The storm arrived without warning.
Thunder cracked over the academy's black towers, lightning splitting across the horizon like glowing veins. The dormitory lamps flickered, and the runic barriers that usually shimmered with soft light pulsed erratically — as if something beyond them was trying to get in.
Kajhunomo sat by the window, his hand pressed against the faintly glowing spiral mark near his collarbone. Every flash of lightning made it respond — throb once, then fade again. It had been quiet since his confrontation with Raizen-sensei… but tonight, the silence felt unnatural.
> "You feel it too, don't you?"
The whisper came from within.
Kajhunomo's eyes narrowed. Not now. He tried to block it out, but the voice only chuckled faintly, like it could sense his unease.
> "Something's calling from below. The forgotten ones… they're stirring again."
He turned away from the window, unable to shake the unease twisting in his stomach. Below the academy lay the Sanctum of Seals — a forbidden level sealed centuries ago after an accident no one dared to discuss. The rumors said the ancient Negativity experiments began there.
Raizen had once said it was "a graveyard for mistakes."
Kajhunomo wasn't sure whether to believe that anymore.
---
The Summons
A sharp knock echoed at his door.
"Come in," Kajhunomo called.
Reina stepped inside, her usual composure broken by worry. Her hair was damp from the rain, and her training uniform clung to her shoulders.
"They're calling a late-night meeting," she said quickly. "Raizen-sensei wants us in the Hall of Echoes — immediately."
Kajhunomo blinked. "At this hour? Why?"
Reina's eyes flickered toward the corridor. "He didn't say. Just that it's about the resonance surge you caused earlier today."
Kajhunomo's stomach dropped. "Great…"
The last time he'd lost control, the energy explosion had nearly shattered the courtyard's protective field. He'd thought Raizen had contained the situation quietly, but apparently not quietly enough.
"Let's go," Reina said, grabbing her staff and motioning him to follow.
The halls were quiet except for the faint hum of the academy's sigil lines glowing underfoot. The light shifted from its usual soft white to an uneasy red — an alert mode Kajhunomo had never seen before.
When they reached the Hall of Echoes, Raizen stood waiting beside the great mirror-shaped seal at the front of the room. The torches burned black, their flames moving against the wind.
But they weren't alone.
A girl stood beside Raizen — someone Kajhunomo had never seen before. Her short black hair caught a silver hue under the torchlight, and her pale blue eyes watched them with unsettling calm.
Raizen turned.
"Ah, you're here," he said, his tone measured. "Kajhunomo, Reina — meet Seren Akari. She will be joining you for tonight's task."
"Task?" Reina repeated, frowning. "What kind of task?"
Seren bowed slightly. "We're going beneath the academy," she said softly. Her voice was like still water. "To the Sanctum."
Kajhunomo froze. "The forbidden section?"
Raizen nodded. "The seals have begun to fluctuate again — same resonance pattern as the one reacting to Kajhunomo's mark. I suspect there's a connection."
He turned toward the mirror-seal, tracing runes along its edge.
"You've all been chosen because you each share a unique link to Negativity. Kajhunomo's mark is the catalyst. Reina's pure aura acts as a stabilizer. Seren… she can hear the echoes."
Seren's expression didn't change. "The trapped voices of the sealed," she murmured. "They've been whispering louder these past nights."
Kajhunomo glanced between them, uneasy. "And what exactly do we do down there?"
Raizen's voice deepened. "We find the source — and contain it. Before the academy collapses into the same corruption it once sealed away."
---
The Descent
The door to the Sanctum wasn't made of metal or stone — it was alive.
A black membrane pulsed in the center of the underground corridor, veins of light crawling across its surface. Each pulse made the walls tremble, as though the entire building was breathing.
Raizen extended his staff, pressing the glowing end against the door. It hissed open like tearing flesh, revealing a spiral staircase leading into darkness.
Kajhunomo swallowed hard. "Remind me again why students are allowed to do this?"
"Because the adults are afraid," Seren said quietly, already stepping forward. "They can't hear what we hear."
Reina scowled. "You're enjoying this a little too much, aren't you?"
Seren smiled faintly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Curiosity isn't joy."
