The air was heavy that night.
Rain whispered against the academy's stone walls, and the corridors glowed faintly with the reflection of blue mana veins that pulsed beneath the marble floors. The dormitory was quiet — too quiet.
Kajhunomo sat alone in his room, his fingers tapping against the cold wooden desk. The flickering lamp beside him barely held back the dark. He'd been trying to study Raizen's notes on Negativity Flow Control, but the letters on the page wouldn't stay still. They trembled, bent, and twisted into shapes that weren't there.
And then, softly — a whisper.
> "You thought you could silence me?"
Kajhunomo froze.
His eyes slowly rose to the mirror across the room — the same mirror that had cracked weeks ago during his first awakening. The cracks had healed since then, almost perfectly… yet now, they pulsed faintly with black light.
He stood up, his pulse quickening. "No… not again."
The whisper deepened, overlapping with his own heartbeat.
> "You can't hide from what you are, Kajhunomo."
"You're not fighting a curse. You're fighting yourself."
The reflection began to ripple, like a disturbed lake. Kajhunomo stared — and for a moment, he saw something else staring back.
Not his reflection.
Another him.
A version with pale eyes and a twisted grin, his aura leaking black mist. The mark on his right hand flared up instantly, resonating with the figure beyond the glass.
Kajhunomo stepped back, gripping his wrist. "Get out of my head!"
> "You still think I'm inside your head?"
"No… I'm what's inside your soul."
The mirror erupted.
Glass scattered like starlight. A gust of freezing air burst from the mirror's surface, throwing Kajhunomo across the room. He slammed into the wall, gasping for air, as black mist poured out from the mirror frame like smoke from another world.
And from that mist, the reflection stepped out.
It was him — identical in every detail, except for the eyes that burned with ghostly white flame. His voice was deeper, smoother… too calm.
> "I am the part you tried to bury," the doppelgänger said. "The Negativity that sustains your power."
Kajhunomo clenched his fists. "I control you now."
The other smirked. "Do you? Then prove it."
The air shattered.
Darkness surged between them, forming a shockwave that shattered the lamp and cracked the walls. Kajhunomo rolled aside as his shadow twin lunged forward, forming a blade of black energy. The strike hit the desk, cutting it cleanly in half.
Kajhunomo's aura flared, his mark burning. He summoned the same weapon — The Void Fang Blade — forged from his Negativity during his first trial. The two blades clashed, sending sparks of corrupted mana across the room.
"Why are you doing this!?" Kajhunomo shouted.
> "Because you're weak," the other hissed. "You hesitate to use what's inside you. You cling to humanity… when you were meant to surpass it."
Their blades locked again, shadows twisting around them like serpents. Kajhunomo's grip shook; the air around him warped. For every blow he parried, another came twice as fast. His reflection moved like water — every strike unpredictable, fluid, merciless.
> "You think you can wield Negativity without losing yourself?"
"You can't separate light from shadow… because you are the shadow."
The force of the next attack sent Kajhunomo crashing through the wall. He hit the floor of the corridor outside, gasping, dust clouding the air. The ground beneath him pulsed faintly with runes as the academy's defenses detected the surge of cursed energy.
A distant alarm began to hum through the building.
Somewhere down the hall, Raizen's eyes snapped open.
---
The Instructor's Intervention
Inside his quarters, Raizen was meditating before an ancient seal when the mana spike hit. His aura flared immediately — a deep blue flame coiling around him like a dragon.
"...Kajhunomo."
He vanished from his seat in an instant, reappearing in the corridor outside Kajhunomo's dorm. The hallway was filled with rolling smoke and flickering shadows. At the center of it, Kajhunomo knelt, panting — his twin standing above him, a mirror image with pure Negativity radiating from every breath.
Raizen extended a hand. His voice cut through the chaos like steel.
> "Stop this, Kajhunomo. Now."
The reflection turned slowly, smirking. "Raizen. The man who teaches control by suppressing emotion. How ironic — you don't even control your own fear."
Raizen's gaze narrowed. "You're not Kajhunomo. You're the echo of the Negativity Soul — a remnant bound to his curse."
> "Wrong."
The reflection's smile widened. "I am what your student is destined to become."
Raizen's aura blazed. The temperature dropped, and the light from the mana veins dimmed. Blue lightning crackled around his arms.
> "Then I'll destroy you before that happens."
The floor split as both surged forward. Raizen's strikes were precise, heavy — arcs of condensed energy slicing through shadow. The doppelgänger countered effortlessly, each movement echoing Kajhunomo's style but with brutal precision. The hall bent and groaned under the impact of every clash.
