Dawn bled through the wet canopy, silver threads glinting on the moss and puddles as Rin, Kaito, and the Ash Walkers advanced. The path ahead was slick with rain, mud clinging to boots and armor, but the forest felt strangely awake the hum of dripping water, rustling leaves, and distant birdcalls punctuated the silence.
Rin led with measured steps. Kaito stayed close, alert, scanning the undergrowth as if the trees themselves might conceal unseen foes. Behind them, Ayame, Yori, and Shun moved like a living formation, senses taut, anticipation humming in the air.
Ayame whispered, pointing toward a low ridge "The officer's position should be just beyond that hill. A handful of men, disciplined, dangerous. He's not reckless, so neither can we be."
Kaito smirked, brushing wet hair from his face. "So, straight into the lion's den. Should be fun."
Rin didn't reply, gaze fixed on the faint outlines of tents and banners below. Even in the muted light, he could feel the tension radiating off the soldiers, lazy movements, careless postures, yet alert enough to be deadly if provoked.
They descended cautiously, using fallen logs and uneven ground as cover. Shun crept forward, disappearing behind a tangle of ferns, and dropped one soldier before he could sound an alarm. Yori's spear arced like a silent thunderbolt, taking down another with clean precision. Rin's senses were alive to every detail, a twitch of a banner, the glint of steel under wet canvas, the whisper of someone shifting.
Kaito followed, fists and blade ready, moving with raw force that cut through the enemy's formation like a tidal wave. The officer emerged from a larger tent, armor glinting and expression hard. "Rin Tatsuya," he growled, voice like gravel. "I wondered if you'd survive this far. You'll die here."
Rin's lips didn't move. His blade danced in his hand, meeting the officer's in a shower of sparks. The officer's swings were fierce and descimating, designed to overwhelm, but Rin's motions were precise, economical, deadly, as if he was one with the wind. Each clash resonated through the mist dampened clearing, steel ringing against steel.
Kaito intercepted a soldier attempting to flank them, his body a storm of movement. Ayame barked directions, her naginata sweeping in arcs that controlled space, forcing the enemy into mistakes. Yori and Shun struck from the edges, each kill quiet, efficient, leaving the survivors disoriented.
The officer's breathing grew ragged, his strikes wilder. Rin stepped aside, guiding the momentum, and disarmed him with a single, fluid movement. The man staggered, defiance still burning in his gaze. Rin's voice was calm, low "It's over."
Then the air tore with a raw, human shriek.
"YORI!"
The world seemed to shudder. Rin spun, scanning the treeline. Kaito's eyes flared with alarm, blade ready. Ayame shouted instructions, voice tight, commanding, but the panic was infectious.
Yori had vanished. Between the dense trunks and swirling fog, unseen hands had dragged him into the undergrowth. Another scream, short, desperate, echoing, tore through the clearing, leaving Rin's chest tight and stomach coiled.
Rin's body moved on instinct, legs pounding through mud and waterlogged roots. Kaito mirrored him instantly, shoulder brushing his, both of them charging into the obscured danger. The officer's fallen soldiers lay scattered, but the ambush had just begun.
Branches snagged clothing and hair, roots threatened to trip them, and rain-soaked leaves splashed underfoot. The mist thickened into a wall, obscuring everything beyond a few meters. Rin's mind sharpened, every step could be the last, every movement counted.
The shadowed figures of the enemy pressed closer, moving with silent coordination. Rin's grip tightened on the hilt, Kaito's expression hardened, and the Ash Walkers flanked on either side, ready for contact.
Another scream, this time closer, choking, raw, made Rin's blood run cold. Yori's voice, dragged and panicked, was a warning and a summons all at once. The river below gurgled angrily, its white water racing over stones, echoing the chaos in the trees.
Rin's eyes caught movement, too quick, too fluid for ordinary men. These were not the same soldiers they had faced before. The Red Serpent had reinforced their trap. The main camp, calm and unsuspecting from a distance, now teemed with unseen danger.
Kaito's hand shot out, gripping Rin's shoulder. "We keep moving! Yori's still alive!"
Rin nodded, muscles coiled like steel springs. "No hesitation. No mercy. Not now."
The forest seemed to close in. Rain dripped from branches onto helmets and armor. The officer who had confronted Rin earlier now lay prone, disarmed, defeated, yet the shadowy threat around them grew heavier. The scream sliced through the mist again, this time accompanied by a sudden rustling of dozens of leaves, as if the woods themselves conspired to hide the enemy.
Ayame shouted from behind, her voice ringing above the chaos "Hold formation! Cover the flanks!"
Rin and Kaito moved as one, blades flashing in the dim light, forcing their way through the thickening fog. Each step brought them closer to Yori, each heartbeat a drum of urgency. The enemy was patient, watching, biding time. Every second mattered. Every wrong step could be fatal.
And then, silence.
The forest swallowed the screams, leaving only the steady roar of the river and the dripping of rain. Rin's chest heaved, mud streaking his face, water pooling in his hair. Kaito's stance was tense, gaze scanning every direction.
A shadow flickered at the edge of the mist, not a soldier, but something faster, more deliberate. Rin's hand tightened on his blade. The mist seemed to pulse, the trees bending inward, the world narrowing to the sharp line of his vision, the desperate echoes of Yori's voice, and the presence of enemies he could not yet see.