# **Chapter — The Smile That Shouldn’t Exist**
Ren did not remember leaving the council chamber.
Only fragments remained.
The smell of iron.
Broken stone.
Bodies scattered across the floor.
And the echo of laughter that had come from his own mouth.
His boots moved across the stone halls of the Mugen complex, but he felt as though he were watching someone else walk.
His breathing was slow.
Too slow.
Every step felt distant.
Behind him, the council hall burned with chaos. Shouts echoed through the corridors as guards discovered the massacre. Footsteps pounded across distant hallways.
They would find the room soon.
They would see what happened.
And when they did, they would come looking for the one who survived.
Ren did not run.
He simply walked.
Out of the building.
Across the silent courtyard.
Through the narrow stone streets of the Mugen district.
The night air struck his face, cold and sharp, but it did nothing to clear the storm inside his head.
Images kept flashing.
Emma no Kage’s voice.
The moment the blade had been about to pierce his chest.
The darkness that erupted from his body.
And then—
The killing.
Ren clenched his hands.
They were still stained.
Not just with blood.
But with the knowledge that the monster inside him had enjoyed it.
He passed beneath dim lanterns that flickered in the wind.
People moved in the distance, unaware that something terrible had happened inside the council chambers.
Unaware that a demon had walked among them tonight.
Unaware that the man responsible for it was now walking calmly through their streets.
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Ren reached the edge of the district.
Sidikatu’s cottage sat quietly among the trees, lantern light glowing softly through the windows.
For a moment, he stopped outside.
His chest tightened.
Inside that house were the only people who had trusted him.
Moriya.
Sidikatu.
They believed he was someone worth saving.
Someone worth trusting.
Ren looked down at his hands again.
“They can’t see this.”
His voice was barely a whisper.
He turned away from the cottage.
Walked toward the small hill behind it.
The grass shifted beneath his boots as he climbed.
The wind was stronger here.
It pulled at his clothes.
At his hair.
At the last fragile threads of control holding his mind together.
Ren stopped at the top of the hill.
The village lights flickered far below.
He looked down at his hands again.
And finally…
His body began to tremble.
“What have I done…”
The words escaped him like a broken breath.
His mind replayed everything again.
The screams.
The laughter.
The joy in Emma no Kage's voice.
Ren gripped his head.
“No…”
His voice cracked.
“That wasn’t me.”
But the memories refused to separate.
The blood had been on his hands.
The body had been his.
Even if the mind controlling it wasn’t.
Ren’s breathing became uneven.
“I can’t…”
He staggered slightly.
The thought crept in slowly.
Quietly.
But once it appeared, it refused to leave.
“If I die…”
He whispered it.
“…then it ends.”
The demon would lose its vessel.
The killings would stop.
The curse would end.
No more blood.
No more control stolen from him.
Ren stepped closer to the edge of the hill.
The ground dropped sharply into darkness below.
One step.
That was all it would take.
His heart pounded.
Images of Moriya flashed through his mind.
Then Maria.
Then Sidikatu.
Then the man tied to the chair in the council chamber.
And the demon’s laughter.
Ren closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
He stepped forward.
The world vanished.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Not the darkness of night.
Something deeper.
Something endless.
Ren opened his eyes slowly.
He was no longer standing on the hill.
Instead—
He stood in a vast black void.
No sky.
No ground.
Just endless darkness stretching in every direction.
And then—
Laughter echoed through the emptiness.
Low.
Mocking.
Amused.
“You pathetic human.”
Ren’s jaw tightened.
He knew that voice.
A figure slowly formed in the darkness ahead of him.
Tall.
Shrouded in swirling shadows.
Eyes glowing faintly like embers hidden beneath ash.
Emma no Kage.
The demon smiled wider as Ren stared at him.
“You really thought I was helping you?”
His voice echoed endlessly through the void.
Ren said nothing.
Emma no Kage began walking slowly around him, circling like a predator studying prey.
“I was only doing it because you are the only one who can release me.”
His smile sharpened.
“But now?”
He laughed again.
“I don’t care.”
Ren’s eyes darkened.
Emma no Kage stopped in front of him.
“Every chance that I get,” the demon said softly, “will be for my own gain.”
The void pulsed faintly around them.
Ren clenched his fists.
“Then you won’t be let out.”
Emma no Kage burst into laughter.
“Oh?”
His eyes glowed brighter.
“You think you have that choice?”
Ren held his gaze.
“I do.”
Emma no Kage leaned closer.
“You have an incredible body.”
His tone turned almost curious.
“But you can’t control it.”
Ren’s expression hardened.
The demon’s smile widened.
“Your body works on instinct.”
He raised one finger.
“The same way a porcupine fires its quills when it senses danger.”
Another step closer.
“I am the same.”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“A defense mechanism.”
Ren felt the words sink deeper than any blade.
“When you want to die…” Emma no Kage continued softly, “…remember what happened today.”
Images flashed again.
The council chamber.
The massacre.
The demon laughing inside his own body.
“And remember when you first met Moriya.”
Another memory surfaced.
The moment Ren had nearly died.
The moment the demon had first taken control.
Emma no Kage’s voice echoed through the void.
“Death and birth cannot live too close…”
He tilted his head.
“But they cannot live too far apart either.”
Ren’s breathing slowed.
The demon’s grin widened again.
“So don’t you dare harm this body.”
His eyes gleamed.
“I won’t die.”
A pause.
“You will.”
Ren stared at him silently.
Emma no Kage turned away slightly, looking out into the endless void.
“But once you do,” he added calmly, “I will be sealed inside the sword again.”
His voice carried no fear.
Only certainty.
Ren understood.
The demon had no reason to protect him.
No loyalty.
No kindness.
Only instinct.
And opportunity.
The void began dissolving around them.
The darkness shattered like glass breaking apart.
Emma no Kage’s laughter echoed one final time.
“Live or die, human.”
His glowing eyes locked onto Ren’s.
“Either way…”
“I win.”
The void disappeared.
Ren collapsed to his knees on the grassy hill behind Sidikatu’s cottage.
Cold air rushed into his lungs.
His vision blurred for a moment.
His body felt weak.
Drained.
Below him, the cottage door had opened.
Sidikatu stood there.
Moriya behind her, still wrapped in bandages.
They had seen him collapse.
They were already running toward him.
“Ren!”
Sidikatu’s voice carried fear.
Moriya reached him first.
“What happened?”
Ren didn’t answer immediately.
His face was pale.
His eyes distant.
Everyone expected something.
A breakdown.
Screaming.
Rage.
Tears.
After what had happened in the council chamber, they expected him to snap.
But Ren didn’t scream.
He didn’t cry.
Instead—
His breathing steadied.
Slow.
Controlled.
Then slowly…
He lifted his head.
And smiled.
Not a normal smile.
Something darker.
Something sharp.
Something that made Moriya’s stomach tighten.
Sidikatu froze mid-step.
Because the smile on Ren’s face…
Looked disturbingly similar to the one the demon had worn.
A quiet voice escaped his lips.
“…Interesting.”
The wind rustled through the trees.
And for the first time…
Ren looked truly dangerous.
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