Chapter 20: Right-Side Pressure
"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron."
The words left Renyu mouth quietly.
Then the red converter crystal answered.
Crimson light bloomed before his chest, sharp and condensed, before blue crystalline lines spread from it like ice over glass. Armor formed across his torso and arms in smooth interlocking plates. A sword settled into his hand, curved and refined, its edge humming faintly as the first stir of Phonic Gain Resonance moved through him.
Yu Tianheng saw the transformation from the corner of his eye.
Dugu Yan saw it too.
"So that is the singing sword," she said.
Renyu did not answer.
The rightmost Ironroot Tusk Beast had already begun its charge.
Its hooves tore into damp earth. Its head lowered. The bark-like growth on its tusks scraped against a tree trunk as it forced itself through the gap toward Ye Lingling's line.
Renyu stepped forward.
Ame no Habakiri rose.
He did sing the melody. The melody of battle. Melody of warrior.
"Hayate wo…"
Phonic Gain Resonance settled into his limbs, sharpening muscle and reflex. The world became cleaner at the edges. The beast charge no longer looked like a blur of hide and tusk. It became weight, angle, momentum.
He could cut.
He chose not to.
Instead, he slid in from the side, blade striking against the tusk ridge at a shallow angle. Sparks burst where crystalline edge met bark-hard growth. The beast head jerked, not from pain, but from redirection. Its charge veered half a body-width.
Enough.
It crashed shoulder-first into a tree instead of breaking toward the center.
Wood cracked.
Ye Lingling did not move.
Her eyes, however, followed Renyu for one brief moment.
Dugu Yan brows lifted slightly. "You didn't kill it."
Renyu reset his stance. "It was not necessary."
"It may become necessary."
"Then I'll do it then when that times come."
The beast staggered away from the cracked trunk, furious now, hooves scraping. Across the formation, Yu Tianheng slammed his fist into another Ironroot Tusk Beast jaw with a burst of blue lightning. The impact drove the creature sideways, but the second beast that had struck his shoulder pressed harder, trying to pin him in place.
Yu Tianheng gritted his teeth.
"Yan!"
"I see it."
Dugu Yan lifted both hands. Green mist spread low, then curled sharply around the beast legs. Not lethal. Controlled. Precise enough that even Qin Ming eyes sharpened in approval.
The beast recoiled.
Yu Tianheng tore his shoulder free and punched down with a crack of thunder. The Ironroot Tusk Beast knees buckled.
For a moment, the formation held.
Then the leader of the beast moved.
The thousand-year beast was smarter than the others. It did not rush blindly at Yu Tianheng again. Its green-sheened tusks lowered as it angled through the exact space between Renyu and Tianheng, choosing the weakest moment rather than the strongest opponent.
Renyu saw it.
Yu Tianheng saw it too.
Both moved.
That was the problem.
Yu Tianheng stepped right to block. Renyu stepped left to cut the charge line. For half a breath, their paths crossed badly.
Not enough to collide.
Enough to break rhythm.
Qin Ming voice snapped through the trees.
"Do not crowd the line!"
Renyu corrected first, pulling his blade inward.
Yu Tianheng corrected second, forcing his shoulder down and taking the leader impact across his guarded arm. The blow still drove him back two steps. Lightning flared wildly against the beast hide.
Dugu Yan face changed.
"Tianheng!"
She moved to flood the leader legs with poison, but the beast Renyu had redirected earlier recovered and charged her flank.
Renyu chest tightened.
If he protected the center, Dugu Yan had to handle the flank. If he helped Dugu Yan, the leader might break through Yu Tianheng and reach Ye Lingling.
A clean answer existed.
Resonance Bind.
His black third ring could restrain the beast. Stop its movement. Disrupt its soul power. End the danger.
His fingers tightened around the sword.
Too much to show?
The thought lasted less than a heartbeat.
Then Ye Lingling spoke, quiet but cutting.
"Right side."
Not frightened.
Not pleading.
Just a reminder.
His position.
His responsibility.
Renyu moved.
This time, there was no hesitation.
Ame no Habakiri flashed low as he stepped into the flank beast charge. The sword caught beneath one tusk and rose, not cutting through, but lifting the beast head just enough. His shoulder turned. His foot pivoted.
He used its own weight to pull it off-balance.
The beast stumbled past Dugu Yan instead of through her.
Dugu Yan did not waste the chance. Her mist snapped around its legs, darker this time, biting deeper. The Ironroot Tusk Beast gave a hoarse cry and collapsed onto one knee.
"Not bad," she said, though her voice still carried irritation.
"Compliment later," Renyu replied.
"I wasn't complimenting you."
"Good. Then I don't need to thank you."
Yu Tianheng let out a sharp breath that might have been amusement if he were not currently holding back the leader with both arms wreathed in lightning.
"Less talking!"
Renyu glanced toward him. "You started shouting first."
"I shouted for tactical reasons."
Dugu Yan mouth curved despite herself. "He has you there."
Qin Ming eyes moved between them even as the fight continued.
'Conflict is good,' he thought, 'sometime it can close the distance'.
That mattered.
The leader roared and surged again. Yu Tianheng boots dragged back another foot. The beast tusks pushed dangerously close to his ribs.
Renyu could not leave his side fully. Dugu Yan poison held the left. Ye Lingling remained central, her expression pale and composed. Lin Su had not appeared, which meant no outside threat had crossed the perimeter yet.
This was still their fight.
Renyu inhaled.
"Yoi ni kirameita…"
The second fragment of song slipped into the forest air.
