Gacha Summoner: Pulled into Another World

Chapter 22: Eyes in the Dark

Chapter 22: Eyes in the Dark

The night was still, save for the occasional crackle of the dying campfire. Yuuji lay awake, staring at the stars above, his mind far from restful. The mage’s words replayed over and over in his head: Something is watching us.

He wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but there had been a feeling, an eerie sense that they were not alone. It had gnawed at the back of his mind ever since the battle with the Heart of Eternum, and now it was impossible to ignore.

Across from him, the others slept soundly—at least, it appeared that way. The knight’s steady breathing, the archer’s soft snores, and even the mage’s quiet slumber should have been comforting, but Yuuji couldn’t shake the tension clinging to the air. He felt the weight of the Blade of Eterna at his side, its faint glow flickering sporadically, as though responding to his unease.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes nearby. Yuuji sat up, his heart skipping a beat. He strained to hear more, his hand instinctively reaching for the Blade. Another sound—a faint, almost imperceptible whisper—floated on the breeze.

“Yuuji…”

His name, carried by a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It wasn’t one of his companions. It wasn’t even a voice he recognized. It was distant, yet close, as if it echoed from the very fabric of the world around him.

Yuuji’s pulse quickened. He stood slowly, his movements careful not to disturb the others. His eyes scanned the treeline, his grip tightening on the hilt of the Blade. The voice came again, softer this time, but clearer.

“Yuuji…”

It was beckoning him, drawing him toward the dark forest beyond the clearing. Against his better judgment, Yuuji stepped forward, his feet moving silently over the grass. The trees loomed ahead, their shadows deep and impenetrable, but something pulled him closer. The air felt heavier, colder.

Just as he crossed into the treeline, the world seemed to shift. The night grew darker, the silence more profound. Even the soft chirping of crickets faded into nothingness. Yuuji felt the familiar weight of the Blade at his side, its dim light now swallowed by the oppressive gloom.

“Come…”

The voice was clearer now, unmistakable. Yuuji’s instincts screamed at him to turn back, to return to the safety of the camp, but he couldn’t. He had to know what was calling him.

After what felt like an eternity, the trees opened into a small, moonlit glade. At its center stood a figure, shrouded in shadow. Though its form was indistinct, Yuuji could feel its presence—a deep, unsettling energy that was neither chaos nor order. It was something… other.

Yuuji drew the Blade of Eterna, its light flaring briefly as if reacting to the figure. “Who are you?” he demanded, his voice firm despite the chill that crept down his spine.

The figure didn’t move, but the air around it seemed to pulse with a strange, suffocating power. When it finally spoke, the voice was soft, yet it carried the weight of something ancient and unknowable.

“I am the one who watches.”

Yuuji narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on the Blade. “Watches what?”

“Everything. Everyone. I have seen your journey, Yuuji of Eterna. I have seen the balance you seek to restore… and the chaos that you fight.”

There was a pause, and for a moment, the figure seemed to shift, becoming more solid, more real. Yuuji could almost make out features—a pale, gaunt face, eyes like black voids staring through him.

“But what you face is far greater than you realize,” the figure continued, its voice like a soft breeze that chilled Yuuji to the bone. “The chaos is but one side of the coin. The void—the emptiness—lurks beyond. And it is watching you.”

Yuuji’s heart pounded in his chest. “The void?” he echoed. “What do you mean? Is it connected to the Heart fragments?”

The figure tilted its head slightly, as if amused. “The Heart fragments are merely cracks in the surface, fractures through which the chaos seeps. But the void… it is what waits beyond the cracks. It is the nothingness from which all things are born, and to which all things return.”

Yuuji swallowed hard, the weight of the figure’s words pressing down on him. “What does it want with me? Why is it watching us?”

The figure remained silent for a long moment, its form shifting again, becoming more shadow than substance. “It watches because it is curious. It watches because it knows you are key.”

“Key to what?” Yuuji demanded, frustration bubbling up inside him. “Why me? What am I supposed to do?”

The figure’s dark eyes gleamed faintly in the moonlight. “That is for you to discover, Yuuji of Eterna. But know this: the void will not wait forever. The balance you seek is fragile, and the line between chaos and void is thinner than you realize.”

Before Yuuji could respond, the figure began to fade, its form dissolving into the night. “Be wary of the void, Yuuji,” it whispered, its voice growing fainter with each passing second. “For once it has seen you… it will never stop watching.”

And then, the figure was gone, leaving Yuuji alone in the clearing, the silence pressing in around him.

Yuuji stood there for a long time, the Blade of Eterna still glowing faintly in his hand. His mind raced with the figure’s cryptic words. The void, the chaos, the balance—it was all so much bigger than he had imagined. He had thought defeating the Heart fragments would be the end, but now he realized it was only the beginning.

Slowly, Yuuji sheathed the Blade and turned back toward the camp. As he walked, the wind whispered through the trees, and for the first time, Yuuji felt the weight of unseen eyes upon him.

The void was watching. And it would not stop.