The spring wind blew gently through the outer courtyard of the temple, carrying the scent of wildflowers blooming once again between the stones. Small birds chirped, and the morning light touched the trees like a blessing from the heavens. A world that had once been nearly torn apart was now slowly mending its fractures.
At the edge of a small lake behind the temple, Itsuki sat silently. His robe was no longer pitch black as it once was, but a blend of white and gray—a symbol of the balance between two forces now united within him. He stared at his reflection on the surface of the water. His eyes were still young, but no longer innocent. There was a depth there, the kind that only someone who had lost—and chosen to endure—could possess.
The sound of light footsteps approached.
"You didn't sleep all night?" Reina asked, sitting beside him. Her hair was loosely tied, and her face calmer than usual.
"I was just... listening," Itsuki said. "Sometimes I think I can still hear their voices. Akito. Mother. Even the spirits."
Reina gazed at the lake for a moment, then nodded. "Their voices will never truly fade. Because they live on in your memories, in your choices. And in this world that you protect."
Itsuki sighed. "Do you think this is enough?"
"It's never enough. But it's enough for today," Reina replied.
A moment of silence.
"After this, are you heading north?" Itsuki asked, turning to her.
Reina gave a faint smile. "There are places that need new guardians. New powers are beginning to rise—the cracks may be sealed, but the world will never return to what it was. We must teach them. Welcome this new world with hearts that do not forget the past."
Itsuki nodded. "I'll stay here. For a while. Maybe there are still things I can fix. Or at least... make sure they don't break again."
Reina stood, patting his shoulder. "If you need help, you know where to find me."
Her steps moved slowly away, then paused. "And Itsuki, you are not just the son of the Black Emperor, or of Yurina. You are your own person. And the world will change because of your choices."
---
A few months later, the temple was no longer silent.
Young people began to arrive. They brought no swords or spells, but questions and curiosity. They came not to learn about power alone, but about the meaning of guardianship, of honor, of choosing not to return hatred with hatred.
In the middle of the courtyard, Itsuki stood. Today he was teaching basic meditation techniques, but more than that—he was shaping a new generation of world guardians.
A generation born not from bloodline, but from courage of the heart. On the stone altar, a single line was delicately engraved:
"This world was not saved by strength, but by forgiveness, courage, and sacrifice."
And there, in the shadows and morning light, Akito's voice could be heard in the wind, just for a moment:
"Continue this journey, Itsuki. I believe in you."
Season 1 — End.
---
Sequel: The Second Legacy – Blood from the Sky
Prologue: Whispers from the Shattered Sky
At the edge of the world, in barren lands untouched by mankind for a thousand years, the sky broke.
Not from lightning. Not from storms. But from something long buried, now awakened.
Among black stones and the ruins of an ancient temple, a young woman stood. Her eyes were blind, but she saw farther than anyone. Her hair was white as ash, her skin pale as the moon, and in her hand, an ancient seal had been broken.
"The Four Shadows have fallen," she whispered to the blood-red sky. "But the True Emperor has yet to awaken."
A voice answered—not from earth, not from sky, but from the space in between.
"When the first legacy fell into human hands, the second was prepared for the gods."
The woman smiled. "Then my time has come."
From the cracks in the ground emerged nameless beings. Not like spirits, nor like demons. They were mirrors… shadows… fragments of a truth too ancient to be spoken.
And in a distant, peaceful temple, Itsuki awoke from sleep—sweating, breathless.
He looked up at the sky. There was a wound there. A faint crack, nearly invisible to the untrained eye.
But he knew—something far older than the spirit world had begun to stir. And this time, human blood... might not be enough to stop it.
---
The Second Legacy Part 1 – The Crack in the Sky
Itsuki stared at the dark sky from his window. Dawn should have already broken, but only a dim crimson glow spread above, as though the sky itself was bleeding. In his chest, a strange unease grew—like something had awakened, something that refused to be named.
It had been two months since the last battle at the temple. The Four Shadows had been defeated. Yurina, his mother, had vanished along with the third gate that failed to open. The spirit world had gone quiet. Too quiet.
And that was what terrified him.
Reina appeared at the doorway. She no longer wore her battle robes—only simple clothes, her hair braided back. But her face remained resolute.
"The energy of the spirit world isn't moving," she said. "There should be recovery. But instead... something is pressing down from the outside."
Itsuki turned to her. "You feel it too?"
Reina stepped closer. "I meditated last night. And for the first time, I couldn't reach the spirit world. The boundary is sealed. Not from within, but from outside. As if our world is being caged in glass, slowly hardening."
She sat beside Itsuki.
"This isn't residue from the Four Shadows' power. This... is something we've never studied. Not even Master Hana wrote about it."
Itsuki clenched his fist. "Then who? Or what?"
Before Reina could answer, the ground beneath them quivered—a brief, sharp tremor. Not from nature, but from a dimension pressing down. They exchanged glances.
