Chapter 16: THE ABYSS WITHIN
Darkness swallowed Kaito whole.
The moment he stepped through the Gate of Shadows, the world he had known collapsed. There was no sensation of falling, no feeling of movement—just an overwhelming emptiness, as if he had been erased from existence itself.
The weight of reality had lifted, leaving him floating in an infinite abyss where neither time nor space seemed to hold meaning.
Then came the whispers.
At first, they were distant, unintelligible murmurs that wove themselves through the void like strands of shadow.
But as the seconds—or were they hours?—dragged on, the voices sharpened, growing clearer, pressing against the walls of Kaito's mind.
"You are weak."
"A fraud."
"You do not deserve this power."
"You will never be enough."
Kaito clenched his teeth, his pulse pounding in his ears.