Just as Shingin's alien soul power was about to fully erupt, his hand suddenly froze, as if an invisible force had yanked him back. His breath came in ragged gasps, his gaze a chaotic storm of emotions—rage, sorrow, shame, and deep, unrelenting guilt. The blue light in his palm flickered uncertainly before dimming into a faint arc that dissolved into the air.
Shingin slowly lowered his head, his shoulders trembling. Summoning the last remnants of his strength, he forced the surging power within him into submission, his nails digging into his palms so deeply that blood seeped through his fingers.
But all of this was silently observed by Riyugi from the shadows of the rubble. She stepped out slowly, each step crunching over the shattered debris, her pale face devoid of warmth, her eyes cold and empty. When she stopped in front of Shingin, her gaze didn't meet his; instead, it passed over him, settling on the ruins where her parents lay.
Riyugi's mother had already closed her eyes, but a twisted sneer still lingered at her lips, as though her dying breath had been spent condemning Shingin. Her father's eyes remained open, bloodshot and brimming with anger and despair. Blood pooled beneath their bodies, painting the wreckage around them a ghastly red.
Riyugi took slow, trembling steps toward her parents' lifeless forms. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, her shaking hands gently touching their cold faces. The icy touch broke something inside her, and tears streamed down her face as an agonized scream tore from her throat.
"No! This can't be happening… Dad! Mom!" Riyugi flung herself onto her parents' bodies, shaking them desperately as if trying to wake them. Her cries, raw and guttural, echoed through the ruins, her fingers clawing at the dirt in helpless rage.
She raised her tear-streaked face, her gaze fixed on Shingin with an intensity that could shatter stone. Her voice, hoarse and trembling with pain, cut through the heavy silence: "What… were you about to do to them just now?"
Her words were like shards of ice, her eyes ablaze with an unquenchable fury.
Riyugi's voice broke into sobs, but the coldness in her eyes only deepened. Pointing a trembling finger at her parents' bodies, she demanded, "They were my everything… and you—why did you drag them into this? Why bring this calamity to my family?!"
Shingin's head jerked up, his lips quivering as though to form an answer, but his throat felt choked with sand, unable to produce a single sound. His expression was a storm of turmoil and grief, shrinking under Riyugi's piercing glare.
"Answer me, Shingin!" Riyugi's voice rose, trembling with anger. Her body shook violently as her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her tears continued to flow, yet her voice was as frigid as ice.
Shingin's lips parted as if to speak, but no words came.
Riyugi's fury ignited. She raised her hand and slapped Shingin across the face with a force that echoed sharply in the desolate silence. His head snapped to the side, and he froze, as if even his breathing had ceased.
Her gaze, stripped of all tenderness, bore into him. Her voice, low and resolute, was like a blade: "You... are you even human? You escaped from William's grasp, leaving everyone else to suffer. You ignored and avoided responsibility, leading Yame and Syoruha to their deaths. And now—now you want to take out your anger on my parents? What right do you have to even exist in this world?!"
Shingin staggered, as if her words had struck him at his very core. He stood motionless, his face a mask of anguish and despair. His hand, which had been outstretched in a vain attempt at reconciliation, fell limply to his side.
Riyugi let out a bitter, mirthless laugh that chilled the air. Tears continued to stream down her face, but her tone was colder than frost. "In the end, you're nothing but a coward—unable to even utter a single word in your defense." Her voice hardened, like steel: "From this moment on… I don't ever want to see you again."
Shingin staggered back, as though her words had physically struck him. His body swayed, his steps unsteady, as he turned away without a word. Step by step, he walked deeper into the ruins, his form hunched and lifeless.
He no longer looked at Riyugi or the devastation around him. His head hung low, and his steps were aimless, like a soulless puppet moving toward an uncertain, desolate future. His spirit seemed broken, crumbling under the weight of his guilt and sorrow, a leaf adrift in the storm, moments away from shattering.
Riyugi's gaze followed his retreating figure, her expression a mixture of disappointment and cold detachment. Her lips quivered, but she said nothing more.
To her, Shingin was now a stranger—a man she could no longer trust, no longer rely on. And to Shingin, the chasm of despair he had fallen into seemed endless.