Chapter 2: Black vs. Red

  In the heart of the village, the dark mist crept silently across the ground. Then, without warning, Shin emerged from it. His posture was erect, his gaze fixed on the house of the former Fugare. It looked different than in his memories – more stable, calmer, almost alive. It was as if he had recreated it. Shin entered the building, closed the door behind him with a handle on the back and let it gently fall into the lock.

  He went to a small, narrow mirror on the wall, next to which was a wooden bucket of clear water. Without hesitation, he dipped his hands into it, raised them to his face and patted the cool water against his skin. Strands stuck to his forehead, but he brushed them aside, breathing heavily and letting out a small, disappointed sigh. “What if I'm not strong enough?” The thought was like a cut, honest, uncomfortable reality. His gaze remained fixed on the mirror, staring deep into his own reflection, as if he were judging himself. “The time has come. I can't sit here any longer and do nothing... I'm taking back my freedom today."

  He turned away from the mirror, went to the old wooden bed in the corner of the room and sat down. With a calm movement, he reached under the mattress, groped for a familiar object – a frayed, leather pouch, worn and dusty. He pulled it out, opened it slowly, and took out a shimmering dagger. The steel gleamed faintly in the light, as if it had been waiting all these years just for this moment. “You're coming with me,” Shin whispered, and sheathed the dagger on his hip.

  Time passed. The sun had long since passed its highest point when Shin approached the village exit. The old paths led him to a ruin, the last remaining border. Step by step, he approached until he stopped in front of a mark on the ground: “Ten meters”. His gaze was straight ahead, his will unyielding. Suddenly – an attack. Fast, barely visible. Shin punched into the void with his bare fist, and at the same moment a golden glow flared up. Sparks flew, the air began to crackle. A golden barrier appeared in front of him, stretching like a dome over the entire village – powerful, almost alive.

  “What remarkable power... This must be the last layer of the barrier. Finally.”

  A rumbling bang interrupted his thoughts. Shin pricked up his ears and scanned the area. Then – another bang, louder, closer. “What is that?” Animals fled the forest in panic. Birds took to the air, screeching, deer burst out of the thicket, fear tangible in every movement.

  A single deer ran straight towards Shin. But when it touched the barrier, it vanished – without a trace, silently, as if it had been erased. Shin didn't move, his gaze remained hard. “Always the same... Nothing remains. Everything disappears.”

  He put his hand on the barrier. Sparks flashed again. A burning pain shot through his fingers, tearing through the nerve pathways. With a jerk, he pulled his hand back, his face contorted, but he said nothing. Then – another deafening bang. This time accompanied by a strong gust of wind. Shin staggered slightly, but kept his balance. It felt like the wind was coming directly from the source of the impact.

  “What is happening outside this barrier?”

  And suddenly he saw him. An old man, staggering, covered in blood, his movements erratic and heavy. Shin shouted: “Hey, old man! Do you hear me?!” But there was no answer. The man staggered a few more steps, then simply collapsed.

  “Damn it... Hold on!” Shin clenched his fists and began to beat against the barrier. Over and over again. Each blow harder, more desperate. His knuckles split open, blood dripped down the invisible boundary. “I have to become even stronger...”

  Then – a new sound. A hissing, a screeching, followed by a dull thud. Something had shot through the air at tremendous speed and had drilled into a nearby tree. Shin's eyes widened. Shock. In the distance, half-buried under tattered leaves, lay a young man. Lifeless. Blood oozed from deep wounds, his body marked by death.

  Shin couldn't utter a word.

  Even as he stared, the old man moved again. His hands clawed at the ground as if he wanted to pull himself away – away from something lurking behind him. Shin screamed inwardly, his blows against the barrier became uncontrolled. “What's happening?! I'm coming! Please hold on!”

  Then – a blow to the pit of his stomach of reality. Something stirred in the forest. An aura so overwhelming and alien that Shin instinctively took a few steps back. His eyes widened, his breath caught in his throat. And then it emerged from the shadows: a demon. Big. Red. Baring its teeth. Its tongue hung out of its mouth, its eyes empty, and fresh blood stuck to its claws. Smoke rose from its body, from open craters, as if it had been forged from war and madness.

  The demon began to move slowly. Without haste, without any haste, as if everything had been decided long ago. With sluggish, bone-breaking steps, it approached the young man who was lying motionless at the tree – half dead, bruised, long since closer to death than to life. He didn't bend, he didn't kneel, he just reached. His bloodied claw grasped the man's leg, lifting him into the air in a single motion, as if his body were no more than a doll. The body hung lifeless in the air, the head sagged back, no sound, no tremor – just silence.

