Chapter 2: The Path of the Forsaken
Haruto stood firm, his gaze locked onto Kaguya. There was something unsettling about her presence—an ethereal weight pressing down on him, making his very soul feel exposed. And yet, beneath that overwhelming power, there was something else. A plea.
"You speak as if I have a choice in this," Haruto said. "Why me?"
Kaguya's gaze remained unreadable. "Because you do not belong here. And because this world cannot fix itself."
The wind howled through the ruined battlefield, carrying the voices of lingering souls. They whispered unintelligible words, their sorrow woven into the very fabric of the air. Haruto could feel their suffering as if it were his own.
He exhaled sharply. "Let's say I believe you. What exactly do you expect me to do?"
Kaguya took a step forward, her form gliding effortlessly across the broken earth. "The afterlife of this world has collapsed. The dead have nowhere to go. Their souls wander endlessly, decaying into nothingness, or worse…"
Haruto frowned. "Worse?"
Kaguya lifted her hand, and for the first time, Haruto saw it—a grotesque black mass writhing in the distance, shifting and twisting, consuming the spirits that came too close. A void of pure nothingness.
"If a soul lingers too long without purpose," Kaguya said, "it begins to erode. And then… it becomes something else."
Haruto's hands clenched into fists. The weight of the situation was starting to sink in. This wasn't just about ghosts trapped in limbo—this was a world that had lost its natural cycle of death and rebirth. If left unchecked, everything would eventually be consumed by that void.
"And you're saying I can fix this?" he asked.
Kaguya nodded. "You have the power to reshape this world. To rebuild what was lost."
Haruto scoffed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't even know who I am. How the hell am I supposed to rebuild the afterlife?"
Kaguya stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Because, whether you realize it or not… you are already beyond the cycle of this world. You are neither alive nor dead."
Haruto's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't noticed it at first, but now that she said it, he couldn't deny it. His body felt… strange. Lighter than it should. And the moment he had awoken, he hadn't felt hunger, thirst, or even fatigue.
He was something different.
Something inhuman.
Kaguya extended her hand. "Walk with me. There is much you need to understand."
Haruto hesitated for only a moment before stepping forward. If there was a way to fix this broken world, if there was a purpose to his existence… he needed to find it.
And perhaps, in doing so, he would discover who he truly was.
---
[End of Chapter 2]