A man stood atop the curved roof of a forgotten shrine, framed against the fading violet sky.
Emerald eyes, cold and glassy, stared skyward—watching not the clouds, but something far beyond them.
Behind him, three figures knelt low, pressed against the cracked tiles, trembling. One bore the glistening coils of a serpent demon, scales twitching. Another had limbs too long and skin like charred bark. The third, hunched and skeletal, hissed softly with the stench of rotting fog around him.
None dared to breathe too loud.
The man didn't look at them not at first. Instead, with slow, deliberate motion, he raised a hand to his face and began to unwrap the long cloth that concealed it. Strip by strip, the gauze slid free, catching the wind before drifting to the tiles below.
When the final layer fell, his face was revealed—flawless, ethereal. A beauty not meant for mortal eyes, sharp as a blade, silent as moonlight. Handsome in every cruel, perfect angle. But there was nothing warm in that face. Nothing kind. Only silence, and the void that lived behind those emerald eyes.
He turned slowly, gaze resting on the three demons behind him.
Then he raised a single finger and pointed to the one in the center the skeletal one, still bowing.
"Weak."
The moment the word left his lips, the demon screamed. A red sigil flared beneath him then fire erupted, Flames coiled from within his flesh, blooming outward like a demonic lotus. He clawed at his face, bones cracking, skin peeling, until he was nothing but ash.
The other two slammed their heads to the tiles, faces nearly in the cracks.
"Forgive us!" hissed the serpent one, voice shaking. "We made a mistake!" whimpered the twisted-limbed demon.
"We didn't recognize you!"
The man took a step forward.
Then another.
His boots barely made a sound on the rooftop tiles, but the two remaining demons flinched as if thunder had struck. His eyes glinted faintly now, like glass catching starlight. He stopped just before them, casting a long shadow over their trembling forms.
"Tell me," he said quietly, almost kindly. "What was your mistake?"
The serpent demon raised his head slightly, his forked tongue flickering nervously. "We—we disrespected your presence," he hissed.
"We blocked your path," the other one choked out, bowing so low his forehead cracked against the tile. "We thought you were a trespasser. We were wrong. Forgive us… please…"
"Wrong,"
Their bodies froze, the air thickening. He stepped even closer now, towering over them.
"Your mistake," he said quietly, "was not stopping me."
He stepped forward, "It wasn't the arrogance. Or the weapons. Or even the fact that you blocked my path."
His voice lowered, razor-sharp. "It was calling me human."
The two demons flinched hard, heads bowing lower as if the word itself had doomed them.
"You looked at me… and couldn't recognize what stood before you." He tilted his head slightly, eyes glowing faintly beneath the twilight haze.
"Tell me—what was your mistake again?"
The two demons trembled, their foreheads pressed hard to the cold stone, voices barely above a whisper. "We… we called you a human," one stammered. "When you are our lord…" the other choked out, shaking.
A cruel smile tugged at his lips as he turned slightly, the wind catching the edges of his dark cloak.
"Forgive us… please, my lord. We'll do anything—anything you command!"
"We were blind. Foolish. Let us serve. Let us atone."
A silence followed long enough to make the air itself feel heavier. Then, he took a slow step forward, his shadow stretching over them.
"Anything?"
The demons didn't hesitate. "Yes. Without question." He paused… then leaned just slightly, gaze glinting.
"Then let me give you something."
Whatever they saw in his eyes made both demons demons go still utterly transfixed, as if caught in a trance. For a heartbeat, they forgot to breathe. hypnotized, as if their very minds had been pinned under his will. When he finally leaned back, the spell shattered. They exchanged a quick, terrified glance—then swallowed hard.
"As our lord commands," one whispered.
"Your will… is ours," the other added quickly, bowing even lower.Without another word, they turned and vanished, fleeing into the wind.
"Your will… is ours," the other added quickly, bowing even lower.
Without another word, they turned and vanished, fleeing into the wind.
