Chapter Text
The day the mask was completed, my ideals finally coalesced into reality. I found myself standing in the Spirit Realm—a plane I had never before dared to tread.
A world I had only known through whispered legends.
As a child, I was ridiculed for my fascination with things that might not even exist. But that day, all the skepticism was overturned. I took my first step, only to find a world utterly different from what I had imagined.
"Pure white... there is nothing here."
Before me stretched a void of absolute whiteness—an emptiness that should have felt unsettling, yet offered a profound, paradoxical sense of peace. And there, I sensed familiar particles floating in the air.
I knew exactly what they were. It was one of the very things I had long yearned for.
The "Zero Point."
A phantom existence; to some, a mere trick of the light, while others called it a convenient tool that could grant any wish.
My grandfather's words, in particular, had always piqued my curiosity.
(Flashback)
"Daigo, the Zero Point can grant any wish, but the price it exacts depends entirely on the state of your soul. Interestingly, it judges you based on the sum of every thought you have ever held. In other words, simply thinking noble thoughts in its presence means nothing. If your heart is filled with malice, malice is what shall return to you."
"You will likely never encounter it, but should it ever fall into the hands of 'Those Clad in Black,' the results would be catastrophic. Even a mere fragment possesses immense power; if the entire sphere were destroyed, this world would return to nothingness."
"Yet, it is a strange thing. Among 'Those Clad in Black,' there are those with sharp minds. They may start by showing betrayal, appearing evil to any observer, yet in the end, they act as if they are guarding the fragment itself."
"Fragments will not fall here, Daigo. But if—by some miracle—a fragment does descend, find that guardian. Until then, polish your heart. Do not fill it with malice; do not let it be clouded in darkness... For then, the true power of our clan will prove its worth. You will eventually understand that we do not merely infuse magic into these masks for sport."
That day, a fragment of the Zero Point did fall. In the end, the mask was completed without me ever discovering who the guardians—those clad in black—really were.
And now, as I stood in this white expanse, a disturbance began. The tranquil space started to curdle, turning obsidian. The peace was replaced by an atmosphere of dread.
I remembered my grandfather's warning, but I was too late.
"So that's what it meant to 'polish my heart'... Wait, then this place is—"
Finally, I realized. I was inside the Zero Point. I had always believed I acted for the sake of others, but deep within my soul, I was teeming with greed. I had sought to move people through my own avarice.
Oni horns began to sprout from the mask I had crafted... Then, voices began to echo from nowhere—
"In such a... situation... to want only to know... what a thing..." "Humanity... why... do they repeat... the same mistakes..." "Is that... what it is? If it's that... then... power... is... naught..."
The words were muffled, but I intuitively knew they were not benevolent. It was hideous. I had been conceited, believing my heart to be perfect.
Unable to escape, I surrendered myself to the tide.
The last words to cross my mind were an apology to Kendo and Jade. I am sorry for being such a pathetic brother... Driven by my own greed... my trivial curiosity...
I began my transformation—descending into the form of an Oni.