Page 1
A wide field under the midday sun.
Mabu walks alone, whistling as he goes, the grass brushing his legs. The air is clean in a way that feels unusual.
Then he stops.
In the middle of the field — something black and gleaming shifts slowly. No fixed shape. No fixed size. As if it's breathing.
Mabu's heart pounds hard for no reason.
"…What is that?"
Page 2
He approaches slowly. One step. Two.
The black thing moves like a living shadow — expanding and contracting as if it has been waiting for him.
Mabu reaches out his hand.
Then he remembers. His hand in the Bloody Wedding arena. The darkness coiling around his fingers slowly — as if waking up.
He takes one step back.
The thing launches toward him like liquid.
Page 3
It wraps around his arm.
"Ahhh—!"
A burning sensation tears through his skin to the bone. Mabu screams and falls on his back. He grabs his arm with his other hand — tries to pull it off — but the darkness spreads. It consumes his flesh. It enters his veins.
"Get out — get out of me!!"
It reaches his shoulder. His neck. His face.
The world goes completely black.
Page 4
Mabu wakes up.
He sits upright in his bed, gasping. His body is soaked in cold sweat. He looks at his right hand.
Nothing.
But the burning is still there beneath the skin — like an ember that was never put out.
He hears a door open.
Thian leans his head in: "Mabu. I heard you shout."
Mabu looks at him. Smiles — a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.
"A nightmare. Just a nightmare."
But he knows. The same feeling that appeared in his hand in front of the black knight — except deeper now. Hungrier.
Page 5
The market. The noise. The smell of food.
Mabu walks beside the old man in quiet, his eyes scanning everything around him.
Then he hears it.
The sound of hitting. A muffled cry from a side alley.
He catches a glimpse of Totoki on the ground. Three boys — older, bigger — striking him without stopping.
Mabu's fist tightens.
Page 6
"Grandfather… I—"
He's already moving.
He sees blood on Totoki's face.
Something inside him breaks.
He runs.
Page 7
One punch sends the first boy into the wall.
The second tries to run. Mabu grabs him by his shirt. Hits him across the head.
Once.
Twice.
Blood appears.
The third screams in fear.
Mabu drops the second boy into his own blood — eyes red — and launches at the third. The darkness has already begun to surface across his knuckles.
Page 8
"Mabu!"
Totoki's voice is shaking: "Enough — stop!! You're going to kill him!!"
Mabu doesn't hear.
A powerful kick strikes his shoulder and throws him backward.
He stands. He looks. The old man is in front of him. His face carries no anger.
It carries something worse than anger.
Disappointment.
Page 9
Mabu turns.
The boy is on the ground. His face covered in blood. Not moving.
His friends are gone.
Totoki is trembling in the corner — crying silently — his eyes on Mabu. Not on the boys who beat him.
On Mabu.
Mabu opens his mouth.
Nothing comes out.
Page 10
The old man takes Mabu's chin in fingers that show no mercy.
"Look at him carefully."
Mabu looks at the boy on the ground.
"This is not protection, Mabu. This is revenge."
He tightens his grip.
"And the darkness in your hand — if you let it take control, it won't protect anyone. It will destroy everything. Including the people you love."
Mabu tries to pull away.
The old man doesn't let him.
"You didn't save Totoki. You frightened him more."
Page 11
The old man releases him and goes to help the injured boy.
Mabu stands alone.
He looks at his hand. The darkness is gone. But the feeling remains beneath his skin — an ember waiting.
Totoki approaches slowly. Stands in front of him.
Doesn't speak for a moment.
Then: "Mabu… you were very frightening."
Page 12
The hideout. The four friends sitting in a circle.
Mabu speaks in a low voice. All of it. The nightmare. The arena. The darkness that appears when he gets angry.
Yuzuha looks at him with thinking eyes: "So it grows stronger the more angry you feel."
Karki leans against the wall: "And if it keeps going like that… you might lose control completely. You could hurt us."
Heavy silence fills the hideout.
Page 13
Yuzuha stands: "I have an idea."
Everyone looks at her.
"You need to learn to direct the anger — not suppress it. We make you angry… and then help you release it or control it."
Mabu: "And how?"
She smiles — a smile that isn't especially reassuring.
"Follow me."
Page 14
Mabu steps out of the hideout door.
Before he can look around, a chain wraps around his arm and yanks him backward hard.
Yuzuha from the right. Her scythe cuts through the air beside his head.
"No time to think."
Page 15
Mabu dodges. Steadies himself. Karki charges from the front and slams into him with his shoulder like a wall.
Mabu rolls across the ground.
Totoki sits at a distance watching with wide eyes: "What are you two doing?!"
Yuzuha: "Helping him."
Another strike.
Page 16
Mabu gets up. Breathes. Tries to stay calm.
A punch from Karki connects with his shoulder. The chain coils around his leg and drops him.
He gets up again.
The anger rises.
Inside his head: a father and mother he has never known. Not knowing where he came from. The black knight. Thian lying on the ground in the forest.
The darkness appears on his hand.
Page 17
He launches at Karki.
His fist is raised. The darkness covers his knuckles completely.
Karki's eyes go wide.
One second.
Mabu's eyes open fully.
He redirects the punch at the last possible moment.
Page 18
Boom.
The wall shatters into pieces. Dust fills everything.
Mabu collapses to his knees. Gasping.
The darkness fades from his hand slowly.
Yuzuha sits beside him. Says nothing. She just places her hand on his shoulder.
Then: "You see? You can control it. But you need to work harder."
Page 19
Karki approaches. Stands in front of Mabu. He looks at the hand that almost reached him.
Mabu extends his hand toward him.
Karki looks at it. Hesitates.
Then takes it and pulls him to his feet.
"We're with you, Mabu. But if you go back to what happened in the market…" He stops. "We'll have to fight you for real. We won't just stand and watch."
Mabu nods. Without words.
Page 20
Walking back, Mabu trails one step behind the others.
Inside his head, one voice only.
I don't want to be the one who scares his own friends.
He raises his eyes. Looks at his hands.
I'm going to learn to control this. Even if it hurts me.
Page 21
Early morning.
Mabu stands before the old man in the training yard. The air is cold. No one else is there.
The old man looks at him in long silence.
"Yesterday you learned something important."
Mabu: "What?"
"That the difference between strength and becoming a monster… is one single moment. The moment you decided not to hit Karki."
Page 22
"But that moment will not always come on its own. You have to build it. Every day. Until it becomes stronger than the anger."
Mabu looks at his hands.
"And if I can't?"
The old man: "Then we train until you can."
Page 23
The old man walks to the corner of the yard and calls for Thian. He comes into the training yard.
The old man picks up two wooden swords. Throws one to each of them.
"From today forward—"
Page 24
"—you train every day until you can't move. I am not playing here. I am building warriors."
Mabu catches his sword. He looks at the old man.
He thinks about the punch that sent the armored knight rolling. About what Linsan said. About why the old man called him Thian in front of him. About all of it.
He looks up.
"I have a question."
"Yes."
A pause — brief, but carrying everything.
"Who are you really… Grandfather?"
Continued in Chapter Twelve