"We stopped looking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside us." — Charles Darwin
The weight of his words lingered in the air like a storm cloud, heavy and charged with tension. We exchanged uncertain glances, still struggling to process what had just happened. This boy—whoever he was—had appeared out of nowhere, taken down Kokuen in mere moments, and now he was leading us on an entirely new mission without so much as an introduction.
Ren's fists clenched at his sides, his frustration evident. "Tch... this guy just shows up, takes over, and expects us to follow him without question?"
Akira crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing as he watched the boy's retreating figure. "He's strong, but that doesn't mean we can trust him. We don't even know his name."
Despite the skepticism hanging in the air, none of us moved to stop him. Whether it was out of caution, curiosity, or an unspoken recognition of his overwhelming strength, we followed.
(On Top Of The Great Rift Valley Mountains)
"Kurayami. We have to leave." The Jade Assassin said to a man on top of the mountains.
The man smiled, "Akarui... You have grown stronger... I'm impressed. Alright Rei. Let's go back."
(3 Hours Later - Outside The Valley)
The journey was long, stretching well into the night. We moved through dense forests and uneven terrain, the eerie silence of the land unsettling all of us. No one spoke much, except for the occasional brief exchange about the path ahead. The boy led without hesitation, his pace never faltering. It was as if he knew exactly where to go.
Then, as we crested a small hill, we finally saw it.
Or rather, we didn't.
The village was gone. Not destroyed, not burned—just... gone. The land where it had once stood was barren, the earth scarred as if something massive had simply ripped it from existence. No buildings, no bodies, no signs of struggle. Just an empty void where life had once thrived.
A heavy silence fell over our group as we took in the impossible sight before us.
"What the hell...?" Ren muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Akira took a cautious step forward, his brow furrowed. "No signs of an attack. No debris, no blood. It's like it was never here to begin with."
The boy finally turned to face us, his gaze unreadable.
"Now do you understand?" His voice was calm but firm. "This village didn't just vanish. It was taken."
I frowned. "Taken? By what?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached into his cloak and pulled out an old, crumpled parchment. Unfolding it, he showed us a rough map of the area.
"There have been reports of strange chi activity in multiple locations, but this village... it's the worst case." He pointed to another marked location nearby. "Not far from here, extreme shadows have been spotted. The higher-ups believe something unnatural is happening, but they don't know what. That's why we were sent here—to investigate both incidents before it gets worse."
His eyes met mine. "That's why we need to split up."
He let his words sink in before continuing.
"Team One will investigate the vanished village. That means searching for survivors, clues, and—if necessary—eliminating any threats we find. We have reason to believe something is behind this, and we need to figure out what before it happens again."
"Team Two will deal with the shadows in the other location. These aren't ordinary creatures. The chi readings from there are off the charts, and if they continue to spread, they could become a major threat. Your job is to suppress them before that happens."
A tense silence followed his explanation. Then, he began assigning roles.
"Team One
Myself
Akarui Hikaru
Akira Akimitsu
Luka De Angelo
Aiko Kato
Yui Takahashi
Satoshi Sato
Ren Nakamura
Atsushi Yamashita
Team Two
Kaede Yoshida
Sakura Hanami
Sayaka Morita
Naoko Ishimoto
Robin James
Noah Maxwell
Hiroshi Suzuki
Makoto Yamaguchi
Jao Pedro
Reina Okada
Daichi Tanaka
Chika Nishumura
Keji Watanabe
Izumi Kinoshita"
Ren scowled. "Splitting up weakens us. Are you sure this is the best plan?"
"It's the only plan," the boy replied bluntly. "If we waste time, we'll lose both locations."
He turned back to my group. "We leave immediately. Whatever happened to this village... it's not over yet."
And with that, the two teams set off in opposite directions, heading toward their separate missions.
As the split was made and our two teams began heading off in opposite directions, the weight of the situation started to set in. The air around us was thick with tension. The boy—Tanish—was still leading us with a quiet, confident pace, and we fell into step behind him, the silence between us stretching longer than it should have.
After a few minutes of walking, Tanish slowed his pace just slightly. He let out a quiet breath, as though he had been carrying the unspoken pressure of the moment. He glanced over his shoulder at us, his expression steady but his eyes holding something deeper, something almost... weary.
"I suppose I should have said something earlier," he muttered, as though he was deciding whether or not to break the silence. "But it's better to just get things done, right?"
I raised an eyebrow, unsure where this was going. The others had been as quiet as I had been, the only sound being our footsteps crunching through the dense forest. It felt like the right time to say something, but his words surprised me.
"I'm Tanish," he said, his voice carrying a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm sure you've all got your reasons for being here, just like I do. We've all been thrown into this together. And even though it doesn't make sense to be split up like this, we've got to make the most of it."
The way he said it, so directly, made me wonder if he had been in situations like this before. His eyes, sharp and calculating, never lingered too long on any one thing, always scanning ahead, ready for anything. The forest around us felt eerie, almost alive, as though the trees themselves were watching us.
"I know we don't know each other well," Tanish continued, his voice a little softer now. "But if we're going to make it through this, we have to trust each other. We've all got a role to play, and I'm not one for standing in the way."
His eyes flicked to mine briefly, and I could tell he was sizing me up, much like I was doing to him. But it was the way he spoke that made it clear: he had been through far worse and wasn't about to hesitate now.
"Look, this village—whatever happened here—is serious," Tanish added, his voice more focused now. "We don't know what we're walking into, but whatever it is, we're better off figuring it out together. And if you've got questions, ask. Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture."
