Malachi led Shunjiro away from the entrance hall and through a series of dim corridors that seemed to stretch farther into the mansion than the outside of the building should have allowed. The walls were lined with old paintings and tall shelves crowded with books, though dust had settled over nearly everything. Small lamps burned at long intervals, their weak flames leaving large sections of each hallway in shadow. The mansion did not feel abandoned once Shunjiro was inside it, but it still carried the weight of a place that had been left alone for too long.
Malachi stopped outside a set of dark wooden doors and pushed them open.
The room beyond was a dining hall, though it was smaller than Shunjiro expected from the size of the mansion. A long table sat in the center beneath an old chandelier whose candles burned with soft, uneven light. Several chairs had been pushed against the wall as though Malachi had no use for them anymore, leaving only two places set near one end of the table.
A fireplace burned along the far wall.
The warmth that reached Shunjiro’s face made his chest loosen before he could stop it.
Malachi walked to the wall beside the fireplace and lifted the massive sword from his back. Up close, the weapon looked even larger than it had in the entrance hall. Its dark handle was wrapped in worn leather, and the sheath bore markings Shunjiro could not recognize. Malachi hung it carefully on a pair of iron hooks above the mantle, then looked back at him.
“You can stop staring at it,” he said. “It is not going to attack you while it is on the wall.”
Shunjiro looked away from the sword. “I was not staring.”
Malachi’s mouth lifted slightly. “Of course not.”
He crossed into a side room connected to the dining hall, and the sound of drawers opening and cookware shifting soon followed. Shunjiro remained standing near the doorway for a moment, unsure where to put himself.
This is still the Shadow Realm. He is still someone I barely met. Do not relax too much.
Malachi returned carrying a wooden bowl filled with vegetables, dried herbs, and strips of meat. He placed it on the table before moving back toward the kitchen.
“You can sit,” he said over his shoulder. “Standing there will not make you less hungry.”
Shunjiro hesitated before taking the chair near the end of the table. The wood creaked beneath him. He kept his back straight and his eyes on the open doorway where Malachi moved between the stove and the table.
After a few minutes, Malachi placed a pot over the fire and began preparing the meal with the calm rhythm of someone who had done the same thing many times before. He did not rush. He did not ask more questions immediately.
That silence gave Shunjiro time to think.
Tsubasa had brought him here.
Malachi knew Tsubasa’s name.
The two facts sat together in his mind, impossible to ignore.
“You said you knew enough about Tsubasa,” Shunjiro said at last. “What does that mean?”
Malachi looked over from the fire.
“It means he is dangerous,” he replied. “More dangerous than most people realize before it is too late.”
Shunjiro’s fingers tightened against the edge of the table.
“He said he was part of a guild.”
Malachi gave a quiet sound that was almost a laugh. “Calling it a guild is generous.”
“What is it, then?”
“A group called the Eclipsed Abyss.”
Shunjiro repeated the name silently.
Eclipsed Abyss.
He had never heard it before. That should have been comforting. A group powerful enough to attack kingdoms should have been known throughout the continents.
Instead, it made the name worse.
“I have never heard of them,” he said.
“That is because they do not need recognition,” Malachi replied. “They collect people who are already dangerous, already wanted, already willing to do things ordinary guilds would never accept. They are criminals from every corner of the world, and they do not gather for harmless reasons.”
Shunjiro watched him carefully.
“How many are there?”
“I know of at least six,” Malachi said. “There could be more. Tsubasa has always been careful about what he reveals.”
“Is he their leader?”
Malachi shook his head.
“No.”
Shunjiro’s eyes narrowed.
“Then who is?”
“I do not know.”
The answer came without hesitation, but Malachi’s expression had changed. The warmth in his face had faded, leaving behind a seriousness that made Shunjiro sit a little straighter.
“You do not know who leads them?” Shunjiro asked.
“No one I have spoken to does.” Malachi stirred the pot slowly, his purple eyes focused on the broth. “Tsubasa answers to someone else. I do not know their name. I do not know their face. I do not know what they want.”
“Then how do you know they are dangerous?”
Malachi looked back at him.
“Because Tsubasa wouldn’t follow someone weak.”
Shunjiro thought about Tsubasa standing against Kaito in the ruined Coastal Kingdom. He thought about how easily the man had opened portals and how he had treated everyone around him as though their strength had already been measured and dismissed.
