Chapter 6:
Arriving at Slyva apartment Ren felt warmth before he felt pain. For a brief moment, Then the pain returned all at once it was Heavy and everywhere.
"—Ghh…!"
His eyes snapped open slightly before squeezing shut again as dizziness hit him. His fingers twitched weakly against the surface beneath him.
"Don't move."
The voice was calm and close. Ren forced his eyes open again, slower this time. The ceiling above him came into view plain and unfamiliar. The air smelled clean. "…Where… am I…?" his voice came out rough.
"You're safe."
Ren turned his head slightly and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through his neck and ribs. "—Ah…!"
" I told you not to move."
His vision adjusted, and he saw her sitting nearby. Sylva. She looked completely relaxed, casually peeling an orange like nothing had happened.
"…You…" Ren muttered weakly, his gaze narrowing. "…you're that…"
She popped a slice into her mouth. "Mhm."
"…That psycho…"
She paused mid-chew, then slowly turned to him. "…Excuse me?"
"You killed him," Ren said, swallowing. "You didn't even hesitate I saw it "
Sylva stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "…That's what you're going with really?"
Ren frowned slightly. "…What do you mean?"
"I just saved your life," she said, pointing at him with the orange slice. "At least say thank you before calling me names."
Ren opened his mouth to respond but stopped. His hands clenched slightly. "…You knew my uncle."
Sylva's expression shifted just a little. "…Yeah."
Ren's chest tightened. "…I see he's dead.."
"…Yeah I know"
Silence settled between them. Ren looked away, staring at the ceiling again. His thoughts felt heavier now. Slower. "You were with him… that night…"
Sylva rubbed the back of her neck. "…You're really stuck on that, huh?"
"What was that you did earlier?" Ren snapped weakly. "Because last I checked, normal people don't..."
"You think your life has anything 'normal' left in it?" she cut in.
Ren looked back at her, studying her properly this time. She didn't look dangerous he thought, looking at her just sitting there but his body remembered. The pressure. The way everything froze when she moved. "…Who are you?" he asked quietly.
Sylva leaned back slightly. "…I told you already."
"No," Ren said. "You gave me a name."
A pause. "…That's not the same thing."
Sylva watched him, then sighed. "…You're smarter than you look."
"Answer the question."
"…No."
Ren blinked. "…No?"
"No," she repeated calmly. "Not yet."
Ren exhaled in frustration. "…Then at least start with something."
Sylva tilted her head. "…Like what?"
Ren hesitated. Too many questions crowded his mind, but one stood out. "That guy… he called me something."
Sylva didn't respond.
"He said… Kuroōkami."
Silence.
This time, she didn't brush it off immediately. "…Did he?" she said quietly and Ren noticed. "You're not denying it."
" well I'm not confirming it either."
"…So it means something."
Sylva leaned forward slightly. "…It means trouble."
"That's not an answer."
" true but it's the only one you're getting right now."
Ren clenched his jaw. "… Do you answer every question in riddles that's right he also said something else."
Sylva's gaze lifted slightly.
"…Omega."
A subtle shift. Small, but real. Ren caught it.
"…Yeah," he said. "That got your attention."
Sylva exhaled slowly. "…You really don't know anything, do you…"
"i'm really lost here I was attacked by a vampire dude so can you please explain."
She looked at him for a long moment, then shook her head. "…No."
Ren almost laughed despite the pain. "…You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not because the moment I explain it…" She stood up. "…your life gets worse."
Ren stared at her. "…It already is."
Sylva looked back at him, her expression briefly more serious than before. "…You have no idea."
Silence filled the room again.
"…Then why save me?" Ren asked quietly.
Sylva didn't answer immediately. She walked toward the window and pulled the curtain slightly aside, letting in a glimpse of the night outside "Because I was told to," she said.
"By who?"
She glanced back at him with a faint smile. "…That's question number three."
Ren clicked his tongue. "…So you do have a limit."
"Two questions," she corrected.
"…You're annoying."
"yeah i've been told."
A brief pause passed. Then Sylva pulled the curtain back into place. "…Rest. Your body's still catching up."