There was a brief pause before he spoke again, a small, fleeting smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but it quickly disappeared.
"We'll talk more later, but for now—let's focus on the job. We've got a village to investigate and mysteries to solve."
There wasn't time for hesitation. He was right about that.
As we moved forward, I glanced over at Aiko, who had been quietly observing Tanish, her expression unreadable. "What do you think?" I whispered to her.
"I don't know yet," she replied, her voice low. "But he's not like the others. He's been through something, maybe more than we have. I think we'll be fine as long as we stay sharp."
With that, we pressed on, the forest growing quieter as we made our way toward the village. The further we walked, the heavier the air seemed to get. And as we crested a small hill and saw what remained of the village, the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach only deepened.
Tanish stopped, his gaze hardening as he looked at the empty land ahead of us. The village—if you could even call it that now—was gone. The once-thriving settlement had been erased, as if it had never existed. The earth was scarred, the ground barren. barely any buildings. No signs of struggle. Nothing.
"What happened here?" I asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice.
Tanish didn't answer right away. He simply walked forward, crouching near a patch of earth that had been disrupted, a strange energy lingering in the air. "This is no natural disaster," he muttered under his breath. "We're dealing with something much worse."
I felt the chill that ran down my spine. Whatever was going on here, it was beyond our understanding. Tanish stood up and turned toward us.
"We need to investigate the area. We'll start..."
He looked around and pointed at a well.
"There..."
After we walked to the well, he looked inside and snapped.
The sound of the snap echoed back to him and hit his face.
"There's someone inside."
he said announced as he jumped down.
"Is he crazy?" Akira
"I'm starting to like this guy", Luka said as he followed Tanish.
"Oh well...", I jumped down.
We dropped down into the well, the darkness swallowing us whole as we descended, one by one. The rush of air and the sound of our landing echoed off the narrow stone walls. There was no turning back now.
I landed softly, the cold stone under my feet grounding me, though a slight tremor beneath the earth made me freeze. It wasn't natural.
Ren and Luka were right behind me, and we gathered ourselves quickly. Tanish stepped forward, his steady stride echoing through the narrow passage.
"We're close," Tanish said, his voice low, but full of confidence.
"I've never been here," Ren muttered, glancing around at the tight, oppressive walls. "Are we sure this is it?"
Tanish didn't miss a beat. "I've mapped this entire place—sonar, remember? This path isn't just a guess. We're exactly where we need to be."
Luka raised an eyebrow. "Sonar? Seriously?"
Tanish didn't look back. "Don't question it. Focus on the mission."
We followed him in silence, the air thickening as we went deeper, and my mind began to race. The walls felt like they were pressing in on us, and there was an unsettling hum in the air, like the very stone was alive. The deeper we went, the less I could shake the feeling that we weren't alone.
Then, up ahead, the faintest flicker of light caught my eye. My heart skipped. It was a brief, almost imperceptible flash, but it was enough to tell me something—someone—was waiting.
We crept closer, the sound of our footsteps drowned by the thick silence. I couldn't shake the feeling that the passage had grown even tighter, the walls almost claustrophobic. And then, there it was—a body, an old man, unconscious on the stone floor.
I dropped to my knees beside him. "Is he alive?"
Tanish didn't waste time, checking the old man's pulse. His face remained unreadable. "Barely."
Luka leaned in closer, his gaze scanning the man. "What is he doing here?"
"He shouldn't be here," Tanish muttered, his voice suddenly tight. "I mapped every inch of this place. He's not supposed to be here."
The old man stirred, his eyes flickering open. For a moment, he looked disoriented, his gaze bouncing from face to face as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Then, his eyes locked onto mine, and his face drained of colour.
"No…" The words escaped him in a horrified whisper. "No, no, it's too late…"
Tanish stepped back, his hand clenched into a fist. "What do you mean, too late?"
The old man's breath hitched, and then he let out a guttural scream. His body jerked, as though an invisible force had gripped him, and his eyes went wide with terror. "The Forgotten One will awaken!"
His scream rattled the walls, a shrill, piercing sound that sent chills up my spine. I instinctively stepped back, my heart pounding. His body convulsed as if something was trying to break free from within him.
"We need to go," Akira said, his voice strained, eyes darting around the dark tunnel. His hand was already on his weapon.
The old man's gaze snapped to me again, his face filled with pure panic. "Leave… leave now before it's too late."
Before any of us could move, his body went limp, his eyes rolling back into his head. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious once more.
Tanish stood there for a moment, silently taking in the situation. The sound of the old man's words still echoed in my head—The Forgotten One will awaken.
"We don't have time for this," Tanish finally said, his voice hard and unyielding. "We need to move. Now."
"Move where?" Ren's voice cracked, his usual composure slipping. "That thing—whatever the old man meant—what is it?"
Tanish's jaw tightened. "I don't know. But it's coming. Whatever he was talking about... it's already started."
The air felt colder. A heavy pressure pressed down on us as we stood in that dark passage, uncertainty creeping in. And then, behind us, a low sound of shifting boots echoed.
A group of figures emerged from the shadows—clad in dark, ritualistic armor that seemed to absorb the faintest traces of light. Their eyes glowed faintly, cold and menacing. They moved with an eerie synchronization, like a singular entity rather than individuals. There were ten of them.
The leader stepped forward, a dark-cloaked figure whose eyes gleamed with an unsettling glow. He raised his head, meeting our gazes.
"We've been waiting," he said, his voice calm but filled with dark promise.