The night came fast.
Too fast.
Rei sat alone atop a rocky hill outside the village, the mask shard now wrapped in a torn cloth inside his coat pocket. The skies above were quiet—too quiet, as if holding their breath.
He stared up at the moon.
It wasn't silver.
It was red.
Deep crimson. Pulsing.
Like a heart.
His breathing slowed.
> Why does this feel familiar...?
Then he heard it—whispers.
Not voices around him, but inside. Behind his ears. Beneath his thoughts.
> "He's returning…"
"It's not over…"
"The blood remembers…"
Rei grabbed his head, stumbling back. The whispering grew louder, more twisted. And then—
He saw them.
Figures. Dozens. Hundreds.
Marching.
They were shadowy, faceless, but each bled from their eyes. Each held weapons dripping in blood. And they all stared directly at him.
Rei blinked.
They were gone.
Only the red moon remained, glowing fiercer now.
He backed away—but the ground cracked.
The stone beneath his feet trembled, and he fell.
Suddenly, he was standing in a blood-drenched battlefield. Bodies piled like mountains. Flames in the sky.
He saw himself—but not himself.
A version of him, taller, older, more monstrous. Black armor fused with his skin. Wings of blood spread wide from his back. His eyes burned red.
> "Rei…?" he whispered.
The armored version looked at him.
And spoke:
> "You killed the gods once. Do you have the courage to do it again?"
Rei gasped.
And then—he woke.
Covered in sweat, dirt under his nails.
But this time…
There was blood on his hands.
Real blood.
And the moon above still bled crimson.
The forest at dawn was quiet, but Rei's heartbeat was not.
His hands, still stained with dried blood from the night before, trembled faintly. No cut. No wound. And yet... the pain was real.
He stared at the crimson-stained cloth in his coat—the mask shard. It pulsed faintly now, as if alive.
> "Why do I feel like I'm losing myself...?"
He walked aimlessly through the woods, away from the village, trying to outrun the nightmare—trying to forget the image of himself in that armor of blood.
But the silence was short-lived.
A small laugh echoed behind a tree.
Rei turned sharply.
There, sitting on a twisted branch of a dead tree, was a child. Barefoot, white-haired, and wearing a tattered red cloak too large for his body. His eyes—golden and swirling like galaxies—locked onto Rei.
> "Took you long enough," the child said. "You always liked pretending you were human."
Rei took a cautious step forward. "Who… are you?"
The child tilted his head, grinning.
> "I am the beginning and end of your curse. The whisper behind your name. I'm what you erased to protect the ones you loved."
He jumped off the branch, landing softly. Despite his size, the air grew heavier around him. Trees bent. Shadows retreated.
> "I am the Child of Chaos," he said. "And I'm here to give your memories back."
Rei backed away. "No. I don't want to remember."
> "You will. The system is already waking up."
A loud ping echoed in Rei's mind.
> [System Error Detected… Rebooting Fragmented Memories.]
[Estimated Time: Unknown.]
Rei groaned, clutching his head. Visions flickered behind his eyes—wars, screams, gods falling, blood raining from the heavens.
> "Make it stop—!"
> "You made yourself forget for a reason," the child said, stepping closer. "But now the Creator is moving again. And he'll erase this fake world if you don't act."
The Child placed a hand on Rei's chest.
A seal of blood burned into his skin.
> "Find the Crimson Reflection. Only then can you break the cage."
Before Rei could speak, the child vanished—like smoke.
Only the echo of his final words remained:
> "You were never meant to live in peace… Blood Sovereign."