The raven returned .
Its wings sliced through the morning mist, silent as a whisper. It landed gracefully on Natsuki's scroll—then dissolved into black ink with a quiet hiss.
The ink swirled briefly before lashing out like a tendril, slapping across Natsuki's forearm and seeping into his skin.
His eyes widened slightly as the sensation burned—not painfully, but with heat .
An image formed beneath the surface of his skin.
A flawless tattoo of the raven—etched in black ink, wings spread mid-flight, eyes glowing faintly red—now marked his arm like a badge of power.
> [SPECIAL FUNCTION UNLOCKED.] ["INK MEMORY STORAGE" ACTIVATED.] [CREATED SUMMONS MAY NOW BE STORED AS TATTOOS ON HOST'S BODY.] [STORED SUMMONS CAN BE RE-SUMMONED INSTANTLY.] [PASSIVE BONUS: GAIN PARTIAL MEMORIES AND VISUAL DATA FROM STORED CREATURES.]
> [NO NEED TO RE-DRAW WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY MASTERED.] [BE EFFICIENT. BE DEADLY.]
Natsuki stared at the fresh tattoo, his lips curling into a faint smirk.
"Well... that's convenient," he murmured, flexing his hand as the ink pulsed once, then settled into stillness. "So now I carry my own bestiary on my body."
He brushed two fingers across the raven's inky form. A flash of imagery jolted into his mind—hallways, overheard conversations between oni, even Rumi softly humming to herself in the cell to stay brave.
"...I can even see what it saw?"
"Alright… let's get started."
Natsuki raised his hand.
The ink-bugs buzzed to life and swarmed toward him, grafting themselves onto his back. In seconds, a detailed tattoo mural formed—black insects frozen mid-flight across his skin.
> [INK SWARM STORED AS TATTOO.] [SUMMON SPEED BOOST +70%. MEMORY LINK ACTIVE.]
"Neat."
He unrolled his scroll and tapped the eagle's drawing.
"Resummon."
Ink pulsed. The eagle exploded to life in a swirl of black feathers.
Natsuki hopped on.
"To the temple roof."
The eagle soared through the mist and circled once before dropping him on a mossy trapdoor.
He landed quietly.
Then slipped inside the temple without a sound.
Natsuki landed lightly on a wooden rafter, eyes narrowed. He sprinted along the beams, ducking under hanging lanterns and weaving through cobwebbed support frames.
His footfalls were silent. His breath steady.
Years of sneaking through oni strongholds had honed him for this.
The distant clanking of heavy oni armor echoed through the halls—his warning bell. He listened carefully, adjusting his path whenever one drew near, vanishing into alcoves or scaling up to avoid their line of sight.
Not one saw him.
Soon, he reached his target: Rumi's cell.
He crouched above the barred chamber, hidden in the shadows of the ceiling.
But something made him freeze.
Below, a group of heavily armored guards surrounded her. Their forms blocked most of the cell. At their center, a smaller, human-sized oni strolled forward, his long beard swaying as he examined the girl.
"So this… is the key to reviving our king," the oni muttered, voice oily with anticipation. "To think… the Life Seed turned out to be just a little girl."
He stepped closer and roughly grabbed Rumi's face, his claws digging into her cheeks.
"Your death will bring about the return of the greatest among the Seven Kings of old… the Oni King, Jin-Kai."
Rumi trembled but didn't cry.
She let out a faint squeal—but quickly bit her lip and looked away, trying her best to stay strong.
Natsuki's fists clenched, veins bulging.
> "Not yet. If I attack now, they'll kill her before I get close."
His jaw tightened, barely holding back the urge to leap down and rip the oni apart on the spot.
The smaller oni scoffed and turned away.
"Prepare her for the ritual."
With a wave of his hand, most of the guards followed him out, leaving only two at the entrance of her cell.
Natsuki's eyes gleamed.
> "Finally. An opening."
He reached down, touching one of the bug tattoos on his shoulder.
"Swarm."
Inky beetles poured silently from his skin, crawling down the walls like living shadows.
They dropped on the two remaining guards.
The oni barely had time to grunt before the swarm surged up their faces—into mouths, eyes, and ears. The guards choked and convulsed
Using this as a distraction Natsuki dropped down a beheaded them with his blade of cinder.
Thud Thud
There heads dropped to the ground one after the other.
Natsuki dropped down.
Rumi looked up, her eyes widening as the shadows peeled back to reveal a familiar face.
"Mr. Natsuki…!"
"Shh." He knelt quickly, touching the lock.
" break the lock."
Click. The bugs entered the lock breaking it apart making it fall to the floor.
The cell opened.
He scooped her into his arms and wrapped her in his kimono.
"I'm here now. Let's get you out."
Rumi buried her face in his chest, whispering, "You came back…"
He smiled and his voice lowered.
"I promised, didn't I?"
Natsuki leaned close and whispered into Rumi's ear, "Stay quiet—we're getting out of here."
Cradling her gently in his arms, he slipped back through the temple's halls, retracing his path with practiced stealth. Moments later, he reached the roof, emerging into the open sky.
Without missing a beat, he slammed his palm onto his scroll.
"Summon—Eagle."
