Inside the dim, dust-choked convenience store, time seemed to grind to a halt. The rhythmic scraping of claws against the asphalt outside had ceased, replaced by a silence so heavy it felt like a physical weight pressing against their chests. Then, the light from the doorway was blotted out.
A massive, elongated shadow stretched across the linoleum floor, creeping over overturned racks of candy and spilled soda. It reached nearly to the front of the store. Takashi, Sami, and even the usually boisterous Kento were paralyzed, their breath hitching in their throats.
Sami crouched behind the counter, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. "How can anything be that tall and slender?" she thought, her eyes fixed on the distorted silhouette. "It's thin. Should I jump out? Should I fight?" Her internal energy thrummed, ready to ignite her silver aura, but a primal instinct held her back. She didn't know this creature. She didn't know if her light would be a shield or a beacon for her death.
Suddenly, the silence broke. Thud. Scrape. Thud. The footsteps returned, vibrating through the floorboards with a heavy, deliberate cadence. Slowly, the noise began to fade as the creature moved further down the street. The oppressive shadow withdrew, retreating inch by inch until the blue light of the afternoon once again filled the entrance.
Sami let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief, her shoulders finally dropping. "Oh... thank god," she thought, wiping cold sweat from her brow. "It's going away. I'm such an idiot... I was actually considering fighting that thing for no reason."
Feeling the immediate danger pass, Sami stood up and turned toward Takashi, ready to suggest they move. But the expression on Takashi's face stopped the words in her throat.
Takashi was ashen, his face frozen in a mask of genuine shock. His eyes were wide, staring at the empty doorway as if he were looking at the end of the world. His grip on Kento's mouth loosened, and his hand fell limp to his side. The moment he was free, Kento jolted upward, springing to his feet with an angry huff.
"Aughh! Why were you holding me like that?" Kento hissed, brushing dust off his sleeves. "I could've handled that Soul Reaper myself. Huh, look at you... coward. I can see the fear all over your face, Takashi!"
Takashi didn't respond immediately. He closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath, forcing his heart rate to stabilize. When he spoke, his voice was eerily calm. "That was a 1st-grade Soul Reaper, Kento. Do you even understand? It's leagues stronger than a 3rd-grade. You haven't even faced a 2nd-grade yet... you have no idea what you're talking about."
The bravado in Kento's eyes flickered. "Aughhhh! I am so confused by all this grading stuff!"
Sami felt a chill crawl down her spine. She realized then that her momentary impulse to fight had been an act of unintentional suicide. "So... is he really that strong?" she whispered.
"Yeah," Takashi replied, adjusting Nitsuki's weight on his back. "If we were at full strength, the three of us together might stand a chance. But trying to fight a 1st-grade in Nitsuki's condition? We would've ended up in a body bag."
"Thank god I didn't move," Sami thought, her stomach churning.
"Sami, take a quick look," Takashi commanded. "Check if that thing is truly gone."
Sami nodded and moved toward the front window. She leaned carefully against a shattered display case and peeked outside. The street was a graveyard of abandoned cars, quiet and still under the clear blue sky. "No... there aren't any Soul Reapers nearby. It's clear."
"Let's get out of here," Takashi said, his voice dropping into a focused whisper. "Quietly. We're moving to that office building. Staying here is too risky."
They slipped out of the store like shadows, weaving through the hushed streets of Tokyo. They reached the office building Takashi had spotted a jagged pillar of concrete and glass that had survived the initial onslaught.
The entrance was a wreck; the revolving glass doors were shattered into a million glinting diamonds on the floor. Inside, the lobby was a scene of total disarray. Tables were overturned, papers were scattered like fallen leaves, and broken ceiling fans hung by their wires like dead spiders.
"Is this place really safe?" Sami asked, her voice echoing in the hollow space.
"I don't know," Takashi admitted, his eyes scanning the exits. "But compared to standing in the open, it's a fortress. Let's find a spot to rest."
They moved deeper into the building, their footsteps crunching on debris. Takashi found a suitable corner on the right side of the floor. Near a cracked window sat a worn-out, velvet sofa that had somehow escaped the worst of the destruction. The area around it was open, giving them clear lines of sight to the doors.
"There," Takashi said, pointing.
They reached the spot, and Takashi carefully untied the makeshift bindings. He laid Nitsuki down on the soft, torn cushions with a tenderness that surprised the others. Sami sat on the floor beside the sofa, watching over Nitsuki with a heavy heart. Kento sat nearby, dumping the two bags of snacks onto the floor.
"Seeing Nitsuki like this... I don't feel good about anything," Sami whispered, her gaze lingering on his pale face.
As she stared at him, memories began to float to the surface of her mind.
Flashback: The Study Session Sami remembered a quiet evening in the school library. She and Nitsuki were sitting together, the only sound the scratching of pens on paper. Sami had been staring at a bag of chips on the table, her stomach rumbling but her pride keeping her quiet. Nitsuki, without even looking up from his textbook, had reached over and pushed more than half the bag toward her. He didn't say a word, but the small, knowing smile on his face had made Sami bounce with joy.
A tear welled up in Sami's eye and rolled down her cheek. "Oh Nitsuki... please wake up soon. I'm so worried."
Takashi looked down at his friend, and his own memories took hold.
