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{3rd Pov}
Death, the ultimate end of all living things, was something Akari had already come to terms with.
But now he realized something else.
There was something even worse than death.
The annihilation of something that was already beyond life.
The complete destruction of the non-living, leaving nothing behind.
Akari had only barely survived that experience. The memory of it was still fresh in his mind, even as he lay there recovering. His soul had come dangerously close to being erased entirely, not just damaged or weakened, but completely wiped out from existence.
That was what had happened when Kaya no, when that Specter struck him.
At that moment, she had not just attacked his body. She had directly affected his soul, tearing into it in a way he had never experienced before. Even now, just recalling it made him uneasy.
And the most terrifying part was this.
Kaya was still just a child.
She had not even reached her full potential yet.
And still, a single attack from her had nearly destroyed him completely.
That alone made it clear how dangerous she truly was.
The only reason he had survived at all was because of what happened afterward. When he was being rushed through the hospital, he had instinctively consumed the soul of another dying patient as they passed by.
That act had stabilized him just enough to prevent his complete annihilation.
Without that, he would have been gone.
Moreover, it would have taken him far longer to recover if not for one important factor. He had been brought back to the same hospital, and more specifically, placed on the same bed that he had previously turned into a cursed tool. That bed was still functioning in the same way as before, continuously drawing in spiritual energy from the surroundings and feeding it back into him, which significantly accelerated his recovery.
At first, after regaining partial consciousness, he felt extremely weak. His body was sluggish, his movements were limited, and even focusing for too long drained him. It was clear that the damage he had taken was not something that could be ignored easily.
However, over the course of a few days, his condition steadily improved.
Within that short time frame, he managed to regain all of his strength.
That was one of the advantages of being a powerful ghost. As long as he had access to a sufficient amount of spiritual energy, especially in places that naturally gathered it, his recovery speed was far beyond normal.
For weaker ghosts, things were very different.
Their only reliable method of recovery was to consume other souls. Without doing that, even if they stayed in a location rich with spiritual energy, they would still gradually fade away and eventually disappear within forty-nine days.
That was simply how the system worked for them.
Akari had come to understand something important through all of this.
This world did not just consist of Dark Gathering alone.
There were clear signs that elements from other similar settings might also exist here, as long as they fit within the same overall structure of spirits, energy, and supernatural phenomena.
Kaya was one such sign from the story 'Kaya-chan isn't scary'.
‘What a fucking mess… what else is even in this world? Ito Junji type horrors? Elder Gods?’ he thought, his mind running through increasingly worse possibilities the more he tried to think things through logically.
The more he analyzed the situation, the clearer it became to him just how weak he actually was right now.
If he could nearly die from a single attack by a child psychic, even if she was clearly abnormal, then that already said enough about the gap in power. And if this world truly included psychics like the ones from Dark Gathering, then the situation was even worse than he initially assumed.
Those people were on a completely different level.
As someone who had possessed a human body, he knew he would automatically become a target for them. From what he understood, the best they tolerated were ghosts that stayed quiet and did not interfere with humans too much. Even that tolerance only existed because they lacked the resources or time to deal with every single spirit, especially in less populated or rural areas.
He did not fall into that safe category anymore.
Akari clenched his fists tightly, the tension visible even in his weakened state.
Logically, he had already died once.
So dying a second time should not feel that different.
But reality did not work like that.
The pain he had experienced when his soul was nearly destroyed was far beyond anything physical. It was not just pain, it was something deeper and far more terrifying. The feeling of his existence itself being torn apart was something he could not ignore or dismiss.
And then there was the most important question.
What if the next time was final?
What if there was no coming back from it?
No reincarnation after this?
No second chance, no reset, no continuation in any form.
Akari could accept dying once, at least in theory. Back then, the idea of death had always been tied to the possibility of being reborn somewhere else, even if it meant losing his memories and starting over completely.
But this—
This was different.
Total annihilation meant there would be nothing left at all. No soul, no existence, no continuation in any form. It wasn’t just death, it was the complete erasure of everything that made him who he was.
That idea was unacceptable.
As that realization settled in, something inside him began to shift.
Anger.
A slow but steady anger started building within him, replacing the earlier fear. The more he thought about it, the more that anger grew, spreading through him in a way that felt almost tangible.
And then, the surroundings began to react.
The lights in his room started flickering rapidly, the brightness cutting in and out in irregular bursts. It didn’t stop there. The effect spread outward, moving into the hallway, and then further, until lights across the entire hospital began flickering wildly.
‘I don’t want to die again,’ he thought, his expression turning cold as his mind settled on that single point.
‘I want to live. I want to survive.’
His thoughts became sharper, more focused.
‘I would rather get destroyed while trying my best… than just die like that, without meaning, without even putting up a fight,’ he continued, the resolve in his mind becoming clearer with every passing second.
He understood what he needed to do if he wanted to become stronger.
