"NO!" Michael slammed a [Smoke Bomb] icon. -$1.99
The explosion of gray smoke hid Aiko just as Yuriko's dagger stabbed forward. Aiko stumbled back, the blade grazing her ribs instead of her heart.
Remaining Balance: $392.87
"She's playing you!" Michael yelled at the screen. He spammed the [Fire] symbol. Aiko's eyes widened as the smoke cleared.
Yuriko was already mid-lunge, dagger aimed at her throat.
[Curse Break: 01:59…]
Michael bought [Caltrops] and scattered them at Yuriko's feet. -$0.99
Yuriko yelped as the spiked metal bit into her boots. Aiko swung wildly, her blade slicing Yuriko's arm.
"Finish her!" Michael yelled to his phone.
This brat's guardian is a nuisance. Yuriko scowled, yanking a caltrop from her heel. Every time she gained an advantage, some mystical trap disrupted her.
She switched tactics.
Letting her shoulders slump, Yuriko dropped her dagger.
"You're right, Aiko. I'm… I'm tired."
Aiko froze, sword still raised.
"Himari threatened my daughter," Yuriko whispered, tears welling. A lie, but Aiko didn't know that. "She'll kill Suki if I fail. Please… help me."
The [Fire] symbol flared again, but Aiko hesitated. "Yuriko, I…"
Yuriko lunged, snatching Aiko's wrist and headbutting her.
"DON'T FALL FOR IT!"
Michael bought a [Flashbang] and detonated it. -$4.99
The blast blinded Yuriko. Aiko scrambled back, nose bleeding.
[Curse Break: 00:45…]
"She's stalling!" Michael realized. Panicking, he bought a [Bear Trap] and placed it behind Yuriko. -$2.99
Yuriko stumbled into the trap, the metal jaws snapping on her ankle. Health: 30%
"Now, Aiko! NOW!" Michael screamed.
Pain radiated from Aiko's ribs, but the Blade of the Tempest hummed urgently in her hand.
Kami-sama's symbols flashed—[Sword][Fire][Sword]—but her vision swam.
Yuriko roared, tearing free from the bear trap. Blood soaked her leg, but her Berserk State numbed the pain.
"Time's up, princess."
The hourglass above Aiko's head hit 00:00.
[Curse Reinstated!]
[All Stats Reset to 1]
The Blade of the Tempest slipped from Aiko's weakened grip. Yuriko's fist smashed into her jaw.
"No no no—" Michael bought the cheapest item left—[Whoopee Cushion]. -$0.99
A loud, ridiculous fart noise erupted under Yuriko.
She froze, bewildered.
Aiko, dazed but alive, crawled toward the waterfall's edge.
Think!
Michael scanned the environment. The waterfall pool below was deep, but the drop was lethal. He'd need to time this perfectly.
Yuriko recovered, advancing on Aiko. "No more tricks."
Michael bought [Grease Slick] and slapped it under Yuriko. -$1.99
It worked!
The river roared as Yuriko's boots skidded across kami-blessed grease.
For one suspended heartbeat, time fractured - Aiko saw the exact moment Yuriko's sneer melted into primal fear, her grasping fingers closing around empty air instead of vengeance.
Then gravity took its due.
Aiko's ankle nearly dislocated when Yuriko caught it.
Jagged stone bit into her palms as she slammed against the cliff edge, waterfall spray stinging her eyes like a thousand icy needles.
Below them, the pool churned with foam-crowned teeth of submerged boulders.
"Let... go!"
Aiko screamed through clenched teeth, legs kicking wildly. Her quivering arms burned like firebrands shoved under skin.
"Tsk, tsk." Yuriko dangled one-handed, blood from her severed forearm painting crimson ribbons in the torrent.
Her face contorted into that familiar smirk - the one she'd worn while teaching Aiko to cheat at Go.
"Still making this difficult, little sparrow?"
Aiko's grip slipped a crucial millimeter.
Pebbles skittered into the void. This close, she could see the cracks in Yuriko's malice - the way her left eyelid twitched with exhausted pain, the tremor in her sword-calloused fingers.
This wasn't the invincible mentor who'd once battled seven ronin to save her. This was a cornered animal, bleeding out its last desperate fury.