Flashback: The Bicycle Race He remembered the two of them riding bicycles through a sun-drenched yard. Takashi had tried to take a corner too fast, the wheels slipping on loose gravel. He had tumbled hard, his knee scraped and bleeding. Nitsuki had jumped off his bike while it was still moving, rushing to Takashi's side to help him up. "You're okay," Nitsuki had said, dusting him off. "Just get back on."
Takashi's face softened into a look of quiet grief. "I wish for the same thing, Sami."
The somber mood was suddenly shattered by a loud crunch. Kento was sitting cross-legged, happily munching on a handful of snacks, seemingly oblivious to the emotional weight in the room. He looked at their sad faces and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, alright!" Kento said, talking through a mouthful of chips. "Now that your emotional drama is over, sit down and let's start discussing this 'Soul Apocalypse' situation. I'm tired of being the only one who doesn't know what's going on."
Takashi and Sami composed themselves, their expressions turning serious. Takashi took one bag of snacks, and Sami grabbed another as they formed a small circle on the floor.
"Okay," Takashi began, his voice steady. "I'll explain what the Soul Apocalypse is."
Sami chimed in, trying to recall what she had heard. "The Soul Apocalypse is something mysterious from space, right? It lands in the form of stones, and from those stones, monsters called Soul Reapers appear. They consume human souls to get stronger and live longer. And humans who get powers from the stones are called Soul.R. Hunters. Am I right?"
"Yeah," Takashi nodded. "But there's more you need to know about the Soul Reapers themselves. There are four distinct grades, and knowing the difference will save your life."
He cleared a space in the dust on the floor to illustrate.
"Grade 4 is the lowest," Takashi said. "They aren't technically strong. They fly, they roar loud enough to scatter objects with wind pressure, and they shoot basic lasers. Kento, the ones we fought first were all 4th-grades. They're just scouts."
"They were weak," Kento agreed, leaning in. "What's next?"
"Grade 3," Takashi continued. "Much stronger. They're terrifying because they release a thick smoke that blinds you, followed by intense heat that makes it hard to breathe. They can stay stationary and lob fireballs through the smoke. A normal human hit by one is turned to ash instantly."
"Yeah, we dealt with those in the jungle," Kento noted. "Sami's stones took care of them."
"True," Takashi said. "But then there are Grade 2 Soul Reapers. These are different. They don't look like the others. A Grade 2 is shaped like a massive snake, at least thirty feet long and twenty times the size of a human. Their skin is jet-black and covered in small, hard cracks."
Sami leaned closer, her eyes wide. "What's their power?"
"Water manipulation," Takashi replied grimly. "They shoot high-pressure water lasers from their mouths that can cut through steel. Because of the cracks in their skin, they can release massive amounts of water if you try to get close, making them impossible to touch. If they are near a river or the sea, they can summon tsunamis. Fighting one near water is almost a guaranteed death sentence."
"That's terrifying," Sami whispered.
"I see," Kento said, his eyes gleaming with a strange light. "Fighting them sounds thrilling."
"And the last type," Sami said, her voice dropping. "The Grade 1. Like the one in the store."
Takashi nodded. "Grade 1 are slender, standing five times the height of a man. They look almost human in their structure—long arms, long legs, a long torso. But their faces... they have no nose, no lips, no hair, and no ears. Just four glowing eyes."
"How can they attack if they can't hear like us?" Kento asked.
"I don't know the specifics of how they sense us," Takashi said, "but their power is incredible. Those four eyes can manipulate almost anything at will—it's like your phore, Sami, but a ten times more advanced. And their palms have small holes that release powerful sound waves. The pressure alone can blow a person away. Their skin is so thick it's almost impenetrable. Conventional attacks barely leave a scratch."
Kento frowned, looking at his sparking fingers. "Then how are we supposed to defeat something like that?"
Takashi looked at both of them, his gaze piercing. "Keep one thing in mind. Everything in this world—everything you see, everything that feels strong or unbeatable—has a crack. A weakness."
He paused, his voice taking on a philosophical weight. "If something had no weakness at all, it wouldn't be a being of this world. Only God has no weakness. Other than that—whether it's a monster, a power, or even fate itself—everything has a flaw somewhere."
Sami and Kento sat in stunned silence, processed the gravity of his words. Kento felt a spark of genuine courage light up in his chest. A confident smile slowly spread across his face.
"Damn... you put a different kind of fire inside me, Takashi," Kento said. "So, we can kill a Grade 1."
"We can," Takashi said. "A 1st-grade's weak point is its head. The skull is surprisingly soft, almost like cartilage. If we can get close and cause a blast inside its head, or break it open, it will die."
"Good," Kento said, slamming a fist into his palm. "We can hunt them."
"But there is a problem," Takashi added, his face darkening again. "The author of the 'Soul Apocalypse' research, Jamu-Akato, went missing after publishing his findings. He didn't finish the work. The last page just says 'To Be Continued.' He vanished into thin air, and no one knows the ending."
"Shit," Kento muttered, his excitement dampened.
"Anyway," Takashi said, standing up, "we can't just sit here forever. We'll see what the future holds. But right now, we have to do something about Nitsuki. Why isn't he waking up?"
All three of them turned their gaze toward the sofa, where Nitsuki lay in a deep, impenetrable sleep, his secret Phore still locked away inside him.