✦ *Stigma – Chapter XXVII“The Revelation of the Hidden Name”* Victorian‑Style English Translation ✦

Within the speeding car, Louis—who had been prepared to drive into death itself— had begun to flee. There was a reason for this. As Eiji stared at the account name displayed upon Louis’s phone, a realization dawned upon him.

“Louis… this name… I know it… Why? It feels unbearably familiar.”

A flash of memory— a vast plain without a single structure. A world devoid of all trace of humankind. In the beginning there was light. And the Creator spoke: Let there be light. And sound was born, and words were born, and words gave birth to names— the names that would become the keys of the world.

“Do not remember!!” Louis cried out. But Eiji had already touched the ancient memory— the sealed strata of his own subconscious. The door long locked within him was beginning to open.

The empty plain. The blue sky. And the thing that had been placed into his hands—

“Aka…gi…?” A crack split the air inside the car.

“Tch—!” Louis jerked the steering wheel.

“No. Not Akagi. I know it. Your true name… it is…”

The tires screamed. Each time Eiji spoke a name— each time he erred— somewhere in the fabric of reality, a fracture appeared.

If he spoke the correct name, all would end.

Louis’s terror swelled.

“Say nothing more, Eiji!!!”

Eiji’s lips moved— slowly— and whispered the name.

“…Akami.”

At once, the road warped and rippled. Guardrails twisted like molten metal. The white lines reversed their flow. A colossal fissure tore through the car, dragging both of them into another realm.

They fell. Endlessly. Silver threads streamed around them like rivers of light.

“Wh—what is this!?”

“Do not touch it, Eiji! That is the rift of the world!!”

When the two of them landed—soundlessly—upon the lowest stratum, they found themselves in a sealed domain: a cavern of jagged stone, a blackened earth, and an overhead expanse like an artificial ceiling stained with dark, arterial red. No exit could be seen in any direction.

“Welcome to my party hall.” Masa’s voice resounded. His form was nowhere to be seen.

“Where… are we?” Eiji stepped back.

Ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha!

Masa laughed.

“Louis! Why don’t you explain it to him? Ah—no, I see. It’s because you can sense my presence. You can’t hide your light anymore.”

Louis’s killing intent swelled— and with it, the radiance of his body began to increase at an accelerating pace.

Eiji could scarcely believe his eyes.

“Louis… you’re… not human, are you? That body…”

“That is correct. I am not human. By command of the archangel Metatron, I was dispatched to the earth— an angel named Serametorion. A warrior of light who bears the soul of the sun, governing structure and flame. The name Akami is a shared cipher hidden within your memory.”

“That’s right,” Masa said. “Louis Akagi and I share the same cipher. But this cipher was designed so that it cannot be opened unless all three are present. It is, in essence, a key. And now you have come, Eiji. Your name means the one who stands upon the boundary. Light and darkness! The dead and the living!! Strength and weakness, sky and earth!! The one who stands upon the far shore between good and evil. As the mediator, you were destined to arrive here.”

“What are you talking about…? I don’t know anything! Louis! Answer me!”

“…We were, in the beginning, a single triune angel. And by the command of God, we were entrusted with the tuning and mediation of this world. I was given the sun. You were given the earth. And he— he was given the realm of darkness, the domain that devours and destroys all things.”

“Whichever side you choose, the balance of this world will be decided.”

Eiji could not comprehend what he was being told, yet a shudder ran through him— for he understood that something terrible, something vast and inescapable, had already ensnared him.

“Then… from the very beginning, we were…”

“That’s right!! Mizusawa Yūshū, Umemoto Rui, Nozaki Eiji— all of them mere stage props!! Chess pieces prepared within a pre‑ordained harmony for this very day! Ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha—ha!!!!”

Masa laughed like a man unhinged.

Eiji instinctively tried to hide behind Louis.

“Oh? So you run to him!! If you lean toward him, you will lose your shadow!! If you come toward me, you will lose your light!! But I know the truth. You’re an insect, aren’t you? Even if you approach the light, a creature like you will only burst apart and die! I know it— you want to be human. Eiji… come here. I understand you better than anyone. You don’t want to remain an insect, do you?”

“Look at him. Everything about him is perfect!! He provokes our inferiority, yours and mine alike, without even trying. You don’t want to be looked down on, do you? Of course you don’t. So what if he’s beautiful, so what if he’s admirable? You want to stand beside him? Idiot. You’ll only make yourself miserable!! Yes— his very existence drags your shame, your darkness, into the light!!”

Eiji could say nothing. For in truth, everything Masa had spoken was correct. Louis’s beauty, his sincerity— all of it felt unbearably distant from himself, and that distance filled Eiji with shame. Masa’s words struck precisely at that weakness, with a persuasion sharp enough to wound.

