Shun's blade trembled. His cursed aura rippled like a beast clawing out of its cage, black star flaring in his eye.

The whispers screamed in unison:

"NOW. STRIKE. DEVOUR THEM ALL."

His body lurched forward blade rising aimed at Kaen.

Kaen didn't move. He stared straight into the cursed eye, fire blazing not in fear, but in defiance.

"Sensei… it's me. You said once that fire can't choose what it burns—but you chose me. You chose to protect. So do it again! Don't give in!"

The blade froze mid-swing, Shun's arms shaking violently. Blood streamed from his cursed eye, teeth gnashing as he screamed not in rage, but in agony.

Rael's lightning flared, ready to cut him down

—but Kaen roared louder.

"FAMILY DOESN'T BREAK! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!"

For a heartbeat, the cursed whispers faltered. Shun's blade dropped an inch. His breath hitched.

Greed's smirk flickered, eyes narrowing. The chains rattled, slamming against the stone.

"Interesting… he resists. Then let's tear deeper."

Black sigils flared brighter. More voidborn clawed through, shrieking with hunger.

The ruin shook as black sigils burned hotter, vomiting voidborn like a flood of nightmares. Their claws screeched against stone, their shrieks scraping against the soul.

Greed's grin widened as he raised a hand, chains coiling lazily, his eyes drinking in the chaos. "Yes… bleed yourselves against them. Every swing, every scream, every spark of Shinrei, it all drips into my chains."

He turned his gaze slowly, first to the rookies carving through the voidborn swarm, then to Kaen and Rael bracing against Shun's unstable aura. His smirk curled sharper.

"And yet… one soul here tastes richer than the rest."

His pupils dilated, chains rattling in delight.

(He is coming. The slumbering one. The heaviest chain of all—Sloth. But until then… let's play with the cursed toy.)

Shun's body convulsed. His blade clattered against stone before his trembling fingers seized it again. His cursed eye bled freely, black Shinrei spilling like smoke down his cheek. His teeth ground against the whispers clawing at his mind.

"KILL THEM. SLICE THE BOY FIRST. DEVOUR THE LIGHTNING SECOND. FAMILY IS A LIE. YOU ARE THE MONSTER."

He dropped to one knee, blade stabbing into the floor as if pinning himself to the earth. His lungs heaved, ribs burning.

(No… not Kaen… not Rael. I swore, my students, I swore I would never…)

The whispers screeched louder, their voices multiplying, overlapping like a thousand curses.

"YOU ARE NOT TEACHER. YOU ARE HUNGER. HUNGER NEVER TEACHES, IT CONSUMES."

Shun's hand flew to his face, fingers digging into his skin as he screamed into his palm.

Kaen stepped forward despite the cursed aura burning his skin raw. Flames curled around his fists, but his voice was louder than the fire.

"Sensei! You're not hunger—you're Shun Asamaru! You taught me to fight, you taught me to stand—so stand now! Don't let them take you!"

Rael's teeth clenched, his body sparking with suppressed lightning. He hissed low, "Kaen, he's seconds away from cutting us down—"

But Kaen whipped his head toward him, eyes blazing. "Shut up! Don't you dare give up on him!"

Shun's breath hitched. The cursed whispers faltered.

(Kaen… still… calling me Sensei… even like this…?)

The voidborn crashed against the students, Kai's fists cracking skulls, Luka's flames splitting the swarm, Damon's stone arms shattering bodies, Sora's water blades slashing through shadow-flesh. Behind them, Anaya's voice cracked with desperate prayers, Shinrei pouring into wounded limbs, while Riku's sharp mutters cut anchor points in the sigils to slow the spawning.

But the tide didn't stop. For every voidborn slain, two more clawed through. Their strength was burning out.

And in the center of it all, Shun trembled on the knife's edge. His cursed eye seared with power that wasn't his, his blade shivering between teacher and executioner.

(If I lose here… Kaen will fall. Rael will fall. All of them… gone… because of me. No—I can't—)

The whispers slammed harder, venom dripping through his veins:

"YOU CAN'T FIGHT US. YOU ARE US. LET GO. DEVOUR. END THEM ALL."

Shun's scream tore out of his throat, black aura exploding around him. Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone beneath his feet.

Kaen threw his arms wide, planting himself in front of him. Flames surged like wings from his back.

"Sensei—then let me burn the whispers too! If they want to eat you—they'll have to eat me first!"

The cursed eye froze, its glow faltering for a heartbeat.

Shun's blade trembled, quivering between slaughter and salvation. His body was wracked, his veins burning with black Shinrei, yet through the storm of whispers his voice broke—hoarse, guttural, but his own:

"…Kaen…"

Kaen's fire blazed brighter at the sound, his chest heaving as he shouted back with everything in him.

"I'M HERE, SENSEI! AND I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO!"

The cursed whispers shrieked, a thousand gnashing voices tearing at Shun's skull.

"FRAIL. WEAK. ONE WORD DOES NOT ERASE US. KILL. DEVOUR. YOU ARE OURS!"

