The man in the street should not have been able to see them.
They were on the second floor.
The lane below was crowded with panicked people running in every direction.
Lantern light flickered.
Shadows crossed.
Yet his black eyes locked perfectly onto their window.
And he smiled.
Not the smile of a drunk, or a madman, or a man in pain.
It was deliberate.
Knowing.
Wrong.
Kyūsei's stomach dropped.
"Kazuto…"
"I see it."
The man's body jerked once.
Then he rose to his feet with stiff, unnatural movements.
A woman nearby screamed as he seized a wooden cart one-handed and hurled it into a wall.
Wood shattered.
People scattered.
The black veins on his skin spread farther, pulsing in rhythm beneath the flesh.
Kazuto was already moving.
"Stay here."
He vaulted through the open window.
Kyūsei stared.
"…There were stairs!"
Then he cursed and ran for the door.
By the time Kyūsei reached the street, Kazuto had already cleared half the lane.
The possessed man stood in the center of broken stone, breathing in ragged bursts.
Around him, several townspeople hid behind stalls or doorways, too afraid to flee, too terrified to approach.
Kazuto stepped forward slowly, sword still sheathed.
"Can you hear me?"
The man's head tilted sharply.
Then his voice came out layered.
Two tones speaking at once.
"Interesting."
Kyūsei stopped cold.
The second voice was deeper.
Ancient.
As if something old was trying on a human throat.
Kazuto's eyes narrowed.
"You're far from your hole."
The thing laughed through the man.
"And yet I found what I sought."
Its gaze shifted past Kazuto.
To Kyūsei.
The lane seemed to freeze.
Kazuto's hand went to his sword.
"No."
The creature grinned wider.
"Yes."
It lunged.
Not at Kazuto.
At Kyūsei.
Kyūsei reacted on instinct, throwing both hands forward.
A burst of wind exploded from his palms.
The possessed man was knocked sideways into a fruit stall, crushing wood and sending apples everywhere.
One apple rolled neatly to Kazuto's boot.
He looked down.
"Tragic waste."
The creature rose immediately.
Bones cracked back into place beneath the skin.
Kyūsei felt sick.
"That's impossible."
Kazuto drew his blade.
"No. Just rude."
He vanished.
Steel flashed.
The man's arms fell cleanly from his shoulders.
The body collapsed.
Then began to twitch.
Black smoke poured from the wounds, gathering above the corpse like living tar.
It formed a shape with no clear limbs, only a face of shifting darkness and two glowing eyes.
People screamed again.
Kazuto shouted without turning.
"Everyone back!"
The smoke-being drifted upward.
Its voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.
"So the marked one lives."
Kyūsei's mouth went dry.
Marked?
Kazuto stepped between them.
"You don't get to speak to him."
The shadow tilted its head.
"You remember us, blade-child."
Kazuto's expression hardened in a way Kyūsei had never seen.
"I remember enough."
The creature lunged.
Kazuto slashed through it.
The blade passed cleanly.
No effect.
The thing reformed instantly and struck him in the chest with a wave of force.
Kazuto was hurled across the street, smashing through a stall.
Kyūsei shouted his name.
The shadow drifted closer now.
It stopped a few paces away.
No feet touched the ground.
No breath stirred.
Only cold.
Kyūsei tried to summon fire.
Nothing came.
Panic choked his core.
The thing leaned nearer.
"We searched the roots. We searched the gates. Yet fate places you in the open."
"I don't know what you are."
"You will."
It reached toward his chest.
Something inside Kyūsei answered.
That abyss.
Cold power surged up violently.
The street lamps dimmed.
The shadow recoiled.
Its face distorted.
"Yes…"
Its voice became almost reverent.
"The empty throne."
Kyūsei screamed as black energy burst from his body in a circular shockwave.
Stone cracked.
Windows shattered.
The shadow-being was blasted backward.
So was everyone else.
Kyūsei dropped to one knee, gasping.
He couldn't feel his fingers.
Couldn't feel warmth.
Only cold spreading through his veins.
Kazuto staggered from the wreckage, bleeding from his forehead.
He saw the darkness curling around Kyūsei's arms.
And swore.
"Enough."
Mana erupted from Kazuto like a storm.
Wind spiraled around him so fiercely nearby debris lifted into the air.
For the first time, Kyūsei felt the true pressure of an A-rank adventurer unleashed.
Kazuto pointed his sword.
Blue sigils ignited along the blade.
"Sky Rend."
He swung once.
A crescent of compressed wind screamed through the lane.
The shadow-being split in half.
Then into fragments.
Then into mist.
The remains were dragged upward into nothingness.
Gone.
Silence crashed down after it.
Only broken wood creaked.
People peered out cautiously from hiding.
Kyūsei swayed where he knelt.
The darkness around his arms faded.
Kazuto reached him in two strides and grabbed his shoulder.
"Look at me."
Kyūsei tried.
The world doubled.
"You with me?"
"…Maybe."
"Unhelpful."
Then everything went black.
He woke in bed.
Again.
This was becoming a habit.
The room at the inn was dim, lit by a single crystal lamp.
His body felt heavy but intact.
Kazuto sat in a chair by the window, arms crossed, eyes closed.
He spoke without opening them.
"You fake sleeping worse than I do."
Kyūsei blinked.
"How long was I out?"
"Four hours."
"What happened after?"
"I became extremely popular."
Kyūsei groaned.
"Kazuto."
He opened one eye.
"The guild cleaned the street. Told witnesses it was cursed gas."
"That sounds stupid."
"It works more than you'd think."
Kyūsei pushed himself upright.
The memory hit him.
Marked one.
Empty throne.
"What did it mean?"
Kazuto was silent.
Then stood and walked to the bed.
He handed Kyūsei a cup of water.
"Drink first."
"I want answers first."
"You'll want functioning organs more."
Kyūsei drank.
Kazuto leaned against the wall.
"There are things in this world older than kingdoms. Older than guilds. Older than most gods people pray to."
"That sounds reassuring."
"They sleep badly."
Kyūsei stared.
"The thing in the street was one of them?"
"No. A fragment. A scout. A stain."
"Why was it after me?"
Kazuto looked directly at him.
"Because whatever is inside you… they recognize it."
Kyūsei's throat tightened.
"You know what it is."
Kazuto's jaw flexed.
"I know pieces."
"Then tell me!"
The shout surprised both of them.
Kyūsei's voice shook.
"I died. I woke in another world. Monsters want me. Shadows call me names I don't understand. Something inside me keeps taking over."
He stood, fists clenched.
"And the only person who knows anything keeps speaking in riddles!"
The room fell silent.
Kazuto looked away first.
When he spoke, his voice was lower than usual.
"If I tell you too early… you might become exactly what they want."
Kyūsei froze.
"What does that mean?"
Kazuto gave a bitter smile.
"It means I'm trying to save you from knowledge."
"That's insane."
"Usually."
He moved to the door.
"Sleep. Tomorrow we train harder."
Kyūsei stepped forward.
"Kazuto."
No answer.
"Why do you care so much?"
Kazuto's hand paused on the handle.
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then, without turning:
"Because I failed you once already."
He left.
Kyūsei stood motionless.
The words struck harder than any blow.
Failed you once already.
What did that mean?
Outside, somewhere deep beneath Valthorin, black eyes opened in the dark.
And smiled.