Bloodlight Revelation

The silence was suffocating.

Kai stared at Hisoka, his mind reeling. "You… you died. I saw the flames—"

"I survived," Hisoka replied, voice like gravel soaked in ash. "The Hollow didn't kill me. It transformed me."

Ayaka's steps were cautious, her hand never leaving the hilt of her blade. "You aligned yourself with the Flame. Why?"

Hisoka's eyes blazed. "Because the truth was hidden. We were fighting the wrong enemy all along."

He moved to the Heart, the glyphs glowing brighter with his presence.

"I became part of them to see why they were willing to die for this. And I saw it—" he pointed to the altar— "the cycle of destruction and rebirth. Every few generations, the Hollow awakens to purge corruption. It's not evil. It's balance."

Ren's jaw clenched. "And the people it kills? The lives it takes?"

"It only takes what's already broken," Hisoka whispered. "That's why it chose me once—and now it chooses one of you."

A tremor ran through the ground as the altar cracked open. A crystal rose from within—a dark shard glowing red at the center.

"The Bloodlight," Ayaka breathed.

Hisoka nodded. "It holds the memory of every wielder before us. Touch it, and the truth becomes yours. But beware—if your heart wavers, it will consume you."

Kai stepped forward.

Ayaka stopped him. "Kai, no. Let me—"

Ren interrupted, "None of us are ready."

But Kai's mind was made. He turned to Hisoka. "If I take it, what happens?"

"You see everything. And you become what you were meant to be—or you burn."

Kai took a breath.

And touched the shard.

A scream tore through the chamber—not his voice, but hundreds. Thousands. Memories, pain, love, betrayal—centuries of warriors echoed inside him.

His eyes glowed red.

Then black.

And when he opened them, they were still his.

But changed.

"I saw it," he said slowly. "The truth. The cycle. And how we break it."

The Heart pulsed once more, softer now.

Awake.

Listening.

And waiting.