Kobe lay still for a long time on the cold, dusty floor. The fall had been so violent he felt as though his entire body had shattered at once. His leg, crushed by the impact, throbbed with a terrible, sharp pain—vivid and nearly unbearable.
His breath was short. Ragged.
His vision blurred, his eyelids grew heavy, and the darkness finally claimed him.
He lost consciousness.
Time lost all meaning in this hell. Seconds passed, perhaps. Or much longer. Kobe floated in a heavy, silent gloom—without landmarks, without a voice, without a breath.
Then, from the deepest depths of that void, something surfaced.
A voice. Weak. Distant. Almost muffled.
"Mum…" "Mummy…"
It wasn't just a memory. It was an anchor. A promise. A presence that kept him from sinking completely. The image of his mother tore through his mind with brutal force: alone in their makeshift shelter, waiting for his return with that fragile smile she kept despite everything. She was counting on him. She was waiting.
He couldn't die here.
This thought was stronger than the pain. His eyes snapped open.
He gasped violently, like a man breaking the surface after nearly drowning. His heart began to race. With a muffled grunt, he slammed his hands into the dirt and managed to push himself up—first onto his elbows, then onto one knee.
Pain instantly exploded in his broken leg.
Kobe gritted his teeth until his jaw ached.
"I have to get back alive… She's waiting for me."
At that exact moment, far above in the ruins from which he had fallen, something shifted.
Bökyakusha, pinned under the weight of the collapse, had remained motionless until now. But this burst of life, this desperate resistance, seemed to awaken something even more ancient within it. Its clawed fingers twitched. The rubble shifted. Its mutilated chest rose slowly in a horrific motion, as if the creature refused to give up. It began to crawl again, dragging what remained of its body with chilling persistence.
Then, it reached the edge of the hole. There, it stopped dead.
A strange shiver ran through its broken body. Instead of lunging in pursuit, Bökyakusha recoiled slightly, as if repelled by an invisible force. As if something in the hall below prevented it from going any further. A low growl echoed in the shadows, furious and frustrated. But the creature did not descend.
Kobe didn't know that yet.
He had already grabbed a rusted iron bar abandoned nearby, using it as a makeshift crutch. Leaning on it, he stood up as best he could, limping on his one good leg. Only then did he take the time to look around.
The hall he had fallen into was nothing like the chaotic ruins above. Here, everything seemed too precise, too constructed, too ancient to be an accident. The walls were carved with near-perfect symmetry. Massive pillars bore geometric engravings of strange finesse, as if the place had been designed with a specific intent. It looked like a chamber forgotten for centuries. Or preserved for something.
Along the walls, statues stood in silent rows, watching him. A dozen silhouettes of black stone, veined with white, frozen in rigid, solemn poses. Kobe didn't know who they represented. Guardians? Kings? Victims? Their frozen faces made the room feel even more oppressive.
Then, his gaze fell upon the center of the hall. There, atop a small, cracked marble pedestal, lay a necklace.
It was shaped like an elongated pear, carved from a dark, matte, almost organic material. Around the central form, a dozen small sculpted eyes seemed to watch him in silence. The jewel wasn't beautiful; it was disturbing. Yet, Kobe couldn't look away. Intrigued despite the pain and fear, he limped closer.
"What is this thing…?"
His hand trembled as he reached out toward the object. The moment he touched it, a low vibration rippled through the air. Not a sound. More like a resonance. As if something had just awakened. A strange warmth surged up his arm and into his chest. The necklace lifted slightly from the pedestal, then settled into his palm as if it had chosen to belong to him.
Kobe blinked, startled. Then a nervous, almost incredulous smile tugged at his lips despite the pain.
"Not exactly pretty… but this could sell for a lot on the black markets in the slums. Enough to buy food for Maman for months…"
He did not yet know the truth. This necklace wasn't merely being picked up. It was choosing its host.
