Shadows of the Broken Pact

"A promise forged in darkness demands a debt paid in blood."

— Letter from Hotaru no Yakusha

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The morning after the fire, the village was hollowed—ashes and ruin whispering stories of loss.

Survivors moved like ghosts, their eyes vacant, clutching memories that burned brighter than the smoldering remains.

Shindō stood amid the wreckage, the weight of failure pressing down harder than the smoke-choked air.

Yuuki approached, silent as a shadow.

Her blind eyes saw everything.

> "We cannot fight shadows with swords alone," she said softly.

"There are debts older than blood, debts we must face."

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News came on the wind: a traitor within their fragile alliance had sold secrets to Hotaru's cult.

Betrayal was no stranger to Shindō, but this cut deeper—the pact meant to protect was already fractured.

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That night, beneath the fractured moon, Shindō met with the remaining allies.

Words were weapons sharper than any blade.

Trust was currency more scarce than life.

And somewhere, in the distance, Hotaru smiled—his plan unfolding like the slow burn of a pyre.

---

The road ahead was drenched in blood and shadow.

But Shindō clenched his fists around his nodachi.

No matter the cost, he would carve a path through the darkness.