Chapter 21: The Loom’s Judgment

Kazama felt the Loom's power sinking into his skin, threading through his bones like strands of living light. The crystalline tower pulsed before him, each vibration resonating with a hum that rattled his chest. Asha stood beside him, tense but unwavering.

As the Threads wrapped around them, the ancient voice spoke again—deep, reverberating, impossible to ignore.

"You have stepped into the Loom's heart, seeking to weave your own fate. But fate is not so easily rewritten. You must prove your worth."

Kazama clenched his fists. "We didn't come here for power. We came for answers. We need to stop the cycle before more people die."

"Then let the Threads decide your truth."

The moment the words were spoken, the world around them shattered.

Kazama barely had time to react before he was pulled into a void of swirling colors, the Threads stretching infinitely in all directions. The ground beneath his feet vanished, leaving him suspended in nothingness. Asha was gone. The Loom had separated them.

Panic surged through him. "Asha!" he called, but his voice was swallowed by the ever-shifting Threads.

Then, without warning, the void twisted—and suddenly, he was no longer in the Loom. He was standing in a familiar place.

The village.

Kazama's breath hitched. He was back at the village entrance, where he had first arrived. The air was cold, the trees bare. But something was wrong. There was no wind, no sound—only an eerie stillness.

Then he saw them.

The villagers.

Their bodies stood frozen in place, their eyes wide, their mouths open in silent screams. Each of them was wrapped in glowing Threads, held in place like marionettes.

Kazama's stomach twisted. He recognized every face—Taro, the old woman at the inn, the blacksmith, the children who had played by the river. They were all trapped, suspended in an endless moment of fear.

A shiver ran down his spine.

This wasn't real. It couldn't be.

Then he heard it.

A low, guttural growl behind him.

Slowly, he turned.

The monster was there.

It stood at the edge of the village, shrouded in mist. Its hulking form was more shadow than flesh, its glowing eyes locked onto him. The moment Kazama met its gaze, his body tensed involuntarily. There was something different about this encounter—something deeper.

The Threads around him shifted, and suddenly, he saw it.

The monster was connected to the Loom.

The same glowing Threads that held the villagers in place stretched from the beast's body, intertwining with the very fabric of reality. Kazama's breath caught in his throat.

"This… this isn't just a curse," he muttered. "It's a design."

The Threads weren't trapping the villagers. They were part of the Loom's pattern—part of the cycle that had been repeating for years.

And if that was true… then the monster wasn't just a mindless killer.

It was a part of the Loom itself.

The realization struck Kazama like a bolt of lightning. The monster wasn't an outsider. It wasn't some rogue force invading the village.

It belonged to the Loom.

The growl deepened, vibrating through the still air. The monster stepped forward, its massive claws sinking into the frozen ground. The moment it moved, the Threads tightened around the villagers, as if responding to its presence.

Kazama's heart pounded.

"This is the truth," he whispered. "The Loom created this. The monster, the deaths, the fear—it's all part of the pattern."

His mind reeled. If that was the case, then stopping the monster wasn't as simple as killing it. The village itself was woven into this cycle.

If he wanted to end it, he would have to rewrite the Loom itself.

Kazama took a deep breath. "If this is your test, Loom… then I accept it."

The Threads around him pulsed. The village began to distort, shifting and unraveling like a fabric being torn apart. The monster's eyes flared, and it lunged—

And then, everything collapsed into darkness.

Kazama gasped as he was flung back into the Loom's core, landing hard on the glowing surface beneath him. His body ached, his mind spinning from the vision. He looked up—and saw Asha standing before him, her own body trembling.

Her eyes locked onto his.

"You saw it too, didn't you?" she whispered.

Kazama nodded. "The monster… it's not just part of the curse. It's part of the Loom itself."

Asha clenched her fists. "Then how do we break the pattern?"

Kazama's gaze drifted to the crystalline tower, the heart of the Loom. His voice was quiet, but certain.

"We don't just break it. We rewrite it."

The Loom pulsed in response.

And the Threads began to shift.