Chapter 37: I Didn’t Say Goodbye

Ren stood at the edge of the abyss.

The gate behind him loomed open, spilling void into the world like ink across a white page. The Being of Ruin waited—not to fight, not to destroy. It didn't have to.

It had already won.

Unless Ren stopped it.

He clenched his fists, body trembling. Not from fear.

From acceptance.

"I can't win as a human," he whispered.

He turned, just once, to look behind him.

The surface felt so far away now. Kaede's voice. Yui's smile. His mother's hand in his. Even the old scarf around his neck… all fading. Not gone, but out of reach.

They were his anchors.

And now he had to let go.

"I didn't get to say goodbye," he said softly.

A single tear fell, the last human thing he allowed himself.

His body cracked—light bleeding from his skin. Shadow overtaking his heart.

And then the shift began.

His bones reformed. His breath turned silent. His heartbeat slowed. The void filled every cell of his being—not as a curse, not as a burden—but as the final form of someone who refused to break.

Ren Kisaragi—the boy who couldn't awaken—was gone.

What stood in his place wasn't human.

It was will.

It was the seal reborn.

It stepped forward.

And the Being of Ruin finally knew fear.