Akemi: The Vermillion Beauty - Part 4

That night, still wearing her bloodied shiroshōzoku and now the Hannya mask,

Akemi moved through the shoen like a vengeful specter. Her steps were silent, her rage precise.

Flames consumed the house, screams echoed through the night, and no one who had

wronged her survived. The monk watched silently from afar, the forest mist swallowing him as

he observed the birth of a legend. Returning from a meeting with another lord,

the head of the house and his retainers arrived. Even through the mask and red hair,

the lord recognized her. He did not rage; instead, a shadow of sorrow

and regret darkened his eyes. The retainers rushed her, but Akemi’s newfound