The Laugh Among Ashes

"Only the damned laugh when the world burns around them."

— Letter from Hotaru no Yakusha

---

The night air was thick with smoke and the bitter scent of loss.

Around the smoldering ruins, survivors huddled like broken animals, eyes hollow, spirits shattered.

But somewhere in the darkness, a laugh echoed—cold, cruel, and unmistakable.

Hotaru no Yakusha's laughter.

It rolled over the ash like a storm, a promise that the nightmare had only begun.

---

Shindō stood alone at the edge of the devastation, feeling the weight of every soul lost.

The laughter gnawed at him, not because it was mocking, but because it was true.

Sometimes, the world did burn.

Sometimes, the only choice was to laugh with it.

---

Yuuki's voice came soft behind him, a fragile anchor.

"Don't let the fire consume what little light you have left."

He turned, nodding.

In that moment, the promise of a new fight burned fiercer than any flame.

---

The war for souls was just beginning.

And in the shadows, the dragon's ash waited to rise.