Chapter 23 – When Light Meets Shadow

For a long moment, neither Kairos nor Reina moved.

Time itself hesitated.

The barren wasteland — once scorched by celestial judgment — was eerily still, save for the silent whispers of wind that tugged at the ends of Kairos’s cloak and Reina’s new robes.

He stared at her — the divine shimmer in her sword, the holy crest glowing on her chest, the wide eyes filled with fear… and confusion.

“Another one,” Kairos muttered. “They sent… another one.”

Reina gripped her blade tighter. “W-Who are you really?”

Her voice trembled, not from weakness — but from being thrown into a war with no context, no warning, no choice.

Kairos stepped forward, his voice calm, low, broken yet clear.

“I was supposed to be the Hero. Like you.”

She flinched. “…You?”

“I was summoned. Given a weapon. Told I was chosen. Promised salvation.”
“Then, they killed me.”
“Erased me. Replaced me.”

He stopped.

And for the first time, Reina saw the rage behind his crimson eyes. Not the rage of a villain… but of a betrayed soul.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” she said. “But if what you say is true—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kairos cut in. “They’ll twist you like they did me. You’ll become what they want… until you no longer remember who you are.”

He raised his hand — not to attack, but to show her.
A swirling memory, projected from the fragments of his shattered soul:
A young Kairos, bright-eyed, filled with hope.
Then betrayed.
Impaled by the Hero who came after.
Erased from history.

“I’m not here to kill you, Reina. I’m here to break their story.”

She lowered her sword — slightly.

“I… I don’t want to fight you,” she whispered. “But if you try to destroy the world—”

“No,” Kairos said. “I want to free it. From the gods who script our lives like puppets. From the fate they enforce.”

A flash of divine magic suddenly pulsed behind Reina.

A voice echoed from the rift she came through:

“Do not listen to him, Hero of Light! He is the anomaly. Slay him, and the world will stabilize!”

Reina looked back, torn.

The world she came from was already lost to her. This new world wanted her to kill a man she didn’t understand.

Kairos turned, walking into the distance.

“Decide, Reina Aokawa. Not as their pawn… but as yourself.”

She stood frozen.

Alone.

Between light and shadow.

To be continued…