Chapter 4: The One Who Writes Death

The sky was still dark.

Not night, but not morning either—the kind of hour when the world feels quiet and fragile, as if a single small mistake could change everything.

Kiryu ran without making a sound.
His breathing was controlled, his steps measured. Unlike before, there was no panic.

Behind him, Elena moved more carefully, keeping her distance, hiding behind trees whenever Kiryu slowed down.

He knows where he’s going, Elena thought.
Not guessing.
Not acting recklessly.

At last, the glow of oil lamps appeared between the trees.

Lowenfall Village.

Whole.
Calm.
No fire.
No screams.

Several houses were still tightly shut, thin smoke rising from kitchen chimneys. A dog barked lazily before falling silent again.

The atmosphere was safe.

Kiryu stopped abruptly.

“Not yet,” he muttered, scanning his surroundings.

“Confirmation,” Karma’s voice responded quickly.
“You have arrived several hours before the point of destruction.”

Kiryu clenched his fists.

“This time… I’m on time.”

A cold wind brushed against his face.

“Warning,” Karma continued, its tone sharpening.
“Detection of a large number of armed movements beyond the northern hill. Distance: two hundred meters. One unit is currently scouting.”

Kiryu immediately knelt down.

Elena, watching from behind a tree, instinctively held her breath.

In the distance, the silhouettes of two men could be faintly seen on the ridge of the hill, their bodies lowered, weapons in hand.

Bandits.

At that moment, pain struck Kiryu’s right eye.

“—gh!”

He shut his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, the world had changed.

His right eye, once green, now glowed golden-yellow.

Lines of information appeared like scars carved into the air.

Palos and Hemit.
Two names.
Two points of existence.

“You’re the first,” Kiryu whispered.

Elena tensed behind the trees.

His eyes… the color changed.

Kiryu did not raise his hand.
Did not shout.
Did not chant.

He simply looked forward—

and there it was.

FATE.

It appeared as a thick book bound in pitch-black leather, as if absorbing the surrounding light. Soft golden engravings glowed on its cover, forming ancient symbols unlike any language known in this world. Each line felt alive, slowly rotating like an orbit around an unseen center.

When the book opened, there were no ordinary pages inside—only blank sheets reflecting golden light, as if waiting not for words, but for a decision.

Around it, a transparent magic circle formed without a chant, without sound, filled with glowing runes that pulsed in rhythm with reality itself.

The book did not radiate divine majesty.
Yet its presence pressed gently upon the world—
not as a command, but as authority.

FATE did not force destiny.
It waited for someone willing to write it.

The empty pages seemed to await their author, ready to record <Rewrite>.

Kiryu’s thoughts moved quickly—cold, precise, focused.

“Palos deliberately stabs Hemit to death.”
“Palos then unknowingly stabs himself.”

The writing etched itself into FATE’s pages—not with ink, but with decision.

Finished.

Beyond the hill, Palos stopped in his tracks. His vacant gaze turned toward Hemit.

“Palos? What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” Hemit asked.

Palos remained silent.

His sword rose.

SLREEEK.

The blade plunged into Hemit’s chest with a wet sound. Hemit jerked, blood spraying into the cold air. He staggered, gripping Palos’s arm, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“Wh… why—”

His voice cut off.

Hemit’s head was severed.

His body collapsed.

Palos stood stiffly, breathing hard, his eyes empty—as if his consciousness had been pulled out of his body.

His hands trembled.

Then he stabbed himself.

Elena covered her mouth, but a scream almost escaped.

She had just witnessed something she should never have seen.

The blade pierced deep into Palos’s abdomen.
Brutal.

His body folded, then crashed heavily to the ground.

Blood flowed, merging with Hemit’s, running down the slope of the hill.

Silence reclaimed the world.

No sounds.
No screams.

Only two bodies, still warm.

FATE closed on its own.

The book vanished—as if it had never existed.

Kiryu stood without moving.
His breathing was calm.
His hands did not tremble.

Elena trembled.

And then Kiryu smiled.

He even laughed.

