The night was as deep as an abyss, capable of swallowing all sound.
Kazama Rei lay on his bed in the student council dormitory. The soul contract rune on his left hand was still faintly glowing.
He closed his eyes, but he couldn't sleep — the spiritual energy within him had not yet subsided completely, and the dull pain in his chest rose and fell like waves.
As his breathing became shallower, his consciousness gradually drifted to another world: a blood-red academy with a dark crimson sky, where distorted light flickered at the end of the corridor.
The entire campus seemed to writhe as dark smoke seeped from cracks in the walls.
With each step Rei took, the ground trembled slightly, as if it were alive.
The wind howled, carrying a low, whispering sound like a mournful cry from the depths of the earth.
"...Kazama Rei..."
The voice was distant yet clear and distinct.
Rei turned around, but there was no one there. Shadowy figures, however, floated around him, twisting like living things.
'Those who open their eyes, judgment is imminent...'
In his dream, the left eye of Li ignited with a golden-black light and runes spread across his vision, making the shadows clearer.
Those shadows gradually coalesced into an outline —
A figure identical to himself stood before the mirror.
The mirror shattered, the cracks spreading like a spider's web.
The 'self' slowly raised its head, a smile playing on its lips. It was a smile devoid of warmth, yet filled with provocation and allure.
Rei's pupils contracted and his heart pounded. 'Who... are you?'
The image in the mirror did not answer, but pointed to the depths of the school where a dark red mist seemed to conceal more unknown entities.
The whisper echoed again: 'Do you think power is only for seeing? For those who open their eyes, every judgement is a choice... and a test.'
Rei felt the entire dream writhe as if the academy itself were breathing; the spiritual pressure was suffocating him.
He wanted to move, but his legs felt like lead and he was unable to budge.
The 'self' in the mirror tilted its head slightly and its eyes gleamed.
'Are you ready to face your true destiny?'
Rei could feel the spiritual energy in his blood resonating with the dream, and the golden-black light in his left eye was so bright that it almost pierced his eyelid.
He clenched his fist and whispered, 'I... will bear it...'
Suddenly, the dream shattered and the blood-red campus was sliced open as if by a sharp blade. Fragments turned into countless plumes of black smoke.
Rei awoke with a start, his chest still heaving violently and the runes on his left hand flickering erratically.
The moonlight outside the window was cold and clear; the only sound in the silent dormitory building was his rapid breathing.
The whispers seemed to echo in his ears, reminding him that the final chapter of the first act had ended, but the true judgement had only just begun.
Rei closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The burning contract runes on his left hand reminded him, like a heartbeat, that:
No matter how dark the future, he had already embarked on a one-way journey.