Suddenly the door burst open. Akito stood there, paler than usual, his hair disheveled. He carried no weapon.
"You need to come with me. Now," he said firmly.
Itsuki stood. "What happened?"
"The sky… just opened in the North. And from that crack, something emerged—even the spirits refuse to touch it."
Reina narrowed her eyes. "You saw it yourself?"
Akito nodded. "I've seen something like it before. But only in dreams. And in those dreams, this world was buried with us all."
He turned and walked away without waiting for a reply. Itsuki looked up at the sky once more.
The crack had not widened.
But it was enough to make the world hold its breath.
He knew—the enemy they were about to face was not just a creature of the spirit world.
But something even the spirit world feared.
---
The Second Legacy – Those Who Walk Without Names
The northern wind carried the scent of iron and dead soil. At the foot of Mount Tsukari, where the first spirit gate had once opened, the land was now a darkened gray, cracked like the dried skin of something long forsaken. Itsuki stood beside Reina and Akito, staring at the crack in the sky above them. Not a simple rift, but a festering wound in the air itself.
"There are no spirits," Reina whispered. "Even the guardian of this place is gone."
"No," Akito said softly. "They're not gone. They've been absorbed."
Itsuki turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Akito raised his hand toward the sky. "Something is consuming spirit energy. Not destroying it—making it part of itself. I read legends about this, but no one believed them."
Reina narrowed her eyes. "Except you."
"I sought power in the dark not because I wanted it," Akito replied quietly, "but because I had to know what was hiding there."
Suddenly, the earth before them stirred. Not an earthquake, but something rising from below. The ground split, and from the gap emerged a tall figure in a faded cloak, face hidden behind a cracked wooden mask. Behind him, others followed. They made no sound, not even a breath. Yet the world around them trembled, as if rejecting their existence.
"They…" Reina murmured, "…are not human. But not spirits either."
Akito tensed. "They are the Nameless Walkers."
"Legends?" Itsuki asked.
"No. They are remnants of an old pact. Beings forged from failed unions of human and spirit wills. They shouldn't exist—unless something called them back."
The cloaked figure stepped forward. Though it didn't speak, a voice entered their minds, like a whisper through bone:
"We were summoned by severed blood. An old legacy denied by the new heir. And now, we demand our due."
Reina raised her hand, ready to fight. "Itsuki, step back. This isn't an enemy you can face alone."
But Itsuki looked at the creatures—beings without light, without spirit—and felt something stir within him. Not fear. But resonance.
They had something in common with him. Or perhaps... they once were like him.
Akito stepped forward, blocking their path. "If you've come to demand, you'll meet resistance."
The lead figure bowed slightly.
"Resistance is meaningless. For it is not our will at work. We are merely the hands of something that has slept too long, and now rises from the center of the spirit world."
Reina looked at Itsuki. "This is no longer about the human world."
And for the first time since the battle at the temple, Itsuki felt small again.
Because the enemy this time… was not just an adversary.
They were a consequence.
And in the cold northern wind, he realized—the old power was not gone.
It had only slept, waiting for the next heir to reignite its flame.
---
Flashback: My Shadow, Torn
Dark. Cold. Silent.
Yurina awoke among fractured earth and echoing air, in a place where the spirit world and the human world touched, yet never fully met. Her body was no longer entirely human—she could feel it. Her blood was slow, but hot. Her soul was divided: one part still belonged to the woman named Yurina, and the other… had sworn loyalty to a force even the spirit world could not fully comprehend.
"Mom…"
The boy's voice still echoed in her memory. Itsuki, still a child back then, crying in her arms the night they last saw each other. The night the flames consumed the village, and she had to choose—protect her son, or keep the first gate sealed.
She chose to sacrifice herself.
But the power that came wouldn't let her die.
"You do not belong to them, Yurina."
The voice came from a place without name. An ancient will, living beneath the roots of the spirit tree, beyond the river of souls—where even spirits dared not tread.
"You were born of the Black Emperor's blood, but you are not the heir. You are the keeper. And when the heir awakens… you will become the gate."
At first Yurina resisted. She tried to fight, to reject the power that had taken root in her.
But time passed. The three spirit gates that were once sealed began to open again.
With each crack in the seal, part of her soul faded, replaced by something older, hungrier, more aware.
But part of her held on.
The part that remembered Itsuki's small hand clutching her sleeve, asking if she would return after the storm passed, was still alive. And now, that part fought within her.
She stood at the edge of the Black Lake, her reflection split in two on the water's surface. One side still her. The other… something unrecognizable.
"If I meet him…" she whispered,
"…will he know me? Or will he see only the enemy in me?"
The wind answered with silence and chill.
Yurina knew the time was drawing near. The third gate awaited.
But before it opened, she had one last choice to make:
Side with the force that gave her life—or fight it for the child she left behind.