CELESTIA - CHAPTER 53 : Blackhowler
The labyrinth was a tomb.
Yojuro walked alone. His footsteps made no sound. He had learned, through countless battles, to walk without noise, to breathe without a whisper, to exist without leaving a trace. The blue torches scrolled past, identical, indifferent.
He turned the corner.
Kira was there.
Leaning against a wall, eyes closed — always closed — arms crossed. He didn't seem to have fought. His uniform was clean. His hands were pale, still.
Between them, a body.
Rex.
He was slumped against the wall, sitting, legs apart. His left arm was missing — torn off, not cut. A raw stump, jagged, where bone protruded. Around him, debris of metal: his drones. His inventions. Reduced to pieces.
Rex no longer breathed.
Yojuro stopped.
"You killed him."
Kira tilted his head.
"He attacked me. His drones. I defended myself."
"You could have spared him."
"Why?"
Yojuro didn't answer. He drew his sword. The black blade gleamed.
"I'm going to make you regret not closing your eyes sooner."
Kira smiled. A barely visible smirk.
"You can try."
---
The fight began without sound.
Kira struck first. His hands closed on the air, and Yojuro felt his own blood calling — a dull pull, as if his veins wanted to leave his body. He dodged, pivoted, struck.
The black blade sliced through the space where Kira had stood. But Kira was no longer there. He had slid aside, silent, fluid.
"You're fast," said Yojuro.
"I'm patient."
Kira extended his hand. Yojuro felt a pressure inside his chest — his heart racing, his arteries swelling. He clenched his teeth, stepped back, broke the distance.
"You can't touch me if I don't bleed."
"Everyone bleeds."
"Not me. Not today."
Yojuro changed tactics.
He raised his sword, but didn't strike. He planted it in the ground. The black blade began to vibrate.
Kira narrowed his closed eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Changing the terrain."
The vibration intensified. The ground cracked. Stones rose, floated for an instant, then fell. Kira lost his balance — a fraction of a second. That was enough.
Yojuro lunged.
He didn't strike to kill. He struck to wound. His blade opened Kira's arm — a thin, clean cut. Blood beaded.
Kira stepped back, brought his hand to his wound.
"You drew my blood."
"I just wanted to see if you bleed."
"And now?"
"Now I know you're vulnerable."
Kira began to laugh. A low, almost inaudible laugh.
"You think a cut will stop me?"
He raised his bloody hand. The blood from his wound began to dance — suspended droplets, fine as needles.
Yojuro understood. Kira could control his own blood. And that of others.
"You're more dangerous than I thought."
"You're slower than I believed."
The red needles shot forward.
Yojuro didn't dodge. He raised his sword, planted the blade in the ground before him. The vibration resumed — stronger, wider. The blood needles veered off, struck the walls, crashed against the stone.
Kira stepped back further.
"That's impossible…"
"Nothing is impossible. You just need to find the right angle."
Yojuro stood up. He had understood. Kira couldn't control his blood at a distance if the ground was trembling — his micro-movements were disrupted by the vibrations.
"You can't aim if your own body isn't stable."
"You're a monster."
"No. Just someone who observes."
Yojuro attacked.
His blade traced an arc, then another, then a third. No brute force. Just perfect angles. Kira parried, dodged, stepped back. But with each movement, the ground trembled, his footing slipped, his gestures lost precision.
A cut on the shoulder. Another on the thigh. A third on the flank.
Kira fell to his knees.
"Stop."
"Why?"
"Because if you continue, I'll die."
"So what?"
Kira looked up. His eyelids still closed, but Yojuro felt his gaze.
"Then you'll become like me."
Yojuro lowered his sword.
"Go."
"You're letting me live?"
"I'm letting you flee. It's not the same."
Kira stood up. He limped. His blood stained his uniform.
"One day, you'll regret this."
"Maybe. But not today."
Kira disappeared into the shadows.
Yojuro remained alone with Rex's body.
He knelt. He closed Rex's eyes — still open, still surprised. He picked up his arm, placed it against his chest. A futile gesture. He didn't know why.
Behind him, footsteps. Zayn arrived running, out of breath, his face marked by fatigue. Blanche followed, her hands still cold.
They saw Rex.
They saw the missing arm.
They saw the destroyed drones.
Zayn stopped.
"No…"
He knelt. He touched Rex's shoulder. The flesh was already cold.
"No, no, no…"
Blanche looked away. Her hands trembled.
"It's my fault," Zayn murmured. "I should have been there. I should have…"
"You couldn't have done anything," said Yojuro.
"SHUT UP!"
Zayn stood up. His eyes were red, but he wasn't crying. He couldn't. He punched the wall, again and again. His knuckles split open.
"Why?! Why him?!"
Blanche placed a hand on his shoulder. He pushed her away.
"Don't touch me."
"Zayn…"
"I said DON'T TOUCH ME!"
His voice cracked. Then it became deep. Too deep. A dull, animal vibration.
Borealis began to flicker.
"ERROR. ERROR. Uncontrolled Primal extraction in progress."
Zayn doubled over. His spine cracked. His skin tore in places, revealing a black light beneath.
"ERROR. ERROR."
He fell to all fours.
His body changed.
He grew larger, longer, covered in black fur so thick it absorbed the torchlight. His arms became legs, his fingers curved claws capable of tearing through stone.
His head… his head no longer had a face.
Just a maw.
Immense. Luminescent. Blue-turquoise.
Hundreds of translucent fangs glowed inside, like a galaxy of teeth. The light that escaped illuminated the entire corridor, casting shifting shadows on the walls.
No eyes. No nose. No expression.
Just hunger.
Blackhowler.
The silent Primal. The abyssal predator.
It roared.
A sound that wasn't a cry, but a vibration — a wave that passed through walls, bones, souls. Blanche stepped back, hands over her ears. Yojuro raised his sword, but didn't strike.
"Zayn!"
Blackhowler didn't answer. It lunged.
Its claws tore through the air. Yojuro parried with his blade, but the force threw him against the wall. His sword vibrated. He slid, fell to his knees.
Blackhowler turned. It was about to strike again.
Blanche intervened.
She raised her hands. Frost invaded the ground, the walls, the air itself. Blackhowler slowed — its paws froze, its maw coated with ice.
It roared again. The ice cracked. It was about to break free.
Blanche screamed.
"I WON'T LET YOU KILL HIM!"
She focused all her Fumetsu. The cold turned white, blinding. Blackhowler stopped dead. Its fangs trembled. Its light flickered.
It stepped back. Then it collapsed.
Its body contracted. The black fur disappeared. The claws retracted. The luminous maw closed.
Zayn lay on the ground, naked, unconscious. Borealis glowed faintly on his wrist.
"Beep. Beep. Beeeeep."
The alarm fell silent.
Silence returned.
Yojuro stood up. He limped, but he walked toward Zayn. He took off his jacket, wrapped it around him. He lifted him, carried him over his shoulder.
"You're not leaving him here?" asked Blanche.
"No."
"He's dangerous. He could transform again."
"Then we'll restrain him."
Yojuro turned to her. His face was calm. Tired. But his eyes didn't tremble.
"We don't leave anyone behind. Not Rex. Not Zayn. Not you."
Blanche lowered her head. She looked one last time at Rex's body.
"Do we take him too?"
"We have no choice. We can't."
She clenched her fists.
"I hate this labyrinth."
"Me too."
Yojuro disappeared into the corridor, Zayn unconscious on his shoulder, Blanche at his heels.
Behind them, Rex remained sitting against the wall, missing arm, destroyed drones, eyes wide open.
The blue torches flickered one last time.
Then everything fell silent