Shinju's fingertips trembled.
Not from fear…but from the clash of two worlds inside him, unable to decide what he should become.
"So…" he murmured."To gain Yang energy… I have to think about creating, not destroying."
Hearing his own voice, he stared into the void for a moment.For years, the only things he had heard in that emptiness were rage, curses, and silence.
Aurelia lifted her head and fixed her eyes on him.
"Exactly. And remember… the Yang inside you is far stronger than your Yin.But you suppress it.Because you still believe the darkness defines you."
Her words pierced his mind like an arrow.
Does the darkness define me?What am I, really?
His gaze dropped to the ground.He looked at the thin cracks between the broken stones.
They looked like the cracks inside his own soul.
Aurelia asked:
"Shinju… how did you use Yin for the first time?"
Shinju took a deep breath.
"When Yin first took over me…" he said, his voice lowering."I wanted to destroy my uncle."
His chest tightened.
"I wanted to tear him apart… to erase him completely."
His voice softened.
"I wanted to kill him because… everyone was dead."
No one interrupted.
"My mother… my father… my friends…They were all there… lifeless."
He clenched his fingers.His nails dug into his palm, but he didn't even notice.
"After what my uncle did…I didn't think. I didn't hesitate. I didn't question."
His breathing grew harsher.
"I just felt it—no, I knew it.He had to die.Clear. Absolute. Undeniable."
Aurelia's expression hardened.
Koharu's breath caught.She instinctively took a step back… then stopped.Her eyes locked onto Shinju's face—not fear… but pain.
Swen looked away.For the first time, she said nothing.
Shinju's voice dropped to a whisper.
"That was when the void first seeped into my mind.Because I truly wanted to destroy him."
There was no decoration in those words.No heroism.
Only truth.
"I killed him," he said."And the moment I did… I realized I had become just like him."
He closed his eyes.
On the outside, he looked calm.
But inside…a small, helpless child was speaking.
"They were gone.Everyone who tied me to this world… was gone."
His breath trembled.
"Who was I supposed to be?What was I supposed to hold on to?"
Silence fell.
Then he continued:
"When I killed him… something else was born inside me.An emptiness.A void.A silence."
He lowered his head slightly.
"And when that thing came to consume me—"
He paused.
"I thought…"
His gaze drifted into nothingness.
"If I'm going to become like him…it's better if I don't exist at all."
The air grew heavy.
This wasn't just a thought anymore.
It was the edge of a decision.
"Deep down… I wanted to disappear," he said."Completely… to vanish.To erase my own existence."
He took a deep breath.
"And that desire… reversed the flow of the void.Instead of consuming me… it stopped."
A brief silence.
"…it bowed to me."
He closed his eyes.
"It felt like I had become a part of the void itself…"
Slowly, he closed his right eye.
"I thought I had controlled it with some technique.But no… I was lying to myself."
"It wasn't a technique.It was my thoughts."
"The void didn't submit because I was strong.It submitted because I chose to disappear."
"I didn't become the master of the void.The void… surrendered to my desire not to exist."
His shoulders trembled slightly.
But this wasn't fear.
It was a strange… quiet relief.
"That's why I can solidify Yin.That's why my right eye is like this.That's why the darkness never fully consumed me."
Silence settled around them.
Koharu lowered her head.A single tear fell—but she didn't wipe it away.She just kept listening.
Swen pressed her lips together.She looked like she was about to say something… then stopped.For once, she didn't joke.
Aurelia gently placed her hand on Shinju's shoulder.
"Now I understand," she said softly."You're not something born of darkness."
A brief pause.
"You're the one who tamed it."
Shinju closed his eyes.
For the first time, there was something beside guilt on his face:
acceptance.
Aurelia continued:
"Now… reverse Yin's intention.Stop destroying… and start creating."
"It doesn't have to be something big.Just something small.Something born from your own will."
Shinju took a deep breath.
I still want to be human…
But he didn't say it out loud.
In a voice close to a whisper, he said:
"Alright… I'll try."
He closed his eyes.
Opened his palm.
Focused everything he had on a single point.
Something small…A spark…
In his mind, a tiny candle flame formed at the center of his palm.
Red… warm… alive…
"It's working…" he thought."I can feel it…"
He opened his eyes.
There was light in his palm.
But—
it wasn't red.
It wasn't warm.
Black.
A dim flame made of Yin.
Shinju's gaze froze.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then—
"Tch…"
He closed his hand.
The light vanished.
And on his face, there was only one expression:
disappointment.