EPISODE 6 — "THE FIRST HUNTER'S OATH"
Yūto and Sayo didn't stop running until the glowing eyes behind them disappeared into the night. By the time they reached the quiet riverbank at the edge of the old district, Yūto felt like his lungs were going to fall out of his chest.
Sayo finally slowed, planting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
Yūto collapsed onto the grass beside the water, staring at the ripples dancing under the dim streetlights.
"Do you… always deal with monsters like that?" he managed.
Sayo gave him a sideways look. "Only on Tuesdays."
Despite everything, a weak laugh escaped him.
She didn't smile, but there was something less icy about her now.
For a moment, neither of them said anything. The river murmured softly as the night wind swept across the surface.
Then Sayo spoke again, her voice steadying.
"You probably have questions. Ask them while it's still safe. More remnants will sense you soon."
Yūto sat upright, hands shaking slightly as he tried to process everything.
"That thing at the shrine… what was it?"
"A Shin'en Fragment," she said, sitting beside him. "A piece of a god that lost its vessel. They wander, searching for anything familiar. And the moment it felt Osore inside you, it latched on."
Yūto's stomach twisted.
"So this is my fault?"
"Not your fault."
Her tone softened just a little.
"But your awakening changed the balance."
She pulled out a black badge from her jacket—an ink circle with one broken stroke at the top.
"This is the Harbinger Order," she explained. "We're one of the two major hunter organizations. Our job is to contain awakened gods, runaway vessels, remnants… anything that threatens the barrier between human and divine."
"So you hunt gods?"
"We hunt disasters," she corrected. "And a vessel holding a Primordial god is a disaster waiting to happen—if it loses control."
His heart skipped.
"I'm that dangerous?"
"You're not dangerous because you're strong," she said quietly.
"You're dangerous because you're unstable. Osore is still recovering. That makes your power unpredictable."
Yūto looked down at his hands. They still felt cold from the burst of terror he unleashed earlier.
It didn't even feel like he had done it.
"So there are other gods like Osore?" he asked.
Sayo hesitated.
"Another one awakened today."
Yūto's head snapped up.
"What? Another vessel?"
"We don't know who yet," she said. "But we know the god."
She placed a talisman on the ground. Its ink glowed a violent red, forming a sigil that seemed to heat the air around it.
"Rage," she said quietly.
"Ikari — the Primordial God of Wrath."
Yūto felt Osore stir violently inside him.
"That one lives again?"
Osore's voice was colder than ice.
Sayo continued.
"A Rage vessel is the opposite of you. They don't awaken quietly. Their mind and body twist. They act on instinct, destruction, emotion."
She looked at Yūto seriously.
"And once Ikari takes root in someone, that vessel will hunt down the others. Especially Osore."
Yūto's throat tightened.
"So… they'll come after me?"
"Yes."
There was no hesitation in her voice.
The night suddenly felt heavier.
Yūto had always been invisible in school—a background character in his own life. And now he was the target of a god with fire instead of blood.
Sayo stood and faced him fully.
"You have a choice."
He raised his eyes to meet hers.
"You can hide. Pretend none of this is happening. But the world won't ignore you. Ikari's vessel won't stop."
The wind pushed strands of her hair across her face as she stepped closer.
"Or… you can learn to control your fear instead of drowning in it. I can train you. I can help you keep Osore from consuming you."
Yūto stared at her extended hand.
He had been a nobody all his life.
Judged. Ignored. Underestimated.
Fear had always ruled him.
Maybe… maybe it didn't have to anymore.
He took her hand.
"Train me."
Sayo nodded, a firm, almost solemn motion.
"Then I swear on my hunter's oath," she said quietly,
"From this moment on… I'll keep you alive."
A wind swept across the river, scattering the talisman's faint glow, and Yūto felt something shift inside him.
Not fear.
Resolve.