  Shin didn't scream. Not yet. But his fists slammed against the golden barrier again. Harder, more desperately. His hands had long since opened, bloody, full of cracks and splintering skin, but he didn't stop. “I won't let you die here...” he growled, half whispered, half shouted against the invisibility of the border.

  But the demon's gaze changed. Something inside this creature seemed to be bored. The body in his hand didn't move – no resistance, no sound. The game was over. Without hesitation, the demon held his free hand to the man's chest. Smoke rose. A tingle in the air. Then – an explosion. A sudden, brutal tear in space and flesh. The man's body was torn into a thousand shreds, scattered across the clearing, over trees, grass, stone – nothing remained intact.

  Shin stared. Silent. Breathless.

  His will was put to the test.

  And in his mind, the memory rose.

  Not of words. Not of faces.

  Only of death.

  He lost control. His blows became wilder, less targeted, driven only by rage. The barrier trembled under the assault, but it held. Behind him, the old man still lay gasping on the ground, while the demon slowly turned his gaze to him. A grin spread across his disfigured face, his tongue lolling over his lips, dribbling with anticipation.

  His steps grew heavier. Every single one of them made the ground shake. He came closer and closer, the old farmer crawled, desperate, helpless, but the demon didn't stop. Shin trembled. “Why... Why am I still so weak? Why can't I protect anyone again...?” His voice almost broke under the weight of his thoughts.

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  Then the demon stopped. Right in front of the old man. And as if he had heard him, he turned his head.

  Looked through the golden barrier.

  Looked Shin directly in the eye.

  A low growl, then a smile – wider, more fearsome, more hideous than anything Shin had ever seen. His tongue hung out of his mouth, his eyes empty, and that smile... it wasn't an expression of joy. It was pure provocation.

  “No... old man!”

  The farmer put one hand in front of the other for the last time, dragged himself a few centimeters further, until the demon lifted its leg – and kicked with all his might. The kick hit the man's back. A crack. Then another explosion, this time even more brutal. Nothing remained. No bones, no flesh. Only ash.

  Shin opened his eyes wide. His eyes never left the grin on the demon's face. “I...”

  The demon enjoyed it. Completely. Saliva dripped from his tongue, landing on the bloody remains of his victim, while he grinned to himself with a soft wheeze. Then, satisfied, he slowly turned around and walked back into the forest.

  Shin moved. Not consciously. Only driven. His hands trembled, his breathing was shallow. With his last ounce of strength, he hit the barrier again, this time not with his fists, but with his open palms. He pushed, he pressed, he burned. The pain was almost unbearable. But his thoughts had changed. They were no longer characterized by fear. No longer by weakness.

  “I will... extinguish you.”

  The barrier reacted. It flashed, lit up in bright gold, pulsed – and hurled Shin several meters back. He remained standing on both feet, stared at his hands, which were spread open. His eyes flickered. His hatred grew.

  Then his right hand reached for the hilt of the dagger at his side. Without him consciously realizing it, he drew the blade. It glistened in the sunlight, calm, expectant.

  And suddenly – he threw it.

  With a speed that made the air hiss, the dagger flew after the figure in the forest.

  “STOP!”

  The dagger hit the barrier. A chain reaction.

  Thousands of sparks leapt up.

  The air hissed, vibrated, trembled.

  And then – Shin had vanished.

  He had followed the blade. So quickly, so decisively that even the demon hadn't noticed.

  “STOP FOR GOD'S SAKE!”

  The barrier shattered. Like glass under too much tension, it cracked and broke with a dazzling flash of light.

  The demon turned, too slowly.

  Shin shot past him –

  a single moment was enough.

  The dagger rammed deep into the creature's skull, and in the same breath, a fist hit its face with such force that the demon flew meters through the air. Trees shattered, branches splintered, until its body crashed against an old, thick trunk and remained motionless.

  The grin was gone.

  He screamed – loud, angry, distorted with pain.

  But he got up again.

  Slowly, breathing heavily.

  Blood dripped onto the ground.

  He reached for the dagger in his head.

  Pulled it out.

  And let it explode.

  Not a second passed before Shin was standing in front of the demon again. Driven by hatred, rage and the burning disappointment within himself, he struck – once, twice, again and again his fist hit the face of the monster. Each blow made the demon recoil further, the mocking grin faded more and more from his face, each hit an outburst of unbridled desperation that discharged in Shin's fist. But just before he struck again, he paused with his left fist, as if he wanted to pause briefly, to gather his strength – but before he could do so, he rammed his right fist straight into the demon's stomach.

