That night, the Dark Server pulsed crimson.
Neon streets glowed with flickering billboards, black markets bustled as usual—yet a strange silence pressed over the city. Every avatar froze mid-trade, eyes turning toward a single group.
Yuto'o, Orbis, and Yuuki stepped out of the portal.
Whispers slithered like poison.
"That's him…"
"The Circuit Ghost… his bounty's twenty million now."
"If we catch him, our lives change forever."
Suddenly, from holographic rooftops, shadows appeared. Dozens of bounty hunters leapt down, surrounding the street.
Some wore full armor. Some were half-animal, digital hybrids. Others, glitch-samurai with burning neon blades.
A tall man in a dragon helm shouted.
"Yuto'o! Surrender. The bounty is ours!"
Yuto'o raised his sword, eyes blazing red and blue.
"I'll never surrender. You want the bounty? Take it with my blood."
The hunters charged.
Orbis instantly raised a violet barrier, shielding Yuto'o from a volley of data arrows.
"I can hold them off for a while, but you need to fight fast!"
Yuto'o warped aside, slashing through two hunters in a blink. Their data shattered like glass.
But three more struck from behind. His glitch blade caught their neon steel, but cracks ripped deeper into his body.
"Aghh!"
Yuuki stood unmoving in the middle of the street.
Neon blades rained toward her.
She raised one hand.
"Phantom Override."
Every weapon froze midair, suspended like statues.
Yuuki strode forward. Her prosthetic shifted into a neon whip. With a single sweep, five hunters were erased instantly.
She spun, her weapon morphing into a colossal blade, cleaving ten more in a single strike.
A storm of data blood drenched the street.
The remaining hunters recoiled in terror.
"She… she's the legend… Yuuki!"
The tension spiked.
From the shadows of an alley, another force emerged. Tattooed avatars marched in rows, serrated neon blades glowing at their sides.
Across their chests blazed the emblem of a bleeding fang.
Dark Tooth.
Grim, their leader, stepped forward. His digital skull helm glowed red, his body towering above them all.
He laughed low, voice rumbling.
"Circuit Ghost. And Yuuki. Didn't think I'd see the two most hunted ghosts standing side by side."
Yuto'o tensed, blade ready. "Grim…"
Grim raised his serrated blade, its teeth humming with glitch.
"That twenty-million bounty is sweet. But finding Yuuki here… that's worth far more."
His crimson eyes burned.
"Dark Tooth won't let this chance slip away."
Yuuki stepped forward, face like ice.
"If you want to try, Grim… then try. But you know who'll fall."
The Dark Server held its breath.
The bounty hunters slowly backed away, realizing they were now caught between a living legend and a warlord.
Grim lowered his head slightly, blade glowing, his grin savage.
"Interesting. Let's see if legends can die tonight."
Yuuki gripped her neon whip, glitch aura trembling like a storm.
The neon streets of the Dark Server fell silent, the only sound the pounding of raw data.
Grim stood tall, his serrated blade vibrating with a dark glitching aura.
Yuuki faced him without fear, her prosthetic whip gleaming violet-pink.
Two legends of different worlds, now staring each other down.
Grim struck first. With a wild swing, his blade cleaved through a massive hologram billboard, shards raining down like glass. His follow-up slash roared straight for Yuuki.
KRANNNGG!
Yuuki merely raised her arm. Her prosthetic shifted into a short blade, blocking his attack as though it were nothing but a twig.
Sparks sprayed across the alley, the neon floor trembling beneath them.
"Too slow."
She pushed lightly. Grim's massive frame staggered back two steps, the ground cracking under his weight.
Grim roared, crimson eyes blazing. He unleashed a storm of slashes, serrated steel raining down like thunder.
But Yuuki moved like a phantom.
Every swing cut only shadows. Her body flickered, vanishing a heartbeat before each strike, reappearing at Grim's flank.
"Phantom Step."
He swung left—she was already to his right. He struck right—she appeared behind him.
Grim's growl twisted into rage. "You—!"
In a blink, Yuuki's neon whip coiled around his blade, halting it inches from his skull helm.
Her smirk cut like glass.
"If I wanted to erase you… you'd be gone already."
She released the whip, stepping back with calm grace.
Grim froze, his breaths heavy, crimson eyes burning with both fury and admiration.
Then, he laughed—a low, guttural sound.
"Ha… ha ha ha! This is why you're a legend, Yuuki. Why I never stopped chasing your name."
He turned his gaze on Yuto'o.
"But the boy… that's another matter. A newborn Circuit Ghost. His bounty's still ripe."
Yuuki stepped between them, her voice like frost.
"If you want him… you'll go through me first. And you know, Grim—you're not enough."
The tension coiled tighter. Dark Tooth braced to strike. The bounty hunters held their breath.
But Grim only raised his hand. His gang instantly retreated, vanishing into the alley's shadows.
"Not tonight. But remember this, Circuit Ghost… we'll meet again. And then, nothing will stop me."
Yuuki lowered her weapon, her face unmoved.
"I'll be waiting."
Yuto'o, still bleeding data, could only stare at the two legends. Inside him, his resolve burned hotter—he refused to remain a burden forever.
Grim's footsteps faded into the neon dark, but his voice lingered like a curse:
"The real war has only begun."
And beside Yuto'o, Yuuki stood tall—her aura towering, unreachable.
To live as a legend—that was the gulf he had to cross.
One war ends, but a greater one begins—the ghost must rise, or be erased.