The air grew thick, pressing against their chests like a living thing.
Renji felt the weight of the Keeper's words sink in.
> "Then you will all remain."
The shrine creaked as if the building itself had taken a breath.
Aoi's fists clenched. "There has to be another way."
The Keeper only smiled.
> "There has never been another way."
Kaito stepped forward, his voice hard. "Then why are you telling us this? If we were meant to stay, you wouldn't have given us a choice."
The Keeper's smile faltered.
For the first time, she looked… uncertain.
Renji's mind raced. Kaito's right.
The town doesn't just erase people.
It replaces them.
So why would it offer them a choice now?
Unless—
It needed them to choose.
His stomach twisted.
> What if the town couldn't take them… unless they allowed it?
Renji took a slow breath. "What happens if we refuse?"
The Keeper's black eyes gleamed.
> "Then the town will decide for you."
A cold gust of wind rushed through the shrine.
And suddenly—
The doors slammed shut.
---
The Shifting Shrine
The room lurched.
Aoi stumbled, grabbing Renji's arm. "The floor—"
The wood beneath them twisted, spiraling.
Like a giant, living vortex.
Kaito cursed. "It's shifting reality."
Renji's pulse pounded. "We need to move."
The Keeper's voice echoed around them.
> "Choose. Or be chosen."
The portraits on the walls shifted.
Their faces changed—morphing into Kaito, Aoi, and Renji.
Aoi's breath hitched. "It's already trying to replace us."
Renji clenched his fists. "Not if we break the cycle first."
He turned to the altar—the heart of the shrine.
There had to be something holding the town together.
And if they could destroy it—
Maybe they could finally be free.
---
The Heart of the Town
Renji bolted toward the altar.
The spirals pulsed, trying to drag him back.
But Aoi and Kaito grabbed his arms, pulling him forward.
The Keeper's voice rose—angry, desperate.
> "You cannot undo what is already done."
Renji reached the altar, his breath ragged.
And then—he saw it.
A small wooden box, carved with spirals.
His fingers trembled as he grabbed it.
The moment he touched it—
His mind flooded with memories.
The town.
The fires.
The people who had vanished.
And at the center of it all—
A name.
Renji's breath caught.
> It wasn't the town that was alive.
> It was something buried beneath it.
Something that had been waiting for centuries.
Something that needed them to stay.
Kaito grabbed his shoulder. "Renji! What do we do?"
Renji's chest tightened.
He knew the answer.
They had to destroy the box.
But—
His mother's voice echoed in his head.
> "Renji… why won't you come home?"
His hands shook.
Because if they destroyed it—
Everything connected to it would disappear.
Including the people it had already taken.
Including… his mother.
Aoi's voice was urgent. "Renji! We don't have time!"
The shrine groaned, the walls closing in.
The town was making its choice.
Renji took one last breath—
And made his own.
He raised the box above his head—
And smashed it to the ground.
---
End of Chapter 31
---
To Be Continue