Shun staggered, knees threatening to buckle, but then his grip tightened. His cursed eye, once a pit of black flame, wavered. For the first time since its awakening, a thread of light cut through the darkness.

He raised his blade not at Kaen, not at Rael but toward the voidborn horde itself.

The whispers recoiled, snarling.

"NO. NOT THEM. YOUR BLOOD. YOUR FAMILY. HUNGER NEEDS BLOOD!"

Shun roared, voice splitting the air.

"THEN TAKE MINE INSTEAD!!!"

The cursed eye flared, black fire exploding outward but instead of lashing at Kaen or Rael, it tore through the nearest voidborn, shredding them into fragments of ash. Their shrieks filled the ruined hall as the cursed Shinrei devoured its own kin.

Greed froze mid-step, the grin faltering into something sharper, hungrier. His chains rattled, swaying like cobras at the sight. His voice dropped into a low hiss of fascination.

"…Is this it? The so-called emotion…" His grin crept back, slow and cutting. "…the difference between humans and a voidborn…"

Kaen's flames roared higher, hope surging through his chest. "Sensei… you did it! You took it back!"

Rael narrowed his eyes, electricity sparking along his arms as he studied Shun carefully. "…No. Not fully. Look at his aura it's still twisted."

Indeed, Shun's body shook violently, the cursed eye still leaking dark Shinrei like poison. But his other eye burned bright with human fury. His blade rose, no longer wavering, and his voice thundered through the clash of voidborn and chains.

"I AM SHUN ASAMARU! TEACHER OF VEINWALKERS! THIS CURSE DOES NOT OWN ME!"

The battlefield itself seemed to pause at the declaration. The students, bloodied and panting, rallied behind it. Their Shinrei flared brighter.

Greed's grin sharpened, licking blood from his teeth.

"Hoh… then show me, human. Show me how long emotion lasts before hunger devours it whole."

he chains lashed. Voidborn surged.

And Shun half-man, half-curse charged forward, blade blazing with black and crimson fire. His roar still hung in the air like thunder, his weapon howling as it tore through voidborn flesh. Each strike was rebellion against the curse gnawing his veins.

Beside him, Kaen's fists clenched. His flames flickered then bled into shadow. Deep within, the sealed core stirred. For the first time since Master Genzu's training, he chose not to suppress it. He chose to wield it.

Darkness spilled into his fire, swallowing it whole. A storm of unstable brilliance rose: red flames laced with violet void, devouring the very air. His veins burned, his body trembled but his eyes stayed steady.

"…Master Genzu… you taught me to burn without fear. Then let me prove it now."

Forty percent of the void unleashed.

Greed's chains froze mid-rattle. His grin widened, teeth glinting like fangs.

"Hoh… so the cursed one can control the curse. That's no imitation… that's power. Very well, little flame. Let's fight to the fullest."

Kaen stepped forward, fire-shadow spiraling around him like a crown of embers and abyss. His gaze met Shun's no words spoken, but both understood: they would burn together.

And then Rael moved.

He pressed a hand to his chest, voice sharp and steady:

"Seraphis… Judicutor form."

The world bent. His radiant blade dissolved into pure sigils, searing themselves into his body. Wings of crystalline light folded around him, etching law into his veins. His emerald eyes split into mirrored fractals, reflecting every spark, shadow, and truth on the battlefield.

Shinrei surged not wild, not unstable, but absolute.

Shun's cursed eye pulsed violently, whispers clawing at him but before Rael's radiance, they fell silent.

Rael's voice cut like judgment:

"Greed of Eclipse… you stand accused. Your Greed has bled into the living world. Your verdict...extinction."

Greed threw back his head and laughed. Chains slammed into the earth, tearing stone like serpents.

"Extinction? From insects who bleed every time they breathe?!" His grin split wider, aura rising like a storm. "COME, THEN! LET YOUR EMOTION, YOUR LAW, YOUR CURSE…BREAK AGAINST MY GREED!"

The battlefield erupted.

Shun surged forward, blade cleaving through voidborn.

Kaen's storm of fire and void detonated, devouring chains.

Rael descended like law incarnate, wings blazing.

Three Veinwalkers teacher, cursed flame, and blessed law united against one Sin.

The ruin shook. Even Greed's endless chains quivered not from hunger, not from despair, but from something new: defiance.

The storm raged. Chains lashed from every angle, black sigils glowing.

"DROWN IN HUNGER!" Greed roared.

Shun, His sword whistled upward, intercepting a chain. Sparks exploded as steel scraped abyssal iron. His cursed eye bled Shinrei, threatening to overtake him but his fury held sharp.

(Control it… don't let it rule you. You are Shun Asamaru.)

He twisted mid-step, slicing another chain. Black flame bled from the wound, hissing into the air.

Greed's eyes gleamed.

"A man wielding poison as his sword… how delicious."

Kaen's fists blazed violet-red. He slammed his palm to the ground, erupting a pillar of shadowflame that swallowed three chains whole. The fire didn't just burn it devoured.

His teeth clenched.

"If you think hunger belongs to you, Sin… then choke on mine!"