"Jump with me," Yuriko rasped suddenly, "We'll rise together from the depths. Stronger. No more masters pulling our strings."
The proposition hung between them, almost seductive in its madness.
For a heartbeat, Aiko imagined it - two phoenixes reborn from waterfall's embrace, debtless and free.
Then she felt the phantom press of Father's seal against her palm as he lay dying, smelled the lilac soap Yuriko used to scrub blood from their training blades.
"This isn't rising." Aiko's throat constricted around the words. "You're dragging us both into darkness."
Yuriko's fingernails became talons in Aiko's calf. "Then DROWN IN IT!"
Michael's phone buzzed with a red alert.
[System Warning: Maximum Daily Purchase Limit Reached!]
[New Purchases Locked!]
"NO!" Michael's thumb jabbed the screen, but every tap triggered the same error.
Yuriko's grip on her ankle felt like iron, even as they both dangled over the roaring waterfall. Rocks cut into Aiko's palms as she clung to the ledge.
"Let… go!" Aiko gasped, tears mixing with waterfall spray.
Yuriko's face twisted into a grotesque smile, blood from her wounds streaking her chin.
"You'll die knowing you failed everyone—your father, your clan… even your pathetic kami."
Aiko's arms trembled. Below, the river churned like a hungry beast.
This is it. Kami-sama can't help me anymore.
But then she noticed it—a flicker in Yuriko's eyes.
Not rage, but… pain? Regret?
The [Blade of the Tempest] timer hit 00:00, and the sword dissolved into blue sparks.
Aiko's last weapon was gone.
Michael zoomed in on the waterfall. Jagged rocks lined the pool below. Useless. Fallen branches? Too small.
Then he spotted it—Yuriko's corrupted katana, wedged in the cliffside where she'd stabbed it earlier.
"Aiko! Grab the sword!" he shouted, knowing she couldn't hear. He spammed the [Sword] symbol, making it flash near the blade.
A golden symbol blazed beside Yuriko's abandoned sword—Kami-sama's command.
Aiko's eyes opened wide.
Kami-sama…
He hasn't abandoned me…
He's still there!
Summoning every shred of strength, Aiko swung her free leg. Her foot slammed into Yuriko's wounded shoulder.
"AGH!" Yuriko's grip loosened.
Aiko lunged sideways, her fingertips brushing the corrupted katana's hilt. She yanked it free, the blade screeching against stone.
Yuriko reacted fast, clawing at Aiko's robe. "You're weak! You always were!"
Aiko didn't argue. She stabbed the blade down—not at Yuriko, but at the cliff's edge.
CRACK!
The already crumbling ledge split. Yuriko's eyes widened as the rock beneath her gave way.
"NO!" She reached wildly, fingers grazing air.
Aiko expected satisfaction. Relief. Instead, her chest ached as Yuriko fell—
But then a bloodied hand shot up, grabbing Aiko's wrist. Yuriko hung one-handed, her other arm dangling unnaturally—broken.
"You… can't… escape…" she rasped.
Aiko stared at the woman who'd been her hero, her betrayer, her executioner.
"I'm not escaping."
She raised the corrupted katana.
Yuriko's eyes widened. "Wait—!"
Aiko swung.
The blade sliced through Yuriko's forearm, severing her hand. Aiko would never forget the sound—like cutting wet rope.
Yuriko fell silently, her face frozen in shock. The waterfall swallowed her body whole.
The red dot labeled [Yuriko] blinked out.
Aiko's hands shook as she clung to the jagged cliffside. The roar of the waterfall drowned out her ragged breaths.
Below, the river swallowed Yuriko's body whole, leaving no trace of the woman who'd once been her mentor. Her ankle throbbed where Yuriko had gripped it, the skin bruised and swollen.
Every muscle screamed as she dragged herself onto solid ground.
I killed her.
The thought hit like a punch to the gut. Aiko collapsed onto her back, rainwater mixing with the blood on her face. Her cursed body—weak again—trembled violently. The corrupted katana was gone, dissolved into black sparks the moment the waters swallowed Yuriko.
[Congratulations! Chapter One Completed!]