"You can't escape the past—it lives in you."- Akarui Hikaru
I barely had time to react before my own double lunged at me.
Fast—too fast. A blur of motion, a flicker of dark energy. I twisted away just in time, feeling the rush of displaced air as a fist barely missed my face. My copy moved exactly like me, a mirror of my instincts, my reactions.
I barely managed to block the next strike, forearm slamming into my double's as our techniques clashed. A shockwave burst outward, rattling the stone beneath us.
It feels wrongNot just because I was fighting myself, but because the hit—it felt real. Not like an illusion, not like some cheap trick. My knuckles stung, my breath hitched from the impact.
These things weren't just reflections.
They were us.
I heard Ren curse somewhere behind me, followed by the sharp crack of a hit landing. Akira dodged a roundhouse kick from his copy with minimal effort, hands in his pockets. "Man, fighting yourself is just... exhausting."
Luka hadn't moved yet. His double stood opposite him, watching, waiting. Studying him just as he was studying it.
I grit my teeth. "They're learning," I muttered.
Luka nodded, eyes narrowed. "They know how we fight."
Ren was already going feral on his copy, throwing out sharp, rapid strikes, but each one was met with the exact same attack. It was like watching a loop of his own movements. He'd punch—the double would punch. He'd feint—the double would feint.
Ren scowled. "Oh, you wish you were me," he snarled, ducking under a punch and slamming his knee into his copy's gut—only for the double to grin and copy the exact same move in return.
Ren barely had time to block. "Oh, hell no."
My copy didn't say a word. Didn't need to. It moved like me, thought like me. My brain was already working overtime, trying to figure out how to counter someone who knew everything I knew.
If we didn't find a way to break this pattern soon—
I heard Ren snarl. "Fine. You want to copy me? Try copying this—!"
Chi flared around him. He switched up his entire fighting style. His stance changed—wild, unpredictable, erratic. A mix of different techniques, broken patterns, deliberate missteps.
His double hesitated for a second.
Then—
A fist slammed into Ren's gut.
His double had switched with him.
Ren staggered back, coughing. "Oh, come on!"
Akira gave a slow nod. "Yeah, I hate this place."
And then—
Ren's double raised a hand.
A pulse of energy flickered around it.
Something cold crawled up my spine.
The air shifted.
For a moment, I didn't understand what was happening.
Then my brain caught up.
My eyes snapped to Ren.
He had gone still. His whole body tense, eyes locked on his copy like he was staring down something that shouldn't exist.
Luka noticed it too. "Wait. If they copied our techniques..."
Ren swallowed. His voice was quiet.
"Mine can use Configure."
My heart dropped.
Oh. Oh no. Ren's double could split us into atoms.
My body moved before my brain did. I rushed toward him. "Ren, get the hell away—!"
His copy's fingers twitched.
The air warped.
Ren barely managed to dodge before the technique completed. The moment he hit the ground, I yanked him back. "Don't let it touch you!"
Ren was breathing hard, eyes wide. "I—I know! It's my technique..."
Akira let out a slow breath. "Okay. So, this just got way worse."
The temple hummed.
The doubles froze.
Then, in eerie unison—
They turned to face me.
Every single one of them.
My breath hitched.
The air thickened. The torches flickered wildly as if something unseen had just entered the room.
Something wrong.
Then—
The copies spoke.
Not in our voices.
In one voice.
A voice that shouldn't exist.
"You don't belong here."
Then everything exploded.
The explosion had torn through the temple, shaking the very foundation beneath us. Smoke and dust choked the air, obscuring everything in a swirling, suffocating cloud. My ears rang from the impact, my body aching from being thrown to the ground. But as I pushed myself up, my eyes scanned the area—and something struck me a second later.
The doubles were gone.
Not just defeated. Vanished. Like they had never existed in the first place.
I staggered to my feet, still tense, my mind racing. Luka was already up, surveying the area with narrowed eyes. Akira dusted himself off, muttering something under his breath, while Ren groaned from where he had landed, cracking his neck as he stood.
"Okay," Akira exhaled, stretching his arms, "so—either we won, or something much worse is about to happen."
The air was still too thick. The torches flickered violently, casting erratic shadows along the temple walls. And then—
The voice came.
A deep, layered sound that wasn't coming from one place. It vibrated through the air, through the walls, through the very stone beneath us.
"You dare set foot in my domain?"
