Once, Akito believed that power was everything.
He arrived at the temple as an orphan, brought by an old monk who found him among the ruins of a village after an attack by spirit entities. At that time, Akito didn't cry. He asked only one thing: "What will make me strong enough so I never lose anyone again?"
Reina was his senior. He admired her resolve, her maturity. But deep down, he always felt like he was living in her shadow—always one step behind, receiving one less praise. Until he discovered something: a forbidden incantation from an ancient scroll, the legacy of the Black Emperor sealed beneath the temple.
He read it. Studied it. And he began to see the world differently.
"Why must we protect weak humans who don't even care whether the spirit world exists or not? Why must we be nameless sacrifices?"
That thought slowly turned into silent rebellion. Until one day, during final training with Reina and Ren, he made a grave mistake—he tried to open a small rift into the spirit world. An experiment. But the rift grew faster than he had expected. And Ren sacrificed himself to close it.
No one knew it was Akito's fault. The temple dismissed the incident as a "trial from another realm." But Akito knew. And that guilt haunted him.
He left. Not banished, but by his own will, seeking answers in the dark. On that journey, he saw many things—spirits weeping from being forgotten, humans selling their souls for power, and destruction spreading slowly from rift to rift.
But when he heard the name Itsuki—spoken by a new heir carrying the Black Emperor's blood—Akito knew it was time to return. Perhaps to atone. Or to make sure no one else repeated the same mistake. In the middle of the night, he stood on a cliff overlooking the temple.
"Ren, you once said not all shadows must become darkness. I hope you were right."
---
Internal Epilogue — Akito: The Price of Knowledge
The night sky above the temple looked different now. The stars that once brought him peace now felt like silent witnesses—watching, judging.
Akito sat at the edge of a rocky cliff, far from where the guards had gathered. The cold wind pierced his skin, but his heart was colder still.
He clutched a small pendant hanging from his neck—the last thing he kept from Ren. A small crack still showed on its metal side, split when Ren pushed him out of the sealing circle, saving him with his own body. Akito always remembered Reina's scream that day, and how the world seemed to freeze for one second before everything shattered.
"I lived… because someone else died."
It wasn't a curse. It was a fact. For years, he convinced himself that the power he sought would redeem everything. But now, seeing Itsuki—a young man who still dared to believe in doing what's right even amid chaos—Akito felt estranged from himself.
He was envious. Envious of that pure courage. Of hope still untainted by wrong choices. Yet, he also knew something deeper: this world would not be saved by good intentions alone. Sometimes, someone must become the unseen blade, the unnamed wound, the unspoken sacrifice.
If someone had to fall into shadow so others could walk in the light, then let it be him.
Akito closed his eyes. Yurina's face appeared in his mind—once gentle, now cold as a starless night. They once stood on the same side. Once dreamed of a balanced world. But now he knew: Yurina had crossed a line from which she could never return.
And if he didn't stop her, then everything they had fought for would be in vain. He stood, gripping the pendant tightly before tucking it back into his robes.
Tonight, he would choose—not as a student, not as a failed heir. But as someone who understood how precious a second chance could be, even if not for himself.
"I'm sorry, Ren. But I won't let your death be in vain."
With steady steps, Akito walked down from the cliff, toward what could be the end of everything—or the beginning of redemption.
---
Chapter 13: The Third Gate Opens
Silence blanketed the foot of the mountain as Reina stood outside the main temple. Mist slowly descended like a delicate net obscuring vision. In the distance, the faint sound of wind chimes echoed, accompanied by the whispers of the spirit world drawing closer.
Itsuki stood not far from her. His breath was heavy. Ever since the last encounter with his mother, doubt had gnawed at his mind. Yurina no longer resembled the mother he remembered. She had become something stronger, colder, untouchable.
"Are you sure he'll come?" Itsuki asked softly.
Reina nodded. "Akito always comes when it's almost too late."
As if summoned by an unseen force, the figure emerged from the mist. His black cloak fluttered in the wind, and his gaze—full of scars and resolve—was unwavering.
"The Third Gate will open tonight," Akito said without preamble. "Yurina is ready. I know where."
Reina narrowed her eyes. "Why did you come here, Akito? To warn us—or to help stop her?"
Akito looked deep into her eyes. There was no hatred in his. Only weariness, and bitter certainty.
"I came to finish what I couldn't before."
