The dread came immediately.
Hairene had barely steadied her breathing from everything that had happened with Chifuyu when another monster appeared in front of them.
This one was different.
He was enormous in every sense of the word. Not simply tall, but wide through the shoulders, thick through the chest, and packed with enough muscle that even standing still made him look dangerous. His arms were the size of tree trunks, veins pressing beneath the skin as he stared down at the two Hunters.
Hairene tightened her grip.
Another strong vampire.
Another one.
Oni looked at them without malice.
Oni: "I am Oni."
His voice was deep enough to carry through the broken street.
Oni: "I bear you humans no grudge, but I must kill you."
Hairene blinked.
Chifuyu frowned.
That wasn't what either of them expected.
Chifuyu: "Same here, guess that's just the way it is."
Hairene immediately side-eyed him.
Hairene: "Don't start chit-chatting with the enemy."
Chifuyu looked at her.
Chifuyu: "We were just doing the same, weren't we?"
Hairene opened her mouth.
Stopped.
Then looked away.
He had her there.
Chifuyu remained in his vampire form.
There was no point pretending this would be the kind of battle he could survive without everything available to him. Oni's presence alone made that obvious.
Black veins spread across Chifuyu as he activated his curse.
Dark fire crawled over his blade.
The black flames wrapped around the steel without consuming it, twisting along the edge like something alive.
Oni watched closely.
Oni: "Here I come."
Hairene lowered her stance.
Chifuyu glanced toward her.
Chifuyu: "I'll follow your lead."
Then Oni moved.
The street exploded.
His first step cracked the pavement beneath him, and in the next instant his massive body was already on top of them.
Hairene and Chifuyu separated.
Oni's fist slammed into the ground where they had stood.
The impact was catastrophic.
Stone shattered outward. The entire section of road caved several feet beneath his arm, broken chunks of pavement launching through the air as dust swallowed the area around him.
Neither Hunter needed to say it.
They could not get hit.
Not once.
Hairene came in first, moving along Oni's right side while Chifuyu circled left. She attacked shallow, never overcommitting, testing his reactions instead of trying to force damage.
Oni turned faster than something his size should have been able to.
Hairene immediately pulled away.
Chifuyu used the opening.
His flaming blade cut toward Oni's ribs.
Oni leaned back.
The sword missed.
Then his hand snapped toward the weapon.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
He ripped the blade away at the last possible second.
Oni's fingers closed around empty air.
Chifuyu retreated several steps.
That almost ended the fight.
If Oni had grabbed the sword, Chifuyu had little doubt the vampire could have ripped it straight from his hands.
And without their blades, both of them were dead.
They adjusted instantly.
No prolonged exchanges.
No attacks that left the weapon hanging within reach.
Hairene darted in, cut once, and escaped.
Chifuyu followed her movement, striking only after Oni committed toward her.
A black-flamed slash opened a shallow line along Oni's shoulder.
It barely slowed him.
Oni swung.
Chifuyu ducked.
The fist passed above his head and smashed into the wall behind him.
The building shuddered.
Hairene attacked the exposed arm.
Her blade connected.
Oni immediately twisted and reached for her sword.
She released one hand from the hilt, pivoted around his grip, and tore the weapon free before he could secure it.
Too close.
She backed away.
Chifuyu moved between them.
Oni charged.
Chifuyu barely avoided the shoulder tackle.
The vampire crashed through a concrete support behind him as though it were hollow wood.
Dust and debris burst into the road.
Hairene landed beside Chifuyu.
Neither looked away from Oni.
Every opening had to be weighed against the chance of losing a hand, a weapon, or their life.
Oni stepped from the debris.
Almost unbothered.
Then movement came from behind.
Iris appeared first.
Nicholas followed a moment later, bruised and unsteady but standing.
Iris raised her sword.
Nicholas did the same.
The four Hunters faced Oni together.
Oni moved first.
The four Hunters spread instinctively, refusing to give him a single cluster to crush. Hairene took the lead angle, Iris slipped toward the opposite flank, Chifuyu hovered just outside striking range, and Nicholas stayed mobile behind them despite the exhaustion still dragging at his body.
Their coordination was immediate.
Hairene forced Oni's attention high with a sharp diagonal cut. Iris followed low, aiming for the inside of his knee. Chifuyu attacked from the rear with his black-flamed blade while Nicholas closed just enough to threaten the blind side.
Oni turned through all of it.
His forearm knocked Hairene's sword off-line.
His leg shifted before Iris could cut cleanly.