Ren exhaled slowly. His eyes felt heavy again. "…This isn't over…"
"I know."
His breathing slowed as exhaustion took over.
Sylva watched him for a moment. "…Sleep, Ren-sama," she said quietly. After a short pause, her voice softened slightly. "…Things are about to get complicated."
Ren drifted in and out of sleep. Not peaceful sleep, but broken fragments of awareness, pain, and fading echoes of what had happened. Every time he tried to settle, something dragged him back it was either the memories of impact, the pressure or that overwhelming presence.
Eventually, his eyes opened again. The room was darker now, and night had fully settled outside the window. He didn't move at first, just stared at the ceiling, confirming he was still alive.
He slowly lifted a hand. It trembled slightly, but it still moved.
"…Still here…" he muttered.
A chair creaked nearby.
"You're finally awake."
Ren turned his head carefully. Sylva was still there, sitting in the same room, but no longer relaxed. Her posture was more alert now, like she hadn't fully rested at all.
"How long was I out?" Ren asked.
"A few hours," she replied. "Not long."
Ren tried to sit up. Pain immediately shot through his ribs and shoulder.
"—Tch…"
"Don't force it," Sylva said sharply. "Your body isn't normal, but it's not invincible either it'll take a while before you can start healing on your own "
Ren paused. "…Not normal?"
Sylva didn't answer immediately. She stood and walked closer, placing a glass of water beside the bed.
"You survived multiple direct strikes from a high-output Omega," she said. "Most humans wouldn't even leave a body behind."
Ren stared at her. "…I almost died."
"Yes."
"…But I didn't."
Sylva studied him for a moment. "No. You didn't."
Silence settled again.
Ren took the water carefully, drinking slowly..
"…That guy," he said quietly. "He called me Kuroōkami."
Sylva's eyes narrowed slightly, just briefly, then relaxed.
"You heard correctly."
Ren lowered the glass. "…So it's real what is it?"
Sylva turned away slightly. "Not something you can understand right now."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one that keeps you alive."
Ren stared at her back. " why do you keep saying that ."
"Because it's true," she replied.
"…You knew my uncle because of this," Ren said.
Silence followed. Sylva didn't answer immediately.
"…He chose his path," she said finally.
"That's still not an answer."
Sylva turned back to him. "Do you want the truth, or something that makes you feel better?"
Ren didn't respond.
Sylva exhaled as she stepped closer.
" The kuroōkami isn't a title given to people," she said. "It appears when the balance between worlds starts to fracture."
Ren frowned slightly. "…Balance between worlds?"
She nodded.
"And Omega?"
" Think of it like a lesser weapon classification," she said. "Not a person anymore."
That made Ren pause.
"…That explains why he wasn't human?"
"He was once."
Ren leaned back slightly, processing slowly. Too many gaps existed in what she was saying.
"…And me?" he asked. "…What am I?"
Sylva didn't answer immediately. That silence was heavier than the others.
Then she said it.
"…You're something that shouldn't exist."
Ren stared at her.
"…That's not comforting."
"It's not meant to be."
A faint wind moved outside the window.
Sylva's gaze shifted toward it briefly, like she felt something beyond the room.
"…They'll notice what happened," she said quietly.
Ren frowned. "Who?"
She looked back at him.
"…The ones above Omegas and they don't make mistakes when they come for something," she added.
Ren slowly clenched his fist despite the pain.
"…Then they'll just have to deal with me."
Sylva looked at him for a long moment.
Then she smiled faintly.
" funny that's was what your uncle said too."
Ren froze slightly.
"…He did?"
She nodded.
"And it's exactly why he's dead."
Ren stayed silent for a moment. The words didn't immediately settle in his mind. They just echoed.
That's what your uncle said too and it's exactly why he's dead.
His fingers tightened slightly against the bedsheet. His breathing slowed, but not in relief in control. Like he was forcing himself not to react too quickly.
"…Say that again," Ren said quietly.
Sylva didn't move. "You heard me."
"No," Ren replied. "About my uncle, what exactly did he say?"
Sylva hesitated, just for a second then she exhaled.
"…The last time we saw each other was the very first time I saw you ," she said, "he already knew he wasn't going to survive much longer."
