We move closer, step by step, the weight in the air growing heavier with each breath. The closer we get, the sharper everything becomes, like reality itself is tightening around us.
The woman stands still, composed, her presence colder than the ocean breeze behind her. Her expression never changes, calm and detached, like she's already decided how this ends. Beside her stands the boy, smaller, his face completely hidden beneath his hood. His cloak is darker than hers, tinged with a muted purple-black sheen that seems to swallow the light around him.
She smiles.
"I was wondering how long it would take," she says. Her voice is smooth, almost amused. "Our master foresaw your arrival. Still… imagine my disappointment when I was told the dragon keepers who reawakened in the city were nothing more than four children."
As she speaks, the air grows colder. Not wind. Not temperature. Something deeper. Something that seeps into bone.
"I am Kurohana of the Shadowviel," she continues calmly. "Lieutenant to the master you so desperately wish to stop."
My stomach drops.
A lieutenant.
My mind races. Last time we fought a lieutenant, we barely survived. And she's standing here like this isn't even a fight.
"And," she adds casually, tilting her head, "I am not alone."
She gestures slightly toward the boy.
"This is Kagezu."
The boy doesn't move. Doesn't speak. He stands like a shadow given form.
Maya steps forward, jaw clenched. "Enough talking. Why are you doing this? Why tear apart our world?"
Kurohana laughs softly. The sound makes my skin crawl.
"Souls," she answers simply. "To shatter the seal of the Shadowviel. To let our master devour what remains of your fragile world." Her eyes flick to us one by one. "Is there truly any reason beyond that?"
Silence hangs heavy.
Then she straightens, her smile sharpening.
"Now," she asks pleasantly, "how would you all like to die?"
We all recoil instinctively.
Cameron steps forward, lightning crackling faintly around him. His voice is steady, sharper than I've ever heard it. "The only one dying here is you."
Jordan plants her foot into the sand, earth trembling beneath it. "Move. Let us close the portal."
Kurohana's smile widens, slow and deliberate.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Her tone is almost apologetic. "You see, whether you die here… or whether I simply take your souls and your weapons for my master… the outcome is the same."
I step forward, flames licking along my blade. "Not happening," I say. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."
Her eyes glint.
"So be it."
She lifts her hand.
The world screams.
A sound like metal tearing through stone rips through the air, vibrating straight into my skull. Pain explodes behind my ears. We all clutch our heads as whispers flood the space around us, overlapping, shrieking, begging, condemning.
"Agh!" Jordan cries out.
Maya drops to one knee. Cameron staggers.
Only Kagezu remains unmoved, standing silently as if the sound doesn't exist.
The sky darkens. The air feels wrong, like it's folding inward. I shiver violently, my body screaming at me to run.
"What are you doing?" I force out, dropping to my knees as blood trickles from my ears.
Kurohana's hand continues to rise.
"You'll see."
The sand beneath her cracks.
A skeletal hand bursts from the ground.
The beach begins to rot.
Golden sand turns gray, then ashen, like life itself is being drained away. Fingers claw upward, bone scraping against reality. An arm follows, long and twisted, shadows binding it together as it drags itself free.
The whispers grow louder.
Die. Die. Die.
I look to my team. Jordan is on one knee, breathing hard. Cameron is bracing himself, lightning flickering weakly. Maya is hunched over, hands pressed to her ears, eyes wide with pain.
The thing continues to rise.
Fifteen feet tall. A towering skeletal form, elongated limbs, ribs exposed and hollow, darkness swirling where flesh should be. Its skull tilts slowly, empty eye sockets igniting with a deep, hateful red.
Kurohana lowers her hand at last, satisfied.
"Rise," she commands softly. "Gashadokuro no Ōkami."
The monster straightens fully.
"Ravish their light."
I scream, "EVERYONE, RUN!"
The creature raises one massive arm and brings it down.
The world shatters.
A shockwave erupts outward. Trees behind us disintegrate instantly, turning into jagged, dark crimson glass. The ground fractures, reflecting distorted images of the sky above. We're thrown in different directions, ripped apart by the blast.
I hit the ground hard.
When I open my eyes, everything is gone.
No forest. No beach. No team.
Only endless fields of shattered glass stretching in every direction, reflecting crimson light. The portal pulses in the distance. Kurohana stands beside it, unmoved. Kagezu hasn't taken a single step.
And my team… gone.
Separated.
Alone.
This fight isn't just beginning.
It's already swallowed us whole