Limiter

When Shin opened his eyes, he didn’t have his usual dream of the Kishin. It was too bright for it to be that. Shin looked around, confused as to where he might be. The first thing he noticed was the walls, decorated with lit torches. Underneath Shin was a red carpet, and when he looked in the direction it led, he felt a force pull him toward it.

Shin was trying to resist the force, but he couldn’t; his body wasn’t strong enough. His only option was to get dragged by the force until it stopped. When he stopped being dragged, Shin was face-to-face with a fountain. From the smell, he could guess what was in there, but Shin needed to confirm it with his own eyes. And so, Shin saw that it was filled with blood.

However, Shin didn’t only see the blood in the fountain; he saw a reflection of himself. At least, that’s what the figure resembled.

The figure in the reflection had Shin’s hair and the shape of his body, but the skin was blood red. Also, unlike Shin, the figure had two curly horns on its head along with a wide smile.

Is that me?

“It can be you.” The voice that responded to Shin’s thoughts didn’t sound like the Kishin he knew; it was something more ancient. Unlike the Kishin’s childlike voice, it sounded wise, like someone who has been watching for a long time. Shin brought his head up to see who, or rather what, had talked to him, but he couldn’t see a figure anymore. All Shin could see around him was red.

The walls were red. The ceiling was red. Even the air in the room appeared to be red. Shin took a whiff of the area to see if it was blood that made everything red; however, it wasn’t. The smell reeked of something worse than blood, and the spot where it was coming from was the reddest in the room.

It was a crack. A crack no bigger than a fist. However, despite its small size, Shin could feel the sheer amount of mana leaking from it. It was alluring, a sense of strength that he couldn’t help but approach. And as he got closer, the voice only got more prominent.

“Shin, you may have forgotten my voice, but I have never forgotten you. You are my precious vessel, the only body that can house my spirit. So come! Come and break this seal before—”

“No, Shin, don’t!” A feminine voice cut off the other disembodied voice, causing Shin to stop in his tracks. “Don’t open the crack. Stick your hand in it.” Shin knew the voice sounded familiar, so he looked back, and it was Hinako.

“Hinako, is that you? How are you here?”

“That’s not important right now! Just listen to my words! Stick your hand into the crack. We need to seal the Kishin inside of you like that, or it might consume you entirely.”

“Seal… the Kishin?” Shin looked down at his hand, curling it into a fist. Right, we were trying to seal the Kishin.

“You can’t seal me, vessel. You only exist because of my—”

“Shut up!” Shin shoved his hand in the crack before the voice could continue speaking. When he did that, Hinako started to mouth inaudible words in rapid succession. As a result, Shin could see lines beginning to form on his arm. These lines resembled the crack that he shoved his hand into, and he could feel it.

Shin could feel the power surge through the lines as it made its way through his arm. It only stopped moving at his shoulder. And when the power stopped surging, all that was left was pain. A sharp, burning pain was dancing on his right arm. Shin could only scream as the pain lingered. And being the one to witness Shin’s screams, Hinako smiled.

“Good. The seal worked properly.”