Kobe closed his fingers around the jewel. At that same instant, a low rumble echoed throughout the hall. The pedestal vibrated. Then, a section of the floor slid slowly open to the side. Stairs, hidden until now within the stone, appeared in an ancient, mechanical motion, as if the place had recognized his presence.
A passage had revealed itself. A way back up.
Kobe stood still for a moment, stunned by what he had just triggered. The statues around him seemed to watch in silence, frozen in a strange state of anticipation, as if observing his every move. Above, in the dark shaft, the rattling breath of the Bökyakusha had gradually faded away.
He had to get out.
A groan escaped him as he wedged the iron bar under his arm. He leaned against the wall and limped to the other side of the room. Every movement wrenched a fresh wave of agony from him. His broken leg felt like lead. He stopped several times, struggling to breathe, scanning the walls until he finally spotted an old, rusted metal ladder, nearly hidden behind a pillar.
It was still holding. Kobe placed a hand on it. The metal was cold and rough. He gritted his teeth and began to climb.
Every rung burned like fire. His leg hung heavily with every effort, the pain radiating up into his gut. He felt as if his body would tear apart before he even reached the surface. Yet, he pushed on. His mother's face flashed repeatedly in his mind—a voice pulling him upward.
Finally, he emerged. The air of the ruins hit him instantly, dry and freezing, but he didn't even have time to catch his breath.
The Bökyakusha was there.
The moment Kobe set foot out of the hole, the mutilated creature lunged at him. Its shattered body dragged through the rubble, claws scraping against stone, its glassy eyes gleaming with a mechanical hatred. Kobe took a shaky step back and raised his iron bar to face the beast.
"I've wasted enough time with you!" he screamed, his voice cracking with rage and exhaustion. "Get lost!"
The Bökyakusha charged again. Kobe struck with everything he had. The impact vibrated violently up his arms, but the creature slipped to the side with impossible speed. Kobe winced, his breath shallow, fury bubbling at the edge of his lips.
"You're starting to annoy me!"
The Bökyakusha stopped dead. For a second, nothing moved. A tremor shook its ruined frame. Then, slowly, it recoiled. First one step. Then another. Then faster, as if it had just sensed something far more terrible than itself. Without a sound, it turned and fled through the rubble, crawling clumsily over the stones, leaving a dark trail behind it.
Kobe stood frozen, panting. Because of him, I almost lost my leg... If only I had been stronger...
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the necklace, deep in his pocket, began to vibrate. Kobe flinched. A brutal heat surged up his chest like a living burn. Then came the images. Flashes. Foreign fragments infiltrated his mind: crushing strength, lightning-fast movements, a pure, cold hunting instinct.
The necklace was absorbing something. It was tearing away the very essence of the Bökyakusha's power and pouring it into him. Kobe didn't understand; he thought the fatigue was playing tricks on his mind.
In the distance, the Bökyakusha let out one last strangled rattle. Then, it collapsed. Its body convulsed one final time before going completely still. No more threat. No more movement.
Kobe didn't even notice. He retrieved his iron bar, slid the necklace deeper into his pocket, and set off, limping through the ruins. He felt strange. Heavier. Slower, perhaps. The pain in his leg remained sharp, but he told himself it was normal. He didn't notice that his body had already begun to change, absorbing the strength stolen from the monster.
The ruins still stretched for several kilometers. The path was desolate, covered in collapsed buildings and dead grey plants. Only the wind passed through the concrete carcasses like an empty breath.
Kobe moved slowly. Every step cost him a monstrous effort. His mother was waiting for him. He could already imagine her at the door, arms crossed: "I told you not to go alone!"
He almost hung his head. Maman… you were probably right. Then he thought of Luna and Yan. Had they made it out? Were they still alive? Or was he the only one returning?
The thought tightened around his throat. I should have listened to you, Maman…
Yet, he continued to advance. His shoulders were heavy. His breath, short. But the necklace in his pocket vibrated very faintly at times, like a foreign heart beating against his own. He had no idea that he had just laid hands on something far more dangerous than a mere object to be sold.
And he had no idea that what had just happened was only the beginning.