Shin Noragetsu could still feel the weight of the elder's final words as he and his companions descended the mountain path, leaving the Silent Veil Temple behind. The rejection burned deeper than he expected, but there was no time to dwell on it. The air had shifted, thick with an unnatural tension that made the hairs on his neck stand on end.
Hana walked beside him in silence, her face unreadable, but her occasional glances toward him spoke of worry. Renjiro was a few paces ahead, his stance rigid, as if expecting an attack at any moment.
The feeling was mutual.
They had barely left the temple grounds when a chilling presence swept over them. The air grew heavy, crackling with unseen energy. Shin instinctively reached for his katana, and Hana tightened her grip on her kunai. Renjiro halted, his eyes narrowing.
"Something's coming," he muttered.
The ground trembled slightly, and from the dense mist ahead, a figure emerged—tall, gaunt, and wreathed in writhing tendrils of void energy. Its face was obscured beneath a hood, but the air around it shimmered with a darkness that felt alive.
"A Voidborn," Shin whispered. His fingers tightened around his blade. He had seen echoes of these creatures in the Forbidden Archives, but standing before one in the flesh was an entirely different experience.
The figure tilted its head, as if studying them. Then it spoke, its voice hollow, layered with multiple tones.
"Shin Noragetsu… you are known to us."
Shin didn't move. "And who are you?"
"A herald. A servant of what lies beyond." The Voidborn raised a skeletal hand, tendrils of darkness spiraling outward. "The Abyss has taken an interest in you."
Hana stepped forward, her kunai raised. "He's not interested."
The creature chuckled—a dreadful, echoing sound. "Not yet."
Without warning, the shadows lunged.
Shin barely had time to react. He dodged to the side as a tendril slashed through the air where he had been standing. Hana and Renjiro scattered, weapons drawn. The battlefield erupted into chaos as the Voidborn's darkness lashed out in all directions.
Shin moved instinctively, his blade slicing through the tendrils, but they reformed almost instantly. The creature wasn't fighting in a conventional sense—it was testing him. The realization sent a surge of frustration through him.
Renjiro formed a series of hand seals. "Fire Style: Dragon's Breath!"
A torrent of flames roared toward the Voidborn. For a moment, the creature vanished within the inferno. But then the flames flickered unnaturally, snuffed out as if consumed by the very void itself.
Hana cursed. "It's absorbing chakra!"
The Voidborn stepped forward, its form shifting like a mirage. "You fight in vain. The Abyss does not fear your mortal tricks."
Shin exhaled sharply. He needed to end this before it escalated. The void energy within him stirred, whispering, coaxing. His grip tightened on his katana. He had resisted drawing on the power of the Abyss since leaving the temple—but what choice did he have now?
The Voidborn seemed to sense his hesitation. "You know the truth, don't you?" it murmured. "You are not meant to resist. You are meant to embrace."
Something inside Shin snapped.
A pulse of void energy surged from him, darkening the air around him. For an instant, everything slowed. He could see every tendril's movement, every shift in the creature's form. And he understood.
With a single, precise movement, he slashed forward. But this was no ordinary strike. His blade cut through the very fabric of space, severing the Voidborn's form at its core.
A shriek echoed through the night as the creature staggered back, its form unraveling. The darkness that had seemed so impenetrable just moments before was now collapsing in on itself.
The Voidborn's voice wavered. "You… are not ready… but soon…"
With one final convulsion, the creature disintegrated, its form scattering like ashes in the wind.
Silence followed.
Hana stared at Shin, her expression unreadable. Renjiro let out a slow breath, lowering his hands. The tension in the air remained, but the immediate threat was gone.
Shin sheathed his blade, his heart still pounding. The whispers in his mind had quieted, but he knew they weren't gone. The Voidborn had said something that unsettled him far more than their attack.
"You are not ready."
Whatever was coming—whatever the Abyss had planned—this was only the beginning.
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