---
The Third Gate stood within ancient ruins behind Arashi Forest—once a purification altar, now transformed into a summoning site.
When they arrived, the sky had turned deep crimson. The wind swirled in strange patterns, and the flute sound that once appeared only in dreams now echoed in reality.
Yurina stood in the center of the stone altar, wearing a ritual cloak adorned with ancient symbols. Three glowing circles surrounded her. Two were fully lit, the third pulsed slowly, like a heart awaiting a final decision.
"Itsuki…" Her voice was calm, floating in the air like smoke. "You came. Just as I predicted."
"Stop," Itsuki said firmly. "This is not salvation. This is destruction."
Yurina shook her head gently. "This world has long abandoned justice. I'm merely opening the path to a new balance. The spirit and human worlds shall reunite. No more boundaries. No more division."
"At the cost of human lives? By summoning entities you cannot control?" Reina shouted.
Yurina smiled coldly. "I knew you would try to stop me. Because you still believe in a world that rejected us."
At that moment, Akito stepped forward. His hand glowed with dark energy—power learned at a terrible price.
"Yurina, if you open the third gate, there will be no return. The world will collapse, and you won't be its ruler—only a vessel for a force that cares nothing for humans."
Yurina looked at him with sorrow. "You still don't understand, Akito. I don't want to be a ruler. I just want a world where my child doesn't have to fear his own power."
Itsuki remained silent. There was a crack in his mother's voice—not weakness, but an old wound still unhealed.
"Then…" Akito raised his hand. "Let me be the final burden."
Suddenly, he struck the third circle with a force forged from spirit and cursed blood—the power he had hidden all this time. The explosion of energy shook the earth. Yurina screamed—not from pain, but from shock.
The battle had begun.
That three-way battle was not merely physical. It was a clash of beliefs, of old wounds, and conflicting truths. Reina protected Itsuki. Itsuki tried to reach his mother. And Akito—fought on the edge between destruction and redemption.
The Third Gate began to crack, blooming with green light that summoned creatures from behind the dimensional veil. And at that moment, Akito knew. This was the end of his long path.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to Yurina, before sealing himself inside the third circle, becoming the final key and the closure.
The light went out. Yurina screamed, her power collapsing with her torn soul. And for a moment, only silence remained.
All was quiet after the final light faded. The nearly open third circle now lay fractured and frozen in time. At its center, Akito's body knelt—half-encased in energy slowly solidifying into dark crystal. His eyes were closed, but his expression was peaceful, unlike the vengeful face once known.
Itsuki approached with heavy steps, as if every inch of earth carried the weight of a thousand late decisions. Reina stopped him briefly, but then let him pass.
At the altar's edge, Yurina collapsed, her ritual cloak torn, her body trembling. Blood dripped from her lips, but what looked most broken was the light in her eyes—as if the spark once shining within her had died with the choice she made.
"You… sealed him," she whispered, barely audible.
Itsuki knelt before her, staring into her eyes without blinking. "He saved all of us—including you."
Yurina met her son's gaze. It was no longer that of a Gatekeeper, nor a sorceress, nor an enemy. It was simply the look of a mother—tired, broken, and freed from the burden of power.
"I just wanted a world… that wouldn't kill my children the way it killed me."
"I know," Itsuki replied softly. "But you almost killed the world that could have healed that."
Yurina closed her eyes, and from her lashes fell the first real tears. "Forgive me…"
Itsuki didn't respond. He simply held his mother's hand—cold and trembling. At that moment, there was no longer a boundary between the human and spirit worlds. No war. No spell.
Only a mother and her son. Two souls meeting at the most shattered—and most honest—place.
—
Some time later, the sky turned blue once more. The gates were gone, severed permanently by Akito's sacrifice. The spirits were drawn back to their origin, and the human world slowly began to heal.
Reina stood on the mountainside, gazing at the now-silent ruins of the altar. She knew not all wounds would heal, but today was a day they had reclaimed—at a great cost.
Yurina was handed over to the Eldest Guardians of Nature—not as a prisoner, but as a soul to be judged by the spirits themselves. Reina could only hope their judgment would be fairer than anything the human world had ever offered.
Itsuki returned to the temple, carrying the Black Emperor's legacy not as a weapon, but as a promise. That no bloodline would ever again be a curse.
That power was not meant to conquer—but to protect. And in the temple's underground hall, a new altar bore one name:
Akito – who ended destruction not with victory, but with choice.