The sky was still streaked with fading stars when Toki woke with a jolt. His breath hitched, heart pounding. For a moment, panic laced through his veins. Had he overslept? Was he too late?
But no—the sun had yet to breach the horizon. A deep orange glow lay nestled on the edge of the earth, waiting.
Toki didn't waste another second.
He flung off the chair, slipped into his shirt and dark trousers, strapped on his sword, and fastened his long red mantle with shaking hands. His boots made only faint sounds as he darted through the corridor and out into the crisp forest air.
It was cold, biting, but it didn't matter. None of it did.
He had to find the snake and the spider.
White flowers, soft as moonlight and twice as treacherous, marked the cursed patch of ground ahead. When he spotted them, his stomach twisted. Memories clung to them—Suzume dying in agony in a previous loop, the helplessness, the blood. She had died twice already, and both times, this place had smelled of death and nectar.
He knelt slowly.
"All right, come out," he muttered.
The snake struck before he finished the sentence. Its fangs sank into his wrist. He winced but didn't cry out. With his free hand, he grabbed the creature's tail, yanked it free of the foliage, and slammed it into the earth. Once. Twice. Then he drew his blade and, with a swift, practiced motion, decapitated it.
It writhed grotesquely on the ground.
Blood dripped from his wrist, warm and deliberate.
He turned his gaze to the blossoms again. Among the petals, a glimmer of movement: the spider.
It bit his hand before he even grabbed it. The pain was sharp, venomous. Toki gritted his teeth and crushed it in his palm.
He stared at his hands—two angry red puncture wounds swelling steadily.
"Now," he whispered. "Let's see."
It's a gamble, he thought. If I die from this, it means the poison from one of these creatures killed Suzume. I'll rewind and slay them again, maybe earlier. If I don't die... then something, or someone, else did it. And they're still out there.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice that tore through the quiet woods.
"Toki!?"
He turned sharply. A mix of hope and dread washed over him.
Suzume? No...
Yuki's figure emerged between the trees, arms crossed and face annoyed.
"Figures I'd find you out here," she muttered. "You've been acting weird lately. Thought you might get yourself killed being dumb."
"You... you shouldn't be here," Toki said, trying not to show the relief in his voice.
Yuki stopped in front of him, looking him up and down.
"And you shouldn't be getting bitten by snakes and spiders," she added, spotting the wounds. "Are you insane?"
"Maybe."
She sighed, rolled her eyes, and pulled out a clean cloth from her belt pouch.
"Let me see."
She wrapped his wrist with more gentleness than she'd admit. When she pressed over the snake bite, blood beaded out, running down to her hand. She quickly recoiled, wiping it off with a hiss of disgust.
"Ugh. Disgusting. You really are an idiot."
"I've been called worse."
Yuki shook her head, tightening the wrap. "You know the Royal Selection starts tomorrow. Maybe instead of wandering in the woods, you could try not ruining Utsuki's chances."
"If she fails because of me, you can kick me out yourself."
"I will."
There was a long pause. Then, a flicker of something between them.
Toki smiled faintly. Yuki didn't.
They walked side by side, the forest parting around them.
At first, she teased him. Light comments about how he looked like a tragic vampire with his bloodied sleeve. But soon, the silence grew heavy.
Toki noticed it first in her steps. Unsteady. Uncharacteristically slow.
"Yuki?"
No answer.
Her eyes were half-lidded, unfocused. Her breath came in short, uneven bursts.
"Yuki!" he shouted, catching her just as her legs gave way.
She collapsed in his arms, limp.
"No, no no—Yuki! Stay with me!"
He hoisted her up and sprinted.
Branches clawed at his face. The conac loomed ahead. The others would be waking up.
Utsuki was already at the front, rubbing sleep from her eyes. When she saw Toki with Yuki in his arms, she gasped.
"What happened!?"
"I don't know—she just... she collapsed."
Together, they rushed inside.
By the time they laid Yuki down on her bed, the entire household had gathered.
Suzume brought a cold compress to place on her forehead. Haru, Natsu, and Aki clung to each other, too stunned to cry yet. Leonard stood like a statue in the corner, jaw tight.
Utsuki tried spell after spell. Her hands glowed white over Yuki's chest, her brow soaked with sweat.
"Come on... please, come on..."
Toki knelt at her side, holding Yuki's hand.
It was cold.
Too cold.
Then... still.
"Utsuki...?"
"I..."
Toki leaned in, pressing his ear to Yuki's chest.
No sound. No heartbeat.
His voice cracked.
"She's gone."
A scream tore through the room. Haru, barely thirteen, broke down first. Aki followed, sobbing into Natsu's shoulder. Suzume collapsed to her knees beside the bed, clutching Yuki's hand with trembling fingers.
Utsuki fell backward, tears streaming. "No... I... I tried..."
Toki stood.
His body moved on its own.
Leonard caught him by the shoulder. "Toki—don't blame yourself."
Toki didn't reply.
He walked through the hall like a ghost. Every breath was a thunderclap in his chest.
He entered the dining room, where dust danced in the slant of morning light. He sat before Yuki's piano.
It was hers. Everything about it. The polished wood, the sheet music with sarcastic doodles in the margins.
