CHAPTER 11: A STEP FROM THE ABYSS

The ground was still wet with blood when we were done.

Before us, a clumsy line of freshly turned mounds. No gravestones, no crosses, just heaps of earth hastily packed down, marked with broken weapons planted as makeshift steles. A cemetery of fortune, raised in the middle of a ruined camp.

We were five. Five living among dozens of dead.

No one spoke. The wind snapped the torn canvas, carried the stench of rancid flesh, sweat, and ashes. Even the birds had deserted this patch of forest. There was only silence, that fucking silence that hammers nails into your skull.

Hikari stood with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, eyes swollen, breathing too short, as if holding back sobs. Reina, she, stared at the graves with that mask of ice, but her fists clenched on her scepter told another story. Miyu trembled too, but not with fear: with restrained rage. Her teeth ground, her bitten lips letting slip small nervous, sickly chuckles.

Ayame was the only one to break the silence.

Her voice didn’t rise, but it cut through the air like a blade:

— "They didn’t deserve this. None of them."

She stood straight, her kimono still stained with dried blood, her hands crossed over her belly. Her brown eyes gleamed with a hard, almost cruel light.

— "Maybe they are the natives of this world. Maybe they see us as foreigners. But it’s them... who are the real monsters."

Her words echoed in our guts, heavy as stones.

I gripped Aurelia, planted before me, my fingers white from the pressure. I wanted to answer, to spit my anger, to say they were just pawns sent to the slaughter, dogs on a leash sacrificed to test us. But nothing came out. My throat burned, locked by a knot I couldn’t untie.

So I stayed silent. Like the others.

An even harsher silence fell on us. Trembling shoulders, clenched fists, averted gazes. We were all at the limit. Two fingers from breaking.

The cemetery did not judge. But it already haunted us.

I slowly straightened. My fingers left Aurelia’s shaft, stuck in the ground, and my gaze swept one last time over the makeshift cemetery. Those beaten earth mounds, those rusty swords raised like crooked crosses... They would stay there, mute witnesses to our survival.

— "It’s over." My voice was hoarse, strangled, but it cracked through the air. "We don’t have the luxury of staying here. Let’s move on."

No one protested. Not even Miyu. Reina simply inclined her head, her icy eyes fleeing the graves. Hikari hugged her scepter tighter against her chest, her pale lips still trembling. And Ayame, upright, dignified, said nothing. She simply laid a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, as if to push her to walk.

We left the camp without a word, our steps crushing the reddish mud, our shadows stretching in the dying light. With every stride, I felt a weight sink deeper into my neck. As if those corpses were watching us leave, as if every grave accused us of leaving them there.

My left eye burned. Or rather... what was left of it.

I pressed a hand against my face, feeling the rough scar that slashed my empty socket. Hikari had cried for hours, her trembling hands on my skin, her [Song of Dawn] screaming in the air, but nothing had worked. Even the divine light had refused to touch that wound.

It was the price of Oblivion. An irreversible price. And the mark I would have to bear all my life.

I had explained only the bare minimum. That there was another skill, more dangerous, heavier, than Genesis. I had sworn to them that no one else must know. Not the king, not the priests, not the other blessed of this world. Because Oblivion... was not a gift. It was a curse. A weapon that had to remain secret at all costs.

Even Hikari, curled against me after the battle, hadn’t dared insist. Her tear-swollen eyes had clung to mine, but she had stayed silent. And yet, I could see it. Every time she looked at me, her breath broke.

I clenched my teeth, quickened my pace to escape her.

The map floated in my mind. The enchanted parchment, given by the priests at the time of the summoning. By pouring a little mana, the reliefs took shape, a three-dimensional projection of the continent. I knew it by heart now.

The nearest fortress was to the North. A human bastion, raised for centuries to contain demonic incursions. The only possible shelter. The only place to find supplies, reinforcements, maybe allies.

But also... the worst choice.

Because this fortress was not just on the border. It was glued to the frontier of the demon kingdom. A step from the abyss. A single misstep, and we could fall straight into the wolf’s jaws.

A cold sweat slid down my back.

Ayame walked a few steps ahead of me, her kimono still sticky with dried blood, clinging to her hips, hinting at the heavy curve of her buttocks with every movement. I looked away, too late. My heart pounded once, violently.

Behind me, Miyu chuckled softly, as if she had guessed my thoughts just by reading my nape.Fuck.

I closed my fist, bit my tongue, and fixed my gaze straight ahead.

The northern fortress. Our next destination. And maybe... our grave.

~

We had walked all day.

No enemy. No sound, except our steps crushing the melting snow and the rustle of dead branches. But the silence was not reassuring. It was the kind of silence that clings to your skin, the one that reminds you too well that someone, something, might be watching us from the shadows.

After Azrakan, even breathing felt like it weighed a ton.

My legs felt heavy, my temples still pounding to the rhythm of his words. "You are nothing but pawns... this world was ours..." His mocking laughter had lodged in my skull like rusty nails. And the girls... each carried it in her own way. Reina, impassive but stiffer than ever. Miyu, chewing her lip as if she dreamed of cutting the whole world to pieces. Hikari, eyes lowered, trembling hands clutching her scepter.

