The rain did not stop.
It fell endlessly over Denjiyon Town, heavy and relentless, turning every street into a shallow river. Water dripped from the roofs of old wooden houses and gathered in dark pools along the cracked stone roads.
Thunder rolled across the valley.
The Essence Devil had disappeared into the forest.
But the silence it left behind felt worse than its presence.
For several seconds none of them moved.
Kaito slowly lowered his blade, staring at the torn forest where the devil had vanished.
"…So," he muttered, wiping rain from his face, "we just fought a walking swamp made of roots."
Akhiro didn't answer.
He was staring at the Holy Tree standing in the center of the town.
It towered above every building like an ancient monument.
The trunk was enormous, pale and twisted like bone. Massive roots spread across the town's ground like giant veins pushing through the earth.
Rainwater streamed down the bark.
But the longer Akhiro watched it—
The stranger it looked.
The water didn't simply run down the tree.
It was being absorbed.
The bark pulsed faintly, almost like skin drinking liquid.
Akhiro spoke quietly.
"…The tree is alive."
Kaito followed his gaze.
"You mean besides the part where it looks like a giant cursed demon tree?"
Akhiro ignored the joke.
"The rain isn't sliding off. It's feeding it."
Adryn wiped the black liquid that had splashed on his sleeve during the fight. The substance slowly dissolved in the rain like melted ink.
His eyes remained fixed on the tree.
"And the devil is connected to it."
Kaito sighed loudly.
"Great."
He gestured dramatically toward the tree.
"So the monster outside is powered by the biggest tree in the valley."
Lightning flashed above them.
For a split second the entire town turned white.
And that was when they noticed something strange.
The houses were not simply abandoned.
They were sealed.
Akhiro walked toward the nearest building.
Wooden charms hung above the doorframe, nailed into place with old iron spikes. The paper had yellowed from age and moisture.
He gently peeled one loose.
Ancient writing filled the paper.
"Containment seals," he murmured.
Kaito leaned over his shoulder.
"Containment for what?"
Akhiro slowly looked toward the forest.
"I think the villagers knew something was here."
Adryn studied the street carefully.
Every house had similar charms.
Some doors had entire clusters of them layered together like desperate protection.
Others had deep claw marks carved into the wood.
One window was shattered completely.
Something had tried to break inside.
Kaito noticed the scratches too.
"Yeah… they definitely knew."
They continued deeper into the town.
The rain fell harder with every passing minute.
Wind pushed through the empty streets, causing loose shutters to slam against walls.
The place felt frozen in time.
As if the entire population had vanished in the middle of their lives.
A small toy cart floated slowly down the flooded road.
Kaito nudged it with his foot.
"Kids lived here."
Akhiro checked the mission report again.
"Thirty-two missing people last year."
Adryn looked around the empty houses.
Thirty-two.
That number echoed strangely in his mind.
The streets were small.
This town probably only held a few hundred people.
Losing thirty-two in one night would have terrified everyone.
Yet there were no signs of evacuation.
No packed belongings.
No wagons.
Just silence.
Which meant one thing.
"They didn't run," Adryn said quietly.
Akhiro looked up.
"What?"
Adryn gestured toward the houses.
"Everything is still here."
Clothes still hung inside windows.
Cooking tools sat in kitchens.
Beds remained untouched.
"If they were evacuating, they would have taken something."
Kaito's grin slowly disappeared.
"So you're saying they didn't leave voluntarily."
Akhiro nodded slowly.
"They were taken."
Thunder rumbled again across the valley.
Eventually they reached the center of the town.
A large square opened between the buildings.
Wooden stalls surrounded the plaza.
Most of them had collapsed under years of rain.
Colorful banners hung from poles, faded and torn.
A broken gate stood at the entrance of the square.
The letters carved into it were barely readable.
MONSOON CARNIVAL
Kaito stared at it.
"So this is where the festival happens."
Akhiro looked around the plaza.
The decorations were still there.
Paper lanterns.
Wooden booths.
Rusted metal rings for carnival games.
But everything had rotted.
Rainwater dripped from broken poles.
The ground was covered in mud.
Kaito lifted one of the lanterns.
It crumbled in his hands.
"Festivals are supposed to be loud," he said.
"Music. Food. People everywhere."
He looked around the empty square.
