The Broken Lands did not welcome them.
The sky above was pale and cracked like old porcelain. Mountains leaned at unnatural angles, as if the earth itself had tried to escape and failed. No birds flew. No insects sang.
Only wind.
Hiroto felt it immediately.
His shadow reacted.
Not violently.
Nervously.
"…This place is wrong," Yui whispered.
Akari dismounted and placed a hand on the ground.
"The gods abandoned this land centuries ago."
Goro frowned. "Why?"
"Because something here refuses to bow."
The deeper they traveled, the heavier Hiroto's chest became. His shadow stretched strangely across the warped terrain, flickering like it couldn't decide what shape to take.
He staggered.
Yui caught his arm. "Hiroto!"
"I'm fine," he said, but his voice was thin.
Akari noticed.
"Your power is unstable here."
"Good," Hiroto replied.
"If gods can't see me… neither can their chains."
They reached the ruins of a city.
Not burned.
Not destroyed.
Abandoned.
Stone houses stood intact. Tables still set. Wells still full.
But no people.
Yui swallowed. "Where did everyone go?"
Before anyone answered A presence stepped out of the fog.
Not light.
Not shadow.
Not divine.
A man in tattered black robes with a symbol carved into his mask three broken circles.
He raised one hand.
"Turn back," he said calmly.
"This land devours belief."
Akari drew her spear. "Who are you?"
"A Watcher," the man replied.
"Left behind when the gods fled."
Hiroto felt his shadow tighten.
"…You're not human."
The Watcher tilted his head.
"I was."
Suddenly, the air split.
A blade of pale light tore through the ruins.
Akari blocked it at the last second, skidding backward across stone.
From above, shapes descended.
Divine Path scouts.
Winged.
Armed.
Silent.
"They found us already?!" Yui cried.
Akari barked orders. "Defensive formation!"
Hiroto stepped forward.
His shadow rose.
But this time It didn't obey cleanly.
It fractured.
Pain ripped through his head.
"Hiroto!" Yui screamed.
One scout dove toward her.
Hiroto forced his shadow up.
Chains shot out and crushed the creature midair.
But more came.
The Watcher sighed.
"…So the war has followed you here."
He removed his mask.
His face was pale stone, cracked with glowing lines.
"I told the gods this land would awaken again."
He looked at Hiroto.
"And now it has."
The sky darkened.
Not with clouds.
With eyes.
Something ancient shifted beneath the Broken Lands.
And far away, in golden temples…
A god whispered:
"The shadow has entered forbidden ground."
Another replied:
"Then let him bleed."
The War of Faith had reached a place even heaven feared.
And Hiroto was standing at its heart.
To be continued…