Immortal Mythos: Bound by Void

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The sky was still.

No wind. No pulse. No pressure. It was as if the entire world was holding its breath.

Yuki stood at the edge of a cliff, his cloak fluttering in the dying breeze. Below him, the forest they had escaped into stretched endlessly, but not even the birds sang. The silence wasn't peaceful—it was wrong. It pressed against his skin like static.

Behind him, the group gathered slowly. No words. Just movement. Ren's face was stern, his arms crossed as he scanned the surroundings for any lingering traces of the presence. Himari stood near a tree, her hand pressed against the bark, her eyes glowing faintly. Aiko… Aiko stood furthest away, her gaze on the dirt, hands clenched tightly.

Haru looked the most shaken. He'd watched the foe vanish—no blast, no sound, just gone. And he hated it. He hated how powerless that made him feel.

Nogitsune broke the silence first. "It didn't flee. It wasn't defeated. It… chose to vanish."

Yuki turned slowly. "What do you mean?"

"There's no trace of void or reality disturbance," Himari added, her voice quiet. "It didn't leave behind an echo. It was… erased."

A sharp pain pulsed through Yuki's arm.

He winced and pulled back his sleeve—glowing runes had appeared along his forearm, etched in voidlight and tinged with reality distortion. They shimmered in silence, then flickered like broken static.

Aiko stepped forward without thinking. "That mark... I saw it. Inside the void."

Everyone turned toward her. Her voice shook.

"There was… something else in there. Something behind the presence we fought. It was watching Yuki. It didn't move. It didn't speak. But when it looked at me, I couldn't breathe. And it marked him."

Yuki's breath caught. "Marked me for what?"

No one answered.

Even Nogitsune looked uneasy. Himari's eyes narrowed.

"…We need answers," Ren finally said. "And if the void won't speak, we'll find the ones who sealed it the first time."

"Are you suggesting the Council?" Himari asked.

Ren nodded. "If they knew enough to silence it once, they'll know what comes next."

"But they might also see Yuki as a threat," Aiko whispered.

Yuki lowered his arm, the glowing seal fading into his skin. "Then let them try."

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