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Scarlet Dragon King – Chapter 23: The Hidden Claws of a Silent Heart

The Trial Plane was still. No roaring flame, no divine presence—just a low hum that echoed through the space like a heartbeat.

Koneko Toujou sat alone beneath the fractured tree of starlight, legs tucked under her, white hair falling over her eyes. She hadn't moved in hours.

The others were watching from a distance—Rias, Akeno, Shiva, even Death. But no one approached.

No one but Eric.

He didn't speak when he sat beside her. Just offered silence—a language she understood.

Eventually, her voice cracked through the air.

"I don't belong here."

Eric didn't flinch. "Why?"

"I'm weak," she whispered. "I didn't earn a trial. I didn't burn a flame. I'm not a goddess or a dragon or a queen. I'm just… a Nekomata who ran away."

Her fists clenched. Her voice turned sharp.

"I couldn't stop my sister. I couldn't protect anyone. I was scared. I am scared."

A gentle wind passed.

Eric finally spoke. "You're the only one here who's never asked for power. Just peace. That takes more strength than you know."

She looked at him, amber eyes wide.

"I see you," he said softly. "Not the warrior. Not the rook. The girl who survived when the world told her she shouldn't."

That's when the mirror appeared.

But not from the ground.

From her.

It pulsed with pale silver light, carved in ancient runes of the Nekomata race—feral, beautiful, and wild.

Koneko gasped as it pulled her in—not physically, but spiritually.

And Eric went with her.

—

Within the Mirror: The Ancestral Grove

They landed in a twilight forest where spectral cats danced in the trees. Voices whispered in old Nekomata tongues. And at the center stood a shadow—taller, older, with wild hair and golden slitted eyes.

Kuroka.

Not the real one. A memory. A fear.

"She killed for me," Koneko whispered. "Then I ran. I hated her. I hated what I could become."

Eric stepped forward. "You feared your instincts. But they're not your enemy. They're part of you."

He extended his hand.

"Let's face them. Together."

Koneko trembled… then took it.

The moment she did, the shadow screamed and lunged—but this time, she didn't run. She stood her ground. Her aura flared—silver and white, her full Nekomata power accepted, not suppressed.

The mirror shattered—

And a new flame ignited.

A quiet, beautiful silver sigil shaped like a cat's eye, hovering in her palm.

When she opened her eyes, she was crying.

But she smiled.

"I'm not broken anymore."

Eric smiled back. "No. You're whole."

—

As she stepped back to the others, the flames bowed—each one flickering in respect.

Koneko had found herself.

And her place in Eric's heart burned quietly, but unshakably.