Ame no Habakiri hum deepened. Phonic Gain Resonance strengthened, spreading through his body with sharper force. He did not attack the leader head-on. Yu Tianheng already occupied that line.
Instead, Renyu cut above it.
Blue light formed along the sword edge.
Aoi no Issen. [Blue Flash]
Not full force. Not the overwhelming slash he had shown Chen Xin. A shortened version, controlled and angled. The blue flash struck the leader tusk from the side at the same instant Yu Tianheng pushed forward.
Crack.
The green-sheened tusk split at the edge.
The leader head jerked sideways.
Yu Tianheng seized the opening.
Blue lightning exploded from his right arm as he drove a heavy punch into the beast shoulder. Bone did not break, but something inside shifted. The leader staggered hard, its balance ruined.
"Now," Qin Ming said.
Dugu Yan poison mist surged in a ring, not toward the group, but around the pack's escape path. The smaller beasts, already shaken, recoiled from it. Renyu stepped forward with sword raised, taking the right side. Yu Tianheng advanced from the front, lightning still crawling over his arms.
For the first time, the pack hesitated.
Predators understood strength.
Prey understood pressure.
These beasts understood both.
The leader gave one final furious grunt, then backed away. The smaller beasts followed, dragging the wounded one with them as they crashed back into the brush.
Dugu Yan lifted her hand as if to send more poison after them.
Qin Ming said, "Enough."
She stopped.
But her eyes remained on the retreating beasts until the last branch stilled.
The forest became quiet again.
Not peaceful.
Only waiting.
Renyu let the song fade. Ame no Habakiri withdrew into blue fragments, the armor dissolving back into the red converter before the crystal vanished. His breathing was steady, but his ribs felt tight from the quick movements.
Yu Tianheng rolled his shoulder once and looked at him.
Dugu Yan clicked her tongue. "You're hard to praise."
"You have not tried yet."
Her eyes narrowed. "Do not get used to it."
"I'll try to remain disappointing."
Ye Lingling quiet voice cut in. "That would make more work for me."
Renyu paused.
Then glanced at her. "I'll avoid that."
"Good."
It was such a small exchange that it should not have mattered.
Somehow, it did.
Qin Ming clapped once.
Soft.
Sharp.
Everyone attention returned to him.
"Assessment," he said.
Yu Tianheng straightened.
Dugu Yan folded her arms.
Renyu waited.
Qin Ming looked first at Yu Tianheng. "You held the front well. But you still expect others to adjust around your strength. That works when the team already knows your rhythm. Renyu does not yet."
Yu Tianheng accepted it with a slight nod. "Understood."
"Dugu Yan. Your poison control was better than expected."
She raised a brow. "Better than expected?"
"Do not ruin praise by demanding prettier wrapping."
Her mouth shut.
Qin Ming continued. "Your reaction to Tianheng being pressured was too emotional. You nearly overcommitted."
Dugu Yan expression sharpened.
Yu Tianheng looked toward her.
She looked away first. "I know."
That answer cost her something.
Renyu noticed.
So did Qin Ming.
"Ye Lingling," Qin Ming said. "Good center discipline. Good communication."
Ye Lingling nodded once.
Then Qin Ming turned to Renyu.
"You chose that form. Why?."
"Because this was a coordination test." Renyu met his gaze. "The sword is the form they had already heard about. Showing it here will creates fewer variable and most people already accustomed to sword so they should be able to predict it a little."
Dugu Yan stared at him.
Yu Tianheng eyes narrowed.
Qin Ming did not look surprised. "So even in your first forest encounter with this group, you were managing what we were allowed to know."
Renyu answered honestly. "Yes."
Dugu Yan voice cooled. "And if the sword had been wrong for the situation?"
"Then I would have changed."
"After how long?"
The question struck cleanly.
Renyu looked at her.
Dugu Yan did not smile this time.
"If we are in formation," she said, "your calculation becomes our problem. If you hide a better answer because you are deciding how much we deserve to see, then you are not just secretive. You are dangerous to stand beside. So how can we trust you?"
The words landed harder than her earlier mockery.
Because they were not mockery.
They were true.
Yu Tianheng said nothing, but he did not contradict her.
Ye Lingling looked at Renyu quietly.
Lin Su had reappeared at the edge of the trees, face unreadable.
Qin Ming let the silence stretch.
Renyu lowered his gaze for a moment.
In the palace, secrecy had kept him alive. In court, secrecy had increased his value. In the academy, secrecy had protected his position.
But in formation, secrecy might became the weight other people might have to carry.
He raised his head.
"You're right," he said.
Dugu Yan blinked once, as if she had expected resistance.
Renyu continued, "I will not reveal everything carelessly. But if the situation requires a form or skill, I will use it. I will not let the team pay for my concealment."
Yu Tianheng studied him for a long moment.
Then he nodded. "That is enough."
Dugu Yan looked away with a small huff. "For now."
Ye Lingling said, "Better."
Qin Ming gaze softened by the smallest degree.
"Good. That is the lesson I wanted before the real danger appears."
Renyu looked toward the deeper forest.
"The real danger?"
Qin Ming voice was calm. "Those were only Sunset Forest greeting."
Lin Su spoke from the trees. "And something heard it."
Everyone went still.
The spotter eyes were fixed deeper into the forest now.
"Larger trail," he said. "Not approaching yet. But it turned this way."
The air tightened.
Qin Ming's expression changed at once from teacher to expedition leader.
"Formation. Move."
No one argued.
This time, when they advanced beneath the canopy, Renyu walked the right flank with a different awareness.
Not less guarded.
Not less careful.
But clearer.
The sword was not the only thing being tested in Sunset Forest.
So was the distance between secrecy and trust.