EPISODE TWO - 1

The cave was finally silent. The last creature let out a wet, gurgling sound before collapsing as Sun Jia's spear ran through it. Its body twitched once, then went still, the flickering embers of Sun's power sizzling along its torn flesh.

Kaede stumbled forward, breathless and excited. "That was amazing!" He beamed, raising his camera. "You were incredible, Sun Jia! I mean, I got it all on camera, but seeing it happen live—"

But Sun Jia wasn't listening. She had already turned away, moving through the aftermath, checking on her team. She knelt beside a wounded hunter, pressing a hand to their shoulder, her eyes scanning them for injuries.

Kaede lowered his camera slightly. She's not even thinking about herself… He watched as she helped another hunter to their feet. She's strong, but it's not just that. She actually cares.

For a moment, he wished—if only I could be even a little like her.

His fingers tightened around the camera. He started snapping pictures again, not just of Sun Jia but of all of them—the exhausted, the victorious, the wounded.

Then—

A sound.

It was unlike anything they had ever heard before.

It wasn't just loud—it was deafening. It rattled through their bones, sent an unbearable pressure crushing down on their chests. The air itself collapsed, pressing in from every direction. Their hearts pounded wildly, erratically—too fast, too loud—until their bodies locked up completely.

Then reality broke.

The walls of the cave twisted, the world around them glitched, flickering in and out of existence like a corrupted image. The air turned heavy, suffocating.

And then—pain.

Unexplainable. Unrelenting.

It wasn't a wound, not a cut, not a burn, not a break—it was everywhere. A pain so deep, so absolute, that it was beyond comprehension. Their nerves screamed, but their minds couldn't even register what was happening. Their bodies were unraveling—not bleeding, not breaking—just ceasing to be.

And then—nothing.

The cave was gone.

Everything was gone.

Darkness stretched endlessly, swallowing them whole.

Sun Jia, barely conscious, forced herself to lift her head. Her fingers trembled, her muscles barely obeying her.

And then she saw him.

Shiniyuku Shinigami.

The Dying Death God.

Seated upon a throne of skulls and shattered weapons, his form was immense, unfathomable. His body was wrapped in layers of tattered, shifting cloth, as if he existed between forms, between realities. His presence alone drowned them in suffocating, unbearable fear. Sun Jia could not see his eyes. Only the jagged, shifting emptiness where they should be.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Something was wrong.

Her body—she couldn't explain it—was falling apart. She felt herself breaking, faster than she could react. Her fingers—her arms—her very existence was slipping through her grasp.

And Shiniyuku was amused.

His voice was like a god's decree—mocking, hollow, absolute.

"Insects." His tone dripped with amusement. "What vermin scuttle through my halls?"

Kaede barely registered Sun Jia gripping his arm. He could feel nothing—only an empty hollowness where sensation should have been.

They needed to run.

But their bodies wouldn't move.

They were glitching. Their limbs jittered, phasing in and out of place, barely responsive.

Shiniyuku chuckled. Beside him stood a silent figure—a knight in gleaming armor, radiating an unshakable stillness.

Then—Shiniyuku snapped his fingers.

For a single moment, the pressure vanished. The suffocating fear lifted.

And instinct took over.

Kaede ran.

He had never felt terror like this before—never known horror in its truest form. He trampled over bodies, shoved past the others—he had to survive, he had to get away. Sun Jia barely caught herself as he pushed through, her body shaking.

Then—

It happened.

The hunters—each one of them—suddenly stopped.

Their bodies—without warning—shattered.

Not into blood. Not into flesh.

Into nothingness.

Their very existence unmade, blown apart into infinity.

Sun Jia felt her own body failing. She turned, eyes burning with defiance, and hurled her spear at the Dying Death God.

The spear never reached him.

The knight beside Shiniyuku moved—so fast, so effortlessly, that the motion barely existed. His shield intercepted the spear in midair.

Sun Jia's arm—gone.

Her severed limb hit the ground alongside her spear.

Her vision blurred. She turned—just in time to see Kaede still running.

"Kaede…!"

Kaede skidded to a stop. He turned and for a moment he felt shame and powerlessness but she looked at him not with malice but with a smile.

Sun Jia disappeared into nothingness.

Shredded into nothing.

His breath caught.

His legs refused to move.

Terror locked him in place.

Shiniyuku watched with amusement.

"…WHAT is that?" His tone was filled with disgust. "A human?"

He snapped his fingers.

And Kaede was there.

Right before him.

Shiniyuku observed him—disdainful, disappointed, bored.

"A human?" He laughed, a deep, hollow sound that shook the void. "This? This insect? I have seen rotting corpses with more strength. Tell me, worm—did your mother birth you sickly, do you suffer from a curse, or did you simply choose to be this pathetic?"

Kaede trembled.

"You must be the most pitiable, insignificant, weak creature to ever exist. Noble warriors, valiant knights, champions across worlds have braved death thousands—hundreds of thousands of times. Even crawling insects would last a few thousand."

Shiniyuku leaned forward, voice dripping with malice.

"But you? You barely reached a thousand deaths."

His tone turned cruel. "Pathetic. You call yourself human, but you lack everything that gives a life meaning. Strength? None. Courage? None. Purpose? Not even a sliver."

Kaede could barely breathe.

Shiniyuku spat the words like venom. "You are not even worth the effort it would take to kill you. I would sooner snuff out a hundred suns than waste a single breath acknowledging your existence."

Kaede's heart stopped.

Shiniyuku exhaled in disgust. "I was going to grant my champion a request. I grew tired of its bravery and resilience. Nothing that has ever walked into this temple returns But you? You do not even deserve death."

The knight beside him stirred, but Shiniyuku silenced him with a look.

"This insect must go. There is no place here for such an embarrassment to death itself."

Kaede shook.

His body was failing. His mind was breaking.

Shiniyuku's voice thundered.

"GET OUT OF MY TEMPLE."

And Kaede collapsed.

Darkness swallowed him whole.