The gear Rin provided was lightweight and brutal in its efficiency: two rift-grade suppressors (small earpieces that dulled spawn aggression pheromones), polarity dampeners (bracelets that slowed essence rejection between vessels), a one-use extraction beacon (palm-sized disc that would summon a Current fast-exfil drone if they survived long enough to activate it), and sealed rations that tasted like cardboard and regret.
They left the hub at midnight—slipping out through a maintenance tunnel that surfaced in an abandoned rail yard on the Chiba border. No vehicles. No lights. Just the two of them walking into the dark.
The forest edge appeared after three hours of silent trekking: trees twisted into unnatural angles, bark streaked with faint violet veins that pulsed like slow heartbeats. The air tasted metallic. The ground underfoot felt spongy, as though the soil itself remembered blood.
Ren felt the Anchor rune warm against his chest the moment they crossed the invisible perimeter.
Aoi glanced at him. "You feel it too?"
"Yeah. Like someone turned the volume back up."
The suppression seal still burned low on his neck, but the Anchor was doing its job—pushing back just enough to let more of Kurogami's power trickle through without the usual sickening drain. The daily cap had reset at midnight; he could feel the 65% ceiling flexing, testing its limits.
They moved deeper.
First spawn appeared twenty minutes in: a pack of rift wolves—same shadow-and-bone variety he'd fought on Mount Mitake, but larger, faster, their eyes arranged in shifting patterns that tracked movement independently.
Ren didn't hesitate.
He let a single Void Chain snap out—longer, thicker than anything he'd managed since the seal went on. The black iron links caught the lead wolf mid-leap and slammed it into a tree trunk. Bark exploded. The wolf dissolved into tar smoke.
Essence fragment absorbed. Minor gain.
The surge hit—cleaner than before, less punishing. The Anchor absorbed the feedback loop, turning raw hunger into controlled flow.
Essence Level: 7.1 → 7.4
Void Chain range +15%. Stability improved.
Aoi's eyes widened briefly. "You just leveled."
Ren flexed his hand—shadows curling smoother, darker. "Feels… steadier. Like the Anchor's filtering the noise."
She nodded—then moved.
Golden light flared along her arms—not gauntlets this time, but thin radiant threads that lashed out like whips. Two wolves dropped, their forms unraveling under purifying heat without full incineration.
They fought back-to-back—silent, synchronized. No wasted motion. No hesitation.
The pack thinned. The last wolf retreated into the undergrowth with a low, almost thoughtful growl.
Aoi exhaled. "They're learning. Adapting. Hana wasn't exaggerating."
Ren touched the Anchor rune. "Then we move faster."
They pressed on.
The deeper they went, the thicker the violet veins became—crawling up tree trunks, pulsing along the ground like living circuitry. The air grew heavy. Every breath carried the faint echo of distant screams.
Then they felt it.
A pull.
Not physical.
Deeper.
The Eclipse Shard was calling.
It started as a whisper in Ren's chest—Kurogami's voice stirring, curious, almost eager.
There you are… old friend.
Aoi stiffened at the same moment. Her hand flew to her sternum.
"Luminara… she's awake. Really awake. I can feel her reaching."
Ren grabbed her wrist—grounding.
"Stay with me."
She nodded—breathing shallow.
They reached the inner clearing at 4:17 a.m.
The cracked concrete altar from the photo stood exactly as photographed—surrounded by a perfect circle of dead trees. Above it floated the Eclipse Shard: palm-sized obsidian disc, edges blurred as though reality itself was fraying around it. Light bent toward the center; shadows stretched away.
The pull intensified.
Ren's vision tunneled. Kurogami's presence swelled—hungry, patient, ancient.
Take it. Reunite us. Become whole.
Aoi's eyes glowed brighter—sunrise gold bleeding into pure white.
"Luminara wants… balance. She wants to merge. She says it's the only way to end the war."
Ren felt the Anchor flare—hot, insistent—holding the line.
He looked at Aoi.
Her face was calm—too calm.
"If we take it," she whispered, "it might kill us. Or it might make us something neither side has ever seen. No more rejection. No more suppression. Just… one power. One will."
Ren stepped closer to the altar.
The Shard pulsed once—violet light washing over them both.
He felt it—the temptation. Power without limits. No more seal. No more running. A chance to end the hunt forever.
But he also felt her through the Echo—raw, terrified, determined.
He reached out.
Not for the Shard.
For her hand.
She took it instantly.
The moment their fingers laced, the pull faltered—just a fraction.
The Anchor rune over his heart blazed blue.
Aoi's chest glowed gold in answer.
The Shard trembled—hovering lower, almost within reach.
Ren spoke—voice steady despite the storm inside.
"We're not taking it tonight."
Aoi's eyes snapped to his.
"We're not?"
"No. We're going to stand here. Feel it. Understand it. And then we're going to decide—together—what it really means. Not because it's hungry. Not because heaven or hell wants it. Because we do."
The Shard pulsed again—angrier this time.
Rift guardians began to rise from the cracked ground—larger shapes, more complex, limbs shifting between shadow and light.
Ren squeezed her hand.
"Beacon?"
She pulled the disc from her pocket—thumb hovering over the activation rune.
"Not yet."
He nodded.
They stood together—back-to-back once more—facing the approaching guardians.
The Shard watched.
Silent.
Waiting.
And for the first time since the forest swallowed them, Ren felt something stronger than hunger or fear.
Choice.
Real choice.
They weren't running toward the relic.
They were standing still in front of it—holding each other's hands—and letting the darkness and the light decide what came next.
Essence Level: 7.4 → 7.7
New resonance effect unlocked: Polarity Anchor (temporary shared essence pool when in direct physical contact – duration 300 seconds, cooldown 1 hour)
Current status: Inside the Red Forest – Shard proximity – Decision pending
End of Chapter 17