Chapter 44 – Echoes of the Past

  Akari’s fingers twitched at her side. The weight of Renji’s words settled over her like a suffocating fog.

  > “You’re being hunted.”

  She had felt it. The shadow that lurked in the corner of her vision, the whispers curling around her thoughts like tendrils of smoke.

  But Renji—he had been there.

  “Others,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “You said the others… What happened to them?”

  Renji exhaled slowly, his silver eyes flickering with something she couldn’t quite place.

  “None of them survived.”

  A cold dread settled in her chest.

  “Not a single one?”

  Renji shook his head. “I wasn’t the first to open the Seventh Gate. There were others before me. Talented cultivators. Ambitious ones. Every single one of them disappeared.” He tapped his temple. “And before they did, they all heard the same whispers.”

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  Akari’s breath hitched.

  The same whispers.

  Her hands clenched into fists. “Then why are you still here?”

  Renji’s smirk returned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Because I ran.”

  Silence stretched between them.

  Akari had seen Renji fight before. He wasn’t weak—he was a core disciple, one of the strongest in their sect. And yet, whatever he had encountered in the Seventh Gate had forced him to flee.

  The implications were terrifying.

  She swallowed hard. “And if I don’t run?”

  Renji’s expression darkened. “Then you’ll have to do what no one else has done.”

  She met his gaze. “Which is?”

  His next words sent a shiver down her spine.

  “You’ll have to kill it before it kills you.”

  ---

  The Mark of the Seventh Gate

  The wind stirred around them, rustling the overgrown grass of the abandoned training grounds.

  Akari glanced down at her wrist. The golden restriction seal pulsed faintly, doing its job—keeping her power in check.

  But if she was going to fight whatever had followed her back…

  She would need more than just suppressed power.

  She looked back at Renji. “If I remove the seal, I’ll be stronger.”

  Renji’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll also be easier to find.”

  She frowned. “It’s already watching me.”

  Renji crossed his arms. “Then it’s waiting for something. For you to slip. For you to embrace the power the Seventh Gate left inside you.” His gaze sharpened. “The moment you give in, it will consume you.”

  Akari’s fingers tightened around her wrist.

  > "You cannot suppress what has already awakened."

  The memory of the whisper sent a chill through her.

  She had spent her whole life struggling for power. Scraping by, surviving on sheer determination alone. Now, she had finally gained something beyond her wildest imagination—and it came with a price.

  Akari met Renji’s gaze. “What if I don’t run? What if I fight it head-on?”

  Renji sighed. “Then you’d better hope you’re stronger than the others.”

  She smirked. “I don’t need hope.”

  Renji raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  She rolled her shoulders, feeling the restriction seal tighten around her qi like a vice.

  “I just need power.”