Megumi Fushiguro's lungs burned. Every breath felt like inhaling broken glass.
He was caught in a pincer attack, a death trap designed to wear him down by degrees. To his left was Remi, her scorpion-tail hair lashing out like a whip, forcing him to dodge constantly. To his right was Reggie Star, the man wrapped in receipts.
Whenever Megumi blocked or parried Remi's stinger, Reggie would flick a slip of paper into the air.
Release.
A potted plant. A knife. A falling car. It didn't matter what it was; the sheer randomness of the summoned objects rained down on Megumi, forcing him to break his stance. He was draining his Cursed Energy just to stay alive, looking for a way to incapacitate them without crossing the line into murder. He needed their points, not their corpses.
But hesitation in the Culling Game was a fatal flaw.
Megumi's foot caught on a piece of rubble. It was a micro-second of vulnerability, but Remi saw it. She spun, her hair hardening into a bludgeon that slammed into Megumi's chest.
The air left his lungs in a wheezing gasp. Megumi stumbled back, his guard shattered.
Reggie didn't hesitate. He pulled a receipt from his collar, grinning like a salesman closing a deal.
Reggie: "Check please!"
A heavy chef's cleaver materialized in Reggie's grip. He lunged, bringing the blade down in a lethal arc aimed straight for the center of Megumi's skull.
Thwack.
The sound wasn't metal hitting bone. It was stone hitting flesh.
Reggie's hand jerked violently to the side, the cleaver clattering to the concrete floor. A small, jagged pebble had struck his wrist with the force of a bullet.
Reggie: "What the—?"
He spun around, scanning the shadows of the apartment complex. He couldn't sense any cursed energy. There was no residue, no spark. Just the dark outline of the ruins. He squinted, focusing his eyes until the silhouette resolved itself.
A young man was sitting casually on a pile of debris a few yards away, waving at him with a cheerful, almost insulting, grin.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Megumi melted into the shadows. Divine Dog: Totality surged from the darkness, grabbing Megumi by the collar and dragging him out of the kill zone to where Shin was perched.
Shin looked down at the panting summoner.
Shin: "You look tired. Having trouble?"
Megumi wiped blood from his lip, his eyes already scanning the battlefield, analyzing the new threat assessments.
Megumi: "...The girl. Her hair is a scorpion tail—don't let it grapple you. The guy in the receipts is a conjurer; he summons objects based on what's printed on the paper. I haven't figured out his limit yet."
Shin: "Noted. Want me and Maki to take over? You can rest while we—"
Megumi: "No. You two deal with the scorpion girl and the other player hiding on the balcony. I'll take care of the receipt guy. I need his points."
Shin: "Other player? I didn't sme—"
Maki: "Shin, move!"
Maki's voice was a sharp command, devoid of panic but full of urgency. Shin didn't ask why. He threw himself to the right just as the air where his head had been disintegrated.
BOOM.
The explosion rattled the building's foundation. Dust and shrapnel sprayed everywhere. Shin rolled to his feet, coughing, and looked up toward the third-floor balcony. There, staring down with manic, bloodshot eyes, was Iori Hazenoki.
Shin: "Okay, exploding guy. Got it. Maki, could you take care of the—"
Maki: "Huh? Who?"
Shin turned. Remi was already on the ground. She wasn't dead, but she definitely wasn't fighting. Maki had moved so fast that Shin hadn't even tracked it. Remi was hog-tied with her own scorpion hair, gagged and unconscious, looking like a discarded bundle of laundry.
Shin: "Right. One down. And another one soon to be."
Hazenoki leaned over the railing, spitting blood.
Hazenoki: "You can try!"
Hazenoki reached into his mouth. With a sickening wet tear, he ripped out two of his own molars. He hurled the bloody teeth at Shin like baseballs.
Shin saw them coming. To his heightened senses, they looked slow. Disgust washed over him.
Shin: "Gross. Who throws teeth?"
He raised his hand to casually flick the teeth away, expecting them to be simple projectiles.
