A short time before Hastur's confrontation.
---
Ban woke up abruptly after Benkei's violent blow.
He groaned as he sat up, his vision still blurred by pain.
"That's the second time you've knocked me out, Benkei… Try to control your strength a little."
Benkei, impassive, looked at him calmly.
"I thought you wanted to cross this bridge.
So far, all you've done is eat dust."
Ban clenched his fists.
"You're right… I need to fight."
He suddenly burst forward, charging straight at the colossus.
He's three times faster than before, Benkei thought.
Unfazed, he took his stance.
His blade shot forward, far faster than Ban.
The edge brushed past the child's face—it should have cut him down.
But Ban dodged at the last instant, as if guided by a sixth sense.
His aura began to tint purple once more.
He jumped, fist clenched, aiming for the giant's face.
But Benkei, still impassive, reversed his movement in a fraction of a second.
Ban focused all his energy into his leg and performed a double jump, passing completely over the colossus this time.
That's right, Benkei… My goal was to escape from above.
But suddenly, a gigantic arm blocked his path.
Impossible… He didn't—
The giant hand grabbed the child's face and slammed him down with such force that the trees around them lost their leaves.
This time, however, Ban resisted.
He remained standing.
"So that's impo—"
He didn't have time to finish.
His purple aura suddenly exploded, expanding until it completely engulfed him.
A sinister sound echoed—his bones were cracking.
"HAAAAAAAA!!"
Benkei frowned.
"What's happening to him…?
That strike shouldn't have caused this… Could it be…?"
---
Back to the present — Hastur's side
"Round two begins."
Hastur continued his inevitable fall.
Below, the gorillas, eager for his return, wore wide smiles.
Their leader stood at the center, arms raised toward the sky, as if welcoming a celestial offering.
During his fall, Hastur noticed a leaf drifting down from a tree.
Despite the imminent danger, he took the time to observe it.
It descended slowly, carried by the wind.
When it touched the ground, his yellow-jade aura intensified.
The ground was only a few meters away.
The gorillas were already preparing to attack.
Then, suddenly—
Hastur let himself fall.
Like the leaf.
Without the slightest impact.
The gorillas stepped back in horror.
Can someone really copy something to that extent…?
The alpha gorilla smiled.
He began pounding his chest frantically.
The others followed.
Then he raised his arms to the sky.
Instantly, all the gorillas threw themselves at him.
They intertwined, merged together, forming a grotesque mass.
The mass grew and twisted, like living clay.
When the transformation ended, a titanic four-legged creature stood before Hastur.
Its tails were countless.
Hastur watched without blinking.
The creature thundered, its voice crushing the entire forest.
"I AM GOOKI, THE SUPREME MASTER OF THIS LAND.
I WILL NOT ALLOW A MALE HOMO SAPIENS TO REMAIN HERE ANY LONGER!"
"So you're the reason only women can cross this forest…?"
"WE WOULD NEVER HARM SUCH A BEAUTY OF NATURE.
BUT YOU… ARE A DIFFERENT STORY."
GOOKI raised his fist toward the sky and brought it down on the boy.
Hastur was looking elsewhere.
A leaf.
He watched its fragile movement, carried by the wind.
The fist struck—but mere millimeters before impact, the wind generated swept Hastur away, just like the leaf he had been observing.
GOOKI, stunned, raised a second fist.
Then a third.
Then all of them at once.
Before they could fall, Hastur extended his arm, rigid, fingers stretched.
Like Benkei's merciless blade—
He cut.
His speed matched the giant's.
GOOKI was struck head-on.
"My arm will be merciless."
---
Ban's side
A colossal, destructive energy enveloped Rastaban.
His screams of pain echoed endlessly.
Benkei stood frozen, struggling to understand what was happening.
"Is this… his power…?
A power that devours its own bearer…"
"REBELLION…!"
The purple energy transformed.
Six dragon heads emerged from his back.
Benkei immediately sensed the danger.
One head attacked.
"It looks like… Yamata no Orochi…"
Benkei cut it down cleanly.
A second head.
Then a third.
He dodged, blocked, and countered.
The assaults came without pause.
Ban, trapped within this storm of energy, had no awareness of what was happening.
Benkei breathed heavily.
Blood ran down his arm.
He smiled faintly.
"…How long have I been guarding this bridge, already…?"
---
Flashback
The night was cold.
The bridge creaked under the wind.
Benkei stood upright, his weapon planted in the wood.
Behind him, the passage.
Before him, the shadows.
Soldiers appeared.
"Step aside, monk. This bridge isn't worth your life."
"This bridge is not mine."
He struck the ground.
"But as long as I stand here…
no one shall pass."
The soldiers charged.
Blades clashed.
Blood flowed.
But Benkei did not retreat.
When silence returned—
He was still standing.
Motionless.
---
The present returned.
Benkei gripped his weapon one last time.
"…I guard bridges… until the very end."
---
Back to Hastur
GOOKI resumed the assault.
His blows became a storm.
Hastur was struck head-on.
Thrown to the ground, half-conscious.
"You're already finished…
I haven't even warmed up."
GOOKI hurled him like a ball.
"One… two…"
Hastur felt death approaching.
Then, in the sky, something passed.
Invisible.
Yet its passage shattered sound itself.
A cosmic being.
"I must… copy…"
Absolute speed.
GOOKI was pierced through.
The creature collapsed, dead.
Hastur was sent flying for kilometers.
His body shattered.
Before losing consciousness, he screamed:
"RASTABAN!!!"
---
Rastaban's side
The dragons stopped instantly.
The purple energy receded.
"I must help my brother… Hastur."
"You're giving up when you're so close to the goal?" Benkei asked.
"I don't fight to win.
I fight to protect."
A tear ran down the giant's face.
"You are a great warrior, Rastaban."
"In Peleria… in twelve years…
when the fifth actor appears…
the path will open."
Rastaban smiled, then ran—far, very far.
He found Hastur.
Unrecognizable.
He carried him on his back, tears flowing like a torrent.
"Hold on…
You won't die.
I promise."