Walking out the back of a large black van with the same group of Ze'nin sorcerers, Han was appalled at the scene of destruction around him.
People were being eaten wantonly on the streets by grotesque monsters that defied human imagination in all parameters.
Their speech was just incomprehensible screeches, that seemed to rise with vigor with every human they consumed.
Sorcerers were there trying to stop them but, of course, they couldn't save everyone, in fact around this area, they couldn't even save the majority.
Fires, bloodcurdling scream, an overwhelming aura of despair, it was like a scene straight out of Hell.
"Urgh!"
Falling to one knee, Han threw up everything he had eaten that morning. The visceral reaction he had to the scene before him was intense.
Of course, the other Ze'nin sorcerers didn't waste time commenting on his inexperience.
"Heh, it's no surprise you're acting like this, kid. Elder Jinichi kept you cooped up for too long. All I'm saying is though, you're gonna wanna get it together, quick. These cursed spirits won't wait for you to compose yourself-"
SCREEEZZZ!!!
BOOM!
As if on cue, a large centipede like cursed spirit broke out of a building nearby and caught Han inside its mouth, heavily injuring nearby sorcerers who were too slow to react.
"Jinichi's kid! He's dead already! Dammit!"
But they couldn't afford to think about this issue right now. They immediately started fighting the incoming cursed spirits attracted by their cursed energy.
Han on the other hand, wasn't as dead as they made him out to be. Struggling to regain his composure, Han stuck his sword into the roof of the mouth of the cursed spirit, using all available strength to keep it from fully closing.
Suddenly, cloud dragons surrounded his body, causing a bright light to emerge from the mouth of the spirit.
"Whew….Yui."
The body of the cursed spirit froze instantly, shattering into pieces with a loud bang as it tried to charge into another wall.
THUD!
Han's body collided violently with the wall, forming a small crater as he slammed against it,
To mitigate damage, he used the sheath of Cloud Gorger to break most of the impact, putting all his weight into the tool.
"Hm."
Han closed his eyes and took a deep breath, recalling the scenes of the terrible creature's annihilating the human population in Shinjuku.
"Though I'm still shaken by the sight of those…monsters. I didn't train this long just to die here like a dog."
Even though his nerves were still stricken with fear, Han moved forward with his will firm and his blade edge sharpened.
"I will not rest until these monsters are eliminated."
The full moon shone brightly in the sky as a bloodbath happened below.
Taking in the scene, Han walked through the streets with Cloud Gorger sheathed in his hand, stopping in the middle of an intersection with his hand on the hilt of his blade.
"This is where the slaughter will start."
Crouching down, Han's cursed energy flared intensely, causing all the cursed spirits to look in his direction with drool running down their wretched maws.
"I see. This energy attracts them. Then, run to your deaths, creatures."
Slightly unsheathing Cloud Gorger, time seemed to slow down as he compressed cursed energy into the sheath of the blade.
[Shadowless Blade] and [Iai White Purity Style] were both styles that prioritized speed and agility over everything else. So integrating them was easy as far as Han was concerned.
But that didn't mean he mastered them. If fact, even with all his talent as a swordsman, he could only do so much with practical experience.
Then again, that was enough.
Enough to obliterate his enemies thoroughly.
'Shadowless Blade: Encroaching Light Of The Night.'
WHOOSH!
It seemed as if afterimages were moving around Han's body as slashes made of cursed energy were fired with immense speed in all four directions of the intersection.
Every cursed spirit that his slashes were aimed at barely saw a flash of light before they were bisected instantly, killing them before they could physically react.
With one move, Han eliminated about 80 cursed spirits from the streets.
But of course, not all cursed spirits were built the same.
"Hm?!"
CLANG!
A giant slightly humanoid cursed spirit resembling a grotesque goat attacked Han, forcing him through multiple buildings as he blocked with the sheath of his sword.
"That creature…is strong. But…Urgh!"
Han flipped over and landed on his feet, forcing his sword into the ground to slow down his momentum. Immediately after, he threw up as the grotesque nature of the beast filled his mind.
"I need to get over this feeling. Every time I lay eyes on these nasty creatures I just wanna gag. Tch."
But this cursed spirit wasn't gonna wait for him to recover. Within seconds, it had closed to the gap, wielding a strange staff covered with goat like symbols on it.
"Here it comes."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Han clashed with the cursed spirit, deflecting its strikes calmly as the creature roared in anger.
WHOOSH!
BOOM!
