The forest did not stay quiet for long.
It never did.
Morning came slowly, filtered through a pale sky that barely pierced the thick canopy above. Snow rested lightly on the branches, unmoving, untouched—
Yet the air felt different.
Heavier.
Haruki noticed it the moment he opened his eyes.
He sat up slowly, his breath visible in the cold air as his gaze drifted across the clearing where they had rested.
Karin was already awake.
Of course she was.
She stood a short distance away, stretching her arms slightly, her chains faintly glowing as heat pulsed through them in quiet intervals.
Raizen stood farther beyond.
Completely still.
Watching the forest.
Always watching.
Haruki exhaled.
"…You both don't sleep, do you?" he muttered.
Karin glanced over her shoulder.
"Some of us don't collapse after every fight," she replied casually.
Haruki frowned slightly but didn't respond.
Instead—
He focused inward.
That silence.
It was still there.
But different.
Not empty anymore.
Waiting.
"…Good."
The voice came from behind him.
Haruki turned.
Raizen hadn't moved.
"…What?" Haruki asked.
"You noticed it," Raizen said.
Haruki hesitated.
"…Yeah."
A brief pause.
"It's quieter," Haruki added. "Not gone… just… calmer."
Raizen nodded slightly.
"That is what happens when you stop resisting."
Haruki looked down at his hands.
"…So this is it?"
"No."
The answer came instantly.
Haruki sighed.
"…Of course not."
Before he could say anything else—
Raizen's gaze sharpened.
"…It's here."
Karin's posture shifted instantly.
Her chains flared to life, glowing brighter as heat rippled through the air around her.
"…You felt it too?" she asked.
Raizen didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Haruki felt it.
A faint distortion—
Like the air itself was bending.
Twisting.
"…Rift?" Haruki asked quietly.
Raizen nodded once.
"Minor."
Haruki stood up slowly.
"…Then why does it feel—"
"Wrong?" Karin finished.
Haruki nodded.
Raizen stepped forward.
"Because it is unstable," he said.
A low hum began to echo through the forest.
Subtle at first.
Then louder.
The snow beneath their feet trembled slightly.
Branches above them creaked.
And then—
It appeared.
A fracture.
Not large.
Not overwhelming.
But wrong.
The air split—
Like glass cracking.
A jagged tear in reality formed just ahead of them, flickering erratically as black distortion bled into the world.
Haruki's breath caught slightly.
"…That's smaller than the last one."
Raizen didn't look away from it.
"Yes."
A pause.
"But that does not make it weaker."
The Rift pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
And then—
Something stepped through.
At first—
It looked humanoid.
Then it shifted.
Its form bending unnaturally, limbs stretching slightly too long, its surface flickering between solid and distorted like a broken reflection.
Haruki's eyes narrowed.
"…That's new."
Karin smirked slightly.
"Great. I was getting bored."
The creature tilted its head.
Slowly.
And then—
It moved.
Fast.
Haruki reacted—
Or tried to.
Nothing came.
No vision.
No warning.
"…Move!"
Karin's voice snapped him back.
Haruki dodged—
Barely.
The creature's attack tore through the space where he had been standing, the air distorting violently from the impact.
"Tch—!"
Haruki steadied himself.
"…Still nothing…"
His mind raced.
Why?
He didn't push it away this time.
He wasn't resisting.
So why—
Another attack.
Karin intercepted it, her chains clashing against the creature's form, heat flaring violently on impact.
"It's fast," she muttered.
Raizen didn't move.
"…Haruki."
Haruki froze slightly.
"…Yeah?"
"Fight."
Haruki frowned.
"…I am—"
"No."
Raizen's voice cut through everything.
"You are waiting."
Silence.
Haruki's grip tightened on his blade.
"…I don't have any visions," he said.
"Then fight without them."
Haruki's eyes sharpened.
"…You said I shouldn't rely on that."
"I said you shouldn't depend on it."
Another attack—
Karin dodged this time, sliding across the snow.
"They are not the same."
Haruki exhaled slowly.
"…Fine."
He stepped forward.
The creature turned toward him instantly.
Its movements were erratic—
Unpredictable.
Haruki tightened his stance.
