The air around Raito thickened, heavy with an unearthly presence. The whisper that had slithered into his mind now took shape, manifesting into something more than just a disembodied voice.
A figure emerged from the shadows, her form coalescing before him. A woman—if she could be called that. Her silhouette was draped in darkness, crimson eyes glowing like embers in the night. Her presence was cold, yet an allure of power surrounded her—both terrifying and irresistible.
"I am Kurai," she spoke, her voice smooth as silk yet laced with a predatory edge. "And you, Raito Yakamura, are exactly the type of person I have been searching for, for centuries."
Raito didn't flinch, didn't recoil as most would when faced with something beyond human comprehension. Instead, he studied her with the same calculating gaze he had honed on the battlefield.
"Who are you, and what do you want from me?" he asked, his voice steady, unreadable.
Kurai tilted her head, a smirk playing at her lips. "I suppose you humans would call me a demon, but it is not about what I want. It is about what you desire. You seek the hunt, the thrill, the kill. You suppress it, but it gnaws at you, demanding to be freed."
Raito looked into the sky as his old memories replayed over and over again in his mind. "What do you want?"
She took a step closer, her presence wrapping around him like a shadow. "I know what you want actually scratch that I know what you need and I can give you that-Strength beyond mortal limits, the power to indulge in your true nature without restraint. But…" She trailed a slender finger along his jawline, the cold touch not evoking any emotion from him. "I need something in return."
Raito's lips curled into a look of doubt. "And what would that be?"
The question drew a knowing smirk from her. "First, I need you to kill for me and to offer me your victims so that I may devour their souls. Additionally…" Kurai's eyes now gleamed with something ancient, something dangerous. "A body to dwell in. A vessel to anchor me to this world."
He knew what she was asking. He knew the dangers, the risk of giving himself over to something he could never fully control. But even as the rational part of him screamed to walk away, the darker, hungrier part of him whispered otherwise.
Raito had spent years trying to conceal what he was. A mercenary turned civilian, a killer pretending to be normal. But deep down, he was still a weapon without a war, a beast without a hunt.
And now, an opportunity had presented itself.
He met Kurai's gaze. "Let's see if you can truly satisfy my hunger."
Kurai grinned, a wicked expression that spoke of promises drenched in blood and power. "Then let us begin."
Darkness surged forward, swallowing him whole.