The pain.
Unforgettable.
Absolute.
Insurmountable.
There was so much… so much…
That I cannot stop feeling it.
Even now… after everything… it pulses within me as if part of my very existence.
As if it were a second skin.
As if it had been branded into my soul, and not just my body.
There is not a single second when I close my eyes — or what remains of them — and do not hear those screams.
The sound of shattering bones.
The dull thud of flesh being pierced.
The snapping of my own muscles giving way.
And then… the pain in my eyes.
My eyes.
The hellish sensation of my eyeballs burning from within as if dipped in acid.
Every nerve fiber rupturing in slow motion.
Every spark of light torturing me.
It was there, in that instant, that something inside me broke.
The blows…
The shouts around me…
My consciousness fading bit by bit…
I wished for death.
I begged for death.
I wanted something — anything — to reap my life.
To free me.
To end that pain.
To erase everything.
That was the first time I accepted the idea of disappearing forever.
And for a brief moment… I thought it had happened.
But no.
Something pulled me back.
And when I awoke…
I was no longer the same.
A woman, one of the group's healers, was there beside me, tending to my wounds — or what remained of them — when I suddenly sat up, as if something were yanking my torso.
She flinched, letting out a soft cry and stepping back.
She trembled, unsure of what to do.
She ran to alert the others.
But something in me… instinctively… spoke.
Stay.
The word did not leave my mouth.
It was transmitted as a command. A mental impulse.
And the woman stopped.
Frozen.
Eyes glazed over.
As if in a trance.
As if my will had overridden hers.
It was then I realized:
I could see.
Not with my eyes — those were bandaged, likely useless.
But… I saw everything.
Every energy vibrating in the air.
Every spiritual pulse.
Every emotional bond between the living and the dead.
Every fear.
Every love.
Every sorrow.
Every lie.
It was as if the world had lost its walls.
As if nothing could hide from me anymore.
As if, somehow, death had touched me… and left a cruel gift.
I could feel the currents of energy in every living being.
And worse: I felt I could invade them.
Manipulate them.
Bend them to my will.
I released the woman from the trance.
She staggered back, frightened.
— You… you trapped me — she said, trembling. — I felt… everything… your pain… your rage… it was horrible.
She ran to call the others.
And there, sitting on that makeshift bed, body bandaged, eyes destroyed, spirit torn…
I understood.
I had been reborn.
But something inside me had died that day.
Elsewhere, a field of destruction took shape.
Amid a pile of demonic corpses lay Karmore.
Her hair stained with blood, her eyes void of emotion.
She had devoured the energy of all there.
Her "inverted creation" allowed this — to completely absorb what others possessed and use them as fuel for herself.
Hazau approached, wounded.
Blood trickled down his arm, the result of exterminating a possessed human — no simple feat, as these corrupted humans became true living weapons.
Hazau did not like beating around the bush.
— You are the one I know the least among all — he said, staring at her. — I've tried to access your memories. I've tried to read your essence. But your energy… flows like an inverted waterfall. And anyone who tries to approach it… is devoured.
Karmore looked at him with disinterest, toying with a thread of white energy between her fingers.
— And yet you keep trying. How adorable.
— I don't care about that. But when Dante was reborn… when almost everything went wrong… you vanished.
Simply disappeared.
Like a rat.
Karmore smiled sarcastically.
— Perhaps I was too busy eating my own demons.
Hazau ignored the provocation.
— You've always been sadistic. Even Dante feared you on some level… though he never admitted it.
You are different from us.
Not just a Reaper. Nor a demon.
You are something unique.
And for that reason…
— if necessary… even if I am destroyed in the process…
I will kill you.
The energy around them stirred.
But Karmore only laughed, with a crooked smile.
— Don't flatter yourself, Hazau. The others have grown stronger, true. But I am still above you.
You do not understand me. You never will.
And when the chaos comes…
Perhaps I will choose not to stop it.
Meanwhile, deep inside the underground laboratory, Isha continued his experiments.
Humans were now available on a large scale, and he did not hesitate to tear their souls apart in the name of "science."
Hatred spread.
Pain became raw material.
Reapers walked the streets in their black robes, murmuring.
A meeting was approaching.
The Grand Master would come to that region.
Azaroth Devoluss.
They said he had lived for generations.
That he was immortal.
That no one had ever dared to touch him.
Some Reapers mocked the idea.
Others trembled merely upon hearing the name.
But all respected his power.
Zouden, standing atop a building, observed the world below with red eyes, as if awaiting a signal.
His blade, red and alive, vibrated in its scabbard.
— Quiet… you will find her soon — he whispered to the weapon, as if it could understand him.
Miran, the middle sister, stood silently by his side, arms crossed, contained hatred in her eyes.
— I want to destroy every bond Aisha built. Crush her spirit… and then her body.
Krow, the youngest, smiled in ecstasy.
— I can't wait. I've always heard of her. They always tried to protect me from her. I want to see if she's all that.
Zouden only whispered:
— The boss is coming. And the plan is only beginning.
We will crush our sister sooner or later.
On the other side, in the crimson temple…
— Aisha? — Dan murmured, his voice trembling as if he had just seen a ghost.
He took a step forward, eyes wide, heart racing. For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating, as if hope had betrayed him with an impossible vision. But no… she was there.
