Whispers of Shikiban:The king walks among us-Chapter 59 --

"WHY ARE WE STILL RUNNING?!"Yeaga's voice cracked through the smoke, boots skidding on the loose gravel. His lungs were fire. Legs heavy. Every heartbeat thudded like a drum counting down.

"We're baiting them!" Daigo snapped, breath ragged. His voice held, but barely. "Keep 'em moving—drain their power!"

"You're gonna get us killed!"

Behind them?

Chaos.

Screams tore the wind apart. Rockfall thundered. A group of Kageshiki girls—too young, too small—ran from the cliffs, eyes wide, sobs ripping from their throats.

"HELP! PLEASE!! SOMEONE HELP!!"

Then—

CRASH.

A boulder the size of a truck dropped from above like a verdict.The impact silenced everything.

Dust swallowed the sky. Blood misted in the air like red fog.

The screams vanished.

Just... gone.

No bodies. No last cries.Just a crimson splash beneath stone.

Daigo froze mid-stride. Ishigo stood still as a statue.Yeaga stared, whispering—

"God..."

Then movement.

From behind the blood-slick boulder, a figure stepped out—massive, humanoid, in silence.A Shikiban.

Stone helm. Ochre eyes glowing like sunset through a skull.Its hand rose—The boulder twitched.Floated.

Blood dripped in steady rhythm from its base.The kind of silence that follows funerals settled over them.

Daigo's stomach dropped into the earth.

"Back!" he shouted, arms spread, planting himself between the others and the monster.

But—

The ground rumbled.

Hairline fractures webbed beneath their boots.Stone peeled back.

More Shikiban.

They erupted from the dirt like buried gods, forming a semicircle. Jagged. Hulking. Hungry.

Surrounded.

A voice, hollow and rusted, bled from the lead Shikiban's helm:

"No escape. Collapse complete."

Daigo didn't hesitate.

"Stonefeng Aegis!"

The earth responded.

Slabs of stone exploded from the ground—walls slamming together into a thick, curved barrier. A dome. A shield against death.

Dust settled.

Stillness.

Ishigo blinked. "Since when the hell do you know that technique?"

Daigo didn't look at him. Sweat beaded down his face.His fists trembled.

"I don't," he said.

Voice low. Shaken.

"My body remembered it before I did."

Yeaga blinked, half a grin forming.

"Bro, that's some anime-ass sh—"

BOOM.

The dome cracked—hairlines first. Then deeper.

Daigo's eyes widened.

"It's not gonna hold. The technique's... unstable—"

CRACK!

The Aegis shattered like glass under a hammer, stone blasting outward. They were flung back like dolls.

Ishigo rolled up quick, fury rising through the pain. His jaw set. Eyes blazing.

"Enough of this."

He ripped the collapsible scythe from his belt.A snap—then fire.

Veins lit beneath his skin, glowing blue.

"Blue Flame: Azwa Wind!!"

The blade roared to life—blue fire streaking down its curved edge.

Ishigo charged.

Slashed.

A whirlwind of flame traced through the air like a comet.

But the Shikiban moved first.

"Crimson Ruin: Molten Maw."

One stomp.

The earth cracked—split.

A chasm opened like a screaming mouth, lined with stone teeth, magma rising within.

It roared—pure molten rage.

It slammed into Ishigo's strike.

For a second—

Balance.

Then the flame died.Just—gone.

Steam hissed where fire once was.Ishigo stumbled back, blinking. Broken.

"My flame...?"

The Shikiban stepped forward. Calm.

"Your fire is weak. The ruin consumes all."

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Ishigo's hands trembled.

That was his bloodline. His legacy. His identity.

Gone in a blink.

But behind him?

A chuckle.

Low.

Cocky.

Yeaga.

"Big bro Shikiban thinks he's got bars, huh?"

He cracked his neck.

Chains rattled under his jacket.

Then—

Whrrr-click.

Two swords unsheathed from his back—sleek, black, silver-lined.

They twisted.

Shifted.

Gears spun. Teeth ground.

Chainsaws. Twin blades born of spite and spite engineering.

"Mad Flame Demon Flang!!" he shouted.

He jumped—air roaring around him. Blades gleaming with madness.

He hurled them.

Twin screaming arcs across the sky.

The Shikiban raised a plated arm. Casual. Confident.

CLANG.

Both blades hit. Caught.

Held in one hand.

"Those toys do nothing."

Yeaga smirked.

"You think I threw them?"

His fingers twitched. Subtle.

The blades moved.

Behind the Shikiban.

They jerked. Shifted. Twitched like things alive.

Then launched—

Spiraled back in a perfect arc.

Too fast to track.

SLASH. SLASH.

A glowing X carved across the Shikiban's back.

Stone cracked. Blood sprayed.

It staggered.

Shoulders dropped.

A hiss bled from the cracks in its chest.

Yeaga landed with a light step, both chainsaws snapping back into his grip with magnetic clicks.

He rested one on his shoulder.

"Didn't say they were coming from the front, bro."

The Shikiban twitched.

Then cracked.

Veins of light spread down its arms. Along its spine.

It trembled.

Yeaga's grin turned razor sharp.

"Don't underestimate the side character."

He leaned forward. Chains humming. Eyes fierce.

"We bite harder."