KUREN Y
"I had only a name, an address, a date. The rest... The rest was completely lost, flowing away like a river. I don't remember anyone, at least no one reminded me of themselves. Time was like a joke, all lies, momentary flashes, then gone. It was so simple that even though I knew the end of everything, I continued to exist. My eyes were darkened, but I didn't embark on a journey into the darkness, because the end of a place doesn't tell me where I have to go. I had built my own life, but the soil of this place was too foreign to ever belong to me."
I stood up, ignoring Kazami leaning against my back, and looked into the depths of the shining moon.
"They kicked me out of there, maybe I deserved it. I really think I deserved it, but there's something you don't realize. Everywhere I went, nothing belonged to me, not even the soil here... It's not mine. I believed this even when I first opened my eyes. The only thing that kept me alive here were the walls I built while running from my past. There was fear in everything. Fear; following me like a hunter with every step I took, on every street, in every void. But I didn't kill anyone, I didn't really kill anyone. Because I didn't love anyone. Everything I was, every step I took, every breath I breathed was empty rage. As I questioned my own existence, I came to believe that the whole world was an illusion.
Everyone sought meaning in the fact that people could decide everything... It was over; I realized I was certain there was no meaning. Ignoring Kazami's snoring, I took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping out of our tiny box-like building.
"And here I am. I went, I came back. Fear, hatred, they enveloped me and finally pulled me in. Maybe I looked like what you wanted me to be, but I'm just a wreck. You didn't know me. You really didn't know me. I didn't know anyone in this world because I didn't trust anyone. It was meaningless. Everything had been lost, like missing pieces in the deception called life. Now, here, completely lost, I feel nothing but hatred. No fear, no pain... Just emptiness. But maybe there is a little peace in this emptiness, who knows."
Kazami woke up, rubbing her eyes lightly. As she looked at me, the blanket slipped off her. She ran her hand through her messy red hair, shook her head, and slowly got up, looking at me with her bright red eyes. I wondered how she wasn't cold in the black capri pants she always wore. I thought it was because of the jacket she had on, with its red and thin yellow embroidery. As I was lost in these thoughts, suddenly there were loud noises coming from our house. "Ahhh!! Kuren, why is there a screwdriver here?!"
Here we go again...
"Because I'm the one who built this whole dump, you retarded giant red-headed idiot!"
"Well then, who brought the stuff here? Tell me about that too!"
"We're literally going nowhere..."
I put my hand over my face and tried to cut off communication with the world, but the idiot's noise was so loud that I couldn't even think straight. This idiot was taking away the two seconds I had in this shitty life to think straight.
For a while, we just looked at our path and shopped. We bought whatever could be bought with this world's shitty currency, the meaningless things needed to survive... things that fill you with hatred... things that make you want to vomit when you think about them... I hate this life.
I turned around at a sudden sound.
"Kuren, watch out!"
The buildings around us began to collapse. Before I could understand what was happening, Kazami grabbed my arm and pulled me away, and when I came to my senses again, I was running.
"What happened all of a sudden?!"
"I don't know, the world is shaking. It's obvious that no human could do this!"
"So someone is here."
Yes, someone is here. Someone is here because we are here. Someone is here because we must be destroyed.
"They're going to kill us!" Kazami shouted toward the sky.
I think he's the biggest idiot who could be my partner.
The path ahead was completely covered in ice. There was nowhere to step. An ice barrier had formed around us. It was a type I'd seen before. But it was flawless; the number of people who could use ice this well must be limited.
"I found them!"
A man leaped at us from atop the giant ice walls. We jumped in opposite directions and narrowly escaped death. When the dust and smoke slowly cleared, we could see him. He wore a hood, and I could see him glance at Kazami out of the corner of his eye. I shifted my head slightly and could see Kazami's eyes trembling with fear.
"Lieutenant Daleth... It's Lieutenant Daleth!"
The worst possible scenario... Of course, they wouldn't send a simple army to kill us. Even though we were ordinary Spirit users, we were members of one of the strongest teams, and the punishment for our crime was severe.
"I didn't expect them to send such an important member of Team 7 here."
Daleth suddenly turned to me, his gaze terrifying. Unlike what he wore in the Cistern, he had only a pair of capri pants on. The rest of his body was completely exposed. He had a slender but steel-like physique. Even in his crouched stance, you could sense the patience of a predator; as if he could wait for hours without a single muscle twitching, then in one move tear apart his prey. His pale skin glowed almost phosphorescent in the night; the turquoise lines running across that skin shimmered like lightning bolts rather than veins. Each one was like a seal carved from another world.
