Ren appeared in a realm.
He would have called it perfect - if not for already knowing who created it. The sky was calm, deceptively ordinary. The wind flowed gently. Mountain ranges peaked across the snowy, quiet summit.
Just when Ren drew his sword, the forest spirit appeared. Even though he gave it an eye, he was also paying close attention to the surroundings.
The creature spat, crossing its arms.
"Ah! What a humiliation. How dare such a peasant brat talk down to you like that? Its controlling spirit isn't even anywhere near compared to me."
Ren sighed.
"Are we talking about Moboroshi-gami now?"
"Of course. You must make sure to find her hiding spot and behead her once and for all! Understood? If someone looks down on you, that means they consider me lowly as well. And such is what I can NEVER accept!"
"Hold on…" Ren raised a finger, brows furrowed in contemplation. "What do you mean by 'hiding spot'?"
The wind howled leftwards. Ren lowered his gaze a little. He kept looking left through the corner of his eye.
The creature, however, kept on talking. Besides, Ren asked a genuine question.
"That wall was a passage between this ethereal space and the room. Moboroshi-gami owns and controls everything here. You can't afford to be too careless, truth be told. If the Kaidan exits the realm, everything will collapse. Everyone, including you, will get trapped in eternal darkness. So, it's reasonable to say Moboroshi-gami is currently hiding either on this realm's ground or sky level. To win, you simply have to find and kill her."
A long pause dragged between them.
The creature stared down at Ren with intent.
"Are you confident?"
Ren raised his eyebrow. He breathed out loud, then asked.
"Who's stronger? You or Moboroshi-gami's controlling spirit?"
The creature snickered.
"Easy there, kid. You should know better. Only a few spirits match my level, and even so—"
TWISH!
The snow suddenly gusted in their direction.
Ren held his sword tight, turning left immediately as he had expected this to happen. Someone was sprinting towards him. He recognised the face, but the other features troubled him for a second.
But that aside. He had to deal with the problem first.
It was a samurai with surprisingly sharp claws and elongated maws. Not actually surprising.
GRAHHH!
When the mutated samurai lunged at Ren, he pushed his sword upwards and drove it in a perfect arc across the man's neck. The body turned into black mist.
Ren shot a second glance at the green paste all over his sword.
The spirit's voice cut through the air.
"Order of Salvation."
Ren stared up with slightly furrowed brows.
"What's that?"
"A rather unpopular way by which a Kaidan takes full control over a vulnerable human's subconscious. In this case, Moboroshi-gami possessed the brat and just gave him the perfect depiction of a Kaidan's power. This is actually something fun because not all Kaidans can do that."
Ren swallowed, then glanced around. Now he knows exactly what happened to all the missing samurais. For a moment, he stopped to look at a narrow path across the peak, surrounded by tall, leafless trees.
"Where does that lead to?"
The creature turned and looked the same way. It raised its brows.
"Well, just take it if you're curious. Trust your instincts, and you might defeat Moboroshi-gami and break free from this illusion. Should I be expecting a rite soon? It's almost due…"
Ren started walking down the summit. He held his sword tight.
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Fair enough then. I mustn't have stumbled upon this realm for nothing."
In some minutes, Ren made it across the snow forest dominated by the towering trees. The trees were overly dark and had no leaves on them. But at the end of the forest, Ren paused as he found a barn directly facing him.
Gently, the familiar bone fragments rolled through the air before him.
[Mutants within radius: Five.]
Ren held his sword straight.
Now he started to imagine if it was really impossible for the mutated samurais to return to human form.
STEP, STEP, STEP!!!
The ground trembled beneath his straw shoes.
Three of the mutants came out from the barn. The wind slapped the back of Ren's neck, so he knew to jump rightwards, away from his original spot. When he looked forward, two more mutants had appeared.
He sighed.
"Unbelievable."
It wasn't just about them having grown maws and claws. Not even their eyes being completely as dark as a void. But something wasn't there anymore, no matter how hard Ren tried to pick it out.
Something that makes one "human".
… TWISH-SLASH!!!
In a single strike, Ren dashed to one of them and cut him in two at the abdomen level. But when he rolled to the other side and looked up, the body had healed up already.
Super-fast healing, Ren spat.
Even he himself couldn't heal that quickly.
The same mutant rushed at him and successfully pierced his chest with the claws. Ren's brows twitched slightly. Before he jerked up his sword and plunged the centre of the mutant's chest with it.
When he drew back, he figured that the quickest way to survive here was to see the mutants as enemy Kaidans. Not past accomplices. Keeping that in mind, Ren quickly moved in and cut off the mutant's head in three tries.
In a second, he started to weave between the rest in a thick fume of black. His sword was a streak of light against their claws. He deflected their attacks, killed, got slashed, and healed up. But when he severed the last mutant's head, his left arm slumped to the ground as well.
Ren didn't fret it; the injury stung, but it won't kill him. And it would only take a while for the arm to regenerate.
Thus, he moved on.
***
The snow grew heavier as Ren climbed the mountains non-stop. Blood trailed behind him, with his soaked kimono also weighing down on him.
Meanwhile, being in this familiar environment stemmed a memory in him. His saliva felt thick as everything replayed in his head.
One stab. Two stabs. Until the number of strikes was enough to silence the kid on Mt. Kuronami.
Ren clenched his fist, grinding his jaws. If that day had never existed, things would have been different today. He won't have become a monster… a tool for the cursed humans to use to test if something's dangerous.
Same as how the godforsaken Riku asked him to go check if it was safe to move on. How absurd! Does being able to heal his injuries mean he is immune to pain?
Ren groaned.
"I feel pain as well!"
WHEEZ-WHEEZ-WHEEZ!!!
The cold wind blew across.
Ren suddenly stopped. He could see someone lying on the ground ahead of him, dressed in the same brown kimono. At first, he thought they were dead. But in a slow manner, they unexpectedly rose. Their back was turned to Ren, knees grounded on the chilling surface.
Ren caught the recognition immediately. Because only one lady wears a jade hairpin in the entire troop.
Aiko.
"Is she still with us?"
Nonetheless, Ren held his sword straight.
Seconds passed, but she still didn't move. That was when Ren thought it was time to face reality; it's what it is.
Ren's breath caught. Snow drifted between them, faintly glowing in the white mist. Aiko didn't move.
"Respond to me if you can. But know that your silence indirectly tells me you are now dangerous."
…
His head dipped.
"I see then."