Powerless Against the Darkness

Rei stepped into the Darkness Zone.

The forest swallowed the light behind them.

Violently, yet quietly.

The path ahead dimmed, shadows stretching between the trees.

Rei felt it immediately.

A tightness in his chest.

Nothing painful.

Just… wrong.

The fairies fluttered around them, dozens of small lights cutting through the dark.

They were alive. Bright but nervous.

Their glow flickered more than usual.

Akira glanced around, hand resting on his sword.

“No wind,” he muttered.

Itsuki nodded.

“No insects either.”

Rei listened.

Silence.

Not heavy. Just empty.

Still, nothing attacked.

Nothing moved.

The fairies whispered to each other, low voices filling the void.

“It’s creepy,” Akira said, forcing a light tone.

“But as long as we have the fairies, we’re fine, right?”

Rei exhaled slowly.

“That’s what Sarutobi said.”

He looked at the fairies.

They noticed his gaze and drifted closer, almost protective.

“Do you know where she lost her medallion?” Rei asked.

The fairies hesitated.

One of them spun in the air.

“Not exactly. But we’ll find it on the way”

Their confidence eased something inside him.

The darkness stayed still.

Watching.

Rei was about to move on when a tiny glow slipped out of his pocket, floating up to his face.

He froze.

“Lumi, what’s wrong?”

She fluttered in place, visibly excited, wings beating faster than usual.

Then she turned sharply and pointed into the darkness, off the main path.

“It’s there,” she said, voice trembling with certainty.

“I can feel it.”

The fairies around him shifted instinctively, their lights drifting in the same direction.

Rei followed their movement and looked left.

“…Alright, Let’s take a closer look” he murmured.

He adjusted his grip on the lantern, already turning toward the deeper forest.

Akira noticed immediately and stepped forward as well.

“Then let’s go.”

Itsuki was already shifting his weight, ready to follow.

Rei raised a hand.

“No.”

They both turned to him.

He lifted the lantern.

The fairies brightened, swirling around him like a living shield.

“I’ll go alone,” Rei said calmly.

“I have the most fairies. It’s safer.”

Akira frowned.

“But what if something attacked you?”

Rei glanced around the forest.

Nothing moved.

Nothing breathed.

“Look around,” he said quietly.

“There’s nothing alive here. Just darkness.”

“I’ll be quick, I promise” Rei replied.

Itsuki studied him.

Silent.

Then he stepped aside.

“Be careful.”

Rei nodded.

He turned toward the deepest part of the forest, Lumi drifting beside him.

While Akira and Itsuki stayed on the main path.

The lantern at his side glowed steadily, pushing the darkness back.

He scanned the forest, searching for the medallion.

Roots, trees, the narrow path ahead, everything was visible.

Too visible.

Rei relaxed.

Maybe… this trial wasn’t really so bad.

Then a different glow appeared.

Not fairy light.

Green.

Faint, but steady.

“There,” Rei said softly.

Inside the lantern, the fairies flitted to the right side, their excitement making it wobble.

The boy approached.

The medallion lay on the ground, untouched.

A dark metal frame with a green stone, old and worn, pulsing faintly, like it was breathing.

Rei stopped.

“…That’s bigger than I imagined.”

Human-sized.

He knelt and lifted it.

The fairies burst into excited chatter, lights flaring brighter.

“That’s it! You found it! The Queen’s medallion!”

“Now she can finally be safe!”

Rei let out a small laugh.

“That was fast,” he murmured.

No trap. No Yokai. No danger.

Too easy.

Rei straightened up and adjusted his grip on both the medallion and the lantern.

“Alright,” he said.

“Let’s go back to the main path.”

He turned.

And the heat hit him.

A wall of fire ripped through the air.

Rei barely jumped aside.

Flames passed where his head had been a second earlier.

The forest lit up in orange for an instant.

Then someone stepped out of the fire.

Rei froze, chest hammering, eyes wide.

“Badge Thirteen? … Why are you attacking me?” he shouted, his voice trembling.

“Call me Enma, The Flame Demon” the man said, voice filled with pride.

His gaze locked onto Rei, eyes burned with fury.

“You!” he shouted, flames crawling up his arms.

“You humiliated me… you stole my fairies, then catch all of them.”

Then he stares the lantern.

“All those fairies,” Enma said

The fire surged.

“I should have had the most…but because of you,”

His fire surged, wild and violent

“I’m the one with the least.”

Rei ran.

The fairies trapped inside the lantern screamed in panic.

Rei pressed it to his chest like a treasure, teeth gritted.

“Don’t worry … as I promised… I’ll protect you.”

“Kaitsuki!” he shouted.

“Now!”

The rabbit burst out of the hat … And froze.

Static crackled across its body.

“M-Master…” Kaitsuki stammered.

“I… I can’t see…”

The darkness distorted its form. Not just shadows. Interference.

“Attack!” Rei yelled.

Fire burst forward.

And vanished into Enma’s flames.

Enma laughed.

“Fire?”

“Against me?”

His power swelled.

Kaitsuki glitched violently.

