The air inside the cave was heavy… as if the place itself refused to let them enter.
With their first step, the sound of their breathing bounced across the stone walls, turning into whispers of something watching them from the shadows.
Valen brushed his hand along the rough surface and muttered under his breath,
"It's… wider than I expected."
Rento smirked faintly as he scanned the darkness.
"The Evil Organization knows exactly where to build its hideouts… A place like this exists to plant fear."
Raizen arched a brow, eyeing the ceiling that seemed to stretch into nothingness.
"Do you think we'll make it out alive? Or even make it out at all?"
Valen and Rento, in perfect sync:
"No."
Raizen sighed.
"Great… It's just a cave. What's the worst that could happen?"
The cave answered him… with a dreadful silence.
---
A Forked Path
After minutes of walking, the passage split into two tunnels.
The three stopped.
Valen: "Let's split up… We'll cover more ground."
Rento quickly protested:
"Haven't you seen horror movies? The group that splits… dies!"
Raizen: "We're not in a movie, man. But any risk now could be the end of us."
Valen sighed.
"Fine… We stick together."
They chose the right path.
---
Fingers on the Ground
Their footsteps halted all at once.
The ground was carpeted with severed human fingers… small ones.
Children's fingers.
Valen gasped.
"Why would they cut off… children's fingers?"
Rento stepped forward, studying the dried blood.
"Things are starting to get interesting…"
Raizen shivered.
"Interesting?! This isn't a horror movie, Rento!"
Rento smirked.
"Are you scared?"
Raizen: "Don't make me turn around and go back…"
Rento suddenly focused on their rings.
"Did you notice? The rings… stopped pulsing."
Valen frowned.
"What kind of dumb organization… doesn't set traps?"
Rento laughed.
"The master of evil speaks!"
Valen: "That's not what I meant! I mean—maybe they want anyone to walk right in… then they cut off their fingers."
Raizen swallowed hard.
"Please… let's stop talking about this. I'm getting chills."
---
More Fingers… and a Cry
As they advanced, faint sounds reached them—children's voices… and a young man crying.
They hid behind a massive rock.
A young man stood before a group of bound children.
The man hissed,
"Where did you hide the sword?"
The children, trembling but defiant, shouted,
"We don't know! Idiot! Idiot!"
The man smiled… coldly.
He lifted a child's hand—
and cut off his finger.
The child screamed.
The cave trembled.
The three of them didn't hesitate.
They charged.
Valen: "Stop! In the name of the Nerve Organization!"
Rento: "I think… he wants to fight."
Raizen: "This place is bad. One wrong move and we're done."
The young man smiled—his lips stretching unnaturally to his ears.
Konika:
"I expected you… That's why the old woman is here."
Valen: "Old woman?"
An elderly woman stepped out from behind the rocks… trembling.
Raizen whispered,
"Valen… He has many soldiers. We should retreat and call for backup."
Valen:
"If we retreat now… the children die. And the old woman too."
Rento: "Which makes everything… more fun."
The old woman approached, shaking.
Old woman:
"I'm… sorry. They knew you were coming since last night."
Valen:
"How? Did you… betray us?"
Old woman:
"Yes."
Her voice carried shame and tears.
She lowered her head.
"At midnight… that sound you heard wasn't a cat. It was them… coming to assassinate you."
Rento snapped,
"Then why didn't you tell us?! You wrinkled old hag!"
Konika chuckled,
"Because I told her… If she warned you, I'd slaughter her… then the village… then you."
The old woman trembled harder.
Konika smiled.
"You chose well, old woman."
He looked at the trio.
"The rings you're wearing… are listening devices. We wanted to make sure she cooperated… so we monitored every word you said."
He clapped slowly.
Snapped his fingers.
In an instant…
every soldier collapsed dead.
Except one woman.
Konika: "There… now you're relieved?"
Rento snarled:
"Relieved?! You ruined the fun!"
Konika: "Don't come closer… or I'll kill myself."
The three exchanged looks.
Valen:
"I'll take him with Rento.
Raizen… the woman is yours."
Rento and Raizen: "Got it."
---
Raizen's Fight – A Language No One Knows
Raizen stepped toward the lone woman.
She smiled… and cried at the same time.
Her eyes were cracked—as if a war raged inside her.
Raizen:
"Why are you smiling… and crying? Are you sick?"
She didn't answer.
She simply raised her hand—
and threw a kunai with terrifying speed.
It grazed Raizen's cheek.
Raizen:
"Ah… a speed challenge?"
He grinned.
Lightning crackled around him.
"You're on."
He lifted his hand.
"Form Two — Lightning Orbs!"
The orbs launched—
but they were sliced apart mid-air.
Raizen froze.
How?
She had coated the kunai in aura—
the metal didn't conduct the lightning at all.
Raizen thought:
She's wrapping the blades in peak aura… Her control is insane…
Then she moved again.
More aura.
More intensity.
The kunai transformed into a glowing sickle.
She vanished.
Cold brushed Raizen's back—
then pain.
She had stabbed him.
His breath mixed with blood.
Raizen:
"Why… is everyone faster than me…?
I'm a Lightning Stone wielder!
I'm Kuarasi Raizen!!"
His heartbeat thundered painfully.
Speed isn't just lightning… It's the legs.
If I concentrate lightning there… I'll get faster…
But my body might break.
He looked at her eyes.
There was something there—
Pain.
A plea.
A silent scream.
Raizen:
"I'll risk it…"
He pumped lightning into both legs.
Veins strained.
Blood dripped from his back, nose, mouth.
Raizen:
"My last chance…"
He roared,
"Form Five — Rise of Lightning!"
He dashed.
In a blink, he was right in front of her.
Time seemed to slow.
Raizen:
"Form Three— Accelerated Lightning Fist!"
But before the blow connected…
She moved her hand.
A small sign.
Raizen's mind flashed:
A language? A signal? What is she saying…?
A second signal—
clearer.
Help me… please.
He froze for half a second.
She seized that moment.
Leaped back, dodging the punch.
The force of his missed strike
tore through the wall behind her,
shaking the cave.
Raizen:
"What do you want…?"
She raised her hand.
Another sign:
Pretend.
Then she kicked him hard.
He crashed into the wall and collapsed.
Ah…
She wants me to act dead…?
Fine… I'll give you that.
He closed his eyes—
letting consciousness fade just enough.
Forgive me… Valen… Rento…
Konika is yours now.