As the trio walked beside the samurai general, their steps heavy with what they had just witnessed, another scene unfolded far away — Yuki walking quietly with the Shogun after her haunting dance.
"Take some rest," the Shogun said.
Yuki hesitated. Her eyes trembled. "Did Kibo die that day? I saw him lying still... motionless."
The Shogun stopped walking. His voice faltered. "I'm sorry, child. I never meant for that to happen."
Yuki said nothing. Tears welled in her eyes as she walked to her chambers. Once inside, she curled into a fetal position on her bed, whispering through sobs:
"I'm sorry, Kibo... If I had just run away sooner, we could've escaped that house. We could've been safe... This is all my fault."
Before her grief could settle, the door opened with a heavy thud. A samurai in black armor entered, followed by robed advisors of the Ministry.
One of them spoke coldly. "Is she the one?"
The general looked at her with guilt and nodded slowly.
They bound her wrists. A cloth was thrown over her head. Darkness.
When the cloth was pulled off, Yuki stood at the edge of a massive pit — a yawning grave filled with the corpses of the forgotten, surrounded by towering walls of bamboo. A thousand lifeless faces stared up at her from the void.
"Prepare the sacrifice," a Ministry advisor said calmly.
Yuki collapsed to her knees. Her mind was numb, her heart shattered. She barely flinched as a soldier raised his blade.
Suddenly — black smoke erupted from the soldier's eyes. He screamed and sprinted off the ledge into the pit, vanishing into the abyss.
Panic spread.
The ministry advisor barked, "Kill her now!"
But no one dared raise another blade.
"Take her back," the general snapped.
She was dragged back to her room, limp and hollow.
Later, the Shogun summoned the general to a quiet room.
"Akechi," the Shogun growled. "What are you doing?"
Akechi didn't look at him. "Your Ministry gave the order."
"Those fools!" the Shogun barked. "I said protect her, not offer her as a lamb to the curse."
Akechi turned, his expression sharp. "You killed her parents the same way. You're the reason we're in this mess. Your reign has slipped through your fingers. The Ministry acts because you do nothing."
The Shogun's face trembled with age and regret. "And now you're repeating my mistakes. You're blind to what this will cost someone you cared about."
"I've got no one left to lose," Akechi muttered.
Just then, a soldier entered and bowed to both the Shogun and Akechi.
"General Akechi — Lord Satoshi sent word. He wants to speak with you."
As the soldier exited, Akechi turned one last time.
"We've all made mistakes. All of us are rotten to the core. But this is your final hour, old man. Do something right before it's too late."
The Shogun returned to Yuki's room, where she sat motionless in silence.
He sat beside her.
"Are you scared of what you saw today?"
Yuki didn't answer.
"You loved that boy, didn't you?" he asked softly.
Still silence.
He sighed. "Don't be angry at Akechi. He lost someone he cared about recently. That's why he's like this. He's a good soldier, but often lets his emotions take control. Long ago, I was like him — young, angry, and drowning in blood. We raided many villages during the war. Burned everything. Took what we could. I... I told them not to kill anyone. But they never listened."
A flashback flickered:
A young Shogun walked into a burning house. A soldier stood over a slain man and child.
The Shogun shouted, "You fool! I told you not to kill anyone!"
The soldier explained, "I just tried to take the two-beaded necklace, but he wouldn't give it."
He handed the necklace to the Shogun. As the Shogun left the burning house, a woman screamed and ran inside. He realized what had just happened — and thought of giving the necklace back.
He followed her — but by the time he entered, her mouth was pouring out black smoke. She vanished before his eyes.
Behind a pile of hay, he heard a baby girl cry. He picked her up and wrapped the two-beaded necklace around her neck.
Later, he would lose everything.
His son — died in war.
As he buried his son and tried to sleep with saddened eyes, he heard a scream echo through the castle. He ran through the rain and thunder to find the source.
His wife and daughter — murdered by his son, returned from the grave, smoke-eyed and hollow.
He watched as his own flesh and blood killed them, and his son looked at him and whispered:
"Save me..."
Back in the present, the Shogun's voice cracked.
"I killed too many. Burned kingdoms to ash. Became nothing but a shell. But you... you still have a chance. Leave, or stay. Either way... it doesn't matter. I made a mistake and I need to fix this before I leave this place and rot in hell."
Yuki looked up weakly. "What did you do with your son?"
The Shogun closed his eyes. "My son, my daughter, my wife — all of them are in the pit you saw."
He stood and gently closed the door behind him.
Yuki's eyes finally closed as she drifted into an exhausted sleep.
Back in the forest, as the trio walked, Hiroshi asked, "Where are we? What is happening?"
Kibo looked around. "I think we're back in the real world. This place feels familiar... and there are none of those creatures out here, except the horror we saw back at the village."
Sachiko nodded. "We should be careful not to let anyone know what we saw there."
Kibo replied, glancing up at the trees, "If we're back in the real world, we need to find a way into the capital."
As the three nodded to themselves, the samurai general looked back at them and spoke:
"I am Satoshi."