His curse stretched beyond even what the legends said.

Even before he was born, still in the womb, his mother killed his father.

Even after he was born, his mother was immediately exiled.

She left without him.

As far as he could remember, he was taught to never show his true face to anyone, to never reveal his own nature to a soul.

His grandfather found ways to mask the birthmark visible over his right eyebrow. Those who did glimpse or suspected something were never seen again, believed to have been unjustly taken by the Shadow Valley.

And so, his nightmare-filled miserable life began.

At home, his family trapped him in the basement and taught him a lesson whenever he misbehaved, or basically did anything that they didn’t agree with.

Whatever frustration they still had pent up because of Sasaki Kage, was taken out on her son.

Occasionally, he would also hear them and other villagers calling him names for simply being half vampire.

In the beginning he would voice his thoughts to them.

“The clan had many races in the past, we all have some ancestral mixup in our bodies!”

But they either laughed or simply kept pointing out his creepy blackened red eyes.

So, he simply hid them too, wearing his bangs in front of his eyes. It made people feel bad for pointing out something a kid felt insecure about, and so they quickly stopped. They even made sure to avoid looking at his face directly.

That put a smile on his face. He realized small actions could result in getting him what he wanted.

And so, he began to eat less, lower his thin shoulders around people, acting weak and meek.

The only person who knew his true nature was his grandfather, the one who assumed he could use the boy for his own political gain, to force him to do his bidding.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Eventually, the boy joined the Shadow Sword Style Dojo after many recommended it to boost his confidence.

And there, he met her.

Jun Kage, her genuine smile made his heart beat faster.

She didn’t have an agenda, didn’t care what he looked like. She simply smiled and tried to help him adapt to the school.

While he could sense the anxiety in the other kids’ blood, she treated him like she would any normal person.

And so, Kojiro Kage turned a new leaf.

If it meant he can be around her, he was fine with letting go of all his grief, his resentment.

But would his curse really let that happen?

He couldn’t leave it to chance, so he took up training in secret.

Even at ages of eight and nine, he would sneak alone into the Shadow Valley to kill monsters.

The first time had been close, the second less so, and it only got easier after that.

He avoided the Umbra Wolves and focused on the Umbra Bats.

Using them as target practice for his two Signs, he quickly gained a good understanding of what he was able to do with them.

It wasn’t even long before he mastered most of the Shadow Sword Style Stances on his own.

If someone could see his progress, they would’ve definitely called him a genius.

Or was this just the normal growth of a Hyking?

He ignored that and kept improving his skills, so that one day, when his curse came for his peace, he would protect her.

But he couldn’t account for what showed up in the end.

His curse manifested as a snarky and annoying brat, believed to be a Hyking like him.

The snarky brat invaded his peace suddenly, bringing chaos and misery with him.

First, he put her into danger by leading Kerberos into the clan.

When she was about to get bitten, Kojiro almost left his hiding spot to save her, even if it meant he would be persecuted and exiled.

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But that chance was stolen from him too, along with her heart.

That became apparent as he saw the two together during the practice sessions and the group’s trip across the village.

The nuisance was apparently even an adopted son of some sort of his mother. The woman who abandoned her own son to play house with the one who would eventually steal everything from him.

This was his curse at play again, he knew it.

There was only one way to restore his peace, and he went for it.

His grandfather had already been planning his revolution, Kojiro only needed to nudge him in the direction he wanted.

He even left the clan in search of the ones who worked with his father in the past.

Thankfully, his grandfather had gathered enough rumors and intel to help him make quick contact.

Those same royals who invaded the clan long ago were now exiles in Tartarus too, they had even formed a guild made up of banished royals like them.

Meeting the leaders of that guild, he promised them the Kage Clan, their revenge, if they would help him.

They could only spare a few men for the job, but Kojiro didn’t need many for his plans.

And so, he constructed a series of events and incidents across multiple months, all leading to the entrapment of his sworn enemy.

So, why?

“Why are you still getting up to stand in my way?!”

He shouted at the rising spiral of shadows destroying everything around them from vegetation to luminescent rocky cliff sides.

The glowing purple emblem with a hint of an emerald hue was the only thing standing out among the flowing darkness.

“Get up. If I want to get stronger, I have to beat you at your best.”

Hearing that, Kojiro gritted his teeth enough to draw blood.

I’m not letting it end here! If I don’t win here…

I might lose her forever!

Suddenly, his vision turned red.

He felt his body heat rise, the sweat on his skin quickly evaporating.

“Hey, what’s going on with you?!”

The werebear asked, trying to hold on from the strong winds pushing him and the other adventurers back.

“This… this is…” Kojiro muttered as he looked down at his hands.

The world he was seeing was something completely new to him.

“So this is it… The power you reached…”

“?!”

All the spilled blood in the surroundings began to hover over the ground.

Kojiro took a step forward, shadows and blood gathering and rising all around him.

“Wait… it can’t be…?!”