The man stood silent, watching the shadows of their retreat disappear into the distance. Then, slowly, he reached for the dark cloth again, fingers deftly beginning to wrap it back around his face.
"Even now… they still don't understand what they bowed to."Under his breath, he muttered quiet, almost amused, "Pathetic."
—————
Meanwhile,
Astra slumped against a rock, tossing her arms in the air. "How unfair! First they block all the roads, and now—not a single rest stop is open?
Everyone turned back to glance at her. Kaen merely sighed. Shion rolled his eyes. Seirou didn't even stop walking.
She jabbed a finger toward Kaen, who was carrying a sleepy Xue nestled in his arms like a bundle of dumplings. "Look at Xue! He's practically melting in Kaen's arms, Are we just going to walk all night? What if a demon shows up and eats our faces while we're too tired to scream?"
Seiya stumbled a few steps behind, awkwardly holding up the hem of his flowing, rose-pink robes. "Some of us already feel like our dignity's been eaten alive," he muttered.
Seirou glanced over his shoulder, lips curling. "You sure you're? I'd bet twenty silver no one would guess you're a man."
"Shut up," Seiya hissed, cheeks burning. "This thing keeps catching on rocks—I nearly tripped over a flower!"
Astra cackled, arms crossed. "You've got two more days in that, remember?"
Shion added, "That was the dare. Three days, full outfit, no complaints."
"I hate all of you," Seiya grumbled.
"You're the one who lost the bet," Kaen said flatly.
After another long stretch of walking, their path curved past a low ridge—and beyond it, they came upon what looked like a long-forgotten settlement. Broken stone walls lined the overgrown road. Wooden homes sagged with time, their shutters creaking in the wind. Weeds crawled up old shrines, and moss blanketed everything like the place had been asleep for decades.
Astra's eyes scanned the ruins, hands on her hips. "This place looks old and abandoned… like really abandoned."
Seiya, walking just a step behind her, raised an eyebrow. "What? Scared?"
She snorted. "Pfft. Scared? No. If anything, this is perfect! We can stay in one of these houses tonight. No one's here to stop us!"
Seiya facepalmed, dragging a hand down his face. "Of course that's your take."
Kaen's calm voice followed, "She's not wrong. All official inns and homes are shut down because of the demon threat. Compared to sleeping under a tree, this is a good alternative. Just pick one that looks stable."
They spread out slightly, scanning the buildings. Most were crumbling or half-collapsed.
A few moments later, Astra pointed excitedly across the street. "Ooh! What about that one?"
She was grinning up at a faded shrine nestled between two stone lanterns, its roof intact and steps mostly clear. The wooden doors hung slightly ajar, but it looked far better than the rest.
Shion squinted. "A shrine, huh? Bold choice. Let's just hope the gods in there aren't the moody kind."
Seirou walked past them all without a word, heading straight for the shrine as if he'd already decided.
"Guess we're staying in a prayer house tonight," Seiya muttered.
Xue let out a soft yawn from Kaen's arms, and that seemed to settle it.
They moved toward the shrine, the creaking of old wood and the rustling of dry leaves underfoot the only sounds that followed them. The group was halfway up the stone steps when Ryoma suddenly slowed to a halt.
His gaze snapped upward, sharp and alert, locking onto the rooftop.
Kaen, just behind him, noticed the shift in his posture and tapped his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Ryoma didn't answer immediately. His eyes swept the roofline weathered tiles, a few missing corners, shadows cast by the dying light. He could feel it. That eerie prickle at the back of the neck. Like eyes. Watching.
He blinked once, slow and deliberate, before speaking. "Nothing. Just… checking if the roof's stable."
Kaen raised a brow but didn't press. "Right."
With that, Ryoma stepped forward, pushing the feeling down. They both entered the shrine just behind the others.
In Kaen's arms, Xue stirred. The child shifted restlessly, snuggling deeper into his chest, as if sensing the air had grown just a little colder.