They all stood at the mouth of the dark tunnel, staring at the strange, wolf-like creature that had brought them this far.
His eyes, though vaguely defined, held a deep weight, as if he carried centuries of secrets.
He took a step back and said in a trembling voice,
"This... this is my limit. I can't go any further."
He then turned directly to Kaito, as if he'd seen him clearly all along, despite his blurred face.
"One has to know one's limits... right?"
He bowed his head lightly, then turned around, walking in the opposite direction, slowly disappearing into the darkness, leaving only the echo of his words behind.
An eerie silence fell between them. No one spoke. Even Hiro Shin seemed momentarily unable to laugh or open his mouth as he watched the shadows that had swallowed the creature.
Tsuki said calmly, "He was carrying a deep pain... It's not easy for someone to stop at the door of truth."
Kaito's father then took a deep breath, as if trying to break the ice that had enveloped their hearts, and suddenly clapped his hands:
"Okay! The tunnel started to get colder than my heart when my wife kicked me out of the kitchen. Let's go for a walk!"
Hairu Shin laughed loudly:
"As if there was anything colder than your cooking, Uncle!"
Hairu Shin replied sarcastically, stretching out his arms to show off his muscles:
"Ask Kaito. He'd cry if he hit his head on the corner of the table, then run to me screaming, 'Save me, Dad!!'"
Kaito's face immediately turned red, and he said through gritted teeth:
"Dad... Stop..."
The two girls accompanying him laughed, while Tsuki tried to stifle her laughter. Hiro seized the moment and said,
"Looks like we'll need a notebook to write Kaito's secret diary in. We might sell it later!"
Kaito's father replied with a smile,
"Its title would be: The Boy Who Wanted to Save the World but Was Afraid of Cockroaches."
The group erupted in laughter, and even Kaito couldn't suppress a faint smile that crept across his lips despite himself. The atmosphere was finally less heavy, as if laughter was their small weapon against what awaited them in the depths.
But as they advanced, Kaito felt something stir inside him. It wasn't just the creature's words, but the look in his eyes... as if it carried a message yet to be said.
"What did the king mean by that? And why me?"
Questions began to weave their threads deep within him as he stared into the darkness of the tunnel stretching before them, as if it were a mirror reflecting his own mysterious fate.
The tunnel stretched out before them like the intestines of a sleeping creature, covered with creeping stone walls studded with eroded insect symbols. The dim light from the lanterns hanging over their backs was barely enough to guide them, but they continued silently, as if the tunnel itself were swallowing their voices.
Hana walked close to the wall, running her fingers over the carved symbols, and whispered, "Some of these inscriptions... don't belong to the same era. These are... much older."
Tsuki turned to Kaito, who was walking silently, his eyes hard as if he were reading something no one else could. She didn't speak, just reached out and took his hand.
Kaito felt the warmth of her hand creeping into him, and he turned toward her, and she smiled softly. He didn't say anything, but his grip tightened slightly.
Behind them, Haeru Shin walked beside Kaito's father, grumbling in a low voice:
"This place is disgusting... no light, no fresh air... I feel like I'm inside a crocodile's mouth."
Kaito's father laughed and said, punching his chest:
"That's why you should practice holding your breath. Patience is the secret of the strong, boy."
Then he added, laughing:
"By the way, Kaito used to hide behind the refrigerator when he saw a cockroach. Imagine?! The son of a boxer being defeated by an insect!"
Tsuki burst out laughing, while Kaito muttered, his face reddening:
"That was when I was little..."
Minamoto was at the back, walking in complete silence, his face showing nothing but a grimace, as if contemplating a history long buried here.
After a long walk, the tunnel gradually widened until it opened into a huge hall, with a massive stone door in the middle, engraved with intricate symbols and a strange inscription resembling a black disc surrounded by seven rays.
They approached it, and some tried to examine it, but no doorway or mechanism appeared.
Here, Kaito's father stepped forward, put on his steel gloves, and took a deep breath.
He said in a calm tone, "Sometimes, words don't open doors... but my fist might."
Then, raising his hand high, he delivered a massive punch to the center of the door.
The sound echoed throughout the hall, and the door split into deep cracks before collapsing suddenly, raising a huge cloud of dust.
As soon as the dust cleared...
Everyone froze.
A barren landscape stretched before them to the horizon, covered in fine gray ash that drifted through the air. Corroded stone temple ruins, collapsed insect-like structures, and walls covered in carvings erased by time.
The atmosphere is stifling, as if you're breathing into a lost dream. Disembodied spirits hover silently, like a mist, moving slowly among the ruins, without looking at them or noticing their presence.
It was a forgotten village... but pulsing with a hidden presence.
Suddenly, in the midst of this silent scene, Kaito whispered, as if he'd remembered something deep within:
"The Dead Surface..."
Everyone turned to him, shocked.
Tsuki asked anxiously,
"Kaito... who told you that name?"
Hairu Shin scanned the place with suspicious eyes.
"There's no sign... nothing to indicate the name... how did you know?"
But Kaito didn't reply.
He stared at the gray horizon, and something inside him... something ancient and dark... began to stir.
Fin chapter