The ruined city was quiet.
But not peaceful.
Never peaceful.
It was the kind of silence that felt… watched.
From the rooftops above—
Rishiro stood.
Still.
Unmoving.
Like a shadow carved into the darkness.
His gaze swept across the streets below, calm and observant.
Groups of survivors moved cautiously through the city.
Some stuck close together, whispering nervously as they checked every corner.
Some fought—
Struggling against weaker yokai, barely managing to survive each encounter.
Others didn't move at all.
They hid.
Locked inside buildings.
Holding their breath.
Waiting for morning—
Like it would save them.
Rishiro watched.
Quietly.
Carefully.
His eyes tracked patterns.
Movement.
Behavior.
Weakness.
Time passed.
Then—
He exhaled softly.
"…Enough sightseeing."
His voice was low.
Decisive.
He reached up and pulled his hood lower, letting the darkness swallow more of his face.
And then—
He moved.
No sound.
No warning.
Gone.
Like he had never been there.
Not far away—
A narrow alley echoed with uneven footsteps.
A boy ran.
Desperate.
His breathing came in sharp, broken gasps.
Tears blurred his vision as he stumbled forward, barely able to see where he was going.
Behind him—
Something followed.
Not running.
Not chasing.
Gliding.
A pale, woman-shaped figure drifted through the alley.
Her long black hair dragged along the ground like a shadow of its own.
Her arms stretched unnaturally, reaching forward slowly—
Patiently.
Her voice whispered softly.
Too soft.
Too close.
"Child…"
The boy tripped.
His foot caught on broken pavement.
He fell hard.
Pain shot through his body.
But he didn't even react.
Because when he looked up—
She was already there.
Above him.
Watching.
Her head tilted slowly.
Too slowly.
Her mouth began to open.
Wider.
Wider.
Far beyond what a human face should allow.
An Ubume.
The air itself felt colder.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't scream.
Couldn't think.
Then—
Something fell into the alley.
A shadow.
It landed without a sound.
But the moment it appeared—
Everything changed.
The creature froze.
Its unnatural body went still.
For a brief moment—
Even the yokai hesitated.
Then—
The darkness moved.
Fast.
Too fast to follow.
A single sharp sound cut through the air—
Like something slicing reality itself.
The yokai shrieked.
A violent, distorted scream.
The alley trembled.
The walls cracked slightly from the force of impact.
And then—
Nothing.
Silence.
Heavy.
Absolute.
The boy slowly opened his eyes.
Shaking.
Terrified.
The Ubume—
Was gone.
Only fragments remained.
Dark pieces scattered across the pavement like something that had been erased.
The alley itself looked damaged.
Scratches along the walls.
Cracks across the ground.
Signs of something that had happened too fast to understand.
But the one who saved him—
Was already gone.
The night had swallowed the shadow once more.
As the hours passed—
Something strange began to happen across the city.
At first—
No one noticed.
Then—
People started talking.
Yokai were disappearing.
Not running.
Not hiding.
Destroyed.
Small monsters roaming the streets would suddenly vanish.
Some were found—
Torn apart.
Others—
Reduced to fragments.
Sometimes entire groups disappeared at once.
No survivors.
No witnesses.
Just—
Aftermath.
Survivors who stumbled across the scenes always saw the same thing.
Broken pavement.
Walls ripped apart.
Deep cuts across buildings.
Fragments of yokai scattered everywhere.
But never—
A body.
Never—
A person.
No one saw who did it.
No one understood how.
And slowly—
Quietly—
Rumors began to spread.
Whispers between survivors.
Fear mixed with curiosity.
"Something is hunting the yokai."
"…Not humans."
"Something stronger than them."
"A shadow in the night."
"A hunter."
Dawn slowly began to rise.
The sky shifted into a pale gray.
Light returned—
Weak.
Cold.
Near the abandoned house—
Nando babā stood outside.
Holding a broom.
Sweeping the ground aggressively.
"Tch…"
Her voice was filled with irritation.
"Stupid humans…"
"Making messes everywhere…"
She muttered under her breath as she worked.
Then—
She stopped.
Her ears twitched slightly.
Something—
Was coming.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Footsteps echoed down the street.
Slow.
Steady.
But heavy.
Not physically—
But something else.
A pressure.
Something that made the air itself feel tense.
The yokai froze.
For just a moment—
A thought crossed her mind.
…An oni?
Something powerful.
Something dangerous.
Something—
Not normal.
The figure slowly appeared through the morning mist.
A silhouette at first.
Then clearer.
Then—
Sunlight touched his face.
Rishiro.
He walked casually down the street.
Stretching slightly, like someone returning from a normal walk.
Relaxed.
Unbothered.
Like the night hadn't existed.
"Morning."
He passed her without even slowing down.
"The bathroom free?"
No hesitation.
No explanation.
No concern.
He walked inside the house.
As if nothing had happened.
Nando babā blinked.
"…Huh?"
Confusion replaced her earlier tension.
Slowly—
She turned.
Walking toward the street he had come from.
Step by step—
Until—
She saw it.
Her broom slipped from her hands.
The pavement—
Was destroyed.
Cracks spread across the road like fractures in glass.
Deep.
Violent.
Fragments of yokai covered the entire street.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
Maybe more.
Walls nearby were slashed open.
Clean cuts.
Precise.
Street signs—
Split perfectly in half.
The entire road looked like a battlefield.
No—
Worse.
Like something had passed through it.
Something unstoppable.
The old yokai stood there.
Silent.
Processing.
Then—
She muttered quietly.
"…Is he really human?"
Behind her—
Inside the house—
Rishiro closed the bathroom door.
Click.
The sound was soft.
Ordinary.
As if the entire night—
Had been nothing more than a short walk.
End of Chapter 18