Something is watching him through the fog.
Red. Long-haired. Horned.
It has been following him ever since the night Akagi Hall went up in flames.
Sakaki Takaku was once a samurai of Akagi. Now he is a fugitive, hunted by three factions, abandoned by an age, and stalked by an ogre that feeds on death.
The ogre is called “Ooki.”
It prowls between battlefields, feeding on the life tides of thousands upon thousands of dead. It is monstrously strong, tears armor apart with its bare hands, and favors attacking women. Born from a time of chaos and strengthened by fear, it is ultimately hailed by every faction as the “Red-Faced Hannya,” becoming a political tool, the hero of a legend, and the embodiment of terror.
Takaku only wants to survive. He only wants answers: Who burned Akagi? Is his lord dead or alive? Should he repay the debt he owes?
Then he meets Ame.
A wandering shrine maiden with no surname, she can see ghosts and hear the dead whisper, but somehow cannot see the danger behind her.
She says, “It only watches you.”
She says, “You won't die.”
She gives him her dried rations and stakes her life on him. In the end, she uses her own death to make him see one thing clearly:
The ogre was not born because of him.
The ogre was born from this age.
As long as people keep slaughtering one another, as long as fear continues to spread, as long as lives keep vanishing in droves, Ooki will never disappear.
To slay the ogre, he must first put an end to all of this.
It makes me so uncomfortable 😢😢
Don't tell me, this thing is quite lyrical 😄