The woman before them looked like Aisha — but at the same time, she was not.
Her hair, once dark as night, was now completely white, like snow dipped in ether. Her skin seemed to glow with an almost ethereal tone, and a dense, suffocating aura emanated from her like a silent fire.
The energy she radiated… was not human. It was something ancestral, primitive. Something beyond.
Stella took a step back, eyes wide, lips slightly parted in a mix of fear and fascination.
— Is that… her? — she whispered. — The energy in the air… it feels like it's crushing my heart.
Indeed, the very environment seemed to bend around Aisha. The air was denser. Thoughts, slower. As if her mere presence demanded reverence.
Fenra appeared among them like a swift shadow, her gray eyes analyzing Aisha with solemnity.
— The energy beneath that Tree of Life where you lay near death was always unstable… but this… — she moved closer, cautious, sensing every wave of power Aisha emitted. — This isn't just a spiritual change. It's as if the Aether reacted to your sensitive being, Aisha. As if… your soul was split and reconfigured. Realigned with something ancient. Something… incomprehensible.
Aisha did not answer immediately.
She merely took a deep breath, even without needing to. The air entered her lungs and left in a calm exhale. She was strangely serene, as if the pain she had lived through had been sublimated to another plane.
Fenra stepped a little closer, brow furrowed.
— Aisha… you need to control this energy. It's suffocating everyone here. — Her voice was firm, but held no judgment. There was care. There was concern.
Aisha nodded slowly, and then, as if pulling something invisible into herself, her spiritual presence began to recede. The atmosphere grew a little lighter — but the power, even contained, was still felt deep in everyone's stomach.
She then asked, calmly:
— Where is Akira?
Her voice sounded different. Deeper. As if she spoke not just with her mouth, but with something beyond the body.
Fenra hesitated, the sorrow evident in her eyes.
— He's gone. — she replied with regret. — He said he had a plan… something big. Something that could help us in the future. But he said nothing more. He went alone.
Aisha closed her bandaged eyes. And even blinded, she seemed to see more than anyone there. To feel more.
She took another deep breath.
— You don't need to hide. — she said, with serenity.
She turned her head toward a nearby pillar, as if she knew exactly who was there — and indeed, she did.
Kion and Julian stepped out from behind it, visibly affected. Aisha's aura had kept them at a distance, like a force field made of fear and respect.
Julian looked at her, surprised and uncertain.
— Your aura… it was harmful. Too intense. But… — he swallowed dryly — it's good to see you alive, Aisha. Truly.
Kion crossed his arms, but his voice faltered slightly.
— We were all worried. — he said, not looking directly at her. — Your condition was critical. For a while, we thought… we thought we had lost you.
Aisha simply nodded, silent.
— I am well now. — she replied. Her voice was firm, more solid than before. — Better than before, in fact.
A dense silence fell.
She then turned her face toward Dan, her eyes covered by burned bandages, yet her gaze seemed to pierce physical barriers.
— Your energy… — she noted. — You've returned to normal. How did that happen?
Dan hesitated. His gaze grew distant, heavy. His aura had changed too, and though he was free from Dante's influence, a persistent shadow seemed to haunt his soul.
Dan had a knot in his throat, something stuck. He ignored the question and bowed his head to the floor in reverence.
— Aisha, forgive me. I would give anything… everything to erase what I did.
But I can't.
I can only… keep fighting for you all.
I didn't want to, I really didn't.
I know there are no excuses for my failure, but I don't know if I can look at you without feeling this weight.
For a moment, no one breathed.
Aisha remained silent, her bandaged eyes turned toward him. Her presence, still divine, seemed to grow quiet.
Then she approached. Her steps were light, almost floating.
She knelt before Dan.
And touched his shoulder gently.
— You don't need to erase what you did. — her voice was firm, but sweet. — You need to carry it.
— To learn from it.
— And not let the regret break you.
You are still here. And you still have a choice.
And as strange as it may seem… I trust you, Dan.
He looked up, eyes glistening, completely surprised.
— Pain… has taught me that some returns require the death of who we were.
But that…
That doesn't have to be the end. It can be the beginning.
Dan swallowed dryly. He couldn't say anything. He just nodded with tear-filled eyes, his hands clenched on his knees.
Aisha then asked again how he had returned to normal.
— I don't remember exactly… — he murmured.
The words weighed heavily.
— But… Tekio. It was him.
He was the one who saved me.
He was the one who… pulled Dante out of me.
The name fell like a rock in the room.
The silence that followed was almost tangible, as if everyone had stopped breathing for an instant.
The pain Dan carried in his eyes… was too deep for words. And yet, there was a silent reverence for the sacrifice Tekio had made.
Aisha frowned slightly. She turned her head toward an isolated room on the other side of the temple.
— His energy is fluctuating… — she whispered. — As if he's fighting a war. An internal one.
Something is happening to him. Something… dangerous.
Everyone fell silent, as if they too felt that oscillation, that distant call. The air grew heavy once more — but this time, it was because of uncertainty.
The future was forming like an invisible storm.
And at its center were Tekio… and Aisha.
Reborn.
But profoundly changed.
As if they had passed through death… and returned with fragments of something greater than themselves.
To be continued…