The ground under the kid's feet started sinking fast.
She screamed loud, her voice echoed through the forest, and a swarm of birds flew out from the trees in panic.
Executioner moved quickly. So as Rina. Both of them grabbed the girl's hands and started pulling with all their strength.
" Hold on!"
Executioner shouted, gritting his teeth.
They pulled harder and harder. The mud fought back, like it had hands trying to drag her under. Her face twisted, crying and gasping.
"Hold on tight! Don't let go!" Executioner barked, digging his feet into the ground.
They pulled again-harder this time. One, two, three seconds that felt like forever- then her body popped out like something being born. She hit the ground, coughing and shaking.
But her slippers were gone, buried in that filthy earth. She stood up barefoot, legs trembling.
Rina dropped to her knees beside and blushed off the mud with her hand.
" Are you okay?! I thought-God, I thought we lost you..."
The kid didn't say a word. She was shaking all over, eyes glassy like she couldn't believe she was still alive.
Rina held her close and whispered, " Next time, don't move unless I say so. Please. I'm serious."
The other kids were shocked. One boy looked like he might throw up. The smallest girl was crying silently, hands covering her face.
Executioner exhales hard and looked around. No weapon, nothing to fight with. Just his bare hands. He walked ahead, silent.
Rina rushed after him, grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. Her face was pale and serious, and her voice shook with fear.
"Let's go back!" she said, pointing back to the river. "Let's just go back! I don't care anymore! I'm scared, okay? You saw what just happened! That was just the dirt. What if something worse comes?!"
Then something growled.
It didn't sound like an animal. It sounded like rocks grinding together. Like a mountain waking up.
Ahead of them, just past the trees, something big shifted.
At first it looked like a boulder-just sitting there, grey and still. Then two red eyes opened on it's face.
It looks like a rock but it wasn't a rock.
It roared.
Executioner's looked at it, eyes going wide without blinking. He grabbed Rina and the kids fast, pulling them behind a thick tree. They pressed close and stayed silent. The beast didn't see them.
It stood tall-around twelve feet high. Its body looked like stone, cracked and rough, but it moved like I had bones. It had long arms that touched the ground and a chest as wide as a car. It had to weigh over 2,000 pounds.
With every step it took, the ground shook. Leaves fell off trees. The beast sniffed the air and walked slow, each step like thunder.
Rina was shaking hard. Her knees touched the ground as she hid. The kid were crying softly. One of them even peed herself.
"What the hell is this..." Rina whispered. She was shaking too much to stand.
"I'm done. I wanted to go to Japan. But not like this. Not like this!"
Executioner didn't answer any of what he was saying. His eyes were locked on the beast.
After the beast walked away. He grabbed Rina's hand, firm and real. His eyes locked into hers.
"Be brave... I need you. Please," he said, voice low and deep. " Let's do this. Together."
Rina hesitated. Her eyes darted around, her lips shook a little as she tried to speak.
"But what if-"
Before she could finish, Executioner raised his finger and gently touched her lips.
"Shhh... trust me."
A small smile flicked across his face. Not forced. Just soft.
Rina looked at him for a second... then wrapped her arms around him. She held him tight, like she didn't want to let go.
The kids saw them and, somehow, it gave them a bit of hope. Not much, but just enough to take a step forward.
They continued deeper into the forest. The deeper they went, the darker it got. Not just the light-but the feeling. The air felt heavier. Colder. it was like the trees were breathing. Watching.
Whispers started. soft, close. But no one was there.
"Did you hear that?" the smallest kid asked, holding Rina's shirt.
Then came the other sounds-wet croaks, scraping branches, bones cracking in the distance.
"Grkkhhh… Kraaagh… gurglll…"
It didn't sound like frogs. It sounded like something trying to talk without a mouth.
Then, up ahead-they stopped.
Three paths. One to the left. One to the right. One straight ahead.
Each path had a warning.
A pile of bones laid before all three-human bones. Skulls, ribs, broken legs. All rotten and dry.
Rina stepped back.
"Which one do we take?" she asked, voice tight.
Executioner stayed silent. He just looked at all three.
Then, voices came.
one from the left:
"Go left. It's safer. Trust me."
Another from the right:
"No, no, the right path is the truth. They lie."
Then one from straight ahead:
"They're both greedy liars. Go straight. At least you'll die clean."
All three voices laughed at once-cold, hollow laughter.
"Hahahaha... hehehehe… hahaha..."
Then, silence.
"Who were those voices?" Rina asked, turning to Executioner. "Where do we go now?"
He just opened his arms like didn't know either.
From the left path-something red flashed by. A long piece of cloth, fast as lightning.
From the right-black cloth, trailing through the air like smoke.
Then from straight ahead-a white cloth floated up, light as air, then vanished into nothing.
Executioner stared. His eyes narrowed.
"We go straight,"
Rina didn't argue.
They stepped forward, and soon as they did, the path behind them shifted. Trees moved. The air changed.
Rina turned around. "Executioner..."
He looked back too- and was surprised.
The way behind them was gone. Now it was just mirrors. Floating. Turning. Rivers flowed through the glass like the sky itself had been sliced open.
The kids gasped. "Whoa..."
Then they heard it again-laugher.
"Heheheh... hahaha... haaaah…"
But this time, it was worse. It didn't sound like one voice. It sounded like many. Stacked on top of each other, echoing.
Then the kids stopped moving.
All of them. One by one-still.
Frozen. Eyes wide, bodies stiff.
Executioner stepped forward. "Hey-" But the moment he moved, his body locked too.
He couldn't move. He could blink, he could breathe, but that was all he can do now.
"Executioner!" Rina shouted, the only one still standing.
"Don't move. Stay where you are."
From above, something floated down slowly.
A man. He wasn't flying. He was just... descending. He landed with a soft thud.
His hair was long-white with streaks of blue. It dragged along the ground, curling like living threads.
His clothes were strange-stitched from three colors. Red, Black and white. All layered together like one big warning.
His eyes were sharp. Like eagle eyes. Cold and focused. No smile. No frown. Just that look.
He raised a hand and pointed straight at Executioner.
His voice boomed. Like thunder had found a mouth.
"Your soul is not pure."
"How dare you enter the Purified Forest!"
Executioner kept quiet, trying to move. But he couldn't move. His whole body felt chained from inside.
The man lifted his other hand, and something began to shine above him.
Not a light. Not a star.
It looked like a sun-but shaped like a person. A figure made of burning light, it's arms stretched wide, glowing with power.
Rina couldn't take a step back, cuz if she does, she will froze like the others. Her eyes wide. Her breath shaking.
"Who is she..."