The corpse burned badly.
Black smoke curled into the night sky as Senji fed oil into the shallow pit they had dug. The half-spider thing twitched even as flames consumed it, chitin cracking, human flesh blistering and peeling away. The stench was unbearable—burnt hair, rot, and something sour that clung to the throat.
Raizen stood nearby, his shoulder wrapped tightly with cloth soaked in Haruka's herbal salve. Blood had already dried down his arm.
"It didn't die like a man," Kaito muttered, staring into the fire. "Even when we stabbed it through the throat… it fought."
Haruka nodded grimly. "That confirms it. We're past scouts now."
Senji crouched beside the fire, watching carefully. "And we can't stay in the mountains much longer. Once they realize one of their evolved has fallen, they'll start hunting us properly."
Raizen lifted his gaze. "Then we need answers. Structure. Names."
"A hierarchy," Haruka added.
Senji looked up. "There's only one place nearby where people still talk about such things without vanishing."
"Where?" Kaito asked.
Senji pointed south. "A city."
⸻
The City of Kagamori
By dawn, they were moving.
The mountains gradually gave way to worn roads and stone markers, remnants of old trade routes. By midday, bells echoed faintly through the valley—low, uneven chimes carried by the wind.
Raizen frowned. "Bells?"
Haruka answered quietly, "Funeral bells. Kagamori rings them daily."
The city of Kagamori emerged from the mist by evening.
High stone walls encircled it, scarred by age and claw marks that no one bothered to repair. Black banners hung from watchtowers—not for a lord, but for mourning. The gates were open, yet guards watched everyone closely, hands never far from their weapons.
"This place feels wrong," Kaito muttered.
"That's because it knows what hunts outside its walls," Senji replied.
As they entered, Raizen noticed something unsettling: people avoided shadows. Children were kept indoors. Shrines were everywhere—earth-bound, not sky-bound.
Kagamori was a city that feared what lived beneath it.
⸻
Rumors and Blood Trails
They found an inn near the eastern quarter. Cheap, crowded, and loud—perfect for gathering information.
Haruka and Senji listened.
Raizen watched.
Kaito drank.
"…they say the Tsuchigumo answer to Weavers now."
"…not bandits anymore—organized."
"…spider masks, chanting in old dialects…"
"…hierarchy, like nobles…"
Raizen leaned forward. "Weavers?"
A voice answered from behind them.
"Priests. Commanders. Monsters wearing human faces."
They turned.
Two girls stood there.
Both were young—around their age—but hardened. One had short black hair and a scar running across her cheek. The other wore her hair long and tied, eyes sharp and cold.
"I'm Aoi," the scarred one said.
"And I'm Mika," her sister added.
Haruka immediately stood. "You shouldn't approach strangers so casually."
Aoi smirked. "We wouldn't if you weren't bleeding Tsuchigumo ichor."
Silence.
Senji's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
Mika's jaw tightened. "Survivors."
⸻
The Sisters' Past
They sat together, low voices, the inn's noise masking the truth.
"Our clan was called the Fujibayashi," Aoi said. "Assassins. Scouts. We watched roads like these."
Mika continued, voice colder. "Three years ago, we followed a Tsuchigumo caravan underground. Thought they were human."
Aoi's hand clenched. "They weren't."
They described it—tunnels, chanting, men transforming. A Weaver presiding over the ritual. Survivors being chosen.
"They have ranks," Mika said. "Scouts. Warriors. Weavers. And above them…"
"Brood Lords," Aoi finished.
Raizen felt his blood run cold.
"They command entire regions. Kagamori sits on one of their routes."
Haruka exchanged a glance with Senji. "This matches what we've seen."
Aoi looked at Raizen's bandaged shoulder. "You killed one of their evolved, didn't you?"
Raizen didn't deny it. "Barely."
Mika nodded once. "Then you're already enemies they won't forget."
⸻
Alliance Forged
Kaito leaned back. "So… revenge sisters, huh? You in?"
Aoi laughed bitterly. "We were never out."
Mika met Raizen's eyes. "But understand this—we're not heroes. We'll do what it takes."
Raizen replied without hesitation. "So will we."
Senji added, "We're hunting the hierarchy."
Aoi's smile turned sharp. "Good. Because we know where one of the Weavers operates."
Haruka exhaled slowly. "Then it's settled."
Six survivors sat together—each from a fallen clan, each bound by loss.
Outside, Kagamori's bells rang again.
Somewhere beneath the city, the Tsuchigumo hierarchy listened.
And for the first time in years—
They felt hunted.