As the festival cheer went on outside, the members of the merchants council were enjoying their own party inside a private room in the headquarters.
They laughed and cheered as they retold stories of their travels, as they did every year on the second night of the festival.
That was when a drunk Tanaka raised his cup and said, "To another prosperous year for Toa!"
Cheers erupted before he said, "We started off as just a dirty farming village, and look at us now, on the road to becoming the metropolis of the east."
"With the favour of the shrine and the protection of the Ember Snowflake, there's nothing that can stand in our way."
"I think you're forgetting about someone," a voice said from behind him.
He turned to see that it was Keitaro Kobayashi, arched over by the door with a large axe-looking weapon that was almost as tall as him. Its hilt and blade were both tied with white cloth.
"Master Kobayashi!" he yelled, startled. "What are you doing here?"
"Before I answer your question, you really should answer mine," he said as he walked into the room and slid the door shut behind him.
"Of course I couldn't forget about you," he said, followed by an awkward laugh. "I was sure that I named the shrine, didn't I?"
"Right," Keitaro said, his voice skeptical. "I leave you alone for a few months, and now I'm suddenly forgotten. What is that you say, out of sight, out of mind?"
"Of course not," Tanaka said. "The festival cheer just threw us a bit off, is all. There is no way we could forget you when we are in our right senses."
"Is that so?" he said as he eyed them all one by one, but they all turned away, unable to keep up with his piercing glare.
"If I may ask, Master," Tanaka said, trying to be as gentle as possible, "how did you sneak past the guard? Not that I'm saying you aren't welcome, but such a breach could reflect poorly on the security of this place."
"That's quite the sharp tongue you've got there," he replied. "I slipped past your guard, but if you want me to alert them of my presence, I would be happy to, though I guess it doesn't matter at this point."
"I didn't mean to offend," Tanaka said while bowing. "As the head of the council, asking such questions is my duty."
"That's enough," he said while pointing the axe at his bowed head. "Let's cut to the chase."
"You asked why I came here, so I'll tell you," he continued. "I've come to litter."
"You couldn't mean," Tanaka said as he rose back up, "us?"
"Finally, something useful came out of your mouth," Kobayashi said as he shifted his hold on the axe.
"Come now, Master. I'm sure there's something we can work out, isn't there?" Tanaka said with his hands shaking.
"And what good will come from me listening to anything you have to say?" he asked. "What does loyalty to you offer that I desire?"
"I... uh, I... I didn't—"
"Don't bother," he said, cutting him off. "This isn't personal, but it's what loyalty demands."
The old man tripped as he tried to step back and spilled the gourd of booze onto the mat. They all shared the same frightened expression, but there was nothing they could do, all the while asking, "How did it come to this?"
Looking down at their pitiful faces, he felt no remorse. He unwrapped the cloth on the blade and held it high, saying, "I'll make it quick, so don't struggle."
They clenched their eyelids shut as they accepted the inevitable, and he swung, but he stopped midway through.
Tanaka opened his eyes, confused, when he saw him stand up straight and turn his attention to the door.
When he and the others turned to the door, they saw a shadow of a silhouette behind it. In the next moment, the door slid open slowly and deliberately, revealing a cloaked figure from behind its frame.
"What is this?" the man said. "Am I in the right room?"
"It depends," Kobayashi replied. "What are you looking for?"
He held the hilt of the sword by his waist as he said, "I don't know. You tell me."
"How did you get past the guards?" he asked. "Did you kill them with that sword you're flashing?"
"I wouldn't stoop so low," he replied. "All I did was convince them that it was in their best interest to let me through."
"And how did you do that?"
"I just narrowed down my presence into a thin layer surrounding me so that even the ordinary guards could get a sense of it," he said. "Thanks to it, their judgment gave way to fear, and with a few calming words, they let me in easy."
"A few of them did try to cause some trouble, so I had to put them down," he said as their eyes met. "I'm sure you understand."
"So you're one of them, huh?" Kobayashi said. "I've been waiting to get my hands on you meddling rats."
"So you know who I am?" he asked.
"I don't so much as know who you are, but I know your intentions," he said.
"And here we were thinking that we were sneaky while you knew about us all along," he said with a faint smirk.
"It happens to the best of us," Kobayashi replied as he tightened his grip. "So what now?"
"Maybe we can talk this out like mature people, but I think that would be too much to ask," he said as he tightened his grip too.
"So are you going to resort to violence?"
"How else can I save the lives of those helpless geezers behind you?" he said.
"That's fine by me," Kobayashi said. "You and your group are even higher on our list of priorities than them. I can catch them whenever I want after I'm through with you."
"Come at me, then," he said as silence took over the room.
To the councillors, every breath seemed like noise as they watched, waiting for who would make the first move. Whatever the cause of what was happening to them, this stranger was their salvation, and any hope they had at survival rested on him.
Their standoff continued until one small change set it off. A spark in Kobayashi's eye that turned it green, along with the skin on the right end of his face lighting up as if set on fire.
This change made him let his guard down in confusion, and that was when he shot. The concurring series of slashes led to Kobayashi being flung out of the wall and into the courtyard behind the building.
He landed effortlessly on the ground despite falling from the first story, but his focus was elsewhere.
"What is happening?" he thought. "Why the hell is my disguise peeling off? Did something happen to the mistress?"
A big portion of his face had changed, along with much of his hair, leaving a mix of black and green.
Looking up at the wall he had burst through, he saw him with his cloak mostly torn, revealing the signature uniform of the Ashura Samurai beneath.
He leapt down from the hole in the wall to the ground with his sword in hand and turned to face him.
"You're not looking so good there," he said. "I hope I didn't hit you too hard."
"As if," he replied as he picked up his axe. "But that was quite the mean swing, I'll admit, but it could be faster."
"You tore up my cloak pretty bad," he said as he took off what was left of it. "Now I'm going to get an earful because of you."
"That should be the least of your worries," Kobayashi said as he raised it and pointed it at him.
Looking at its unusually dark shade, he said, "That axe of yours, it's lighter than it looks, and that colour, what kind of metal is that?"
"You've got a sharp eye, kid. This is made out of a high-grade Zanix alloy."
"Zanix? Never heard of it."
"It's a precious metal back in the djinn realm," he replied. "It has the special ability to improve its quality relative to the amount of Source energy it's exposed to."
"So the longer a fighter uses it and the more skilled they are, the better it gets."
"Is that why it's so dark, then?"
"Yeah, as its quality improves, it darkens from its original silver shade until it's pitch black," he replied. "When that happens, you earn the right to give it a name."
"Is that right?" he said. "I hope you weren't planning on giving yourself a name, were you?"
"So what if I was?"
Looking at Kobayashi's strange new appearance, he thought to himself, "Did Takae miss something?"
"I can't buy any more time, so I guess I have to face him as he is," he thought. "At least now his presence isn't concealed like before."
He tightened his grip on his sword and watched as he stopped for a second to think of something.
"I was expecting more of you, but I guess the rest of them must be at the shrine right now," he said. "I'm surprised that you came here alone."
"What choice did I have?" he replied.
"You're quite interesting, kid. What's your name?" Kobayashi said.
"I'm Izumi Yamada," he replied. "And you?"
"You can call me Zeiros."
"That's enough with the chit-chat," Izumi said as he eased into his stance. "I have a job to do, so let's wrap this up quick."
"There are people waiting for me."
Zeiros clenched his axe tighter as he said, "Looks like they're going to keep waiting for a while."