It was a mistake.
The moment Shin's finger brushed the enamel, the Cursed Energy condensed within the tooth detonated.
KABOOM!
The blast force was point-blank. Shin was launched backward, rag-dolling through the air before crashing into a parked van, crumpling the metal door.
He slid to the ground, smoke rising from his uniform. His hand was burned, the skin raw and red. He waited for the blue [Auto-Recovery] window to pop up. He waited for the pain to vanish.
It didn't. The sting lingered. The blood kept dripping.
Right, he thought, forcing himself to stand. No more video game logic. I have to actually try.
Shin shook his hand, wincing.
Shin: "Fuck. My ears are ringing. Hey Blondie! That actually hurt! Do it again!"
Hazenoki's eyes widened in disbelief. He had just activated Reverse Cursed Technique, steam rising from his jaw as his missing teeth regenerated, but seeing Shin stand up from a point-blank explosion with only a few burns sent him into a rage.
Hazenoki: "Don't mock me!"
The sorcerer went berserk. He didn't just pull teeth. He clawed at his eyes. He ripped at his ears. He turned his own body into a grenade factory, healing the damage instantly with RCT to maintain a relentless, suicidal barrage.
Explosions chained together, turning the street into a dust cloud of fire and debris.
Shin didn't try to tank it this time. He used the chaos. As the dust billowed up, thick and blinding, Shin dove into the smoke. He silenced his footsteps, silenced his breathing. He became the ghost he claimed to be.
Hazenoki kept throwing bombs at where Shin was, screaming in fury, eyes fixed on the crater he was creating.
He didn't notice the shadow scaling the drainpipe. He didn't hear the soft thud of rubber soles landing on the balcony behind him.
The bombardment slowed. Hazenoki panted, his Cursed Energy reserves finally flickering. His healing was slowing down. His vision blurred. He reached for another tooth, but his fingers trembled.
Shin stepped out of the smoke behind him, swinging Playful Cloud.
Shin: "Batter up."
He didn't aim to kill. He swung the three-section staff in a tight arc, smashing into Hazenoki's extended arm.
CRACK.
Bone shattered. Hazenoki screamed, dropping to his knees, clutching his ruined limb. Before he could trigger another explosion, Shin swept his legs, pinning him to the balcony floor with the heavy red staff pressed against his throat.
Shin looked down at his own charred uniform and the burns on his arms that were still throbbing.
Shin: "I'm all beaten up... you got me good. If only I still had that living staff, I could've healed this off in a second. Dammit, Toji. Why did you have to break my favorite toy?"
Shin pressed the weight of Playful Cloud harder against Hazenoki's throat, choking off the sorcerer's groan. A few yards away, Maki tightened the knot of hair binding Remi, pulling until the scorpion-user whimpered in pain.
They didn't look at each other. They simply looked down at their respective prey, their voices cold and synchronized.
Shin: "Open your Kogane."
Maki: "Transfer all your points to Megumi Fushiguro. Now."
There was no hesitation this time. The threat of immediate death was a powerful motivator. The small, winged shikigami fluttered above their defeated masters, chirping as the digital transaction initiated.
Hazenoki glared at Shin, hate burning in his eyes, but his broken arm left him no choice. He tapped the confirmation with a trembling finger.
Remi sobbed into the floor, nodding frantically as she complied.
As the points drained from their accounts, Shin tilted his head to the side. His enhanced hearing picked up a sudden, drastic shift in the air pressure coming from the gymnasium building where Megumi had led Reggie.
It wasn't the sound of a fist hitting flesh anymore. It was the sound of a shadow drowning out the light. It sounded like the bottom of the ocean rushing upwards to swallow the world.
Shin's eyes widened. He felt the vibration in the concrete, a tremor of pure, concentrated Cursed Energy that made the air heavy.
Shin: "Whoa... the pressure just dropped."
From the depths of the complex, a voice echoed. It was strained and exhausted, but heavy with lethal intent.
Megumi: "Domain Expansion."