SCENE- 1
The rebel base of Higanbana sat carved into the cliffs of northern Sihara — a fortress hidden in crimson canyons, surrounded by forests that whispered of old blood and forgotten gods. From above, it looked like a wilted red flower — the same flower its name came from, the “death lily.”
Ayame and Raiken walked through its towering iron gates as watchtowers loomed above them. Rebels lined the walls, their hands tightening around spears, eyes fixed on the stranger beside her.
Inside, the base was alive — but uneasy. Camps, tents, weapon forges… all held together with desperation and hope. When Raiken entered, both trembled.
The crowd gathered fast.
“He’s with me,” Ayame said, raising her voice as she stood before the rebels. “He saved innocent villagers.”
Murmurs spread like wildfire.
“You brought him here?” one of the rebels snapped. “If he is brought by you, we might trust him, however I have never seen him before?”
Ayame shouted with all his strength "He is one of the legendary pillars of Shihara, Raiken the wolf, who once carved order into this land"
The rebellions started resisting- "Pillar, where was your pillars when they killed our people, neither you nor the other two cares about the land, that damn Daizo, why doesn't he step forward against the cruelity of his own son"
An old woman — scarred, missing two fingers — spat near Raiken’s boots.“Where were they when my daughter was taken?”
“Where were they when the temples burned?”
“Where were they when we screamed?!”
The crowd grew louder, angrier — all eyes on the man in black.
But Raiken stood still.
No defense. No reaction.
The tension shattered only when a man stepped forward from the back of the crowd.
Tall. Hair tied in a white band. A deep red overcoat that moved like wind. His name was Souji Ren, the leader of Higanbana — a tactician, once a poet, now a flame wrapped in frost.
He looked at Raiken — long, unreadable.
Then finally said, voice composed:
“You may fight beside us. But don’t expect our loyalty.” “Not yet.” “Legends mean nothing to the widows here.”
Raiken didn’t blink.
“I don’t need loyalty,” he said quietly. “Just a direction.”
Souji raised an eyebrow, then gave a subtle nod — not approval, not acceptance… just acknowledgement.
The crowd didn’t cheer. No one clapped.
But they parted to let him in.
Later, as Raiken sat sharpening his blade near the rebel barracks, the same unease lingered.
Voices dropped when he passed. Some stared. Others kept a blade within reach.
“Still don’t trust him,” one rebel muttered. “The pillars watched the world burn and did nothing.”
A younger rebel — barely sixteen — leaned in to his friend.
“…He’s kind of awesome, though. Did you hear what he did to those soldiers?”
Before anyone could respond, a cocky rebel swaggered up.
“I’ve seen enough. Where were you all these years, ‘pillar’? ”He spat the word like venom. “While our people bled, were you sleeping under cherry trees writing haiku?”
Raiken looked up. Didn’t answer. Didn’t need to.
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He stood and walked past — not in arrogance, but calm certainty. The rebel flinched slightly as he passed.
Just then, a scout burst through the main hall doors, panting and bloodied.
“Rozen Hill is under attack!” he shouted. “General Kaito's right hand man, Genichiro dono… he's hanging elders, burning homes—”
Gasps erupted.
“We’re not ready, our reinforcement would take days to come!” someone panicked. “It’s suicide!”
“They’ll massacre them!” the scout cried. “They already have!”
Raiken stood.
“I’ll go.”
Everyone turned.
“You’re alone,” the same cocky rebel scoffed. “Even if you are the so called legendary pillar, you won't last minutes against thousand men.”
Raiken responds "If you’re too afraid to save your own people… then at least let me do what I came here for.”
But before the tension could build again, Souji Ren stepped into the firelight. His voice, calm as ever, cut through the noise.
“We are few. I know that.”“But if we won’t stand when our people scream for us… then what is Higanbana even worth?”“We weren’t born to win wars. We rose because we couldn’t keep watching.”
