The ceiling shattered like brittle ice.
Chunks of stone crashed around them, dust drowning the cavern in a choking mist. Seren screamed as Ronan shielded her with his cloak. The yokai girl simply watched, completely still, as if admiring the chaos.
And Shuya—He remained upright, spear in hand, head tilted upward like a man watching snowfall.
A massive silhouette tore through the breach above them.
It wasn't the mutant goblin.It wasn't the yokai.And it wasn't anything Shuya had ever seen in his new world.
A colossal taloned limb slammed into the ground, shaking the entire nest. Air blasted outward, sending Ronan and Seren tumbling across the floor.
As the dust thinned, the creature revealed itself.
A towering beast—eight meters of rippling black muscle and midnight-blue fur, each strand shimmering like obsidian glass. Its head resembled a wolf's skull, but elongated, regal, adorned with twisting horn-like extensions. Dark mist seeped from its ribs, where gaps exposed glowing red marrow.
Its eyes were rings of molten crimson.
A Kuro-Okami.
A higher yokai.
One that should not exist this close to human territory.
Ronan's voice cracked. "A… a yokai wolf king… down here?! In a goblin nest?!"
Seren clutched her staff, knuckles white. "Why?! Why would something that powerful come here?!"
The smaller yokai girl's smile widened into something inhuman.
"Oh, that one? It came because I called."
Shuya turned his head slightly. "…You called that?"
"Mmh. I was bored."
He stared at her.
She stared back, unblinking.
"Don't give me that look," she said. "You kill boredom your way, I kill it mine."
The Kuro-Okami lowered its massive head, the cavern floor cracking beneath its paws. It snarled—a low, thunderous vibration that rattled bone. The mutant goblin king shrieked in terror and bolted toward the shadows.
It didn't get far.
With a contemptuous flick of its claw, the wolf yokai severed the goblin king's torso clean off, splattering green blood across the cavern walls.
Seren fell backward, trembling. "W-we're going to die… we're all going to die…"
Ronan cursed under his breath. "Shuya… lad… I don't think Mirror Fist will save you if that thing decides to chew you instead of punch."
The Kuro-Okami raised its head again.
And its eyes locked on Shuya.
A lesser man would have collapsed.
But Shuya stood firm.
The beast stepped closer. The ground trembled with every step. Shadow and mist curled around its mane like a living storm. Its killing intent was crushing—thicker than the air, heavier than the rocks overhead.
Shuya inhaled once. Slowly.
His shoulders loosened. His grip on the spear relaxed. His eyelids lowered as his aura spread out gently like early dawn.
A calm, warm radiance.
The Kuro-Okami's red pupils constricted. Its massive frame faltered for the briefest second.
Shuya spoke:
"You're blocking the sunlight."
The yokai girl's eyebrows rose.
"Oh my," she whispered. "That's new."
The Quiet Sun and the King of Shadows
The Kuro-Okami lunged.
One moment there was empty air between them—the next, a wall of fur, claws, and killing intent.
Ronan and Seren screamed his name.
But Shuya didn't move.
A claw the length of a carriage roof arced toward him.
He lifted his spear slightly, almost casual.
BOOM.
The cavern exploded with pressure.
Not from impact—but from recoil.
The Kuro-Okami's own claw snapped backward, bones cracking, tendons tearing. It stumbled, nearly collapsing from the rebound.
Mirror Fist hadn't just reflected the physical strike.
It reflected the beast's killing intent, crushing weight and all.
The wolf king snarled, shaking its wounded limb. Its crimson eyes burned brighter, fury melting into something else.
Recognition.
"Ahh…" the girl yokai whispered. "It knows. It finally understands it cannot simply crush you."
The beast roared again, the walls vibrating.
Then it opened its jaws.
Ronan's eyes widened. "Shuya, MOVE! It's going to blast—!"
A torrent of black flame erupted from its throat—a writhing inferno of yokai magic, hotter than molten iron, devouring everything in its path.
Shuya stepped forward.
One step.
Just one.
And his aura intensified—not flaring, but thickening.
The air grew warm. Soft. Opalescent.
When the black flame struck Shuya's aura, it didn't consume him.
It recoiled.
The blast bent, twisted, and curved back around like a reversed river—slamming full force into the Kuro-Okami's chest.
BOOOOOM.
The wolf king was thrown into the far wall, stone erupting in a spray of rubble.
Silence.
Ronan's jaw hung slack.
Seren slowly lowered her staff, blinking rapidly, as if reality was having rendering issues.
