Chikka

Two hundred seventeen scrolls on bloodline curses, fifty-three years of disciplined meditation, one moment of utter desperation. Chikka believed knowledge could tame any demon, especially the one they shared in blood with the accursed Zenchi. In The Great Panda City, their scholarship was legendary, a quiet testament to a controlled life. But when Soul Chasers breached the northern gate, their dark flames licking at the cherry blossoms, all of Chikka’s theories turned to ash. They made a choice. They unleashed the curse. The invaders were obliterated in a storm of raw, ancestral power, but so was Chikka’s entire library—and the young student who ran to their side. They saved the city but lost their soul. The look of shock from that moment never left their face.