"No... It can't be..." Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, afraid that speaking any louder would make this terrifying reality more real.
Her legs weakened, as if the bones supporting her body had been pulled out, nearly causing her to collapse to her knees.
Had she personally... severed Lord Oden's bloodline?!
This thought pierced her heart like a sharp blade, the excruciating pain instantly spreading throughout her body, nearly choking her.
Every slight breath felt like rubbing salt into the wound, deepening her agony.
The surrounding citizens finally snapped out of their initial shock, but their expressions grew even more horrified than before.
Someone gasped sharply, the abrupt intake of breath piercing the tense silence with startling clarity.
Another person clamped a hand over their mouth, struggling to suppress a scream, yet their trembling fingers betrayed their overwhelming terror.
Some even collapsed to the ground, their faces as pale as parchment.
"Lord Momonosuke... truly... has been castrated?!" a quivering voice shattered the silence, thick with despair and disbelief.
"It's over... the Kozuki family... will have no heir..." another voice followed, as if pronouncing the end of an era.
Fear, shock, and despair spread like a plague, invisible demons gnawing at every heart.
The entire street fell into deathly stillness, broken only by Momonosuke's heart-wrenching wails echoing through the air—each cry like a sharp blade tearing at everyone's souls, bringing involuntary tears to their eyes.
...
Meanwhile,
Upon the street, a nimble figure came racing from the direction of the shogun's palace at a breathtaking speed, cutting through the air like lightning with a howling gust of wind, kicking up clouds of dust in its wake.
When Yamato heard the news of Momonosuke appearing on the street, her previously calm expression instantly transformed into one of ecstatic joy.
Her eyes blazed with intense light, like lanterns suddenly ignited in the darkness.
In that moment, she cast all caution aside—not even bothering to properly dress—and shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
Her bare feet pounded across the worn cobblestones, each step frantic with urgency.
The chains wrapped around her ankles jangled sharply with her movement, their crisp clatter starkly conspicuous in the tense atmosphere.
"Momonosuke! I'm your father, Oden!" Yamato's voice rang with the joy of reunion, echoing down the street.
Shouting as she ran, she charged desperately toward the crowd, her heart filled with concern and anticipation for Momonosuke.
But when she recklessly burst through the crowd and her gaze fell upon the small, blood-soaked figure cradled in Kin'emon's arms, her radiant, sun-like smile froze instantly.
Her pupils contracted violently as if beholding the most horrifying sight imaginable, the light in her eyes vanished, replaced by boundless terror and fury.
Her lips trembled uncontrollably, and her teeth chattered from overwhelming tension.
"WHO—!"
Yamato suddenly roared with a heaven-shaking bellow, saturated with rage and killing intent.
The surrounding trees shuddered from the powerful sound wave, leaves fluttering down.
"DARES TO HARM MY SON!"
Her furious roar reverberated through the air, as if determined to carry her wrath to every corner.
In one swift stride, she rushed before Kin'emon and slammed her massive spiked club into the ground with a thunderous "THUD."
Instantly, the very earth seemed to tremble from the impact, stirring up a cloud of dust.
The swirling dust enveloped Yamato, amplifying her imposing aura of wrath!
Kin'emon and Izo's expressions instantly turned grave, an invisible chill shooting up from their feet to their hearts.
They simultaneously drew sharp breaths, cold sweat flooding like a breached dam, instantly soaking their backs and plastering their clothes tightly to their skin.
The damp, clinging sensation made them all the more acutely aware of the fear gripping their hearts.
'It's happening again!'
This terrifying thought loomed over them like a dark cloud.
Their horrified gazes fixed on Yamato, watching helplessly as she slowly extended her hand.
The motion seemed stretched out infinitely, each subtle movement striking their already taut nerves like a heavy hammer.
Though Yamato's eyes might have held a trace of confusion and concern, to Kin'emon and Izo, that hand reaching toward Momonosuke was no different from a fuse igniting a powder keg.
A dreadful realization flashed through their minds simultaneously:
Another woman is approaching the young master!
Even though the young master had already…castrated… it shouldn't be a problem, right…
Yet, in that split second, a bone-chilling sense of crisis abruptly descended.
It felt like countless icy hands stealthily emerging from the darkness, tightening around their throats, making it hard to even breathe.
When Yamato's hand was just three inches away from Momonosuke, a soft "hiss" cut through the air.
Though faint, the sound was unnervingly clear in the deathly silence, like a whisper from the reaper before death's arrival.
Then—
"BOOM!!!"
An even more violent explosion erupted, shattering the brief quiet of the street.
A fresh spray of blood mist burst from Momonosuke's still-bleeding wound, glowing with an eerie crimson under the sunlight.
Scarlet blood splattered outward in a radial pattern, like a blooming flower of blood, steeped in endless agony and despair.
A few drops even splashed onto Yamato's shocked face.
The warmth of the blood froze her in place, her eyes filled with disbelief and sheer panic.
Momonosuke, already on the brink of death, let out another heart-wrenching scream that pierced the sky.
His small body convulsed violently in Kin'emon's arms, each tremor a desperate struggle between life and death, too painful to watch.
"Th-this… this can't be…" Yamato stood frozen, her expression petrified like a statue.
The blood dripped slowly from her chin, splattering on the ground and stirring up tiny clouds of dust.