A murky riverbank, choked with reeds, trembled as the water’s surface rippled chaotically.

  Near the edge—away from the whirlpool, lies a bundle of cucumbers bobbed in the water, secured by a thin rope tied to a sturdy rock. The net shifted along with the river's current, swaying back and forth like a lure waiting to be noticed.

  Then, the river erupted.

  The whirlpool yawned wide, vomiting a geyser of froth before the kappa burst through—its beak snapping at empty air, almost catching a bird that passed by. As it stood back up, moss clung to its turtle-like carapace, glistening under the moonlight.

  It drifted slowly toward the riverbank, as its glowing eyes locked onto a lone cat grooming itself nearby. The Kappa dipped under the surface, only its head and gleaming eyes remaining visible as it crept forward.

  Then—

  SPLASH!

  The water exploded as the Kappa lunged forward.

  The cat shrieked and sprang back, just barely dodging the ambush. Its claws raked across the Kappa’s face before it vanished into the nearby brush.

  The Kappa let out an irritable groan, wiping blood from its cheek. Its webbed hand lingered over the shallow wound—but even before it could fully register the pain, the cut began to close. Slowly.

  Hidden in the trees, Ryohei's hand trembled—not from fear, but from the strain of holding back his ambush.

  “Judging from what just happened, it does seem like the Kappa was starving and driven by desperation to find food.”

  He narrowed his vision, focusing on the scratch wound made by the cat. But the healing was sluggish—way too slow for a yokai. Meaning that, the possibility of it running out of Spiritual energy might be high.

  “No wonder it retreated the last time I attacked it... it doesn’t have enough strength left to fight.”

  ‘But I can’t attack it… not right now, it was way too close to the sinkholes it comes from. One wrong move and it'll slip right back into hiding. I have to be patient and let the bait do its work…’

  The Kappa’s gaze shifted toward the floating cucumbers, swaying gently in the current. Their scent was faint but familiar. It started at the cucumber and remained frozen still.

  Despite Kappa having no minds to think and only relying on instinct. Yet, its instinct still tells otherwise.

  Kappa’s nature was undeniable—cucumbers were their favorite food, its natural offering. But a bundle of cucumber floated out of nowhere and free for the taking? It sounded too good to be true.

  It hesitated for a moment, nostrils flaring as if testing the scent—but its hunger overwhelmed its sense of danger.

  The Kappa slowly drifted upstream, pulled by craving for food, distancing itself away from its hiding spot. Ryohei tensed.

  "Now… Go there and wait for my signal." he whispered.

  With silent hand signals, he motioned to Hikage and Raisen, waiting on both flanks. They began to move from the shadows stalking away from the riverbank.

  The river lapped gently against its legs, and its nostrils flared as it breathed in the cool night air. As the hunger inside its belly screamed, urging it to grab the food and devour it.

  The kappa ripped the net and sank its beak into the juicy cucumber.

  But then it stopped.

  It wasn’t enough.

  Not anymore.

  Its mind twisted with frustration. Back then, a bag of cucumbers would've been considered a feast, but now? That bland, watery flavor couldn’t soothe the gnawing hunger in its gut. Not when it craved something richer and something stronger.

  It snapped. Screeching in frustration, it flung the cucumbers away, crushing the rest beneath its feet. Pieces of pulp floated downstream, discarded like trash.

  When the Kappa was busy crushing the remaining cucumbers, Ryohei screamed from afar.

  “Hikage! Raisen! Now!” Ryohei shouted.

  With Ryohei’s sudden scream, the Kappa snapped its head toward the voice—but it was too late.

  Hikage and Raisen moved in unison coming from its left and right with incredible speed. Their sickle managed to slash its arm and face before the Kappa screamed in response and dove underwater, swimming towards its hiding place.

  But Ryohei was already waiting.

  As soon as the Kappa came closer towards the entrance, Ryohei jumped from the riverbanks.

