RYUSATSUGA

The wind cut like blades as Kaien rushed down the mountain. Loose stones nearly made him fall, but he didn't stop. His chest burned. Not only from the effort, but from the fire that pulsed in the sleeping blade on his back.

Ryusatsuga vibrated. And with every step, the edge seemed to grow impatient. As if it was also eager to fight.

In the midst of that desperate run, his mind did not see fire or ruins…He saw a rainy night.

Everyone was soaked. The cabin's roof had collapsed, and Haru wouldn't stop crying. Mei had a fever. Riku said nothing, just stared at the broken window.

Kaien held the three of them close, trembling with cold, able to offer nothing but his body as a blanket.

That night he thought about giving up.

But Mei, half asleep, murmured:

—Thank you for taking care of us.

And Haru, eyes closed, said:

—Kaien… never leave us.

Now, as he ran down the mountain with the cursed sword beating on his back, he remembered those words.

And he had no doubt.

He would die a thousand times… before leaving them alone.

The village was fire.

Collapsed houses. Screams. Blood. Warriors he himself had never defeated, now fallen among embers, still clutching their weapons.

The air smelled of ash.

And in the middle of it all… the beast.

The Kuzuryū walked on all fours. Enormous as a house. Its body was an impossible mix of broken scales, black flesh, and burning symbols. Its breath trembled like cursed steam.

—It can't be a real dragon… —Kaien whispered, paralyzed.

—No —a firm voice answered beside him.

(Hanzo watches him)

An old man with a calm expression, wrapped in a dark robe, looked at him with absolute

serenity. His sword remained sheathed, but his presence was sharper than any blade.

—It's a spawn. A Kuzuryū. A failed creation. Pure rage without conscience.

The beast headed towards the children.Kaien stepped forward. Sweat ran down his face.

—I have to stop it.

—Then do it —the old man said—. I'm watching you.

As the Kuzuryū advanced, it did not roar.

It murmured.

Not full words. Just names.

—…Yui… Renta… Kayo…

Kaien recognized them. They were names of villagers.

Some were already dead.

Others… not yet.

Kaien ran through ruins and fire. The monster roared at him. From its mouth came a black flame that swallowed an entire roof. The heat enveloped everything. Chaos reigned.

Ryusatsuga was unsheathed.

When the black flame reached him, Kaien rolled…

…and for a moment, he saw the beast's chest: marked with a glowing kanji.

"Spoils."

The strike he launched split the air in two… but the monster dodged it.

With a claw swipe, it threw him against a wall.

Kaien stood up, bleeding from the forehead. His ears buzzed. His breathing was ragged.

And then he saw them.

Three children. Running towards him.

—Kaien! —Mei cried, clutching Haru.

—I told you not to go out! —Riku shouted, but kept running.

—RUN! —Kaien shouted, stepping in front of them.

The Kuzuryū roared. Charged.

Kaien raised the sword.

The impact was brutal.A cloud of dust rose. The ground shook. The blade shone like a black lightning bolt.

The fight was pure survival.

Kaien had no technique. Only instinct.

With every slash he made, the sword responded more. It grew lighter. Fiercer.

As if it fed on the fight.

But the monster learned too. Its movements grew faster. Its eyes sharper.

Kaien flew through the air, crashed, bled. He didn't know what he was doing. He only kept going.

In the distance, the old man watched, impassive.

—Hmm… interesting…

When the Kuzuryū turned toward the children, frozen with fear, Kaien screamed with all

his fury and launched an upward slash.

"Kill it." The word crossed his mind. He didn't know if it was his thought… or the thing sleeping in the sword.

[Ascending Fang] (Kiba Noboru)! as if the edge whispered an intent, a word.

The cut was clean.

From belly to neck.

After the cut, the Kuzuryū fell to its side.

And while its body dissolved…

…a single black tear slid from its eye.

Kaien didn't know if it was pain…

…or sorrow.

The monster roared a last cry… and fell.

But it didn't disappear.

Its body was wrapped by shadows. Dark vapors that Ryusatsuga absorbed as if it were

hungry. The blade pulsed. Vibrated. Something dark grew inside it.

Hanzo —the old man— stepped forward.

—The sword… grows stronger with every monster defeated.It's dangerous...

Kaien, trembling and bleeding, fell to his knees. The world spun around him. He barely could breathe.

—I saved them —he whispered with a weak smile, almost mocking himself.

And just as he collapsed…

—KAIEEEEN!!

The children ran to him.

Haru. Mei. Riku.

They hugged him amid tears, clumsy and desperate.

—Don't die!

—You saved us!

—You're a hero!

Kaien smiled.

The sword was still there, though he no longer held it. A weight in his chest. As if it was stuck in his ribs.

And he fainted wrapped in the arms he had protected.

Hanzo watched them silently.

And… barely smiled.

—Maybe there's still hope…

Maybe this boy… has what it takes.

The village no longer looked at him the same.

Their gazes were not of gratitude.

They were of doubt.

Of distance.

—They say he used the cursed sword… —a woman whispered near the well.

—Who else could have dug it up? That boy was always… strange —another said.

Far away, in forgotten lands…

A hooded figure looked up in a ruined temple. The air smelled of death… but also of destiny.

The walls were covered in black roots, like sleeping veins.

In the center, a stone pedestal with broken chains.

And on it… nothing.

Only a hollow shaped like a body.

Then he turned around, whispering with a barely human voice:

—The armor…

| Author's Note |

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