The Silence of Broken Oaths

"In the silence left by broken oaths, the loudest cries go unheard."

— Letter from Hotaru no Yakusha

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The cold dawn revealed a battlefield soaked not only in blood but in silence—heavy and suffocating.

Shindō stood amid the wreckage, the ground beneath him cracked and stained with the remnants of promises betrayed.

The air was thick with the absence of words, a void left where oaths had once been spoken with fierce conviction.

Every broken vow was a wound deeper than any blade could inflict,

and in the quiet, those wounds screamed louder than any battle cry.

---

Yuuki moved beside him, her presence steady yet somber.

Her blind eyes gazed beyond the ruins, seeing the fractures that fractured more than just stone and flesh—

but faith and loyalty itself.

"Words once spoken carry weight," she said softly, "but when those words are broken,

they leave behind a silence that drowns hope."

---

Shindō clenched his fists, feeling the bitter sting of failure sharpen beneath his skin.

The silence was a reminder that sometimes the most devastating wounds were not physical,

but the absence of trust where it was needed most.

---

As the wind whispered through the shattered remains,

Shindō understood that the war was no longer just fought with swords or blood.

It was a war of hearts and souls,

and the silence left by broken oaths was the deadliest battlefield of all.