The wind carried the scent of burnt wood and dried blood as Shin Noragetsu stood amidst the ruins of a fallen temple. His Abyss Eye pulsed, reacting to something unseen. The distant echoes of his own heartbeat throbbed in his ears, blending with the whispers that slithered through the air. He had been here before—not in body, but in dreams, in visions that blurred the line between memory and prophecy.
Hana stepped cautiously beside him, her gaze darting between the crumbling pillars and the eerie carvings that lined the walls. "This place… doesn't feel right," she murmured.
Shin exhaled slowly, steadying himself. "It's not supposed to."
The temple had once been a sanctuary, a place of worship for monks who sought enlightenment. Now, it was a tomb of forgotten gods, twisted by the influence of the Void. The very air crackled with unstable energy, and the deeper they walked, the heavier the silence became.
Each step echoed unnaturally, as if the temple itself was breathing around them. Shin's fingers hovered near the hilt of his katana, the weight of unseen eyes pressing upon him. He had fought countless battles, but this sensation—the feeling of being watched by something beyond mortal understanding—made his skin crawl.
Then, a whisper.
A voice—low, distorted—scratched at the edges of his mind.
"Why do you seek the abyss?"
Shin halted, his grip tightening. The voice wasn't coming from the temple walls, nor from the void-infested carvings. It was inside his head.
Hana flinched, her breath sharp. "Did you hear that?"
Shin nodded. "It's speaking to me."
Hana's brows furrowed. "To you?"
Before he could respond, the floor beneath them trembled. The dust swirled, forming shapes—shadows twisting into figures that flickered between human and something… else. Shin's Abyss Eye flared as he took a step forward.
A figure emerged from the shifting darkness, its presence suffocating. Its face was obscured by a veil of black mist, its form flickering like a mirage. Yet, Shin could feel its gaze piercing through him.
"You walk the path of the forgotten," the figure intoned. "Bound to the abyss, yet resisting its call."
Shin's muscles tensed. "Who are you?"
The figure did not answer. Instead, the shadows writhed, coiling around it like living tendrils. The mist parted for only a moment, revealing eyes—not one pair, but many, scattered across its shifting form.
"The abyss remembers," it murmured. "The abyss knows."
Shin's breath hitched. This entity—this presence—was something more than an ordinary void-infested being. It radiated power, something ancient and incomprehensible.
Hana drew a kunai, her stance guarded. "Shin, we need to move."
Shin nodded but kept his gaze locked on the entity. "What do you want?"
The figure tilted its head, the movement eerily slow. "To remind you."
The shadows surged. A pulse of cold energy exploded outward, sending Shin and Hana skidding backward. The temple groaned as the walls cracked, the carvings twisting into grotesque shapes.
And then, suddenly—
Darkness.
For a fleeting moment, Shin was nowhere. Not in the temple, not in his own body. He was drifting through a void that stretched infinitely in every direction.
Memories not his own flickered past him—battles long lost, voices long silenced. He saw glimpses of warriors wielding weapons of impossible power, entire worlds swallowed by the abyss. He saw himself—not as he was, but as something else, something far more terrifying.
Then, he heard it.
A heartbeat. Slow, deliberate. Not his own.
The darkness shifted, revealing a figure seated upon a throne of bone and shadow. Its presence was suffocating, its gaze more piercing than the void itself.
"You are not ready," the voice rumbled.
Shin's body felt weightless, but his mind screamed. "Who are you?"
The figure did not answer. Instead, it raised a single hand, and the abyss trembled. The darkness wrapped around Shin, pulling him back—
Back to the temple.
His body crashed against the cold stone floor, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. The figure of shadows was gone. The temple was silent once more.
Hana was at his side in an instant, gripping his arm. "Shin! What happened?"
Shin swallowed, trying to steady his thoughts. "I saw something… someone. In the abyss."
Hana's eyes widened. "What did they say?"
Shin hesitated. "That I'm not ready."
The words sat heavily between them. The abyss had never spoken to him so directly before. What did it mean? What was he not ready for?
Hana's grip tightened. "Then we make sure you are."
Shin exhaled, nodding. The path ahead had become even more uncertain, but one thing was clear—
The abyss was watching.
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