Kaito didn't sleep that night.
Every time he closed his eyes, he found himself standing before the Gate again—the giant, broken structure floating in blackness. This time, it wasn't silent.
It whispered.
Thousands of voices—echoes of pain, rage, and sorrow—buzzed in his ears like insects under the skin.
"Come back."
"We remember you."
"We're still inside you."
---
The next morning, Kaito woke up drenched in sweat. His sheets were torn, and long claw marks dug into his bedroom wall. The markings on his body had grown. His eyes ached.
In the mirror, for a brief second, his irises turned blood red.
He dropped the glass in panic.
---
At school, Rina noticed his silence. She pulled him aside near the gym.
"You've changed again."
He looked at her with tired eyes. "I saw… them. Again. The voices… They know me."
"You mean the creatures from that dimension?"
"No. I mean something worse. Something… deeper. Behind the Gate."
Rina froze.
"…You think there's more than just monsters?"
Kaito nodded. "Something intelligent. Something that wants me to return."
---
That night, Kaito wandered into the old alley behind the city library—somehow drawn there. The air was thicker. Colder.
A figure stood in the dark.
Not human. Tall. Cloaked in living shadows. It had no face… but it spoke.
"Darkfang… the cursed blood sings within you."
Kaito stepped back.
"You are not its first bearer. But you may be its last."
"Who… what are you?"
"I am a memory. A warning. And soon… your guide."
Lightning cracked overhead.
The figure vanished.
Kaito stood alone… but he knew the boundary between his world and theirs had begun to crack.
---
End of Chapter 6