“If Tsubasa follows them,” Shunjiro said carefully, “how strong are they?”
Malachi was quiet for a moment.
“I cannot say for certain,” he replied. “But I believe they may be close to EX rank.”
Shunjiro frowned.
“What exactly are the EX ranks?”
Malachi turned off the heat beneath the pot and brought two bowls to the table. He filled them carefully before sitting across from Shunjiro.
“You have heard of SSS rank?”
Shunjiro nodded. “Yes.”
“Most people think that is the highest point a person can reach. It is not.” Malachi rested one hand around his bowl. “EX is the title given to the eight strongest people in the world. The title is recognized by all four continents and agreed upon by the eight kings.”
Shunjiro stayed silent.
Malachi continued.
“An SSS-ranked fighter can change the outcome of a battle. They can destroy cities, defeat armies, and become a threat entire kingdoms have to prepare for. An EX-ranked person is something else entirely.”
His voice remained calm, but the way he said it made the room seem quieter.
“An EX rank has the power to wipe out an entire continent overnight.”
Shunjiro’s hand stopped above the table.
For a moment, he could not think of an answer.
An entire continent?
He had only recently learned about EX rank because of his brother. Takeshi had always been strong. Shunjiro knew that much. He knew people respected him, feared him, and treated his name differently than they treated anyone else’s.
But hearing Malachi describe the gap between SSS and EX made that knowledge feel different.
Takeshi is one of those eight.
The thought brought a familiar pressure into his chest.
He almost said the name.
He almost asked Malachi whether he knew Takeshi Tenzai.
Then he stopped himself.
He said the title is recognized by the kings. If Malachi knows Takeshi, then saying my last name changes everything.
Shunjiro did not know Malachi well enough to trust him with that. The man had been kind so far, but kindness did not erase the fact that he lived alone in the Shadow Realm and knew people connected to Tsubasa.
Do not give him information you cannot take back.
He lowered his hand slowly.
“And you think the person leading the Eclipsed Abyss is that strong?”
“I think they could be,” Malachi said. “Maybe not officially EX-ranked. Maybe no one knows they exist yet. But for someone like Tsubasa to answer to them willingly, they would need to be close.”
Shunjiro stared down at the bowl in front of him.
The food smelled good, but his appetite had disappeared beneath the thought of someone stronger than Tsubasa hiding somewhere beyond the reach of the four continents.
Malachi watched him for a moment, then gave a small laugh.
“What?” Shunjiro asked.
“You are taking this more calmly than most people would.”
Shunjiro looked at him.
“I do not feel calm.”
Malachi leaned back slightly in his chair.
“You are thinking instead of panicking.”
Shunjiro did not know what to say to that.
Malachi took a bite of his food before continuing.
“There is something else you should know.”
Shunjiro waited.
“I am one of the eight EX ranks.”
For a moment, the words did not register.
Then Shunjiro looked up sharply.
Malachi’s expression remained completely serious for half a second before he laughed at the look on Shunjiro’s face.
“You look like you are trying to decide whether I am joking.”
“You are not?”
“No.”
Shunjiro sat back in his chair.
The giant sword on the wall suddenly seemed less like an impressive weapon and more like a warning he had failed to understand.
He is EX rank.
It explained why the creatures outside avoided the grounds.
Malachi noticed Shunjiro’s eyes shift toward the sword.
“You are welcome to keep being cautious,” he said. “That is probably wise. But do not let the title impress you too much. I am getting old.”
“You do not look old.”
“I am fifty-seven.”
Shunjiro blinked.
Malachi smiled faintly. “That is usually the reaction.”
“You look like you are in your thirties.”
“I have been told that spiritual energy is good for the skin.” Malachi lifted his spoon. “Unfortunately, it is less effective on knees.”
Shunjiro almost smiled despite himself.
Malachi’s expression softened when he noticed it.
“I still hold the title,” he said, “but I will not keep it forever. The world of spiritual energy is changing. There are people growing stronger now than the world has seen in a long time. At some point, it will belong to someone younger.”
“You do not think you deserve it anymore?”
Malachi looked toward the sword hanging above the fireplace.
“I deserved it once,” he said. “Now I am not sure titles matter as much as people think they do.”
There was something in his voice that Shunjiro recognized.
Regret.
He did not ask about it.
Instead, he looked back at the food in front of him and finally took a bite. The warmth reached his stomach almost immediately, and he realized just how hungry he had been.
