The smile on the Yokai leader's face looked wrong.
Too calm.
Too pleased.
Like dying had only improved its mood.
Nobody moved.
Nobody relaxed.
Maru's hand stayed locked on her katana.
Daichi shifted his weight forward, axe ready.
Kenta slowly pushed himself up a little straighter, pain flashing across his face for a moment before he buried it again.
Even Tatsuma had gone silent.
Hikari's eyes narrowed behind her glasses.
Akira, Ryo, and Aiko stood frozen.
And Rishiro—
Rishiro just looked at it.
Unblinking.
The Yokai leader let out a thin laugh.
"…Well, well."
Its voice dragged across the broken street.
"…You children really did it."
Kenta clicked his tongue.
"…You're still alive. Annoying."
The Yokai leader ignored him.
Its eyes moved over the ruined city behind them.
The bodies.
The blood.
The shattered road.
Then it smiled wider.
"…You ended the parade in one night."
Daichi frowned.
"…And?"
The Yokai leader's grin deepened.
"…And that makes you far more interesting than the others."
Hikari's expression changed slightly.
"…Others?"
The Yokai leader laughed again.
Low.
Ugly.
"…Other regions. Other players. Other battlefields drowning in their own misery."
Akira paled.
Ryo swallowed hard.
Aiko looked away for a second.
Kenta clicked his tongue.
"…Can you stop talking like a broken villain and say something useful?"
The Yokai leader opened its mouth—
Then Rishiro cut in.
"…Oi."
Silence.
Everyone's attention shifted.
Rishiro's tired eyes stayed on the Yokai leader.
His voice was dry.
Annoyed.
"…Just get to the point."
For a moment, the Yokai leader said nothing.
Then its smile stretched wider.
Its gaze locked onto Rishiro.
"…Mr. Liar."
That name landed like poison in the air.
Kenta's brow twitched.
Maru stiffened.
Daichi frowned.
Hikari stayed very still.
The Yokai leader tilted its head.
"…Even half-dead, you really are the same."
Rishiro stared back.
"…Still yapping."
The Yokai leader laughed.
A rough, crackling sound.
"…Fine."
Its body trembled once.
Then it raised one hand slowly.
"…At least let me do this much."
A pale blue glow spread through the street.
Everyone looked up on instinct.
The system screen appeared overhead.
Cold.
Bright.
Clear.
But then another light spilled downward.
Softer.
Warmer.
It washed over the street, over the survivors, over the wounded, over everyone still standing after the slaughter.
Maru blinked as the ache in her arms eased.
Daichi straightened.
Kenta looked down at his own body as the pain dulling his movements began to lessen.
Tatsuma flexed his fingers.
Akira touched his shoulder.
Ryo sucked in a sharp breath.
Aiko looked at her own hands in disbelief.
Even the pain ripping through Rishiro's body loosened just enough that breathing no longer felt like choking on broken glass.
Hikari narrowed her eyes.
"…Recovery."
The Yokai leader smiled.
"…Call it a reward."
Kenta's face darkened.
"…Why?"
The Yokai leader looked at him, amused.
"…Because if you break here, you cannot climb any higher."
That answer only made the air worse.
Maru's grip tightened.
Daichi's jaw set.
Tatsuma muttered, "…Still hate him."
Then the screen flickered.
A line formed.
[NEW MAIN QUEST HAS BEEN GENERATED]
Nobody spoke.
The next line appeared.
[PROCEED TO MOUNT FUJI]
Akira blinked.
"…Mount Fuji?"
Ryo stared upward.
Aiko whispered,
"…Why there…?"
Then the final line appeared.
[DEFEAT TSUKUYOMI]
Silence.
Heavy.
Complete.
Kenta was the first to react.
"…No."
He stared at the screen with open disbelief.
"…No, that's stupid."
Daichi looked up blankly.
"…Tsukuyomi?"
Hikari's face had gone fully serious.
"…The moon god."
Akira's throat moved.
"…A god…?"
Aiko had gone pale again.
"…We're supposed to fight a god?"
Tatsuma rubbed his face.
"…Can we fight, like… a bear next time? A really big bear? Something normal?"
Maru didn't say anything.
Her eyes stayed on the glowing words.
Rishiro stayed quiet too.
But his gaze had sharpened.
The Yokai leader watched all of them with satisfaction.
"…This is the next stage."
Kenta glared.
"…And why the hell should we listen to your system?"
The Yokai leader smiled.
