Nae carefully helped Hatsune to the clearing where the others were battling demons.
Several participants sitting and resting saw the two emerge from the forest. They stood up, watching Hatsune intently. Two even stepped forward, offering to help.
Nae politely declined, cautiously helping Hatsune sit on a stone slab.
The participants gathered around, and someone offered two bottles of water.
Nae thanked them, opened one bottle and handed it to Hatsune, then opened the other and took a couple of sips herself.
"Did he defeat the demon?" Kimura asked.
Nae nodded.
Upon hearing that the three-headed demon was killed, everyone looked at Hatsune as if he were a savior, some even wanting to kneel in reverence. They had lost hope of surviving, never imagining there was such a powerful individual among them.
While they worshiped him, they also felt a sense of relief.
"How's Yuka?" Nae asked Akino, who was nearby.
"Much better than before, just some surface wounds, nothing serious. How about Hatsune? Is he okay?"
Nae glanced at Hatsune, shaking her head. The coldness was visibly receding from his body.
Hatsune looked up at the few people in front of him. He remembered there being a dozen or so when he went after the three-headed demon. How did it come to just a few?
"Are only a few of you left?"
"Some went after that six-legged monster," one of them replied proudly, as if showing off in front of Hatsune.
Hatsune was silent for a moment. "If it ran away, let it go. One demon can't cause much trouble. Why chase it? This mountain is full of unknown dangers. Running around recklessly is risky."
Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
"How long have they been gone?"
"About... ten minutes."
Hatsune didn't say anything else, staring at the ground, lost in thought.
The people standing in front of him gradually dispersed, returning to their resting places. Three of them gathered around Kimura, discussing whether to go and search.
Kimura glanced at Hatsune. In their current state, they couldn't withstand another round of demon attacks. He couldn't decide and finally said to wait a bit longer.
Nae sat beside Hatsune, noticing that as the cold receded, his condition worsened.
The once-clean haori now had several red patches on the shoulders and back. The cold had frozen his wounds during the battle with the three-headed demon, and now that the cold was gone, all the wounds were visible.
Hatsune hadn't noticed his wounds, but he did feel terrible. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and cold all over, barely able to hold the water bottle.
A trickle of blood slid down his pale cheek from his forehead.
"Hatsune, you're... you're bleeding?"
Nae pointed to Hatsune's forehead, her face turning pale. The surrounding participants looked over, and Akino walked over from Yuka's side.
Hatsune couldn't hear Nae's voice. His consciousness was fading, filling him with fear. He tried to drink some water to stay awake, but as soon as he took a sip, he spat out blood into the bottle.
The water bottle turned red with blood, shocking everyone. They hurried over.
The bottle fell to the ground with a "smack," blood and water spilling out.
Hatsune slumped over his knees, blood dripping from his mouth to the ground.
"Hatsune, are you okay? Are you alright?" Nae's voice trembled as she grabbed his arm, looking around desperately. "Is anyone here a doctor? Please, help him!"
Everyone exchanged helpless looks.
After a moment, Hatsune raised a hand, indicating he was fine. Weakly, he asked, "What time is it? How long until sunrise?"
"About five in the morning, an hour until sunrise," someone in the crowd replied.
"Good. From now on, we must stay together. Once the sun rises, we head to the mountainside and stay there until the assessment ends."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"What about the others?"
Hearing this, everyone's hearts sank. It had been half an hour since those few went after the spider demon. If they hadn't returned by now...
Kimura looked around. "I'll go look for them." Emiko was the first to go. They had faced life and death together during the assessment; he couldn't abandon her.
Hatsune was silent for a moment. "Let's go together. We'll follow their trail down the mountain. If we reach the mountainside and still haven't found them, we'll give up."
Everyone agreed.
Akino supported Yuka, and Nae supported Hatsune.
After resting, Yuka had fully regained consciousness, but her injuries made walking difficult.
Hatsune was seriously hurt. His final move, "Frost Dragon Dance," had killed the three-headed demon but also fractured his left wrist. The earlier attack from the bouncing demon had left internal injuries, which, combined with the prolonged battle, caused him to cough up blood.
Following Kimura's lead, they traced Emiko and the others' path, crossing the clearing and climbing a slope. When they passed the bare tree, they looked mournfully at the dead participants hanging from it.
At the top of the slope, they saw the scene beyond for the first time: a lake quietly lying in the moonlight, looking like a paradise, starkly contrasting with the night's horrors on Mount Fujikasane.
They cautiously descended the slope, searching for signs left by Emiko and the others. Finally, one participant found a broken bracelet in the rocks by the lake.
Kimura recognized it as Emiko's bracelet.
The broken bracelet indicated something had happened. They looked around but found no bodies, only chaotic footprints.
"The bracelet proves they were here. Let's search the area for more clues."
They spread out, searching in small groups along the lakeshore.
"Do you think Emiko dropped the bracelet while washing her hands by the lake?" Nae asked, supporting Hatsune as they reached the spot where the bracelet was found. She peered into the dark water, seeing nothing.
Suddenly, Hatsune felt a chill. He sensed something terrifying hidden in the lake.
He noticed thin scratches on the rocks by the shore, all pointing towards the water.
What could be in the lake?
How sharp must something be to leave such marks on rocks?
Hatsune pulled Nae away from the lake, scanning the other three sides of the shore. The tall grass showed no signs of being trampled, indicating no creatures had passed through.
"What's wrong? Why did you pull me away?" Nae asked, confused.
"Something's wrong."
"What's wrong?"
"This lake is strange. We need to leave now."