Ren felt an invisible pressure pressing down on his shoulders, running along his spine, squeezing the air out of his lungs.
He shifted uneasily, wanting to step back, but his foot slipped on the damp stone floor. The smell of fine dust, iron, and… blood or hot metal wrapped around him, making him reel.
His breath came in sharp bursts, his mind pulled tight like a bowstring. Ren realized: he didn't just want to fight him. He wanted to push him into a mental battle, a game with no predictable outcome.
"Actually… I want to see how you tremble."
Every word Varn spoke was slow, emphasized, cold. It hissed like wind slipping through a crack in the rocks, seeping into Ren's chest.
Ren tightened his grip on his sword. The cold steel spreading across his palm reminded him that even if he was scared, even if he was shaking, he was still standing here.
His heart pounded, each beat heavy and rapid, but he remained still. Still like a statue in the middle of a storm.
Ren sensed the emptiness around him, but he could also hear the opponent's breathing, calm, steady, like a cat toying with its prey. And he knew, just one careless moment… would be a disaster.
Varn's eyes gleamed, twisted, calculating. Ren felt the pressure squeezing into every muscle, every nerve. Every breath, every tiny movement was being observed, analyzed, waiting for a mistake.
Ren drew a long breath, forcing himself to focus. Sweat dampened his forehead, his grip tightened, his foot braced against the stone. A battle not of weapons, but of minds, had just begun.
Ren took a few steps back. The slick stone floor made his foot slip, forcing him to catch himself with one hand to avoid falling. Every small movement was watched, as if Varn knew his heartbeat before he did.
"Scared?" Varn laughed, his voice scraping like metal grinding against itself. "It's fine… I enjoy that feeling. Especially when your eyes open wide, not knowing where to run."
Ren shut his eyes for a moment, breathing hard, feeling every muscle tighten, his heart threatening to burst out of his chest. He forced himself to stay calm. But the tension gathering around Varn, close yet distant, like a cold draft slipping into his flesh, made him tremble.
"A New Year's… gift…" What did that mean? He didn't know.
But he felt it, whatever it was, it was dangerous.
Not just physically, but mentally.
An invisible trap that could crush him if he slipped.
Varn stepped forward. Not fast, not strong, but each step made the floor tremble. The sword in his hand glinted in the red sunset, as if measuring Ren's heartbeat.
Ren tightened his grip. His hand cold and trembling. Each breath felt like a blade scraping across his chest.
He realized he wasn't just facing an opponent, he was fighting his own fear, the invisible pressure, his own self.
A careless lift of his foot, the floor slippery, Ren's breath hitched. Varn smirked, his twisted smile twitching, eyes burning.
Ren heard his heartbeat hammering, blood pounding through his veins. But he still stood firm.
He knew… this fight wasn't about winning or losing.
It was a test.
A mental game.
And a single mistake…
Everything would collapse.
Ren inhaled deeply, forcing his mind steady, forcing himself to follow Varn's breath, forcing himself to guess the next movement.
But the pressure kept pushing, cold, invisible, creeping through every fiber, every vertebra.
Varn stepped closer. Like a silent black cat stalking its prey. Ren sensed every detail, his eyes, his steps, the slightest shift of his muscles, but everything was still blurry, unpredictable.
Ren clenched his sword tighter.
His heart pounding, each beat like a weight dragging down his body.
He felt every muscle, every vein strain as if they would rip out of him.
This fight… hadn't even started.
But the pressure...no, not his pressure, the pressure of something primal carved into the instinct to survive… was already unbearable.
Faint sunlight filtered through cracks, dividing the abandoned warehouse into thin lines of light and dark. The smell of dust, iron, and damp mold wrapped around him, weighing down his chest.
"Go find your friends… I'm afraid if you're not fast enough… they'll be the unlucky ones first…"Varn's voice echoed, slow, diseased.
"Ah, those kids… adorable little things."
His smile cut across Ren's neck like a cold blade. Twisted. Haunting.
Varn didn't wait another second.
He leapt through the warehouse window in one swift, fluid motio,and disappeared.
Only the heavy silence remained, along with the pale sunlight splitting the warehouse in half, and Ren's heartbeat pounding like it would explode.
Ren stood frozen. His hand still gripping the sword, his shoulders locked tight.
He knew one thing clearly, this fight wasn't over.
He was gone… but the game… had only just begun.
Ren sprinted forward, steps pounding across the slick stone. His breath rapid, chest burning. He followed the direction Varn had appeared from, his nerves taut like drawn wires, every sense stretched to its limit.
The warehouse… was larger than he thought.