His short, messy black hair fell over his forehead, leaving his face half in shadow. But those eyes... When he lifted his head slightly, a cold consciousness flowed from his gaze. It was not a human gaze; it was something judging, measuring, weighing.
Those bright lines extending from her shoulders to her arms and legs divided her body in two like a map. It was as if someone had rewritten his. Her flesh and bone were text, the lines the ink of fate. Even crouched, it was not surrender, but the most intense form of control. He was bent, but not broken. He was silent, but storms raged within him.
"Then it's sad for you, because there's more."
I shivered, unable to move a muscle. Thinking about it now, Lieutenant Daleth wasn't even an ice user. Yet I was certain there was someone on their team who could command ice to that extent. Please, please God... Don't let it be him... Because if it is him—
As I was talking to myself internally, I found Lieutenant Daleth before my eyes. Neon green and black flashes spread from his left arm like a plate, and as his eyes glowed, he grabbed me tightly by the throat and lifted me into the air. I couldn't breathe.
"I haven't received a direct order to kill you. Since you're smarter than the other one, you'll be interrogated. If you swear to tell me everything right now, your friend will live."
"I-I... I did this... for Cist... for Cistern's sake—"
He clenched his right hand into a fist and suddenly released his left hand, striking me in midair with all his strength in a matter of seconds. I was one with the wall, and I think tons of debris were falling on me—was this the building collapsing on me? It had to be ice, right? We were in the ice… Or was it something else? I don't know… My head was spinning. Was I alive? Daleth stood before me again, taking heavy steps.
"This is your last chance. The next blow will kill you."
I barely lifted my head, wiped the blood from my mouth with my left hand, which I could barely move, and said with a smile,
"Fuck off."
A massive crimson line passed behind him, and when I could look at him again, he had been thrown back toward the east and crashed into the ice walls.
Kazami was looking at me with the sycthe in his hand.
"Sorry, I couldn't get my bearings right away."
"You always help at the wrong moment."
He extended his left hand to me, and I grabbed it immediately. He pulled me to my feet. We turned to face the monster in front of us.
"So you summoned your Image directly. A logical move against my Image. Actually, I didn't expect you to be able to move."
It was terrifying that he said this to me because we could infer that he wasn't using his power right now. But this was no time to be scared.
"Then I must bring out my Image too, out of respect for you, right, Mr. Cistern Dog Lieutenant?!"
I pulled a pipe from my coat pocket, lit it, took a drag, and exhaled as I spun it between my fingers. The pipe began to glow and transform into a long sword. My Image was now in my hand. Kazami's scythe and my sword faced Daleth's Image, which covered his indistinct body.
"Are you ready, Kuren? We're taking care of this."
"Yes, I'm going first—"
I looked at Kazami's face and saw a left hand on his face. From the neon lights flowing from his wrist, I understood it must be Daleth. Hey, hey, hey! He grabbed Kazami. As he grabbed him, he slammed him to the ground. It was so violent that all the ice walls around us collapsed. I was thrown back, the wind strong enough to blow me away. I found myself on the ground, and the moment I could look back there...
"Kazami!"
Daleth had his foot on him and was looking at me.
"I said my next strike would be fatal."
It was possible I was about to make a foolish move. But even I, with a little combat experience, knew a lieutenant couldn't just kill someone like that. Generals could do it, because they had witnessed countless massacres before doing so.
"Let me guess, you think I can't kill him."
I was shocked and stunned. A green neon spirit sphere began to form in his hand and fill up, and he pointed his palm toward Kazami.
"I received orders from the Grand General for this."
My body began to tremble, and I couldn't stop it. The Grand Captain giving orders to kill us directly meant...
"Long story short, with this realm's perception of time, you won't see tomorrow."
This voice was familiar. It must have been a popular voice where we came from... It was cold. Very cold, ear-piercing, and more importantly, a voice whose very presence was terrifying because of its power.
"You... Why was a general sent to kill us?!"
"Don't overstep your bounds. I am more than a general. The Black Dragon Company is now entirely under my control."
That was true. He had taken over as both the unit general and manager of the organization, long after the person said to be its former owner had been expelled from here... I knew him very well.
"Hiroshi Matsumoto."