No visions.
Just instinct.
The creature lunged.
Haruki moved.
Not perfectly.
Not cleanly.
But enough.
He deflected the strike—
Barely maintaining balance.
"…It's different," he muttered.
The creature twisted unnaturally mid-motion, its second attack coming faster than the first.
Haruki barely blocked it.
"…Too fast…"
Karin jumped in, her chains wrapping briefly around the creature's arm, slowing it down.
"Don't think so much!" she snapped.
Haruki gritted his teeth.
"I'm not—"
"Yes, you are!"
The creature broke free, its form distorting violently as it lashed out again.
Haruki dodged—
Late.
The attack grazed his side.
Pain flared.
"…Tch!"
He stumbled slightly.
And then—
It happened.
A flicker.
A fragment.
A glimpse—
The creature's movement—
Split into possibilities.
One path—
Left.
Another—
Right.
Haruki's eyes widened.
"…There!"
He moved—
Not based on certainty—
But choice.
He stepped left.
The creature's attack passed just behind him.
Haruki countered instantly.
His blade struck—
Landing cleanly.
The creature staggered slightly.
"…I saw it…"
Karin smirked.
"Took you long enough."
Haruki didn't respond.
Because it happened again.
Another flicker.
Shorter this time.
But clearer.
"…It's not like before…" he muttered.
The visions weren't overwhelming.
They weren't consuming him.
They were—
Fragments.
Pieces.
Raizen's voice echoed in his mind.
You control what you do after.
Haruki exhaled.
"…Then that's enough."
The creature attacked again.
Faster.
Haruki didn't wait.
The moment the fragment appeared—
He moved.
Not perfectly.
But faster than before.
More precise.
More confident.
Karin followed his movements, adjusting instantly.
Their attacks began to align.
Not perfectly—
But naturally.
"…You're getting it," she said.
Haruki smirked slightly.
"Barely."
The creature grew more unstable, its form flickering violently as if reacting to their coordination.
"…It's breaking," Karin noted.
"Finish it," Raizen said calmly.
Haruki stepped forward.
Another fragment.
A single path.
Clear.
He didn't hesitate.
He moved—
Cutting cleanly through the distortion.
The creature froze—
Its form shattering into fragments of black light before dissolving completely.
Silence returned.
Haruki exhaled sharply.
"…That felt… different."
Karin stretched slightly.
"That's because you didn't freeze this time."
Haruki chuckled softly.
"…Yeah."
Raizen approached them.
"…You understand now," he said.
Haruki nodded slowly.
"…Not fully."
A pause.
"But I get it."
Raizen's gaze remained steady.
"Say it."
Haruki exhaled.
"I don't control the visions," he said.
"I use what they show me."
A brief pause.
"And when they don't show anything—"
He tightened his grip on his blade.
"I move anyway."
Silence.
Then—
Raizen nodded.
"…Good."
Karin smirked.
"Look at you. Finally acting like you belong here."
Haruki rolled his eyes slightly.
"Don't get used to it."
But deep down—
Something had changed.
The silence inside him—
Wasn't empty anymore.
It wasn't overwhelming either.
It was—
Balanced.
For now.
Raizen turned slightly.
"We're leaving," he said.
Haruki blinked.
"…Already?"
"Yes."
Raizen looked ahead.
"This forest is no longer our concern."
A pause.
"There are greater Rifts beyond it."
Haruki's expression shifted slightly.
"…Stronger than that?"
Raizen didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Karin grinned.
"Good. I was getting bored anyway."
Haruki sighed.
"…Of course you were."
But as they began to walk—
Haruki glanced back once more.
At the place where the Rift had appeared.
Something about it lingered.
A feeling.
Unfinished.
"…Raizen," he said.
Raizen didn't stop.
"What is it?"
Haruki hesitated.
"…That Rift…"
A pause.
"It didn't feel random."
Raizen's expression didn't change.
"No," he said.
Haruki's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Then what was it?"
Raizen's gaze darkened—just slightly.
"A warning."
Silence.
Haruki felt it again.
That faint distortion.
Not outside—
But far away.
Watching.
Waiting.
And this time—
He knew.
This was only the beginning.