The world bled around him.
His bare feet cracked against brittle twigs and frost-bitten soil, the sound eaten by the hush of towering trees. A single boy wandered, body torn and blood still fresh where the blade had kissed him too deeply. Behind him, the village of Tsuyuhana burned in his memories, its ashes sewn into the fibers of his soul.
Each step into the forest was a step away from the world that had erased his name.
But even the forest felt wrong.
No birds. No wind. The trees stood like petrified giants, their bark charred black as if once touched by fire and cursed never to rot. Their branches twisted like fingers, too long, too still. Fog coiled between the trunks, not white — but an eerie, ash-grey that moved like something half-alive.
> "Why does it feel like I'm being watched..."
Yuzuki paused.
His breath left his mouth in a visible puff, but the air didn't feel cold. It felt... still. Trapped. Like time had forgotten to move here. The wounds on his side pulsed, blood seeping through the torn remains of his shirt, now glued to his skin.
He collapsed against a dead log, eyes narrowing, exhaustion gnawing at the edges of his vision.
But then—
> Thump...
It wasn't his heartbeat.
It came again.
> Thump... thump...
Something stirred.
The mist shifted, revealing not movement—but structure.
Stone.
Covered in moss and time. An archway buried in the earth, barely recognizable. Carvings half-faded. A sigil of a crescent eclipsing a sun carved into its center, cracked through its eye.
He didn't know why, but his blood responded.
His heart pounded faster. Not out of fear—but instinct.
> There is something here... something older than kingdoms, older than even hate itself.
---
[Flashback: "Merciless" Awakens]
He remembered it now.
The moment when the noble's sword pierced his father's chest.
His mother's scream.
The laughter. The betrayal. His uncle's blade. The dirt in his mouth.
And the last thing he saw before everything went dark—
His own reflection in a pool of blood.
Eyes wide. White hair soaked red. And a voice not his own whispering:
> "Kill them."
"Not with fury. With purpose."
"Merciless."
And like a scream turned inward, the skill was born.
A passive curse.
A hunger.
---
[Back to the Forest]
He crawled toward the stone.
The pain should've paralyzed him. But it didn't. The skill kept him breathing. Kept him regenerating, even if slowly. Just enough to live.
Just enough to become something else.
His fingers brushed the ancient glyph, and the fog around him trembled. The air turned heavy, like reality itself took notice. Behind the arch was no shrine, no door — just a gaping hollow in the earth, like a tunnel swallowed by time.
> "This is... where I begin."
> "This forest is not dead. It's waiting."
---
[Skill Evolution Log]
> Skill: Merciless – Rank: E
Unlocked passive: [Soul Fang]
— A fragment of the soul is devoured upon kill, granting insight into one technique or habit of the slain. Skill efficiency increases by 1% per kill. Current kill count: 0.
> Trait Resonance Detected: [Bloodline Unknown]
— Due to the user's extreme psychological trauma, compatibility with latent bloodline reached 5%. Dormant attributes sealed by trauma will awaken over time or with emotional thresholds.
> The Forest of the Black Eclipse Null has acknowledged your existence.
> Welcome, Heir of Silence.
---
[Ending Scene]
Deeper in the forest, behind the mist and the roots, ancient ruins stirred.
A broken throne. Bones arranged in a circle. A crown of black thorns buried in stone.
It whispered not in words — but in intent.
> A new ruler is being forged in blood and shadow.
---
🩸To be continued…