May 3, 06:00 AM
One and a half days had passed since the roof of the abandoned slaughterhouse collapsed, killing 40 Slasher members as they suffocated under tons of metal and rubble.
The survivors, scattered across the city like prey, had little time to process their loss.
In the heart of Momo City, in a dilapidated warehouse that stank of oil and rot, over 30 gangsters huddled together.
Their eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, their hands twitching at every sound. Every shadow seemed alive, every creak in the floorboards a signal that he was near.
"We've set the traps. Tonight, we bring the Blue Demon down," said Marion, the Slasher lieutenant, his scarred face pale under the flickering light. He was sweating, his fingers nervously tapping against his holstered pistol.
But nobody was convinced.
"You think traps can stop that monster?" another gangster whispered. His eyes darted around the room as though the walls themselves were about to come alive and devour him.
"SHUT UP!" Marion shouted, though his own voice trembled. "He bleeds like any of us. Just stay sharp, and stick to the plan."
The others nodded but their expressions were hollow. Each of them knew what awaited.
Suddenly, there was a loud thud. The door swung open, and everyone pointed their guns.
Nothing. Just the wind.
Then, the lights flickered.
"Don't fucking move," Marion whispered, gripping his gun so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Thud
Another sound. This time, louder.
"Shit...he's here," someone whispered.
A man near the back dropped to his knees, eyes bulging as he gasped for air. His face turned red, veins bulging from his forehead.
Blood began to seep from his eyes and nose, a thin trail of crimson spilling onto the floor. His body collapsed, twitching like a broken puppet, his life draining away.
"Holy fuck!" one of the gangsters screamed, backing away. But it was already too late.
The Blue Demon was in the room.
Thud. Thud.
The lights blinked, casting long shadows across the walls, and there he stood—a terrifying figure, cloaked in darkness.
His mask, blue and streaked with blood-red lines, glowed faintly in the dim light. His eyes were cold, dead.
"Is this it?" Togiri's voice was soft, almost disappointed. His words, however, were laced with contempt. "This is the best you could offer? Pathetic."
Suddenly, Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Gunfire erupted, bullets flying in every direction as the gangsters unleashed a storm of lead. But their aim was wild, frantic. Togiri moved like a shadow, dodging every shot with an eerie fluidity, his body vanishing and reappearing in the blink of an eye.
Rhythm Echo.
Multiple afterimages of Togiri appeared, surrounding the gangsters. Each one moved in sync, creating an overwhelming illusion. The gangsters couldn't tell where the real Blue Demon was.
One afterimage blurred forward. A man screamed as it ripped his throat open with a single swipe of a blade. Blood sprayed in all directions, the sound of gurgling mixing with panicked shouts.
The Blue Demon moved in for the kill, his real body finally appearing behind one of the gangsters. He reached out with his bare hand and grasped the man's head.
"Did you really think you could escape me?" the blue demon whispered in the man's ear. He applied pressure, his fingers sinking into the man's skull like it was made of clay.
With a sickening crack, the skull caved in, blood and brain matter gushing out as the man's body convulsed violently before going limp.
The blue demon released him, letting the corpse slump to the floor.
"Too easy," he muttered, stepping over the bloodied remains. His heart raced, not from fear, but from exhilaration. The thrill of the kill was intoxicating.
Another gangster lunged at him with a knife, screaming wildly. The blue demon sidestepped effortlessly, catching the man's wrist in midair.
"Is that all you have?" The blue demon asked coldly. "How does it feel to be so...helpless?"
With a swift motion, he twisted the man's wrist until the bone snapped with a sharp crack. The man shrieked in agony, dropping the knife. The demon didn't let him fall. Instead, he hoisted him into the air with inhuman strength.
"Let's see what you're made of."
Without hesitation, he plunged his hand into the man's abdomen, fingers tearing through muscle and flesh like wet paper.
He grabbed hold of the man's intestines and yanked them out with one brutal pull. The gangster's screams became wet, gurgling sounds as blood poured from his mouth.
"You're already dead," The blue demon whispered as he watched the life drain from the man's eyes. "Your body just hasn't realized it yet."
He dropped the mutilated body, entrails trailing behind like a grotesque ribbon. Blood splattered across his boots, pooling on the floor.
'The Existence Points I gain from this are several times more than usual. I hope those bastards who put me into this world are watching. I will repay the favor a hundredfold, and they will die in a more horrific way than my loved ones did.'
The blue demon started slaughtering everyone except one. Marion, now drenched in the blood of his comrades, tried to back away, but his legs wouldn't obey him.
He stumbled, his back hitting a stack of crates. "Please… please," Marion begged, his voice barely audible.
The blue demon turned slowly, fixing his cold gaze on the last remaining man. "Begging? You think that will save you?" he asked, his voice dripping with disdain. "You were all so brave a moment ago. What happened?"
