Chapter 81

As Ryuya hit the tree, it cracked and dirt came flying everywhere. Some of it is in Ryuya's clothes and face. His blue and black layered kimono is now smeared with a lot of dirt. Hisashi smiles as he sees his friend stand up.

Ryuya cracks his neck and adjusts his dislocated jaw. He opens his mouth wide trying to feel his injury.

"You got me there! Should we go by hands now?" Ryuya said as he stretched his bruised arms and shoulder. He did the same with his legs and did some simple shadowboxing with the air. Meanwhile, Hisashi cracks his fingers nonchalantly. Without a sword, he has the upper hand in terms of skill. Not only does he incorporate his mixed-martial arts with his sword, but he also fights without a sword more than Ryuya.

Seeing that they're both ready. Hisashi starts to walk at Ryuya menacingly. The former starts to weave sideways as the latter takes an open-palm stance. Being the first to attack, Hisashi sent a combination of punches and kicks. Ryuya answered this with a good defense but he knows to himself that this isn't the worst yet. Not only can he not see any opening on Hisashi's aggressive offense but also because Hisashi is still being normal, per se.

Just then, Ryuya gave Hisashi an opening by exposing his body, which Hisashi took by sending a powerful roundhouse kick into it. Ryuya grunts as he felt a lot of his ribs crack. However, he ignores the pain as he holds onto his friend's leg, not letting it go.

Before Hisashi can fight back, Ryuya punches Hisashi by the captured leg, kicking his other one, and making him fall out of balance. That was what he was planning. But what he got was Hisashi hooking his other leg onto his nape and pulling him in his direction. They rolled and recovered fast as they saw each other eye-to-eye.

With a single glance at each other, they were determined to finish it. They were just about hair's breadth from each other when they heard a call.

"Ryuya-sama!" A familiar man's voice can be heard. The two stop at that moment. Ryuya smiled cheekily as Hisashi smiled fiercely. They pull back their arm at the same time and turn to where the voice is coming from. It was Jozou who was now wearing a Hannya mask and was still in his shinobi clothes.

"When'd ya get here?" Ryuya said as he nonchalantly threw an elbow aimed at Hisashi's face. He simply raises his hands to catch it and pushes it back.

"Just a minute ago," Jozou answered honestly. "I was looking for you for about an hour now. I asked the priest where you went and he pointed me here. I was about to search the whole mountain when I saw your belongings. From there, I followed your trail, cautious that you might've been hurt." He added.

"I'm surprised that you didn't attack him on an impulse," Ryuya asks.

"Well, Gozu's ki was memorable. He wasn't also suppressing his presence." He answered. "Okay then," Ryuya answers as he pats off dust on his clothes.

"Should I heal your injuries for you?" Hisashi cockily offers. "Nah. Gotta savor it first. I don't get to do this as often. Ya should heal yours. It's pretty bad for sure."

"Nice delusions," Hisashi said as the two returned to their small camping place. Hisashi summons the katana he gave to Ryuya and gives it back to him while he personally picks up his spare katana.

Seeing that Ryuya's needed for something urgent, Hisashi bade him farewell. "I'll just be at the dungeon. I'll rest for a day."

…

In a town East of Shimizu, the town where Hisashi and his family used to live, the moon can be seen illuminating the dark sky. Surrounded by many tombs, Hisashi is lying by the grass of the memorial for the citizens who died. That includes Yuna and Itsuki's tombstone along with Masaru and Furukawa's.

He was simply admiring stars, clouds, and the moon while being deep in the silence and melancholy. The cold breeze of wind continuously touched his bare face. The night passed by fast as Hisashi stood up in front of the first two tombs.

"Mother, father. I hope you forgive me for not taking care of Ichika, but I heard that she's doing okay. Brother… He's doing great. Maybe? I'm about to check on him so watch me. I know you're watching him there too… wherever you guys are. I hope you're getting along with mother-in-law and father-in-law."

He walks to the nearby tombstone which belongs to Furukawa and Masaru.

"Mother Furukawa, Father Masaru. I hope you're not angry at me for not letting Koyori join you yet. I'll find a way to wake her up… I promise. I'll also make sure that you get the justice that you deserve, along with mother and father. I hope you can wait."

He reaches below and takes out four bouquets of flowers before bowing and leaving. He later arrives at the dungeon as he takes out the apple bracelet and the door automatically opens. Without further ado, Hisashi takes out many things from his dark storage. That includes several canvasses and paintings which he put on the nearby table.

Hisashi then scrambled through dozens of said paintings and saw the one he was looking for. He enters the room where the two katanas of Gozu were before and the thing inside… was Koyori's frozen coffin. It was the same ice coffin that Hisashi encapsulated her in when she was about to lose her life.

Surprisingly, her body has grown at the same rate as Hisashi did. Hisashi takes out the painting that she did along with Aime. Koyori's current appearance and the one Hisashi painted were exactly the same.

As for how the Ice Coffin works, Hisashi doesn't know it either. He doesn't even remember casting said spell as 'Michael', as he calls it, took over his body completely. He has never made said original spell before nor has he analyzed one.

What he doesn't know is that was a compound spell from the combination of many magic types but mainly time and ice magic. He knows that the attack dealt to him was one that targeted the soul, but he doesn't know how the coffin prevents her from dying. As for how it because the only thing frozen in time by the coffin was Koyori's broken soul. He tried breaking it several times but failed miserably.

"Koyori. Sleep tight. I'll tell you a lot of stories by the time that you wake up."