The Mirror That Lied

Back at the guild, the infirmary was quiet.

Tamura layed on a cot near the window, the light soft against his skin. His mark had dimmed to a faint violet shimmer. The crimson had retreated, but the memory hadn't. Mugen sat beside him, arms folded, eyes watching the slow rise and fall of Tamura's chest. "You're awake," he said softly. Tamura nodded, not looking at him. "I didn't mean to lose control."

"I know."

Silence stretched between them.

Outside, the wind rustled the trees. Inside, Tamura's fingers twitched against the blanket.

"I saw something," he said finally. Mugen leaned forward. 'What?"

Tamura's voice was quiet. Uncertain. "It was me. But not me."

Mugen frowned. "What do you mean?"

"My face. My voice. But… stretched. Like it was smiling too wide. Like it was wearing me."

He paused.

"It looked at me like I was the copy." Mugen didn't speak. Tamura turned his head, eyes meeting his brother's. "It said nothing. But I knew it wanted out." "Did it feel like you?" Tamura shook his head. "It felt like something waiting. Like it's been watching me since I was born." Mugen's jaw tightened. "And now it's waking up." Tamura closed his eyes. "I don't know if it's a god. Or a curse. Or just… me, broken." Mugen reached out, placing a hand on Tamura's shoulder. "You're not broken. Definitely a weirdo though." Tamura opened his eyes again. "Then what if I become something I can't come back from?" Mugen didn't answer right away. And then, "Then I'll be the one to pull you back." The two walked out of the infirmary to meet with Vayrik.

The meeting hall was quiet.

Ten guild members stood scattered near the central table. Some leaned against walls. Others crossed arms, eyes fixed on Tamura. Vayrik stood behind the brothers, unreadable. Tamura said nothing. Mugen stood beside him, jaw tight.

The first voice came from the right. It was a seasoned healer, robes stitched with clean white glyphs.

"This is beyond containment. That boy's mana didn't just flare, it exploded. You felt it."

A scout added quickly, "It didn't recognize us. It measured us. That kind of sentience is pact-adjacent. It's reckless."

A thin alchemist, fingers inked with glyph residue, stepped forward.

"I've seen devil pact burns. I've treated survivors. Tamura's mark flared exactly like one. We can't risk him turning."

Tamura's voice was low but steady. "I didn't turn."

The room silenced and Tamura looked at each of them. "I reacted. I took on two devil users and I won. I don't see the issue here. If I was a devil then wouldn't I have stayed blood thirsty?"

"You lost control," the healer snapped. "You endangered the squad."

Mugen stepped in, calm but sharp.

"You're forgetting what actually happened. Tamura's mana shielded us. It healed Aylin. It spared the forest's living core. He didn't burn recklessly—he burned cleanly."

Another voice cuts in. A logistic officer, older, leaning heavily on a staff.

"What happens next time? What if that power chooses to not spare us?"

Tamura took one step forward. His aura didn't flare. His voice didn't rise. But something in his gaze commanded silence. "I didn't ask for this mark or the power that comes with it."

"But I use it. To protect you. To protect what we've built here."

He looked directly at the alchemist. "I didn't explode. I didn't fail. I killed two elite devil-pact operatives who had already murdered their target. And I lived."

The room stirred uneasily.

Vayrik stepped forward.

He didn't raise his voice. 

He didn't smile.

But his words had gravity.

"If Tamura is dangerous, he's dangerous in the way a sword is dangerous. You don't discard a blade because it cuts too deep. You learn how to wield it." He looked at each member slowly. "That is my task. And it will not be yours." The room fell into silence again. Tamura exhaled, slowly. Mugen leaned slightly toward him. "They're scared." Tamura whispered back. "Then they should stand closer." 

Within the two months since Tamura's transformation a few things were established. First, obviously the Halocrypt guild (Vayrik's guild) members were terrified even while Tamura was unconscious. Mugen has been experiencing a new surge in power thanks to Tamura. When Tamura's mana surged into his squad, Mugen felt something else awaken as if bothered by whatever power Tamura was pouring into him. The team was waiting on Tamura to find himself again and now? They were ready to raid the Redmane and put an end to them once and for all.

---

The war chamber smelled like old smoke and scorched stone. No fanfare. No ceremony. Just bodies that had seen too much, gathered around Vayrik's rune-map like they were prepping for a funeral.