I don't think you understand the ultimate sacrifice he made for you
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly.
"He said he had been watched. Not once. Multiple times. By the higher hierarchies."
Silence.
Ren's expression changed faintly. "…Hierarchies?"
Sylva nodded once. "He didn't explain everything. He couldn't. But he said it was only a matter of time before they made a move."
Ren looked down at his hand.
"…So he knew."
Sylva's voice softened slightly. "He always knew."
Ren's jaw tightened. "…And he still stayed."
"He had no choice," she replied. "Or maybe he did, and just chose you anyway."
That landed differently, ren didn't respond immediately " Me?
Sylva looked at him directly. "Yes."
Ren stood still as the words sank in, confusion flickering across his face.
"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.
Slyva let out a slow, tired sigh before speaking.
Your uncle had been a man unlike any other. He possessed a rare ability one that allowed him to see two days into the future. With that power, he was always a step ahead of the Hierarchies, never caught off guard, always moving with certainty through events others couldn't even anticipate.
"He was the greatest person one could ask for," Slyva said softly. "That ability is how he survived for so long… and how he kept so many people alive."
Then her expression darkened.
"But on your seventeenth birthday, he saw something he couldn't change."
Ren's breath hitched slightly.
"He saw your death," she continued. "Not as a possibility. As something that was always inevitable."
Silence pressed heavily between them.
"And your uncle…" Slyva paused. "He refused to accept it. So he searched for a loophole any way to defy what he saw."
Ren's eyes widened, tension tightening in his chest.
"In the end, he found only one," she said quietly. "He extended your life by a year."
Her voice dropped even lower.
But it came at the cost of his own life his final words to me was to protect you at all cost.
Ren's eyes lifted slightly, but sylva's expression didn't change, but her voice carried pain
"He said if anything ever happened to him, you would be the only thing left that still mattered."
Ren's grip on the sheet loosened slightly.
"…Why ," he said. "I didn't even know any of this existed. I didn't know any of this "
Sylva stepped closer to the bed That was exactly his point."
Ren frowned. "…What?"
"You were never supposed to know," she said. "Not yet anyway he wanted you to live a normal life ."
A pause.
Then she added more firmly All of this… isn't your fault."
Ren stared at her.
"…Don't say that like it fixes anything."
"It doesn't," Sylva replied. "It just states the truth."
Ren let out a slow breath.
"…My family," he muttered. "What else don't I know?"
Sylva didn't respond right away.
That silence again hit differently this time..
Ren looked back at her. "…Don't dodge it."
Sylva clicked her tongue lightly, like she was deciding something she didn't want to say yet
"…There's a lot about your family you don't understand," she said finally. "And most of it was buried for a reason."
Ren's eyes narrowed. "Because it's dangerous."
"Yes."
Another pause.
Then Ren spoke again, quieter now.
"…Then tell me what Kuroōkami is please don't answer with riddles
Sylva looked at him this time, she didn't answer immediately.
Even for her, the hesitation was visible.
"…Fine," she said at last.
She exhaled slowly.
"Remember what I told you earlier, ren didn't speak.
Sylva continued it appears when the balance of the world begins to fracture."
Then she added, more grounded this time.
"You need to understand something first, Ren."
She stepped slightly closer.
"This world isn't all peace and order like you think."
Ren stayed quiet, listening.
Sylva's expression hardened slightly.
"There are layers to it. Things that exist above what normal people call reality. And when those layers start breaking…" she paused briefly, "something like Kuroōkami appears to correct it."
She shook her head slightly but it's not a blessing."
Her voice lowered.
"It's a consequence."
Silence filled the room again as ren stared at her for a long moment.
"…A consequence of what?" he asked.
Sylva didn't answer that part.
Instead, she looked away slightly "that's enough for now the rest comes later."
Ren frowned slightly so you're still hiding things.
Sylva glanced back at him.
"I'm not hiding it from you , you're not just ready for everything your family is tied to yet."
Ren didn't respond immediately but his expression changed.
"…Then I'll get ready," he said.
Sylva studied him for a moment.
Then, faintly yeah she said. "That's what he said too."