The air in the sealed room was heavy, suffocating.
For a few moments, all Kaito and Sora could do was sit in silence, listening to the faint scratches and murmurs pressing against the wooden door.
Sora hugged her knees to her chest, her eyes wide with terror.
Kaito couldn't stop trembling. His hands shook uncontrollably as he checked the room for any exits — but there were none. Only dusty shelves filled with broken relics, forgotten books, and tattered banners.
"This place...," Sora said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's like it's alive."
Kaito nodded grimly. He could feel it too — the malicious pulse of the building, the way the walls seemed to breathe slowly, in and out, as if waiting for the right moment to close in on them.
The cursed book in his bag thrummed softly, a heartbeat that wasn't his own.
Trying to steady himself, Kaito approached one of the relics.
It was a small silver mirror, cracked down the middle.
When he looked into it, he didn't see himself.
He saw Sora — lying on the ground, pale, lifeless, blood pooling beneath her.
He dropped the mirror instantly, heart pounding against his ribs.
Sora noticed his panic.
"What did you see?"
"Nothing," Kaito lied, forcing a weak smile. "Just... tricks."
She didn't look convinced.
Minutes passed — or maybe hours — until finally the scratching stopped.
Cautiously, Kaito approached the door and pressed his ear against it.
Silence.
"Maybe... they're gone," he whispered.
He gently pushed the door open.
The hallway beyond was empty. No hands, no whispers.
Only darkness and the distant sound of dripping water.
They stepped out carefully.
The library was not as they had left it.
The walls were covered in black veins, throbbing slightly, and the ceiling above them was cracked open, revealing a sky filled with swirling red clouds.
The torches along the walls burned with a sickly green flame, casting monstrous shadows.
"This isn't real," Sora said, shaking her head. "It can't be."
But it was.
Kaito took her hand, squeezing it tightly, and together they moved forward.
They wandered through endless corridors, each more twisted than the last.
They passed a hall where the portraits on the walls were all screaming silently, mouths open wide, eyes gouged out.
Another hall where the floor was covered in broken glass and every step they took echoed with childlike giggles.
At one point, they found a door with a symbol burned into it — a serpent eating its own tail.
Kaito hesitated, but a voice deep inside urged him onward.
Inside the room was a circular altar, and above it, carved into the stone ceiling, were words in a language neither of them recognized.
The walls were lined with mirrors — all shattered, all reflecting twisted versions of themselves.
Kaito approached the altar, drawn by an invisible force.
As he neared, the cursed book in his bag burst open, its pages flipping wildly until one stopped.
A single word written in blood-red ink burned itself into Kaito's mind:
"Ascend."
Suddenly, he understood.
This library wasn't just cursed.
It was a sanctuary — but not for humans.
It was built to protect something far older, far more terrible.
And it was waking up.
He staggered back, clutching his head as visions poured into his mind — visions of sacrifices, of humans bound and bled dry to feed an ancient hunger.
Visions of himself, standing at the center, blood dripping from his hands, smiling.
"No...!" Kaito gasped.
Sora grabbed him.
"Kaito, what's happening?!"
Before he could answer, the mirrors around them began to ripple like water.
Figures emerged — tall, shadowy creatures with hollow eyes and long, gnarled fingers.
The largest of them stepped forward, speaking in a voice like grinding stones.
"Welcome back, Master."
Kaito and Sora fled, their footsteps echoing loudly against the stone.
But the corridors shifted again, leading them deeper into the heart of the library instead of out.
The walls grew narrower, pressing against them, forcing them into a single-file path.
Finally, they stumbled into a vast underground chamber.
A massive black tree stood in the center, its roots piercing the ground like claws.
From its branches hung dozens of bodies — some fresh, some nothing but bones, swaying gently without any wind.
At the base of the tree was a pool of black water.
It reflected not their faces, but their fears.
Sora looked and saw herself drowning, unable to scream.
Kaito looked and saw himself standing over her, smiling coldly.
He tore his gaze away.
"We have to destroy it," Sora said, her voice trembling.
Kaito nodded, but deep down, something inside him hesitated.
A voice whispered, Why destroy what you were meant to rule?
The cursed book floated out of his bag, opening itself.
The tree shuddered violently, its branches twitching as if waking from a long sleep.
Sora tried to pull him away, but Kaito felt rooted to the spot, frozen.
Suddenly, dozens of whispers filled the air, deafening and sharp.
"You belong here," they hissed.
"You are one of us."
The pool of water bubbled and boiled.
A hand reached out — human at first, then shifting into something else — clawed, scaly, wrong.
Sora screamed.
Kaito snapped out of his trance and swung the book at the hand, striking it.
There was a horrible screech, and the hand withdrew, splashing black water everywhere.
The tree shrieked, a sound that made their bones vibrate.
The bodies hanging from the branches began to wake, twitching and groaning.
"We have to run!" Sora cried.
They turned and sprinted back the way they came, the ground shaking beneath them.
As they ran, Kaito stole one last glance behind him — and saw the black tree crack open like an egg.
From inside, something vast and monstrous began to emerge.
Not human.
Not alive.
Older than death itself.
And somehow, deep down, Kaito knew... it was calling for him.
They didn't stop running until they found themselves outside, the twisted library shrinking behind them under a blood-red sky.
They collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
For now, they had escaped.
But Kaito could still feel it — a tether binding him to that place.
And worse, he could feel the dark thing inside him stirring, growing stronger with every heartbeat.
He looked at Sora.
She was safe.
For now.
But for how long?