"…Because you survived."
A pause.
"…And survival only grants the right to face what comes next."
Its grin widened.
"…Did you really think this was the end?"
No one answered.
Because no one could.
The Yokai leader looked over them one by one.
"…Compared to the others, you have advanced quickly."
Its voice grew quieter.
More deliberate.
"…Far more quickly."
Kenta clicked his tongue.
"…Stop saying that like we're livestock."
The Yokai leader smiled wider.
"…Aren't you?"
That was enough.
Daichi stepped forward.
Maru's killing intent spiked.
Even Tatsuma lost the last trace of humor on his face.
But Rishiro spoke first.
Quietly.
"…So Mount Fuji."
The Yokai leader looked at him.
Rishiro's voice stayed flat.
"…And Tsukuyomi."
A beat.
"…That's the point?"
The Yokai leader nodded once.
"…Yes."
Rishiro exhaled through his nose.
"…Could've said that earlier."
Kenta looked at him like he was insane.
"…That's your reaction?"
Rishiro glanced sideways.
"…What do you want me to do?"
A pause.
"…Pass out again?"
Daichi let out a short snort despite himself.
Tatsuma laughed once.
Even Maru's shoulders eased a little.
Kenta clicked his tongue.
"…You're so irritating."
Rishiro looked back at the screen.
"…Yeah."
The Yokai leader watched them.
Then its expression shifted.
The mocking amusement faded slightly.
Something colder sat underneath it now.
"…Go to the mountain."
Its voice drifted over the ruined street.
"…Climb."
"…Struggle."
"…Despair."
The blue glow reflected in its eyes.
"…And if you can reach the summit…"
Its grin widened one last time.
"…Try to kill the moon."
The street went silent.
Then the Yokai leader began to break apart.
Not with a scream.
Not with violence.
Its body simply crumbled into drifting black ash, like it had already been dead and was only now remembering it.
Its smile remained to the end.
Then—
Rishiro spoke.
"…Oi."
The ash drift slowed for half a second.
The Yokai leader's fading gaze shifted toward him.
Rishiro looked up with that same tired, annoying calm.
Then a faint grin tugged at his mouth.
"…You look more scared of the moon god than us."
Silence.
A sharp one.
Kenta's eyes flicked sideways.
Maru's gaze narrowed.
Daichi went still.
Even Tatsuma blinked.
For the first time—
the Yokai leader's smile faltered.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Rishiro's grin widened just a little more.
"…What?"
He tilted his head.
"…Hit a nerve?"
The Yokai leader said nothing.
But the pause itself was answer enough.
Hikari caught it too.
Her eyes sharpened behind her glasses.
Rishiro let out a tired breath.
"…Yeah."
His gaze stayed fixed on the fading figure.
"…Thought so."
The Yokai leader's expression twisted faintly—
not into rage.
Something uglier.
Something tighter.
Then its body finally broke apart fully and vanished into the wind.
Gone.
Only the screen remained.
[NEW MAIN QUEST HAS BEEN GENERATED]
[PROCEED TO MOUNT FUJI]
[DEFEAT TSUKUYOMI]
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Because somehow those words felt heavier now that it was gone.
Kenta scowled up at the sky.
"…This world is insane."
Daichi let out a breath.
"…No kidding."
Tatsuma looked up.
"…I miss when survival just meant not getting eaten."
Maru ignored him.
Her eyes had already shifted toward the distant darkness.
Toward where Mount Fuji waited somewhere beyond the ruined city.
Hikari adjusted her glasses slowly.
"…If this is real…"
Her voice came out low.
"…Then tonight wasn't the end."
A pause.
"…It was the entrance exam."
No one argued.
Because they all felt it.
This wasn't a victory.
It was an invitation.
Rishiro looked up at the glowing quest one last time.
Quiet.
Unreadable.
Then—
the scene changed.
Far beyond the ruined city—
Mount Fuji stood beneath the endless night.
Silent.
Still.
Ancient.
From the outside, it looked untouched.
Calm.
Like nothing in the world could disturb it.
But deep inside the mountain—
far below the stone—
in a cavern no sunlight had touched—
something waited.
The darkness there was absolute.
Heavy.
Breathing.
Black stone stretched like the ribs of some buried giant.
Nothing moved.
Nothing stirred.
Then—
two gigantic red eyes opened.
Ancient.
Watching.
And in that instant—
the whole mountain felt alive.
End of Chapter 43