“System error … vision lost …”

The rabbit collapsed into a trembling sphere and snapped back into the hat.

Gone.

Rei didn’t stop.

He threw his gadgets blindly.

Fire. Smoke.

Useless.

Enma bent them effortlessly.

Light. Sound.

They detonated … and vanished almost instantly.

As if nothing had happened.

Rei fell hard, chest hitting the forest floor.

Enma stepped over him, a cruel grin on his face.

One foot pressed into Rei’s back, pinning him.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“I don’t even understand how someone like you got this far.”

Rei struggled. Twisted. Tried to rise.

Flames erupted from the ground, coiling around his arms and legs like chains.

He couldn’t move.

A small glow darted forward from his pocket. Lumi.

She shot forward, a burst of light aimed at the fire mage.

Too slow.

Flames surged around her.

Enma grabbed her in a swift motion, eyes blazing with rage.

“All of this… is your fault!” he shouted.

Rei thrashed, chest heaving, voice cracking.

“No! Stop! Don’t hurt her! It’s my fault… I’m sorry!”

“Hurt? Hum... Fairies are tools. Nothing more,” Enma said, cold.

He leaned down, calm and cruel.

“And you should worry about yourself …”

Enma bent down smoothly and grabbed rei’s lantern.

The trapped fairies inside screamed, panicked, lights flashing wildly.

“Let’s see how you’ll get out without your precious fairies” Enma sneered.

He turned.

Disappeared into the shadows of the forest, lantern in hand.

The chains around Rei vanished.

He pushed himself up.

Heart racing, he ran after the lantern.

But the further Enma went, the darker the forest became.

Shadows swallowed the path.

The forest’s outlines blurred and faded.

Soon, only blackness surrounded him.

He stopped.

“It’s okay… I have a flashlight,” he whispered, trying to steady his breathing.

Click.

Light burst out … Then flickered.

Once.

Twice.

And died.

Rei frowned.

“That’s… weird.”

He shook it.

Hit it lightly against his palm.

Click.

Nothing.

The darkness didn’t change.

He exhaled slowly. Still calm. Still thinking.

“Okay. No problem. I have a lighter”

A branch lay on the ground. He struck his lighter. The flame flickered … then vanished.

“Seriously? Why all my stuff stops working NOW?”

He put on his VR goggles, small lamps on either side.

“Kaitsuki,” he said, voice firm, “guide me.”

Static.

“Sorry, Master,” the rabbit stuttered, voice glitching, “there’s… interference. I can’t…”

Silence

“Kaitsuki… Kaitsuki, are you still there?” Rei’s voice cracked, rising in panic.

Nothing. Just silence.

His stomach twisted.

I’m… alone.

He pressed his back against a tree, trying to catch his breath.

“What can I do…?

Without gadgets. Without magic.

“It’s hopeless…”

“No. Wait.”

Panic won’t help.

Calm down.

Think.

There’s always a way. Every problem has a solution.

Then a thought came.

If I can’t use my gadgets… I’ll have to rely on my senses.

Hands out, he reached for the rough bark of a tree.

Okay… okay. I can do this.

Just… follow the trees.

Walk straight.

When I get close enough, I’ll hear the others.

He strained his ears, hoping to catch the faintest sound of the other candidates.

Nothing.

“I’m probably still too far,” he whispered.

“I just need to keep moving forward.”

But the deeper he went, the heavier the darkness felt.

When he moved, the ground felt wrong.

Unsteady.

Roots barely there.

Bark distant under his fingers.

Even the air felt thin.

Fading.

This isn’t just darkness…

It’s swallowing me.

It felt alive. Like this zone itself was a creature.

A yokai that devours everything in its path.

Light.

Sound.

Even technology.

Nothing could survive its mouth.

The thought hit him cold.

The fairies.

They weren’t just light.

They were guides.

without them… I don’t stand a chance.

He clenched his jaw.

This was just a shortcut.

A bonus trial.

He should’ve waited.

Should’ve chosen the safer path.

Regret rose … And he crushed it.

Regret wouldn’t save him.

Fear wouldn’t either.

He forced his legs to move.

Step.

Step.

The ground weakened.

His balance slipped.

His thoughts scattered.

Where am I going?

Even if the crystal was right in front of me… I wouldn’t see it.

His breathing tightened.

I need to get out.

NOW.

Too late.

The ground vanished.

The air erased.

Even his heartbeat felt distant.

Rei stumbled.

Or fell.

Eyes open? Closed? Standing? Lying?

He couldn’t tell.

The world disappeared.

No light.

No sound.

No touch.

Am I… dead?

Tears came, but he didn’t feel them.

Thoughts splintered, drifting like whispers.

I… I was so arrogant…

Thinking I could win a magic tournament,

with gadgets alone…

Apologies tumbled out, broken, scattered:

Mom… I’m sorry.

I couldn’t save you.

The fairies… I failed you…

Enshin…

sorry…

I wasn’t the hero you wanted…

Akira…

Itsuki…

I…

…

Words dissolved. Energy drained.

The Darkness swallowed everything… even the last fragments of his mind.