Raizen gave them each a warning glance. "Stay focused. The deeper we go, the stronger the resonance gets. If your seals react violently, stop breathing for three seconds — it interrupts the flow temporarily."
Kajhunomo blinked. "Stop breathing—?"
But Raizen had already begun descending.
The air grew colder with every step. The torches lining the walls burned blue instead of red now, their flames flickering as though struggling to stay lit. Whispers echoed faintly through the stairwell — distant, layered voices murmuring words Kajhunomo couldn't understand.
At the bottom stood a vast iron gate covered in runes older than any language he'd seen. Seren approached it slowly, closing her eyes.
"They're crying," she whispered. "So many… trapped emotions."
Reina shivered. "You can hear them?"
"Yes." Seren placed her hand against the gate. "They're saying a name. Over and over."
Kajhunomo hesitated. "Whose name?"
She opened her eyes. "Yours."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Kajhunomo stepped back instinctively. "No… that doesn't make sense. Why would—"
The gate groaned, its runes lighting up one by one. Raizen cursed under his breath and slammed his staff to the ground. "Step back! It's responding to your resonance, Kajhunomo!"
The gate shuddered violently. Dust rained from the ceiling. The runes rearranged themselves into a single, pulsing sigil — the same spiral mark on Kajhunomo's chest.
> "He returns…"
The voice was not in his head this time. It came from everywhere at once.
Then the gate split open.
---
The Hall of Bells
They stepped into a chamber so vast it felt like stepping into another world. Chains hung from the ceiling, each ending in a rusted bell that swung gently though no wind blew. The floor was covered in shallow water that reflected distorted faces every time someone moved.
Kajhunomo felt his pulse quicken. The black mark on his skin was burning again — not painfully, but insistently, like something beneath the surface was calling home.
Raizen's staff glowed brighter. "Stay behind me," he ordered. "This place is saturated with unbound Negativity. If your seal fractures here, you'll lose your mind."
Reina's eyes darted around. "Where are those whispers coming from?"
Seren tilted her head. "They're not whispers anymore."
She raised a finger to her lips. "Listen closely."
Kajhunomo did — and realized the sound filling the chamber wasn't just bells.
It was breathing.
Dozens of faint exhales, all in perfect unison, echoing through the vast room.
Raizen moved to the center platform, examining an altar carved with sigils similar to the ones on Kajhunomo's body. "This is where they sealed the first Negativity Core," he murmured. "The origin of the curse."
Kajhunomo frowned. "Core?"
Seren nodded slowly. "A living nucleus of pure emotional energy. When humanity's hatred overflowed, it was contained here… given form, and chained by the Slayers."
Reina's voice trembled. "Then why is it awakening?"
Before anyone could answer, the bells began to toll.
The sound wasn't sharp — it was low and resonant, vibrating through their bones. The water rippled. The chains above trembled, shedding flakes of rust like rain.
Raizen turned sharply. "Something's moving beneath the altar!"
The floor split. From the shallow water, a massive figure rose — a creature made of shifting shadows, its form human yet monstrous. Dozens of faces emerged and vanished across its surface, screaming in silence.
Kajhunomo staggered back. "What is that!?"
Seren's eyes widened — not with fear, but awe. "The Core… no, a fragment of it."
Raizen raised his staff, light flaring. "Get back!"
The creature struck first.
A wave of black energy tore through the room, shattering stone and sending Reina flying into a pillar. Kajhunomo barely managed to raise his arm before the darkness struck him — and the mark on his chest flared, absorbing part of the blast.
Pain ripped through him.
He dropped to one knee, gasping.
> "Don't fight it," the voice whispered inside him.
"You and it are one."
"No!" Kajhunomo roared, forcing himself up. "I'm not your puppet!"
But the creature lunged again — and this time, Kajhunomo moved without thinking. His hand sliced through the air, and a blade of black mist formed from his own shadow, cutting into the monster's arm. The attack sliced through like light through smoke.
Reina staggered to her feet. "Kajhunomo—!"
Raizen watched in grim silence. "His Negativity is resonating perfectly… uncontrolled, but in harmony. Impossible…"
Seren raised both hands, murmuring an incantation. A ripple spread across the air, freezing the creature's movement briefly. "He's merging with the frequency," she said. "But if he loses balance—"
"He dies," Raizen finished.
