“Chapter IV: Oath of Iron”

The mask was only the beginning. The true vow was forged deeper — in the mind. He learned quickly that the greatest enemies were not those who carried blades, but the whispers within that sought to dull his edge. Fear. Doubt. Memory. Desire. Each came to test the strength of his resolve.

He did not fight them with rage. He fought them with silence. Days bled into nights. Breath became ritual. Pain became teacher. He learned that control was not the absence of emotion — but the refusal to be ruled by it.

He tempered his thoughts like steel in flame —heating them in struggle, cooling them in stillness. Until one day, when fear came knocking, it found no home within him. From that moment, he was unshakable. The world could move, but he would not. He became the still blade in a trembling hand.

• X (XtheDemonSlayer)