#sm0lbetch

[Excerpt from Chapter 1 Part 1 & 2]

It is much quieter here in the dark. Let the broken pieces lie.

NO! The golden fire roared, expanding violently against the crushing weight of her emptiness. I will not let her die! Put the pieces back! Then, the phantom memory of their brutal, exposed death struck him, adding a flushed, frantic spike of human indignity to his grief. And put some clothes on! We are completely bare out there! Someone might see us! It's so improper!

The vessel is a tool, she retorted, deeply annoyed by the sudden, chaotic noise of his modesty mixing with his panic. It possesses no inherent shame, just as a drawn blade feels no embarrassment for being unsheathed.

The Echo's flustered desperation only flared hotter, vibrating against her boundaries and threatening to give her a migraine.

Your insistence is deafening, she sighed, conceding strictly to quell the relentless clamor of his devotion and phantom embarrassment. Very well. I shall reset the board. And if it silences you, I will weave a perimeter to conceal the cage.

[LOCATION: EARTH / THE KUMOTORI MOUNTAINS]

The demon tore another mouthful of flesh from the pale corpse in the snow, chewing frantically despite the deeply unsettling taste of ash and static. It was starving, and meat was meat.

But as it swallowed, the flesh in its throat simply ceased to exist.

The beast choked, gagging on a sudden lungful of empty air. It looked down at its bloodstained claws. The severed arm it had been pinning to the ice dissolved into a lightless, mist-like pitch. The crimson stains in the pristine snow evaporated. The broken, lifeless body beneath the demon unravelled into dark smoke, slipping through its grasping fingers until there was absolutely nothing left.

The demon was left kneeling alone in the snow, its mouth and hands completely empty.

Then, the reality of the mountain stuttered.

Standing exactly three paces away was the pale figure. She was perfectly whole. But she was no longer exposed to the biting wind. As the universe rewound to spit her back into existence, she had pulled the literal darkness of the Void with her.

📈 Project Status Update: With this Chapter 1 revamp and the recent launch of the new companion series, The Descent of Silence Universe has officially surpassed 128,000 published words! The main story alone is sitting at over 121k, and the drafted buffer is a massive 60k words deep. Thank you all for the incredible support as I keep expanding this alternate universe!

Bonus Shoutout! The amazing @sm0lbetch gifted me this flawless Chibi Kūhime, and she is now the official mascot/divider for these updates! Look at her adorable little face! 🥺🖤

Go reread the newly expanded, visually stunning origin of the Void Hashira!

🔗 Read the Revamped Chapter 1 on AO3 by clicking here!