  His muscles surged with spiritual energy as he hefted a massive boulder and slammed it into the sinkhole entrance..

  *BOOM!

  The splash shot skyward as the stone sealed the passage completely.

  Kappa was also pushed back by the splash, the moment the Kappa realized what happened. Its eyes widened in shock as it glared at Ryohei standing on top of the stone that sealed its hiding place.

  The Kappa screeched in fury, erupting from the water and launching itself at Ryohei in a blind rage. “GRAAAAAAAAH!”

  Ryohei ducked low, his arm transforming into a curved sickle. He slashed upward—straight at the Kappa’s neck.

  CLANG!

  A spark flew as the blade met the Kappa’s scale.

  “Tsk!” Ryohei clicked his tongue. “As expected… mine isn’t sharp enough.”

  The Kappa got pushed back and fell into the river with a heavy splash.

  “You’ve got nowhere left to run now.”

  The Kappa rose again, glaring at him while also confused. It didn’t recognize him at first.

  Ryohei narrowed his eyes.

  “What’s with that look? Don’t tell me… you forgot me?”

  He returned to his human form for a moment. The Kappa’s expression changed—it flinched, stepping back as realization dawned. This was the black haired boy it ambushed a few days ago.

  “You finally remembered… Good. Back then, didn’t you follow me back to my house, right? And now—it's me who followed you back to your abode.”

  Once, he was the prey—cornered, stalked to his own home and endangered his family. But now, the roles have reversed.

  He spread his arms wide, as if showing the Kappa. “Here I am… come and get me.”

  Then Hikage and Raisen descended from the night sky, landing on his shoulders before morphing into dual sickles—one in each hand.

  “You had your fair chance of hunting me. Now it’s my turn...”

  Ryohei transformed once again, his body brimming with yokai energy. Muscles coiled, spiritual energy surged down his arms, and he launched forward.

  A single, deadly strike aimed to finish it in one strike.

  The Kappa panicked and dove away.

  Ryohei’s blades carved an X-shaped gash through the river, splitting water and scraping the ground beneath the river—but the Kappa barely escaped, swimming with every ounce of strength it had.

  As the entrance of its hiding place was completely sealed, the Kappa swam towards the opposite direction, desperately trying to escape from Ryohei.

  “Don’t you dare run, you damn turtle!”

  Ryohei lunged forward, immediately giving chase.

  Just a few days ago, he’d realized a major weakness in his fighting style—which is no long-range attacks. To prepare for this hunt, he had trained relentlessly, watching how Hikage and Raisen executed their Air Slashes, and mimicking it over and over.

  Right before the slash—focus. Imbue your arm and the surrounding air with spiritual energy. Then explode it outward, like pulling a trigger.

  Air Slash

  A sharp arc of energy ripped through the air, slicing horizontally toward the Kappa—and struck its shell dead-on with a satisfying crack.

  The chase didn’t stop. Ryohei pressed forward, launching slash after slash in a relentless barrage.

  “Tch—damn it! Stop dodging, you slippery bastard!”

  His muscles burned with effort. Another Air Slash tore through the night—only for the Kappa to twist mid-swim, letting the strike whip harmlessly past. Another miss. Another wasted shot.

  The creature zigzagged through the river like a shadow, its movements erratic and desperate. Each slash Ryohei launched churned up violent waves, scattering sprays of water that shimmered under the moonlight.

  That night, the locals living around the Chikuma River saw several water explosions happen along the Chikuma River.

  But no matter how hard Ryohei pushed and cornered it, the Kappa remained fast and was able to evade it. Its maneuverability underwater is insane.

  “Damn it! I can’t go on like this, It will be me who ran out of energy first before that thing!”

  Then he noticed something.

  The Kappa wasn’t just dodging panickaly.

  It was retreating.

  Ryohei’s eyes locked onto the river ahead. Downstream, the water widened and deepened, transforming into a vast stretch where, if the Kappa made it that far, it could vanish beneath the surface—safe, and unreachable from Ryohei’s attack.

