Shadows Broken

Location: Gaia HQ – Observation Wing

The quiet of early morning filtered through the corridors of the observatory floor. Hikari stood alone in front of a towering mirror, her reflection obscured by the soft haze of condensation clinging to the glass. She wiped at it gently with her sleeve and stared.

There she was—pale skin like morning snow, shoulder-length raven hair, and deep amethyst eyes. But behind those eyes was the same thing she always saw: fear.

"You fear the past more than the power. That's your prison."

She looked down at the bandage still wrapped around her ribs. The echo of yesterday's spar still pulsed through her skin, but what lingered wasn't pain—it was Cyg's voice.

"If you're going to fall… fall toward someone willing to hold you."

Her cheeks flushed faintly. She turned away from the mirror.

Location: Tactical Room – Later That Day

The Octagon had gathered. All eight Integral Knights sat or stood around the central tactical table, holographic schematics rotating midair. Gian Synthesis 11 spoke with his usual sharp tone.

"Our intel confirms Abyssal movement beneath the dormant rift in Kyoto. Something's waking up—and we need to shut it down."

Eun-Ha, calm as ever, tapped her staff against the ground.

"It could be an Abyssal cocoon, or worse, a seal breaking from the Emperor War fallout."

Sylvia folded her arms. "Either way, we don't wait. We strike preemptively."

"Agreed," Charlotte said. "But we'll need someone who can sense Abyssal energy directly. Someone… like Hikari."

The room turned quiet.

All eyes shifted.

Hikari met their gazes. For once, she didn't flinch.

"I'll go."

"Are you sure?" Mia asked gently. "You don't have to force yourself."

Hikari stood straighter. "I'm not forcing anything. This time, I'm choosing."

Cyg—silent until now—nodded once, his approval wordless, but unmistakably felt.

Mission: Kyoto - Underground Rift Cavity

The descent into the dark was silent save for the drip of condensation and the low thrum of Abyssal resonance. Hikari walked at the front, Sanguira pulsing faintly in her grasp. Behind her, Cyg flanked the left, Elaine and Sylvia the right, while Charlotte monitored energy fluctuations.

The deeper they went, the colder it became—not physically, but emotionally. The air felt… aware.

Then they saw it.

A dormant creature. Massive. Twisted wings folded into its shell-like back. An Abyssal chrysalis, breathing in slumber.

But something was wrong.

A whisper curled through the air, not in sound, but in feeling.

"You should not be here, daughter of night."

"It's waking," Hikari whispered. "Everyone, back!"

But the cocoon cracked open before they could retreat.

A figure stepped out—slender, white-haired, with skin the color of void-glass. Eyes pitch-black, lined with tear-like veins.

Not an Abyss King.

A Shard of the Abyss Emperor.

The Battle

It moved like silence, lashing out with shadowy limbs that twisted around gravity itself. Hikari dodged instinctively, shielding the others.

Cyg unleashed a barrage of ether bullets, every shot aimed with supernatural precision, but the creature absorbed them mid-air.

Elaine's winds tried to deflect the tendrils, but they coiled like smoke.

The creature set its eyes on Hikari.

"You carry the scent of His chains," it hissed. "You belong to us."

Something snapped inside her.

"No," she whispered. "Not anymore."

She stepped forward, Sanguira glowing like blood-red starlight. Her hair lifted gently in the pulse of her energy.

"I'm not yours."

She spun the scythe once, and Divine Assimilation activated.

The scythe became sleeker, darker, carved in celestial script—Sanguira: Requiem Bloom.

Her aura expanded, cloaking her in violet flame.

"I am the night. And I choose what it becomes."

The Turning Point

The Shard lunged—Hikari met it head-on. Their clash resonated through the cavern like a tuning fork splitting air.

The others could only watch, stunned.

Each slash of her scythe was both beautiful and terrifying—petal-shaped shockwaves of violet slicing through shadows. With every move, Hikari reclaimed another piece of herself.

And then—she cut through the creature's core.

A scream echoed through the cave—part rage, part release.

And silence fell.

Later – On the Surface

Hikari stood, panting, clothes scorched at the edges. The others gathered behind her, wordless. Cyg stepped forward, meeting her halfway.

"That wasn't just power," he said quietly. "That was you."

She looked up at him, eyes soft.

"I finally heard it."

"What?"

"My own voice… not the fear. Not the Abyss. Just me."

A long pause.

Then she took a small step forward—closer than she'd ever dared.

"...Will you still stand beside me? Even now?"

Cyg gave the faintest of smiles.

"Always."

And for the first time, she smiled back.