The atmosphere in the abandoned Eastern District was heavy and stifling. The darkness was thick, and the cold wind carried the scent of dampness and decay. Kaito and Emma walked side by side through a narrow street filled with rusted cars and partially demolished buildings. The only light came from broken streetlamps flickering intermittently.
"This neighborhood has become a nightmare lately," Emma said in a low voice, drawing closer to Kaito. "Lilith asked you to train the three new trainees. They are here today… they will be with us on this mission."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Now? In their first night mission?"
Before Emma could respond, three figures emerged from a side alley.
" Yuki "A spirited seventeen-year-old girl, her short brown hair disheveled, her lively brown eyes full of energy as she tried to muster courage despite her visible trembling hands.
"Rin" A quiet eighteen-year-old boy, his long black hair partially covering his eyes. He seemed introverted, staring at the ground without lifting his head.
" Haru "A shy seventeen-year-old girl, her long black hair covering the side of her face. she stared at the ground with obvious tension, cowering behind the other two.
"These are the three," Emma said. "Yuki, Rin, and Haru."
Kaito looked at them with interest. "So you are the three disciples. I am Kaito Soren. I will be responsible for your training… whether you like it or not."
Yuki smiled with slight excitement. "I heard you're very strong… I hope you teach us how to be like you."
Rin nodded silently, while Haru whispered shyly, "…I hope I won't be a burden."
Kaito gave a mocking smile. "Don't worry. I'll make you hate me in the first few weeks… then maybe you'll respect me after that, who knows."
Suddenly, Kaito stopped smiling. "Something's there… I feel it."
Everyone heard strange voices of people behind them. The trainees and even Emma began to look back, but there was nothing but darkness. Emma heard a voice calling her—or rather, her mother's voice calling from afar. She tried to move toward the sound, but Kaito grabbed her hand. "It's not her, Emma. It's not her."
From the depths of the darkness, **The Whisperer** emerged. It materialized as an unnaturally tall, skeletal being with mismatched limbs and a tilted head. The true horror wasn't its height, but its face, which possessed dozens of small slits across its visage and neck, opening and closing slowly, emitting faint whispers that vibrated inside their heads.
"You're always hungry… you'll never be satisfied… you'll starve to death just like your mother… you are the reason…" it whispered in Yuki's voice.
Yuki trembled violently, her face turning pale. Kaito dashed forward to strike, but the monster grabbed Yuki, using her as a shield. Kaito halted his attack, and in that split second, the monster threw her at him. He caught her, but the Whisperer landed a direct blow to his face, sending him crashing through buildings from the force of the impact.
"Yuki, are you okay?" Emma cried out.
"Yes, I'm fine… the Master protected me from the strike," Yuki replied.
The Whisperer vanished, reappearing behind Rin. Another slit whispered in Rin's own voice: "You are a nobody… a void that no one sees. The darkness will swallow you… you will stay alone forever."
Rin fell to his knees, broken. "Hands of Darkness!" he screamed. Four shadow hands erupted from behind him, but before he could strike, he was slammed to the ground, unconscious.
Emma tried to protect him, but her prisons were no match for the monster's whispers and heavy strikes. Yuki formed jaws using her ability (**Teeth of Hunger**), managing to wound a part of the monster's physical form, but it ignored her, focusing instead on Haru, who was hiding behind a car.
It whispered to her: "The fire will burn everything… it will burn your family… it will burn you… you cannot escape…"
Haru began to cry, covering her ears. She lost control of her power, forming a circle of flames that burned everything within it—even herself. Emma rushed to calm her, ignoring the monster's presence.
The monster approached Kaito, who was still under the rubble, questioning himself: *"Something is wrong. I feel weaker than I was. I'm certain I adapted to this world. I haven't used the Void yet, but I feel drained. Is it this monster's ability? No, its power is about hallucinations. Then whose power is it?!"*
The monster's smoky body tilted toward Kaito's ear, whispering in dozens of voices: "You are not from here… the world rejects you… you are a glitch in the fabric… you will stay alone because you belong nowhere."
Kaito felt the dizziness return intensely. The monster released a stronger wave, causing Emma to fall to her knees. It stood directly behind Kaito, its dozens of mouths smiling mockingly. Kaito realized that expanding the Void randomly would waste his energy. He closed his eyes completely.
"If you rely on my fears to feed," Kaito said with terrifying calm, "then you're looking for something that doesn't exist. I don't fear being alone… I am the Void that swallows loneliness."
Instead of expanding the Void outward, Kaito concentrated it inside his mind and ears, creating an "absolute insulator" that made the whispers vanish. The monster became distracted as its food source—fear—was cut off. In that moment of confusion, Kaito snapped his eyes open. He didn't attack the monster's body; instead, he struck the ground beneath it using "Distance Transcendence," creating a concentrated gravitational void.
The monster's form began to disintegrate. "Emma! The prison now! Focus on containing the sound!"
Emma mustered her will, creating a cage of compressed light bars. Kaito leaped into the air, his right hand turning into pure darkness, like a black hole.
"First lesson, you freak… silence is louder than words."
With a precise strike to the "main slit" on the monster's forehead, it exploded into thousands of black shards that Kaito absorbed instantly. Silence returned to the district.
Kaito staggered, blood trickling from his nose, but he remained standing. He looked at the three trembling trainees:
"Monsters don't just kill you with their teeth, but with what you hide in your hearts. If you don't learn how to close your minds to the voices of the past… the next mission will be your funeral."
Readers' Engagement😎:
1) We saw glimpses of Yuki, Rin, and Haru's powers. Which ability do you think is the most terrifying if developed under Kaito's supervision?😤
2) The monster revealed the secrets of Yuki, Rin, and Haru. Will this lead to the team bonding, or will they start fearing each other now that their deepest fears are known?😖
3) Kaito's nosebleed is recurring. Is it because of the "Whisperer's" power, or is Kaito's human body no longer able to handle the amount of "Void" he is absorbing?🤕
😘"Your support truly fuels my creativity! If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider adding the story to your Collection and dropping some Power Stones. Every single stone helps the novel grow and keeps the daily updates coming. Thank you for being part of this journey!"