"Psh!" The young man scoffed, exerting his own force as he threw her blade back, "As if!"
Allen had been on top of the Heavenly Tribune's Most Wanted Hunters list for years. They had taken over control of the Hunter's Association after the Zodiacs vanished.
He was barely twelve when he suddenly increased from rank fifteen in the Awakener Leaderboards to number one. The Heavenly Tribune attempted to bring him under their control but failed.
Suddenly, he found himself backed against a wall and surrounded on all three sides as The Tribune besieged his guild. Allen would spend the rest of his teenage years in a constant war.
"Today is a very special day!" He yelled with a grin, throwing a punch that unleashed an explosion as it collided with Ichiko's katana.
"On that, we agree!" She growled, digging her heel into the ground and spinning, unleashing a vertical slash, cherry blossom petal following the blade's trajectory as they appeared.
"It's the day you die!!" She shouted, bringing the uchigatana down diagonally, catching the air as it created a distortion from the tip of the blade and thrusting forward.
Allen caught the katana with his bare hands as the two spectral gauntlets appeared and grabbed the blade around his forearms, chuckling as he gritted his teeth, "No, that's not it!"
The distortion unleashed a powerful shockwave, colliding with the slowly falling cherry blossoms as they imploded, releasing hundreds of wind blades.
The slashes rained down on the young man relentlessly, destroying his coat and revealing his chiseled body. Hundreds of scars appeared across his skin as he gritted his teeth.
"No..." He grinned, spitting blood onto the ground as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "I've been fighting you dogs of The Tribune for six years now...
Today..." He groaned, falling to his knee and placing his hand on it, blood flowing from the countless wounds on his body. He grinned as he raised his head, "Is my birthday..!"
Camille and Serenity landed behind Ichiko as she stepped forward, glaring down at him, "By decree of the Heavenly Tribune, you are hereby executed."
Blood covered the young man's face as he smiled at her with an unflinching resolve. She turned the blade and brought it down, decapitating him.
She flung the blade forcefully, splattering blood onto the ground before twirling the katana around her, sheathing it, and turning to Camille and Serenity.
"The Elders will be pleased to hear the good news." Cami said, nodding her head slightly.
"They better be!" Serenity exclaimed, "This bastard killed three trinities before us!"
Ichiko sighed as she stared toward the stars in the twilight sky, "Finally... After two years... It's over..."
"Congratulations on becoming Number One!" Cami said with a smile, patting Ichiko's shoulder.
She turned and looked out over the hills. Dozens of Medical Hunters rushed over, tending to the wounded as light auras illuminated the darkening area.
"How many did we lose this time?" She asked, turning to Serenity as she forcefully chuckled, scratching her cheek with a finger.
"W-well, only about eight of our B Ranks were killed..." She explained, "Only two got injured, and we lost sixty C Rank Hunters with over a hundred being healed right now."
"That's not too bad!" Cami exclaimed, futile in her attempt to ease the rising tension on top of the hill.
"We lost three hundred and twenty D Rankers with another five hundred injured and waiting for their turn to be healed." Serenity sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.
"And..?" Ichiko asked, staring at the crimson witch blankly, resting her hand on the hilt of her katana.
"No one cares about F Rankers." Serenity crossed her arms over her chest, "We don't even take their losses into account."
"How many?" She asked again, turning her head as she stared out over the dead valley.
"All of them." She sighed, rolling her eyes at the question, turning away as she stared at Allen's lifeless body, "The numbers are acceptable for them."
"All because of his arrogance..." Camille sighed, walking over as she knelt down, picking up the head, and dropping it into a burlap sack.
"Soon... They won't be able to restrict us, and we will finally be able to put an end to all of this senseless fighting..." Ichiko muttered, staring up as a gentle rain fell across the valley.
***
A young boy with shaggy black hair ran through the concourse of the mall, panting heavily as he looked behind him, frightened as he ran away.
A shadow darted between the shadows cast by the moonlight, chasing after the young boy, crawling and slithering along the walls and ceiling to avoid the lunar lighting.
Khrista watched as the young boy dived underneath a table and crawled below a bench before sneaking away, thinking he avoided his pursuer as he turned the corner.
He had created a maze of clutter, tables, benches, and large debris to slow down people, but none of this protected him from the naga as she continued to hunt him.
The young boy turned to run away, chuckling to himself as he crashed against a sturdy body and fell to the ground, wincing in pain. His eyes widened in shock as he looked up at a man with two swords over his shoulders.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as Sam picked him up by the back of his collar, lifting him into the air. The young boy started kicking and flailing around, unable to escape from the grip.
"Quit your squirming, Allen." Samael answered coldly, gripping the back of his shirt firmly as he held him just above the ground and casually walked through the mall.
He entered the arcade and navigated through the maze of games before reaching the secret entrance and activating it, much to Allen's amazement.
"Hey!" Allen exclaimed as he was flung onto the small bed, scrambling forward as he bombarded Sam with questions, "Who are you? How do you know my name? How did you know the entrance to my secret base?"
"I just do; now, be quiet." Samael sighed, sitting down in the large and plush gamer chair, facing the young boy and reaching his hand out as a window appeared.
╔══Soul Thief target available! Would the User like to copy the Ability [Gamer God System]? [Yes/No]══╝
'Yes.' Sam thought as the window vanished and a pair of windows reappeared.
╔══[??? Gamer System] acquired! Unable to copy Ability identically and received a reduced version.══╝
╔══Before [Gamer System] can be activated, please select a difficulty: [Noob/Rookie/Expert/Master/God]══╝
'Obviously God.' Sam thought, but suddenly, the window distorted as static ran across the panel. The words changed into weird symbols and transformed into words he couldn't understand.
He sucked on his teeth as he stared at the five options before selecting the option on the further right where 'God' used to be, and the window vanished with his Ability information appearing.
[Unique Ability: Insanity Gamer System acquired.]
[Rank: S]
[This Ability has numerous effects depending on the difficulty selected. Insanity Gamer has the following effects: Passive Effect 1: Creates a system that simplifies the User's abilities with three functions. Passive Effect 2: Daily, there is a 10% chance for a quest to appear at Sunrise. Completing the quest will provide rewards based on the challenge. Passive Effect 3: Difficulty bonus - Increases quality of all items received by 1 stage. Passive Effect 4: Difficulty bonus - Increases all system rewards by 100%.]