Chapter 3: A Gathering Storm
The winds carried Tengukensei home.
As he ascended Mt. Kirama, the scent of pine and damp earth filled his senses, a stark contrast to the ash and blood that still clung to his robes. The towering cedars swayed as he passed, their boughs bending as if whispering his arrival. Yet despite the mountain’s eternal presence, he sensed something was off.
The usual hum of Kaiju Clan warriors was absent. No sound of training, no laughter from the younger recruits sparring beneath the torii gates.
He landed before the main hall, his fan folding against his back. The great shrine, carved into the cliffs, loomed in the mist, its ancient banners fluttering weakly. He stepped forward, his leather boots clicking against the stone path.
From the darkness of the hall, a figure emerged.
Sachiko and the Ember Frog
Sachiko Slicer of the Good Luck Squad stood at the threshold, her crimson eyes sharp beneath her delicate Oni features. She wore her usual **casual Sakura dress **, but even in repose, she looked dangerous. Her broadsword hung at her waist, and her horns, small but ever-present, gleamed under the lantern light.
“You’re back early,” she said, arms crossed. “That usually means bad news.”
Tengukensei didn’t respond right away. He could feel the warmth of another presence—a flickering ember in the shadows.
From the corner of the hall, Anpan hopped forward, his red body glowing faintly in the dim light. The ember frog, a creature as small as a man’s fist yet brimming with a mystical glow, croaked and blinked up at Tengukensei.
“Kaiju Clan is away,” Sachiko continued, her tone uncharacteristically serious. “They left two days ago—scouting rumors of the Slit-Mouthed Woman in the valley. No telling when they’ll be back.”
Tengukensei exhaled through his nose. That meant the warriors were gone. No reinforcements, no army.
Only Sachiko and Anpan remained.
“I need fighters,” he said, his voice low. “Sakana Cove has fallen to Onigashima’s raiders. We don’t have time to wait.”
Sachiko’s grip tightened around the hilt of her sword. “Then I guess it’s just us.”
Tengukensei nodded. “Almost.”
The Shadow in the Trees
Beneath the canopy of Mt. Kirama’s shadowed glades, an eerie silence reigned. The deeper they went, the darker it became, as if the mountain itself swallowed the light.
Sachiko walked beside Tengukensei, hand on her sword. “I assume we’re looking for someone?”
“The Shadow Tanuki,” Tengukensei said simply.
Sachiko whistled. “That trickster? He’s not the easiest ally.”
“He is the best tracker,” Tengukensei corrected. “And if anyone can navigate Onigashima’s darkness, it’s him.”
They pressed on, the wind whispering through the underbrush. Then, just as Sachiko was about to speak again, something shifted.
A blur of black fur and flickering shadow slipped between the trees. A presence that wasn’t there a moment ago.
Then came a voice. Smooth, knowing, and edged with amusement.
“I was wondering when you’d finally come looking for me.”
From the boughs of an ancient oak, the Shadow Tanuki dropped soundlessly to the ground. He was tall for his kind, his fur ink-black and marked with silver streaks. His tail flicked lazily, but his golden eyes gleamed with mischief. He wore tattered, layered robes, blending into the night itself.
Tengukensei met his gaze. “We need you.”
The Shadow Tanuki tilted his head, considering. “You don’t ask for help lightly, Tengu.”
Sachiko stepped forward. “The Oni raided Sakana Cove,” she said, her voice sharp. “They slaughtered, burned, and took prisoners. The longer we wait, the less chance anyone has of surviving.”
A long silence followed. The Shadow Tanuki’s tail stilled.
Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face.
“Oni flesh is tough, but their bones snap just fine,” he mused. “I’ll come. But if I do, we do this my way.”
Tengukensei nodded once. “Then let’s go.”
Departure from the Pier
The sea was calm, but the air was heavy with ghosts.
They stood at the ruined pier of Sakana Cove, before a small, narrow boat barely large enough for three. Tengukensei stared at the black waters ahead—beyond them, hidden in the mist, lay Onigashima.
Sachiko tightened the straps of her blade. “This is a terrible idea.”
The Shadow Tanuki stretched, looking amused. “All the best ones are.”
Tengukensei stepped into the boat, his ruby staff resting across his lap. The time for mourning was over.
