows bent.
The voice of his mother suddenly grew louder — as if she were standing inches away.
"Aki— Aki— please— help—!"
Akira staggered, gripping his head.
The voice shook inside his skull.
Masahiro shouted from the pendant — distant, distorted.
> "Aki— don't— listen— it's a breach—!"
And then the world broke.
A vortex opened beneath his feet — silent, black, absolute.
Not swirling — pulling.
A gravitational tear dragging at his chest like a hook buried in his soul.
Akira tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy, numb.
"MOM!" he screamed, as the vortex widened.
> "Come, Akira," Varek's voice whispered in his ear.
"You wanted the truth.
You wanted answers.
So walk into them."
The last thing Akira saw before falling was his own shadow stretching unnaturally long — twisting, reaching, dragging him in.
And then he fell.
---
The Void of Chains
Akira hit the ground hard.
But there was no ground — only a field of floating black stone, suspended in a sky of screaming stars. Chains hung from every direction, glowing with red and violet runes. Each chain was connected to silhouettes — dozens of them — writhing, suffering, whispering hollow cries.
Masahiro's voice came faintly.
> "Akira— we're in one of his realms. A personal distortion… Varek's playground.
Be careful."
Akira rose slowly, clutching the pendant.
"What is this place…?"
Then he heard it again.
Her voice.
This time — clear.
Unmistakable.
"…Akira."
Akira turned.
His breath collapsed.
There — standing weakly between two massive chains — was Miyuki.
Her hair was long and dark, tangled with shadow. Her eyes barely open. Her arms bound by runes that pulsed like burning brands.
She looked at him — tired. Afraid.
"...My son…?"
Akira's vision blurred.
"M-Mom…"
He stepped toward her—
And that was the moment Varek appeared.
He stepped out of the darkness with calm footsteps, his long coat flowing, his eyes cold with amusement. His silver hair glowed faintly in the voidlight.
"Well," Varek said softly, "I was wondering how long it would take you to come home."
Akira's aura erupted, Yamitsurugi shaking violently inside the pendant.
"LET HER GO!"
Varek tilted his head.
His smirk widened.
"Let her go…?"
He leaned close to Miyuki.
He touched her chin gently.
"Letting go wasn't part of the plan, Akira."
Akira's hand trembled with pure fury.
"What have you done to her…?"
Varek chuckled.
"I simply borrowed her.
A perfect emotional blade…"
He gestured at the chains.
"Forged directly from your soul."
Masahiro's voice whispered urgently:
> "Akira… he's using your mother's memory as the core of this realm. If she cracks… the entire seal around you will collapse."
Akira's rage sharpened into cold clarity.
"You're a monster."
Varek's smile grew gentler — almost genuine.
"Oh no… I'm not the monster you should fear."
He leaned close enough that his whisper touched Akira's ear.
"I'm just the one sharpening you."
Akira swung Yamitsurugi outward — black lightning sparking from the blade —
But the chains around his mother began to glow violently.
The entire void shook.
Miyuki screamed.
"AKIRA—!!!"
Akira froze — blade halfway.
Varek watched him.
Amused.
Satisfied.
He whispered:
"Let's begin phase three."
And the chains tightened.