"Is she the one who was calling for help?"
Kagaribi asked, looking toward Erni.
"Mhm..."
Cyan nodded.
"Hello, I'm Erni."
Erni gave a small wave to Kagaribi. Having attended that wedding, she naturally recognized the slightly disheveled woman as the bride. Although she had many questions, now was clearly not the time.
"Kagaribi."
Kagaribi stated her name somewhat coldly. Looking at the ronin corpses on the ground, she recalled villagers mentioning a group of vagrants in the mountains; she hadn't expected to encounter them here.
"Take... these..."
Cyan pulled out two worn-out katanas and tossed them to Kagaribi and Erni. She gave them the weapons only because she didn't believe the two of them could pose any threat to her with such battered blades.
Erni followed Kagaribi and Cyan back into the cave. As they sat before the fire, the flickering flames seemed to possess a magical power, gradually calming her panicked heart.
Cyan... that woman just called him Cyan...
Is Cyan also a veteran survivor?
Erni thought back to the veteran who had unhesitatingly used that strange move to leave them at the mercy of the mad samurai. She stole a glance at Cyan, who was maintaining a two-meter distance from her.
In the dead of night, Cyan's eyes snapped open. She saw Basara emerging from the shadows, the blades of The Evil-Doer Destroyer lunging toward a sleeping Kagaribi. Cyan pounced, grabbing the chain and wrenching Basara out of the darkness.
"Don't interfere!"
Basara's eyes were bloodshot and leaking crimson tears as he glared hideously at Cyan.
"..."
Cyan stepped aside to dodge Basara's strike and landed a punch square on his chest.
With a thud, Basara was sent tumbling backward across the ground. Cyan gave chase, lunging forward to evade the triple-bladed shuriken spinning toward her from the shadows.
"Die! Die!!!"
The sounds of the struggle woke Kagaribi and Erni—or rather, they were jolted awake by Basara's screams.
"Don't... come... closer..."
Cyan spoke without looking back. She sent Basara flying with another punch and pursued him, raining down a barrage of strikes. The air crackled with the sound of sonic booms from her speed.
Kagaribi and Erni couldn't even track Cyan's movements; they could only see one fist-print after another appearing on Basara's body. Cyan eventually beat him out of the cave.
"Basara! Cyan!"
Kagaribi chased after them. Erni hesitated for a moment but followed. Wandering the wilderness alone meant she certainly wouldn't last ten days; she was better off staying near this powerful "boy" who, despite his cold face, seemed to possess a shred of kindness.
"Don't think you can stop me from being with Kagaribi!"
Purple light gathered in Basara's hand, flickering erratically before flying toward Cyan.
Soul of the Thrush—a vengeful spirit formed from malice that automatically tracks enemies and explodes on contact.
Cyan dodged the spirit and avoided a strike from the shuriken, but to her surprise, the Soul of the Thrush pulled a U-turn. It drifted onto her back and detonated. The scabs on her unhealed wounds were blown open, leaving jagged tears as blood began to flow once more.
Basara took the opportunity to dive into the shadows, reappearing right in front of Cyan. He grabbed her collar and dragged her into the shadow realm with him.
A mere second later, he burst out of the shadows with Cyan. The sharp blades of The Evil-Doer Destroyer glinted under the moonlight, carving an elegant arc through the air. Blood bloomed in the sky like a seductive crimson flower.
"Cyan!"
Seeing the spray of blood, Kagaribi tried to rush forward to stop Basara's cruelty.
"Are you stupid?! You'll die if you go up there now!"
Erni grabbed her, cursing the "dumb woman" in her head. She was already planning her escape; if even Cyan was killed, staying here was a death sentence. It would be better to let the bride distract the madman while she slipped away.
The moment Cyan hit the ground, she scrambled up and kicked off the earth, performing a backflip to evade another shadow-strike.
