Adabana

There exists an ancient tale of a man who, blinded by vengeance for the deaths of everyone in his homeland, slaughtered countless people with a cursed weapon that made dark red flowers bloom amongst the carnage. Though he believed his act of revenge would vindicate him, the man quickly became disillusioned by his actions, disappearing along with the weapon so that this tragedy could never happen again. This weapon would come to be known as the Dark Flower.

After three hundred years, rumors of the Dark Flower and its new wielder hellbent on pillaging a nearby village begin to spread. While wandering aimlessly, a lone traveler meets a young girl named Lilia, who is running away from a group of bandits that claim to have found the cursed weapon. Intrigued, the traveler makes his way to the village to see if the legend is true but quickly learns that there is much more to the story than he initially thought.

Adabana won the 14th Square Enix Manga prize.