EPISODE 18 — The Scarlet Rite Attacks
Osorebound: Vessel of Fear
The man in the black coat stepped fully into the smoke barrier, boots tapping lightly against the school's tile floor. Each step felt too soft… too deliberate… as if he didn't want to disturb the silence that followed him like a shadow.
Takeru couldn't breathe.
Because the Fear God wasn't whispering anymore.
It was screaming.
Scarlet Rite. He serves the Crimson Binding. The ones who carved open the first Fear Vessel. The ones who—
The voice cut off sharply.
Almost like it was afraid.
Kaito didn't wait for introductions. One hand shot to his waist, pulling out a short dagger formed from condensed smoke. The blade glowed faintly blue—hunter magic.
"Yume," he said without taking his eyes off the intruder, "reinforce the south side of the barrier. He slipped through a weak point."
Yume dropped to one knee instantly, scribbling runes across the floor with a yellow chalk rod. "Working on it! But this guy shouldn't be able to enter a smoke field at all unless—"
"He's not normal," Kaito finished.
The Scarlet Rite man placed a hand over his heart in mock politeness.
A red glyph pulsed beneath his glove.
"Takeru Minamoto," he said in a soft voice. "Vessel of a sealed Fear Deity. Please come with me. Our master simply wishes to… speak."
Kaito snorted. "Yeah, right. Like the Scarlet Rite 'speaks' to vessels before turning them into meat puppets."
The man didn't argue.
He just smiled.
And the barrier shook.
Takeru felt the temperature drop instantly. His breath misted in front of him. The smoke barrier around them began to freeze, turning from soft gray fog into rigid shards of crystallized frost.
Yume gasped. "He's corrupting the smoke! Kaito—!"
"I see it!"
Kaito lunged first. Smoke surged from his body like a wave, swirling into the shape of a long spear. He thrust it toward the intruder's chest—
—but the man simply raised two fingers.
A red sigil flared.
Kaito's spear shattered like glass.
Takeru's heart slammed in his chest. Kaito stumbled backward, eyes wide. "That's impossible! That was reinforced smoke pressure—"
The intruder tilted his head curiously.
"Do not struggle. My orders are to bring the vessel alive."
Then he raised his gloved hand.
And the world split.
A red line slashed across the air, as if reality itself had been cut. A fracture opened, glowing like a wound. From inside the crack came whispers—deep, layered, monstrous whispers.
Takeru staggered back. "W–What is that?"
Kaito's face went pale. "A Scarlet Gate. They're opening a Gate inside the school?! Are they insane?!"
"Clearly," Yume snapped. "Help me seal it!"
She threw three paper talismans toward the fracture. They burst into gold light, forming a small grid around the opening.
For one second, the Gate flickered.
For one.
Then the man snapped his fingers.
The talismans burned to ash instantly.
He turned toward Takeru.
"Takeru Minamoto. Chosen vessel of the Fear God Osoraki."
Takeru froze.
That was the first time anyone had spoken the name out loud.
"You belong with us."
He extended his hand gently, almost kindly.
And something—something ancient and cold—stirred inside Takeru's chest, drawn to the man like a magnet.
Takeru's knees buckled. His vision blurred. A pulling sensation swept through him, sharp and violent, dragging the god inside him toward the Scarlet Rite's Gate.
"No—stop—" Takeru gasped, clutching at his chest. "Something's—pulling me!"
Stay conscious, the Fear God growled weakly. Don't let them take you. If I cross that gate while sealed, you will be torn apart with me.
Kaito hissed through his teeth. "This ends now."
He slammed both palms against the floor. The smoke around him condensed, turning into a chain that whipped toward the Scarlet Rite man's arm.
But the intruder blocked it with his bare hand.
The chain disintegrated on contact.
Kaito stumbled, panting. "Yume… he's too strong. He's probably a First Rank."
Yume swallowed fear. "Then we run."
But the man shook his head, disappointment flickering in his glowing eyes.
"You cannot run from the Rite."
The red fracture widened.
A monstrous hand—long, bony, covered in writhing red veins—reached through the Gate.
Takeru felt it touch his soul.
And something inside him snapped.
A scream tore from his throat—not his own voice, but layered, distorted, echoing with something older.
The school hallway lights flickered wildly. The frozen smoke around them shattered. Every window on the floor cracked.
The Scarlet Rite man's eyes widened in delight.
"Yes… that's it. Let the fear god awaken. Show me your potential, vessel."
Takeru collapsed to the floor, clutching his chest, shaking violently. Dark mist poured from his body—thick, black, alive.
For the first time since awakening, Osoraki's voice was no longer sealed or restrained.
It roared.
GET AWAY FROM MY VESSEL.
A shockwave erupted from Takeru's body, blasting the man backward, slamming him into a row of lockers. The Gate wavered, screams echoing from within.
Kaito shielded his face from the force. "Yume—cover him! Don't let the god take full control!"
"I'm trying—!"
But Takeru wasn't hearing them anymore.
He was somewhere else.
Somewhere dark.
Somewhere cold.
And something with countless eyes stared back at him from the void.
A deep voice whispered:
"Let me out. And I'll protect you."
To Be Continued.....