<h4>Chapter 22: Sliced Ears</h4>


    Ty couldn''t help but be momentarily captivated by the woman who stood before them.


    Her jet-ck hair cascaded smoothly down her back as if it was absorbing the light in the tea shop and casting a gentle halo of shadows around her.


    The traditional kimono she wore was tailored in a way that entuated her figure, especially her ample chest, while at the same time giving her an elegant, yetmanding presence.


    Her sharp eyes, keenly observing every detail of the situation, also revealed a hint of concern, especially when they settled on Todd.


    "You know, Todd," she began, her voice gentle yetden with a hint of firmness, "You''ve always been like a wild wind, somehow managing to both lift and cause chaos wherever you go. But I think the bigger issue today is our skeleton friend, whom you have brought along with you in a terrible disguise. These clothes barely fit him."


    Trying to apologize, Todd was about to say, but was interrupted by Ty as he said, "It''s fine. The sooner I''m noticed and meet this King Yami, the earlier I will be able to settle things here and move on. But for that, I would need to find Elithira."


    After Discarding the ill-fitting attire, which Ty admitted looked tacky and even mentioned that its blood-soaked appearance made it look shabby, they introduced each other.


    "I am Ty Hockenson. Initially, my friend Elithira concocted a strange lie that we are from a distantnd, but the truth is—" just when he was about to continue, another loud boom resonated around them, interrupting him while the woman suggested, "Perhaps we need to keep the formalities brief."


    "My name is Kaiko," she introduced herself with reserved dignity and continued, "I operate this shop and lead the underground resistance—or at least what remains of those who are brave enough to resist."


    With a swift, deliberate motion, she pulled a hidden lever, which was followed by the inconspicuous staircase being unfolded from the floor, revealing a dimly lit basement. Then gesturing at it, she calmly instructed, "Take refuge down there until it''s safe."


    Just a few momentster, a vtile tension filled the air while an arrow, aze with mesmerizing orange mes, hurtled through the slightly ajar door, ruthlessly embedding itself into Kaiko''s arm.


    With his voice filled with a mix of shock and concern, Todd cried out, and sprinted towards her with a mixture of dread and determination on his face, however, his heroism was thwarted as a volley of arrows violently intercepted him, piercing his back and leaving a grisly trail of blood in their wake, while his pain-filled yells filled the somber atmosphere.


    As Todd staggered, pain evident on his features, his eyes remained locked with Ty''s, a silent plea, possibly a farewell, lingering in them.


    A voice, dripping with venomous anger and unwavering authority cut through the ensuing chaos, "Step outside, Todd. I know that wasn''t enough to extinguish your life. Not yet. And the same goes for your elusive skeletonpanion, who believed that he could elude Yami."


    The Head Captain''s words, simmering with fury and stark resolve, hung heavily in the tense air as Todd and Ty exchanged a nce of tacit understanding amidst the perilous turmoil.


    Gently lifting Kaiko, Todd walked towards the door, stepping into a path where fire and burnt stallsy in a grim line behind him.


    Todd blinked, his hand trembling slightly as he pointed to the still-smoking ruins, his voice barely more than a choked whisper.


    "S-Sir, why would you do this to them?" he asked, while his wide eyes were seeking some semnce of reason in the Head Captain''s stare, as they reflected the flickering me.


    The Head Captain turned deliberately, fixing his intense re on Todd, with a silent and piercing intensity. Suddenly, his sword shed through the silence with a swift and precise arc, causing Todd''s hand to instantly clutch his ear, his eyes widened in horror as he saw that his fingers were stained with blood and he was bleeding from the ce where his ear should have been, but it wasn''t.


    He staggered slightly, disoriented, with shallow and rapid breaths.


    Leaning forward, the Head Captain''s low growl reverberated in the uneasy stillness, a mere breath away from Todd''s face.


    "Don''t utter a word, green filth," he hissed through clenched teeth. He then nonchntly flicked Todd''s blood from his sword as he dispassionately observed the droplets sttered onto the scorched earth below.


    The scraping of his boot against the charred remains of a wooden stall marked his straightening, the sound grating in the ominous quiet, a tangible reminder of the destruction at his feet.


    The Head Captain''s voice intensified, a mixture of mockery and anger. "Your people were only good for heavy lifting, but you tried to deceive me, waste my time?! Make me look foolish in front of King Yami?!"


    Raising his sword high, it slowly lit up with a bright, orange me. He tried to m it down hard on Todd, but it hit something hard instead — a blue, hexagon-shaped barrier.


    It bounced right off as Kaiko, with her trembling hand stretched out, still managed to intercept the attack. Her breathing was very rough while the blood from her wound was slowly dripping down, staining her clothes.


    "So, you''re the woman who has been helping the others for years," the Head Captain remarked, his tone filled with malice and coldness. "I guess this worked out for me in the end. Now, where''s that skeleton friend you were hiding—"


    Just when he was about to continue, out of nowhere, a face suddenly appeared at the edge of the Head Captain''s sword, emitting an eerie and haunting warning, "Behind You!"


    Startled, the Captain, with eyes aze in a fearsome orange, whirled around sharply and directed his sword towards Ty with deadly precision, who had been inching closer with his silent bones trying to position himself for a surprise assault on the Captain.


    However, the sword struck first, sending Ty sailing through the air. His bones rattled and ttered in a chilling melody as he crashed onto the wall while debris of brick and dust billowed around him.


    In the midst of the settling dust and stark silence, Ty, resilient as ever, meticulously began to recollect himself, his bones finding their way back together with a subtle, determined clicking and cking.


    Unwavering in his focus, he contemted another strategy to catch the ruthless Captain off-guard next time.


    A cascade of bricks and dust surrounded him as his bones rattled and reassembled themselves together on the soiled ground. In the lingering dust and eerie silence that followed the cmity, Tyy amidst the debris, his bony form remaining motionless under the scattered bricks and dust.


    "Whelp, that''s one down," the Head Captain chuckled, a smug grin etched across his face as he nced at the seemingly defeated skeleton that nowy hidden beneath the mound of rubble.