The monster's chest opened like a maw of smoke, and countless eyes blinked from within. Kajhunomo felt his vision blur, reality twisting around him. For a moment, he wasn't in the chamber anymore — he was standing inside his own mind again.
The shadow stood there, the same cloaked figure from before.
"You see now?" it whispered. "This is what they sealed away — us."
Kajhunomo clenched his fists. "Then why show me this?"
"Because you need me," the shadow replied. "They will turn on you once they see what you are. Even Raizen. Even your friend."
"No…" Kajhunomo gritted his teeth. "Reina would never—"
"Wouldn't she?" The shadow's grin widened. "You saw her fear. You felt it."
Kajhunomo's heart twisted. He wanted to deny it — but deep down, he remembered the moment her aura collided with his. The flash of terror in her eyes.
He shouted, forcing the thought away — and reality snapped back.
---
The Breaking Seal
Raizen's voice cut through the roar of energy. "Kajhunomo! The seal's rupturing! You must focus your mark — push the energy inward!"
"I'm trying!"
The creature screamed, a thousand voices overlapping. The bells above shattered one by one, releasing showers of sparks. The air turned heavy, almost liquid.
Seren ran toward Kajhunomo, her hands glowing with silver runes. "I can redirect the echo — but you have to hold the connection steady!"
Kajhunomo nodded weakly, sweat dripping down his face. "Do it!"
She pressed her palm against his mark. Their energies collided — his darkness and her echo-light intertwining. For a moment, their minds touched.
Kajhunomo saw flashes — Seren as a child, standing in a laboratory surrounded by cages filled with screaming echoes. Her tears falling as instructors forced her to listen to the dying voices of failed subjects.
She wasn't just another student. She was a survivor.
Seren's voice wavered. "Now you see… why I can't fail again."
Kajhunomo gritted his teeth. "Then let's end this together!"
They both screamed, releasing the combined resonance. The creature convulsed, the shadows peeling away until only a core of pure black crystal remained — beating like a heart.
Raizen stepped forward, slamming his staff down.
"Seal Formation: Ten Thousand Locks!"
Runes spiraled outward, wrapping the crystal in chains of light. The sound was deafening — like steel grinding against stone. Slowly, the chamber fell silent again.
The monster was gone.
Only the echo of the final bell remained.
---
Aftermath
Kajhunomo collapsed to his knees, panting hard. Reina rushed to his side, helping him up. "You did it… we did it," she whispered.
Raizen was silent, staring at the sealed crystal now hovering above the altar. His expression was unreadable.
Seren looked pale, her hands trembling. "It's… sleeping again. But not destroyed."
Raizen finally turned to Kajhunomo. "You connected with it, didn't you?"
Kajhunomo hesitated. "Yes… and it knew me."
Raizen's eyes narrowed slightly, but his tone remained calm. "Then the connection between you and the Core is deeper than I feared."
Reina frowned. "Sensei, what are you saying?"
Raizen looked toward the broken bells above.
"That Kajhunomo isn't just carrying a fragment of Negativity."
He met Kajhunomo's eyes.
"He is its reincarnation."
The words hit like a blade of ice. Kajhunomo froze, unable to speak.
Seren's gaze shifted, unreadable. Reina's grip on his arm tightened.
"I… what?"
Raizen sighed quietly. "We'll discuss it at dawn. For now, we return. The Sanctum must remain sealed."
As they turned to leave, Kajhunomo glanced one last time at the sleeping crystal. For a heartbeat, he saw his own reflection within it — smiling back.
> "You can't seal what's already part of you," the voice whispered.
"Soon, they'll all see the truth."
---
Epilogue Scene
Later that night, in a chamber deep beneath the academy, a cloaked figure knelt before a cracked mirror — one that reflected not the face of the watcher, but Kajhunomo's mark.
> "The vessel awakens sooner than predicted," the figure murmured.
"The cycle begins again."
From the darkness, faint laughter echoed — not from one voice, but many.
And somewhere, above, the last unbroken bell began to ring on its own.
The Bell of Forgotten Souls had not finished its song.
---