Chifuyu's blade scraped across Oni's back and left only a thin burning mark.
Nicholas never even got the chance to commit.
Oni spun.
The back of his hand swept through the space Nicholas had been standing in a heartbeat earlier.
Nicholas threw himself backward.
The air alone from the swing felt violent.
They reset.
Again.
Hairene moved first.
Iris matched her timing.
Chifuyu followed.
Nicholas circled.
Four Hunters.
One vampire.
And somehow it still felt like they were the ones being surrounded.
Oni's size should have made him easy to hit.
It didn't.
Every attack they threw at him had to pass through an impossible combination of speed, awareness, and raw physical presence. Even when they landed, their blades barely bit.
Hairene cut across his shoulder.
A shallow line.
Iris slashed his ribs.
Barely more than a scratch.
Chifuyu drove black flame into his side.
The curse scorched flesh, but Oni only grunted.
Nicholas stabbed toward the lower back.
Oni shifted and the point skidded off dense muscle.
Nothing meaningful.
Nothing close to fatal.
The four kept moving.
They had no choice.
Oni charged Chifuyu.
The pavement cracked under the first step.
Chifuyu jumped aside.
Oni's fist came down.
The road collapsed.
Hairene rushed through the dust before Oni could rise fully.
Her sword flashed toward his face.
He tilted just enough.
The blade cut across his cheek.
One thin line of blood appeared.
Hairene's eyes narrowed.
That was all?
Oni swung toward her.
She ducked.
Iris came in behind him.
Her sword struck the back of his knee.
Again, the cut was shallow.
Oni kicked backward without looking.
Iris barely got her blade up.
The impact launched her across the street.
She hit the ground, rolled, and slid several meters.
Nicholas: "Iris!"
Iris planted one hand against the pavement and forced herself back up.
Iris: "I'm fine!"
She wasn't.
Not entirely.
But there was no time for that distinction.
Oni turned toward Nicholas next.
Nicholas backed away while Hairene and Chifuyu pressed from both sides.
Their blades struck almost simultaneously.
Hairene at the ribs.
Chifuyu at the shoulder.
Oni flexed through the attacks and shoved both arms outward.
Hairene was forced back.
Chifuyu nearly lost his footing.
Then Oni lunged toward him.
Too fast.
Chifuyu managed to turn his sword flat and brace.
Oni's fist struck the blade.
The shock nearly tore it from his hands.
Chifuyu flew backward.
He crashed through a wooden storefront and disappeared into debris.
Nicholas clenched his teeth.
Nicholas: "Chifuyu!"
A black flame burst through the wreckage.
Chifuyu stepped out a second later, coughing dust.
Chifuyu: "Still here!"
Hairene didn't look toward him.
Hairene: "Then stop getting launched."
Chifuyu: "Working on it."
Oni faced them again.
No anger.
No arrogance.
Just focus.
That made him worse.
He wasn't toying with them.
He was simply trying to kill them.
Hairene lowered her stance.
The others shifted with her.
Then all four attacked again.
The next exchange came faster.
Hairene slipped inside Oni's reach first and slashed twice across his torso.
Iris followed from behind and cut toward the elbow joint.
Nicholas thrust toward the side of the abdomen.
Chifuyu brought the black-flamed blade down from above.
Oni twisted.
Hairene's second cut missed.
Iris connected, but barely.
Nicholas's blade entered less than an inch before Oni's muscles tightened around the wound.
Chifuyu's slash landed hardest.
Black flame exploded along Oni's shoulder.
For the first time, Oni stepped back.
Just one step.
But the four saw it.
Chifuyu: "Again!"
They moved.
Hairene drove forward.
Iris crossed behind her.
Nicholas came from the right.
Chifuyu from the left.
Oni swung at Hairene.
She ducked.
Nicholas attacked.
Oni turned.
Iris cut.
Oni shifted.
Chifuyu struck.
His blade scraped across the chest.
More fire.
Still not enough.
Oni caught Chifuyu's wrist.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
The grip closed like iron.
Pain shot through his arm.
Chifuyu immediately released the sword with that hand and caught the hilt with the other before Oni could rip it away.
Hairene moved instantly.
Her blade cut toward Oni's wrist.
He let Chifuyu go.
Chifuyu stumbled backward.
That was the first thing he noticed.
Oni had released him rather than risk taking the cut.
Not invincible.
Just absurdly durable.
Hairene noticed too.
Their eyes met for a fraction of a second.
Same thought.
Joints.
Tendons.
Neck.
Places muscle could not fully protect.