  If it really got there, the hunt is over.

  The kappa swam faster, its panicked strokes sending ripples across the river’s surface. It was heading toward deeper waters—toward escape.

  Ryohei clicked his tongue.

  “No you don’t.”

  His eyes snapped to the steel bridge ahead. And just like that—a plan clicked into his mind in an instant.

  With a sudden burst of speed, he dashed toward the bridge and fired an Air Slash at one of its main supports. A shrill hiss split the night as the blade of air sliced clean through the metal. Then another slash to the opposite end.

  *SCREEEEEECH!

  Steel groaned.

  As the whole bridge trembled.

  Followed up with a sickening shudder, the structure collapsed.

  The kappa, who was beneath it, froze. It panicked the moment it saw the steel bridge collapsing right into it. It’s instinct tells that even if it tried to swim forward faster, it would still be caught by the falling bridge, so it turned around and desperately paddled its webbed arm to avoid being crushed by the collapse.

  *BOOOOM!

  Tons of steel and concrete slammed into the river, sending water erupting sky-high like a geyser. The shockwave blasted out like a thunderclap, rocking the riverbed.

  The Kappa was caught in the blast. It tumbled through the air like a ragdoll, as its limbs flailed out of control.

  But Ryohei didn’t let that chance slip away. He shot forward, twisting mid-air—as his muscles coiled like springs—then released everything into a dropkick.

  The strike hit dead-on.

  Or… almost.

  At the very last second, the Kappa twisted, using its webbed hands to cover the crown of its head, and turned its body around—shell-first.

  Instead of slamming into its stomach—Ryohei’s foot slammed into its hard shell.

  *BAAAM!

  The impact jolted straight up his leg. His knee screamed. But the Kappa fared worse—it was launched like a cannonball, crashing violently into the riverbed.

  Ryohei landed hard, his knee still buzzing from the impact. He clenched his teeth, shoving the pain aside.

  His eyes locked onto the kappa. There, just ahead—the Kappa, was still dazed by the crash.

  “Finally… managed to fish you out.”

  The Kappa glared at Ryohei, while still casting glances at the river behind him—it's only escape route…

  But Ryohei was in the way, and was proven not easy to bypass.

  “Not so tough when you’re out of the water, huh?”

  They stared each other down, and stood still, like statues.

  Then the Kappa made the first move and bolted sideways—toward the river.

  Ryohei sighed, disappointed but not surprised. “Sigh, you still refuse to fight and keep trying to run.”

  He flicked a sickle into the air. In a flash of light, Raisen and Hikage reverted to their weasel forms mid-spin, catching the signal.

  “Raisen, Hikage. Just like we planned—let's go!”

  With explosive speed, the two shot into motion, darting across the battlefield like streaks of wind. Ryohei launched into the air, using the wind like steppingstones, and flew at the Kappa.

  He aimed a kick at the Kappa’s head—but it ducked, still shielding the top of its skull.

  The attack missed, but Ryohei narrowed his eyes.

  And then grinned.

  “Earlier… when I kicked you, you covered your head. Now, even when you dodged—you still covered it. That’s it, isn’t it? That’s your weak spot.”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The Kappa’s eyes widened.

  In an instant, it poured its remaining spiritual energy into its legs, healing any damage—and desperately sprinting.

  The frantic retreat it made was able to confirm Ryohei what he needed to know. He had collected and read about this—on both yokai’s tale and lore and from the shady internet forums.

  Raisen and Hikage moved at incredible speed, flying from the opposite direction. They spun together and created a spiraling vortex of wind blades. The vortex slammed into the Kappa, forcing it back—away from the river’s edge.

  The Kappa screamed, shielding its face, but the blades tore at its flesh with thousands of tiny cuts. By the time the storm faded, it was shaking, gasping.

  It tried to bolt away–but its body didn’t respond.

