The sea was silent. Not peaceful—dead.
As their boat drifted through the coastal waters of the Usuki Kingdom, Hatashi, Kaitara, Tiatsuri, and Sensei Hashiro could feel it. The ocean reeked faintly of poison, waves sluggish as though life itself had drained away.
"This water…" Tiatsuri muttered, trailing his fingers along the surface. A second later, he doubled over, coughing blood.
"Tiatsuri!" Kaitara grabbed him, her Takuda mark glowing bright pink. Healing energy flowed from her palms into his body, burning away the toxin before it could reach his heart. His ragged breathing steadied, color returning to his face.
"Thanks, sis," he said with a weak grin.
"Thank Sensei," Kaitara corrected firmly. "He's the one who taught us how to awaken our powers."
Tiatsuri leaned back, smirking despite himself. "Then I owe him twice over."
Hatashi said nothing. His Devil's Eye shimmered faintly as he scanned the poisoned tide. The current itself twisted unnaturally. This was no ordinary toxin—it was power, crafted and spread by a master.
Their boat scraped against the remains of a coastal village. Houses leaned on broken beams. Nets hung empty, rotting where they'd been left. A fisherman appeared from the shadows, his eyes sunken but burning with desperation.
"Usuki warriors," he rasped. "The River King has cursed this land. He killed our ruler and poisoned the sea. Please… save us."
Without another word, the man led them to the edge of the river and offered his boat. He did not climb aboard.
"This is as far as I can go," he whispered. "If you fail, none of us will live."
The four warriors pushed into the mist. By the time the silhouette of a palace emerged, the air itself had grown sharp with frost. Ice crusted the oars. The world fell silent.
Inside the throne room, the River King waited.
He sat on a frozen throne, his body broad and towering, skin pale blue, eyes like shards of glass. The ground beneath his feet was solid ice, veins of frost crawling up the golden walls.
"You children should have stayed in your academy," he said, his voice like cracking glaciers. "Now you'll die here, forgotten beneath the ice."
Tiatsuri stepped forward, fists crackling with faint lightning. "We'll free this land from your grip."
The River King smiled coldly. "Then perish."
He slammed his palm into the floor. The palace trembled. Thorned vines of ice burst upward, twisting like serpents. Frozen skeletons clawed their way from the ground, armed with jagged blades.
"Water technique: ice emergence" The river king said then grinned.