Hairene moved.
Oni tracked her.
She stepped left.
Then right.
A feint.
He turned.
Iris came in low.
Nicholas pressured from behind.
Chifuyu raised his flaming blade.
Oni hesitated.
That was enough.
Hairene burst forward.
She got inside his reach.
Her foot planted.
Her hips turned.
Everything aligned.
A perfect slash.
The blade struck the side of Oni's neck.
Hairene expected resistance.
She did not expect this.
The sword entered.
Then stopped.
Less than an inch.
Hairene's eyes widened.
The others froze for half a beat.
The blade had buried itself into the neck—
and gone no farther.
Hairene: "What…?"
Oni looked down at her.
Hairene immediately understood the danger.
She ripped the blade free.
Oni's hand closed where her head had been.
She jumped backward.
Nicholas stared.
Nicholas: "That was a clean hit."
Iris: "I know."
Chifuyu: "His neck's that tough?"
Hairene landed and reset.
Hairene: "Apparently."
Oni touched the wound.
Blood ran between his fingers.
He looked at it.
Then at them.
Oni: "Good."
That word somehow made the situation worse.
The four repositioned.
They had landed one of the best possible attacks.
It had barely entered.
Hairene's strongest clean cut hadn't even come close to severing his neck.
They were going to need leverage.
An opening.
Something.
Oni moved.
This time toward Hairene.
She barely parried the first swing.
The second nearly caught her.
Chifuyu intercepted.
Black flame struck Oni's forearm.
Oni shoved through it.
Iris attacked his flank.
He turned.
Nicholas watched.
The others were still trying to damage him.
Nicholas started watching something else.
Movement.
Reach.
Rotation.
Where Oni's hands could go.
Where they couldn't.
A thought formed.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
Probably the only one they had.
Oni slammed Chifuyu backward.
Hairene attacked again.
Oni turned toward her.
Nicholas sprinted.
No warning.
No call.
He jumped.
His boots struck Oni's lower back.
Nicholas climbed.
Oni felt the weight immediately.
Oni: "Hm?"
Nicholas wrapped one arm around the vampire's neck and locked his legs against the massive torso.
Hairene's eyes widened.
Hairene: "Nicholas!"
Nicholas raised his sword.
Then drove it down.
The blade entered the back of Oni's neck.
Oni roared.
Not from mortal damage.
But pain.
Real pain.
Nicholas forced the blade deeper.
Muscle resisted every inch.
Nicholas: "Come on!"
Oni reached behind himself.
His hand swept for Nicholas.
Missed.
Again.
Couldn't reach.
Nicholas had positioned himself almost perfectly between the shoulder blades, too high for Oni to grab easily and too close to shake off without sacrificing balance.
Oni twisted violently.
Nicholas nearly flew loose.
He held on.
Oni reached again.
Still couldn't get him.
Nicholas: "HEY!"
Oni twisted toward the voice.
Nicholas grinned through clenched teeth.
Nicholas: "You got short arms back here!"
Chifuyu: "Nicholas, seriously?!"
Nicholas: "It's working!"
It was.
Oni's attention had shifted.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Iris saw the opening.
She ran.
Not toward the torso.
Lower.
Much lower.
Oni planted his right leg to turn.
Iris slid behind him.
Her blade flashed.
This time she didn't aim for muscle.
She aimed for the tendon.
The sword cut across the back of Oni's ankle.
Deep.
The Achilles tendon snapped.
Oni's leg buckled.
For the first time, the giant lost balance.
His knee slammed into the street.
The impact cracked the pavement.
Hairene moved instantly.
Chifuyu moved with her.
No discussion.
No plan needed.
They both understood.
The neck.
Hairene jumped onto Oni's left side.
Chifuyu climbed the right.
They positioned behind his shoulders.
Two blades rose.
Hairene: "NOW!"
Both struck.
Hairene's sword entered the back-left side of Oni's neck.
Chifuyu's black-flamed blade entered from the right.
This time, they didn't pull away.
They pushed.
Both blades sank deeper.
Oni roared.
His arms moved.
Iris grabbed one.
Nicholas abandoned the neck grip and shifted down the other side.
He caught Oni's opposite arm with everything he had.
Nicholas: "HOLD HIM!"
Iris planted both feet against the pavement and locked Oni's arm behind him.
The vampire flexed.
Her entire body jerked.
Iris almost lost the hold.
Iris: "He's too strong!"
Nicholas: "Don't let go!"
Chifuyu and Hairene pushed harder.
Their swords went deeper.
One inch.
