The alarm blared through the underground base like a wounded beast. Sirens wailed red light into every corridor, and in seconds, the Hono no Sheshi were scrambling.
Renji yanked on his shirt and trailed Daichi at a sprint. His mind already knew who was coming, even before the words left Tetsuya's mouth.
Inside the surveillance room, the screens glowed with grainy footage of the outside perimeter. Master Arashi, Ayaka, and finally Hikari joined them in tense silence.
"What's going on?" Arashi barked.
"We're under attack, Master," Tetsuya said, his voice cracking.
Ayaka gasped. Renji and Hikari exchanged a brief look, the kind of look only two people carrying the same dreadful suspicion could share.
Arashi's gaze flicked between them, sharp as a blade. "You two… know something."
Renji swallowed hard. "He's here, Master. I can feel him."
A shadow passed over Arashi's face, his eyes narrowing with realization. "Hanzo…" His voice was a growl. He seized the comms. "Hono no Sheshi! Man your stations! This is not a drill!" Then he turned to Daichi. "My sword. Now."
Renji stepped forward. "Master, let me face him. Please. He's my friend… or he was. If there's even a chance of reaching him—"
Arashi cut him off with a thunderous glare. "If that demon's vessel sets foot in here, I'll shred him myself!"
Meanwhile, on the surface, Hanzo stood motionless in the moonlight. His spiky hair rustled in the breeze, his emerald eyes glinting like cursed jewels. In his palm, a flame bloomed, unnatural and green, painting the night in sickly light.
Flanking him were two horrors pulled from a nightmare. On his right: a slender demon in a cracked mask, mouth carved into an eternal grin, crimson bells hanging from his attire, their faint jingles tolling death. On his left: a hulking amphibian brute, its slick scales glistening, webbed claws twitching, red eyes glowing like coals in tar.
The guild bristled underground. Soldiers lined the halls, armored and armed, their faces pale but determined. Renji stood among them, calmer than most, though his prayer was silent: Hanzo, stop this madness…
Beside him, Hikari adjusted her Kokuryūkai battle suit, black metal plates shimmering in the emergency lights. Ayaka stood too, her own armor bearing the Hono no Sheshi insignia, grief already tightening her jaw though she did not yet know why.
Then the monitors filled with movement—an army of shadows.
Kurohas.
Tattered figures with elongated jaws and blade-like bone projections jutting from their wrists, their movements jerky but fast, hungry for slaughter.
"Lord have mercy," Daichi muttered.
Everyone knew what Kurohas meant: regeneration unless pierced through the heart… and a deadly pack instinct. The death of one only made the others stronger.
But Arashi and Renji stood unflinching, their gazes fixed on the incoming storm.
"Kalfka, status," Arashi commanded.
The intercom crackled. "Awaiting orders, Master."
"Keep the men on standby. I'll lead them myself."
Tetsuya, staring at the monitor, asked, "Why is he just… standing there?"
Hanzo hadn't moved an inch. His flame swelled, brighter, heavier. Then his emerald eyes flashed, and he hurled the sphere downward.
The ball struck the nuclear facility's garage—the hidden stairwell leading to the base.
The explosion wasn't just fire—it was light and pressure. The entire base flickered, then went dark as systems fried. Sparks rained from dead screens.
" What just happened?" Hikari asked. "The blast disabled all security defenses, they're in" Tetsuya whispered.
Arashi strode out, voice booming across the chamber where soldiers had gathered. "Hono no Sheshi! Our guild and seal face imminent danger! A monster wants to tear through these doors and slaughter us. Are we going to cower?"
"No, Master!"
"Then steel yourselves! Kill every demon in sight! For Hoshimari!"
"For Hoshimari!" they echoed, a thunderous war cry that shook the metal walls.
Nearly two hundred soldiers bristled, weapons at the ready. Renji and Hikari stood in the line, eyes sharp, hearts steady. Daichi and Arashi took the head, warriors ready to die if need be.
Then—drop.
A cold splash on Renji's forehead. Another on his palm. His demon eye flared with a certain primordial instinct. Danger.
"No…"
He sprinted for Arashi. "Master, fall back! Fall—"
The doors burst open.
A roar of water, monstrous, crushing, bone-breaking, surged in. It swept men from their feet like paper dolls, drowned screams beneath its weight, crushed steel, and shattered defenses.
When Renji came to, soaked and coughing, they were deeper underground, in the council hall. Survivors staggered to their feet, dripping, trembling.
Captain Kalfka was bent over Daichi and Arashi, hands working furiously. Renji stumbled to help, hauling their limp bodies from the water.
Daichi convulsed, water spewing from his mouth before he gasped back to life. Relief rippled—briefly.
But Arashi lay still.
"Father…" Ayaka whispered, her hands trembling as she hovered beside Kalfka.
The captain pressed down, forced air, prayed with every motion. For long seconds, nothing. Then his hands slowed, stopped. His shoulders sagged.
He whispered like a man broken, "We've lost Master Arashi."
"No!" Ayaka screamed, her voice raw, shattering the hall's silence.
All soldiers dropped to their knees, bowing their heads, the ancient Sheshi sign of mourning. Their leader, their pillar, had fallen.
Ayaka lunged for her father's body, but Renji caught her, holding her trembling frame as tears burned his eyes too.
She sobbed into him, then shoved him away, grief twisting into rage. "Your friend did this, Renji! Hanzo did this! And he will pay!"
Her fury was a blade. Renji had no words.
Tetsuya's trembling voice filled the silence. "I… I think the water's receding."
All eyes turned as the door to their level burst open.
Kurohas. Dozens of them. Their jagged limbs twitched, their jaws snapped. They hesitated at the sight of the guild, then surged forward.
Renji stepped past the soldiers, blades drawn, shadows already bleeding off his skin. Hikari moved to his side, her visor glowing. Behind them, the guild raised their weapons with trembling resolve.
Ayaka clutched her father's body, eyes burning red.
Hikari's voice was steel. "Do you have a plan, Renji?"
Renji's gaze never left the incoming tide. "Protect the injured. Don't die. Leave the rest to me."
She smirked faintly. "That's if you don't die first."
The Kurohas roared—and the hall became a battlefield.