The storm refused to end.
Rain hammered against the rooftops of Kuroyami Village as the four teenagers escorted the little boy through the empty streets.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody dared to.
The image of the Hollow Beast still burned inside their minds.
Especially Ren’s.
“…found you…”
The monster’s whisper replayed over and over in his head.
What did it mean?
Why had it looked at him like that?
And why did it stop when Yuna spoke?
The little boy walked between them silently, clutching Ren’s sleeve tightly as though letting go would kill him.
“What’s your name?” Mika asked softly.
“Kaito.”
“Where are your parents?”
Kaito lowered his head.
“They went looking for my sister.”
Haruto exchanged a worried glance with Ren.
That meant they were still outside.
After six.
A death sentence.
The group finally reached Kaito’s home near the center of the village. Unlike the rest of the houses, the front door was wide open.
The lantern outside flickered weakly.
Haruto stepped forward carefully.
“Stay behind me.”
The inside of the house was freezing cold.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
Furniture had been overturned as though someone had searched the entire place in panic.
“Kaito?” a woman’s voice cried suddenly.
A pale woman rushed from another room and pulled the little boy into her arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“You’re alive… thank God…”
Behind her stood an older man gripping a hunting rifle with shaking hands.
His terrified eyes locked onto the teenagers.
“You saw it, didn’t you?”
Nobody answered.
The man looked like he already knew.
He slowly shut the front door and locked it with three different chains.
Then he turned toward them.
“The Hollow Beast never leaves witnesses.”
The room became silent.
Mika swallowed nervously. “What… exactly is that thing?”
The man’s expression darkened.
“My grandfather called it a punishment.”
Lightning flashed outside.
“He said the Beast comes from beneath the mountain. Long ago, this village tried sealing it away.” His voice trembled. “But every few years… it wakes up hungry.”
Ren crossed his arms.
“That doesn’t explain what it is.”
The man looked directly at him.
“Maybe because nobody who gets close enough survives long enough to learn.”
Yuna suddenly stiffened near the window.
Someone was outside.
Watching.
Ren noticed her expression instantly. “What is it?”
She slowly pointed toward the rain-covered street.
At first, there was nothing.
Then lightning flashed again.
A figure stood at the far end of the road.
Tall.
Unmoving.
Its glowing eyes pierced through the storm.
The Hollow Beast.
Mika gasped in horror.
“It followed us…”
But something felt different this time.
The creature wasn’t attacking.
It simply stood there staring at the house.
At Ren.
The monster slowly raised one clawed hand and dragged it across the wooden wall beside it.
SCREEEECH.
The sound made everyone shiver.
Then it disappeared back into the darkness.
Haruto immediately shut the curtains.
“What does it want from us?!”
No one had an answer.
Ren walked toward the window cautiously.
His heart pounded violently.
The rain outside looked darker somehow.
Almost black.
Then he noticed something scratched into the fogged glass.
Three symbols.
Fresh.
Like claws had carved them seconds ago.
Mika’s face turned pale when she saw them.
“I’ve seen those before…”
Everyone turned toward her.
She adjusted her glasses nervously.
“In my grandmother’s books.”
“What do they mean?” Haruto asked.
Mika hesitated.
Then whispered—
“Marked by the Hollow.”
The room fell silent.
Ren frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Mika looked directly at him.
“It means the Beast chooses certain people.”
A cold chill ran down Ren’s spine.
Outside, thunder exploded across the mountains again.
Then—
DONG.
The village bell rang unexpectedly.
Everyone froze.
Haruto looked toward the clock on the wall.
12:00 AM.
The bell should not ring at midnight.
DONG.
The second bell echoed louder.
And far away in the storm…
A horrifying roar answered it.
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