Once again, the cursed spirit moved at what seemed to be Mach speed as it feinted one it strikes into a charging headbutt that sent Han flying into the sky before his mind could even register what was going on.
Han, once he actually realized what happened couldn't help but utter one word at the strength of his adversary.
"Insane."
In a flash, the spirit appeared in the sky, slamming Han down into the ground with its staff through a building, causing it to collapse from its immense power.
As Han lay there on the ground with blood pouring out the large cuts on his body, staring up at the shadow of the cursed spirit hovering in front of the full moon, a small smile crept up on his face.
"Experience really is the best teacher, huh? I would have never gotten this had I remained cooped in the clan."
Struggling up, Han closed his eyes, cracked his neck and opened them again, just to see the cursed spirit standing right in front of him as he did so.
"I was waiting for you, fiend."
The ruthless spirit smiled viciously as it spun its staff and attacked Han multiple times with incredible speed, eviscerating the building around them from the power of its strikes.
[Iai White Purity Style.]
As said before, this was a style that focused on speed, on the view that the fastest equals the strongest. It entailed building up cursed energy within the sheathe of the blade before letting it release explosively upon unsheathing, resulting in bursts of extreme speed.
This style was known for its absurd difficulty. On top of that, uniquely under the style, a sword fighter wields their katana in a reverse grip with the blade facing the wrist, opposite to standard grips where the metacarpals are aligned with the blade's edge.
Due to the non-standard grip, a sword fighter must rotate the blade 180 degrees after drawing it before the blade reaches its target.
That fact alone added onto the insane difficulty of the style.
But when mastered….
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Han deflected every strike with incredible precision, forcing the cursed spirit back from the rebound of his own power.
WHOOSH!
In a quiet single step, Han closed the gap between them, cutting off both legs of the cursed spirit.
"GRAHHHHHHHGGG!!!!!!!"
Shouting in anger, the cursed spirit immediately regenerated and swung his staff at Han, releasing waves of cursed energy similar to Han's sword slashes from before.
"Hm? You can heal yourself? Then…"
The moment Han parried the slashes, the cursed spirit charged at him with his infamous Mach speed headbutt, expecting to destroy Han once and for all this time. He couldn't wait to devour the meal that was this swordsman.
"I was waiting for that, fool. Yui."
Instantaneously freezing his own blood that had fallen on the ground before, Han caused the ground to become extremely slippery. The cursed spirit lost its footing as hooves had no grip, causing it to miss its target, its body instead flying past Han going at an immense speed.
In its mind, it knew that it had been duped. It would never let this happen again. Next time, Han would be dead.
But unfortunately for our resident cursed spirit, how could Han miss this chance?
Time seemed to slow down as the cursed spirit turned its head to the side to see Han following its movements with a cold gaze.
He saw Han sheathe his blade and for a maybe a tenth of a second, he thought the swordsman was a fool for doing that at this moment.
"You were a good first opponent, creature. I'll remember you as long as I wield this sword."
In the next moment, there was only a blur and the last thing the cursed spirit saw was Han re-sheathing his blade once again.
BOOM!
The cursed spirits headless body charged through multiple walls, falling out of the building as it fell to its knees, lifeless.
Holding its head by its horns, Han raised it up and took a good look at it, once again put off by its ugly appearance.
"Tch. How are you guys even born? Do you not hate yourselves for being this ugly? Whatever. I'll just keep this head as my first trop-"
That was when both the body and the head of the cursed spirit turned to ash, causing a dark expression to appear over Han's face.
"Huh? Are you being serious right now? Dammit! Now who's gonna believe me when I said I defeated this super strong creature. Tch."
In a flash, Han jumped up to the top of the building and looked around, his senses instinctively catching on the massive amount of cursed spirits still remaining.
"Looks like I still have lots of work to do."
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Just as he was about to move, several figures dressed in what seemed to be ninja attire, white robe with black pants and black masks, surrounded him.
Immediately, Han was taken aback. These guys were clearly human. He could feel their killing intent directed at him.
Why would they want to kill him knowing that there were innumerable creatures out there destroying the human population with every passing moment?
"Can I help you?"
One of the figures stepped forward with their sword drawn and pointed at Han, more specifically, the earring on his person.
"You have been marked for death by the Ze'nin, Han. Prepare to die."
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
All of them attacked in tandem, with a perfect formation. Some using thrown weapons, others employing strange techniques to pressure Han, while the rest attacked with swords and daggers.
"So, this is what it comes to? Being betrayed by the Ze'nin? Hm. Then I will respond in kind."