He clenched his fists.
"Why won't this day end?"
With a scream of grief and rage, he slammed both fists into the keys.
A discordant howl filled the house.
The first gray light of dawn filtered through the windows of the dining room. Silence hung thick in the air, broken only by the echo of Toki's last, anguished chord. He sat motionless, fists clenched over ivory, eyes glazed.
Behind him, a flash of white fur and quick movement broke the stillness.
"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE GREAT SPIRIT OF THE WIND?!" boomed a deep, indignant voice. The air rippled with authority.
Toki didn't turn. The voice was familiar—too familiar.
"Arashi?" he said, voice flat, almost lifeless.
The white rabbit-like familiar bounded into view, standing on rippling paws. Its sapphire eyes narrowed. "Ser Toki! Did you not hear the warning? The wind does not appreciate your... theatrics!"
Toki slowly lifted his gaze, meeting those fierce, justice-bound eyes. "Arashi, how long have you been here?" he asked, voice distant.
Arashi's ears twitched. "Long enough to know—I've watched these halls for centuries. You've awoken something… foul. Something in the forest has grown strong enough to kill a human in one bite."
Toki's pulse quickened. "Incredible," he whispered. "There are reports—creatures biting grown men, and the men died quickly. What is going on out there?"
The rabbit familiar hopped forward, tone grave. "Centuries ago, this manor was near a village. One day, the forest's beasts turned hostile. Bites so venomous that no one escaped. The village emptied—swallowed by the forest." Arashi paused, ears dropping. "Leonard later discovered the cause: a mana core fell somewhere within the woods, corrupted and twisted. It poisoned the forest's mana flow. Those beasts that ate from it—animals, insects—carried that corruption to those who were bitten. It disrupts the mana flow in living creatures, poisoning them from within."
Toki closed his eyes—images of Yuki's lifeless body flickering in his mind.
Arashi continued. "This curse travels through blood. Leonard confirmed this. And yuki—blood touched by the poison... she collapsed."
Toki's breath caught. "Then—if I was bitten and didn't die—would that mean my mana flow is protecting me?"
Arashi's whiskers twitched. "Precisely. The poison requires a certain vulnerability. But from what I can sense... Your mana is unstable, overflowing. Too potent for the corrupted energy to affect you. If they had bitten you, they would have died instead."
Toki stared at his calloused hands. Memories of the snake writhing after his bite rushed back. As if the poison twisted its its own mortal wound in agony.
"Leonard," the rabbit continued, "deployed powerful mana crystals around the perimeter of the forest—wind-chilled wards imbued with protective energy. They keep the corrupted creatures at bay. But if these beasts are entering the forest... then the wards are failing. Something is wrong."
Toki exhaled. "Something is always wrong." He rose, the old ache in his bones igniting. "Thank you, Arashi."
The rabbit bowed. "Now... away with you, sir. I am far too refined for blood-soaked heroics in the dawn light."
Toki strode through the manor corridors, leaving Arashi behind beneath swirling motes of dawnlight. He descended the stairs and entered the kitchen—Yuki's domain.
He found what he was looking for: her small carving knife, still polished, tucked into a wooden block. He drew it, watching the blade glint.
Finally, I know what I must do.
He held the blade against his abdomen, steel pressed cold against skin. Blood rolled over its edge.
A loud knock crashed from the other side of the door. Someone calling his name—but he didn't hesitate. He locked it tight.
He closed his eyes. "This ends the cycle."
He pressed the blade in.
The cut opened. Crimson welled and ran hot. Disgust, pain, resolve—each churned behind his pupils.
Downstairs, someone shouted.
But Toki's voice was already far away.
"New Anchor!"
Reality roared, shards of light fracturing like broken glass. Toki's vision splintered. Familiar sounds and smells collapsed into nothingness. He screamed—no, roared—his mind tearing free of the timeline.
Then—
Darkness.
He opens his eyes.
The first bloom of dawn outside the window.
He is seated on his own chair, in his own room.
Morning light slants across the floorboards.
He's alive.
Again.
Toki forced himself to stand. His body felt heavy; his hand trembled. A drop of sweat? No—a fleck of blood next to the bed.
He stumbled to the desk, yanked a piece of parchment from the top drawer, and carelessly scribbled:
I am in the forest. Do not follow me. I WILL BE FINE!
He pasted it on the door with a scrap of waxed cloth.
He donned his red cloak—freshly laundered in the night. He strapped on his sword and left, heart pounding with purpose and dread.
He stepped out into the cold pre-dawn air.
Each step was taut, purposeful. Each breath was sharpened like a blade.
Today, he would find the corrupted core. He would fill the forest with blood if needed to reach it.
"Time to end this," he murmured.
They will taste their own venom.
He would hunt any creature bearing this poison. Follow their trail to the broken ward—or where the core lay hidden.
It was time to destroy the source, expose the corrupt crystal, and free the forest.
In the glimmering light of daybreak, he paused at the forest's mouth.
He looked back at the manor door—his message still hanging.
He inhaled deeply.
"Infernal stains of corruption... I'm coming for you."
He stepped forward, the forest closing behind him.