[Chapter Header]
ARC: Back Attack Land
Hitomi spat toward the broken sorcerer, her voice dripping with absolute venom.
"Still trying to stand on your own two feet, you pathetic construct?" she hissed, her hatred manifest in the heavy, suffocating aura that pressed down on the floor. "
You are nothing but a failed creation, a parasite contaminating the very air I breathe."
She took another step, her presence cold and crushing.
"You thought that because you held this power, you actually became something? You are trash. A piece of filth that crawled out of the gutter of existence.'
You should be begging me to end this now, just so you don't have to face your own wretchedness anymore."
Hitomi raised her arm, her hand shifting and sharpening into a jagged, organic spike. She prepared to drive it through Akos's chest, but through the haze of agonizing pain
Akos began to rise. His movements were slow, every inch of progress bought with a scream of nerves, but his voice was steady.
— "I am not just a sorcerer," Akos whispered, his gaze locking onto hers. "And I am not the one you will kill today. I am the end for anyone who dares to lay a hand on the innocent."
Hitomi lunged, a blur of lethal intent. But Akos moved with a speed that defied his broken state. In a single, fluid motion, he formed a Finger Pistol, aiming directly at Hitomi's jaw.
Hitomi's eyes widened in pure shock. At the tip of Akos's finger, a tiny, condensed sphere of pitch-black energy manifested, swirling with a gravitational hunger.
— "[ABSOLUTE Technique: Deadly]"
The black sphere streaked forward, colliding with Hitomi's jaw. A split second later, it detonated. The explosion didn't just break bone—it erased her entire head in a spray of darkness and gore.
Yet, the nightmare wasn't over.
To Akos's horror, Hitomi's headless body remained standing. Driven by malevolent instinct, the corpse began flailing its massive arms wildly,
smashing into walls and floors in a blind, mindless frenzy. Akos scrambled back, narrowly dodging the crushing weight of her limbs.
He spotted his katana lying amidst the rubble. He lunged for it, his fingers closing around the hilt just as Hitomi's arms began to spin like a lethal whirlwind.
Akos leaped into the air, clearing the spinning limbs by mere inches.
Mid-flight, he executed a powerful Slash, the blade glowing with a sharp light as it severed both of Hitomi's arms. The heavy limbs thudded to the floor.
Before her body could regenerate, Akos landed and drove the katana with everything he had straight into the center of her chest—piercing the very spot where her soul resided.
Hitomi's body stiffened. Slowly, the flesh began to crumble, turning into gray ash and dry earth. The monster vanished into the wind, her presence dissolving into nothingness.
Akos stood alone on the edge of the ruined skyscraper, leaning on his katana as the wind carried the last of Hitomi's remains into the dark sky of SINISH .
The shouting match between Ronika and Riko had reached a breaking point, their voices clashing like steel against steel, drowning out even the terminal groans of the collapsing skyscraper.
— "I don't care what you say! If we stay here, we're just building our own graves!" Ronika screamed, shoving Riko hard in the chest.
"And what's your plan? To let them rot?" Riko fired back, his eyes sparking with pure defiance. "You're a coward!"
Before she could retaliate, a silhouette emerged from the choking veil of smoke and pulverized concrete. Akos staggered forward, his footsteps heavy and uneven.
He was a vision of carnage. Blood masked his features, his clothes hung in tatters, and every movement left a trail of crimson droplets on the cracked floor.
The sight of him caused Ronika and Riko to freeze instantly, their anger evaporating into shock.
"Stop..." Akos whispered, his voice a jagged rasp of pain. He lifted his head, his gaze blurred and distant. "We have to... we have to go. Now. The building won't hold any longer... Move!"
Riko lunged forward, catching Akos by the shoulders. His hands stained red immediately, but his voice was thick with desperation.
— "Where is Jin Tori? Why isn't he with you?"
Akos leaned into him, his lungs wheezing as blood trickled from his brow.
— "I have no idea..." he gasped, each word a struggle. "We were separated in the smoke. But wherever he is, Jin knows how to handle himself.
He'll find a way to safety, I'm sure of it. But right now, we have no time... we have to get out before this concrete buries us! Go!"
As if on cue, the skyscraper surrendered. The structure ripped open with a thunderous crack, and wild, predatory flames erupted through
the floorboards, devouring the air and lighting the ruins in a hellish, flickering orange.
Inside the dimly lit office, the air was thick with the scent of stale coffee and old paperwork. Itou's phone vibrated violently against the mahogany desk. He picked it up, recognizing the encrypted line from the Tasaku faction.
"Itou, listen. All the Sorcerers have been imprisoned. You need to get to SINISH immediately and pull Akos out of there!"
Itou's jaw tightened, a vein pulsing in his temple. He let out a low, jagged curse.
"Is it always me? You people only remember my name when everything goes to hell!" he snapped. "We're coming... but if I have any complaints, I'm taking them up with your idiotic faction in person!"