Masa loved the weakest part of Eiji. And at the same time, he regarded it as something he could crush with rage. His gravity swelled.

“You followed Louis with your eyes, feeling inferior all the while. You thought yourself unworthy, didn’t you? And you were right. If a prince chooses Cinderella, does she become happy? No!! An insect remains an insect for life!! Eiji!!! No matter how you struggle, an insect cannot become human!! Your genes are different!! You lost the parent lottery— you were born an insect, a creature of misery!!! But I do not deny you. We are insects together. Children unloved even by their parents— that is a wretched thing, isn’t it, Eiji? I know that feeling. Comfort never reaches you. It’s cold, isn’t it? The snow that never melts clings to your heart and never disappears, does it?! Stay with me in the sewer. Let us lick each other’s wounds. I will not deny you. If you are lonely, I will hold you. If you want sweet lies, I will give them. If your body aches, I will take you. Did he ever do that for you? He didn’t, did he?! He doesn’t care about you enough to lay a single finger on you!! Eiji. Come to me… Come to me. I alone can love you as the insect you are. Yes—come here. Hurry. By contract, I cannot approach you. You must choose, by the authority of the mediator!!”

“Eiji!! Do not listen to him!! If you are dragged into that gravity, you will never return!!” Louis cried out.

“Shut up! You stay silent!! Now choose!! I love you, Eiji!!” Masa’s roar shook the chamber.

Eiji remembered. Louis’s behavior toward him until now— awkward, speaking only the bare minimum, gentle yet distant, never allowing him to cling or depend. And yet beneath all of that, beneath the quiet restraint, there lay a warmth— a truth of love deeper than any heart he had ever known.

Eiji had already realized this. And therefore, the answer he would give Masa was already decided.

“…I wanted to be held. But I had no right to that. He never touched me. But… but still…!! Louis believed in me!! He believed that I could stand on my own… that he could wait for me…!! He believed I possessed strength… and because of that…!!

Outside, it may be pouring. I have no umbrella. Louis will not hand me one. But even so… Masa— to return beneath your umbrella… to crawl back into it again… that is wrong!!

I will remain in the rain. I will stay drenched. I will carry my suffering, my sorrow, my loneliness, my misery— all of it. And I… I will stand on my own feet!!”

At that moment, the world groaned. The voice of God thundered:

“THE CONTRACT IS SEALED!!! THE WORLD SHALL WALK THE PATH OF THE KING!!!”

“Why… why would you say that…? Louis. This is your fault. Your corrupting influence has driven Eiji mad. I won’t forgive you… You came later, and still— I won’t forgive you… Eiji, you belong to me… I’ll drag you both into hell and feed you to the three‑headed hound!!!”

Masa’s gravity exploded outward. Stone rose into the air, compressed, and reshaped itself into blades. The form of Masa’s heart dictated their shape. The blades floated upward, glittering like a chandelier beneath the ceiling.

“That is his true nature, Eiji. Stand back— far enough that my flame cannot reach you. From here on, this is my battle.”

“Arrogant wretch!! You insignificant insect!!!”

A thousand knives broke the sound barrier and hurled themselves toward the two of them.

Yet Louis needed only to glare at the blades— and they evaporated. Not merely evaporated: they were broken down to their molecules, fused as though in a stellar core, and detonated in a burst of light.

Half of Masa’s body was shattered into dust. But in the next instant, his gravity seized the scattered molecules, reassembled them, and restored his flesh.

“That hurts, damn it… Don’t you mock me.”

“Louis. You’re infuriating— but you’re too strong. And maybe I’m too strong as well. If we keep going like this, we’ll drag Eiji into it. So let’s change the rules.”

“Fine. From here on, I’ll fight you with my fists.”

“A fight club, is it!! Good. Let’s settle this!!”

What followed was a battle of pure savagery. Their bodies were angelic— incapable of dying— and the clash between them was far beyond anything human hands could produce.

After five hours, it seemed the fight might finally reach its end.

“GWA‑HA‑HA‑HAAA!!!!! This is my victory!! Die, Louis!!!”

It was then that Eiji— who had been hiding in the shadows, hands pressed over his ears— sensed Louis’s peril and leapt out before Masa.

“Stop!! Stop it!! UWAAAAAAAH!!”

Eiji ran. Ran through terror, ran through tears. Louis had saved him. He wanted— needed— to be of use to Louis. He would not let him die. He understood now: this was the battle he could not surrender.

“…What!? You fool!!”

Masa and Louis froze— their thoughts halted.

Masa’s fist did not strike Eiji directly. But the shockwave of that punch— a force no human body could ever withstand— reached him.

Across Eiji’s upper body, a vast blade of vacuum— a scythe of compressed air— cut through him.

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