Something slides across the ground. A snake crawls, another , a third. Then dozens. They crawl in a single direction.
A hand rises. Long, pale, cold-looking fingers. They settle over the snakes. She glides them gently across their scales. Caressing their heads.
The snakes do not bite. They do not attack. Instead, they coil around her wrist in strange obedience. A soft voice echoes… warm… Blended with a faint laugh:
"Come… come, my little ones… Well done… just like that…"
She takes a step forward. Long gray hair cascades over her shoulders. The shadow across her face splits. One eye appears. Dark. Shining.
Yoruko Hebihana.
Her skin is not bare… But entirely covered by snakes. Their bodies intertwine over her stomach, Around her waist, Coiling around her legs. As if she wears them like a living garment.
She smiles. And whispers in a voice brimming with playful malice:
"You were obedient today… And I must reward you… shouldn't I?"
Something moves beneath the skin. A small bulge… Then another. Her skin cracks at the shoulder bone. A thin fissure… She smiles slowly. And from it, A snake's head emerges. Then another. Then a third.
No blood flows. As if the body is accustomed to splitting. The new snakes drop to the ground… And join the swarm. She closes her eyes in delight. And laughs… A short laugh… Soft…
The sound of chains. Iron scraping against stone.
Yoruko does not turn. She only smiles. The snakes at her feet pause for a moment… Then resume their crawl as if they heard nothing.
She speaks in a calm voice, warm to the point of coldness:
"Shin… Still struggling against your restraints? You startle my little ones when you move like that."
Behind her, a hollow stone hall stretches into unfathomable depths. And in the center:
Shin.
Suspended by black chains extending from the walls to his wrists and chest. His head slightly bowed. Hair falling over a tired face. His shirt torn. Traces of old and fresh wounds mar his skin.
The snakes begin to crawl toward him. One… then two… Then dozens. They climb his legs slowly, Coiling around his waist, Crawling over his chest to his neck.
He remains still. Breathing slow. Eyes half-open… Yet sharp awareness lingers within them.
Yoruko walks toward him. Her steps light on the stone. The snakes part to make way for her. In her hand, a gleaming snake… Its head raised, tongue flicking in the air.
She stops in front of him. Draws closer. Brings the snake's head near his face… Almost touching it. She studies his eyes. No fear. No plea. This is what makes her smile widen.
She laughs a faint, short laugh :
"How calm you are… This is what I admired in you from the beginning."
She gently glides a finger across his cheek. The other snakes tighten their grip around his body slightly.
"Your mind… sees what others cannot."
She draws closer. Her voice lowers until it becomes a whisper pressed against his ear:
"You are the only one who looked into the void… And did not go mad."
Yet in Shin's eyes, A faint glimmer shines.
Yoruko steps back… Then slowly circles around him. The snakes move with her shadow on the wall, As if the shadow itself is alive.
She places a hand on his chest, And with the other, lifts his face with a finger under his chin. She gazes at him for a long moment :
"What do you think… about staying by my side?"
She smiles.
"I won't let them devour you."
The snakes around his neck slowly open their mouths.
"You will be mine… Not theirs."
She leans close until their foreheads almost meet. One final whisper:
"But if you refuse…"
She steps back half a pace. The snakes tighten around his body. A chorus of hissing fills the hall :
"Then you will be… The finest meal for my children."
She laughs. This time longer. Deeper. All the snakes raise their heads toward Shin.
_
Meanwhile, on Mount ,
Kai was trying to grab something, Nothing.
Skyler crashes into a rocky wall during the fall. A spark from his weapon flickers for a moment Then dies out.
Gravity yanks them violently. They continue to fall. Faster. Heavier. Their bodies slam into the ground. Rock crushes flesh. Air violently expelled from their lungs.
Skyler coughs behind him. He tries to rise But slips. The ground is unstable. A sticky layer separates beneath his feet. Something bursts under the pressure of his heel.
Black liquid spreads. A stronger, sharper stench rises. Insects swarm around the liquid at frantic speed.
Kai lifts his head. He hears A faint sound.Not a hiss. Not a roar. A sound of internal friction. As if the walls… are breathing. Stretching slightly…
Then contracting. The layer of mold on the surface shudders with the movement. Sticky droplets fall from above. One lands on Kai's shoulder, Burning his skin with a cold fire.
He slowly scans his surroundings. No clear entrance. No exit. Only deep cavities stretching into darkness. And from within one of them A flash. Something moves. Not at insect speed. Slower. Heavier.
Skyler whispers in a low voice:
"This… is not a cave."
The echo of his voice returns, distorted.
"Not… not…"
It stops. As if the place itself has swallowed the sound.
The ground beneath them trembles suddenly. It's not an earthquake. A contraction. The nearby wall bulges for a moment… Then returns. The insects all head in the same direction. As if responding to an inaudible signal.
Kai whispers:
"It's alive."
Silence.
From the depths… The sound of a slow opening. As if a membrane is tearing. Darkness deeper than darkness itself unfolds in the distant cavity. And something… Begins to move toward them.
Suddenly, darkness rises around them like a wall, sealing off the last passage of air. Nothing appears.
Skyler is the first to move. He grips his weapon tightly. His eyes narrow the space ahead, as if trying to force reality to become clear. He whispers to himself, not to his companion:
"If this place is alive… I will make it feel me."
A step away, Kai struggles to regain his balance on the sticky ground, Breaths heavy, eyes scanning the darkness that no longer reflects light.
Something moved. Not in front of them. Nor behind them. But… within the very sense itself.
Skyler tightened his grip. Raised his weapon. And at the moment he lunged, His voice dropped to a sharp whisper:
"Stone Art - Solar Stone - Level 2: Harmonic Flare."
A small point of light… Was born at the tip of his weapon. The point expanded. It became a silent center of gravity. The light grew more intense..
But… No sound. The vibration did not spread through the space… It embedded itself within it.
The sense of up and down vanished. As if the world had been ripped from its axis. The light suddenly contracted, Then exploded… Not outward. But inward.
A silent tremor pierced everything.
And in that moment, Skyler moved. He saw a shadow. He saw a form. He saw a "target." He lunged without hesitation. The weapon descended with decisive force. A clean strike. Precise. And it pierced the body.
But… Not the body he expected. Time froze for a fraction of a second. His eyes widened. The strike… Had pierced Kai's body. The faint light reflected on his shocked face, and on the blood that should not have been there.
"…What....!!!!!"
The word never finished.
From the darkness… A sound erupted. A laugh.Rough. Deep. Very close.
"Ha ha ha… nice strike."
The air froze.
A second laugh came… from another direction. Then a third. Then dozens.
"Ha ha ha ha ha....ha"
The laughter emerged from the walls. From the ground. From the ceiling. From inside their minds. It was not a sound to be heard… But something planted directly into consciousness.
The void itself was laughing.
The last light of the Harmonic Flare receded… As if the ability had not missed, But had been used against its wielder.
And in the darkness that returned, heavier than before… There was no direction. No place. Only Unending laughter.