General Hiroshi looked at me with cold eyes. He was dressed in the usual style befitting a general. From the moment I first met and saw him, I thought he was an arrogant man. His wide coat, black but embroidered with blue stripes, reached down to his knees, and his hair, black at the roots and blue at the ends, reached his shoulders, directly resembling his ice-manipulating ability. He waited a few seconds and extended his left hand toward me. Due to the power of the gravitational energy created by the ice blades forming around his hand and pointing at me, I kissed the ground. I couldn't move; the spiritual pressure was too strong.
"Daleth, kill that child."
"Yes, sir."
Everything happened in seconds; I couldn't even scream. There was no chance to help; a great light spread, and... and... Kazami... Forgive me.
Then.
A Hope.
Darkness.
Why Should Hope Be Darkness?
Does Hope Always Represent Light?
"Kuren, are you okay?"
"Kazami… You just… What happened there?"
"That thing attacked me, but? Its attack was absorbed by something. It was dark, I couldn't see it!"
Kazami's emotions and reactions were very different from normal. I don't know what saved him, but... This thing should be feared, our position...
In a moment, we could have lost our safety completely, or we could have gained it completely.
"Daleth! Take the kids!"
At General Hiroshi's words, Lieutenant Daleth leaped out of the darkness toward us. I grabbed my sword and swung it. He dodged with a sudden movement, then aimed his fist, but I quickly flipped my sword and struck the hilt toward his stomach, knocking him back.
"Stay away. You don't want to get into an Avatar fight here."
"I am bound to do my duty. If necessary, I will not hesitate to summon my avatar—"
Time stopped. His words were cut off. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't. It was probably the same for everyone. Because someone else was speaking. With us... someone who was not like us.
"You've changed, Hiroshi. What do you think killing those beneath you so easily will bring you?"
"I knew... There are people who could stop that attack, but there's only one person I know who can command such dark power and shadows... The only person who could remain absurdly powerful without sacrificing their identity by keeping their soul's essence in darkness! The second person who caused me the most painful betrayal in my life. It's undoubtedly you. Traitor Magnus!"
All the darkness was swallowed up, and there was only one man inside. His hair covered his face from under his coat's hood, but he wore a purple metallic mask covering the left side of his face. I couldn't see his eyes at first, but when General Hiroshi finished speaking, he lowered his coat's hood and became visible. I didn't know who he was, but I could guess how powerful he was—No, I couldn't do that. Frankly, if these two fought, what would happen... I didn't know.
"You don't seem to remember anything you learned from me."
"Damn everything I learned from you. And that other blue-haired whore too! I wish I hadn't learned anything from my master or my general... I will never forgive you for what you did to Cistern!"
"Uncontrolled words... Hiroshi, according to you, people start from scratch. What a human thought that is. Creatures who build towers knowing they will be destroyed, who pray knowing they will die, who write knowing they will be forgotten... You are no longer even one of them. But you will still start over. Because falling is not a choice. It is a necessity."
"Why... Why?! There is no such thing as necessity, no one will fall for your lies anymore. You are the reason for all the difficulties the cellar faces today. You think you know best, you see yourself as a creator—"
"Shut up."
The person named Magnus had unleashed a spirit attack. The other four of us were pinned to the ground as if nothing had happened. We were like his puppets. Although I couldn't see clearly, judging by the sound, General Hiroshi was in the same situation as us. What kind of power difference was this?
"Don't ask me 'why'," he said. His voice made our position feel like a piece of paper, his voice like a sharp pair of scissors.
He waited a few seconds. I wanted to breathe, but if my body hadn't done it automatically, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to.
After a few seconds, he spoke again:
"Because the universe has no answer. The answer is only as real as your scream into the void. Meaning was an illusion born from your absence. I created that illusion too. Nothing will change now that you are gone. Listen to me, my little failure... I am not your end; I came to judge your beginning. You thought power belonged to you. You gained knowledge but lost meaning. Humanity..."
General Hiroshi took a difficult step forward, his face contorted with anger and the power before him straining him.
"That fragility you now despise...
You mistook it for weakness.
But the truth is this:
Nothing grows without weakness.
And you—you can no longer grow.
Because you are finished."
As soon as Magnus released the psychic pressure, we immediately sprang to our feet. I took cover against Daleth, but he quickly positioned himself next to Hiroshi. General Hiroshi took off his earpieces and a pair of spears appeared in his hands. This must have been his image.