  Then it saw why.

  Ryohei had already clung to its back.

  The Kappa glanced at his back—only to see Ryohei clinging tightly to its slimy shell. Before it could escape, Ryohei was already lifting it up.

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  With a roar, Ryohei summoned all his strength—his muscles trembling—and lifted the thrashing Kappa into the air.

  "NGGGH... DROP DEAD!"

  In one explosive motion, Ryohei turned the lift into a brutal suplex. The Kappa’s eyes widened in disbelief—it had never seen a move like this.

  In a single explosive motion, he turned the lift into a brutal suplex. The Kappa’s eyes widened in disbelief—it had never even seen a move like this before.

  Then—

  *CRACK!

  its head slammed hard into the rocky riverbed, sending a burst of water flying as the liquid in its bowl splashed out completely.

  “KRAAAAAAAKH!” The Kappa let out a guttural, hollowed shriek of pain. But even as it lay stunned, its first instinct was to scramble for the spilled water—only to watch in horror as it vanished into the ground, soaked up by the thirsty earth.

  But right after it got dunked to the ground, the Kappa only focused on collecting the spilled water back to its head, but sadly… the moment the water got spilled, it immediately seeped into the ground.

  Ryohei snickered, “Oh? From your reaction, it appears to be correct… Why don’t we test it out?”

  Ryohei steps forward and slashes the Kappa’s face with his hands that turn into a sickle.

  *Tsssssk!

  The previous scales that managed to deflect Ryohei’s attack now didn’t pose any defense. Instead Ryohei’s attack easily tears the Kappa’s skin.

  The Kappa screamed in agony as it tumbled around the ground, holding down the slash to its face.

  On top of each Kappa’s head, they have that bald spot with an elongated curved shape called Dish, its shapes are similar to that of a plate. It was connected to its skull and has a function that retains water on top of its head.

  Normally, even Young Kappa's physique was stronger than an adult man. But at certain moments, either when the water on the Kappa’s Dish was spilled and dried out, or if the Dish was broken. Kappa will be severely weakened, their movement feels sluggish as their strength and the tough scales and shell become brittle.

  Ryohei sickle, which was known to be blunter than both Raisen and Hikage’s sickle, yet it is still sunk easily into the Kappa’s skin, by passing Kappa Scales.

  While the Kappa was still rolling on the ground in agony, Ryohei ran towards it and kicked it right on the belly, sending it flying further away from the river.

  "Stop running away. You already know it’s useless."

  The Kappa stood up and glared at Ryohei with anger and contempt.

  "Good… That’s more like it. "Good… That’s more like it. Don’t you ever think this is unfair… You attacked me when I was at my most vulnerable moments, and now I was just returning the favor.”

  The Kappa bared its fangs and claws forward, signalling that it had abandoned the thought of running away and was ready to fight to the death.

  “Raisen, Hikage… transform, please. I want to kill this thing on my own.”

  Ryohei wanted to vent all his anguish, anger and frustration he felt for the past few weeks. The way he imagined it, ganging up on a severely weakened enemy three against one was very uncool.

  Both of them transform into weapons, then immediately grabbed by Ryohei as it raised it forward, pointing at the Kappa.

  Ryohei exhaled sharply, lowering his stance.

  “Raisen, Hikage… transform, please. I want to kill this thing on my own.”

  A soft gust stirred the air as the two Kamaitachi shifted shape mid-air—one into a gleaming sharp sickle. As soon as their forms solidified, Ryohei caught them without flinching, both blades humming in his grip.

  He pointed both sickles forward, the steel tips gleaming in the moonlight, locking eyes with the bruised, battered Kappa.

  “No more games…” Said Ryohei, glared at it dead in the eyes. As if signalling that Kappa to fight to the death.

  “You wanted to eat me, didn’t you?!” Ryohei snarled. “Then—FIGHT ME PROPERLY!”

