In the same forest, inside a small shadowy wooden cabin, an eighteen-year-old girl crouched in the corner, holding a six-year-old from behind with the child's back pressed tightly against her chest.
The older girl kept her gaze locked on the cabin door, unblinking. Her face was smeared with dust and sweat, strands of hair clinging to her cheeks, her breathing shallow and uneven. Her clothes were torn and disordered, pulled and scuffed as if she had been dragged through brush and branches while fleeing in panic. Fear was written across her features, sharp and unmistakable.
Then something heavy slammed into the door.
Her heart leapt into her throat as she scrambled backward, pressing herself and the child harder against the wooden wall on their backs. Panic was surging through her when the door shook again, followed by the sound of claws scraping and pounding against the wood, each strike driving her deeper into fear.
The girl's eyes darted wildly around the cabin, searching for anything, anything at all, that could protect them from what was coming. But unfortunately, she found nothing, and the door exploded inward with a violent crash.
Wooden planks shattered and flew across the cabin as the impact tore through it. The five-year-old cried out louder, her fear breaking free, while the eighteen-year-old froze, eyes wide, staring at the ruined doorway.
A massive rogue bear forced its way inside.
Its obsidian eyes glowed as it stepped through the broken door, filling the cabin with its bulk and letting out a furious roar burst out from its throat, shaking the walls.
Panic surged through the girl as her heart began to hammer violently in her chest, even her grip slipped, her hand fell down from the child's mouth causing the younger girl's cries to ring out unchecked, echoing through the cabin as terror tightened its hold.
The bear groaned low and menacing, saliva dripping from its elongated fangs as it gathered itself before roaring one last time and hurled its massive body forward—only for the cabin's rooftop to shatter with a thunderous crash.
Wood exploded downwards with a thunderous crash as a hooded assassin dropped straight through, landing hard on the floor between the girl and the bear, holding his landing pose for a moment before slowly rising, revealing a katana gripped firmly in his hand.
His grey eyes stared at the bear from beneath a half mask, cold and steady. A sun-emblazoned armband wrapped his bicep.
The eighteen-year-old could only stare.
Frozen in shock, she just watched the assassin's back as he stood there without hesitation, silently shielding them from the danger.
The bear roared once again shaking its massive frame with fury while the hooded assassin did not look away, keeping his intense gaze fixed on the bear. Then with a calm grace the assassin slowly slid his katana back into its scabbard.
Behind him, the girl remained frozen in awe. No words coming out, just tears streaming down her face staring at the assassin.
The bear exploded forward with terrifying speed, its sheer mass shaking the cabin as it tore across the distance, claws pulling back mid-charge before slashing violently toward the assassin's face. The assassin stood motionless, keeping his cold gaze on the claw coming at his face.
With a sharp, precise motion, he stepped in and drove a single punch into the bear's chest. The impact detonated through flesh and bone, his fist tearing straight inside the bear's chest, stopping its charge dead in its track.
A roar of pain burst from the bear, and before it could even react, the hooded assassin ripped his hand free from its chest, clutching the beast's still-beating heart.
For a brief, unreal moment, the bear remained standing, its rage cut short, its massive body frozen by the violence it could not comprehend.
The assassin let the heart drop to the floor, and In the next he gripped his katana and executed a flurry of slashes at the bear that carved through the air with lethal intent.
He stood still, and a moment later, the bear's massive body split apart, chunks of flesh and bone crashing to the floor in wet, violent fragments, the remains scattering across the cabin like debris from an explosion.
With the same composed calm, the hooded assassin slid his sword back into its sheath and turned toward the girl and the child. They sat frozen in complete shock, eyes wide, mouths parted as if their breath had been torn from them, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed.
The hooded assassin lowered himself, kneeling before them, his piercing gray gaze settling on theirs without aggression, without warmth.
"Are you both alright?" he asked, his voice steady and serious.
The eighteen-year-old nodded quickly, fear and worry still tight in her expression.
"You're injured," the hooded assassin said, his gaze steady. "I'll escort you both to safety. Let me carry the child."
The girl hesitated, shock and confusion flickering across her face as she stared at him.
"Who are you?" she asked.
After a brief pause, the hooded assassin reached up and calmly removed his hood, then lowered his mask, revealing a young man of twenty-two. His feature sharp and clean, long black hair pushed back from his face, his expression unreadable.
"I am Ukichi Minamoto," he said, his voice chillingly calm. "An assassin under Sugiyama's command, and relax. I have no intention of harming either of you."
The girl tried to push herself up, "I… I have to protect my family." Her movements were unsteady with panic flickering clearly across her face.
Ukichi gently held her back before she could rise. "Dont worry, It's my promise that nothing's going to happen to your family," he said, his voice firm but steady. "Right now, you need medical attention. I'll take you somewhere safe."
Overwhelmed and shaken, the girl hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded. Ukichi lifted the injured five-years-old child in his arm before turning toward the shattered doorway, and together they left the cabin behind…