Kajhunomo, struggling to rise, shouted through the roar of magic, "Stop! You'll kill him!"
Raizen didn't turn. "If he dies, it means you weren't ready."
> "Then let me fight him!" Kajhunomo screamed.
The reflection's voice echoed in both their minds. "Finally… the real fight begins."
Raizen stepped back, letting Kajhunomo move forward. The young slayer's aura shifted — not entirely black this time, but a gradient of silver and shadow. His eyes burned with determination.
He held the Void Fang Blade tight.
"I'm not afraid anymore."
---
The Battle Within
The reflection raised its blade.
"Then show me."
Their blades collided again, and the sound reverberated through the academy like a thunderclap.
This time, Kajhunomo didn't retreat. He matched every swing with equal force, his mana roaring around him like a storm. The ground splintered beneath his feet as he channeled his energy through every strike.
Raizen watched silently from the side, his arms folded, his expression unreadable.
Kajhunomo's body screamed in pain — the curse within him pushing limits no human should cross. But something was different this time. The voice in his head wasn't taunting… it was synchronizing.
> "You can't destroy what you don't understand…"
"…but you can command it."
He shifted stance, closing his eyes for just a moment — and when he opened them again, both his irises glowed faintly, one silver, one black.
A perfect balance.
> "Shadow Assimilation," Raizen whispered. "He's done it…"
Kajhunomo's shadow extended across the floor — then rose, wrapping around his reflection. The twin struggled as the shadows twisted and absorbed him, every inch of him dissolving into black light. Kajhunomo screamed, his voice echoing through the entire academy.
> "I ACCEPT YOU!"
Light burst through the hall.
When it faded, Kajhunomo stood alone — trembling, breathing heavily, his mark glowing with both black and silver energy.
Raizen stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You've done something most slayers can't — merged with your inner Negativity without losing your mind."
Kajhunomo smiled faintly, exhausted. "Then… that thing's gone?"
Raizen shook his head. "No. He's not gone. He's part of you now."
Kajhunomo blinked. "What do you mean?"
Raizen's gaze hardened. "You'll see."
---
The Morning After
The next day, the academy was silent. The cracked walls and melted stone of the dormitory were being repaired by enchanted workers, but whispers traveled fast among the students.
Kajhunomo walked through the halls with a hood drawn low. Every eye turned toward him — fear, awe, and curiosity all mixed in their stares. Some murmured words like "Vessel" and "Cursed Heir."
In the training yard, Seren was waiting.
She ran up the moment she saw him. "Kajhunomo! What the hell happened last night? The mana surge almost fried the entire east wing!"
He hesitated. "It was… me. Or something inside me."
Seren's eyes softened. "Raizen told us. You survived the Shadow Trial."
Kajhunomo looked away. "Barely."
> "Barely is still surviving," she said quietly. "Don't forget that."
He nodded, a faint smile returning. The wind brushed through his hair, carrying the distant scent of ozone — the lingering memory of last night's battle.
"Seren," he said softly. "Do you ever feel like… the more you fight the darkness, the more it becomes part of you?"
She looked up at him. "That's because it already is."
Their eyes met — a brief moment of understanding passing between them.
---
The Meeting Beneath the Academy
Later that evening, Raizen stood before the sealed chamber deep beneath the academy — the same place where the First Negativity Slayer's sigil was stored. A woman in crimson robes stood beside him, her long hair tied back, her expression grim.
> "He merged with his shadow," she said. "That shouldn't be possible at this stage."
Raizen's gaze stayed on the seal. "Kajhunomo isn't ordinary. The Negativity recognized him."
> "Then the prophecy is real?"
He nodded slowly. "The Mirror Fracture. The moment when the Vessel unites both sides of despair and becomes the bridge between worlds."
The woman frowned. "And if he loses control?"
Raizen's eyes darkened.
"Then everything we built will fall. The Negativity will awaken fully… and consume both worlds."
---
The Return to the Mirror
That night, Kajhunomo returned to his repaired dorm. The new mirror on the wall gleamed clean and unbroken. He stared into it silently, feeling the faint pulse of energy beneath his skin.
Then — a whisper.
> "We're not enemies anymore."
He didn't flinch this time. "Then what are we?"
> "Partners."
He nodded slowly, touching the mark on his hand. For the first time, it didn't burn. It felt warm.
The mirror's reflection smiled faintly — the same smile he now wore.
> "The world won't understand us," the voice said. "But that's fine. Because soon… they'll need us."
Kajhunomo looked out the window — at the endless storm clouds gathering over the city.
He could feel it. Something vast and ancient was stirring in the distance. The Negativity wasn't done with him.
It was only beginning.
---