He turned to Raiken.“I won’t force anyone. But I’ll go with this man.”
“Anyone who still remembers why we fight... follow me.”
Silence.
Then one rebel stepped forward. Then another. Then five more.
They didn't know if they’d survive. But they knew who they were.
And that was enough.
SCENE- 2 - Look East
The wind howled at the hilltop as the rebels of Higanbana gathered beneath the rust-red flags. The sky above Rozen Hill was burning—plumes of smoke coiling into the dusk.
They stood overlooking it all—Raiken, Souji, and a dozen others, planning, calculating. The rebels were few. The enemies, far too many. But retreat was never an option.
Maps rustled as Souji ran a finger across the valley routes.
“They’ve fortified the north wall. Too risky to break through head-on.”
Raiken, leaning against a crooked tree, arms folded, eyes fixed on the flames in the distance, finally spoke.
“The cliffs east of the hill… there’s a blind spot. That’s where we strike.”
One rebel scoffed, “A suicide run. You’re insane.”
Souji glanced at Raiken.
“He’s not just some swordsman. You don’t know who you’re talking to.”
The rebel snapped, “Then who is he, huh?! Where was this ‘legendary pillar’ when our villages were slaughtered?”
Raiken didn’t respond. He didn’t need to.
Souji turned back to the map.
“We move in one hour. Those who want to protect their people, follow me. The rest… stay and live with it.”
And so they moved—quietly, swiftly, like shadows sliding into the night.
The village was falling.
Screams filled the air. Houses blazed. A young girl —Ame the one Raiken met before near the Castle of Kaito—she crawled through ash and bodies. Her limbs trembled. Her face streaked with blood and dirt.
She watched as her mother was struck down. Her brother dragged by soldiers.
A blade touched her throat.
“You rats never learn,” the soldier growled, yanking her hair.
Tears blurred her vision. In that moment, hopeless, shaking—she remembered.
“Look east when you're in trouble…”
That voice. That ronin she once met. She thought it nonsense then. But now, with nothing left to lose… she looked.
And saw him.
Raiken.
Standing on the cliff’s edge. Wind tearing through his coat. Eyes locked on the battlefield like a beast off the chain.
“…It can’t be.”
The soldier raised his sword to finish her.
SHNK.
His head fell to the dirt before the blade could drop.
Then chaos.
Raiken leapt from the cliff like a falling star. Higanbana’s warriors followed behind—led by Souji. But Raiken… Raiken didn’t need help.
He was a one-man army.
Steel clashed. Bodies fell. The earth painted red.
In mere minutes, the battlefield was reduced to silence. Smoke and blood thick in the air.
The girl stood, frozen. Eyes wide. Watching that same man who once gave her a sliver of hope now standing amidst hundreds of corpses, not even out of breath.
“He’s real,” she whispered "He really is the hero”
The battlefield had gone still.
Ash floated like snowflakes. The only sound was the slow drip of blood from broken blades and shattered helmets.
Raiken stood at the center—his sword lowered, breath calm. Around him, silence... and bodies.
Souji stepped down from the hill, boots crunching over scorched earth. Other rebels followed, wide-eyed, barely able to process what they had just witnessed.
One of the younger rebels muttered, almost to himself:
“He moved like a shadow… no, like a storm…”
Souji exhaled sharply, his voice heavy with awe.
“So this is the power of a Pillar…”
He looked at the smoldering battlefield, then at Raiken—who still hadn’t said a word.
“One of the three who once carved order into this chaotic land… They weren’t just legends. They were gods among men.”
Even the cocky rebel who doubted him earlier had nothing left to say—only stunned silence.
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In the next chapter, get ready to witness the clash that’ll shake the battlefield—Raiken the Wolf, the man once known as the Lightning of the Pillars of Sihara, will face off against none other than Genichiro, the right hand of General Kaito.
It’s going to be wild. Stay tuned ???