He lunged like a comet, striking at Greed's torso. Two chains crossed to block but his flame still seared through, leaving black scars across Greed's form.

Meanwhile, Rael didn't run. He descended. Each step rippled with radiant law. A chain lashed, his wings of Seraphis flared, shattering it to fragments.

He raised his arm. Scripture carved itself into a blade of light. With one sweep, he cut through five chains, their sigils dissolving in divine fire.

"Greed. Your hunger violates the balance. Your verdict is sealed."

Greed snarled, veins bulging.

"VERDICT? WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE A SIN?!"

Rael's mirrored eyes burned.

"…I am the voice of those who still resist."

The three pressed forward. Shun deflected. Kaen devoured. Rael dismantled. Chains fell in sparks and ash.

But Greed was endless. With every one destroyed, ten more tore from the ground, writhing like serpents.

Around them, rookies screamed, bled, and fought, scraping seconds of survival. The tide of voidborn surged. Chains multiplied.

Yet the three refused to fall.

Kaen roared, his own flames devouring his flesh.

"WE ARE VEINWALKERS! WE FIGHT TO LIVE!!"

Shun's cursed blade flared crimson-black.

"THIS CURSE DOES NOT OWN ME...IT'S MY WEAPON!"

Rael struck downward, sword of light piercing Greed's chains into the earth. Sigils cracked. The battlefield quaked.

"GREED...YOUR SENTENCE IS DEATH."

Greed laughed, blood dripping from his lips. His aura spiraled monstrous, but for the first time his grin faltered.

"…They really believe it. These humans… actually believe they can win."

And for the first time, the Sin of Greed thought his end might be near.

…

The halls of Veyl School were a graveyard.

Blood painted the stone. The crimson coats of Veinwalker mentors were shredded and burned, their glowing Shinrei marks already fading into ash.

Sylven Kairos, the cloaked shade master, lay broken in the ruin of his own shadows. His students, Sylra and Kyrel, were crumpled beside him, violet eyes forever dim.

Orin Makai's mismatched gaze stared lifelessly at the ceiling, his twin affinities extinguished. Hana's sleeve, once gnawed by nerves, was torn—her arm still clutching it even in death. Len's body had cracked like stone, his face streaked with dried tears.

Only two still breathed.

Naomi Reiken.

Darius Crow.

They stood trembling in the corridor, where silence screamed louder than battle.

And then he stirred.

The stone split as a figure rose from the place of his slumber. Draped in rags, neither man nor woman, they seemed ordinary at first glance fragile, almost human. Their body rose and fell with long, slow breaths. But their presence bent the air itself. Shadows bled from them like a tide of black Shinrei.

The ragged figure yawned, the sound echoing louder than war drums. Their voice came low and heavy, each syllable dragged like a corpse across stone:

"Answer my questions…"

A pause. Fingers lazily scratched the side of their neck.

"…Where am I…?"

Naomi's teeth chattered. Her fists always clenched shook uncontrollably.

"M… monster…"

Darius's single eye narrowed beneath his tangled bangs. His voice was tight, clipped, but edged with fear.

"…Sloth."

The figure's lips curled faintly. Not into a grin, but into something worse bdisinterest. They radiated no fury like Greed, no hunger like Gluttony. They barely cared. And yet that lack of care pressed down heavier than rage.

"So noisy… yet so empty. Already dead."

Their half-lidded gaze slid across the corpses without a flicker of feeling.

Naomi staggered back. Flames burst instinctively around her fists. But when Sloth raised one finger, the fire died instantly, snuffed out like a candle in the void. Her chest seized as though something inside her had given up.

The air twisted. Shadows thickened. Corpses on the floor trembled.

And then came the voices.

Not one.

Not his.

"…let… us…"

"…sleep…"

"…hunger…"

The words spilled from Sloth's mouth, but they weren't his alone. Men. Women. Children. A hundred voices overlapping in a single throat.

Naomi's freckles stood stark against her paling face. Her fingers curled tight, only to be forced open by unseen hands. Her body betrayed her.

Darius's eye widened. Shadows swirled tighter around him.

(Not one voice… not one body. This isn't even a person.)

Naomi blinked and for a heartbeat she saw it. Not an eye, but a black window filled with drifting silhouettes. Faces clawed and twisted against the glass, a thousand drowned souls pressing to escape, yet all content to sink deeper.

Her heart lurched. She screamed.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!"

Sloth's lips moved slowly. The voices answered together:

"…We are tired…"

"…We are legion…"

"…We are sloth."

Then silence cracked the air. Not sound silence. It hit harder than thunder.

Shadow-arms surged without command. Everything they touched lost will. Weapons fell. Flames vanished. Even blood stilled mid-drip.

Naomi coughed violently, choking as fire sputtered against the weight.

Darius spat blood, body trembling as if his own heart was trying to stop. His voice rasped, hoarse but sharp:

"…Naomi. MOVE!"

Sloth tilted their head back. Another yawn tore through the hall except it wasn't a yawn. It was a chorus.

Hundreds of voices sighed at once, the sound of entire worlds giving up.

And with that sigh, half the torches of the school blew out in unison.

To be continue