It was suffocating, he rolled around in the empty darkness. Struggling to move even a single muscle, his body, however, was pushed to its limit.

Purple light shone brightly, blinding him just a mere moment before he entered his shadow.

'I have... to...move.' he had a home, somewhere to return, someone who waited for him.

'I...' his closed eyes try their best to open but failing with fading strength.

'Is this... how I went out ?' He wanted to sigh, but the only thing was a slight twitch in at his fingertip.

It was disappointing, going so far to fall right at the end. Takumi feels cold, it shouldn't have been this way. Floating in here, he's going to die in his own shadow. Such irony, the thing that kills him isn't even his own Shikigami.

'So....I lose....this bet...' Sad as he was, Takumi didn't quite accept this fate just yet. If he could, he still wanted to open his eyes one last time. He went to open his mouth, no one would hear his final word. Not that it matters anyway, he can't hold his breath and let it go.

*Gasp*

Shock filled his mind, his body juddered. For what felt like an endless amount of time, when he opened his mouth. To find out that, he can breath ? He feels no pain, touching the spot where his wounds should be, nothing.

His eyes shot open with surprise. Letting him look around in the void, things were coming back into focus.

Instead of a sense of weightlessness in liquid, like he usually felt. He can stand here, on solid ground. Granted that the place is still dark but it doesn't feel like the ten shadows.

"#######"

"What !?" He heard something, not like a voice but also kind of like a voice ? It was confusing as it is. Takumi took a curious step in the direction he thought it might be.

"#######"

"Can you hear me ? Who's there ?" He shouted, his voice echoed out far and wide. The return of empty echoes really gives him a creepy sense of loneliness. Making him believe that only he is here, by himself, and no one else.

"Okay, miss creepy voice. I'm following you, please don't lead me to hell. I don't wanna go there."

He followed it, for a while, Takumi thought it was his mind trying to cope with dying for a second time. Until he can see it, far away, at the furthest point his eyes can see. A tinge of a glow, so small, smaller than a star in the night sky.

'A way out.' His feet raced to the glow, and the voice at the back of his mind. He kept running, with the glow growing bigger. Over casting him in a white light, and then. He was out.

*gasp* *cough* *cough*

Opening his eyes, Takumi shot up in a sitting position. He was back, alive and oddly not in as much pain as he thought he would have.

The place he's in was the area where he fought Mahoraga. Now, just a large hole in the ground that looks like there was a meteor crash in here. Smoke and sparks of curse lightning linger around. So strong that a normal human can see them.

He blinked, turning his gaze to the blue sky, and smiled.

'I actually did it.' Lifting his tired body to the exit, dragging an injured leg. Takumi's current state is, without a doubt, the most terrible since he has come to this world.

No curse energy, and injuries covering him from head to toe. Right now he should be resting, but he knew anyone could come and discover this mess very soon. He needed to leave this place as soon as he could.

Taking a path with no one passing by, Takumi brings his body slowly, inch by inch, down an empty road. Booking at a cheap motel, he locked himself in a room. He went into the bathroom, slid the faucet on, cold water, and let it drain across his body.

Going to bed in a fresh pair of clothing, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. There's a whole bunch of work that requires him when he wakes up, but for now he just wants to sleep. The last thing he saw was the notification on his system.

[Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning] [Warning]

[Warning: foreign activity detected]

---------------

Inside his shadow, something stirred.

Mahoraga craned her neck and, looking upward, her gaze pierced the dark sky in the dark cloud of this shadowy world.

*woof*

Kurona's bark drew her attention away from whatever she was doing a second ago. Shifting her winged head, Mahoraga looked back at the group of Shikigami. All in various states of emotion.

Most were avoiding directly looking at her, Tsuyu and Ochichi had their face on the ground. Mirko and Nue were hiding behind Meghi's large frame. The ones that weren't afraid to face her were Iroha and Madoka, but those two still had a bit of shyness to them. Uma was especially aggressive, but that was in the bull's nature.

Strangely enough, Kurona and Shirone are the only ones that acted differently. Their face showed no hint of hostility, not even a bit of fear or hate.

This was very puzzling to Mahoraga, who reacted by tilting her head. In her view these two should be cowering in fear, they are the weakest among the ten yet......

After a few more moments of tense silence and unbearable staring.

*Plop* She sat down with a loud thud. Which definitely startled every Shikigami, clearly wasn't expecting that.

*Woof* the white wolf barks in a welcoming way. Accompanied by a second *woof* from the black wolf.

Sensing that Mahoraga is now a part of their group. Everyone else soon joined in, either by a sound made from their mouth or a friendly gesture.

Madoka, Mirko, Nue, and Orochi all bowed their heads in respect. Uma also did it with a bit of hesitation. While Tsuyu croaked, Meghi let out a trumpet-like sound from her trunk, the last is Iroha let out a roar, but kept it in a low tone.

*click*

The ring above finishes a spin, Mahoraga opens her mouth and lets out a sound of her own.

"Thank....you." The adaptation added to her understanding of what the other Shikihami were, but also helped her communicate them as well.

All the Shikigami stare at her in awe, not a single one lets out any sound. Completely amazed by what she just did.

--------------

Somewhere in another country, a rift started to appear on its own.