Malachi waited until Shunjiro had eaten a few more mouthfuls before speaking again.
“Tsubasa tried to recruit me about a year ago.”
Shunjiro looked up.
“He came here?”
“He did.”
“What did he say?”
“Almost the same thing he said to you, from what I can tell. He told me I had an invitation. He said the Eclipsed Abyss needed people who could change the world.”
“And you said no.”
Malachi nodded.
“I said no.”
“Why did he let you go?”
Malachi’s eyes met his.
“Because he could not make me go.”
The answer was blunt, but not arrogant. It sounded like a fact Malachi had accepted long ago.
“Tsubasa is powerful,” he continued. “But he is not stronger than me. He understood that forcing me would not end well for him, so he left.”
Shunjiro thought about that.
If Malachi could refuse Tsubasa, then he really is as strong as he says.
“Did he tell you what the Eclipsed Abyss wants?” Shunjiro asked.
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing useful.” Malachi’s expression hardened. “He spoke about the future. About people who were too strong to remain controlled by kingdoms. About changing the world into something better.”
“That sounds like a lie.”
“It probably was.”
The bluntness of the answer made Shunjiro pause.
Malachi continued eating for a moment before he spoke again.
“Groups like that always believe they are building something better. They use words like freedom, justice, strength, and change. Then people start disappearing, kingdoms start burning, and someone decides the lives of others are necessary sacrifices.”
Shunjiro thought about the Coastal Kingdom.
His appetite faded again.
“Tsubasa wanted me to join them,” he said quietly. “But I do not know why.”
Malachi studied him.
“You are sure he gave no reason?”
“He only said I had an invitation.”
“That alone is a reason to be careful.”
Shunjiro frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Tsubasa does not recruit people randomly. He notices people who have something worth using.” Malachi leaned forward slightly. “He saw something in you.”
Shunjiro’s shoulders tightened.
“I am not that strong.”
“Not yet.”
The answer came too quickly.
Shunjiro looked at him.
Malachi’s purple eyes remained fixed on him.
“When you entered this mansion, I felt your spiritual energy before you said a word,” he said. “It is low right now, but that is not what caught my attention. There is something unusual about it. Something I cannot place.”
Shunjiro’s fingers tightened around his spoon.
He can sense it too.
He thought about Itsuki standing beside him when he should have died. He thought about the strange feeling inside him that he had not had time to understand.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means I do not know yet.” Malachi did not pretend otherwise. “But Tsubasa may know more than either of us.”
Shunjiro looked down.
Maybe it is because of Takeshi.
He could not stop the thought from coming back.
Tsubasa might know that he was Takeshi’s younger brother. He might know the Tenzai name. He might know something about Shunjiro that he did not understand himself.
But he could not say any of that aloud.
“What if I do not want whatever he saw?” Shunjiro asked.
Malachi’s expression became firm.
“Then you do not give it to him.”
The answer made Shunjiro look up.
Malachi held his gaze.
“You are not obligated to become what another person expects. Not Tsubasa. Not the Eclipsed Abyss. Not anyone.” He paused. “But refusing them will not make them forget you.”
Shunjiro understood.
“They will come after me again.”
“I believe they will.”
Shunjiro stared into his bowl, but his thoughts had moved far beyond the mansion. He imagined his friends.
Itsuki came to his mind.
The image of her hurt worse than the rest.
“She lost everything,” he said quietly.
Malachi did not interrupt.
“Her home was destroyed. Her sister became corrupted. She tried to save her.” Shunjiro swallowed. “Before I was taken, Itsuki was already close to breaking. I could see it.”
His grip tightened around the spoon.
“And Tetsuo…” His voice lowered. “I do not even know if he is alive.”
Malachi’s eyes softened, though he said nothing.
“Tetsuo was hurt badly before Tsubasa took me,” Shunjiro continued. “I saw him go down. I do not know if anyone got to him. I do not know if Yoshinori, Aiko, or the others made it home. I do not know anything.”
The words came out faster near the end, pulled loose by everything he had tried to hold down since waking.
“And Itsuki healed me somehow,” he said. “I was dying. I know I was. She barely had any spiritual energy left, but when I woke up, my body was whole.”
Malachi became still.
“You were fatally injured?”
“Yes.”
“And there is no scar?”
“No.”
