The moment Rai appeared on the stage, the world seemed to stop.
Thousands of eyes stared at him.
Fear spread through the crowd like wildfire.
Rai stood there like a ghost dragged out of a battlefield. His clothes were soaked in blood, dark and heavy, clinging to his body. Fresh drops slid from the tip of his katana and struck the wooden floor with soft, rhythmic taps.
In his left hand, he held the severed head of a Yun soldier.
The eyes of the dead man were still open.
Still staring.
The sight alone was enough to freeze the entire stage.
Even the soldiers surrounding the king hesitated.
They had faced enemies before.
Bandits. Rebels. Warriors.
But the man standing before them now did not look human.
He looked like something born from slaughter itself.
Rai's eyes were empty.
Cold.
Dead.
Then the soldiers moved.
"Kill him!" one of them shouted, his voice shaking.
A group of armored soldiers rushed forward, blades drawn.
Rai didn't speak.
He didn't even breathe differently.
The first soldier reached him and swung his sword downward.
Rai moved.
It was so fast the man didn't even realize what had happened.
A flash of steel.
Then silence.
The soldier's body froze.
A thin red line appeared across his neck.
A moment later—
His head slid from his shoulders.
Blood exploded into the air.
The body collapsed.
Screams erupted across the stage.
More soldiers rushed in.
Rai stepped forward.
His katana became a storm.
Steel clashed.
A blade struck Rai's side—
But before the soldier could pull back, Rai's sword tore upward, splitting the man from stomach to chest. Blood poured onto the stage like spilled wine.
Another soldier lunged with a spear.
Rai grabbed the shaft with his bare hand.
The wood cracked under his grip.
Then he drove his katana straight through the soldier's throat.
The blade emerged from the back of the man's neck.
The soldier collapsed, choking on his own blood.
Panic spread.
Rai moved through them like death itself.
A soldier tried to retreat.
Rai's blade caught him across the back.
The cut was so deep the man's spine snapped, and his body folded unnaturally before crashing to the ground.
Another soldier screamed and attacked wildly.
Rai stepped inside the swing.
His katana flashed once.
The man's arm flew through the air.
The soldier stared at the stump for a second before collapsing, shrieking.
The stage was turning red.
Blood spread across the wooden floor.
The crowd below erupted in terror.
People began to run.
Thousands of voices screamed.
But the nightmare was not over.
A soldier leapt from behind Rai and brought his blade crashing toward Rai's head.
The strike landed.
The steel struck with a loud crack.
But Rai didn't move.
The sword had barely scratched him.
Instead, the force of the blow tore the cloth wrapped around Rai's head.
The fabric fell away.
And the mark appeared.
A dark symbol burned into Rai's skin.
The mark of the Ra Clan.
The moment the soldiers saw it—
They froze.
Several of them stumbled backward.
One man dropped his sword entirely.
Others fell to their knees.
Fear filled their faces.
"The… the mark…" one soldier whispered.
Down in the crowd, thousands of people saw it.
Gasps rippled through the festival.
The devil.
The last Ra.
For a moment, the entire city seemed paralyzed by terror.
But then they remembered the king's words.
The Ra Clan were monsters.
Enemies of Yunara.
The crowd's fear slowly twisted into hatred.
People began shouting.
"Kill him!"
"Kill the Ra devil!"
Some even rushed toward the stage.
Rai saw them coming.
But he didn't retreat.
He didn't hesitate.
His blade moved again.
A civilian rushed too close.
The katana flashed.
The man's body fell in two pieces.
Another attacker tried to grab Rai.
The sword pierced straight through his chest.
Blood sprayed across Rai's face.
Still he kept moving.
Bodies fell around him.
Heads rolled across the stage.
The screams of the dying mixed with the roar of the terrified crowd.
Then Rai saw him.
The king.
Leon had begun stepping backward, protected by his remaining soldiers.
Rai's eyes burned.
His body moved like lightning.
The soldiers between them tried to block his path.
But none of them could match his speed.
One man's throat opened before he could even raise his sword.
Another lost his head entirely.
A third was cut across the waist, his upper body sliding from his legs.
The path cleared.
And finally—
Rai stood before the king.
For the first time in years…
They faced each other.
Leon's golden lion mask stared down at him.
For a moment, the battlefield went quiet.
Then the king spoke.
"So… the last rat of the Ra Clan finally shows himself."
Leon stepped forward.
"Good," he said coldly. "That saves me the trouble of hunting you."
The king clenched his fist.
The gauntlet covering his hand was massive, reinforced with a brutal punching weapon built for crushing bone.
"I'll end you myself."
Leon lunged forward.
His fist shot toward Rai's head with terrifying force.
But Rai smiled.
Blood covered his face.
His clothes were soaked red.
And the mark on his forehead burned beneath the lantern light.
This moment…
He had waited for it his entire life.
Rai took a slow breath.
Then he moved.
His katana flashed once.
Just once.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then blood poured across the stage.
A golden lion mask rolled across the floor.
And behind it—
A head.
The severed head of King Leon.
The crowd went silent.
Thousands of people stared in horror.
Someone in the crowd whispered in terror:
"He… he cut off the king's head…"
Another voice trembled.
"He killed Leon…"
And on the blood-covered stage—
Rai stood alone.
Holding the head of the King of Yunara.
To Be Continued…