  But this time something was different. The blow ricocheted, literally sinking into the demon's massive fat. The grotesque wall of flesh absorbed the force, swallowed the energy, and then – the mass closed around Shin's hand. He couldn't pull it back anymore. His gaze slowly wandered upwards. The demon had his grin back. Without warning, he pushed Shin's forehead into his skull. The impact was fierce. Shin sank to one knee, dazed, but not broken.

  The demon put his hand on Shin's back. Smoke rose from the open crater wound on his palm, then – an explosion. Violent. It hurled Shin directly into the ground, as if it wanted to burn him into the earth. His eyes turned white, for a moment there was nothing left in him, just emptiness. Consciousness and body parted, everything seemed to blur.

  A hot, stinking breath came out of the demon's mouth as he bent over the motionless body. Then he grabbed Shin by the head, lifted him up, held him right in front of his face. But before he could say anything, Shin whispered in a hoarse voice, “Not yet...”

  Surprised, almost irritated, the demon tilted his head. He put his free hand on Shin's chest. “I have...” Shin whispered and struck. Right on the forehead.

  Smoke escaped from the demon's body again, followed by a new explosion that hurled Shin through the remains of the barrier, whose last glow now finally extinguished. He flew through debris, through the abandoned house, crashed into the wall of his room, remained lying at the old bed – supported, but no longer upright.

  Blood dripped from his mouth, his gaze wandered. Everything was spinning. The strength fled his body, every fiber screamed for rest. “I... have... not... yet... lost...”

  Then he fell to the side. His body sank to the ground, heavy, exhausted. His head turned slightly to the side, looking under the bed. “Too... weak...”.

  His right hand groped under the bed, searching the wooden surface. Then the dark mist lay over the ground again. It crept like shadows from old memories over the wood, over Shin's battered body – and swallowed him up.

  When the fog lifted again, Shin lay at his parents' grave. The fog slowly faded, leaving his body in the warm light of the sun. His vision was blurred, dazzled. But then – he saw her.

  His mother. Smiling. She turned to him, beckoned to him, peaceful, full of warmth. Next to her stood the Fugare, calm, protective, a sword in his hands. He held it out to Shin. And Shin – took slow steps into this memory, raised his hand, wanted to grasp the sword...

  But suddenly – darkness.

  His eyes flew open. He heard it. Felt it. A thunder, a pressure wave. The demon came at him with tremendous speed, hurled into the air by an explosion – like a red beast, unleashed, purposeful, angry.

  Shin reacted at the very last moment, throwing himself to the side with his last ounce of strength. Dust swirled, visibility became a wall of sand and smoke. Then silence. And when the dust settled, Shin saw – the crater. And in it – the demon.

  And behind it... nothing.

  No grave. No stone. No place.

  Everything his parents had ever been to him now lay in ruins. Materially. Symbolically. Completely destroyed.

  Shin's gaze lost itself. Empty. No anger. No reaction. Just... absence.

  But then.

  The dark mist.

  It gathered around his body, drawing itself over him like a second skin. Darkness gathered on his right hand, dripped to the ground, formed. Drops became lines. Lines became a blade.

  A black sword emerged. So dark that it seemed to swallow light. The handle shaped like an ancient symbol, the blade itself criss-crossed by golden characters – alien, glowing, unreadable.

  The demon charged. Without hesitation, full of rage, full of bloodlust. His claws aimed at Shin's neck, ready to end it all.

  But then –

  A cut.

  Flowing. Silent.

  The demon's arm fell. Just like that. Severed.

  Shin barely moved. His posture was calm, his eyes darker than the night, like the heart of the demon itself. And when the demon realized what had happened, he jumped back. Panic.

  The grin was gone.

  Victory lost.

  Only fear remained.

  Shin approached him slowly. Step by step. “I banish you from this world... Anu.”

  The demon froze. He sensed something that went beyond pain. Something that even stopped his rotten heart.

  And then –

  Shin's hand touched him. The mist rose, spread over the demon's skin, enveloped him, covered him completely – until only the head remained.

  Shin raised his sword, swung –

  But before he could strike, his body collapsed.

  He lost consciousness. Fell backwards.

  The demon was swallowed by the dark mist. Its form was torn apart, its existence evaporated. And nothing remained.

  The narrator speaks:

  The victor: Shin Juuji.