The old woman's gaze turned to Roko; she saw in Seiji nothing but a frightened person who didn't know what to do, only holding his weapon.
Unlike Roko, who showed no reaction, only gave a calm and sarcastic smile in front of the monster staring at him.
"Should I kill her or let her live? I'll see what she'll do… but why is Seiji afraid?"
His left eye gleamed, and Roko said in a sharp voice, "You are not a yokai, you are a monster."
The old woman was silent for a moment, then replied to Roko in a strong voice, "Since when did you know I am a monster?"
Roko replied in a mocking tone, and his sarcastic smile was still drawn on his face; his gaze at her was nothing but that of a beast preying on a human. "Since the moment we entered the hut. So… what will you do?"
The old woman could not feel the blue sparks emitted from Roko; the windows froze, the humidity of the place increased, and with the sound of the doors trembling, as these sparks burst out, the place became even colder.
Roko continued speaking with a mocking face; he did not consider her something that deserved seriousness. "At first, I thought you would either kill us or trap us, but when I entered this hut, your illusion didn't affect me, so I doubt you can even do that."
The old woman asked, realizing the killing intent coming from him:
"What will you do? Will you kill me?"
Roko replied carelessly, "I don't know. I haven't thought about it yet."
Silence filled the hut.
Roko found something even stranger — a small dark-colored orb the size of a thumb, moving non-stop.
"More than twenty-five minutes have passed since we entered the hut, but why? That orb is still moving."
Roko turned to see what Seiji was doing, for since they entered he hadn't heard Seiji speak, but when he looked to his right, his pupils widened.
"Seiji disappeared!"
Quickly, Roko drew his sword from its sheath and turned right and left to find Seiji.
Roko shouted in a loud, strong, and worried voice, "Seiji… where are you?"
"Was he even with me from the start?" These words crossed Roko's mind.
Amid his anxiety, Roko looked at the old woman with worried eyes, glancing in every direction, the veins in his body tensed and visible.
Roko pointed his steel sword at the old woman, who did not speak nor express any opinion — she only smiled and pressed her wooden cane, closing her eyes.
She spoke in a terrifying voice, different from before — a majestic voice that shook the whole place:
"Can you really kill me?"
"What do you mean by that?" he said in a loud voice, that tone making him uneasy.
A strange smile appeared on the old woman's lips; her mouth twisted to the left, revealing black teeth with sharp fangs.
"I've revealed her true nature," Roko thought, but then felt something above his feet. He looked down — Seiji's robe, now worn out, covered in blood, with pieces of torn flesh stuck to it in a disgusting way, and the stench of a rotting corpse.
Roko's face turned pale from shock. "What is this?"
The hut transformed from a worn cabin into a place where the light began to fade, turning red and tainting the area with blood.
The old woman's skin began to fall off, becoming red, her veins visible; her face was neither human nor beast — a face without skin, only flesh and bone.
Her eyes turned red, her exposed bones shrank, and her front limbs grew sharper.
The sight was horrifying; Roko didn't know what to do or what his next move should be.
Roko bit his lip hard until blood began to drip. "She's not an ordinary monster… Did I do the right thing? In a single second, dozens of questions rushed through my mind — I must act quickly!"
The old woman repeated that same terrifying smile; her flesh melted, her face withered, and her bloody energy increased. Then she asked Roko again:
"Can you kill me?"
At that moment, Roko's body shivered. He tried to take a step forward but couldn't move — his legs were bound by spiderweb threads.
Roko tried to resist, but it was useless. He looked with sad, hopeless eyes. "Is this the end? I can't do anything."
During his final gaze, he saw something that made him shout, "The orb is still moving!"
The monster laughed and said, "You better act wisely."
Roko closed his eyes quickly. "The place is dark… there's a strange feeling." He opened his eyes to find himself sitting beside Seiji, with the old woman smiling before them.
Roko fell to the ground, shocking Seiji, who began to panic as Roko gasped for air, struggling to breathe. "It's an illusion… it's an illusion… I was deceived!"
Seiji, who had thought Roko was calm, now saw him fall to the ground breathing heavily.
"What happened… I must check now!"
Roko's fear only grew when he heard these words echo inside his head:
"Boy, you better act wisely as I said — don't stay sitting on this filthy floor."
The old woman's voice echoed inside him; it wasn't ordinary speech — it was a warning not to cross his limits.
Roko gripped his neck tightly, ignoring Seiji's plea for him to come to his senses, and said in a weak, rage-filled voice:
"Throughout all my battles with the yokai, I was never trapped in an illusion… how long have you lived in this kingdom?"
"Smart one. I've lived here since before you saw the light," replied the old woman with a casual smile and a sharp tone, then continued:
"A hundred years ago, when the world knew only one continent that held seven kingdoms — in a single moment, on a night when the waves of the mysterious ocean grew wild and the shore filled with dead fish and whales — that sight was the beginning of the event."
Roko interrupted her sharply,
"I asked how long you've lived in this kingdom; I didn't ask for an old tale."
Roko realized the old woman was trying to change the subject.
"And that," she said, "is part of the answer."
Unlike Roko, Seiji felt curious and wanted to know what happened, so he asked the old woman calmly,
"Can you continue what happened?"
"Two days after that event, two mysterious continents merged. No one knew what was in them, so the kingdoms sent exploration expeditions, but they all met a dark fate. So it was forbidden for any human to take even one step inside them."
The old woman sighed and then was silent for ten seconds before continuing,
"After the silence that spread among the kingdoms, the seventh kingdom — the one closest to the two continents — fell. Those who escaped said they saw strange creatures of unknown origin, but they were nothing like humans. People differed in naming them — some called them demons, others beasts."
"But after the fall of the sixth kingdom, the remaining kingdoms united and raised their banners, declaring a war that lasted a hundred years — a war that knew no mercy. Humans killed one another, thinking they were monsters. But the ones most influential in that war were the first kingdom and the previous royal family of Kagetsu City and the Kagutsuchi family. After the war ended, four kingdoms united to seize the second continent, forming the Empire of Sorcerers, while the Kagutsuchi family, alongside the Kagetsu family, established an empire. As for me, I was one of the survivors on the first continent… but unfortunately, a monster tried to take over my body by transferring its soul. I managed to suppress its soul temporarily."
When the old woman mentioned the name of the Kagetsu family, Seiji remembered something important.
"The first royal family of Kagetsu was wiped out easily in the village of Morinaka. How can you say they were influential when they couldn't resist a few clans?"
The old woman said, pressing her hands tightly, fear showing on her face,
"Because of the Heart Eater… the former heir of that family — someone even the worst creatures wouldn't approach."
In Kagutsuchi, there was a legend about a person who not only ate the hearts of monsters but even those of rulers and humans. After the war ended, he disappeared — but what he did remained carved as a memory in the history of that war.
End of the chapter.