Chapter - 2 The Echoes of the Void

The streets were wet, slick with the kind of cold rain that lingered long after the clouds moved on. Neon lights flickered across puddles, painting the city in strokes of ghostly color—blue, red, violet. The air smelled like oil and static.

Rin Takeda walked with his hood up, bag slung over one shoulder, footsteps quiet against the pavement. After the classroom, the city felt strangely peaceful. No teachers reminding him of what he’d lost. No students whispering just loud enough for him to hear. Just the hum of engines in the distance and the occasional hiss of tires cutting through water.

He turned into the alley—a narrow stretch between two apartment blocks, barely wide enough for a car. Trash bins lined the sides. A broken vending machine blinked halfheartedly near the wall. It wasn’t the safest path home, but it was fast. And tonight, he wanted fast.

Halfway down, he stopped.

Something felt wrong.

The silence wasn’t normal. Not even the distant buzz of city life reached here tonight.

Then came the sound of footsteps—deliberate, slow, closing in.

Three of them.

They stepped out from the shadows behind him, blocking the exit. Boys he vaguely recognized from school. Not cultivators. Just thugs with nothing to lose and too much to prove.

“Well, look who it is,” one of them said, smirking. He spun a brass pipe in his hand. “The fallen prince of Clan Takeda.”

Rin didn’t respond.

Another one snorted. “Didn’t think you still came this way. Thought you'd be hiding in that dojo your clan doesn’t even claim anymore.”

Rin’s expression didn’t change. His eyes, dull and tired, scanned the alley. No exits. No cameras. He exhaled through his nose and kept walking.

The first one stepped in front of him. “We’re talking to you, broken boy.”

Then, the hit came.

A fist slammed into his ribs, sharp and sudden. Pain bloomed across his side. He staggered but didn’t fall.

The second came—a punch to his jaw. His head snapped to the side, lips splitting on impact.

Still, he didn’t speak. Didn’t scream. He looked at them—not with fear, but something colder.

One of them pulled a knife.

And in that moment, something cracked inside him.

The air warped.

Time slowed.

It wasn’t fear he felt—it was silence. Deep. Eternal. A kind of stillness that didn’t belong to the human world.

Then came the voice.

“You have nothing left,” it whispered, ancient and vast, echoing in his mind. “And that… is the perfect vessel.”

His veins ignited—not with light, but with void. Shadows twisted around his arms, slithering beneath his skin like living ink. The world pulsed once. Then—

Boom.

A wave of black energy exploded outward, flinging the attackers against the alley walls. Pipes cracked. Bricks shattered. The air sizzled with unnatural heat.

Rin collapsed, convulsing. His breath came ragged. The glow faded, the darkness retreating beneath his skin.

He lay there, dazed, staring up at the night sky.

Something inside him had awakened.

.

..

...

....

To be continued........

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***