The wind howled through the temple ruins like a dying animal.
A thousand candles flickered around a circle of robed priests, their chants trembling beneath the roar of thunder.
> "By the seal of Amaterasu, by the fear of mankind—bind the god who devours courage!"
The air grew heavy, thick with the stench of smoke and power.
From the cracked stone floor rose Osoramaru, the God of Fear. His body shimmered with shadows, his eyes twin embers of crimson hate.
> "You fools…" his voice echoed through the chamber, low and trembling like the growl of the earth itself.
"You seal me… and you seal your own hearts. Fear is not your enemy—it is your leash."
The head priest pressed his palm against the ground, blood seeping through his robes.
"Then let the world live in chains! We cannot survive your madness!"
The seal ignited. Chains of light erupted, wrapping around the god's form. He screamed—not in pain, but in fury—as he was dragged into a swirling void of symbols and smoke.
> "When the unafraid awaken me…"
"Your nightmares will return."
The world went silent. The candles went out.
Modern Day – Sakura City
The school bell rang, slicing through the afternoon air.
Riku Ayanagi flinched at the sound, closing his notebook filled with hand-drawn symbols and old Japanese runes.
His messy black hair fell over his glasses, half-hiding the tired eyes of someone who hadn't slept properly in days.
"Hey, Riku," called a voice from the next desk.
It was Mika Tsubasa, small, bright-eyed, and always wearing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Still writing those creepy god stories again?"
Riku smiled faintly. "They're not stories. They're real myths. The Goryō-e rituals were used to seal vengeful gods. Pretty cool, right?"
Mika shrugged. "If you say so. You're like, the only one who finds that stuff interesting."
A snort came from behind them.
"Of course he does," said Daichi, tall and sharp-tongued, the kind of guy who laughed loudest when others were uncomfortable. "Because no one else wants to talk to the ghost nerd."
A few kids chuckled. Riku said nothing. He just lowered his gaze, pretending to pack his bag.
"Leave him alone," Mika said sharply, standing up. "You act like he's the weird one."
Daichi smirked. "He is the weird one. You ever seen his sketchbook? It's full of freaky demons."
Riku's fingers clenched.
He wanted to speak, to defend himself—but words never came easily. They never listened anyway.
---
That evening, the rain started early.
Riku walked home alone under the gray sky, his bag heavy with soaked papers. He stopped under a bridge to breathe. The same dream had haunted him for weeks—dark chains, screaming voices, an eye in the void calling his name.
> "Osoramaru…" he whispered, without knowing why.
A chill crawled up his spine. For a moment, the streetlight above him flickered.
He shook his head and kept walking.
---
Later that Night – The Dare
The next day, Daichi and his friends cornered Riku after class.
"Hey, nerd. You like all that god stuff, right?" Daichi grinned. "Then let's make it interesting. There's an old shrine behind the school forest. They say people used to do your Goryō thing there."
Mika stepped between them. "Leave him alone, Daichi."
But Daichi wasn't listening. "We're doing a ritual tonight. You in, freak? Or you scared?"
Riku froze. The word scared always lingered differently in his mind. Fear. His strange fascination since childhood.
Something deep inside him whispered: Go.
He met Daichi's mocking grin and said quietly, "Fine. I'll do it."
---
The Shrine
That night, five students stood in a broken circle of candles. The abandoned shrine was swallowed in mist, its wooden pillars splintered by time.
"Alright, Riku," Daichi said, tossing a page torn from an old library book. "Read the words."
Riku hesitated. The text was ancient Japanese, written in black ink that had faded like old blood.
He swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he began to chant.
> "Through the gate of forgotten fear… I call to thee… Osoramaru…"
The air grew colder. Candles flickered violently. The shadows around them seemed to move.
One of the girls laughed nervously. "Okay, this is creepy—let's stop."
But the ground beneath Riku's feet began to glow, tracing the shape of a circular sigil—the same seal from a thousand years ago.
> "Riku… what's happening?" Mika's voice shook.
Riku didn't answer. His eyes widened as a deep, otherworldly voice echoed through his skull.
> "You called my name."
A violent gust of wind blew through the shrine, extinguishing every candle. Darkness swallowed them whole.
Daichi screamed. The others ran.
Riku stood frozen as tendrils of black mist curled around his body, sinking into his skin.
A burning pain erupted in his chest as a glowing mark—恐—flared across his heart.
> "You… are my vessel," the voice growled.
"You… are fear reborn."
The last thing he saw before collapsing was a pair of crimson eyes hovering in the dark.
---
The Awakening
Riku gasped awake in his bed, drenched in sweat. His clock read 3:17 a.m.
For a moment, everything was still—until he noticed the faintly glowing symbol on his chest.
He lifted his shirt. The mark pulsed with a slow heartbeat.
> "It wasn't a dream," he whispered.
His reflection in the mirror shifted. For a split second, another face stared back—pale, sharp-eyed, cruel.
He stumbled backward, knocking over a glass of water.
> "Do you fear me?"
The voice filled his head, deep and echoing, like something ancient had just woken up inside his soul.
"Good. Then we are one."
The air around him trembled. His breath grew shallow. Every fear he'd ever felt rose to the surface—every humiliation, every lonely night, every laugh behind his back—and exploded.
The mirror shattered. Darkness swallowed the room.
---
The Hunters
High above the city, under the silver moon, a woman stood on a rooftop.
Aya Kurogane, dressed in black, a charm glowing faintly in her hand.
> "Target awakening confirmed," a voice crackled through her earpiece.
"Vessel of Osoramaru located near Sakura High."
Aya's heart dropped. "No… it can't be him."
> "Orders are clear," the voice said coldly. "Contain or eliminate."
She closed her eyes. "Understood."
Far away, in a lab buried under Tokyo's streets, another man watched the same event through a flickering monitor.
Dr. Yoru Saejima smirked. "So the god of fear lives again… The evolution of mankind begins."
---
First Manifestation
The next day felt unreal.
Riku tried to pretend everything was normal, but the whispers never stopped. Every loud sound echoed too loud. Every heartbeat felt foreign.
In the hallway, Daichi blocked his path again, smirking like always. "You didn't show up after the ritual, freak. Chickened out?"
Riku's hands trembled. "Daichi… don't."
"Oh? Scared now?" Daichi stepped closer.
Something inside Riku snapped.
The hallway lights flickered.
Daichi froze as his surroundings warped into darkness. Shadows stretched from the walls, whispering his name. The air turned cold, and from the black mist, his worst memory surfaced—his father's drunken rage, the belt, the shouting.
> "Stop!" Daichi screamed, falling to his knees.
Riku's eyes glowed faint violet. His voice layered with another—deeper, inhuman.
> "You see now… Fear saves you from yourself."
Then, as suddenly as it came, the vision faded.
Daichi crawled away, trembling, gasping for breath.
Riku looked at his trembling hands, horrified. "What did I just—?"
> "You showed mercy," the voice inside him whispered. "Next time… don't."
---
The End of Episode 1
That night, rain poured over Sakura City.
Aya stood beneath a lamppost, watching Riku's home from afar, her expression torn between duty and sorrow.
> "He's just a boy…" she whispered. "But that thing inside him—"
Her earpiece buzzed.
> "All vessels must be contained before the seals break completely."
Aya lowered her gaze. "Yes… Commander."
In his room, Riku sat by the window, watching lightning flash across the sky.
The mark on his chest glowed faintly again.
> "They called it fear…" he murmured. "But to me… it felt like awakening."
A deep chuckle echoed inside his head.
> "Welcome, Riku Ayanagi… my vessel of dread."
Thunder rolled.