Chun lunged forward, aiming for Yul's throat, but Yul was quicker. He caught her right hand with his left and drove a sharp punch into her chest, sending Chun stumbling back towards a tree.
Chun gritted her teeth, her anger palpable. She conjured her short pike into her right hand, a smirk twisting her lips, then lunged again, swinging the weapon in a swift, deadly arc. Yul instantly drew the dagger from his waist with his left hand, deflecting Chun's pike. At the same moment, he leaped, swinging his right leg in a powerful arc towards her head. The kick connected squarely with Chun's neck, sending her sprawling to the ground.
Chun swiftly slid behind the tree. From the other side of the trunk, the massive head of a large anaconda erupted, lunging at Yul. Yul flipped backward, avoiding the strike, and with precision, aimed his dagger at Chun's right eye. The blade pierced flesh, and Chun roared in pain, a deafening sound that shook the very trees and vibrated through the ground.
Crawling desperately for safety, Abrafo wasn't sure what was making that terrifying scream, but he knew he couldn't go up to help anyone now. His lower body remained immobilized by the spider's potent venom. Not only would he risk his own life by going forward, but he might also endanger anyone who needed to escape but felt obligated to help him. So, he continued to drag himself back onto the open road as fast as he could with his arms, his paralyzed lower half trailing uselessly behind him.
Michio quickly made his way up the hill. "Yul, you have to hold on until I get there," he muttered, running as fast as his legs would carry him, following the direction of the ear-splitting shriek.
Asa sat down opposite Hajime, his smile warm and inviting. "Hajime-kun, what do you want to eat today?"
Hajime looked down at the table, where a plate of food sat, steaming gently. He looked up at Asa and returned his smile. "I think the food on the table looks good." He reached out to pick up the spoon beside the plate, but his fingers passed right through it. He tried again, and again, but he couldn't grasp it. He looked up at Asa, confusion clouding his face.
Asa simply smiled, repeating, "Hajime-kun, what do you want to eat today?"
Hajime suddenly remembered. His father had already asked him that question. He stared at Asa, silent, then slowly pushed himself up from the table.
Asa's smile remained fixed, unsettling. "Hajime-kun, what do you want to eat today?"
A cold dread settled over Hajime. He suddenly realized that whatever was happening was a mirage, an illusion designed to trap him. He got up from the table with a newfound resolve and walked out into the street, but the voice from inside the house continued, repeating the same question, over and over.
Hajime slowly reached into his cross-body bag and pulled out his white paper fan. Holding the fan in his right hand, he declared, "Sweep away the hypocrisy, leaving only the authenticity." He threw the white paper fan into the air, and it magnified, growing several times its size. With a powerful sweep, his surroundings began to ripple and tear.
The wind tore at the illusionary houses, stripping them away like wallpaper from a wall, revealing the grim reality beneath. Hajime found himself standing in the middle of a desolate graveyard.
As soon as he raised his hand, the paper fan floated gently back into his palm. He looked around, disoriented, and realized he was standing in the center of a clearly marked magic circle.
Hajime recognized the symbols from his previous life's studies. It was a magic circle for sacrificial offerings, used by ancient tribes to appease their gods with human sacrifices. According to what he remembered, the circle would not activate without human blood. He slowly walked out of the sacrificial circle, a profound confusion settling in.
Why had he come down here without realizing it? He looked down at the ground, seeing only his own footprints leading into the circle. He knew these prints had brought him here, but he couldn't recall how he'd descended the hill unknowingly when he should have been ascending it. He slowly retraced his steps, walking back up the mountain.
Hajime approached the forest's edge and saw himself sitting by a tree, head bowed, as if sleeping. "What's going on?" he murmured in surprise. He rushed forward but slammed directly into an invisible magic wall.
Hajime understood now. The sleeping figure outside the magic wall was the real Hajime. Everything he was experiencing now was just a dream, a trap. He pounded against the invisible barrier, screaming, "Hajime, get up! Hajime!"
A reedy, old woman's giggle sounded from behind him. Hajime spun around, his heart pounding. He saw a hunched, elderly woman in black robes, leaning on a wooden stick, giggling at him, her eyes glinting with malice.
"Do you think that stepping out of the ritual circle in your dream will really make you leave here?" the old woman cackled, pointing to the real Hajime leaning against the tree on the other side of the invisible wall. "Dreams and reality are two different things." Her red eyes fixed on him, and she continued to laugh, a chilling, mocking sound.
