---
**[Scene - Morning - Forest Outside Ironwood Kingdom Human Territory]**
The air softened. Sunlight filtered through, causing leaves to fall as small birds sang.
Rei's eyes fluttered open.
(Rei - The girl Kuro saved. She has no family name.)
She was lying on a soft bed of moss and a blanket. The scent of fruit hung in the air.
Her memories returned in fragments.
> *Chains.*
*Pain.*
*A hand reaching into the abyss.*
She looked to her right.
Kuro was sitting silently at the cave entrance, watching the sunlight. His posture was straight, his demeanor calm.
She blinked.
> "You... you saved me?"
He didn't turn to look.
> "You could be useful."
Rei nodded, feeling confused.
> "It's a strange way to say 'thank you'..."
Finally, Kuro looked at her.
> "Gratitude is unnecessary. Don't get in my way."
Rei gave a soft smile.
> "You're strange, but not bad."
---
**[Scene - At Home - Kuro's Parents]**
Later that day, Kuro brought Rei back to his wooden house. She wore an old set of clothes, her silver-and-black hair tied back with a cloth strip.
His parents stared in surprise.
> "Is she a friend?" Lyra asked.
Kuro nodded impassively.
> "Her name is Rei. She will be staying here for now."
His father gave a broad smile.
> "So our boy finally has a friend!"
Darken studied Rei's appearance, noting the lack of a home, and gave a slow, understanding nod.
Kuro's mother, Lyra, gently hugged Rei and gave her a warm bowl of soup.
Rei blinked in confusion.
> "I've... never..."
She stopped.
> "Thank you."
That evening, they sat around the wooden table under the warm light. Rei ate quietly, her eyes shining.
And Kuro?
He said nothing.
Yet... he did not once tell her to leave.
---
**[Scene - The Following Days - Secret Cave Training]**
Kuro stood in the center of a magic circle. Rei stood opposite him, her breathing calm, her eyes sharp.
> "You said you wanted power," Kuro stated.
Rei nodded.
> "I want to become stronger. I don't know why, but it feels necessary."
Kuro raised his hand. The magic around him coiled like smoke—dense, suffocating, pure black.
> "I will give you a piece of mine. Do not die."
He placed two fingers on his chest, above and to the right of his heart.
> **"Transfer - Shadow Core - Ten percent."**
---
**[Scene - Unleashing the Darkness]**
The cave trembled.
A wave of black energy coursed through Rei's body. Her eyes widened as she screamed. Her veins glowed purple. Shadows whirled violently around her, nearly exploding outwards.
> *It's too much.*
*Her spirit can't hold it...*
Kuro stepped back, shielding himself.
But Rei forced herself to stand. Blood trickled from her nose. Her hands shook. She clenched her fists.
> "I... can do it..."
With a final cry, she fell to her knees, but the energy stabilized.
Her body had accepted it.
The cave fell silent.
> "Did I give her too much?" Kuro whispered. "That ten percent... is enough to destroy a country."
He walked slowly towards her.
Rei looked up, startled. Her eyes were no longer just purple, but shone with deep, obsidian-like radiance.
> "Kuro..." she whispered.
> "...Thank you."
Kuro stared down at her.
> *"She shouldn't have been able to adapt."*
But now... Rei carried within her a power that could rival the gods.
---
**[Scene - Late Night - Under the Stars]**
Rei sat by the large fireplace at the back of the room, hugging her knees.
Kuro stood behind her, watching silently.
> "I don't remember much of my past..." she said. "But... I feel like something is chasing me."
Kuro didn't respond.
> "But when I'm with you, I feel calm."
> "I think you're kind, even if you don't smile."
Kuro looked up at the stars.
> "You know nothing about me."
> *You don't know I saved you to use you.*
> *You don't know about the world I will destroy.*
And yet...
He didn't walk away.
---
In the distance...
Within the shadow of the Eastern Demon Lord's fortress...
A demon-human with silver hair and stitched-shut mouth smiled as he watched the scene in a watery mirror.
> "Good... let her grow close to him."
> "When the time comes, the chains embedded in her soul will tighten."
> "And then..."
> "Not even the boy who calls himself Shujin will be able to stop it."
---
✦ **To be continued...**