The blue demons blood covered face was directly before Marions face "Did you listen to the begging the children you trafficked, women you raped or old shop owners who you beat up for money?"
Marion whimpered, his gun slipping from his trembling hands. "I-I didn't mean for any of this! Please! I'll leave the city! I'll—" Marion avaded the Blue Demons gaze and looked down.
Thud
Before Marion could finish, Togiri was upon him. He grabbed Marco's face, forcing him to look up. The masked face of the Blue Demon stared down at him, unblinking.
"You wanted to kill me, didn't you?" Togiri hissed, his voice a venomous whisper. "Now, I want you to understand just how powerless you truly are and how powerless your victims were"
With a sudden, vicious motion, Togiri slammed Marion's head into the floor. The impact was so violent that the concrete cracked beneath him.
Marion screamed as his skull fractured, blood oozing from the wound.
But Togiri didn't stop.
He lifted Marion's head again and slammed it down, again and again, each impact more brutal than the last. Blood sprayed in all directions, bits of bone and flesh flying across the room.
Marion's screams became weak gurgles as his face turned into a bloody, unrecognizable pulp.
"You're not even worth my time," Togiri said, standing over the lifeless body.
With the last of the gangsters dead, Togiri surveyed the room. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, blood running in thick rivulets, pooling at his feet. The once dimly lit warehouse was now bathed in crimson.
"It's always the same," he muttered to himself, wiping the blood from his hands onto his cloak. "They all think they are invincible when crushing weaker people, but they are just trash.... I am also not better"
A low, eerie hum filled the air as Togiri summoned the Phantom Book. His Nen aura surged, filling the room with an oppressive energy.
He ripped a page from the book, and from it, a paper copy of himself emerged. The Phantom Warrior stood silently, its hollow eyes staring at the carnage.
"You're a pale imitation of me," Togiri said, glancing at the phantom.
---
Half a Day Later
In his lavish office, Zeik, the leader of the Slashers, slammed his fist down on the desk, his face red with rage.
"Motherfucking bastard!" he roared, sending his glass of whiskey flying against the wall. The room was already a disaster—shattered furniture, broken bottles, and papers soaked in blood.
"I told you this would happen!" he screamed at Garrick, his right-hand man, a massive brute covered in tattoos. "You let him kill my men! You let that freak humiliate me!"
Garrick stood there silently, his massive hands clenched into fists. "Boss… we underestimated him. But we won't make that mistake again. Elara's on her way."
Zeik snarled, grabbing a folder from the desk and throwing it at Garrick. Inside were photographs—images of dead bodies, Slasher members, arranged in a gruesome display. Their corpses had been used to spell out a single message:
"TONIGHT OUTSKIRTS"
Zeik's face twisted in fury. "I want this fucker dead. Call Elara. Get everyone together. We are bringing the whole city if we have to."
Zeik left the office in a hurry.
-----
Out of the city, in a remote location where only sparse weeds grew from the barren ground, Togiri sat on a weathered chair, sipping tea.
"This open space and this tea *Sip* make for a perfect moment. The tea from the system is worth paying 1 Shop Point for." The typically frugal, stoic, and cold Togiri seemed unusually at ease.
Today, he had exerted himself heavily as pest control, amassing a substantial amount of Shop Points.
Existence Points (EP): 441,302
Shop Points (SP): 3,891
Reviewer Points (RP): 0
"Today I earned nearly 4 thousand Shop Points. With 4 thousand Shop Points, I can exchange them for eight Top Tier body-tempering pills."
As Togiri awaited the arrival of The Slasher gang, he enjoyed several cups of tea and meditated, replenishing his Aura to its maximum capacity.
Nightfall
Togiri opened his eyes and retrieved his mask and bullet-riddled cloak from his inventory.
Vroom
The distant roar of dozens of approaching vehicles grew louder. @I will miss you, Master@ Seven remarked playfully.
"Zeik should have at most a dozen people left. Unless there's a traitor within the Phantom Society, their intel should be accurate." Togiri's phone buzzed.
"Yes?" Kaizen quickly spoke "Master, the Slasher gang leader has formed an alliance with another gang. We and the others from Squad One are en route." Togiri smirked slightly beneath his mask.
"Don't worry about it. Just ensure that Squads Two and Three are ready for cleanup afterward."
Dozens of cars arrived and halted 50 meters from him. A mob of armed individuals emerged, brandishing a mix of firearms.
Most carried one or two guns, but many wielded heavy, fully automatic machine guns.
Togiri swiftly accessed his system window and adjusted his Conjuration Affinity towards Enhancement, increasing it to 80 percent.
'Now my Ken will be stronger, require less Aura, and be more efficient overall. Seven, does the system have a feature to count enemies?'