"Your words scratch at my ears. Hearing your voice and your ideals together makes me sick of life. I feel like killing myself. I know your power best; I have no chance against you. But I cannot just stand by against someone who abandoned the Vault halfway. My image must be insufficient against you. Therefore, my only option here is to call upon the Avatar. Rise, Hera!"
General Hiroshi's avatar was one of the most powerful ice-type avatars I had ever seen. Hera is an Avatar who proves that cold is not just an element, but a form of rule. Her presence does not summon winter; winter bows to her will.
Her tall and upright posture resembles a ruler more than a goddess. Her hair, cascading down to her shoulders, has a silvery, sharp gleam like frozen waterfalls. Her eyes are a clear ice blue; those who look into them see not only their own reflection but also their weakest moments. Her gaze is not merciless, but it is ruthless. For Hera, mercy is a flaw that weakens order.
Her armor is woven not from ordinary metal, but from eternal glacial crystals. As she moves, veins of light appear on its surface, like cracks, sparkling; as if storms thousands of years old were trapped within. Where she steps, a thin layer of frost forms, her breath cutting through the air with a white mist. The temperature around her does not drop; it obeys.
The twin spears it carries in its hands are two separate faces of its divine will. The first is thin and long; its tip seems to be made of pure, transparent ice. This spear is silent, swift, freezing its enemy like a crystal statue with a single blow. The second is heavier and has a serrated structure; when it strikes, it shatters not only the body but also the ground, ice pillars rise from the earth and turn the battlefield into a graveyard. When Hera swings her spears, the ringing sound in the air is not the howl of the wind, but the divine sound of an approaching blizzard.
She does not dance in battle, she walks. But each step is as destructive as a storm. When her twin spears clash, the sky is veiled in a leaden curtain, and snowflakes fall as sharp as blades. Her enemies do not merely freeze to death; their hopes crystallize and shatter.
Hera's power is not merely to create ice. She steals heat. She extinguishes rage. She silences flames. Even the fiercest fire before her fades to a dull ember under her gaze. For Hera's essence is to halt motion, freeze chaos, and chain time for a moment.
The generals' avatars are so powerful that their use within the Cistern is officially prohibited.
"I'll watch your back, general. Rise, Dakini!"
I was seeing Dakini for the first time, and as a lieutenant's avatar, she was in no way inferior to the general. I could understand her power at a single glance. Her long, midnight-black hair cascaded down her shoulders; it rippled slightly even without the wind. Her skin had a pale, moonlight-like glow. Her sharp, deep-set eyes seemed to read a person's soul. Her face was elegant but stern; beneath her calm expression, a hidden threat could be sensed. She wore clothes made of flowing fabrics in dark red and black tones; a faint purple aura shimmered around her.
Hera and Dakini's splendor was immediately apparent. When they appeared, people began to shout. I was afraid because I was unsure whether to enter the battle or not.
"Kuren, don't move. This man must have something up his sleeve too. You just saw his power! Besides, he's not on Cistern's side. This will work to our advantage—"
"Are you stupid, Kazami?! How is him not being on Cistern's side going to help us? How do we know he's not someone who acts however he pleases?! Let's retreat immediately, slip away from here while that man is fighting. We can hide before they defeat him and come after us!"
"Spiritus Galacialis!"
Hera joined her two spears together, spun them in her hand, and formed an ice hose. She threw the spears hard and fired them along with the hose.
"Explosio Neonis!"
Dakini pulled both hands back and created a neon spirit sphere between them, firing it directly with all her strength. The two attacks combined and headed toward Magnus.
"Die, you filthy fraud who cannot comprehend the complexity of humanity's essence!"
"Humanity?"
Just as the attack was about to hit him, Magnus extended his right hand to his left leg and conjured a shadow sword.
He drew it as if pulling it from its hilt and swung it directly. He split the incoming attack in two. The attacks split in two behind him, taking different paths and flattening the city. Hundreds of people were probably killed by the impact.
It was a relaxed defense, as if nothing had happened.
Magnus turned his head back to Hiroshi Matsumoto.
"Humanity?
It is born with an endless wound, bleeds its way forward, and ultimately calls digging its own grave with its own hands 'progress'.
How tragicomic.
But you?
You aren't even that anymore.
You aren't even a being.
You are now merely...
An extension of a false idea.
Despite knowing my power, this is the path you have chosen. I will not kill you, because killing the weak would gain me nothing. I will only teach you your place; you are still obligated to continue learning from me, Hiroshi."
END OF CHAPTER