Two.
More.
Muscle tore.
Bone resisted.
Blood poured down Oni's back.
The blades reached halfway through the neck.
Oni's roar became louder.
Desperate now.
Chifuyu clenched his teeth.
Black flames intensified around the blade.
Chifuyu: "HAIRene!"
Hairene: "I KNOW!"
Both pushed.
Hairene's arms shook violently.
Chifuyu's shoulders burned.
The resistance was unbelievable.
It felt less like cutting flesh and more like trying to saw through a tree trunk reinforced with steel.
Oni jerked.
Iris lost one foot.
Nicholas nearly went airborne.
They held.
Nicholas: "COME ON!"
Oni tried rising.
The severed Achilles failed him.
His knee slammed back down.
Hairene screamed as she put everything into the sword.
Hairene: "AAAHHHHH!"
Chifuyu did the same.
Chifuyu: "MOVE!"
The blades sank another fraction.
Blood sprayed across their hands.
Oni shook violently.
Nicholas was thrown halfway off.
He caught the arm again.
Iris wrapped herself tighter around the other.
The four Hunters had finally done it.
For the first time since Oni appeared, the vampire was trapped.
Pinned.
Off-balance.
Unable to defend his neck.
The tables had turned in seconds.
All because Nicholas had created one reckless opening.
Oni roared again.
Not calmly.
Not stoically.
This time there was desperation in it.
His body shook.
The blades were more than halfway through.
Chifuyu could feel the resistance beginning to weaken.
Hairene felt it too.
Hairene: "DON'T STOP!"
They pushed.
Another inch.
Oni's arms strained against Iris and Nicholas.
Both Hunters screamed as they held on.
Nicholas: "HE'S MOVING!"
Iris: "I KNOW!"
The massive vampire lowered his head.
His breathing changed.
Chifuyu noticed first.
Something was wrong.
Not physically.
Something else.
The air around Oni shifted.
Hairene felt it next.
A pressure.
Heavy.
Dense.
Unnatural.
Black veins began crawling across Oni's skin.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
Chifuyu: "His curse—!"
Oni lifted his head.
And activated it.
***
Oni's scream never stopped.
It changed.
What had begun as a desperate roar of pain deepened into something far more violent, the sound distorting until it became almost unbearable. Chifuyu felt it inside his skull before he understood what was happening.
Then the roar sharpened.
All four Hunters recoiled.
Chifuyu tore one hand from his sword and covered his ear. Hairene did the same. Iris and Nicholas immediately lost their grip on Oni's arms as the piercing sound ripped through the street.
The blades lodged halfway through Oni's neck remained buried for another second.
Then something erupted from him.
A black, visceral aura poured from Oni's body.
They could see it.
They could feel it.
It crawled across the air like smoke given weight, thick enough that breathing suddenly felt harder. Black veins spread across Oni's skin as his curse fully awakened, but it was the pressure surrounding him that made Chifuyu's instincts scream.
Get away.
Now.
Chifuyu: "BACK!"
Hairene had already ripped her sword free.
Chifuyu did the same.
Iris released Oni's arm and launched herself backward while Nicholas threw himself away from the vampire.
Oni's head snapped upward.
His final roar erupted.
The world around him exploded.
A circular shockwave burst from his body with a black tint racing through its edge. Pavement shattered outward. Windows blew apart. Abandoned vehicles lifted from the street, spinning through the air as everything within nearly thirty meters was violently swept away.
The four Hunters were caught in it.
Chifuyu crossed his arms as the force lifted him from the ground. Hairene spun through the air beside him while Iris and Nicholas were thrown in opposite directions.
None allowed themselves to tumble helplessly.
Chifuyu twisted.
His boots found the road first.
He landed hard and slid several meters, one hand dragging against the pavement to stabilize himself.
Hairene landed almost simultaneously.
Iris hit farther away, slid backward, then caught herself.
Nicholas landed last, nearly losing his footing before forcing his legs underneath him.
Dust swallowed the battlefield.
For several seconds, nothing moved inside it.
Then a shape appeared.
Oni stepped forward.
The four went silent.
Something about him was different now.
The enormous wound they had carved halfway through his neck remained visible, but the atmosphere surrounding him had changed completely. Black aura bled continuously from his body, twisting around him in violent, uneven waves.
The calm vampire from moments ago was gone.
Oni clutched the side of his head.
His fingers dug into his scalp.
His breathing came in heavy, erratic bursts as though whatever power he'd awakened was hurting him just as much as it threatened them.
He growled.