@Yes. It costs a hundred thousand Existence Points and can detect enemies within a 300-meter (1,000 feet) radius@
'Togiri considered the long-term value and decided to purchase it.
Existence Points (EP): 341,302
Shop Points (SP): 3,891
Reviewer Points (RP): 0
'Activate enemy detection and display it.' A system panel materialized before Togiri.
Enemy Detection:
264 humans: 0.5 ☆
6 Nen users:
Zeik: 1.5 ☆
Garrick: 2 ☆
Elara: 1 ☆
2 Unknown: 1 ☆
Unknown: 1.5 ☆
Togiri stared at the system panel in confusion. 'What do these stars represent?' [Combat Power] His eyes widened.
He had purchased the system function merely to count the enemies; he hadn't anticipated the system's capability to analyze their combat power.
[Does the host wish to know his combat power?] 'Yes,' Togiri replied quickly as he observed the gang leaders approaching, ready to deliver their villainous speeches.
[The host's Combat Power is 4 Stars] 'What do these stars mean—wait, how does my strength compare to theirs? Will I survive?'
[Unless all 6 Nen users engage simultaneously, the host should not suffer any fatal injuries]
Togiri's smile turned vicious. He had no patience for the system's explanations; he was only interested in whether he stood a chance.
In the worst-case scenario, Togiri had a backup bunker a few miles away. He pondered how strange it was that the system had its own A.I., even though Seven was supposed to assist him with system navigation.
Seven observed through Togiri's eyes as the enemies gathered before his master. Seven spent most of his time with his new body, either reading or watching anime inside Togiri's black void-like consciousness.
Zeik roared, "Blue Demon! Today is the last day you'll walk this earth. No one will remember you! The Blue Demon who terrorized all gangs in Momo City will be forgotten."
The other leader, of a gang similar in size to the Slashers from days past, began his speech. His eyes and face were not angry but greedy.
"Blue Demon! If you allow me to implant a parasitic Nen on you, you can join me. I'll spare you and make you the vice leader of the Asura gang." Zeik cast a betrayed look at the Asura leader.
"Fine. I don't want to die just yet," replied the Blue Demon in a low voice. The Asura gang leader slowly approached him, flanked by two men and surrounded by armed gangsters.
The Asura leader halted a few meters before the Blue Demon. "Enter Zetsu. I fear you might reconsider."
"Whatever it takes," responded the Blue Demon, sealing all his Aura nodes and entering Zetsu.
The Asura gang leader stood directly before the Blue Demon, surrounded by dozens of men with firearms, flanked by the other two Nen users.
He summoned an insect resembling a centipede. "You must swallow this. After it enters your body, it will wrap around your heart. If you betray me, you will die."
The Blue Demon took the centipede, opened his mouth, and began to insert it. Suddenly, he stopped and closed his mouth.
"You were right. I did change my mind." The Blue Demon struck, his punch exploding the Asura gang leader's head and splattering brain matter onto the man behind him.
Before the Nen user to the Blue Demon's right could react, the left Nen user had his chest punctured through.
"YOU BASTARD!" roared the right Nen user, attacking the Blue Demon. Crack. His fist shattered upon impact.
"I didn't even use Nen. How weak are you?" Togiri unleashed his bright orange Nen and slashed with his hand, cleaving the remaining Nen user in two. His insides sprayed across several nearby gangsters.
The surrounding gangsters watched in horror and panic. Some even soiled themselves.
The Blue Demon proceeded to slaughter all the men around him. Whether their firearms were powerful or they attempted to flee, they all perished within moments in horrifying ways.
'I earned over two thousand Shop Points for the two weaker Nen users, and the leader was worth just over two thousand five hundred. He was worth more than the other two combined. Regular humans are usually worth around 12-25.'
Togiri observed the hundreds of people a few dozen meters away, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he saw the countless black numbers floating above their heads.
"Zeik! You know what? Killing feels amazing, and being strong feels even better! You should try it in your NEXT LIFE!" The Blue Demon lunged toward the mob, laughing maniacally like a madman.
Body parts, intestines, and torrents of blood erupted into the air as Togiri butchered the criminals, laughing hysterically.
---
Somewhere in a dense forest, a boar collapsed.
A young man in tattered clothes wiped sweat from his forehead.
His blue eyes sparkled even more brightly in the dark night. "I wonder what Togiri is doing right now? ... Probably training, haha. I hope you catch up soon," he chuckled with a warm smile that illuminated the night.
The young man lifted the boar and began running. "If I don't hurry, Master will beat me again."
The gangsters didn't put up a fight.
The Blue Demon's name spread nightmares with terrifying might.
In carnage and chaos, the city's shadows danced under the moon's pale light.
The bloodstains marked the end of a merciless plight.
Thus ended the Bloody Night.