He needed to devour souls.
That conclusion was clear in his mind now.
He still could not accept killing humans, at least not those who had no intention of harming him. There was still a part of him that held onto that line, something that stopped him from crossing it so easily.
But when it came to ghosts, his hesitation disappeared.
Whether they were innocent or not did not matter to him.
He felt no real resistance toward destroying them and consuming them if it meant increasing his chances of survival.
He was aware that this way of thinking was hypocritical.
But the part of him that still remained human only cared about humans, and more specifically, the people he had come to care about. Beyond that, he did not feel any responsibility or concern.
That was enough for him.
With that decision made, he slowly got off the bed.
The movement caused the straps restraining him to loosen, and the needles connected to his body were pulled out one by one. It should have hurt, but compared to what he had already experienced, it barely registered.
His eyes had already darkened.
It was late at night.
The hospital was quiet, with only a few nurses and doctors still on duty, moving through their routines without expecting anything unusual, they have already brushed off earlier light flickering.
For him, it was the perfect time.
He walked toward the door and opened it without hesitation.
Stepping into the hallway, his presence shifted.
His eyes turned completely pitch black, with red irises standing out sharply against the darkness. Spiritual energy began to flow around him, wrapping around his body like a thin layer.
To normal people, nothing would look different.
But to those who could perceive the unseen, the change would be obvious.
He paused for a moment and took a slow, steady breath.
‘The hunt begins now,’ he thought, his mind fully set on what he was about to do.
...
A Shinigami is a type of ghost that originates from another world, appearing specifically to claim the lives of mortals who have already been marked for death. They arrive when the time comes, take the soul of the departed, and leave without hesitation.
They wear the soul of the one they have taken as their face, making their appearance even more unsettling.
Unlike ordinary ghosts, they are not bound by the same rules. They represent a part of the natural order of the world, something closer to a system rather than an anomaly. Because of that, typical methods that affect other ghosts, such as salt or simple spiritual interference, do not work on them.
They are fundamentally different.
If someone tries to interfere with their task or disrupt the process of death they are carrying out, the response is immediate. More Shinigami will be summoned from wherever they originate, appearing through unseen portals until the disruption is dealt with completely.
They do not stop halfway.
They resolve the issue entirely, finishing it from the root.
And that was exactly what Akari wanted.
From his perspective, provoking them served two purposes.
First, it would confirm whether this world truly followed the structure he suspected, one that included elements similar to Dark Gathering. If Shinigami responded in the way he expected, that would be clear proof.
Second, it would give him an opportunity.
An opportunity to grow stronger.
If he could survive and somehow take advantage of that situation, then the risk would be worth it.
As he quietly entered one of the other patient rooms, he immediately noticed that it was occupied by a single patient, an extremely old man lying on the bed, barely moving.
The atmosphere inside the room felt heavy.
Standing over the old man’s body was a Shinigami, its presence calm yet oppressive. It was slowly drawing out the man’s lifeforce, taking it piece by piece in a steady and controlled manner, as if carrying out a routine task without any urgency.
Akari looked at it with a completely expressionless face.
The Shinigami had already noticed him the moment he stepped into the room. However, it did not react. Its role was clear, i.e, to claim the soul of someone who had already been marked for death. It had no reason to interfere with other entities unless they disrupted that process.
So it ignored him.
Akari took a step forward.
Then his body collapsed.
It fell to the ground with a dull thud, his eyes instantly losing all signs of life as if everything inside had been cut off at once.
For a brief moment, the room was silent.
Then something else happened.
From that lifeless body, another form emerged.
A ghost rose upward, separating itself completely. Its appearance was no longer human. It resembled a wendigo-like entity, tall and unnatural, its presence far more pronounced than before.
This was Akari in his true form.
Ghostly energy spread throughout the room, pressing against the walls and distorting the air slightly. In the very next moment, Akari’s form flickered and disappeared from where he stood, only to reappear right beside the Shinigami.
His claws, sharpened and reinforced with spiritual energy, swung forward with a deadly edge and tore directly into the Shinigami’s ethereal form.
The Shinigami let out a sharp screech as its body distorted from the impact. It immediately tried to retaliate, its presence shifting as it attempted to counterattack, but before it could act properly, something else happened.
Akari’s jaw opened wide.
A pulling force followed.
The Shinigami froze in place as its very essence began to be dragged toward him. Its soul was being extracted, piece by piece, against its will. Then came the next part.
Akari bit down.
With each motion, he tore into it, consuming it as if it were nothing more than fuel. The process was violent and relentless. Every part of the Shinigami that was pulled in was immediately broken down and absorbed.
The Shinigami struggled.
It tried to resist, tried to push back, even attempted to drain his energy in return, but none of it was enough. The speed at which Akari was devouring it was far greater than the damage it could inflict.
Any wounds that appeared on Akari’s form vanished almost instantly.