Then laughed once.
Low.
Broken.
His eyes snapped toward the Hunters.
Chifuyu felt his skin crawl.
Oni wasn't merely looking at them.
It felt as if those eyes were reaching through flesh.
Through thought.
Into something deeper.
Oni's gaze landed on Chifuyu.
His expression twisted.
Oni: "DEATH IS ALREADY WITH YOU, HALF-VAMPIRE BOY!"
Chifuyu froze.
Oni's voice thundered across the destroyed street.
Oni: "DEATH THAT HAS CLUNG TO YOUR VERY SOUL!"
A chill raced down Chifuyu's spine.
For a moment, the battlefield seemed distant.
He didn't understand.
Death was already with him?
Clung to his soul?
The words sank somewhere inside him and stayed there.
He would question their meaning long after this night.
Until the time finally came when there was nothing left to question.
Oni's head jerked toward Iris.
His eyes widened.
Oni: "IT'S YOU!"
Iris stiffened.
Oni: "CHILD OF WAR!"
Something cold settled in her stomach.
Oni leaned forward, gripping his head harder.
Oni: "FATE FORGES YOUR PATH IN BLOOD AND SORROW, GUIDING YOU INEVITABLY TOWARD THE BATTLE YOU WERE BORN TO FACE!"
His aura surged.
Oni: "YOU MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO LIVE!"
Nobody spoke.
Something passed through all four Hunters at once.
Fear.
Not the ordinary fear of standing before something stronger.
Something deeper.
For a brief instant, Oni had looked at Chifuyu and Iris as though he'd seen something none of them could see.
Then his body disappeared.
The pavement exploded beneath his feet.
There was no time to think.
Only survive.
⸻
Oni reached Iris first.
She barely twisted away before his fist passed her ribs. The pressure from the swing alone ripped apart the damaged wall behind her. Hairene attacked his exposed flank, but Oni wheeled around with terrifying speed and forced her to abandon the strike before his hand could close around her.
Chifuyu came from above. Black flame followed his descending sword, but Oni raised one arm and took the slash across the forearm. The blade entered only slightly before Oni threw Chifuyu away with a violent shove.
There was no opening anymore.
Every movement Oni made carried enough force to end them.
Nicholas darted toward his rear, trying to recreate the earlier strategy. Oni reacted instantly this time. His elbow flew backward, and Nicholas threw himself flat as it passed over his head.
The air cracked.
Nicholas rolled away before Oni could stomp down.
Hairene rushed in while his attention shifted. Her sword struck the damaged portion of his neck.
Oni roared and swung blindly.
Hairene ducked.
Too slow.
His forearm clipped her shoulder.
She flew across the street and crashed through a wooden stall.
Chifuyu: "Hairene!"
Oni was already on him.
Chifuyu blocked the first blow with his sword.
The blade bent dangerously.
He immediately abandoned the clash and dove aside.
Oni's fist buried itself into the ground, forming another crater.
Iris attacked the injured Achilles tendon.
Her sword connected.
Oni barely reacted.
The curse had changed something.
He stepped on the damaged leg as though the severed tendon meant nothing.
Iris's eyes widened.
Oni grabbed for her.
Chifuyu slammed into his arm from the side, forcing the hand off course by inches.
Iris escaped.
Chifuyu didn't.
Oni caught him across the torso with the back of his fist.
The impact launched Chifuyu through the air.
He struck the pavement, bounced once, and skidded until black flames scattered from his blade.
He forced himself up.
Everything hurt.
Around him, the others were doing the same.
Hairene emerged from the wreckage with blood running down one side of her face.
Nicholas was breathing heavily.
Iris's sword arm trembled.
Oni remained standing.
The four understood it now.
Minutes ago, they'd been fighting to cut his head off.
That battle was over.
Nobody thought about killing Oni anymore.
Nobody searched for the perfect finishing strike.
When he charged, they scattered.
When he attacked, they escaped.
When an opening appeared, they used it only to buy another second.
Hairene cut his wrist to force him to release Nicholas.
Iris struck his knee to redirect a charge away from Chifuyu.
Chifuyu's black flames exploded against Oni's face long enough for all three to retreat.
Nicholas threw debris simply to pull his attention elsewhere.
It wasn't a hunt anymore.
It was desperation.
Four Hunters moving with everything they had, not toward victory—
but toward the next breath.
Oni roared and charged again.
The battle stopped being a battle.
It became a chase.
The four Hunters abandoned any thought of standing their ground and pushed farther inland, cutting between ruined streets and half-collapsed festival buildings while Oni barreled after them.
