The world returned to Kairo in broken fragments.
First came the sound.
A slow, wet thud… thud… thud—like someone was dropping slabs of meat onto stone.
Then the smell.
Burnt flesh. Rot. The metallic sting of fresh blood so heavy it felt like it coated his lungs.
Then—pain.
A pulsing pressure behind his eyes, throbbing like something alive was trying to force its way out of his skull.
Kairo groaned and pushed himself upright. His muscles trembled—not with fear, not with weakness, but with… exhaustion.Not normal exhaustion.
The kind that felt like his body had been tearing through something—through people—while he wasn't awake to feel it.
His vision cleared.
And he froze.
Bodies.
Dozens of them.
Twisted, broken shapes scattered across the hall. Some smashed into walls. Some ripped clean down the center. Others… melted into unrecognizable lumps.
Not monsters.
Not dungeon beasts.
People.
Men and women in dark armored uniforms—the same sigils as the hunters who tried to execute him in the Holy City. But these ones…
These ones weren't killed by weapons.
They were dismantled.
As if something had played with them.
Kairo's stomach twisted violently.
"What… happened…?"
A voice answered.
Not from behind him.
Not from anywhere in the ruined room.
From inside him.
"You let me out."
Kairo spun around—
But there was no one. Only shadows. Corpses. Dripping blood.
And that soft, impossible whisper inside his skull.
He staggered backward until his back hit the wall, breathing hard.
"No. No, I didn't—"
"You fell asleep, Kairo," the voice murmured gently."So I borrowed your body."
A cold ripple ran through his blood.
The voice didn't sound monstrous. Or angry.It sounded calm. Patient.
Like it was smiling.
Kairo looked down at his own arms—an ache blooming beneath the skin like deep bruises. His fingers were stained red.
Not old blood.
Fresh.
Still warm.
A tremor went through him and he desperately wiped his hands on the ground, but the blood only smeared darker.
"Get out of my head," he whispered.
"You invited me in."
"No, I didn't!"
"You broke the seal.""You cried out.""You begged."
"No—"
"You wanted power."
Kairo's jaw clenched, teeth grinding. "You're lying."
Silence.
Then a soft, amused hum.
"Do you want to know what they called you before they died?"
Kairo squeezed his eyes shut.He didn't want to know.He didn't want to remember.
But the voice told him anyway.
"Monster.""Demon.""Abyss-walker."
Images crashed into his mind.
His own hands moving faster than he could process. Bones cracking under his grip. Screams echoing down the dark corridor. His mouth stretching into a grin that didn't belong to him.
Kairo dropped to his knees, clutching his head.
"Stop—stop—JUST STOP!"
The voice softened.
Almost comforting.
"Calm down.""I'm not your enemy."
"You killed them," Kairo breathed.
"They wanted to kill you."
"They were humans—"
"So are roaches," the voice replied gently."You still step on them."
Kairo's heart twisted painfully.
"I'm not like you," he whispered.
"You are me."
"No."
"And I am you."
"NO!"
The floor vibrated.
Black veins spread across the stone beneath him, snaking outward like living shadows. They pulsed—slow at first, then syncing perfectly with the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Kairo stared at them, horrified.
"What… what is that?"
"Us," the voice whispered."Growing."
His pulse kicked. The veins throbbed with it—alive, hungry, awakening.
Footsteps echoed from the far end of the hall.
More hunters. More weapons. More witnesses.
And the voice inside him exhaled in a slow, delighted sigh.
"Shall we continue?"
Kairo shook.Not from fear of the hunters.Not from fear of dying.
He was afraid of the truth sinking into his bones.
Afraid of the tiny voice inside him that whispered back—
"…yes."