The coming darkness did not have anything to signify its presence.
Not even a single symbol.
Not even the system text that would normally greet us and guide us.
That was enough to let me know everything.
Rei also caught it. "There is no way to go."
"I can see it," I told her. "It's just not approved."
But I still went ahead.
The rock half-heartedly took my weight, as if to say that the very reality was not sure of my right to be here. The atmosphere was kind of thinner and sharper—each inhalation came with a slight metallic flavor.
Then, after me, Rei was undecided... but eventually she went after me.
"You really don't care anymore, do you?" she asked.
I did not respond right away.
Mainly, because the reality was difficult to explain.
"I care," I eventually said.
The area revealed itself as a dilapidated amphitheater—obscenely large seats of carved obsidian, broken and partially covered in ground. In the middle of it, there was one figure in waiting.
Not in hiding.
Not aggressive.
Just waiting.
No text appeared.
That was worse than any sign.
A man rotated his body in our direction as we got closer.
He was clad in a long coat that was embroidered with different parts of sigils—very old ones, which existed before the descent's current hierarchy. His eyes were penetrating, playful, and far too cognizant.
"You broke the Mirror," he said. "And the Node."
Rei automatically made ready for a fight. "Who are you?"
The man grinned.
"Kisaragi Touma," he introduced himself. "A survivor who decided not to be polite and to play the game differently."
The text appeared with a delay, and it was unstable.
KISARAGI TOUMA — STATUS: RESTRICTED
That's interesting.
Touma was looking at me with no disguise. "You are more silent than I thought."
"I don't waste my words," I answered.
He laughed. "That's great. The system despises that."
The amphitheater came to life.
Sombras in an irregular manner gathered underneath my feet—not mine. They were older. Thicker.
Touma noticed.
"Ah," he said in a whisper. "You are already oozing through the cracks."
Rei retorted, "What cracks?"
Touma was still looking at me. "The ones that separate a hero from a liability."
I did not blink.
"What do you want?" I asked.
Touma pointed to the ruined furniture. "Talk. Working together. Or fighting. I like the first two, though."
The darkness in me moved—not bored, not furious.
Evaluating.
Touma said again. "The system is now unable to classify you. That is the reason you are considered a threat."
"That's right."
"You are also a great help."
Rei positioned himself between us. "He's not going to be with you."
Touma chuckled. "With implies superiority. I am not into that."
He got nearer, his voice reduced to a whisper. "I create *pressure points*."
The amphitheater shuddered as screams from afar were heard faintly—distant, yet real.
Touma raised himself up again. "Another gathering. Another extermination."
He directed his gaze at me saying, "Kuro Ayanagi—tell me, if five can be saved at the cost of fifty, do you still hesitate?"
I did not have to think twice.
"No."
Rei reacted. "Kuro—!"
Touma's face lit up with a bigger smile. "Look! That's not evil intentions. That's being straightforward."
Words flashed discreetly, something the system attempted to conceal.
MORAL DEVIATION ACCEPTED
Touma went on, "Good guys try to rescue everyone. Bad guys kill without any consideration."
He pointed to himself. "We select who lives."
The shadows of the amphitheater stretched towards me, becoming more visible.
I sensed it.
The system's agony.
The world's modification.
Rei murmured, almost pleading, "You are not destined to be this."
I fixed my gaze on her.
And for a second—just a second—I regretted that I was not able to feel anymore what she was afraid of.
"I am already there," I replied in a low voice. "I am just telling the truth about it now."
Touma took a step back, his expression a contented one.
"Nice," he said. "Then I will show you something very fascinating."
The earth was torn asunder.
Beneath us, a multitude of symbols flared up—identities. Hundreds of them.
Live contenders.
Marked.
A message appeared that was hard to ignore.
UNSANCTIONED EVENT: MASS HUNT
INITIATOR: UNKNOWN
Touma's expression turned excited as he glanced at me, his eyes sparkling.
"That was not the system's doing," he stated. "It was the people who did it."
Rei's voice was unsteady. "They are hunting the candidates?"
Touma affirmed with a nod. "In a coordinated manner. Very well organized. They refer to it as optimization."
I looked down at the names.
Then the paths.
Then the inevitable consequences.
The shadow that resided within me spoke to me, not in a harsh way though.
Intervene.
I gave a faint smile.
Not for the reason that I wanted to save them.
But because this was a chance.
"I want to be brought to them," I said.
Rei took hold of my arm. "What for?"
I looked into her eyes—serene, icy, determined.
"To let them know," I replied, "that even hunters can suffer."
The darkness in front of us moved.
And the system somewhere very high, noted down a new variable that it had failed to control:
Kuro Ayanagi stopped reacting to the Descent.
He was beginning to influence it.