Aragami 2 [0100787018198800][v65536][us].nsp.rar -

Kaito leaped, his hand wrapping around the burning, brilliant crystal. The pure light seared his palm, causing black smoke to billow from his hand, but he held on. Channeling his own dark energy into the stone, he forced the two opposing powers to stabilize. A pulse of neutral, gray energy exploded outward.

He was losing his grip. The dark essence inside him clawed to get out, begging him to unleash lethal, uncontrollable chaos. Kaito closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, centering himself. I control the shadow. The shadow does not control me.

The general was knocked unconscious by the shockwave, his flame sword extinguished. Kaito landed on his feet, breathing heavily. He looked down at his arms. The angry black veins had receded, replaced by smooth skin. The violent whispers in his mind were quiet. Aragami 2 [0100787018198800][v65536][US].nsp.rar

He had not cured the curse entirely, but he had bought his people time.

Kaito secured the glowing stone in his pouch and stepped back out into the night. The rain was finally starting to fall through the cooling air of the valley, washing away the ash. He melted back into the shadows of the trees, returning to the hidden village of the free. Kaito leaped, his hand wrapping around the burning,

The rain never reached the floor of the Rashomon Valley, evaporating against the cursed heat of the Akatsuchi invaders. From the jagged peak of the Shadow's Reach, Kaito looked down at the burning village. His skin was pale as porcelain, mapped with black, pulsing veins that betrayed the Shadow Essence rotting him from the inside out. He was an Aragami, an undead warrior born of darkness, destined to lose his mind to the void if he could not break the curse.

Moving like a whisper, Kaito navigated the compound. He shadow-dashed from the silhouette of a stone lantern to the underside of a bridge, evading the blazing torches. When a heavy-armored elite guard blocked the pagoda's entrance, Kaito tossed a small smoke pebble. As the area filled with thick, obscuring fog, Kaito slipped past the coughing guard and phased through the heavy wooden doors. A pulse of neutral, gray energy exploded outward

As the general raised his heavy sword for a crushing overhead strike, Kaito didn't dodge. Instead, he dashed directly forward, dematerializing into shadow at the exact moment of impact. He passed right through the general's body and materialized behind him.