Whispers of Shikiban:The king walks among us-Chapter 54 --

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

The sun had risen again, but the battlefield remained heavy—sweltering like it refused to cool down after all the blood it had swallowed. The ground still steamed. Ash and burnt grass. Metal and flesh.

Daigo stood in the middle of it all, his cloak torn and swaying slightly in the breeze. His boots were soaked from dragging through scorched soil and blood. Around him, what was once a proud squad of Kageshiki trainees was now a graveyard.

Far off, limbs lay scattered. Faces frozen mid-scream. Some bodies were missing their heads. Some were half-eaten—ripped apart by something not entirely human.

Ishigo stepped up beside him, wide-eyed. "Damn... Something massacred them."

"No survivors?" Daigo asked, scanning. His voice was low, tired.

"No signs." Ishigo paused. "No energy signatures either."

Yeaga was the last to join them. He didn't speak. He didn't react. His brown-green eyes were vacant, his blond hair unkempt, shadowing his face.

Daigo noticed. "Still nothing, huh?"

Yeaga didn't answer. His hands clenched around the hilt of his katana. Of everyone left in their squad, Daigo had awakened Crystal Grey—a power that could refract reality itself.

Ishigo had unlocked Blue Flame Requiem, a technique that let him control heat and time in short bursts. Reika had separated from them days ago—rumors said her shadow manipulation had grown... unstable.

And Yeaga?

Still nothing.

No power. No resonance. No harmonization.

Just silence.

Then—his katana twitched.

A small tremor at first. Barely noticeable.

Then it began to hum. Violently.

Yeaga's eyes snapped wide. The blade vibrated in its sheath until with a sharp metallic clang, it split in two—twin blades. Identical. Sleek. Humming with something strange and unfamiliar.

Daigo blinked. "Bro. What the hell is going on?"

The blades hovered in the air briefly, then dropped—landing softly in Yeaga's open hands.

"Oh snap," Daigo said, a grin forming. "That's cool as hell. Twin katana?"

Ishigo stared. "Man, I can barely manage one katana, and now you're dual-wielding? What kinda anime arc is this?"

But Yeaga didn't smile. He stared at the swords like they didn't belong to him. He couldn't even feel their energy.

"This isn't from me," he muttered. "I don't feel... connected."

"Maybe it's a borrowed power," Ishigo said. "From a spirit, or..."

"Then why isn't it in the holographic records?" Yeaga interrupted. "This kind of transformation—it should be cataloged."

No one had an answer.

Suddenly, a massive gate shimmered into view ahead of them. Gleaming. Buzzing.

LEVEL-5 ACCESS GRANTED

Daigo's eyes lit up. "WOOOH! Finally! Let's gooo, boys!"

He high-fived Ishigo, then turned to Yeaga and clapped him on the back. Yeaga didn't move.

"You all go ahead," Yeaga said. "I'm not ready."

Daigo raised a brow. "Seriously?"

Yeaga looked down at the twin blades. "You guys have your powers. Techniques. Purpose. I've got... nothing. This? This isn't mine."

"You're being dramatic again," Ishigo sighed. "Come on."

"No," Yeaga said firmly. "You don't get it."

Daigo shrugged, walked up behind him, and without hesitation, spanked him on the back of the neck.

Thud.

Yeaga collapsed.

Ishigo shouted, "DAIGO, what the hell?!"

Daigo casually hoisted Yeaga over his back. "I don't have the energy to argue with his existential crisis. We're going, with or without his permission."

"You're honestly insane," Ishigo said.

Daigo grinned. "And you love me for it."

As they neared the gate, Ishigo bent down to pick up Yeaga's twin katanas. "Damn... these are heavy. Like, spiritually heavy. I feel like I'm holding his trauma."

"Maybe those swords were forged from it," Daigo muttered, half-joking.

The gate opened with a hiss.

Level 5.

They stepped through.

Elsewhere...

Reika stood alone at the edge of another ruined battlefield. Her shadow bent and twisted unnaturally under her feet, moving even when she stood still. Her blade was stuck in the ground—almost humming, like it was breathing.

The sun rose again—gold melting across shattered rocks and rusting armor.

She stared at the gate before her.

LEVEL-5 ACCESS.

"One more step," she whispered. "Then I'm officially X-Rank. No more babysitting missions. No more restrictions."

She took a breath and stepped forward.

Then—

A voice.

Faint. Dry.

"Do you... really think Shikibans are that evil?"

She turned. Slowly.

A Shikiban—barely alive—leaned against a crumbled stone wall. His lower body was dissolving into flame. Not fire, but something... spiritual. A quiet unraveling.

Her katana started glowing.

It was being drawn toward him.

"Let me be clear..." he said between ragged breaths. "Shikibans aren't evil. They're reflections. Echoes of the pain we tried to bury."

"What are you saying?" Reika asked, stepping back.

"Do you know what happens to Kageshiki trainees who die in training?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "They're honored. Buried."

He laughed, bitter. "No. Their bodies are repurposed. Their soul energy harvested. Used for artificial Shikibans. Or worse..."

Reika's blood ran cold.

He looked up at her. "Level-4. We were kept there. Trapped. Begging for release."

Her hands trembled. "You're lying."

"You really believe the academy is clean?" he asked, a flicker of sorrow in his dying eyes. "Tenshiko Academy turns corpses into weapons... into monsters."

The last of his body flickered.

A tear rolled down his cheek.

Then he was gone.

Absorbed into her blade.

She looked down. Her katana had changed—black veins now pulsed through it like corruption. Or... like truth.

She whispered, "Why did a Shikiban cry...? They're supposed to be emotionless."

The gate in front of her remained open. Still glowing.

She didn't move.

Instead, she looked to the sky, where the academy's highest tower shimmered in the distance.

"Tenshiko Academy..." she said, voice low. "What the hell have you been hiding?"