Darkness stretched endlessly around me.
Not empty darkness.
Watching darkness.
Breathing darkness.
A faint purple haze drifted through the void like smoke underwater, curling around my body as though it recognized me. Somewhere in the distance, chains rattled softly against stone.
Then I saw him.
A man stood motionless atop a sea of black glass.
Massive dark wings spread from his back, feathers dripping violet embers into the abyss below. Curved black horns rose from his head like a crown forged from ruin itself, and a fractured mask split his face in two: one side black as the void, the other glowing with deep violet cracks.
I couldn't see his eyes.
But I could feel them.
Watching me.
Judging me.
The figure chuckled quietly.
And my blood ran cold.
Because the laugh sounded exactly like mine.
"You're late," the man said.
His voice echoed from everywhere at once, layered and distorted like multiple versions of myself speaking together.
I reached instinctively for Edith and Zenith at my waist.
The masked man tilted his head slightly.
"You cling to them already," he mused. "Good."
A pulse of dark purple light rippled outward from beneath his feet.
The world around us shattered.
For a brief instant, I saw impossible things reflected inside the cracks.
A throne floating in endless darkness.
Dragons kneeling beneath violet skies.
Entire worlds burning.
Myself standing at the center of all of it.
Then the masked figure stepped forward.
"You are far weaker than I hoped."
The pressure behind his words nearly crushed me.
My knees buckled instinctively.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
The man slowly raised a hand toward me.
"You will devour or be devoured, Shiro."
The moment his fingers touched my forehead—
I woke violently.
My body shot upright as cold sweat drenched my skin.
I gasped for air, heart hammering violently against my ribs while the remnants of the dream clawed through my mind like broken glass.
The room was dark except for faint morning light slipping through the curtains.
"…What the hell was that…" I muttered hoarsely.
My hands trembled slightly.
For some reason, the voice still echoed inside my chest.
You will devour or be devoured.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Come in," I called out, dragging a hand through my hair. "I'm awake."
The door opened slowly.
Yura and Shina stepped inside.
And immediately froze.
Their faces turned bright red.
I blinked.
"…Why are you both staring at me like that?"
Yura pointed shakily.
"Y-Your hair…"
"Hm?"
I grabbed a nearby mirror spell from instinct alone, forming a reflective image of myself in the air.
Then stared.
My light purple hair had changed completely.
It now flowed all the way down my back, darker than before, almost black near the roots while deep violet shimmered beneath the strands like hidden fire. My eyes had changed too. The softer purple was gone.
Now they looked sharp.
Predatory.
The pupils slightly thinner than normal.
"…That's concerning," I admitted honestly.
Shina looked both confused and fascinated.
"People's appearances don't just randomly change overnight."
"Mine apparently does."
I dispersed the mirror and stood, stretching slowly.
The moment I moved, Edith and Zenith pulsed faintly at my waist.
Like they approved.
That somehow worried me more.
Yura tilted her head slightly.
"…Did something happen?"
I paused.
The masked figure flashed through my mind again.
"No idea," I lied smoothly.
Then grabbed my shirt and pulled it on.
"If this is enough to make you both blush though, I should probably be more confident."
Shina immediately looked away.
Yura's ears twitched violently.
Success.
---
The hallway outside was quiet.
Until I spotted Hiroy.
And nearly stopped walking.
A faint golden aura drifted around him naturally now, subtle but unmistakable. His black hair remained mostly unchanged, but his eyes…
Gold and green light shimmered faintly beneath them like sunlight reflecting across water.
He looked brighter somehow.
Warmer.
Heroic.
Meanwhile I apparently looked like I escaped from an ancient prophecy.
Balanced friendship.
"Please tell me you look weird too because of a dream," I immediately said.
Hiroy blinked.
"…What?"
I walked closer.
"Masked guy. Horns. Wings. Terrifying aura. Sounded like me. Ringing any bells?"
Hiroy shook his head slowly.
"No. Mine was…" He hesitated slightly. "Different."
"How different?"
"There were voices calling my name."
I raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds equally concerning."
"They weren't threatening."
"That somehow makes it more concerning."
Hiroy laughed quietly.
Then mounted Syrah, whose massive white form gleamed beneath the morning sun like living moonlight.
I smirked slightly.
"I know you enjoyed getting assigned two cute girls yesterday."
His expression immediately shifted into exhausted disappointment.
"You're impossible."
"That's not a denial."
Before he could respond, I leaped onto Kyoko's back.
Her massive black wings unfurled instantly, dark violet scales shimmering beneath the light as she roared softly toward the heavens.
Unlike Syrah's divine radiance…
Kyoko looked ancient.
Predatory.
Beautiful in a way storms were beautiful.
And somehow…
I felt closer to her than before.
---
The wind rushed violently past us as we soared westward.
Below us, forests stretched endlessly across the landscape while distant mountains cut into the horizon like jagged teeth.
Our destination was a small settlement where more Devourers had reportedly appeared.
Lower-class, according to Ruenji.
Manageable.
Probably.
Kyoko suddenly growled beneath me.
At the exact same moment, my instincts screamed.
"MOVE!"
Fireballs tore through the sky.
I leaped instantly from Kyoko's back, Edith and Zenith flashing into my hands midair. The twin blades spun beautifully through my fingers before slicing straight through the incoming flames.
Explosions erupted around me.
