𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙎𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙
𝘼𝙧𝙘 𝟭: 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙧𝙘
𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟱 – 𝘽𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡
𝟭𝟯 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝟭𝟬 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙤
The hills of 𝙃𝙤𝙠𝙠𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙤 were peaceful that day.
Families walked along the trails, enjoying the cool air and open sky.
Laughter echoed through the hills.
Among them were Ayato and his parents.
His mother smiled warmly as she looked down at him.
“𝘈𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘰-𝘬𝘶𝘯, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥?”
Ayato turned away from the strange spirits floating nearby and nodded quietly.
His mother looked back at her husband.
“𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙠𝙞-𝙠𝙪𝙣! 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?”
His father waved with a smile.
“𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵.”
Ayato and his mother walked down the trail together.
A few minutes later—
The wind changed.
It grew stronger… unnatural.
Hanagaki frowned and looked around.
The air in front of him began to twist.
As if space itself was 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣.
A crack.
Then—
A distortion.
A 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 formed in midair.
People froze.
And then—
Something came out.
𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨.
𝙇𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚.
𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙.
𝙄𝙣𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣.
They dropped onto the ground with heavy thuds.
Screams erupted across the hills.
At the pond, Ayato was quietly watching birds flutter across the water.
His mother tried calling her husband.
“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨…?” she muttered.
Then—
Something moved in the trees.
She turned.
Her eyes widened in horror.
Three creatures stepped out from the shadows.
One of them 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 a bird in its 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝.
𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 from its jaws.
She grabbed Ayato instantly.
“𝘙𝘶𝘯!”
Ayato blinked in confusion.
“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢?”
“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬!” she shouted, her voice shaking.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳!”
Behind them, the creatures began to chase.
Fast.
Closing the distance.
Her breath grew heavier with every step—
Then—
She slipped.
Falling hard onto the ground.
A monster lunged toward her—
But suddenly—
𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞!
An 𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙞𝙥𝙚 slammed into its head.
Hanagaki stood there, bleeding, gripping the broken metal tightly.
“𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘬𝘪—!”
“𝘙𝘶𝘯! ” he shouted.
“𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰! 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱!”
She hesitated for a split second—
Then grabbed Ayato and ran.
She didn’t look back.
She couldn’t.
But the sounds behind her—
The 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜.
The 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨.
They told her 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.
Tears streamed down her face as she ran faster.
After some time, she reached the parking area.
But it was 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚.
𝗠𝘂𝗰𝗵, 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲.
𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 were 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.
𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.
𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Waiting.
Her body froze for a moment.
Then—
She ran again.
The sound caught their attention.
Several creatures turned.
And began chasing her.
“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵,” she whispered desperately.
“𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶…”
Ayato looked at her.
Then at the monsters behind them.
For the first time in his life—
He 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿.
Eventually, she hid him behind a 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙝.
Her hands 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙 as she held his shoulders.
“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦,” she whispered.
“𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 promis𝘦.”
Before he could respond—
She ran.
In the opposite direction.
Drawing the monsters away.
Time passed.
Too much time.
Ayato waited.
But she never came back.
Slowly, he stepped out from hiding.
The world around him had 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙.
The ground was 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙.
The air smelled 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜.
Pieces of what used to be people lay scattered.
A nightmare.
But Ayato kept walking.
Step by step.
Until—
He saw her.
His mother lay on the ground.
Surrounded.
The creatures were still there.
Ayato’s body froze.
“𝘔… 𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢…?”
One of the monsters turned toward him.
Then another.
And another.
One began charging toward him—
“𝘐𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦… 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴.”
A massive spike of ice crashed down.
The monster was crushed instantly.
Standing on the ice—
Was a man.
𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧.
Before the remaining creatures could react—
The air around them twisted.
Gravity itself seemed to 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.
Their bodies collapsed under invisible pressure.
Silence returned.
Master stepped down and approached Ayato.
“𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘬𝘪𝘥—”
He stopped.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He could feel it.
The mana.
Strong.
Unusual.
Coming from the child.
“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?” he asked.
Ayato clutched his sleeve, trembling.
“𝘈 … 𝘈𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘰… 𝘈𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘫𝘪.”
Master looked at him for a moment.
Then nodded.
“𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘈𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘰.”
He turned slightly, scanning the destroyed area.
“𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”