Every one of his footsteps sounded like something heavy striking the earth.
Chifuyu stayed near the rear, glancing over his shoulder whenever he could. Oni wasn't losing distance. If anything, the massive vampire seemed to be getting faster as his curse continued raging through him.
Hairene vaulted over an overturned food stall and landed without breaking stride. Iris followed along the side of the street, choosing the clearest route through the wreckage while Nicholas struggled several paces behind them.
His legs were finally beginning to betray him.
The ravine climb.
Hours carrying Hairene.
The trek through the forest.
The thirty vampires.
Oni.
His body had been asking him to stop for a long time.
Now it was demanding it.
Nicholas stumbled over a chunk of shattered pavement and barely caught himself.
Chifuyu immediately slowed.
Chifuyu: "Nicholas!"
Nicholas: "Keep going!"
He forced his legs forward again.
Hairene looked back.
Nicholas's breathing was ragged. His shoulders sagged with each step, and he wasn't lifting his feet nearly as high anymore.
Iris noticed too.
Iris: "We're slowing down."
Hairene: "I know."
Behind them, Oni roared.
The sound rolled through the streets.
They turned the next corner.
Chifuyu swept his sword through a damaged support as he passed. Black flames tore through it, sending part of the structure crashing into the road behind them.
Concrete and timber collapsed directly into Oni's path.
The Hunters gained perhaps three seconds.
Then something smashed through the debris.
Oni emerged without slowing.
Chifuyu: "Seriously?!"
Hairene: "Stop wasting energy."
Chifuyu: "It looked like a good idea!"
They ran deeper inland.
The shoreline disappeared behind rows of buildings, replaced by narrower roads and dense residential blocks. Festival decorations still hung between rooftops, golden streamers fluttering strangely above streets littered with broken glass and abandoned belongings.
Iris led them through an alley too narrow for Oni's shoulders.
For a moment, it worked.
They sprinted between the buildings while the vampire disappeared from sight.
Nicholas almost smiled.
Then the wall beside him exploded.
Oni didn't bother entering the alley.
He simply punched through the building.
Stone erupted across the passage.
Hairene grabbed Nicholas by the back of his clothing and dragged him forward before falling debris could crush him.
Nicholas: "Thanks."
Hairene: "Run."
They burst through the other end.
Oni tore through the structure behind them.
There was no escaping him through clever routes.
No obstacle lasted.
A truck blocked the next intersection.
Iris slid across its hood.
Hairene vaulted it.
Chifuyu jumped.
Nicholas tried.
His foot clipped the edge.
He crashed onto the hood and rolled over the opposite side.
Chifuyu caught his arm before he hit the pavement.
Nicholas: "I'm good."
Chifuyu: "You look terrible."
Nicholas: "Really appreciate that."
Oni appeared behind the truck.
He grabbed the vehicle with both hands.
The Hunters' eyes widened.
Iris: "MOVE!"
Oni threw it.
The truck spun through the air.
All four scattered.
It crashed into a building ahead of them, tearing through the lower floor in an explosion of metal and concrete.
They regrouped without stopping.
Hairene's mind raced.
Every route ended the same way.
Every obstacle bought seconds at best.
They couldn't outrun him forever.
And Nicholas couldn't outrun him much longer at all.
He stumbled again.
This time, he stayed down for a moment.
Iris stopped.
Iris: "Nicholas!"
He pushed himself upright with shaking arms.
Nicholas: "Just… keep moving."
Oni came around the corner.
Much closer now.
Chifuyu stepped backward, sword raised.
Hairene did the same.
They had reached the point they'd been avoiding.
Run anymore and Nicholas would collapse.
Stay…
and Oni would catch them.
The giant vampire lowered himself slightly.
His black aura churned violently around his body.
Then—
A crimson line flashed across the street.
It came from Oni's blind spot.
Before anyone could react, the concentrated beam of blood punched straight through his chest.
Oni's body jerked.
Blood sprayed from the opposite side.
Chifuyu stared.
Hairene turned toward the direction of the attack.
Then something colorful bounced into the street.
A stuffed rabbit.
Then a bear.
A cat.
A strange little dinosaur.
Several more stuffed animals bounced around Oni's feet.
The vampire looked down.
For one second, nothing happened.
Then all of them exploded.
BOOOOOOM!
Fire swallowed the intersection.
The blast lifted Oni from the ground and disappeared inside a cloud of smoke, debris, and shredded fabric.
The Hunters stopped.
None of them moved.
