Page 1
The Northern Wall of the Shalubi Kingdom appears on the horizon.
Five riders stop at the top of the hill. The wind moves their clothes. No one speaks for a moment.
Thian breaks the silence.
"What's the plan?"
Mabu doesn't turn.
"We go in. And we finish what needs finishing."
"That's not a plan."
"Totoki. Speak."
Page 2
Totoki rides his horse forward.
"We need a distraction. Something that draws all the soldiers toward one point — far from the palace. If we enter with this number and all the soldiers are in position, we won't reach any room."
Yuzuha: "And if the distraction works?"
"We thin them out. Then advance toward the palace. And the two people with the real right to be here are Mabu and Thian."
Page 3
"Karki, Yuzuha, and I hold whatever comes from both sides. We're the shield between them and the soldiers. You two advance. Don't stop for anything."
Silence.
Thian looks at Totoki.
"When did you start making plans?"
Totoki doesn't answer. He just looks forward.
Mabu urges his horse ahead.
"We move."
Page 4
At the same time. In the palace.
Linsan sits alone in front of an empty board with a pen in his hand.
He's not writing.
He's just looking.
Inside his mind — a distant night. Blood on his hands that wasn't his blood. The face of a man in the middle of a fire, killing everyone in front of him without stopping.
The Man of the Single Step.
Page 5
He remembers the first meeting.
That factory. The night the Jouki Gang was knocked back a hundred steps in a single evening. When the old man stabbed him three times. When he thought he was dead.
Then Ginzo saved him.
Then the trial. The fabricated charge. The old man who survived — through cleverness. Because of Bumer's stupidity.
Page 6
"The first opportunity I wasted — when the old man was right in front of us the night Qurqur was killed. Bumer was watching everything. If I had moved, I would have become the accused."
He sets the pen on the table.
"The second opportunity I wasted — when he disappeared afterward. Years of searching. Nothing."
Page 7
"Then the festival. I saw him. I tried to track him. But I couldn't find him."
He stands. He walks toward the window.
"But now."
He smiles — a slow smile.
"I convinced Bumer that Qurqur's son is with the old man. That the old man burned the village. That both of them are criminals."
He looks at the city below him.
"And I eliminated the Jouki leaders. And became their sole commander."
Page 8
He returns to his chair. He sits.
"And finally. I've arrived at what I've wanted since all those years."
He laces his hands behind his head.
"No one will stand in my way anymore."
BOOOOM.
Page 9
A massive explosion shakes the windows.
Linsan stands instantly.
Smoke rises from the middle of the capital. Fire consumes one of the markets. Screaming reaches him from below.
He looks.
Then his eyes narrow.
"Perhaps that's the old man."
He turns.
"Squad commander. Numbers One and Two. With me. Now."
Page 10
Three people emerge from the shadows without a sound.
They stand behind him.
Linsan opens the door and runs toward the explosion.
Page 11
From a distance — someone watches the four of them running.
He turns.
Mabu looks toward the other side. The palace's rear gate. Empty.
"Now."
All five move.
Page 12
Mabu reaches the door. He drives both wooden hands into it. It flies open.
They enter.
The palace courtyard.
Then.
One slow moment.
Three people drop from the ceiling like stones. Number Three. Number Four. Number Seven.
Page 13
Number Seven launches at Mabu. A kick to the face.
Mabu deflects it with his wooden hand. He grabs the foot. He pulls. A sharp punch to the throat.
He shoves him right — drives his head into the floor with force that cracks the tile.
Number Seven is back on his feet at unnatural speed.
Yuzuha appears in front of him. Her chain wraps around his body.
"Mabu. Go."
Page 14
Totoki hits Number Four with a powerful sideways punch. Sends him off balance cleanly.
Karki grabs Number Three from behind. Pins him.
"Go, both of you. We don't have time."
Mabu turns. He runs deeper into the palace. Thian behind him.
Page 15
Another corridor. Longer. Narrower.
Number Six appears from the corner. He stands in the middle.
"Stop."
Thian: "Mabu. Keep going."
Mabu runs past Number Six without stopping.
Number Six attacks Mabu.
A punch from the left connects with his face. He falls.
Thian stands over him.
"It's better to focus on the opponent in front of you."
Page 16
A massive door at the end of the corridor.
Mabu doesn't stop. He drives both wooden hands into it.
It opens.
The dining room.
Bumer sitting at the head of the table. A plate in front of him he hasn't started. He raises his head slowly.
"Who are you."
Kazuko on the other side. He looks at Mabu with eyes that don't change.
Mabu converts his right hand to a blade.
"Buuuumer."
He launches.
Page 17
Crack.
Mabu's right wooden hand shatters in the air.
Mabu stops. His face shifts. What just happened.
Kazuko standing in front of him. Holding the broken pieces.
He looks at Mabu. Then at the piece in his hand. Then at Mabu again.
"What are you doing here?"
His voice is calm. Frightening in its calm.
He lifts Mabu into the air by his armless wrist.
"Do you want to die, boy?"
Page 18
Elsewhere in the palace.
Totoki faces Number Four.
Blood running from his head. His breath ragged.
Number Four laughs.
"You're far too weak for this place. Why did you come?"
Totoki gasps.
"Why am I weak?"
He doesn't say it to Number Four. He says it to himself.
Page 19
Totoki steps back.
He takes a hit from the right. Then from the left. Then from the front.
"You can't even fight back?"
Inside Totoki's mind: not here. Not now.
Somewhere deeper.
Page 20
An old memory.
A small room. Faint light.
A large father hitting a small boy without reason. Once. Twice. The boy doesn't cry. He just goes silent and makes himself small.
Then the street. Bullies hitting the same boy. Everywhere he goes. The same thing.
Young Totoki sitting alone in the darkness. Pressing his hands over his ears.
Page 21
Totoki's voice inside his own head:
It was always there. That pulse. Wanting out every time I got angry. I held it in always. I was afraid of it.
He takes another punch. He drops to one knee.
But why?
He remembers that night. His hands. Blood that wasn't his. His father on the floor.
Because I saw what I became that night. And I didn't want to see it again.
He stops.
But today is not that night.
Page 22
Totoki raises his head.
He smiles.
A smile no one has ever seen on him before. Not mad. Not frightening. Just free.
"Finally."
Number Four stops.
"What did you say?"
Totoki extends his right hand. Fire comes out of it slowly. Then it ignites completely.
Totoki grabs his own face. And burns himself.
Number Four screams.
Page 23
Totoki takes one step back.
The right half of his face is burned. His right hand blazes.
But he doesn't react to the pain. Or perhaps he feels it and simply doesn't care.
He places his left hand slowly over the burned side of his face.
He raises his head.
Number Four looks at him.
"What the—"
Page 24
The burned side of Totoki turns violet.
It spreads. It expands. His eyes ignite.
Number Four steps back.
"What in the hell is—"
Totoki screams.
A violet beam launches.
It tears through the palace.
The wall. The corridor. The ceiling. Everything in its path splits open.
The scream doesn't stop.
Continued in Chapter Thirty-Three