The Beginning of Shadows
I have wondered: what is the thing a guilty person fears more than anything else?
Is it being caught and having all his crimes exposed?
Or being abandoned?
Or losing all the possessions he gained through his sins?
No, these are not the things he fears.
It is death — yes, death is what he fears.
Morinaka Village
Deep within the forest, and for long decades, the village of Morinaka lived in complete isolation from the outside world.
Its people never knew cities, nor even the sound of wheels... until that day.
At six o'clock in the evening, an attack struck this peaceful village out of greed.
Everyone in it was killed, their blood splattered in every corner of their home.
In a single night, the isolated village was defiled without any clear reason and met the most gruesome fate.
The green grass that once covered the ground was dyed with the color of clotted blood, and the stench of rotten flesh spread through the air.
The village had been attacked by bandits, and not a single soul survived — not a child, not an old man.
One of the bandits sat on the corpse of a villager.
His face was pale, his body thin, and dark circles surrounded his eyes.
He looked at the corpses in disgust and said angrily,
"Really, why was this village so poor? Even its people looked strange."
Then he sighed and said, "In the end, we shouldn't have attacked an isolated village."
One of his companions, pulling his sword out of a corpse, turned to him and said,
"In the end, it's a village outside the Empire. It could be attacked by them at any moment."
While wiping his dirty, rusty sword, he noticed one of the corpses smiling — a wide, distorted smile, its mouth twisted at unnatural angles, its eyes staring at him with hatred.
It was terrifying enough to change the expression of the bandit who had just been laughing moments ago.
He collapsed to his knees, then fell to the ground.
His hands trembled until he dropped his sword, and cold sweat dripped down his face.
His pupils widened, and his mind refused to believe what he saw.
Before him stood a tall, strong man with messy brown hair and a black eye.
He shouted angrily, waving his sword, "How long will you keep talking?"
It was the leader of the bandits.
His clothes were tattered, no different from his men's, covered in the blood of the villagers.
His sword was huge, as large as an arm.
The leader raised his head toward the sky, his face calm, and said in a low voice,
"Well, it seems night has fallen. We'll camp near this village; we don't know if they might attack us."
One of the bandits turned to him and said mockingly,
"Do you really believe that superstition? Are you afraid of the samurai?"
The leader's veins bulged, anger spreading across his face at his subordinate's mockery.
"If you're so confident in your words, then you'll guard us tonight.
If by morning you've become food for the crows, we'll know they exist.
If you're still alive, then mock me all you want."
The bandit smirked arrogantly and said in a rough, proud voice,
"Fine, I accept your challenge. But if I'm right, you must accept my request."
— "And what is your request?"
The bandit glared straight into his leader's eyes.
"To challenge you in a duel."
— "Fine, I accept your offer."
The bandit grinned wickedly and said, "I hope you mean it — don't run away."
He looked at his hands covered in blood, a dark crimson unlike normal human blood.
Then he raised his gaze toward the dark trees and grass soaked in the same color and left.
Midnight
The bandits camped near the destroyed village.
Fog covered the place, making it impossible to see — even the nearest trees had faded from sight.
At the same time, the bandit felt both happy and anxious; his emotions were tangled.
Although he might become the new leader, there was also the chance he'd become food for the dogs.
That thought froze him — he couldn't express what he felt.
His fingers trembled as he thought, "Is what he said true? Is he not afraid of the samurai?"
Then he calmed down and said to himself, "No, he must be lying."
While he was lost in thought, the sound of a snapping branch echoed.
He froze in terror, whispering as cold sweat dripped onto the ground,
"I must be… tired from lack of sleep. I'm starting to imagine things."
But the sound grew louder, and the branches began to shake, as if something was moving among them.
He panicked and muttered with a trembling voice,
"Looks like I wasn't imagining it."
His eyes darted left and right until he caught a glimpse of a shadow — a samurai.
Fear struck him harder; his eyes widened as the shadow came closer.
He started running toward the camp, muttering to himself as sweat dripped down and his body trembled so badly he could barely move,
"I must warn them…"
But before he could reach it, he felt something sharp — and that was the last thing he ever felt.
His body was sliced in half.
The upper half hit the ground first, his eyes still wide open in shock and fear.
Then the lower half fell several feet away, his blood splattering across the branches.
The shadow dashed toward the camp of the bandits.
His final words, spoken with unbearable pain as his last breath escaped, were:
"Looks like I've become food for the dogs after all… the leader was right."
Bandit Camp
Eight tents were set up.
The largest among them belonged to the bandit leader.
He was deep in thought — about the villagers.
Their appearances were strange, and some of the corpses didn't even seem human, as if they were yokai.
But if they had truly been yokai, they would've slaughtered the bandits easily and made them their dinner.
The sound of hurried footsteps.
The tent flap opened, and one of the bandits appeared, panting heavily.
"You must come see what's happening outside — right now!"
The leader instantly drew his massive sword and stepped out of the tent…
only to freeze in place, unable to express anything.
The corpses of his men were dismembered and scattered everywhere, blood covering the ground.
In front of him stood a samurai.
His face wasn't visible, hidden under a ronin hat.
He wore a black kimono, and on his back rested a katana's sheath.
The ronin hat shadowed his face, but his silver hair could be seen clearly.
Shocked, the leader turned toward the bandit beside him — only to find him torn into pieces of flesh.
The air stank of rot from the countless bodies.
Realizing escape was impossible, the leader decided to attack.
The samurai didn't move an inch.
The bandit leader charged with his massive sword — and before reaching him, his head fell to the ground, then his body followed.
The place was now drenched in the blood of the bandits, all by the hand of that samurai.
That samurai was Akayama.
His form appeared clearly now — his eyes glowing red.
Akayama smiled and gazed at the corpses without showing a hint of emotion.
Then he looked toward the village, which was beginning to fade like a mirage.
Akayama spoke with a faint, side smile, his body weary from something he'd done before arriving at Morinaka Village:
"It seems this wasn't an ordinary village… that explains why I came here.
So, was that village cursed?
If their deaths were inevitable, then whether by my hand or the yokai's, the result would've been the same."
As the village vanished completely, Akayama continued, speaking to a mysterious presence:
"In this world, there exist beings half like humans and half unlike them — the yokai.
Creatures born from the gathering of countless souls, taking shape as terror itself.
They killed humans, though some were peaceful.
Still, their existence brought corruption to this world.
Once, balance reigned between humans and beasts,
but when the yokai appeared, a war broke out among the three races.
A war that destroyed many kingdoms and empires — a war that changed history.
It ended with no victor.
Only three empires survived; the rest became curses ruled by yokai and vengeful spirits.
The yokai were unlike ordinary beasts; most of them embodied the fears of mankind,
and some were born for revenge.
That is why the samurai existed — in the Empire of Kagutsuchi."
Akayama thought to himself:
"This world is truly strange.
Humans believed the rulers were on their side, but they were wrong.
The truth is, the rulers caused all of this.
This world is void of life… and I must bring it to an end."