The night air was cold.
Ren barely noticed.
His footsteps were slow and uneven as he walked through the narrow forest path leading away from the Mugen council district. The alarms from the compound had faded into the distance, swallowed by the darkness of the mountains.
But the silence around him was not peaceful.
It was heavy.
Oppressive.
The Black Blade rested in his hand, its dark surface reflecting faint fragments of moonlight.
Blood dripped slowly from its edge.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Ren stopped walking.
The sound echoed inside his head like thunder.
He stared at the blade.
His breathing grew shallow.
The world suddenly felt… wrong.
His fingers trembled.
“What…”
His voice cracked.
“What did I… do?”
A faint wind brushed past him.
Ren blinked.
For a moment the forest seemed to tilt sideways.
The ground shifted beneath his feet.
Then—
The world spun.
The trees stretched unnaturally as his vision blurred.
Ren stumbled forward and dropped to one knee.
The blade slipped from his hand and struck the dirt with a dull metallic sound.
Suddenly—
Darkness swallowed everything.
Ren stood somewhere else.
The void.
Endless black surrounded him.
No wind.
No sound.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Only silence.
Ren slowly lifted his head.
Across from him stood a figure.
Himself.
But not quite.
The other Ren stared back with empty eyes.
Crimson slowly began spreading across the ground beneath their feet.
Blood.
An ocean of it.
Ren looked down in horror.
His hands were covered in it.
Thick.
Dark.
Sticky.
The memories came crashing back.
The guards.
The council chamber.
The screams.
The blade moving through bodies.
The twisted smile on his own face.
Ren staggered backward.
“No…”
The crimson spread further.
It crawled up his legs like living shadows.
“No…”
His voice shook violently.
The other Ren tilted his head slowly.
“You did it.”
Ren clenched his fists.
“No.”
“You killed them.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did.”
The voice sounded like his own.
Cold.
Merciless.
Ren covered his ears.
“Stop…”
The crimson ocean surged violently around him.
Bodies began emerging from the blood.
The guards he had cut down.
The elders.
The officials.
Their empty eyes stared at him silently.
“You murdered them.”
Ren’s chest tightened painfully.
“I didn’t mean to…”
The other Ren stepped forward.
“But you did.”
Ren’s breathing became erratic.
His heart pounded violently in his chest.
“I’m not…”
His voice broke.
“I’m not a murderer.”
The other Ren smiled faintly.
“You are.”
The word echoed endlessly through the void.
Murderer.
Murderer.
Murderer.
Ren fell to his knees.
The blood surged higher around him.
Images flashed violently in his mind.
Blades cutting flesh.
Bones snapping.
Screams filling the chamber.
The Black Blade moving like it had a mind of its own.
But the worst memory—
Was his own smile.
Ren clawed at his hair.
“No!”
The void twisted violently.
The other Ren stood directly in front of him now.
“You enjoyed it.”
“I didn’t!”
“You felt free.”
Ren’s voice broke into a desperate scream.
“I DIDN’T!”
The blood exploded upward like a storm.
For a moment everything became crimson.
Endless crimson.
Ren’s entire world was drowning in it.
He could smell it.
Taste it.
Feel it soaking through his clothes.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
“I’m a…”
His voice barely came out.
“A… murderer.”
The word shattered inside him.
Ren collapsed forward.
The void grew silent again.
For a long moment there was nothing.
Just darkness.
Then—
A voice.
Soft.
Warm.
“Ren.”
His body froze.
The voice felt distant.
Like something from a dream.
“Ren.”
Slowly…
The darkness began to change.
The crimson faded.
In its place came something else.
Memories.
A small house.
Warm sunlight through the windows.
The smell of cooking rice.
Ren slowly lifted his head.
A woman stood there.
Akari.
His mother.
Her gentle smile looked exactly the same as he remembered.
“You always try to carry everything alone,” she said softly.
Ren’s eyes widened.
“I…”
His throat tightened.
“I killed them.”
Akari stepped closer.
Her expression did not change.
Ren clenched his fists.
“I’m a monster.”
Akari knelt down in front of him.
Her hand touched his cheek gently.
“You are my son.”
The words hit him harder than any blade.
Ren’s vision blurred.
Tears began falling silently down his face.
“I didn’t want this…”
Akari’s voice remained calm.
“I know.”
The void slowly dissolved around them.
The warmth faded.
But the memory lingered.
Ren reached out desperately.
“Don’t go…”
But she was already disappearing.
“Ren.”
Her final words echoed softly.
“Come home when you can.”
Then—
Everything vanished.
Ren’s eyes snapped open.
He was lying on the forest path.
The Black Blade rested beside him.
The moon had moved higher in the sky.
For a long moment Ren didn’t move.
His body trembled violently.
Then the memories returned again.
The council chamber.
The bodies.
The blood.
Ren slowly pushed himself to his feet.
His legs felt weak.
Unstable.
His eyes looked empty.
Broken.
He picked up the Black Blade slowly.
For a moment he considered throwing it away.
But his fingers tightened around the hilt.
The weapon felt cold.
Silent.
Ren began walking again.
Step by step.
Through the forest.
The path felt longer than before.
Each step heavier than the last.
By the time the faint outline of Sidikatu’s cottage appeared through the trees, Ren could barely stand.
The small house looked peaceful.
Warm light flickered gently through the windows.
For a moment Ren stopped at the edge of the clearing.
His breathing grew uneven.
He didn’t belong here.
Not anymore.
His hands were still stained with blood.
His soul felt heavier than the blade he carried.
Ren stepped forward slowly.
The wooden door stood a few steps away.
He reached it.
Then stopped.
His hand hovered over the door.
But he couldn’t knock.
The strength left his body completely.
Ren collapsed.
His knees hit the ground first.
Then his hands.
The Black Blade slipped from his grasp and fell beside him.
His shoulders began shaking uncontrollably.
Not from anger.
Not from fear.
From something worse.
Broken silence.
The door slowly creaked open.
Warm light spilled onto the ground.
Sidikatu stood there.
For a moment she simply stared.
Ren sat motionless in the dirt.
Head lowered.
Body trembling.
His voice came out barely above a whisper.
“I…”
The words died in his throat.
Sidikatu’s eyes widened slightly.
She had never seen someone look so completely destroyed.
Ren lifted his head slowly.
His eyes were hollow.
Tears still streaked across his face.
“I…”
His voice cracked again.
“I killed them.”
The words hung heavily in the night air.
Then Ren collapsed completely.
His body slumped forward against the wooden steps of the cottage.
The boy who had once fought to survive…
The boy who had once dreamed of escaping the darkness of the clans…
Was gone.
What remained now—
Was something shattered.
And for the first time since the beginning of his journey…
Ren Kurogane looked truly broken.
