Whispers of Shikiban:The king walks among us-Chapter 56 --

The forest didn't whisper.

It watched.

Every leaf rustled not with wind, but with intent—as if a thousand unseen eyes blinked in unison. Shadows didn't fall; they leaned, stretched, waited. Every twig, every tendril of mist, felt like it was holding its breath.

Kagetsu Reika's footfall crunched soft against the moss.

But the quiet devoured it. Swallowed it whole.

She moved like a ghost with purpose—katana drawn, body still, soul even stiller. Her blade, Shinsoumei, hummed softly at her side, as if aware of what lurked ahead.

Somewhere behind, the others remained just out of frame—Daigo probably cracking a joke with blood in his teeth, Ishigo adjusting the grip of his new prosthetic, Yeaga brooding about how he wasn't edgy enough despite the glow of his sword.

They were safe.

She wasn't.

She felt it first.

Not a sound.

A pressure.

Low. Seismic.

Like standing atop a fault line seconds before it splits. It crawled beneath her skin, tickled her bones, and whispered in frequencies that didn't belong in a human ear.

Something under the earth...

...was breathing.

Then—it rose.

A rock thirty meters ahead cracked in half. Then another. Roots twisted upward like severed veins. Earth convulsed and tore open—not fast. Not violent.

Certain.

The creature emerged like a memory—unhurried, unstoppable.

Tall. Bare-chested. Broad shoulders dusted with centuries. Its claylike skin pulsed with green glowing veins, like the heartbeat of the ground had been carved into it. Its face was maskless, but anything but human—smooth, circular eyes, and a jaw etched with ancient symbols.

Reika froze.

Despite the heat, her breath misted.

"You are the purple one," it said. Its voice was a landslide, gravel across obsidian.

She answered without blinking.

"And you're stalling."

She slipped into stance. No fear. Just the flame in her blood.

The Shikiban tilted its head.

"I do not stall. I witness."

Her blade ignited.

The forest turned violet.

She moved.

Like lightning channeled into form, Reika lunged forward, katana screaming through the air—direct hit to the arm.

It didn't cut.

Stone drank fire like a grave absorbs mourning.

The Shikiban grinned with cracked teeth.

"I have buried gods, girl.

You are compost."

Suddenly—

BOOM.

A figure smashed through the treeline, body limp, spiraling through bark and bone.

Ishigo.

Daigo's voice cracked through the distance.

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"ISSHIGOO!"

More rustling. More snapping. The others were under attack.

Reika's jaw clenched. She shifted.

"No time for you."

She stepped back—but the shadows shimmered.

A second Shikiban slid into reality, like he'd always been there.

Slimmer. Smiling.

Mocking.

"This one's mine," he said, voice high and twisted like a child's lullaby in reverse.

"Let the earth have her.

I just wanna see her bleed pretty."

His face was half-mask, half-skin. Stitched at the jaw. In one hand, he held a severed hand—not Ishigo's.

Someone else's.

"Do you remember your first kill, Reika? I do.

Mine screamed like birds drowning."

She didn't answer.

He danced forward. Graceful like a marionette missing strings.

She parried, sliced low. He twirled away, laughing.

"Ooooooh, almost! Gonna let the dragon burn me? I want it to!"

He licked his own shoulder where violet flame had scorched.

"You are not worth the breath," she said coldly,

"But you'll get the flame."

She focused.

The earth beneath her shimmered.

From above, a shaft of gold light broke the canopy—touched her shoulder. Warm. Calm. Real.

Then—

The forest cracked.

Not with sound.

Not with force.

Spiritually.

Something ancient brushed against her mind.

She swayed, but stood.

The Earth Shikiban stepped forward. The ground dipped beneath each footfall.

His eyes pulsed.

"She hears the gods," he whispered.

"Flawed vessel.

She should be broken before she burns."

The mocking one clapped, delighted.

"Was that the big voice? Did Daddy Flame say no?

He never loved you anyway!

You're just a copy of a copy!"

Reika didn't flinch.

She was seeing things. Visions not her own—hands like claws, cities burning in non-existent hues, a blade forged in starlight.

Her grip on Shinsoumei tightened. Her hands bled.

"This is my flame now.

Not yours.

Not his."

She vanished.

No—

She moved.

Faster than thought, blade a blur, slashing across the mocking Shikiban's throat.

It connected.

Blood gushed.

"YOU CHEATED!"

He stumbled, clutching his neck, screeching like a wronged animal.

The Earth Shikiban attacked—arm like a guillotine.

Reika twisted, ducked, jumped.

Flames trailed behind her like a comet's tail.

The mocking one slammed his hands down.

"Earth Technique: Requiem Phoenix!"

The ground ruptured, then sculpted—shards rising and knitting into a massive stone bird, its wings arching like stained glass.

It shrieked.

It charged.

Reika lifted her blade.

"Dragon Veil: Memory Fang."

Flame turned violet.

A dragon's skull formed around her as she dove head-on. The phoenix shattered midair, crumbling to molten shards.

But the Earth Shikiban was already chanting.

"Earth Technique: Tectonic Pulse."

The ground exploded upward. Stone pillars shot into the sky like jaws closing in.

One—she deflected.

Two—evaded.

Three—caught her leg.

Blood sprayed.

She dropped low, panting.

The Earth Shikiban approached. Calm. Inevitable.

"You are not your flame.

You are kindling."

Reika's eyes flickered like dying stars.

She stabbed the ground.

BWOOM.

A ring of flame erupted outward, purging the stone fangs around her.

Violet met green.

Flame met stone.

And the forest... watched.

Not as place.

But as witness.

Elsewhere.

Daigo hoisted Ishigo over his back, blood dripping from the boy's mouth. Yeaga ran beside them, sword crackling faintly, eyes flicking back.

Behind them...

The trees were glowing.

Like something holy was being broken open.

Daigo slowed.

"Is that... Reika?"

Yeaga didn't answer right away.

Then—

"I think she's winning."

Ishigo coughed. Spat red.

"Or losing everything to do it."