"Flint…?" Akarum muttered. "He'll be fine. I guess."
Akarum finished his fish, tossed the stick aside, and grabbed another.
"That's mine."
"Maybe."
They spent the night eating fish and sitting near the campfire.
The sun rose.
Kashime stepped out of the tent and saw Akarum splashing water onto his face. She glanced back at the tents, touched them gently.
They turned into white butterflies again. This time, they vanished completely.
"Good morning, Mysterious One."
She stepped toward the river, the Flowless.
"You still haven't told me," Akarum said, turning to her. "Where are we going ?"
"Oh."
She splashed water onto her own face.
After washing, she spoke calmly.
"You're standing between good and bad. You know that."
"That's why I'll let Denu decide what to do."
She calls the Ruler by his name.
Confusion lingered on Akarum's face.
"Don't worry," Kashime added. "Nothing bad will happen."
She stood up, tying her hair into a ponytail.
"Rest. Wander. Think."
"We'll leave after a while."
Akarum nodded.
"I'm throwing away the Purpis," Kashime said. "I took too much."
She walked toward the basket.
Elsewhere.
In a city known as Beauty in Hollow, Darkens wandered the streets.
Doors were shut. Windows closed. At every doorway, a man or woman stood stiff and silent. Some windows glowed yellow. Shadows moved behind them, slow and private.
The Darkens moved together. Three of them.
"This city," one said, "sells dignity and self-respect."
"If the Lord finds out we're here," another muttered, "we're done."
A voice came from above.
"Too late to run."
A girl stood on the rooftop.
She stepped down before them.
The Darkens dropped to their knees instantly, bodies trembling.
"Lady Shishuki," one said hesitantly. "We weren't doing anything shameful."
She turned her back to them.
"You expect me to believe that."
"Forgive us," another begged.
Hands crossed, Shishuki spoke calmly.
"Akutomi reported irregularities in this area."
"We haven't sensed anything unusual yet," the middle one replied carefully.
The ground before them turned red, forming a perfect rectangle.
Shishuki's hand hovered near her sword.
"What's that?"
Tentacle-like forms rose from the red surface.
"Get ready, you fools."
A creature emerged. Its lower body twisted like an octopus, its upper half disturbingly human.
"A Rot-Human," one Darken whispered in shock.
"Escaped ones," Shishuki said. "They've been hiding here for years."
Another creature surfaced beside it.
"We have visitors," it said.
"Be ready to go home," Shishuki replied. "My bare hands are enough."
"You will be blessed," one creature murmured. "Belly takes the lead."
The red surface thickened, moving like slime.
"Medium level," the slime spoke."Growth of Humankind."
The Darkens dropped their weapons. Their eyes glazed, expressions hollow, pulled forward as if controlled.
Shishuki leapt back.
"What did you do to them?"
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," another creature said.
Shishuki struck. In a blink, all three Darkens collapsed unconscious.
"Go on," she said.
"I am Grown," said the first. "I see the strength of the human mind. Yours is abnormal."
"I am Crown," said the second. "I see desire buried beneath awareness. You deny it, but it exists."
Shishuki smirked.
"Keep talking."
Belly's voice cut through the air.
"Belly. I have control over lustful urges. Medium level doesn't work on you."
Shishuki's eyes narrowed.
"Ready?"
Crown answered from the shadows.
"Do max level."
Shishuki arrived in a blink. Her fist smashed into Crown's face. The creature collapsed onto the ground.
Tentacles whipped out instantly, wrapping around her waist.
"Belly Max," Crown hissed.
Shishuki's fists rained down. Uncountable blows. Crown's body went still.
Belly watched from afar, terror rising.
"Max level. Growth of humankind."
She said, panic wrapped around her mind.
Shishuki kept punching long after Crown died. Her strikes slowed.
She paused.
"Why… stopped?"
The tentacles slid from her waist and fell limp.
Crown's voice rasped one last time.
"Don't forget. Violence in cities is forbidden."
Shishuki turned. An intense heat bloomed inside her chest. Something crawled beneath her skin.
"I—I am feeling a weird buildup. Like something crawling inside me."
Her hand pressed against her chest.
Crown smirked, tentacles shifting.
"Let it control you. I bet you will be in heaven in no time. The door is here."
It pointed upward. On the upper floor of a house, two shadows moved intimately behind a window.
Shishuki's jaw tightened.
"Shut up. Just this time."
Her body moved toward the door on its own. Fingers trembling, she reached for the handle.
Belly whispered from a distance, stunned.
"She still has slight control. Unbelievable."
Shishuki's fingers brushed the handle.
She grabbed her own neck instead.
Belly's eyes widened.
"What? Is she a human?"
Crown froze.
"No way."
Shishuki's voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Not this time."
She pressed harder, fighting the urge.
Crown's voice wavered, scared now.
"Killing yourself won't be a solution. Let it ride."
Shishuki's eyes burned with anger. She released her neck.
"You think you can order me?"
Crown turned and ran on its tentacles.
Belly's voice trembled.
"She was supposed to be in control of the urge. She isn't a human."
Shishuki lunged. Her heartbeat spiked. Sweat poured down her skin.
"What? Stop this. It's so frustrating!"
She pressed her sword to her neck.
Belly gasped.
"Is she going to end her life?"
The blade slashed. Skin split, then regenerated instantly.
Shishuki panted.
"Just this time."
Her feet carried her forward again.
Stop. What are you doing?
She opened the door. The hall beyond was nothing but darkness.
She lifted her foot to step inside.
Stop.
Outside.
Belly turned away.
"Done."
She began moving in the opposite direction.
Crown's voice echoed weakly.
"Tough… but at the end in control."
Shishuki took her second step.
"Infuriating."
An iron chain whipped out from behind and wrapped around her. It yanked her backward, out of the wall.
She collapsed behind the house.
Belly froze.
"Who is he now?"
Shishuki looked up.
"Denu?!"
Denu stood there, a divine scar near his eye, outlined in honey-brown and black. He released the chain.
Crown shouted desperately.
"Belly Max him too. He is the Ruler of Lights."
Belly stayed far back, thoughts racing.
"If I do that, I risk losing control over everyone. Controlling two mentally strong people isn't easy."
Crown shouted again.
"He will come in mid-level. Do!?"
Shishuki, still chained near another house, eyes closed.
"I am not breaking."
In a blur, Denu slashed Crown's neck. The body dropped lifeless to the ground.
"You were taking benefit of the laws built by general goverment."
Denu walked toward Shishuki.
She exhaled.
"Feels like I regained control."
Denu kept moving. His expression unreadable.
Belly's voice cracked.
"De—Denu. You are Denu."
A tear streamed down her slime form.!