Lustful Way to Immortality, From Primitive Boy to Immortal God-Chapter 106: Repeated.

The sun rose the following morning with a brutal, uncompromising glare, casting long shadows across the dusty path that led from the family hut to the eastern fields. It had been exactly one and a half weeks since the world had been told that Rana and Ron were dead, and the atmosphere in the village was changing. The protective aura that had once surrounded the house of a high-ranking warrior was evaporating, replaced by the predatory scent of vulnerability.

Fuyu and Manu walked side-by-side, their strides rhythmic but their minds miles apart. The previous night's discussion still rang in Fuyu's ears—the sharp, protective cries of Nula, the quiet disapproval of Susan, and the frantic worries of the girls. They had treated his massage proposal like a joke or a disgrace, failing to see the mercenary necessity of it.

"Yesterday night, the discussion went on until the oil in the lamp ran dry," Fuyu remarked, his voice low and contemplative. "No one agreed to let me take the job of massaging the village women. They think it's beneath me. But what do you think, Manu? Honestly?"

Manu kicked a stone, watching it skitter into the tall grass. His face was a mask of lithic frustration. "I don't know, Brother. To be honest, I think Mother is being a speed breaker for both of us. She won't let you earn your way, and she won't let me join the military. But the difference is... your work is humiliating. Mine isn't. A man should hold a spear, not rub the legs of some merchant's wife."

Manu's voice dropped into a dark, subvocal register, his eyes clouded with a burgeoning bloodlust. "I'm going to join the military eventually. I don't give a fuck what they say. I want revenge. My heart is burning, Fuyu. I can't feel at ease until I've tasted the blood of the people who took our father. If I can't find the specific murderer, then I'll kill anyone from the Hague. I just want to fucking kill somebody."

Fuyu looked at his brother, seeing the atavistic rage that was slowly consuming his reason. Before he could respond, they rounded the bend that led to their primary crop field, and both boys froze.

The Desecration of the Field

In the center of their labor, standing amidst the rows of young, vulnerable shoots, was a group that looked like a pack of jackals. There were six of them—four boys their own age and two older men with the cynical, mercenary expressions of local thugs. They were laughing, their voices carrying over the wind like a jagged blade.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing in my field?" Manu roared, his voice booming with a sudden, desperate authority.

The group turned. At the center were Ano and Mike, two local troublemakers who had always harbored a primordial resentment toward Rana's sons. While the others stood on the perimeter, Ano and Mike were already crouched down, systematically ripping the young plants from the earth, their fingers stained green with the lifeblood of the family's future.

"Fuyu, hurry! Stop them before they ruin everything!" Manu shouted, charging toward the larger group of men to keep them from intervening.

Fuyu didn't hesitate. He sprinted toward the two boys in the field, his boots churning the soft soil. He had intended to suggest they swap—that he handle the talking while Manu handled the physical retrieval—but there was no time for analytical strategy. The crops were being murdered in front of his eyes.

Inside the field, Mike glanced up, his eyes widening with a flicker of cowardice. "Fuck, Ano, he's coming! Look at his face. Should we run?"

Ano didn't even look up. He yanked another handful of sprouts, a sneer twisting his features. "Nah, stay put. Look at us—six against two. And look at him. He's a skinny skeleton. What's he going to do? Without his daddy's name to hide behind, he's nothing but a bark with no bite."

Fuyu reached the edge of the row, his breath coming in sharp, controlled hitches. "Stop it, Ano. Right now. You're destroying our winter survival."

Ano let out a manic, meretricious laugh. He stood up slowly, a clump of mangled roots in his hand. "Oh, am I? Poor little Fuyu. We all know the news. Your 'powerful' father is rotting in the woods. You can't show off anymore. See this? This is what I think of your family's pride."

With a deliberate, slow motion, Ano crushed the plants in his fist and dropped them into the mud. "Here, see how I rip the whole field! HAHAHA!" He crouched back down to continue his sacrilegious work. "Kick!" he shouted tauntingly, expecting Fuyu to merely stand there and fume.

He was wrong.