  The Kappa let out a distorted growl, blood trailing from its beak. It staggered forward but was definitely provoked to the point of being pissed off.

  Then the two of them lunged at each other and all hell broke loose.

  Barrage of Sickle slashes met claws in a blur of storm of slashes. Sparks flew as Ryohei twisted, his right arm swinging downward in a vicious arc—CLANG!—the Kappa barely deflected it with a panicked swipe. It retaliated with a sweeping claw aimed for Ryohei’s gut, but Ryohei spun as he jumped back.

  Ryohei growled, surprised that it was actually this strong despite being in a weakened state… Or perhaps it was because of its desperation that made it tough.

  Ryohei darted forward, slashing in a cross pattern. The Kappa blocked one—but not the other. The second slash opened a line across its plastron, as its blood sprayed onto the riverbank.

  Still, it didn't fall. The Kappa’s front was still armored, despite not being as tough as its shell, if its biology was similar to that of a turtle, it was tough since it has bones covered in scutes. Making it harder to inflict a deeper wound.

  ‘Huft... Where should I attack next?’

  Ryohei panting and was caught up with its mind, too late on noticing the Kappa lunged forward and was biting his leg.

  “GAAAAH!” Screamed Ryohei as he looked down at the Kappa, then swung its sickle right at its face.

  But the Kappa was quick to retreat, some of Ryohei’s skin and flesh was torn. As the Kappa continues to chew and swallow it with a sinister smile, replenishing some of its hunger and energy.

  “You damn turtle…” Said Ryohei. The wound on Ryohei’s leg has already healed, but he just knows that if the fight goes on like that, the Kappa will keep healing and replenishing its hunger by eating chunks of his flesh over and over.

  Ryohei kicked off the ground and surged forward, slashing one sickle diagonally. It clashed with another claw, Ryohei was confident in terms of speed. So he sent out a storm of slashes. After a barrage of slashes, it was shown that the Kappa cannot completely parry it, there’s several slashes that connected and created small wounds all over the Kappa’s body.

  With one final slash and it was—

  *CLAAANG!

  The Kappa spun around just in time—Ryohei’s right slash clashed against its hardened shell with a sharp clang, the impact jolting up his arm. Pain surged through his muscles as his arm was knocked aside along with HIkage who had transformed into a sickle.

  Ryohei's eyes widened as he saw a feral gleam in the Kappa’s eye. It lunged forward again, opening its jaws wide, trying to tear into Ryohei’s flesh once more.

  But Ryohei reacted this time!

  With a powerful swing, Ryohei delivers a powerful kick right towards its chin. Then Ryohei spun to the right and stabbed its chest with another Sickle.

  The Kappa also bared its claws and managed to sink it right on Ryohei’s left arm.

  With a scream, the Kappa sank its teeth right on Ryohei’s shoulder.

  “GRAAAAAAH!!”

  Ryohei screamed in agony, thrashing wildly to shake it off—but the Kappa had already latched on with everything it could, anchoring itself firmly as it continued to ravenously tear into his shoulder.

  “FUCK OFF!” he roared, slamming his fist into the Kappa’s face. Again. And again. But it didn’t budge. It just kept gnawing.

  “Fine! You wanna cling that bad? Then hang on for dear life!”

  Gritting his teeth through the blinding pain, Ryohei bolted forward. Swung his arm, dragging the Kappa’s body along the river revetment. Kappa’s shell continues to drag against the concrete, as the shell starts cracking all over. But it is still not enough to shake it off.

  With a blast of wind beneath its feet, Ryohei leapt to the sky, dragging the Kappa high into the air.

  Sensing danger, the Kappa finally tried to break away. But it was too late.

  Right now, Ryohei was the one clinging to that Kappa.

  Each of his fingers transformed into a sickle, and dug deep right into the Kappa’s shoulder, locking it in place and preventing the Kappa from escaping.

  “Hey! What’s wrong? You were so clingy before—why back out now?! I’m just getting started!”