Now, they hunted demons.
As the boat slipped into the night, the wind whispered through the sails, carrying them toward the island of nightmares.
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Chapter 4: Into the Maw of Onigashima
The wind howled over the inky waters of Kaiju Bay, whispering secrets to the dead.
Tengukensei sat at the bow of their small vessel, his sharp eyes fixed ahead, but there was nothing to see—only the rolling fog that swallowed the night. Behind him, Sachiko adjusted her sword, her fingers drumming against the hilt in restless anticipation, while the Shadow Tanuki sat cross-legged at the stern, his keen nose twitching, scenting the foulness in the air.
The bay had become a graveyard.
They drifted past bobbing corpses, their eyes wide and empty, mouths frozen in silent screams. Some had been gnawed to the bone, their remains bloated from the sea’s slow consumption. Others still clung to tattered ropes of seaweed, tangled in the wooden wreckage of shattered fishing boats.
Sachiko muttered a curse under her breath. “This isn’t a raid. This is extermination.”
Tengukensei didn’t answer. His grip tightened on his ruby staff, the wooden device resting across his lap. He had fought demons before, had crossed blades with monsters, but there was something about this carnage, something that twisted the air, that tainted the water, that made even the mountain winds refuse to touch this place.
And they were sailing straight into it.
The Ember Frog’s Vigil
Before departing, Tengukensei had stood at the highest peak of Mt. Kirama, gazing down at the land he had sworn to protect. The embers of the setting sun glowed across the mountain’s crags, but in his chest, he felt only the weight of the unknown.
At his feet sat Anpan, the Ember Frog, his round body pulsing faintly with heat, his amber eyes unblinking.
Tengukensei knelt. “Watch the mountain. If the Kaiju Clan returns, tell them everything.”
Anpan let out a slow, deep croak, the sound resonating like the crackle of a distant fire.
The Kaiju Clan was away, hunting the Slit-Mouthed Woman, but if they returned early, there was still hope. The Oni were many, and three alone could not face an island of demons.
He placed a hand over the rune-carved pendant on Anpan’s back. A spell of vigilance. A link between them.
And then, without another word, he turned his back on the sacred mountain, stepping into the mist of the cove below.
Now, as the boat cut through the black waves, he could only hope that Anpan’s warning would not come too late.
Mist and Moonlight
The moon, their lone guardian in the sky, vanished behind a shroud of black clouds. The mist thickened, curling like living fingers around their boat, muffling even the lapping of the waves.
The air grew hot.
The stench of blood clung to their throats—thick, coppery, putrid, as if the very sea had been poisoned by the carnage. Distant drums rumbled from beyond the mist, low and guttural, a deep pulse that made the ribs vibrate and the stomach churn.
Sachiko exhaled sharply, her blue Oni eyes flicking to the Shadow Tanuki. “How close are we?”
His ears twitched. “Too close.”
And then—
CRACK.
Their boat lurched as its wooden hull slammed into something solid.
The mist peeled back, and before them, stretching like the spine of a great corpse, was the shoreline of Onigashima.
A land of nightmares.
The Flesh-Covered Peaks of Onigashima
The island loomed like a beast curled in slumber, its jagged peaks red as raw sinew, streaked with the stains of a thousand sacrifices. The cliffs and crags weren’t rock but twisted, gnarled remains, bones fused into the earth, faces screaming from the stone.
The sands beneath their feet were not white nor golden but black as coal, damp with things best left unnamed.
Beyond the shoreline, deep in the shadows of the island, something groaned.
Not the wind.
Not the sea.
Something alive.
Sachiko was the first to move, stepping off the boat, her geta sinking into the wet sand. She drew her sword, it’s edge catching what little moonlight remained. “I hate this place.”
The Shadow Tanuki didn’t follow immediately. He crouched at the boat’s edge, his golden eyes flickering, scanning the shoreline. His nose wrinkled. “We’re being watched.”
Tengukensei stepped onto the shore last, his wings folding tightly against his back. He could feel it too—the weight of hungry eyes, the low, gurgling chuckle of unseen things nestled in the crags.
From the mist-wrapped cliffs above, a horned silhouette moved.
A deep, guttural voice echoed across the sands.
“Welcome to Onigashima.”
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