Chifuyu stared through the smoke.
Nicholas dropped onto one knee, grateful for any excuse not to run.
Iris raised her sword cautiously.
Hairene searched the rooftops.
Then a familiar voice drifted through the destruction.
?: "Took us a while to find you, dear Chifuyu."
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
He turned.
Chifuyu: "Patrick?!"
A figure stepped into view.
Chifuyu stared at him in disbelief.
Chifuyu: "What the hell are you doing here?"
Patrick smiled.
Patrick: "The cavalry has arrived."
***
The smoke from Chloe's explosion rolled across the street in thick waves.
For a moment, Oni disappeared completely.
Chifuyu kept staring at Patrick.
Patrick stood as though he'd arrived at a dinner party rather than the middle of a burning battlefield. His clothes were immaculate compared to everyone else's, his posture relaxed, and the faint smile on his face carried the same irritating confidence Chifuyu remembered.
Beside him stood the other three.
Chloe rested one hand against her hip while several small stuffed animals bounced around her feet.
Sabeh rolled one shoulder, then the other, looking far too comfortable with what was happening.
Inyaki had somehow found time to straighten his collar.
Chifuyu: "You brought all of them too?"
Patrick placed a hand over his chest.
Patrick: "Naturally. A gentleman never arrives alone when attending something this dangerous."
Chifuyu: "That doesn't answer anything."
Patrick: "It answered enough."
Iris had stopped paying attention to Patrick.
Her eyes were on Chloe.
Chloe noticed.
For a few seconds, neither said anything.
The last time they'd seen each other, Chloe had nearly beaten Iris into the ground.
Iris still remembered the pain.
The injuries.
The recovery afterward.
Chloe tilted her head.
Chloe: "What?"
Iris: "Nothing."
Chloe: "Be grateful we're here to save you. We only came because Boten forced us to come with him."
Iris: "
Chloe narrowed her eyes.
Chloe: "If you're waiting for an apology, don't."
Iris's expression hardened.
Iris: "I wasn't."
That answer seemed to annoy Chloe more than an argument would've.
Chloe crossed her arms.
Chloe: "Good."
Iris turned away from her.
Iris: "I don't trust you."
Chloe blinked.
Iris: "Any of you."
Patrick gave an amused hum.
Patrick: "Perfectly reasonable."
Chloe: "Hey!"
Iris: "You almost killed me."
Chloe: "You were trying to kill me too!"
Iris: "Because you attacked us."
Chloe: "Details."
Iris's hand tightened around her sword.
Chifuyu stepped between their lines of sight before the reunion became another fight.
Chifuyu: "Can we hate each other after we deal with the giant vampire?"
Hairene glanced toward him.
Hairene: "For once, you said something useful."
Chifuyu: "You know, you've been doing that a lot lately."
Hairene ignored him.
Then everyone felt it.
The ground trembled.
Patrick's smile faded.
The smoke shifted.
A huge silhouette appeared inside it.
Oni stepped through.
The blood beam had left a hole through his chest.
Parts of his torso were burned from the explosions.
His neck still carried the massive wounds from the previous attack.
None of it had stopped him.
Black aura poured from his body more violently than before.
Sabeh stared.
Then smiled.
Sabeh: "Oh, he's huge."
Nicholas, still struggling to remain upright, looked at him.
Nicholas: "That's your reaction?"
Sabeh: "Look at him."
Nicholas: "I've been looking at him!"
Sabeh cracked his neck.
Sabeh: "Dude's built."
Nicholas: "He threw a truck at us."
Sabeh: "Even better."
Hairene slowly looked toward Chifuyu.
Hairene: "Are all your acquaintances insane?"
Chifuyu: "Most of them."
Patrick: "How rude."
Oni roared.
The windows remaining around the street rattled.
Nicholas instinctively raised his sword.
His arm shook immediately.
Iris saw it.
Iris: "Nicholas."
Nicholas: "I'm good."
He took one step.
His leg nearly gave out.
He caught himself on the wall.
Nobody needed to say anything after that.
Nicholas stared at his own hand.
It wouldn't stop trembling.
His breathing was still ragged from the chase, and the brief rest hadn't done nearly enough. He had spent everything long before Patrick arrived.
Nicholas clenched his teeth.
Nicholas: "Damn it."
Iris moved closer.
Iris: "You're done."
Nicholas: "I can still—"
Iris: "No."
Nicholas looked at her.
There wasn't pity in her expression.
Just certainty.
Iris: "You climbed ninety meters carrying Chifuyu."