  Ryohei soared higher and higher. When he reached the height limit, he could reach, he closed his eyes and fell together.

  Then his eyes were shot open as Ryohei started to curl midair, spinning wildly with the Kappa still clamped to his arm. Their descent turned into a spiraling dive—like a meteor screaming toward the earth.

  And then—impact.

  A deafening BOOM split the air. The impact created a huge crater on the riverbank.

  The Kappa let out a howling shriek, its body convulsing from the force. Its shell was fractured. Chunks of it lay scattered around the riverbank, like a broken armor.

  Ryohei wasn’t unscathed either. He hit the ground hard, gasping and dragging himself upright, bloodied and shaking. But he was confident that he had more energy reserve than that Kappa, his wound will recover but the Kappa wouldn't.

  The Kappa knew it was on the losing side, its dish, the source of its power that once filled with water, was bone dry.

  But then, its eyes gleamed—it thought of one, last desperate gambit.

  The Kappa’s eyes flashed. It roared and slammed both hands into the ground. The river behind it surged unnaturally as it burned through every ounce of its remaining spiritual energy, commanding the water to explode forward.

  A tidal burst surged forward, crashing into Ryohei and launching him forward. Some of the water spilled into the Kappa’s head-dish.

  A horrible realization bloomed across Ryohei’s face.

  Kappa’s dish has been refilled.

  The Kappa gasped, the condition has been met and felt its body have been revitalized with the strength it had lost. Its wounds slowly knitted, muscles pulsed with life again. A wide grin stretched across its face, as if declaring it was already winning.

  Then it immediately charged wildly at Ryoge

  But Ryohei didn’t flinch.

  His arm snapped forward—Hikage spun through the air like a bolt of lightning.

  *SLASH!!

  The curved blade sliced clean through the Kappa’s ankles. It screamed, stumbling, as its limbs flailed around, trying to regain its balance.

  But He didn’t miss that moment, he leapt—wind swirling at his feet like coiled springs—and launched himself above the yokai.

  Midair, he spun into a somersault, and then—BOOM!—his kick came crashing down like a divine hammer onto the back of the Kappa’s skull. The creature slammed face-first into the dirt as water spilled from its dish once more.

  The Kappa groaned as it had weakened once more. Once Ryohei landed, he jumped away from the Kappa gaining a significant distance from it and went on all four, his fingers dug into the dirt as he took a running stance.

  Without giving any more chances to, Ryohei followed it up with another attack.

  He began to mutter,

  “The fall of your prey…”

  “Marks the beginning of the hunt…”

  “Transform yourself into unrelenting speed,”

  “Leaving nothing but silence in your wake.”

  His muscles tensed and his eyes locked sharp towards the Kappa.

  Wind began to circle around his legs, each second passed makes the wind grow stronger and fiercer.

  In his mind he muttered something. ‘Timing.. Timing… TIMING!’

  Then—BOOM.

  He shot forward like a railgun, ripping through the ground with sheer momentum. His arm bent tightly at the elbow, locking into position as he slammed his shoulder into the Kappa’s plastron. Muscles tensed, his whole body drove the Kappa back, dragging it along with incredible force.

  The impact dragged them both toward the far end of the riverbank—before smashing into the concrete revetment.

  CRACK!!

  The sound was deafening. The Kappa’s shell shattered. Its plastron split like glass. It slumped—shell-less, spirit broken.

  The Kappa groaned in the ground, gasping heavily as it held down the pain from all over its body.

  Ryohei staggered back, panting. His eyes flicked to the Kappa.

  “…It’s over.”

  If Kappa really has a similar body structure to that of a Turtle, then it should have broken most main bones in his body. The turtle shell isn’t just armor — it’s somewhat part of their skeleton. Includes the spine, ribcage, and even connects to some nerves and blood vessels.

  Being smashed like that into concrete will most likely puncture it by the shards, not to mention internal injury it had sustained.