"Keep them safe, Kyoko!" I shouted.
Wind magic burst beneath my feet, slowing my descent enough for me to land hard against the earth below.
Hiroy landed beside me moments later.
The air felt wrong.
Heavy.
Corrupted.
Five presences surrounded us.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
The shadows moved unnaturally.
Smoke exploded outward across the battlefield as massive figures crashed into the ground around us.
Devourers.
Their bodies twisted like malformed creatures stitched together from nightmares.
One possessed too many limbs.
Another's jaw split vertically down its face.
Several moved upside down across the ground like insects.
And surrounding Kyoko and Syrah…
Were twenty more.
Something inside me snapped instantly.
Dark purple magic exploded from my body violently enough to crack the earth beneath my feet.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR TOUCHING THEM!"
My voice thundered unnaturally across the battlefield.
The Devourers hesitated.
Then one vanished instantly beneath a ray of golden light.
Hiroy stepped forward calmly, scythe spinning once in his hand.
"You dare harm those under our protection?"
The air around him brightened.
Pure golden light erupted outward like dawn itself.
"I'll erase every last one of you."
For a moment…
We looked like opposites.
Gold and violet.
Light and darkness.
Hero and monster.
Then we attacked.
---
The battlefield became chaos instantly.
Edith transformed into twin pistols mid-spin while Zenith reshaped into a curved blade crackling with dark magic. I fired explosive bursts of condensed fire magic through the Devourers while Hiroy tore through others with overwhelming speed, his scythe shifting forms mid-combat to counter every attack angle.
One creature lunged toward me from underground.
I grabbed its face mid-emergence and slammed it back into the earth hard enough to crater the terrain.
Another attempted to bite through Kyoko's wing.
A dark purple arrow tore through its skull before it could move another inch.
Hiroy's lightning exploded overhead like divine punishment itself.
Devourers burned.
Screamed.
Collapsed into black sludge.
Then suddenly…
Everything stopped.
The surviving creatures began convulsing violently.
Their bodies twisted together grotesquely, flesh and bone fusing into a singular towering abomination.
Its lower half became serpentine.
Its upper body massive and malformed.
Hundreds of glowing red eyes opened across its skin.
Then it moved.
Fast.
Its tail slammed into both of us before we could react.
The impact launched us from the sky like broken dolls.
The ground exploded beneath us.
Pain shot through my ribs instantly.
Before I could recover, the creature vanished underground.
"Shiro!"
Too late.
Massive hands erupted from beneath the earth, grabbing both Hiroy and me before slamming us repeatedly into the ground hard enough to split the landscape apart.
I coughed blood.
"…Okay," I growled. "That actually hurt."
The Devourer roared.
Hiroy stood slowly beside me, golden magic flickering wildly around his body.
"We're not beating this separately."
I wiped blood from my mouth.
"…Yeah."
For the first time since arriving here…
We were genuinely outmatched.
The creature charged.
Hiroy moved first.
A beam of condensed holy light erupted from his hand at near-instant speed, punching directly through the monster's chest.
I launched myself skyward simultaneously, darkness gathering around Zenith as it transformed into a massive longbow.
The arrow I formed wasn't normal magic anymore.
It felt heavier.
Hungrier.
I released it.
Dark purple light tore through the battlefield and collided with Hiroy's golden beam directly inside the creature's body.
The explosion shook the heavens.
But when the smoke cleared—
The Devourer still stood.
Damaged.
But alive.
"…You have got to be kidding me," I muttered.
Hiroy exhaled slowly.
Then extended his hand toward me.
"…Together?"
I stared at him briefly.
Then grinned.
"Obviously."
Gold and purple magic spiraled together violently around us.
For a brief instant, the battlefield itself trembled beneath the pressure.
Our magic merged.
Not perfectly.
But naturally.
Like two forces destined to collide.
We unleashed everything.
The combined beam erupted forward like a dragon forged from light and darkness itself, piercing straight through the Devourer's core.
The monster screamed.
Then exploded.
Silence followed.
I collapsed backward instantly.
Completely drained.
The last thing I felt before unconsciousness claimed me was warmth wrapping around both sides of my body.
Soft.
Comforting.
Safe.
---
When I finally woke up again, bandages wrapped across my chest and arms.
Yura and Shina sat nearby immediately.
Both looked exhausted.
"…You're awake," Yura whispered in relief.
I blinked slowly.
"What happened?"
"You overused your magic," Shina answered. "Both of you did."
I sat up carefully.
Oddly enough…
Most of my wounds had already healed.
Again.
Too fast.
Always too fast.
Sometimes I wondered if Kokono had told us everything.
Or if she herself even knew.
I pushed the thought aside for now.
There were more important things to focus on.
"Where's Hiroy?"
"In the meeting chamber already."
Of course he was.
Overachiever.
After changing clothes, I followed the girls back toward the chamber.
Hiroy sat near the window overlooking the city skyline, golden light faintly reflecting across his eyes.
I smirked tiredly.
"So you woke up first this time."
He glanced back toward me.
"You'll survive the loss."
"Barely."
He laughed quietly.
But beneath the humor…
Something had changed.
For both of us.
The dreams.
The transformations.
The way our magic reacted.
The way the Devourer looked at us before it died.
Like it recognized something.
And deep down…
I had a terrible feeling this was only the beginning.