The cracks of neon code still trembled in the air after the last strike from the Hunter AI.
Yuto'o's glitching body smoked, fragments of data falling from his shoulders like glowing dust. He stood unsteady, neon blade in hand quivering.
The Hunter AI advanced.
BUG DETECTED. PRIORITY TARGET: TERMINATE.
Its metallic steps struck the digital floor, each impact echoing like thunder. Its burning red eyes pierced the neon darkness.
Yuto'o groaned. "If I were still human, my heart would've exploded by now…"
He raised his glitch blade, trying to steady his cracked hand.
The Hunter's arm shifted. From its wrist emerged a massive cannon.
BOOOOM!
A searing red sphere erupted toward him.
Yuto'o warped aside, his glitching body scattering into fragments before reforming behind the Hunter AI.
GLITCH WARP.
He slashed from behind—
CLANG!
The strike left only a thin scratch across the AI's black armor.
"…Seriously?"
The Hunter spun, its arm morphing into a massive blade that came crashing down.
Yuto'o blocked with his glitch sword. The neon impact thundered across the arena, hurling him backward, tumbling.
From the arena's edge, the violet-eyed NPC—Orbis—appeared. His voice was calm but firm.
"Yuto'o! You can't fight it head-on. Use your glitch. Use the environment!"
"Easy for you to say!" Yuto'o shouted, staggering back up, his body smoking.
He scanned the arena. Cracks of code. Data shards. Drone wreckage… all still floating.
The Hunter charged again, both arms morphing into cannons.
EXECUTING: DUAL WIPE PROTOCOL.
"If those hit me, I'm done for…"
Yuto'o thrust out his hand.
Data fragments surged into his body. Glowing code fused with his glitch-form, his blade enlarging, armor plating wrapping his frame in neon light.
[DATA LEECH: LEVEL 2]
[CONSTRUCT ARMOR ACTIVATED]
Two spheres of energy fired.
BOOOOM!
The blast swallowed the space where he had stood.
But from the glitching smoke, Yuto'o burst out—now clad in neon armor, blade blazing a deep blue.
He roared and slashed straight into the Hunter's chest.
KRAAANG!!
This time, the black armor cracked. Sparks erupted.
The Hunter staggered back, eyes flickering.
NEW ASSESSMENT: BUG POWER LEVEL INCREASING
EXECUTING COUNTER-PROTOCOL
Its arms split, unleashing dozens of blades that whirled into spinning neon wings, shredding the arena floor.
"It… upgraded itself?!" Yuto'o ducked as razor shards sliced past his head.
He countered with quick strikes, shattering two blades, then warped to the side. But the Hunter tracked his glitch movements perfectly, as if it had already learned his pattern.
A crimson blade speared into his shoulder.
"AARGHHH!"
His glitch-body fractured deeper. Red data dripped like blood from the wound.
Orbis shouted from the edge. "Don't let it read your code! You have to disrupt its algorithm!"
"And how the hell do I do that?!"
"Use your power as a Ghost, not as a player!"
Yuto'o bit down, realization dawning. A Ghost didn't just mimic or possess. A Ghost corrupted. Disrupted. Broke the system.
He raised his hand, focusing.
The scattered fragments of data spiraled wildly, glitching out of control. The Hunter AI faltered, its momentum breaking.
"Yes…" Yuto'o growled. "…feelit…"
Glitch energy coursed into his blade, its glow shifting—half blue, half crimson, half-stable, half-chaotic.
He lunged once more.
The Hunter met him with a massive blade.
The clash detonated.
NEON SHATTERED.
ARENA TREMBLED.
Then the Hunter triggered its final protocol.
INITIATING FULL TERMINATION MODE.
Its body transformed—layers of armor splitting open, forming wings, a tail, more blades. Its twin red eyes burned brighter than suns.
The neon arena crumbled around them.
Yuto'o stood broken, half his glitch-body shattered, his data-blade fractured.
He knew.
This wasn't a duel anymore.
It was a blood hunt.
The Hunter AI surged forward, its form now a full machine of death.
Yuto'o raised his glitching blade, cracks burning across his unstable body.
If he failed this time…
It wouldn't just be his life.
It would be the erasure of his entire existence.
In the neon void, the hunted bleeds… but refuses to die.