The adventurers were stunned to see the emblem forming on Kojiro’s forehead out of the shadows and blood gathering around him. It glowed with a mixture of purple and red.

“You reached Pathbreak too?!” The werebear shouted, his eyes wide, “Even we can’t do that… “

“That’s a Hyking for you… They’re a complete cheat, alright!”

“So, that’s what it's called, huh?” Kojiro smiled, reaching just in front of the growing spiral of shadows, “I like it…”

The rising powers around him helped him stand in place as he took a fighting stance with his Odachi.

“This path, this curse… I’ll break it myself!”

“...” Lawkey tightened his grip on his sword, “So, you’re finally ready? Let’s do this!”

Then in a split second, a clash ensued that threatened to collapse the cliffs of the shadow valley.

The adventurers and monsters were nowhere to be seen anymore, carried away by the shockwaves.

Shadows clashed together.

Blood clashed against the rising wind current.

Swords clashed against each other.

And wills clashed as the two kept rushing at each other, their fight leading them all throughout the long Shadow Valley and back.

They ignored their injuries, the wounds gushing out blood everywhere.

Their arms and feet screamed in agony, but they weren’t listening.

CLASH! THUD! WHOOSH!

The very structure of the valley was being threatened by two twelve year old boys having a duel of legends.

But their bodies were on the verge of collapsing.

Their powers were being exhausted faster than they ever had.

And then, they finally found themselves back where they started, reuniting with the adventurers and monsters they had forced out of their way.

They both realized they had to put everything into one last swing.

The two dug their feet in the ground and swung their engulfed blades at each other at a speed no one else could follow.

One Shadow Sword Style - First Stance!

Endless Night!

As their swords clashed one last time, the sides of the rocky ravine were forcibly gouged in deep and long cuts from the sheer recoil.

The powers and shockwaves widened the very space within the ravine around them.

And then… Everything disappeared.

“Hah… Hah…”

“Ha… Hahaha!”

While one panted heavily as he stood leaning on his sword, the other laughed maniacally.

“Look at you! Bloodied and exhausted, you can’t even use your Sign anymore!”

“Heh… speak for yourself…”

“You think I’m done? Sure, I’ll admit you pushed me beyond my limits, but unlike you…”

Kojiro made some of the blood around him hover close to his mouth, and then he swallowed it.

Lawkey’s eyes went wide as he saw the wounds on his opponent begin to heal.

“I have a regenerative body! Hahaha! I might not be able to use my Signs as much anymore, but at least I can still kill you with them!”

To make matters worse, the adventurers took up arms again, followed by the surviving monsters.

“Please… stop this… I can’t feel my body…”

“My arm… my arm is gone…”

The state they were in, however, was far from how they started. But…

“Shut up!” Kojiro continued to use his power to force them to move, “We’re ending this here!”

“...”

“And then I can finally have her back, along with this entire worthless clan!”

“I… won’t let you…”

“What are you going to do, huh?”

“Even if it kills me… I won’t…”

Lawkey clenched his teeth and pushed his body beyond its limits again, just to simply avoid falling.

He slowly moved his sword forward, pointing it at his opponent.

His eyes glowed with determination.

“If you won’t consider stopping, I have no choice. I won’t let you harm them!”

“Tsk, I’ve had enough of you. Die already!”

Kojiro waved his hand forward, commanding his followers to rush at the boy.

Lawkey braced himself for one last stand.

I guess I’m going back on my promise…

Sorry old man… Jun…

Sorry nameless butterfly…

Sorry Sasaki… Jay…

Sorry… Sh-

“RRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!”

An ear-shattering roar invaded everyone’s hearing, stopping them into place.

Orthrus’ roar, nay, Kerberos’ roar was nothing but a small shreek in comparison to this.

It continued, traveling across the entire ravine, making the present monsters, and the ones hiding at the end of the valley itself, shake and tremble in fear.

“?!”

The adventurers, along with the two boys, quickly turned to face the direction it was coming from as they covered their ears.

As the roar subsided, their eyes went wide.

“Lawww!! We’re here in time, I’m so glad!”

Jun called out to him, ignoring Kojiro altogether.

The most unusual thing wasn’t Jun, but what she was riding on.

A giant shadowy tiger that put Kerberos to shame.

And just in front of it…

“To think there was a Hyking in my clan all this time… I was really fooled.” The woman walked forward, every step she took made the spectators skip a beat, “I know I said I wanted to meet one… but you…”

She paused as the shadows gathered above her head to form a glowing purple and black crown.

The two boys immediately realized it as the simple pressure she exuded made the shadows tremble under them.

What they had achieved during this duel was but simply one of the early stages of Sign powers.

For she stood far above them.

That was Ascension, the second Sign Stage.

“You disgust me. I feel sorry for your parents.” She continued with a frown.

Kojiro clenched his fists, this was not part of his plans.

“What are you doing here… Shadow Queen?!!”

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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]