The great ink-feathered bird burst into being, screeching as it spread its massive wings. Natsuki leapt onto its back, holding Rumi close as they soared into the skies above the Twin Peaks.
"Phew… We made it," he said, glancing down at her. "You alright, Rumi?"
She looked up at him, her small hands clutching his kimono. Her eyes sparkled with joy.
"Y-Yeah. I'm okay," she said with a soft smile. "You really came for me…"
Natsuki smiled back, heart aching with relief.
"We'll get you to the village now. Just hang on a little longer."
But just as he relaxed, the wind shifted.
The sky blackened.
The clouds twisted—and the stench of ash flooded the air.
Natsuki's eyes snapped up.
"…Of course. He wouldn't let us leave."
From the swirling storm above, Gamakichi emerged—riding atop a colossal serpent dragon made entirely of ash and cinders. Its burning eyes glared down like twin suns of hatred.
"RRAAGH! You really don't know when to quit, do you, Nightwalker?!" Gamakichi roared, his voice booming through the clouds.
Rumi curled tighter into Natsuki's arms, trembling.
But Natsuki didn't flinch.
Didn't speak.
He simply raised his arm.
"Swarm."
In an instant, the tattoos on his back ignited.
Hundreds of ink-black insects erupted from his skin, buzzing into the sky in a cloud of wings and shadows—completely blotting out the sun.
A living storm answered his call.
Gamakichi snarled, clutching the reins of his ash dragon.
"Oh? Bringing bugs to fight a god of fire? Cute."
But Natsuki's voice cut through the wind like a blade.
"No. I brought them to bury you."
Upon Natsuki's command, the ink-bugs surged forward like a black tidal wave, engulfing Gamakichi in a buzzing storm.
The red oni vanished inside the swarm.
"Ash Field."
Gamakichi exhaled—unleashing a massive cloud of gray smog from his mouth.
"Erupt."
BOOM—
The ash ignited mid-air, exploding into a ring of flame. Fire engulfed the sky. The swarm of bugs was incinerated in seconds—charred remains scattering like burnt paper.
Natsuki winced, shielding Rumi.
"Tch—he's adapting faster than I thought."
The flames reflected in his eyes as he pulled hard on the eagle's reins.
"Go! Lose him!"
The eagle shrieked and dove, wings slicing through the air as it twisted and banked away from the blaze. Natsuki kept Rumi close, shielding her with his body as the wind howled past them.
But Gamakichi wasn't done.
"Ash Blade Rain!"
From the sky above, ash twisted into deadly kunai—thousands of them.
The storm fell.
"Hold on!" Natsuki shouted.
The eagle veered hard, weaving between the blades as a torrential rain of death fell around them. Each knife hissed through the air, some grazing feathers, others narrowly missing Natsuki's back.
CLINK—CLINK—SWISH—
One blade sliced across his shoulder.
He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain.
The eagle banked again, diving low over the plains.
Still, the storm didn't let up.
Gamakichi's laughter boomed above them.
"You can't run forever, Nightwalker!"
But Natsuki wasn't listening anymore.
His eyes locked onto the distant horizon—
The glowing lights of Shin-Kage Village.
Almost there.
Almost safe.
"Just a little further..." he muttered, blood trailing from his wound.
Rumi clung to him tighter.
"Natsuki... I'm scared."
He looked down at her, heart burning.
"I won't let him touch you."
Gamakichi's ash dragon surged forward with a furious roar, cutting through the air like a blade. The beast coiled around the ink eagle mid-flight, its serpentine body locking it in place with a crushing grip.
"Got you!" Gamakichi snarled.
He leapt from the dragon's back, sailing through the air toward Natsuki. His claws extended, hand closing around the back of Natsuki's collar.
"Die with honor, Nightwalker—!"
But the moment his claws dug in, he felt it.
Too light. Too still.
His eyes dropped—and widened.
In the clone's arms wasn't Rumi.
It was a satchel—lined with ink-sealed talismans, wires, and clay bombs.
"…Wait."
The clone turned its head slightly, giving Gamakichi a cold, painted smirk.
"Oh shit."
BOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion tore through the skies.
Flames engulfed the ash dragon, sending its coils unraveling in a spiral of smoke. Shards of burning debris rained down across the Thunder Plains like fiery meteors.
Gamakichi was sent spiraling backward, crashing into the clouds with a roar of pain and fury.
Above it all—
High past the smoke, past the chaos—
The real Natsuki burst through the upper clouds atop a second eagle, Rumi held safely in his arms. The light of the sun bathed them in golden rays, a sharp contrast to the darkness below.
Rumi looked up, eyes wide with awe.
"Was that… a clone?"
"Yeah," Natsuki said with a smirk, blood still drying on his shoulder. "One I drew while he was busy burning up my bugs."
She stared at him, speechless.
"Smart, right?"
Rumi giggled through her fear, hugging him tighter.
"You're the coolest."
Natsuki didn't answer.
His eyes stayed focused on the horizon—on the faint outlines of Shin-Kage Village just a few miles away.
"Hang on, kid," he muttered. "We're almost home."
And this time—
They wouldn't be followed.
Not before Natsuki was ready to bring the real storm back to the oni.