The yokai girl clasped her hands together, delighted.
"Oh, how lovely. A human who doesn't just reflect attacks—he reflects dominance."
Shuya tilted his head. "Reflecting that wasn't intentional."
"Oh no," she crooned. "It was entirely intentional. Just not consciously."
She stepped closer to him, circling like a curious cat.
"You are dangerous, Shuya Matsumoto. Not because your power is strong—"She smiled, teeth sharp."—but because you believe yourself above your enemies."
He frowned. "I don't think that."
"You do. Your aura does."Her voice deepened, melodic and ominous."You are a sun that refuses to bow to night."
The wolf king rose to its feet again—ribs crushed, fur scorched, but eyes burning brighter.
It inhaled deeply.
Darkness swirled. Residual flame condensed. Red lines ignited across its limbs.
Ronan's voice cracked. "It's… it's powering up?!"
Seren shook her head violently. "We need to RUN!"
The yokai girl clapped. "Yes. Good. Struggle harder, mutt."
The Kuro-Okami roared—
—and vanished.
Shuya barely saw it.
A streak of black and red lightning shot toward him.
It didn't punch.It didn't claw.It didn't bite.
It rammed its entire body into Shuya like a living avalanche.
Mirror Fist reacted.
The recoil was cataclysmic.
BAAAM.
Both Shuya and the Kuro-Okami were hurled in opposite directions—Shuya sliding across broken stone, the beast smashing into the ceiling above.
For the first time, Shuya coughed blood.
Ronan shouted, "Shuya!"
Seren screamed, "He—he took damage?! How?!"
The yokai girl only giggled. "Mirror abilities always fail when it comes to mass and velocity. If the attack doesn't strike a limb but your entire body—well—"She clapped once."Physics wins."
Shuya wiped his mouth.
Blood stained his lip.
He stood.
Slowly.
Calmly.
The Kuro-Okami crashed back down, shaking off chunks of stone.
It wasn't unscathed—its ribs were visibly caved in from its own rebound—but it was still moving, still snarling, still burning with the desire to kill him.
Shuya exhaled.
A soft, gentle sound.
His aura returned, warm as summer.
"It looks like… I underestimated you."
The yokai girl's grin widened. "Oh? Getting serious?"
He didn't answer.
He walked forward.
Each step melted the dust around his feet.Each breath made the shadows retreat.Each heartbeat brightened the cavern——not with light, but with presence.
The wolf king charged again, faster than before.
Shuya lowered his stance.
"You're too loud," he murmured.
The moment the beast touched him—
CRACK.
Its entire foreleg twisted at an impossible angle.
Mirror Fist didn't just rebound the strike—
It magnified it.
The beast shrieked, collapsing.
Shuya kept walking.
Even the yokai girl stopped smiling.
"Oh… oh my… that's not Mirror Fist. That's something else…"
The Kuro-Okami lifted its head, trembling, but still baring its fangs. Pride kept it from backing down.
"Even now…" Shuya whispered, "you're trying."
He stopped in front of the monster.
Close enough to touch.
Close enough to die.
Shuya placed one hand on the wolf king's snout.
A gentle gesture.
Respectful.
"But you should kneel."
His aura flared silently—
—and the monster collapsed fully, body falling limp.
Not dead.
Subdued.
Dominated.
Ronan choked. "He… he made that monster bow?!"
Seren whispered, "No… he made it give up."
The yokai girl stared at Shuya, eyes wide, smile finally gone.
"You're not human."
Shuya wiped blood from his chin. "I'm definitely human."
"No," she breathed. "No human controls a superior yokai through aura. Not even the legendary miko could have done that."
Her eyes darkened.
"You are something else."
Before Shuya could ask—
A distant tremor shook the entire cavern.
Louder.
Heavier.
More rhythmic.
Footsteps.
Dozens.
No—hundreds.
Ronan turned pale. "What now…?"
The yokai girl stepped back, expression turning sharp.
"Oh. Wonderful. Looks like the real danger has arrived."
Shuya's grip tightened on his spear."Who?"
The girl whispered two words:
"Human hunters."
The ground split as armored figures dropped into the nest—helmets shaped like horns, cloaks of stitched yokai fur, blades dripping with cursed runes.
Their leader raised his sword and pointed it directly at Shuya.
"In the name of the Eclipsed Church—who among you commands a forbidden sun?"
Shuya frowned.
"A what?"
The leader's helmet split open, revealing a pitch-black void where a face should be.
"Seize him."
And the entire cavern erupted into chaos.