On the other side, in the ruins of the temple, Tara hurried toward the library. The ceiling had partially collapsed, and rainwater was beginning to seep through the cracks. She was accompanied by a few minor demons, whom she ordered to remove the books from the shelves and place them in a dry place. Her behavior was frantic, moving between the shelves with obvious urgency.
Kael entered the room and watched her. He approached casually, removing a random book from a shelf as he walked. Unlike Tara, Kael was not wearing armor now; he wore only loose pants, exposing his muscular torso. After all, demons are not fighting all the time; they also rest, and the heavy atmosphere of the library invited such relaxation.
"You've always been the know-it-all," he commented, leafing through the book. Tara did not respond. "What's bothering you so much?"
Tara sighed, exhausted. Just as she was about to answer, her eyes fixed on the volume Kael was holding. It was exactly the book she was looking for. Without saying a word, she snatched the book from his hands. Kael tried to protest, but she interrupted him with a sharp gesture.
"Shut up. Look at this."
She opened the book to a specific page that displayed a highlighted title: 虚 (Utsuro: Vacuum, or the Hollow [Japanese]). She pointed repeatedly at the text, urging her brother to look.
Kael read the title but frowned.
"I've never heard of this. Who is this Utsuro guy?"
"It's not 'who,' Kael. It's 'what.' They are the Utsuros," Tara corrected. "Read it."
Kael leaned in and began to read what appeared to be an entry from a very old diary:´
⸙Title: 虚 (Utsuro)
Among demons: False Humans, False Faces, or Betrayers of the Abyss.
Among humans and Daoists: Demons with Human Faces, Living Masks, or Infiltrators.
They are designated as Utsuros because, although on the outside they perfectly resemble human beings, on the inside they are made up of nothing but an insatiable hunger. They are an ancient demonic lineage, considered a genetic aberration by the Abysmus Abyssus. They are not the result of natural evolution; they are a mistake of creation that was never corrected.
Characteristics
Identical human face: permanent. They cannot "remove" their mask. This makes them perfect infiltrators (they can live among humans for decades without alarm), but also eternal targets (anyone who sees them up close knows what they are). Burns in the sun: Direct exposure to the sun melts their skin in minutes, until only charred and cracked bones remain. Nighttime regeneration: With fresh flesh or blood (human or demonic), they regenerate from bone to complete flesh in a few hours. A small piece is enough to start. Definitive death: They only die if they are killed before turning to bone (decapitation, heart ripped out, brain destroyed, etc.). If they turn to bone first, they return the following night. Divine fire accelerates burning and prevents regeneration, but is not required to kill them. Double hunger: In addition to physical hunger (blood/essence), they have emotional hunger, they need fear, love, pain, and anger from others to remain stable. Without this, the mind within them takes over, causing madness and even suicide.
Why they are hunted
Pure demons: They are genetic traitors. ██████ breaks their infinite hunger. A demon with a human face may refuse ██████. The Ancients have ordered total genocide. Humans/Daoists: They are perfect infiltrators. They can ██████, seduce, betray, consume Daoist essences ██████. The Empires hunt any rumor of a "demon with a human face." ████████████(entire paragraph)
Origin
Thousands of years ago, ████████████(entire paragraph)
██████ the human face brought something that no demon should have, the ████████████.
This made them defective, ████████████⸙
Kael finished reading, processing that information with difficulty. For him, the text was just a historical curiosity full of censorship and of little practical value.
"The master has a face almost identical to a human's," Kael commented thoughtfully. "He must be very old."
Not knowing what else to say to his sister, and feeling that this knowledge did not change his reality, he shrugged. Tara, however, seemed distant.
"Go do something else, Kael," she ordered curtly.
Kael left the library in silence, but before crossing the door, he paused for a moment. He looked over his shoulder at his sister, seeing her consumed by the books and the dampness of the room.
"Take off that armor and rest," he said in a tone of rare seriousness. "The Massacre may begin today. We will need all our strength."
Tara didn't answer, but she heard the echo of his footsteps receding. Alone, she let out a long sigh, trying to calm the rhythm of her heart pounding against her chest. However, relief did not come. Suddenly, her eyes widened and a chill ran down her spine. In a slow, trembling gesture, she brought her fingers to her neck. She pressed her skin exactly where Afro's teeth marks were still embedded.
On the other side...
Darkness. An absolute, dense void.
"So this is what dying feels like?" thought Shinjimaru, floating in endless nothingness.
"Open your eyes, Shinjimaru!"
Afro's voice echoed, authoritative and vibrant.
Shinjimaru obeyed. When his eyelids opened, he found himself completely naked in a vast, dreamlike hall. The floor seemed to be made of a dark, liquid substance, and hundreds of broken fragments floated around him, like pieces of a giant mirror. He was in the center of his Dantian.
"A new dimension..." Shinjimaru muttered, looking at his own hands.
Afro was there, his presence filling the space with ease. He did not seem like a guest, but rather the new owner of that place.
"Tell me about the Sentinel," Afro ordered.
Shinjimaru hesitated for a second, his mind organizing the memories his father had passed on to him.
"The Sentinel... Blue Flame Mountain is not just a geological formation. It is the fossilized body of a Sentinel named Tyr, an ancient and colossal creature of living stone. Tyr was the last of his kind to die. He used his final essence to solidify himself, burying himself deep underground to die in peace and hide his heart. The slopes are his ribs, the rivers are his dried blood, and the caves are his empty lungs.
Afro listened in silence, his aura fluctuating with the information. Shinjimaru continued:
"Every six months, what remains of Tyr attracts the Dao around him like a magnet. The pressure builds until it creates storms that distort the weather. When it reaches its limit, lightning strikes the mineral tree at the top and releases the Blue Flame. It is a cold energy that burns away internal impurities. It can heal or destroy, depending on who receives it."
"That's different from what I saw in the temple ruins," Afro analyzed. "I'll have to piece it together bit by bit."
Suddenly, a second silhouette of energy, another soul, detached itself from Afro.
"Very well, Shinjimaru. I have a mission for you. You will go to the South Zone and retrieve my book and my sword."
"Where?" Shinjimaru asked apprehensively.
"Where the Captain kept them."
"At the Captain's house?!" Shinjimaru was indignant, almost panicked.
"How should I know where they are?" hissed Afro. "Look for them. Dogs have noses to sniff them out."
"But the problem is, I'm not even a Daoist!"
Afro did not argue. He simply raised his hand. A dark flame began to emanate from his palm, releasing rays that touched the glass fragments floating in the hall.
"Don't try to challenge me, what you see I will see, Shinjimaru."
Immediately, Shinjimaru's navel throbbed with excruciating pain. He fell to his knees on that dreamlike floor, crouching down. The pain was unbearable, as if something was being forcibly sewn inside his guts.
Shinjimaru woke up abruptly in the real world. He tried to get up, but his legs failed him and he fell again, bathed in sweat. Himari watched him with a bored expression.
"Eeeh... why so much drama?" The girl commented, not understanding what had happened in his mind.
The monk entered the dining hall at that moment. He stopped, his eyes fixed on Shinjimaru. The atmosphere around the boy had changed; it was charged, heavy.
"A demon..." Said the monk.
Shinjimaru did not hear the monk's words. He had his hand pressed against his navel, feeling a new, pulsating heat. It was Dao. Finally, he felt the energy flowing again. A single tear ran down his face; it was his greatest desire, granted by his greatest nightmare.
"Let's go!" said Himari and the monk, almost in unison.