When the entire world deceives you, do you fight back? Or do you submit?
Having no appetite, Kenmyo Isayama brewed a cup of black coffee to serve as his breakfast. At the dining table, he sat habitually in his usual spot. He took a sip; even as the scalding, bitter liquid flowed into his mouth, his expression remained unchanged.
"Sister..."
Kenmyo stared blankly at the seat opposite him. It was his sister's place. Now it was empty, and the thought made even the bitter coffee lose its flavor.
"Ken, you're being lazy again!"
The familiar voice from his memory suddenly startled Kenmyo out of his reverie. Did he wake up too fast? Was it an illusion?
In a trance, he seemed to see his sister sitting before him, cheeks puffed out in a pout. Leaning over the table, she spoke in a lecturing tone: "This won't do! You have to eat breakfast properly."
Kenmyo, who hated trouble, always kept his meals simple. In his memories, his sister would often grumble like this before serving him a hot plate of food. But from the day she died, such scenes had vanished forever.
He felt a gentle breath on his face, exhaled from the "girl" standing inches away. The most familiar and cherished face in his memory was right there before him.
"Sister..."
It was all so real that Kenmyo dazed for a moment. The sister before him looked as if she had stepped straight out of her memorial photo to stand vividly in front of him.
A trace of pain flickered across Kenmyo's face. He knew exactly what this "sister" appearing before him actually was.
Sakura Isayama moved to embrace him, tenderly pulling his head into her arms. "What, don't you recognize me anymore?" she asked softly. "It's your big sister, Ken."
It looked like a touching scene of a reunion between siblings. That is, if one could ignore the fact that her tranquil smile was turning increasingly cold and ghastly. A clear line of blood appeared at the corners of her mouth.
With a sickening tear, her jaw unhinged to its limit, stretching nearly half a meter wide. Inside the bloody maw were three rows of jagged, serrated teeth, a coarse tongue covered in barbs, and thick, slimy saliva stretching between her jaws as they opened.
This was no human. This was a massive, horrifying Cursed Spirit—the kind of creature that would cause one's "SAN value" to plummet and mind to shatter at a single glance.
The gaping maw slowly descended, completely covering the top of Kenmyo's head. At this size, she could swallow a ten-pound watermelon whole, let alone a human skull.
"Hey, my dear little brother," the girl said. Her gentle brown eyes had turned into crimson vertical slits. She wore a cruel smile, and her voice was now a raspy, jarring screech like nails on glass. "Big sister is hungry, too..."
Faced with the "sister" who had transformed into a terrifying Cursed Spirit and her invitation for "breakfast," the monster peered greedily at Kenmyo. It was obvious what she intended to eat: her own younger brother.
However, the monster in human skin did not know that something truly terrifying was lurking within the shadow beneath Kenmyo's seat. The calm shadow had begun to ripple. Because of her overstepping, a pair of cruel, bestial eyes—far more horrifying and predatory than her own—had opened in the darkness.
Those massive blood-red eyes stared fixedly at her. In the next second, this unknown entity might leap from the dark to tear her to pieces.
But "Sakura Isayama" was completely oblivious.
Kenmyo, leaning against her breast with his eyes closed, sensed this restless, predatory killing intent. Instead of fear, he shot a sharp glance at the shadow on the floor. Sensing its master's rejection, the monster lurking in the shadow seemed dissatisfied, even somewhat aggrieved. With a low whimper, it immediately dove back deep into the darkness. The phantom of the terrifying beast vanished, and the shadow returned to tranquility.
Seeing this, Kenmyo closed his eyes again, continuing to play this game of familial affection.
Unfortunately, having completely discarded her disguise, the Cursed Spirit narrowed her eyes. She couldn't wait any longer. From the moment she broke her previous seal, the wave of bloodlust in her mind had been torturing her. Her starving stomach required the warmest blood to be satisfied.
"Bite down!" "Eat him!"
Born from the ultimate malice of humanity, Cursed Spirits are violent by nature; slaughter and blood are what they crave most. With a terrifying low growl, the Cursed Spirit prepared to snap her jaws shut and bite off Kenmyo's head.
But the expected scene of blood spray did not occur. Nothing happened. Time seemed to freeze at that exact second.
It wasn't that the human part of Sakura Isayama remaining within the Cursed Spirit was resisting the urge to harm her brother. It was more like something invisible and intangible had blanketed the monster's entire body.
"Why! Why! Why!"
Not only could her mouth not close, but the arms she had wrapped around Kenmyo could not move an inch. Unable to understand, crimson mist began to rise from her skin—this was her internal Cursed Energy burning frantically to counter this force. She let out a shriek of madness that would drive a normal person insane, the sonic vibration shattering the coffee cup on the table.
But that was all. She couldn't offer the slightest resistance, her body bound by an invisible, formless power.
"Why can't I move?!"
Even though the Cursed Spirit was blinded by the desire to kill, she realized the source of the anomaly: her "younger brother" who was still leaning against her.
"It's painful, isn't it? I'm sorry..."
The boy's calm voice seemed to possess incredible magic. The crimson, violent aura that had been radiating wildly was instantly cleansed, and the ominous curses vanished.
Kenmyo, who had been hugging Sakura tightly around the waist, finally let go, though his movements carried a hint of lingering attachment. When he opened his eyes again, those brown irises identical to Sakura's had turned a deep, profound azure. Silver-white particles swirled within his pupils, making them shine brighter than the stars.
Simultaneously, the mark of a black raven appeared on the back of Kenmyo's hand—the symbol of a certain ancient school.
In truth, before transforming into a "Flesh Hound," Kenmyo had undergone another simulation. That was his true first simulation, an experience that granted him a powerful force from the Warp: Psionic Power.
His mentor: Ahzek Ahriman.
Kenmyo looked at the distorted, half-human, half-monster form of Sakura Isayama. A trace of sorrow appeared in his eyes, and a sharp, tearing pain hit his chest. No one could easily accept that the person they cherished most had become this.
He had blanketed the Cursed Spirit with a vast amount of psionic energy, instantly freezing her movements. A spiked brass collar suddenly appeared in his hand; for a moment, the air filled with the smell of burning sulfur and blood.
The bound Cursed Spirit reacted as if she were looking at something utterly terrifying. She struggled frantically to flee, but it was futile. Kenmyo, finding the noise irritating, even psychically blocked her ability to make sound.
Without hesitation, Kenmyo bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the collar. The blood vanished into the surface like water into parched earth. Having tasted blood, the brass collar began to glow with a faint red mist, its color becoming more vibrant.
With the preparations complete, Kenmyo gave the collar a gentle pull, and it opened obediently. Under the Cursed Spirit's venomous gaze, Kenmyo placed the collar directly around her neck. As soon as it touched her skin, the heavy brass collar automatically tightened to a perfect fit.
The change was immediate and drastic. The terrifying Cursed Spirit seemed to undergo immense agony, thrashing and let out silent, angry roars. Her Cursed Energy was being suppressed.
Eventually, her massive, bloated form began to shrink, returning to the size of a normal teenage girl. Her hideous face regained its delicate features—she was a very cute girl, her graceful figure draped in hair like fine silk, her skin as white as snow. The collar on her neck added a sense of fragility, as if she were a captive.
"Sister..."
Kenmyo gazed gently into Sakura's blood-red eyes, which were still filled with murderous intent directed at him.
"This time, no one will ever separate us again."