Fuyu's movement was a blur of visceral speed. He didn't shout; he didn't warn. He swung his leg in a high, arcing kick that connected with the base of Ano's skull with a sickening, wet crack. The sound of bone shattering echoed through the quiet field.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Ano's scream was a high, guttural shriek of pure agony. He collapsed instantly, his body writhing in the dirt like a landed fish. He clutched the back of his neck, his legs kicking out spasmodically as his nervous system misfired. "My neck! It hurts! I'm dying!"

The Coward's Pivot

Mike froze, his hands still clutching a half-pulled plant. The sight of Ano—who had been so bold a second ago—collapsing into a heap of screaming meat shattered his nerves. He scrambled backward, his hands held high in a gesture of venerable surrender.

"Hey! Fuyu! I didn't do anything!" Mike shrieked, his voice cracking. "It was him! Ano forced me! He said he'd beat me if I didn't help him ruin the field. I'm innocent, Fuyu! Please!"

Fuyu stood over the twitching Ano, his eyes cold and lithic, devoid of any pity. He looked at Mike, a thin, dangerous smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, right. That's exactly what I was thinking. A good kid like you wouldn't do this of your own will. It must have been this bastard."

Mike's face lit up with a look of desperate relief. "Exactly! Haha, thanks, buddy. You're so understanding. Ano deserved that. I told him not to mess with you!" Mike began to walk toward Fuyu, thinking he had successfully navigated the danger through his mercenary betrayal of his friend.

As soon as Mike came within arm's length, Fuyu's hand shot out like a viper. He gripped Mike's hair, wrenching his head back with a force that made the boy cry out in pain.

"Ahh! Wait! Why? Fuck, my hair!" Mike gasped, his eyes watering. "Fuyu, I told you, it wasn't me!"

"Oh, I see everything quite clearly," Fuyu whispered, his voice like cold steel. He looked over toward the edge of the field, where Manu was surrounded by the remaining four thugs. Manu was dodging sticks and punches, his movements frantic but effective. He had managed to land a solid blow on one boy's jaw, but the weight of numbers was beginning to crush him.

"I think my brother needs some help," Fuyu murmured. He leaned into Mike's ear, his grip on the boy's hair tightening. "Tell me, Mike... are you going to reconsider your loyalty and help me fight those bastards off? Or do you want me to make you scream louder than Ano?"

"I'll help! I'll help! Anything!" Mike sobbed.

"Good. Let's go."

The Clash of Wills

Fuyu dragged Mike toward the melee, releasing his hair only when they were within striking distance. The four thugs were closing in on Manu, who was backed against a large irrigation stone. One of the older boys was about to lunged at Manu's throat when Fuyu arrived, his fist connecting with the boy's temple in a visceral thud. The thug went down hard, his head bouncing off the sun-baked earth.

Manu, seeing the opening, didn't hesitate. As the other thugs looked toward Fuyu in a moment of shocked hesitation, Manu launched himself forward, his fist buried deep into the stomach of the boy nearest him. The boy folded like parchment, gasping for air as Manu followed up with a brutal strike to the nose. Blood sprayed across the dirt.

"You rats!" Manu taunted, his eyes wild with the adrenaline of the fight. "Now say what you were saying before!"

The oldest member of the group, a man named Parago, stepped forward. He held a heavy wooden staff, his face twisted into an evil, predatory grin. He didn't seem bothered by his fallen comrades. He looked at Fuyu and Manu with a deep, primordial hatred.

"You dare attack my brothers?" Parago spat, his voice a low growl. He swung the staff in a wide arc, forcing Fuyu to leap backward.

"Why the hell are you doing this, Parago?" Fuyu asked, his muscles coiled and ready for another libidinous explosion of violence. "We've never crossed you."

"Why?" Parago laughed, a dry, hollow sound. "Because for years, you two walked around this village like you were kings. You thought we couldn't touch you because your father sat at the Chief's table. That name was a shield, but the shield is broken, Fuyu. Rana is worm-food, and now you're just two more mouths we can starve. I want to see that same 'warrior' attitude now that there's no one coming to save you."

He raised the staff high, his eyes locked on Fuyu's. "Let's see how strong you are when the earth is red with your own blood."