"I'll let them see for themselves what true hell is, and... who can pull them out of it."
With his pack on his back and the Shura Blade secured at his waist, Rokuya stepped out through the gates of the Butterfly Mansion under the Kocho Sisters' gaze.
The dense forest of Mount Jōshin waited silently for his arrival like a great beast lying dormant. And the twins hidden deep within that forest were about to reach a major turning point in their fate.
Mount Jōshin lay on the distant outskirts of Tokyo Prefecture, its rolling slopes covered in towering ancient trees. Even during the day, sunlight could barely penetrate the layers of dense canopy. The deeper one ventured, the damper the air became. The smell of rotting leaves mingled with the rank scent of soil filled the nostrils, creating an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Rokuya had already spent well over half a day making his way through the mountains. Although his constitution had reached the inhuman maximum of 50 points, making these mountain paths as easy for him as a stroll on level ground, his slight lack of direction still caused him a little trouble in this primeval forest without any landmarks to guide him.
"What kind of chicken scratch did the Kakushi Corps put on this map...?" Standing on the trunk of an enormous ancient pine, Rokuya stared speechlessly at the crude parchment in his hand. Aside from a few winding lines representing mountains, all it showed was a red circle with "suspected target location" written beside it.
"Forget it. I'd be better off trusting my instincts than this map." Rokuya crumpled the map into a ball, stuffed it inside his clothes, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
With his maxed-out mental attribute, Rokuya's perception had