The winding paths twisted like a maze, the faint light seeping through cracks only making the darkness deeper.
Each step echoed softly, bouncing off the high ceiling, making Ren suddenly aware of how terrifyingly alone he was.
His heart still racing, breath tight. Sweat drenched his forehead, dripping down his back. His muscles ached, but he didn't dare stop.
Finally, he saw them.
Yuzu, Lily, and the three kids huddled in a corner surrounded by wooden crates.
Sunlight from a large hole in the roof shone down, cutting through the thick darkness, illuminating their frightened faces, their trembling movements.
Ren paused for a moment, inhaled deeply. The smell of dust, old wood, and sweat mixed together, heavy in the air. He felt his heart slam inside his chest, pressure pushing into every muscle. His legs trembled, but he refused to step back.
Yuzu looked up, eyes wide, fearful, but also relieved and shocked to see Ren.
Lily held the kids close, trembling, her eyes anxious, pleading.
The three children curled into each other, gripping tightly like clinging to the last safe place in a world full of darkness and danger.
Ren stepped forward, quick but careful. His sword still in hand, but he knew… this wasn't the time to fight.
Every movement had to be precise.
Every step measured.
Every glance weighed.
"It's alright… I found them."
Ren's voice was low, trembling, both reassurance for them and a reminder to himself to stay calm.
He felt every tremor, every fear radiating from them, and he realized, it wasn't just about saving them. It was about holding himself together.
Sunlight filtered through the opening above, shining on their hair and faces, making the scene quiet...yet fragile.
Ren was about to step through the darkness before him.
But at that moment, he caught Yuzu's gaze.
Wide eyes, stretched open, not ordinary fear, but as if he were seeing something beyond reason.
He tried to signal Ren to stop, a desperate gesture, trembling to the point of terror.
A discomfort… a sharp sting like needles… ran along every fiber of Ren's body.
Each heartbeat felt strangled.
He froze. The space around him suddenly turned heavy, still, as if even the air itself was struggling to hold him back.
And then… realization.
Ren realized what he had deliberately ignored…
They weren't locked up. Not tied. Nothing restrained them.
But… why were they still standing there.
Why didn't they leave. Not a scream. No running.
The scene warped. The darkness in the corner of the warehouse seemed to slide closer to him.
Light from the hole in the roof spilled down, but it couldn't illuminate their whole faces, only highlighting their empty eyes.
Ren felt… as if he were looking at mannequins, not real people, yet somehow alive. His breath grew heavy, muscles tightening, skin pulled taut.
A cold fear scraped along his spine, burrowing all the way into the marrow.
Ren knew… something was wrong.
Something was… watching, waiting… and he didn't know whether he could save them, or was simply walking into a trap crafted with terrifying precision.
The sunlight faded.
As if the safe area… those small fragments of shelter Ren thought he had… were shrinking little by little.
They… were hiding from something.
The "surprise gift" Varn had mentioned hovered like an invisible threat above their heads.
Ren looked at the thin strip of sunlight before him, pale gold as if about to be swallowed by the dark.
Faint rays struck the dusty floor, glinting off his hair,...but not enough to push away the suffocating, heavy feeling.
Yuzu and Lily stood there, eyes wide, faces rigid.
They tried to signal him, every gesture trembling, raising their hands, shaking their heads as if urging Ren to run immediately.
Ren felt the fear in every movement they made. Not just fear of Varn, but fear of something else… lurking.
A cold breeze slipped through the hole in the roof.
The darkness in the corners crept closer, shivering.
Ren's heartbeat raced, his breath tightened, his skin prickled as if stabbed by needles.
He knew that if he was one beat too slow… it would be too late.
Ren stepped back a small distance.
Slowly, carefully, he retreated, following the signals from Yuzu and Lily.
Each step back was calculated, every muscle taut, heart pounding, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Seeing him move, Yuzu and Lily's eyebrows loosened slightly, just enough to reveal a thin crack in their fear.
But the faint light from the roof wasn't enough to dispel the sense that… danger was still lurking.
The darkness in the corner of the warehouse began to tremble.
Like a living creature, it boiled, twitching in pulses, shivering in waves, then suddenly leapt outward.
Its form was unclear, but the hunger, the obsession, spread across Ren's skin, biting into his ears, into his spine.
Ren's heart pounded violently, each beat like a war drum.
He froze. The sword in his hand trembled, not just from exhaustion, but from a primal terror: the thing now appearing before him…
He heard a rustling sound, whispers in the wind, or perhaps just illusions born from his own fear?
The darkness lunged forward, closer with each second, as if it knew exactly which step Ren would take next.