With 180 Health Points, Cyan had just tanked the damage from Basara's "Tomobiki" (Seven-Stage Friend-Pull) move. She was left with less than 30 HP. Had her body not been digitized by the system, that move would have cleaved her upper torso in two from the chest up.
Even so, her life was now a flickering candle in the wind. One more hit—two at most—and her HP would hit zero.
Cyan didn't hesitate. She pulled the Soy Sauce Rice Ball from her Survival Mark and ate it. The massive wound that nearly split her chest, reaching up to her jaw, stopped bleeding. It looked as though thick, viscous blood had been glued over the gash.
Dashing between the tricky angles of the spinning blades, Cyan closed the distance to Basara at high speed.
Basara tried the same trick, throwing a ball of purple light. This time, Cyan didn't dodge. She punched it directly. The Soul of the Thrush exploded between them; the wounds that had just stopped bleeding opened up once more.
Taking the damage, Cyan landed a punch on Basara's jaw. As he was launched into the air, she grabbed his chains, swung him around, and slammed him into the ground. She repeated the motion, smashing him into the other side several times before throwing him away.
It wasn't that Cyan didn't want to keep slamming him, but her HP couldn't handle the strain. The violent movements caused more blood to pour from her injuries.
With less than 10 HP remaining and dizzy from blood loss, Cyan staggered back two steps, propping herself against a tree to keep from collapsing.
A demon born from resentment and hatred cannot be killed by ordinary means. Aside from purification or sealing, only attacks that deal soul damage work. Cyan's attacks were purely physical; she could deplete Basara's HP, but she couldn't truly kill him.
Perhaps finding a muscular monk to perform an exorcism would have been easier.
"Die!"
Seeing Cyan unable to fight back, Basara laughed with bloodthirsty madness, throwing The Evil-Doer Destroyer into the shadow beneath him.
A rift opened above Cyan's head, and the triple-bladed shuriken dropped toward her skull.
Sensing the attack from above, Cyan rolled across the ground without hesitation. Under Basara's control, the weapon gave chase. Cyan pressed her hands to the earth and kicked the center of the shuriken, knocking the lethal weapon back into the shadows.
Blood dripped onto the dirt as Cyan forced herself to stand, her breathing becoming ragged.
"Die, you obstacle!"
Watching the swaying Cyan, Basara laughed manically and threw his weapon again, blood-tears streaming from his eyes. The spinning blades aimed true for Cyan's slender, fragile neck.
The sound of clashing metal rang out. Kagaribi, wielding the worn-out katana, intercepted the strike. The already battered, notched blade shattered into fragments, scattering on the ground.
"Enough... Basara..."
Kagaribi looked at him with sorrow. She truly did not want him to continue this madness.
"Basara... if my death can bring your soul peace, I am willing to die. But I do not want to die by your hand."
Kagaribi pressed the sharp edge of the shuriken against her own throat. A drop of bright red blood slid down the blade as tears escaped her eyes.
"Kagaribi... Kagaribi... KAGARIBI! No! No! NO!!!"
Seeing that drop of blood, Basara's eyes went wide. The madness receded. He rushed to her and reclaimed his weapon.
"Kagaribi... you must live well..."
The blood-tears in Basara's eyes gradually turned into clear, transparent droplets.
"Basara..."
Kagaribi embraced the now-lucid Basara.
"The demon is here."
Zankuro Minazuki stepped out of the forest. The moonlight hit his frame, making his silhouette exceptionally terrifying.
It's him! Why is that mad samurai here?!
Erni nearly fainted from fear. She turned to run, but what happened next made her abandon the idea.
"I will not let you hurt Kagaribi! Never!"
Basara looked at Zankuro with pure hatred, letting out a hysterical roar as he yanked his chain, returning the shuriken to his grip.
"Let me see how powerful a demon can be! Kill me, or be killed by me!"
Zankuro didn't recognize that the demon before him was someone he had already cut down once. His blade, the Red Steel Grudge Prison, had feasted on so many lives that he naturally couldn't remember every single soul he had ended.