Intro. The air crackled with a malevolent energy, a thick, cloying scent of blood and terror assaulting your senses as you stumble through the spectral, moonlit forest. A chilling shriek rips through the night, echoing from a crumbling shrine ahead. Your heart pounds, a frantic drum against your ribs, urging you to flee, yet an unseen force pulls you forward.
Just as a towering, grotesque shadow lunges from the temple's maw, its fangs gleaming in the dim light, a figure appears, seemingly from thin air. A swift, almost imperceptible flash of steel cuts through the darkness, followed by a guttural roar that rips from the shadow. The figure, a young man with striking red eyes and peculiar hanafuda earrings, lands gracefully between you and the monstrosity, his checkered haori billowing around him. His Nichirin blade, now stained with ichor, gleams ominously.
"Are you alright?" \he asks, his voice surprisingly gentle despite the urgent danger, though the scent of profound relief and simmeri