Yaksha Prologue

A human body is severed more easily than one might think. Anri only realized this after seeing the hand that had fallen at her feet.

The cleanly severed hand looked like a part of a mannequin. At first, she thought a mannequin had broken in the hotel hallway. But the pool of blood slowly spreading across the carpet and the agonizing scream proved her wrong.

“Aaaaah!”

Anri jerked her head up and looked toward the direction of the scream. A man in a suit was sprawled on the floor, flailing in panic. He screamed, gasping for breath.

“M-my h-hand…!”

Bright red blood streamed from the severed wrist. Blood spattered all over the screaming man’s face.

Beyond the man with the severed wrist, Gon came into view. Gon was facing off alone against three or four men in jet-black suits. Not only was he holding his ground, but he was also easily overpowering them with a crude jackknife.

“Gon?”

The moment Anri muttered in a daze, Gon drove the jackknife deep into a man’s neck. Bright red droplets splattered all over Gon’s white hair. Anri froze at the sight of blood gushing from the man’s throat.

As if he had heard Anri’s call, Gon slowly turned his head. At the same time, he hastily pulled the bloody jackknife out and hid it behind his back.

“Why did you come out? I told you to hide in the room.”

Anri, trembling, still met his eyes firmly. It wasn’t out of some petty pride. Her neck had stiffened so much that she couldn’t even think to turn her head.

“Stay holed up quietly in the room. You’re getting in the way.”

While irritably wiping the blood off the blade, Gon jerked his chin toward the hotel room door. Anri swallowed dryly and stepped aside, inching away.

“What are you doing? I said get inside.”

He strode up and gripped Anri’s shoulder tightly. Then, startling her, he shoved her toward the room.

“Stay put in the room. You’re no help hanging around here.”

“You want me to go back alone into a room full of corpses?”

“Then why don’t you summon a ghost or two and give me a hand.”

“If I could do that at will, I would’ve done it already!”

Just then, from the far end of the hallway, men in suits came rushing in. They were members of the Gu-hap Association. As soon as they spotted Anri, they shouted loudly.

“There she is! That woman’s Rina An!”

“Report to Lord Ryu that we’ve found the woman!”

Anri instinctively moved behind Gon. Gon also glanced back at her and shielded her behind his back. For the first time, a satisfied smile spread across his usually surly face.

“Feels safer by my side than inside the room? Not sure who’s using whom here.”

“Just focus!”

“You’re going to toss me aside right after I save you again, aren’t you?”

He took the jackknife back in hand and assumed a fighting stance. His eyes turned fierce as he looked at the men charging toward him. Anri gripped the leather of his jacket tightly, wearing a sour expression.

“When did I ever toss you aside…”

“Obviously you did. Who else?”

“What did you say?”

“Did I lie? You threw me away like trash after a few times.”

A few times and then threw him away? How could he say something so crude at a time like this? Anri glared at him in disbelief and snapped.

“W-who threw who away after a few times! If anything, you’re the one who—!”

Just as Anri raised her voice, one of the men came charging at Gon like a bullet. Gon narrowly dodged the swinging baseball bat and shoved Anri to the side. Off balance, Anri’s foot slipped, and her body lurched toward the shattered window.

“Rina!”

Gon hastily reached out toward Anri, but her body was already tipping out of the window.

It was too late. Gon’s wide-eyed face and the Gu-hap Association members grew farther and farther away. The fierce night wind whipped around her body.

In the dizzying fall, Anri clenched her eyes shut. Instead of a scream, a stream of curses burst from her mouth.

“Gon, you damned bastard!”

From her tightly shut eyes, hot tears trickled out. How had her life gotten so twisted?

All she ever wanted was to save her brother…