Hajime looked from his own vulnerable body to the menacing old woman, a knot of worry tightening in his gut. He knew he needed to figure something out, and fast.
Hearing a loud shriek from a distance, the beasts surrounding U-ri looked at each other, then slowly backed away. U-ri felt a wave of relief as the wolves retreated, but it quickly turned to renewed worry. He realized that if that scream could make the wolves flee, it meant the entity making the sound was far stronger than the entire pack combined. He strained to look around and saw Abrafo crawling out from the side of the road, covered in white gunk.
"U-ri, come help me quickly!" Abrafo shouted, his voice hoarse.
U-ri looked at the figure crawling on its elbows, still far away. It occurred to him, with a chilling certainty, that this Abrafo must be another wolf, disguised.
U-ri laughed, a grim, defiant sound. "I won't be fooled! Like I said before, I won't come out to help you. If you want to be safe, you must get into the magic bangle!"
"Are you insane, you bastard!" Abrafo screamed, rage contorting its face. It suddenly heard a roar from behind it. It looked up and saw a wolf, its eyes glowing red, staring at it from behind a tree on the other side of the road. "Fuck…" he drew a knife. His turned to U-ri, its eyes burning with annoyance, to find U-ri already sitting down, calmly reading one of Michio's books. "U-ri!"
U-ri heard the shout, but he didn't care. He continued reading, turning a page with a licked finger. "You fooled me once, but you can't fool me twice," he said, looking up at the furious creature. Then, he licked his fingers again, turned another page, and returned to his book, completely unfazed.
Yul moved quickly to the right, dodging Chun's massive tail as it slammed into the ground, leaving a crater. Chun roared in frustration, sweeping her tail angrily across the ground, aiming for Yul again. Yul leaped onto a tree branch with inhuman agility. Chun's enormous serpentine body quickly wrapped around the tree, and her head, jaws snapping, began to attack Yul.
Yul swiftly avoided Chun's lunges. When Chun's head shot past, trying to surprise Yul from the other side of the tree, Yul seized the opportunity. He jumped from the branch, gripped his sword with both hands, and swung it down with all his might at Chun's coiling body. The blade scraped across her scales, sending a spray of green blood into the air.
Chun, injured again, roared, releasing the tree and dropping to the ground, intending to press her advantage, believing she had the upper hand.
Yul knew Chun was toying with him, but he also knew that every battle was a fight for his life. He wouldn't hold back. He desperately protected himself, knowing that even a "toyed with" enemy could be lethal. He wouldn't let go of the opportunity to strike with all his might.
Chun picked up a small boulder with her tail and flung it at Yul. Yul suddenly dodged the projectile, which smashed into the ground where he'd been standing. Chun circled around the trees and quickly climbed onto a high branch, giggling as she looked down at Yul, who was still searching for her amidst the foliage.
"Ah, little mortal," Chun purred from above, her voice seductive and mocking. "I have lived for thousands of years… I have never met a prey that fights as hard as you… Ah… your will to survive is amazing. I am deeply impressed." She raised her elbows, resting her beautiful, scaled face on her arm. "So, tell me, why do you want to enter No Man's Land?"
Yul's eyes remained fixed on the trees, searching for her. "It's none of your business," he retorted, his voice strained.
Chun smiled, a hint of genuine curiosity in her red eyes. "I was just thinking, why a mortal like you would want to enter No Man's Land. You know, there's a reason why this place is called No Man's Land. Even the most powerful mage can't get in, nor a god. So, tell me, why do you think you, a mortal, can enter No Man's Land?" She continued to giggle, a light, taunting sound.
"Other people's failures are not mine," Yul shot back, his voice edged with defiance. "If others can't do it, it doesn't mean I can't. You ask me like you've been there yourself but failed to enter. How would you know that I can't enter?"
Chun's giggle turned into an angry, echoing cackle. "I know…" she continued to laugh, the sound chilling.
"You may know more about No Man's Land and understand more than I do," Yul pressed, "but it doesn't mean what you failed to achieve, I will also fail."
Chun's laughter stopped abruptly, her face hardening. Yul's question had reopened an old, deeply painful wound, a scarred memory that she thought was long healed. She quickly slid her body from the branch, materializing silently behind Yul, and whispered softly, intimately, on his neck, "The reason why I became like this and ended up in this prison forest… is because I entered No Man's Land…"