His regeneration kept up with everything.
Within a minute, the struggle ended.
The Shinigami was completely consumed.
Akari stood there, his ghostly form now covered in a dense, dark aura. His red pupils burned more intensely than before, giving him an even more dangerous presence.
He then activated his ghost vision.
The moment he did, his perception expanded.
Almost immediately, he could see them.
From the surrounding rooms, other Shinigami had already begun moving in his direction, drawn by the disruption.
They were coming straight toward him.
‘It begins,’ he thought, his mind settling into a focused state as he moved quickly.
He returned to his physical body for a brief moment and stepped out into the hallway, maintaining the appearance of a normal patient. The corridor was dim and quiet, but to his perception, something else was already there.
A hazy form flickered in front of him.
Without wasting even a second, he separated from his body again.
His ghost form launched forward instantly, taking advantage of the element of surprise before the Shinigami could properly react.
The attack landed cleanly.
Akari’s claw tore straight through the Shinigami’s body, disrupting its form before it could stabilize. At the same time, he leaned in and took a large bite out of its smog-like structure, pulling a portion of it directly into himself.
That same unnatural sweetness filled his mouth again, stronger this time, reinforcing his focus as he continued his assault without slowing down.
The Shinigami struggled to respond, but it was already too late.
Akari didn’t give it any time.
He kept attacking, tearing and consuming it piece by piece until there was nothing left. Just like before, the entire process ended quickly, without any real resistance once he gained the upper hand.
With that done, he returned to his body again, stabilizing himself for a moment.
Then he waited.
He remained still in the hallway, senses active, watching and listening.
He knew more would come.
And he was ready for them.
He was the Shinigami's Shinigami.
…
The tear in the sky above the hospital began to widen, slowly at first, then more rapidly as something forced its way through. From that opening, a Shinigami descended, its form slipping into the world without resistance.
Then another followed.
And another.
Within moments, dozens of them had poured out, all moving with the same clear intent, heading straight toward a single target.
Akari.
The Shinigami swarmed him from all directions, surrounding him as they closed in. Their presence pressed against him, and they immediately began trying to drain his spiritual energy, pulling at it from multiple angles at once.
At the same time, their forms shifted.
From their mist-like bodies, weapons began to take shape. Sickles, spears, poles, and other crude but deadly constructs formed out of their essence, each one aimed directly at him.
The attacks came all at once.
His form was pierced, cut, and stabbed repeatedly, the damage stacking up without pause. There was no time to defend properly, no time to recover between strikes.
Pain spread through him, constant and intense.
But he didn’t stop.
Ignoring the agony tearing through his form, he continued his assault without holding back. His claws tore into them, ripping apart their bodies, and he immediately consumed whatever he could grab.
He moved like someone who had abandoned restraint entirely.
The more damage he took, the less he seemed to care.
The more he consumed, the more unstable he became.
And as the fight continued, with more pain inflicted on him and more Shinigami being devoured, his actions became increasingly wild, almost reckless, as if he had stopped thinking and was simply acting on instinct alone.
His red pupils were now burning with intensity, almost like flames, and his aura continued to grow stronger with every passing second.
“More! More! Feed me more!” he shouted, his voice no longer calm, filled instead with raw hunger.
His movements no longer looked human.
They became fluid, almost like a pattern, a continuous cycle of attack and consumption. It was a rhythm built on destruction, gluttony, and something closer to instinct than thought.
His tail lashed out repeatedly, each swing carrying enough force to tear through the Shinigami around him. With every strike, their forms broke apart, and he immediately followed up by consuming whatever he could, not letting anything go to waste.
Even as he grew stronger at a rapid rate, the number of Shinigami continued to increase.
More kept arriving.
Gradually, the pressure began to build.
They started coordinating.
Multiple Shinigami formed long pole-like constructs from their mist and attacked him from all directions at once. The strikes landed simultaneously, piercing into his form and locking him in place as their weapons overlapped and reinforced each other.
For a brief moment, it seemed like they had succeeded.
A disturbing smile spread across their faces as they held him down.
But that moment did not last.
The smiles froze.
Literally.
Their expressions became fixed as their entire forms stopped moving. From their weapons to their mist-like bodies, everything was frozen in place.
The temperature dropped instantly.
The entire hospital hallway transformed.
It was no longer a normal corridor.
It had turned into something else entirely.
A blizzard spread through the area, covering everything in frost and ice. The environment shifted into something resembling a frozen land, as if winter itself had been forced into existence within that confined space.
Cold Yin energy flowed through everything, overwhelming the surroundings and locking everything into stillness.
This was Akari’s domain.
A space where an endless winter existed without interruption.
And within that space—
He was in control.
A howl echoed through the area.
It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, spreading through the frozen environment.
It sounded less like a human voice and more like a beast that had finally been unleashed.
To be continued...