The prison shook.
A deep rumble echoed from beneath the stone floors as if something ancient had been disturbed. The glow from the Yuruke Gift spread—once just a mark, now pulsing like a heartbeat.
He gasped, the pain consuming him. It felt like his blood was burning. His vision blurred, sounds distorting, and memories crashing into his mind like waves.
Voices from the past.
Laughter. Screams. The taste of betrayal.
The seal wasn't holding.
Not anymore.
The cell walls cracked as invisible power radiated from him. The firefly jar shattered with a quiet pop, its tiny lights scattering like lost dreams.
And from that broken glow, the memories began—
---
Flashback:
He was five again.
Sitting at a wooden table. Smiling. A rare moment of happiness.
"Do you want to eat with us?" they'd asked.
A family dinner. The first and only.
He remembered how warm the food was. How it made his little heart flutter.
Then sleep.
Then darkness.
Then the cold stink of chains and a voice whispering in the dark:
"Monsters don't get to be children."
---
Back in the present, blood dripped from his mouth. The seal flared again, trying to crush him, trying to hold back what was already free.
The chains snapped.
His eyes flared golden—brighter, burning.
The walls collapsed.
And then... he stood.
The first time in months.
His body trembled not from weakness but from awakening.
The villain had returned.
But this time, he didn't care what they called him.
He had a promise to keep.
And a fire inside him that no curse could silnces