At dusk, we finally found a spot to set up camp. A clearing bordered by twisted trees, backed against a small lake with black reflections. The motionless water, heavy, seemed a shattered mirror reflecting the moon. It was far from reassuring, but it was that or collapse on the road.

No one said much. We spread the mats, lit a meager fire with damp wood. The smoke stung our throats. The air stayed icy, saturated with the smell of soaked earth and sweat.

Ayame was the first to speak. Of course.

She sat near the fire, knees folded, the kimono still blotched with dark stains that resisted water. Her brown hair stuck to her cheeks, but she smiled anyway, softly, as if she could smother horror with nothing but the warmth of her voice.

— "We’re alive. That’s all that matters tonight."

She raised her eyes to us. The flames danced across her features, tracing golden gleams on her pale skin.

— "Tomorrow, we move on. But tonight... let’s rest. We need it."

Reina snorted, but didn’t protest. Miyu chuckled, without conviction, tossing a stone into the fire. Hikari simply nodded.

Me? I stayed in the back, arms crossed, my back against a tree. My body wanted to collapse, but my mind refused. Too many images, too many memories of that demon with the grotesque smile.

Too many questions too: how far Genesis could take me, and how far Oblivion would destroy me.

I raised my eyes to the sky. The stars glimmered intermittently between the branches. And yet, despite their glow, I couldn’t feel the slightest light.

The fire crackled, Ayame kept talking, softly, like a mother wanting to lull her children. Her chest rose slowly under her half-open kimono, revealing pale lace that the flames lit up in flashes. Even broken, even marked, she still radiated a natural sensuality, almost cruel in this moment of exhaustion.

I looked away, jaw clenched. The night was going to be long.

Dark under my blanket, my skull hammered by memories. Impossible to close my eyes. Every time I blinked, I saw Azrakan again, his grotesque smile, his chains, his words still vibrating in my neck.

So I stood up.

The cold of the night bit my skin as I slipped between the trees. The ground cracked, damp, but the silence of the forest remained intact. The lake appeared suddenly, a vast black mirror the moon shattered into shards of silver.

I undressed slowly, letting my kimono fall onto the moss. The icy air made me shiver, my muscles tensed. I stepped into the water, trying to drown my thoughts in that bite.

And that’s when I saw her.

Hikari.

Standing, a few steps away. Naked. Her skin beaded with drops that gleamed like pearls. Her wet hair clung to her flushed cheeks, her parted lips trembled as if she had been caught in the act. Her arms barely covered her firm chest, but not enough to hide the stiff points that betrayed her.

Fuck. How long had she been there?

I was about to speak, to stammer an excuse, when footsteps echoed behind me.

The blood froze in my veins.

I leapt, grabbed my kimono with one hand and Hikari with the other. Without thinking, I pulled her against me and pinned her behind a tree. My arm wrapped around her, my hand covered her mouth to stifle a cry. Her naked body crushed against mine, warm, trembling.

— "Shhh..." I whispered, barely audible.

The footsteps came closer.

Miyu. She appeared on the shore, chuckling to herself like a cheeky brat. She undid her kimono with a casual flick, releasing her massive breasts, her full hips, her flat belly. Her pale skin reflected the moon like a provocation. She let the fabric fall to the ground and stepped into the water with a sigh.

— "Hmmm... finally..." she murmured, her voice hoarse with pleasure.

Every movement made her round buttocks ripple, her parted thighs cutting through the water with obscene splashes. Her sighs echoed in the night like torture.

And me, I couldn’t move.

Hikari was curled against me, trapped in my arms. Her short breath broke against my hand, each exhale burning my palm like an involuntary caress. Her parted lips quivered under my fingers, moist, gasping, as if I were already tasting them. Her chest pressed against mine crushed me with heat, her hard nipples scraping my skin at every heartbeat. Her smooth thighs, tight against mine, vibrated with a tension I felt down to my loins.

I lowered my eyes.

Her face. Scarlet red. Her eyelids lowered, but her eyes sometimes fleeing mine, burning with shame. She wanted to look away, but every time our breaths clashed, mingled, until they merged. I felt like I was breathing her air, stealing her moans before they could escape.

And I felt my body betray me.

Fuck. Even now? Even with her? I was supposed to protect her, not shove this against her stomach. But my cock had decided otherwise. Hard, huge, it throbbed against her bare belly, pounding against her tender skin.

The rubbing was brutal, clear. My erect shaft pressed against her damp belly, sliding with a shameful shiver. A tiny jolt, but enough to make her freeze, her eyes widening with a wet gleam.

Our eyes met.

A long silence. Heavier than anything.

She turned away immediately, cheeks aflame, but her body stayed glued to mine, stiff, burning, as if her muscles refused to push me away. Her fingers had tightened on my kimono, clutching me despite herself.

And by the lake, Miyu still sighed, unaware, her lazy moans echoing in the night like torture.

Time stretched. Every breath too many, every shiver too much, pushed me closer to the breaking point.