Malachi looked thoughtful, but he did not press Shunjiro for details.
“That kind of healing is unusual,” he said carefully.
“I know.”
Shunjiro looked toward the dark windows along the far wall.
“I need to get back to them. As soon as possible.”
Malachi set his spoon down.
“I will help you return to Radiance.”
Shunjiro’s eyes moved back to him.
“You will?”
“Yes.”
The answer was direct.
Relief rose in Shunjiro before he could stop it, but Malachi spoke again before he could say anything.
“Not tomorrow.”
The relief tightened into frustration.
“Why not?”
“Because you are exhausted, low on energy, and currently carrying no weapon, supplies, or knowledge of how to survive in this realm.” Malachi’s tone was blunt, but not cruel. “If I walk you straight toward the barriers tomorrow and Tsubasa finds you on the road, what happens?”
Shunjiro did not answer.
“You cannot fight him as you are,” Malachi continued. “You could barely defend yourself against whatever was following you in the forest. If the Eclipsed Abyss has decided you matter, then you need to be ready for more than surviving one night.”
Shunjiro’s jaw tightened.
“I cannot stay here while they are out there.”
“I am not asking you to stay forever.”
“Then how long?”
“As long as it takes for me to understand what you can do.”
Shunjiro looked at him.
Malachi leaned forward, his expression serious.
“I will not send you back into the world as someone Tsubasa can take whenever he chooses. I will find out what is unusual about your spiritual energy. I will teach you how to control it better. I will make sure you can protect yourself when the Eclipsed Abyss comes looking again.”
Shunjiro wanted to argue.
Every thought in his mind was pulling him toward the door. Toward the Shadow Realm’s barriers. Toward any path that might lead back to Itsuki and the others.
But Malachi was right.
He knew it because he hated hearing it.
If I leave now, I will be walking back as the same person Tsubasa took.
He looked down at his hands.
They were empty.
I cannot protect Itsuki by rushing back weak.
The thought hurt, but it was true.
Shunjiro lifted his eyes toward Malachi.
“If I agree,” he said, “you will really take me home afterward?”
Malachi’s expression softened slightly.
“I will escort you to Radiance myself.”
Shunjiro stared at him.
“You do not even know me.”
“No,” Malachi said. “But I know what it means to have people waiting for you somewhere else.”
There was a quiet weight behind the words.
Shunjiro did not ask what Malachi meant.
Instead, he looked toward the fire and took a slow breath.
“I will train,” he said. “But I want to leave as soon as I can.”
“That is fair.”
“And I do not want to waste time.”
“You will not.”
Malachi stood from the table and collected the empty bowls.
“Rest tonight,” he said. “Tomorrow, we begin with the simplest question.”
Shunjiro looked up.
“What question?”
Malachi glanced back at him, a faint smile returning to his face.
“What exactly can Shunjiro do?”
The question stayed with him as Malachi carried the dishes toward the kitchen.
After the meal, Malachi led Shunjiro back into the dim corridors of the mansion.
Shunjiro followed a few steps behind him, his thoughts still caught on everything Malachi had told him.
The Eclipsed Abyss.
Tsubasa answering to someone stronger who might be close to EX rank.
The information felt too large to fit inside his head all at once. He had spent the entire day trying to survive the Shadow Realm, and now he knew that the man who had sent him there belonged to a group powerful enough to threaten the entire world.
Malachi stopped beside a door near the end of the hall.
“This room should do,” Malachi said.
He opened it.
Shunjiro expected another dark and forgotten space like the rest of the mansion. Instead, the room beyond looked as though someone had prepared it recently.
A neatly made bed rested against the far wall beneath a wide window. The blankets were clean, folded carefully over the mattress, and a small lamp burned on a wooden table beside it. A wardrobe stood near the corner. The walls were still old, and the faded wallpaper had begun peeling near the ceiling, but the room itself was free of dust.
It felt strange compared to everything else he had seen.
Shunjiro stepped inside slowly.
This room was cleaned recently.
His eyes moved over the bed, the folded linens, and the basin beside the wall.
Was he expecting someone?
The thought stayed with him, though he did not ask it aloud. Malachi had given him no reason to think he was being dishonest, but the mansion remained too large, too quiet, and too isolated for Shunjiro to forget where he was.
Malachi crossed to the wardrobe and opened it.
“I do not have anything that will fit perfectly,” he said. “You are smaller than most people who have stayed here.”