— "Your brothers can't move!" the voice on the other end cut in sharply. "They're shielding IBARAKI from Yugo as we speak. You're the only one free. Don't be late!"
Itou slammed the phone shut, his face cast in shadow. He turned toward the doorway where his assistant waited.
— "Mario! Get the car ready now! We're moving!"
The street was a concrete canyon of neon and shadows. Itou walked with a slow, deliberate pace, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips.
Behind him, the engine of the police cruiser hummed, Mario watching from the driver's seat.
Itou stopped. He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his eyes narrowing. Three men stood in the center of the road, blocking his path like vultures waiting for a carcass.
— "Listen, I didn't come out here for a stroll in the park," Itou said, his voice laced with a heavy dose of boredom. "Step aside and open the road if you want to see the sunrise."
One of the men stepped forward, his eyes burning with a feverish, cult-like fanaticism.
— "You people started this! This is war!" he screamed.
Itou let out a short, raspy laugh—a sound devoid of any real humor.
— "What war, you idiot? What are you even talking about?"
With a sudden, metallic hiss, the man drew a katana. As his sleeve slid back, a tattoo was revealed on his forearm: THE HOLY BLOOD.
It was the mark of the organization that had orchestrated the nightmare at the skyscraper—the architects of the trap holding Akos, Riko, and Ronika.
Itou's laughter died instantly. His eyes turned ice-cold, reflecting the flickering streetlights.
— "Oh... so you're with them? Fine. Show me what you're worth before you die."
The first attacker lunged, the katana's steel whistling through the air. Itou didn't even drop his cigarette; he simply ducked, the blade passing inches above his head. A second man rushed in, but Itou was a shadow, slipping past the strike and grabbing the man by the throat. Before he could squeeze, the cultist slammed his forehead into Itou's face.
The headbutt sent Itou staggering back. The swordsman seized the opening, swinging wildly, but Itou's reflexes were predatory. He stepped inside the guard and drove a brutal elbow into the man's mouth. The sickening crunch of shattering teeth echoed in the quiet street as the attacker collapsed, clutching his face.
"Don't exhaust yourself," Itou muttered, his voice cold. He stepped forward and delivered a lightning-fast punch to the man's throat, dropping him like a sack of stones.
Seeing their comrade fall, the other two lost their nerve. They drew handguns, the metal gleaming under the streetlights.
They opened fire, but Itou was already moving.
He grabbed the unconscious swordsman from the ground, hoisting the body up and using it as a human shield. Bullets thudded into the meat of the corpse.
"Mario! Kill this idiot, now!" Itou roared over the gunfire.
Mario scrambled in the driver's seat, fumbling for his service weapon. He aimed through the windshield, his hands shaking
. Before he could pull the trigger, one of the cultists shifted his aim and fired low. A bullet tore through the air and grazed Itou's leg.
— "Damn it! You useless brat!" Itou hissed, teeth gritted in pain. "What have I been teaching you for three months, you moron?!"
— "I'm sorry, Boss! I'm sorry!" Mario shouted, his voice cracking with panic.
Itou didn't wait for a second apology. He hurled the corpse at the shooter, knocking him off balance. In a blur of motion, he closed the distance,
grabbed the man's gun, and shoved the barrel deep into his open mouth.
BANG.
The third man tried to scramble away, but Itou delivered a crushing kick to his face, sending him spinning across the asphalt.
Itou stood there, chest heaving, his hand clutching his bleeding thigh. He glared at the car with eyes that promised murder.
— "You're useless, Mario!" he spat, limping toward the door. "When we're done, I'm going to turn that empty head of yours into a triangle! Get the car moving!"
Itou limped into the passenger seat, his leg throbbing with a dull, rhythmic pain. He waited for the engine to roar, for the tires to screech—but there was only silence.
Mario sat frozen, his hands locked on the steering wheel, his knuckles white. His eyes were wide, staring through the windshield at something that turned his blood to ice.
Itou followed his gaze. His cigarette dropped from his lips.
The street ahead was no longer empty. Emerging from the shadows and crawling down the sides of the neon-lit buildings were devils—dozens of them, their twisted, nightmare forms multiplying by the second.
Their eyes glowed with a hungry, unnatural light, filling the horizon in numbers that defied logic.
— "So many devils for three pieces of trash..." Itou muttered, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low growl. "Looks like I'm going to have to get my hands a lot dirtier than I planned."
He turned to Mario, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket to snap him out of his trance.
— "Mario! Move! Get on the radio right now. Tell the precinct to block every road leading to Tokyo and SINISH from the north. Close it all down! No one gets in, and nothing gets out!"
Mario swallowed hard, his voice trembling but finding its resolve.
— "Y-yes, sir! Right away, sir!"
The police radio crackled to life as Mario began barking orders, while Itou reached into the glove box, checking his spare magazines.
Outside, the screeching of the devils grew louder, a chorus of hunger rising against the backdrop of the burning road.