  But Ryohei forgot one crucial thing—

  Kappa was a Yokai, even when dying, they didn’t always stay dead.

  Ryohei jolted as he saw the Kappa rise from the concrete rubble, but it didn’t attack Ryohei, but instead ran towards the river, prioritizing its safety.

  “…Kh! No, you don’t!”

  Ryohei tried to follow, but his body wouldn’t move — his arms and legs were numb. He had overdone his last attack. The recoil from his last attack was too much—just like back then, during the second round of the Hyakki Yagyō, when he fought Kururi and nearly tore himself apart.

  But suddenly, the Kappa fell down. Its leg gave out, the Kappa spat blood as its stomach twisted—not with hunger, but with searing pain.

  It screamed in agony.

  Something inside was rotting it from within.

  It was still trying to reach for the river—just a few meters away—but couldn’t move. It looked back and saw—The Kappa’s legs were turning black. A network of dark, webbed veins pulsed beneath the skin, creeping up like poison.

  The Kappa shrieked again—this time in rage.

  Ryohei, breathing hard, looked at the crumbling yokai.

  Then he laughed.

  A low chuckle, dry and cruel.

  “I didn’t expect you to still move… but to think your last moments would be spent dying to that? Ironic, isn’t it?”

  There’s no way the Kappa wouldn’t know that, because it was the poison it knew so well.

  Gekkōzai–The Moonlight Toxin.

  The very same venom it had once used on Ruri’s leg. But now, it was coursing through its own body, paralyzing and corroding it from within.

  Confusion twisted across its face. Why? How? Why had it affected himself, not his enemy?

  “You’re wondering why, aren’t you?”

  The Kappa flinched at the sound of Ryohei’s voice. He was seated calmly a few meters away, his breathing steady, waiting for the numbness in his limbs to fade.

  “It’s not that strange,” Ryohei said, a cold edge to his voice. “I spent weeks researching you—everything I could find. Every weakness. Every pattern. Including the poison you used on my sister.”

  He leaned forward slightly, his eyes sharp and still glaring at the Kappa.|

  “It made sense. With your low spiritual energy, you’d rely on underhanded tricks to take down stronger prey. I knew you’d go for the same tactic again.”

  Ryohei snickered, “But too bad for you, because I’ve already taken the antidote in advance, not to mention… I even asked Elder Korpokkur to make an extra batch of the same poison, just for you. I was thinking of making you suffer the same way my sister did.”

  The Kappa trembled, its breathing ragged. But its mind was still spinning—when had it been poisoned? It had taken a few slashes, yes, but the symptoms hadn’t appeared until much later.

  “You still don’t get it, huh?” Ryohei said with a grin. “It wasn’t the blades. It was the cucumber.”

  The Kappa’s eyes went wide. Rage boiled over as it roared and tried to lunge—but its leg dragged uselessly behind, and before it could move another inch, Ryohei was already in front of it.

  With one explosive kick to the jaw, he shattered the Kappa’s beak. Bone cracked. The yokai collapsed backward, groaning as it watched the night sky.

  “It’s unfortunate that you only eat one of those cucumbers, if you ate more… the toxin could’ve been stronger. But I guess that’s the very reason why you didn’t detect it, because the doze was very small and the effect was even slower.”

  The rain began to fall—light at first, then heavier, soaking the bloodstained riverbank. But no amount of water could save the Kappa now. Its blood had run dry. Its shell was shattered. Most of its bones are broken. And most of its organs were failing.

  At this moment, Death was inevitable.

  Ryohei stood beside it, watching the Kappa slowly dying from the Poison.

  Then, with one last burst of strength, the Kappa opened its cracked beak and let out a deep, guttural scream that pierced the downpour.

  A Kappa’s death cry.

  It echoed through the valley, haunting and raw.

  Several eyes began to blink beneath the water.

  As more and more Kappa were coming towards them.