He pulled out a folded set of dark clothes and placed them on the end of the bed. The shirt was simple but clean, and the pants looked soft enough to sleep in. Then he reached farther into the wardrobe and removed a long dark cloak with a hood.
“This should fit you well enough,” Malachi said, handing it to him. “Keep it. The forest is colder than it looks, and the hood will make you less visible if you need to move through the mist.”
Shunjiro accepted it carefully.
The cloak was heavier than it looked, made from thick cloth that had been treated to keep out the cold. It smelled faintly of smoke and old wood, but it was clean.
“Thank you,” Shunjiro said.
Malachi nodded toward the torn clothes he was still wearing.
“Leave those outside the door in the morning. I will have them washed.”
“You do not have to do that.”
“I know,” Malachi replied. “I am doing it anyway.”
Shunjiro looked down at the clothing in his hands.
For some reason, the simple gesture made the tightness in his chest ease slightly.
Malachi moved toward the door, then paused with one hand resting on the frame.
“Sleep as long as your body needs,” he said. “Do not worry about waking early. You have been through more than enough for one day.”
Shunjiro nodded.
“When I wake up?”
“Come find me.” Malachi’s expression softened. “I will be somewhere in the mansion. I am difficult to miss.”
Shunjiro almost smiled.
Malachi looked toward the window, where the faint outline of dead trees could be seen through the dark glass.
“You are safe here tonight,” he said. “Get some rest.”
Then he stepped into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind him.
Shunjiro stood still for a moment after Malachi left.
Then he walked to the door and locked it.
Trust does not mean being careless.
The thought did not come from fear of Malachi exactly. It was simply the only way Shunjiro knew how to survive. Malachi had been kind. He had offered food, shelter, answers, and a promise to help him return home.
But Shunjiro had only known him for a few hours.
He could be grateful and careful at the same time.
Shunjiro changed into the clothes Malachi had left for him. They were a little loose around the shoulders, but they were warm and clean, which mattered more. He folded his torn battle clothes carefully and set them near the door before placing the cloak over the back of a chair.
Then he moved toward the window.
The dead forest stretched beyond the mansion grounds, barely visible through the mist. The black sun still hung in the sky, unchanged from when he had first woken. It gave no warmth, no sense of time, and no sign that the world beyond the Shadow Realm was still moving.
Shunjiro rested one hand against the glass.
Somewhere far away, his friends were still dealing with the battle he had been torn away from.
He remembered the last moment before the portal swallowed him. Kaito had arrived. Tsubasa had stood across from him, calm as ever, while the ruined district flooded around them. Shunjiro had felt the tension between them before the portal opened beneath his feet.
They were about to fight.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Kaito had to win.
Kaito was strong. Shunjiro knew that well.
But Tsubasa had not been afraid of him.
That thought made Shunjiro’s hand tighten against the window.
I hope Kaito managed to stop him. I hope he got everyone out safely.
His thoughts moved through the people he had left behind.
Tetsuo, please be alive.
The thought came quietly, almost like a plea he was afraid to make too loudly.
Then he thought of Itsuki.
Everything inside him seemed to stop around her name.
She had already lost so much before the battle ended. Her home was gone. Her sister had been taken. She had watched people get hurt trying to protect her, and somehow, even after all of that, she had used whatever strength she had left to save him.
Shunjiro lowered his head.
Itsuki, please be okay.
He imagined her back in Radiance, surrounded by people who cared about her but unable to fix the things that had been broken. He imagined her staring at the place where he had vanished, wondering whether she had failed again.
His throat tightened.
Please do not think I left you.
He pressed his hand harder against the glass.
Please wait for me. Just hold on until I get back.
The words did not feel like a prayer to anyone specific. They were simply the only thing he could offer from so far away.
A private promise sent into the darkness.
I will come back stronger. I will find you. I will help you bring Suzu home.
Shunjiro stayed by the window for another moment, staring into the dead forest.
Then the exhaustion he had been forcing down finally caught him.
His body felt heavier than it had when he first woke. The food had helped, but it had also made him realize how little strength he had left. His thoughts began to blur together, losing their sharp edges beneath a tiredness that reached deeper than his muscles.
He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
The mattress was softer than anything he had expected to find in the Shadow Realm.
Shunjiro pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, I start finding a way back.
Sleep took him before he could think of anything else.