Tamura leaned against the far wall. Mugen stood beside him, arms crossed. Aylin flicked a knife between her fingers, quiet but coiled. Vayrik circled the map in silence, then lit a low-glyph pulse across its surface.

"Alright everyone," he said. 

"We have reason to believe that the syndicate is based in the cave out past the old ridge near Rougewater Villlage. Some of the villagers reported operatives nearby. On top of that, some familiars were sent to investigate and we believe that they are working on something new."

"Something worse?" Mugen asked.

"Something smarter."

The doors creaked open.

Kael, the last survivor of squad 6 stepped in. No armor. Just a leather vest soaked in years of sweat and blood. His blade was strapped crooked to his back, nicked like it'd been chewed through a dozen fights.

His gaze found Tamura first.

"I wanted in," he said. 

"No ceremony. No vote. Just give me a shot at the bastards who tore squad six to pieces."

Aylin glanced at Mugen.

Kael saw it.

"Yeah, I'm not subtle. Don't care. I watched in my head over and over, my squad bleeding in mud while the syndicate carved devil runes into their chests. I still hear 'em at night."

He looked back at Vayrik.

"Let me bury a few."

Vayrik gave a shallow nod, then pointed to the map's red pulse.

"This anchor they're building? It hijacks mana. Forces pact binds on civilians. No blood price. Just sigils to skin."

Tamura stirred.

"That's not pact work. That's just slavery."

Kael looked at him.

"Funny. Didn't you almost break half a forest without meaning to?"

Tamura didn't flinch.

"I didn't kill your team. Redmane did. And I'm still here fighting to get back from these bastards what we've lost or at least trade our lost ones for a few more of theirs."

Kael nodded slowly.

"Good. Stay in control then. We'll need it."

Vayrik stepped in, tone dry but grounded.

"This isn't just vengeance. It's intel. We find the Pact Anchor, destroy it, and walk out with proof Redmane's not just rogue. They're evolving."

Mugen spoke up.

"And if they've already activated it?"

Vayrik turned.

"Then we improvise."

Kael strapped his blade tighter, eyes flashing.

"Well then, you better improvise fast."

---

The path through the outer ridge was brittle and cracked under boots, soaked in old ash from broken sigils. Squad 2 moved like a pack without a lead. Vayrik strode ahead, silent. Aylin scouted wide, nose twitching at every scent that smelled too familiar. Mugen drifted beside Tamura, cloak blending in with the stone shadows. His presence was now half ghost, half brother.

Kael stayed behind Tamura, just close enough to be heard. His blade tapped lightly against his leg. He hadn't said much since they crossed the ridge's border.

Until now.

"Yo, Tamura. Tell me, have you ever had to bury your own?" Kael muttered, eyes watching the curve of Tamura's spine as he walked.

Tamura didn't look back.

"Not with my hands."

Kael snorted.

"No shovel for the kind of graves we carry, huh?"

Tamura's jaw tightened. 

His mark pulsed once, dimly.

"I was unconscious when Freya died. She was the only family I had when Mugen and I were separated."

"That name sounds heavy."

"It was. Still weighs on me. Even now."

Kael picked up his pace until they were shoulder to shoulder.

"The queen sent me out the day before Squad Six got jumped. Routine perimeter scan. When I came back… they were names on a ledger. No blood. No fight. Just 'status: terminated.'"

He paused.

"Feels fake. Not being there."

Tamura glanced at him.

"You didn't run."

Kael shook his head.

"Still feels like I did."

The silence stretched. 

Aylin signaled from up ahead. There was no movement, but the glyph patterns were wrong. Burned wrong.

"We're close," Mugen said quietly, his voice low. 

"The mana here's been carved backward."

Kael drew his blade, the light magic etched along its edge humming faintly.

"Whatever they're making… I want to be the first to stab it."

Tamura finally looked at him, his eyes were calm but sharp.

"You want revenge. That's fine. Just don't lose your head before I lose mine."

Kael smirked.

"Deal. But if you go crimson again, I'll be the one trying to pin you down."

"You won't."

"Try me."

Tamura's aura flickered once. It was brief, defiant, and oddly still.

Mugen glanced over and grinned.

"Feels like a party already."

Kael frowned.

"This your version of lightening the mood?"

"That was lightening."

---