Night crept in like an old memory—slow, inevitable, and cold at the edges. The moon hovered above Kuoh like a silent observer, casting a silver glow over the rooftops and quiet streets. Most students were at home, lost in the soft murmur of televisions, distant music, or the muted laughter of youth. But above it all, on the roof of Kuoh Academy, stood one who had no place among them.
Kazenari Rei.
He leaned against the steel rail, his eyes distant yet piercing, scanning beyond the visible world. Around him, the air hummed with a weight only spirits and monsters could feel. The void energy swirled at his feet, a gentle pool of darkness that moved with every breath he took.
Two presences flanked him.
To his left stood Yoru, her posture perfect, hands folded before her pristine maid uniform. She didn't speak unless necessary. She didn't move unless ordered. But behind those cold silver eyes, her spirit remained awake and alert.
To his right leaned Hoshino, one arm draped over the railing, a cigarette lazily burning between her fingers. Her newly awakened spirit—Ember Veil—burned low for now, simmering beneath the surface like magma waiting to rise.
"There's something out there," Hoshino muttered, flicking ash into the wind. "The air's too quiet."
Rei didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
[System Alert: Incoming Hostile Signature. Type: Inverse Spirit. Codename: Karasu. Intent: Aggression. Estimated Arrival: 40 seconds.]
Yoru tilted her head. "First inverse-type since your arrival."
"Good," Rei replied calmly. "Let's see what this world fears."
The void shimmered around his body, a pulse of nothingness rippling through the rooftop.
They all felt it—the tear.
A soundless crack split the sky above them, and from it descended a figure wrapped in violet-black mist. Its body was humanoid, but grotesque—wings like serrated blades, a mask fused to bone, and claws that looked more like elongated reaper's scythes. Each flap of its wings shattered the air with invisible force.
Karasu.
An Inverse Spirit.
Born of despair. Sustained by hatred.
[Karasu – Spirit Code: ???. Authority: Inverse Domain. Status: Rogue. Threat Level: High.]
The creature hovered above them, and for a moment, time slowed.
"You…" its voice echoed in every direction, neither male nor female. "You are not of this world."
Rei looked up, unfazed. "No."
"Then why do you walk it?"
Rei raised his right hand. A whisper of void energy coiled around his palm.
"To collect the broken pieces."
Karasu screamed.
The battle began.
Yoru moved first. She vanished, leaving behind only a shimmer of displaced air. Her daggers—twin blades forged from her spiritual form—flashed toward Karasu's throat, but the spirit blocked with one claw, striking back with a force that cracked a support pillar behind her.
She flipped mid-air, landed silently, and charged again.
From the opposite side, Hoshino stepped forward, her coat flaring as flame circled her arms. She launched a burst of condensed fireball—small, concentrated like a comet.
It struck Karasu's wing.
The spirit howled, smoke rising from scorched feathers, then retaliated by diving directly toward Rei.
Rei didn't move.
[System Sync Rising… 34%... 47%... 62%...]
Karasu's claw slashed down—
—but met nothing.
Void erupted in a pulse, swallowing the attack like it had never existed. The world warped around Rei, as if gravity itself refused to touch him. Karasu reeled back, confused.
Rei stepped forward.
"You were once like them," he said, nodding toward Yoru and Hoshino, both now circling the enemy like wolves. "But something broke you."
The creature screamed, flailing with wings that distorted the air.
[Emotional Core Detected: Loss. Host Origin: Spirit Variant – Maiden-Type. Event: Betrayal.]
Rei's eyes narrowed. "A spirit abandoned by her host. Or worse—sacrificed."
Karasu shrieked again, the mask beginning to crack.
"Let me show you another way," Rei whispered.
He raised his hand.
A spiral of black and white light surrounded Karasu. The Inverse Spirit writhed inside, clawing at the prison of void energy. But the more she struggled, the more memories returned—flashes of a smiling face, a hand once held, a promise broken.
Then… silence.
[Conversion Possible. Begin Reverse Synchronization? Y/N]
Rei walked through the prison of light.
"Yes."
His hand touched Karasu's mask—
—and shattered it.
The light exploded.