(1 minute ago…)
Even with his eyes closed, Take still sees with his ears.
His brother lies beside him. The sound of the whistle gradually seizes. The wind suddenly stops lashing at the field.
His darkness that dominates the land is not the only presence on the field now. There's a shadow overlapping his presence. He knows it's coming.
The dark arachnid. She is thirsty for him.
'Such precise silence. Such a perfect skill to hide her presence. A great hunter indeed,' Takehiko thinks.
'Yes, Brother. A very great hunter,' Kuma adds.
Both of them are aware that the arachnid stands right above their bodies now, ready to strike them with their spiked limbs.
Calmly, Take waits for the movement of the arachnid. At some point, it will have to move fast. It will show the intent to kill. And that's the second they need to defend.
Takehiko breathes in and out, his chest flowing like a wave. He feels that the limb is nearing his chest. To examine it.
Not to attack. Not yet.
And then – it flings the limb right toward his chest.
Takehiko opens his eyes and he's holding the limb of the arachnid tight within his grasp. The moment Take opens his eyes, he sees the beautiful face of the dark arachnid, the weaver of pain.
"Argh!" He swings his arm to the side and the gigantic limb of the arachnid rips from its joints. White blood gushes out and rains down like sweet morning dew upon Take's naked body.
It shrieks in pain and starts to scream.
Finally, she screams in agony with a woman's voice. Like a woman in labor, her roar resounds in the no longer silent field. Her screams echo across the woods as her limbs dance around Take, striking the earth with intensity.
With a step or two backward, Take avoids every attack by the gigantic limbs of the arachnid as if he is dancing with Soju in a ball.
After all, that arachnid bears the face of a human woman. It's only natural for her to like dancing with men like him.
"Die! Die! Why won't you die!?" The arachnid screams. "Please, die! I beg of you, darling!"
With an uneven face, Take continues with his ballad dance.
After a rain of continuous attacks, the spider's limbs go numb. It can no longer lift them and shoot those spiked points toward its prey.
Her bangs fall over her gigantic face. Takehiko stands beneath her, gazing up at her poor presence.
"Who are you? Tell me, darling. Why didn't you die?" she asks, her voice carrying a deep remorseful feeling. Takehiko raises his hand toward the skies.
"Because you're weak, my dear. You've followed your instincts, but you're too weak to tell the greater difference between your power and mine. You chose that your darkness was greater than mine. And you chose wrong. Look above you, my child. See the benevolence of darkness."
The arachnid raises its head toward the dark skies. The sky has grown darker. The shadows that dance in those clouds are darker than hers. That presence is far greater than hers.
"Are you my lord?" she asks the sky.
The shadow of Kuma has disappeared from Take's shadow. He's not lying in the grass. He is in the sky itself, following the command of Take.
"I am your lord." Take's voice and Kuma's voice bellow together, from beneath and above the arachnid. The earth and the sky have dominated her.
She has no place between two kings. She must yield.
"I yield to you, my lord. Please, don't kill me."
Her voice, innocent as any woman in the world. It pleads for its life.
"Look up, dear child. We will save you. We will not devour you like the cruel world." The voices of the two lords bellow again, all around her.
She gazes at the sky, her eyes sparkling with hope. The dark clouds swirl around the skies and take the shape of two gigantic hands. The hands reach out to her as if she is a mere small spider and these hands are the God that will give her salvation.
The rain is near. If she does not accept these hands now, she will die in the downpour.
She closes her eyes, letting a tear slip down her cheek. Not because she is ripped apart by her freedom. But because these hands are the hands of salvation that shall grant her duty far more important than freedom.
The gigantic hands cover her, grasp her entire being, and lift her into the sky itself.
She feels safe. She no longer feels like she's nothing. She's a being with a purpose.
The clouds drench Take's body and he slowly disappears with it, leaving only an empty field of grass with continuous gusts of wind blasting against it. The downpour begins.
The arachnid is gone.
She has been saved by him.
***
Takehiko steps out of the mirror of his room. Kuma has returned to his shadow. He has returned to his room.
But, with one more companion.
In Take's hand is a small spider with a human female face. He opens his palm, gazing at the small being. She raises her head toward her new lord.
"Find Uma Sagatsuki. Find her and weave her wings. Trap her into a position that she would not be able to escape from, Sagiri. I shall be waiting for you. Do not worry. I am there for you, after all," he whispers to the tiny spirit in his palm.
"As you wish, Lord."
She crawls along his hand as Take rests his fingers upon the window sill, opening it up for the spirit to take her exit. His easy work is already finished now.
The hard part is left.
Killing Uma Sagatsuki without leaving too many clues.