Raizen drifted in and out of consciousness.
Sometimes he felt the cold stone beneath him. Sometimes he felt hands—steady, practiced—pressing against his shoulder, tightening bandages, grinding herbs into paste. Other times, he felt nothing at all, only a heavy pull dragging him downward, like the earth itself was trying to claim him.
Voices came and went.
"…pulse is steady."
"…too quiet."
"…Weaver poison doesn't kill fast. It waits."
That last voice lingered.
Raizen forced his eyes open.
The world swam into focus slowly. He lay on a mat inside a narrow storage room beneath the inn, lantern light flickering against wooden beams. Haruka knelt beside him, sleeves rolled up, her hands stained dark with crushed leaves and blood. Senji stood near the door, listening for movement above. Kaito sat against the wall, knees drawn up, unusually silent.
And Aoi stood closest.
Too close.
She was crouched near his head, one arm resting on her knee, eyes fixed on his face with an intensity that made him uncomfortable. Not concern exactly—something sharper.
"You're awake," she said.
Her voice was flat, but her jaw tightened as soon as he moved.
Raizen swallowed. His throat burned. "How long?"
"Most of the night," Haruka answered. "You lost a lot of strength. The poison spread faster than I expected."
Raizen tried to sit up.
Aoi's hand shot out, pressing him back down.
"Don't," she snapped. "You're not walking anywhere."
He blinked, surprised—not by the command, but by the force behind it.
Haruka glanced at Aoi, then back to Raizen. "She's right. If you push your body now, the poison will take advantage."
Raizen exhaled slowly and stayed still.
Above them, Kagamori remained silent. No bells. No voices. No movement.
"That city feels dead," Kaito muttered. "Like it's holding its breath."
Senji nodded. "Because it is."
⸻
The Nature of the Poison
Haruka finished wrapping Raizen's shoulder and wiped her hands. "The poison isn't venom in the usual sense," she explained. "It doesn't attack organs directly."
Aoi tilted her head. "Then what does it do?"
"It listens," Haruka said.
Everyone looked at her.
"It responds to stress, pain, exertion. The more Raizen fights it, the more it adapts—just like the Weaver said."
Raizen clenched his fist slowly. His fingers trembled.
"So I'm a liability," he said quietly.
"No," Senji replied immediately. "You're bait."
That earned a sharp look from Kaito. "Bro—"
"He's right," Mika said calmly from the corner. She had been silent until now, arms crossed, eyes closed. "The Weaver marked him. That means Raizen is now part of their awareness."
Raizen's chest tightened. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," Mika continued, "if you move through Kagamori, the Tsuchigumo will sense it. Vibration. Presence. Blood memory."
Aoi's fingers curled into her palm.
"So we don't hide," Kaito said slowly. "We use it."
Senji smiled grimly. "Exactly."
⸻
A City That Knows
They waited until dusk before moving.
Haruka insisted Raizen remain behind, but he refused—calmly, firmly. There was no anger in it, no bravado.
"I won't be dead weight," he said. "I'll move when necessary."
Aoi studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. "Fine. But you fall behind, I carry you."
"That won't be necessary."
She didn't respond.
The streets of Kagamori were worse than before.
People avoided eye contact. Merchants closed their stalls as the group passed. Children were pulled indoors. Every shrine candle flickered as if disturbed by an unseen wind.
"They know something's wrong," Kaito whispered.
"They always do," Senji replied. "Cities feel fear before people do."
They reached a market square near the city's center. A large bell tower stood there—silent, cracked down the middle.
Mika stopped suddenly.
"Do you hear that?" she asked.
Raizen listened.
Nothing.
And that was the problem.
No insects. No footsteps. No wind.
Aoi stepped forward, rolling her shoulders. "We're being tested."
The ground shifted.
From beneath the stone, threads emerged—thin at first, then thicker, spreading like veins across the square. People screamed as they ran.
"Formation!" Haruka shouted.
The earth ruptured.
Three Tsuchigumo Warriors burst upward, bodies half-human, half-chitin, limbs elongated unnaturally. Their movements were faster than the incomplete ones below the shrine—cleaner, more controlled.
"Warriors," Senji said. "Not scouts."
Aoi grinned, feral. "Good."
⸻
Battle in Kagamori Square
The first warrior lunged.
Aoi met it head-on.
She ducked beneath its strike, slammed her fist into its ribcage—bones shattered with a wet crack. She pivoted, elbow driving upward into its jaw, snapping its head back unnaturally before she finished it with a brutal downward knee.
Black blood sprayed across the stone.
Mika moved like a shadow beside her—short strikes, precise blows to joints and throat. She disarmed one warrior by breaking its wrist, then crushed its skull under her heel without hesitation.
Kaito and Haruka fought together—blade and polearm moving in practiced rhythm.
Raizen held back.
His vision blurred at the edges, but he forced himself to breathe steadily.
One warrior broke through.
It rushed him.
Aoi saw it too late.
Raizen moved anyway.
He stepped forward, blade flashing once—clean, controlled. The strike severed the creature's spine.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
He staggered.
Aoi caught him.
Her grip was iron.
"You idiot," she hissed. "I told you—"
He met her eyes.
Calm. Apologetic.
"It was necessary."
For a second, her anger faltered.
Then the threads beneath the square tightened.
The Weaver's voice echoed—not from one place, but everywhere.
"You walk openly now, marked one."
The ground began to collapse.
"Move!" Senji shouted.
They ran.
⸻
After the Fight
They escaped through a side alley, hearts pounding, blood staining the stones behind them.
Raizen collapsed against a wall, breath shallow.
Aoi crouched in front of him, gripping his collar. "You're not allowed to die," she said sharply.
He blinked. "That's… not your decision."
Her jaw clenched.
"Damn right it is," she muttered.
Haruka watched them quietly.
So did Mika.
⸻
Shifting Paths
That night, they regrouped in an abandoned storehouse near the city wall.
"The Weaver won't confront us directly," Senji said. "Not yet. It's measuring us."
Mika nodded. "And now it knows we can kill Warriors."
Kaito leaned back, exhausted. "So what's next?"
Raizen looked down at his trembling hand, then up at the others.
"We take the fight away from the city," he said. "If Kagamori falls, thousands die."
Aoi studied him carefully.
"You're thinking like a leader," she said.
He shook his head. "I'm thinking like someone who refuses to let more clans disappear."
For the first time, Aoi didn't smile.
She just nodded.
Outside, deep beneath the city, the Weaver adjusted its plans.
The marked blade still lived.
And that meant the hunt had only begun.