The dust finally settled.
Something huge shifting within the darkness—half-solid, half-fluid, flickering like fire caught in the wind. Shadows rippled along its form, moving like they were alive, shifting between void-like black and embers that refused to die. It stood tall, its form undefined, its presence heavy. The only thing I could focus on were its eyes—slitted and burning, watching us like prey.
Luka's stance tensed immediately. "That... is not a normal spirit."
Akira sighed. "Yeah, no kidding."
Ren, because he had no fear of consequences, gestured vaguely at the ruined temple. "So, what, you live here? 'Cause I gotta be honest, the place could use some work."
Akira gave a slow nod. "Incredible. A new record for annoying the horrifying entity."
The torches flared, their blue flames twisting violently.
And the creature spoke.
"I am Kokuen. Spirit of ruin, shadow, and flame." Its voice was ancient, layered, something that didn't belong in this world. "This place is my prison—and my feeding ground."
I felt a chill run down my spine.
"A Yokai. Oh, why did it have to be a bloody Yokai? Why didn't the exorcists handle this?" Akira griped.
"It made sense. The unnatural energy. The way the temple itself felt like a trap. The illusions, the doubles, the way reality itself bent around us."
Luka exhaled sharply. "That explains the lack of natural chi."
I kept my eyes locked on the entity, my body coiled for movement. "Great. And that helps us how?"
"Careful Akarui!" Akisada said.
"Why?"
"It's level... Is 500."
Kokuen chuckled. A slow, crackling sound, like fire consuming dry wood.
"Survive?" it mused. "Ah. You misunderstand."
While I was thinking, it struck.
A black tendril lashed toward me. Fast. My body reacted on instinct, twisting away just in time—but I felt something wrong graze my arm. A sensation that wasn't hot or cold—it was just void. Like part of me had been erased for a split second.
Dark technique?
Ren reacted instantly—charging straight in. His chi flared around his fist, crackling with energy, as he swung straight for Kokuen's center—
And his fist went through.
For a second, everything froze.
Ren blinked. "Oh, come o—"
Before he could finish, a wave of force struck him square in the chest. He went flying, crashing into a pillar with a loud crack. Dust and stone crumbled as he hit the ground with a groan.
Akira winced. "Yeah, that's a lot of broken bones."
Kokuen's voice rumbled. "You cannot fight the dark."
Then—the shadows moved.
I barely had time to react before my own shadow lunged at me. A shape rising from the ground, grasping hands pulling me down.
I struggled, but the cold weight of it tightened, wrapping around my arms, dragging me down like sinking sand.
Akira sighed. "And now we're doing the whole 'hopeless struggle' thing. Great." In a blink, he sliced through the shadowy restraints with precision, shattering them like brittle glass. He clapped a hand on my shoulder as I stumbled free. "Next time, dodge faster."
"I'll keep that in mind," I muttered, shaking off the lingering cold from my limbs.
Luka stepped forward, eyes locked onto Kokuen. With a flick of his wrist, ice erupted from the ground, jagged spikes forming a protective barrier around us. Kokuen flinched, as though the cold from Luka's chi had momentarily pierced the air's heat, but it was only for an instant. The creature's eyes narrowed, and I felt the oppressive energy of the temple thicken again.
"You think your little tricks will save you?" Kokuen's voice was a low growl, its form shifting like an ominous storm cloud. The shadows on the walls flickered and twisted unnaturally, pulling in the light, swallowing it whole. "I am the shadow and flame. No one escapes."
I stood tall, my eyes locked on the massive creature, trying to push back the feeling of overwhelming dread. My chi buzzed under my skin, my body aching from the previous blows, but I forced myself to focus. "You're not going to win. We'll take you down," I said, my voice sounding a bit steadier than I felt.
Ren was already back on his feet, adrenaline driving his every movement. "Didn't anyone tell you? I lose." He grinned, already charging at Kokuen again, fists flying. His punches were fast, reckless, but each one carried an undercurrent of power as his chi surged around him.
Kokuen's form flickered, and just as Ren's fist neared it, the shadowy creature dissolved into smoke, vanishing in an instant. Ren's attack hit nothing but air, and he skidded to a halt, eyes darting around for his target.
"Typical," Ren muttered. "It just had to dodge."
Akira cracked his knuckles. "It's not just dodging. It's adapting, moving in ways we can't predict. We have to be more creative than that."
