Veil sat amidst the wasteland.
It had been a long time since he'd seen another living soul. He needed rest — but like everything in this world, it could never last. And worse still, his peace was broken not by just anyone, but by someone he knew far too well to ever forget.
Until then, he had merely sat, motionless, watching the empty sky above the forsaken shore.
The Shifting Star had succeeded. He had not.
For the first time in ages, Veil raised his eyes — but not to kill.
Before him stood a creature that resembled a cat. It gracefully sat down and began to lick its paw.
Silence wrapped around them.
How had it survived here? That was suspicious.
Such thoughts buzzed in Veil's mind, but he wasn't in a hurry to act.
Suddenly, the cat froze. Veil tensed instinctively.
Then it slowly approached, curled up, and lay on his lap. Veil remained still, but eventually laid a careful hand on its head.
"Pleasant."
And so they sat: one purring, the other gently stroking its fur.
Veil closed his eyes and exhaled.
"Who's there?"
The motionless landscape of wind-blasted, crumbling stones came alive.
From behind a broken slab, a lithe figure slid into view.
It was a young woman — though older than Veil by several years. Her beauty was unmatched, but something about her was unsettling. She didn't seem entirely human.
Yet the most striking thing about her wasn't her grace or beauty.
It was her skin — smooth as silk, flawless, and a steel-grey color that shimmered faintly.
"Took you long enough," she smirked.
"It wasn't hard to guess… Seishan."
She smiled, revealing snow-white teeth.
"Glad you remember me. Still, you know why I'm here."
Veil sighed heavily. Of course he knew.
"Before I kill you, answer me this: do you remember those you've killed?"
She laughed.
"Heh-heh… You're far too confident, thinking you can kill me. But sure — we have time, so I'll answer. I don't remember all of them… but him? Oh yes, I remember him."
Veil closed his eyes.
"You're telling the truth. Everyone deserves a second chance. If you remember him, then I'm willing to give you one. Take back your echo — and never cross my path again.
Because his death… This wasn't the initial cause.."
"No, Veil. You don't understand. This war ends only when all its enemies are dead. And you know that."
"I do."
The cat suddenly began to claw at his forearm, but Veil didn't move.
Its claws broke skin, blood welled up. Seishan grew wary. She didn't move, but her eyes followed every twitch of his.
In truth, it wasn't hard to figure out: the cat wasn't real.
Anyone infected by the Nightmare spell knew — there were no friendly nightmare entities.
And if there were, they weren't nightmares at all. Most often, they were echoes, controlled by someone.
The cat dug its claws in deeper, trying to reach bone. Seishan tensed.
The surrounding landscape began to blur and fade.
"What you're seeing is real. It's a product of my ability. But you'll never reach the edge of this illusion."
Even though Veil had said he'd give her a second chance, it was a lie.
He had used possession the moment the cat first entered his field of vision.
The truth was — he had always intended to kill Seishan.
And this meeting was just a convenient opportunity, as if fate itself had handed it to him.
Veil knew — t was only a matter of time.
"Seishan," his voice echoed from every direction, distorted, like it came from within the very walls.
"Your first mistake… was coming here alone."
He let the words hang in the air, as if giving her a chance to grasp their meaning. Then he continued:
"Your second mistake — you underestimated me. I'm just a child, yet you never even tried to find out what my aspect is."
"And the third, the gravest of all... you killed Musashi."
He spoke not with rage, but with a cold, deliberate clarity — like someone delivering a final verdict.
Seishan could still see — but it was temporary. He had already begun dismantling her vision.
Hearing would go next. He had damaged her vestibular system.
Balance would follow.
Together, it would render her nearly helpless.
The weaknesses of my aspect are time, distance, and the willpower of the target.
If someone is stronger than me in spirit — I cannot affect them.
If weaker — I can. And the more vulnerable they are, the more damage I can do to their body.
But my range is pitiful.
To both strengthen and weaken, I must be within fifty paces.
She should already be weak enough. I can finish this.
He opened his eyes.
Veil's pupils narrowed into needle-thin slits. Seishan had changed.
She had become something else.
On four limbs, arched and swift, she charged at him — seemingly unfazed by pain or limits.
She moved with a grace that was terrifying, as though nature had sculpted a new predator.
She looked different—vaguely feline, but something in the way her spine bent, the shape of her head, her gait… it was inhuman. Alien.
This wasn't an animal. It was a nightmare's idea of one — dragged from sleep and given flesh.
Shit...
She didn't need vision to kill.
There were about twenty meters between them.
At her speed, she'd reach him in two seconds.
Veil started leaning back even before she leapt.
Claws slashed through the air, just centimeters from his face.
Her momentum carried her forward, but midair, she twisted with monstrous agility and landed on all fours.
A split second later — she staggered. Fell.
The vestibular damage worked. That bought me a second. Maybe two.
But how was she navigating?
What was she now?
I need to possess her.
It's dangerous. When I'm outside my body — I'm nearly defenseless.
The fact I can enter another mind at all is a miracle.
But now—there's no other choice.
He slipped from his body, like falling into sleep, and for a brief moment, he entered her mind.
Then recoiled immediately — too much risk.
Got it. She's using scent.
Olfaction depends on a web of delicate nerve endings — far too subtle for me to affect.
Too intricate. Too protected.
That means I'll have to fight without my aspect. Wonderful.
He returned to his body without waking.
Pushed himself to the limit, tensed every muscle.
It took no more than two seconds.
Two seconds — enough to die.
Seishan leapt again.
Time slowed.
He could feel his heart pounding, blood bursting with adrenaline, the tremor running from his neck to his legs.
Dodge. Now. Move!
Too late.
Claws tore into his chest. Flesh split under the violent strikes. Blood gushed from three deep, ragged wounds.
Seishan growled. A low, guttural sound — almost pleasure in it.
I have four options.
Cut off her nose.
Kill her.
Hide my scent.
Or — die.
In that moment, time thickened into something nearly tangible.
Blood pounded in his ears. His mind thrashed in the grip of fear and determination.
Veil couldn't hesitate — every fraction of a second was a chance that would never come again.
Gathering every last shard of courage, Veil made his choice.
He stepped forward — not just to fight, but to redefine the battle itself.
His fists clenched, every fiber of him braced.
He poured all his strength into a single movement—to strike and deflect at once.
In that crucial instant, he activated the thinnest edge of his aspect—a stealthy manipulation of scent trails, bending them just enough so she couldn't pinpoint his presence.
At the same time, he shifted his body, redirecting the momentum of her lunge.
Smoothly, almost silently, Veil slashed at her nose — a clean, precise blow aimed at shattering her sensory map.
Blood and adrenaline lit up like fire.
A sound escaped her lips—not a scream of pain, but a howl of the soul.
Stunned by the sudden shift, Seishan faltered.
In that breath of hesitation, Veil struck again — this time with full force, no restraint.
His hand, sharp as lightning, pierced her throat.
As the dust of battle settled, only one clear line remained:
a bright, almost sacred divide between light and shadow.
Veil stood bloodied, but alive.
Seishan—was nothing more than the ghost of what had, moments before, been pure power incarnate.
A war decided in a minute left behind no triumph — only the bitter weight of necessity.
Not victory.
Just a choice between destruction… and losing a piece of yourself.
From that moment, Veil knew: every choice, no matter how painful, becomes a starting point for a new life.
And even if the price is death, understanding is born — strength comes not just from victory, but from the will to accept one's fate.
"If you're ready to kill, be ready to die."