"This place feels like the opposite of that."
Adryn looked toward the Holy Tree.
It stood at the far edge of the plaza like a silent guardian.
Or a prison warden.
They eventually found the town inn.
The building leaned slightly to one side, as if the years of rain had slowly pushed it toward collapse.
The wooden sign creaked in the wind.
Kaito pushed the door open.
It groaned loudly.
Inside—
Dust and moisture covered everything.
Chairs were overturned.
The counter had cracked down the middle.
But strangely—
The place wasn't completely destroyed.
Akhiro walked into the kitchen area.
"Food supplies."
Kaito blinked.
"What?"
Akhiro held up a sealed clay jar.
"Dried rice."
Another container held preserved vegetables.
Even cooking tools remained.
Kaito frowned.
"Nobody looted this place."
Adryn walked upstairs.
The floorboards creaked beneath his steps.
He opened several doors.
Three rooms still had usable beds.
He called down.
"We stay here tonight."
Kaito threw his bag onto the floor.
"Haunted hotel it is."
Akhiro set his training bag on the table and began organizing his talisman scrolls.
Lightning flashed again outside.
Through the window the Holy Tree loomed over the town.
Its shadow stretched across the streets like black fingers.
Night slowly swallowed the valley.
The storm continued without pause.
Rain hammered the inn roof like a thousand footsteps.
Inside the main room, a lantern burned softly.
The three of them sat around the wooden table.
Akhiro spread the mission report and began sketching a map of the town.
Kaito leaned back on a chair, balancing it on two legs.
Adryn stood near the window watching the rain.
Akhiro spoke first.
"The devil's behavior earlier wasn't random."
Kaito tilted his head.
"It attacked us."
"Yes," Akhiro replied, "but it didn't pursue."
He pointed at the map.
"It retreated directly toward the tree."
Kaito scratched his chin.
"So the tree is basically its battery."
Akhiro nodded.
"The roots spread under the entire town."
He drew lines branching from the tree.
"If the devil is connected to the roots, it can regenerate anywhere inside this area."
Kaito groaned dramatically.
"So the entire town is basically its stomach."
Adryn finally turned from the window.
"The storm is helping it too."
Akhiro looked up.
"What do you mean?"
Adryn spoke calmly.
"When I punched it earlier… the wound regenerated almost instantly."
He tapped the table.
"The rain rebuilt its body."
Kaito stopped rocking his chair.
"So the longer the storm lasts…"
Akhiro finished the sentence quietly.
"The stronger it becomes."
Thunder cracked again outside.
For a moment none of them spoke.
Then Kaito suddenly laughed.
"You realize something?"
Akhiro raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Kaito pointed between them.
"We're three first-year students."
He pointed toward the forest.
"And that thing is probably A-Rank."
Akhiro sighed.
"Possibly higher."
Kaito grinned again.
"And we're still planning to kill it."
Adryn's lips curved slightly.
"You're free to leave."
Kaito instantly sat forward.
"Nope."
Akhiro adjusted his glasses.
"I didn't come here to run either."
For a brief moment the tension broke.
The three of them shared a quiet laugh.
It wasn't bravery.
It was stubbornness.
Akhiro placed several talisman seals on the table.
"I can weaken its regeneration if I block its connection to the tree."
Kaito cracked his knuckles eagerly.
"Good."
He lifted his blade slightly.
"Because I'm cutting that thing apart."
They both looked toward Adryn.
He stared out the window again.
The Holy Tree stood motionless in the storm.
But deep inside its bark—
Something pulsed.
Like a heartbeat.
Adryn spoke quietly.
"We lure it back into the town."
Akhiro frowned.
"That could destroy everything."
Adryn shook his head.
"If we fight it in the forest, the rain and roots will make it immortal."
Kaito grinned slowly.
"So we fight on its feeding ground… and cut the supply."
Akhiro leaned back in his chair.
"That's insane."
Kaito laughed.
"Exactly."
Adryn extinguished the lantern.
The room fell into darkness.
Lightning illuminated the valley again.
The Holy Tree glowed faintly in the storm.
"Tomorrow," Adryn said quietly,
"we kill the Essence Devil."
Thunder exploded across the mountains.
And deep inside the forest—
Something enormous moved.
Watching the town.
Watching the three lights inside the inn.
Waiting for morning.