Luka nodded, his eyes still locked on the shifting form of Kokuen. The ice barrier was already starting to crack, the creature's presence eating at the cold air with every passing moment. "It's controlling the darkness. It bends space, shifts the environment. We need to disrupt its hold on the temple itself."
I glanced around, the weight of the place pressing in on me. The walls seemed to pulse, the air thick with a strange, almost suffocating energy. Everything felt... off. "We need to find its core. Where is it drawing its power from?"
Akira smirked, catching my meaning. "You're thinking of taking out the heart of the problem?" He twirled his glaive in one hand. "Well, we've got the tools for that."
As if on cue, Kokuen's dark form reappeared in front of us. This time, it wasn't just a shadow. It was solid, burning with an ominous glow, the flames licking at its shape in waves of dark heat.
"Foolish mortals," Kokuen hissed, its voice scraping through the air like a blade. "You dare challenge me in my domain?"
The ground beneath us trembled as if the very temple itself was answering to the call. The flames from the torches shot up, flickering with an unholy energy, feeding the creature's ever-growing form.
Ren's grin stretched wider, unshaken. "Yeah, we dare."
Without a moment's hesitation, Ren shot forward, chi flaring around his body. His movement was a blur of raw energy as he collided with one of Kokuen's shadowy tendrils. The impact sent shockwaves through the air, but the tendrils were too strong. Kokuen didn't flinch.
Akira didn't waste time either. He threw a rapid series of strikes with his glaive, cutting through the air with pinpoint precision. But the creature's shadowy form bent and twisted, blocking the blows with unnatural speed.
"Foolish mortals," Kokuen repeated, its voice low and venomous. "You cannot defeat me. I have transcended beyond your kind."
Akira's eyes narrowed, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Well, you were also once a mortal! Did you forget where you came from?"
Kokuen's form flickered, its shadowy tendrils swirling in anger. "You dare mock me?"
"I dare a lot more than that," Akira shot back, not missing a beat, his glaive swinging once more.
Meanwhile, Luka's ice-cold focus snapped into place. With a flick of his wrist, he conjured massive, jagged spikes of ice from the ground, hurling them straight toward Kokuen. The creature screeched in fury as the spikes pierced its dark form. But instead of faltering, Kokuen absorbed the attack, its tendrils lashing out in retaliation, each strike burning with the intensity of a thousand suns.
"This thing's more than we thought," Luka muttered, his ice repelling the tendrils, but barely holding his ground. "We need a plan."
"I think we've already got one," Ren said, already back on his feet, fists clenched and ready for round two. "We hit it hard—together!"
Before anyone could respond, Kokuen lunged forward, tendrils like whips crackling through the air, slashing toward us. Ren ducked under one, his speed a blur, while Akira deflected another with a sweep of his glaive.
I joined in, pulling my chi into my hands, ready to release a burst of energy at the creature's core. "Let's end this!"
But Kokuen, sensing the threat, screamed in defiance. "You cannot—!"
The creature's form surged, sending waves of dark energy rippling outward. The temple groaned as if the entire structure was resisting the immense power.
Akira, always quick to adapt, shot me a glance. "Now's our chance. Hit it hard!"
We all moved in sync. Luka created a wall of ice to block the creature's charge, while Ren launched himself in, fists crackling with chi. Akira followed up with his glaive, aiming for a weak spot he'd spotted. I let loose a blast of energy, striking straight into Kokuen's center.
In that moment, Kokuen's form faltered, flames sputtering and shadows cracking. It howled in fury, its form unstable as the combined force of our attacks pushed it to its breaking point.
"NOW!" I shouted.
With one final push, we struck together. Ren's fists, Luka's ice, Akira's glaive, and my chi—all slammed into Kokuen's core at once.
The temple shook violently. The world trembled. And then—explosion. A violent burst of energy erupted, sending us flying backward as the temple walls cracked and shattered.
We landed in the dust, breathless and shaken, the air thick with smoke. When the dust settled, there was nothing left of Kokuen. The oppressive, dark energy that had filled the temple was gone, leaving behind an eerie calm.
Akira let out a low whistle, standing up and brushing himself off. "Well, that was something."
Luka's expression was still serious as he scanned the temple. "We're not done. The source of its power is still here. We need to make sure this doesn't come back."
"How do we kill or exorcize a Yokai?" Akira asked Luka.
"Umm. I don't know."