Elena felt a chill run down her spine.

She stared at Kiryu’s back—the young man standing upright before a village that knew nothing yet, as if he had just shifted a single small piece on a much larger board.

“…Monster,” she whispered soundlessly.

Not to the bandits.

But to the one who had just written death.

Kiryu stepped forward.

Not fast.
Not hesitant.

He advanced alone toward the bandits.

They laughed.

“Look at him,” one of them sneered, raising his sword.
“Alone? Seriously?”

They continued mocking him, laughing loudly.

“You there! Your name’s Herman, right? You’ll be dead in a few seconds.”

Herman burst out laughing, convinced the boy before him had gone mad.

“Don’t make me laugh, kid—”

DORRRR.

Herman’s head swelled instantly, like a balloon pumped too full—then exploded.

His body collapsed without even a scream.

The other bandits froze in shock.

“Damn it—who are you really?!” one shouted, pointing his sword at Kiryu.

“Me?” Kiryu replied calmly.
“I’m just a writer who happened to pass by.”

“What—?!”

Suddenly, one bandit collapsed, clutching his mouth.

From between his lips, black worms crawled out, writhing, forcing their way free until his body convulsed and went still.

“RUN—!”

Swords were raised—but not toward Kiryu.

Two bandits stabbed each other, eyes empty, hands moving without control. Steel pierced flesh again and again until both fell together.

Elena held her breath behind the trees.

Kiryu stood amid the chaos.

He was calm—no, unnaturally calm.

A faint curve appeared on his lips—not quite a smile, but something close to it.

“Warning,” Karma’s voice sounded strained.
“Consequence level increasing. Destiny anomaly—”

“SSSHHH,” Kiryu cut Karma off.

From the beginning—

that was not him.

And Elena knew, with a certainty that made her blood run cold—

the one standing there was not the innocent young man she had followed.

It was something else.

Something that seemed to enjoy the world as it collapsed.

Meanwhile, the bandits could only accept the deaths already written in the book FATE.

Elena finally stepped out from her hiding place.

Her platinum sword was drawn, its tip trembling slightly as she aimed it straight ahead.

“The Kiryu I know isn’t like this,” she said firmly.
“He was much more naive. More innocent. Different from you.”

The figure before her slowly turned.

“Let me say this once more,” Elena continued, her voice hardening.
“Who are you—and what did you do to the real Kiryu?”

The sword drew closer.

The young man smiled.

“Sweet lady,” he said lightly, almost teasing.
“Don’t be so cruel.”

Elena did not move.

“Answer my question!”

The smile widened slightly.

“In that case,” he said softly,
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Asura.”

Elena’s chest tightened.

That name—
a name that should exist only in ancient texts.

Suddenly, her arm moved on its own.

The platinum sword that had been aimed at Asura now turned—
its tip stopping right at her own throat, pressing against a vital point.

Elena’s eyes widened.

“What—?!”

“Asura,” she whispered,
“what is your true intention? And what is your relationship with Kiryu?!”

Asura did not answer immediately.

“I awakened by accident,” he said at last.
“Someone awakened me again.”

He looked at Elena with cold, golden eyes.

“And for some reason… Asuka—this child—has a very suitable vessel.”

Elena gasped.

“A vessel?”

Then suddenly, his expression changed.

Asura clutched his head.

“—gh…!”

“Nestar…” he muttered, irritation mixed with pain.
“What have you done… just when the fun was beginning.”

He laughed shortly, brokenly.

“…Very well. If that’s what you want.”

The golden gaze dimmed.

“I’ll sleep again… and return this body to the child.”

His body wavered.

In a single breath, Asura vanished.

Asuka Kiryu came back to himself—only to immediately collapse to the ground, unconscious.

Elena’s sword slipped away from her throat.

Her body could move again.

She stood trembling, staring at Asuka lying before her.

“It seems this world isn’t the only dangerous thing,” she whispered.
“Apparently… this man is as well.”

And Elena realized—

whatever had awakened inside Asuka Kiryu just now,
it had not truly left.