She glanced toward Hairene.
Iris: "Then walked for hours."
Her eyes returned to him.
Iris: "Then fought thirty vampires."
Nicholas: "I know what I did."
Iris: "Then you climbed on that thing's back and gave us the first real opening we've had against him."
Nicholas looked toward Oni.
His jaw tightened.
Iris: "You've done enough."
Nicholas hated those words.
Enough.
It didn't feel like enough while everyone else was still fighting.
Hairene glanced toward him.
Hairene: "If you stay in, we'll have to protect you."
Nicholas looked at her.
Hairene: "So sit down."
Nicholas: "You really know how to make someone feel better."
Hairene: "Wasn't trying to."
Nicholas sighed.
Then slowly lowered himself against the wall.
Nicholas: "Fine."
He pointed toward Oni.
Nicholas: "But kill that bastard."
Chifuyu raised his sword.
Chifuyu: "That's the plan."
Oni moved.
⸻
Seven fighters responded.
Hairene took the lead immediately.
Iris moved with her.
Chifuyu stayed between them, black flames surging around his blade as Patrick's group spread into completely different positions.
The battlefield changed instantly.
Oni swung toward Hairene.
She slipped outside the fist.
Iris attacked the opposite arm.
Oni twisted.
That was enough for Chifuyu to cut across his ribs.
Black flame burst against the wound.
Then a red line flashed past Chifuyu's shoulder.
Patrick's blood pierced the exact cut he'd just created.
Oni staggered.
Chifuyu glanced back.
Patrick smiled.
Patrick: "You're welcome."
Chifuyu: "I didn't say anything."
Patrick: "Your eyes did."
Oni lunged toward Patrick.
Sabeh intercepted.
For the first time since the fight began, someone willingly stepped directly into Oni's path.
Sabeh planted both feet.
Oni's fist came toward him.
Sabeh raised both arms.
The impact sounded like a collision between vehicles.
The pavement beneath Sabeh shattered.
His body slid backward several meters.
But he stayed upright.
Everyone stared.
Sabeh lowered his arms.
Sabeh: "Okay."
He grinned.
Sabeh: "That was awesome."
Hairene: "He's definitely insane."
Chifuyu: "Told you."
Sabeh rushed forward.
He drove a punch into Oni's abdomen.
The giant vampire actually moved backward.
Only half a step.
But it happened.
Sabeh's grin widened.
Oni immediately grabbed for him.
Sabeh ducked.
A stuffed bear bounced between their legs.
Chloe: "Move!"
Sabeh jumped away.
The bear suddenly expanded.
Its soft body warped into the rough shape of a massive grizzly, claws and teeth forming from fabric and stuffing as it lunged onto Oni.
Oni grabbed it by the head.
Chloe snapped her fingers.
The bear exploded.
The blast swallowed Oni's upper body.
Chloe smiled proudly.
Chloe: "Cute, right?"
Iris stared at her.
Iris: "No."
Chloe: "You have terrible taste."
Oni emerged from the fire.
Inyaki pointed dramatically toward him.
Inyaki: "My turn!"
He charged.
Chifuyu: "What's he gonna do?"
Patrick: "Something irritating."
Inyaki slid beneath Oni's swing and slapped one hand against the vampire's forearm.
For an instant, nothing happened.
Then music came from nowhere.
Chifuyu blinked.
Hairene blinked.
Iris slowly looked around.
Nicholas sat against the wall, completely confused.
Oni froze.
Inyaki stepped backward.
Inyaki: "You have been challenged!"
Oni stared at him.
Inyaki struck a pose.
Inyaki: "To dance!"
Hairene: "What?"
Chifuyu: "Oh no."
Oni's body jerked.
One foot moved against his will.
Then the other.
The enormous vampire stared down at himself in absolute disbelief as his body began matching Inyaki's movements.
For three seconds, the entire battlefield became absurd.
Inyaki spun.
Oni spun.
Inyaki stepped.
Oni stepped.
Chloe burst out laughing.
Sabeh nearly doubled over.
Even Nicholas forgot how exhausted he was.
Hairene looked genuinely offended by reality.
Hairene: "This is his curse?"
Patrick: "Unfortunately."
Inyaki pointed toward the others while continuing the dance.
Inyaki: "What are you waiting for?!"
That snapped them back.
Patrick raised both hands.
Blood lifted from the ground around him.
Chloe's stuffed animals scattered.
Sabeh lowered his stance.
Iris and Hairene moved.
Chifuyu's black flames surged.
Seven fighters converged on Oni.