"And are you just going to wait for him to kill you? What about the countless lives drained of their Taiji, their very essence stripped away? Do you think that wouldn't be fatal? Curiosity, Orenji, can get you killed," Yukira's voice cut through the air like tempered steel, each word honed by the gravity of her warning.
"You can't be sure it's him..."
"Orenji!" Yukira's voice cracked like thunder, a command that shattered the air and left no room for dissent. The force of it made him flinch, silencing his protest before it could take shape. She sighed, a sound thick with exhaustion, the kind that seeps into your bones after carrying the world's weight on your shoulders. When she spoke again, her tone was softer, though no less firm. "Weeks before the Foundation breach, the signs were there—Taiji levels plummeting across the board, affecting civilians, even the claives."
Orenji's eyes sparked with sudden realization, but Yukira raised a hand to halt his words, her expression one of exasperation mixed with weariness. "Hold on," she said, her voice tinged with a bitterness that dulled her usual sharp edge. "The decline didn't spiral out of control until after the Kaiju's breach. This isn't just a threat to regular people—it's killing them. Unless you've got some brilliant new insight, 'Renji, I'm treating this as the threat it is."
Her words hung in the air, not with anger but with a calm, unshakable resolve. Without waiting for his response, she turned away, her footsteps echoing with the same fierce determination that propelled her forward.
Orenji lingered for a moment, Yukira's words sinking into him like a cold wind that left him shivering. "Man, I really shouldn't have hacked into their servers," he muttered, the gnawing edge of regret and dread clawing at his mind. Snapping out of his thoughts, he hurried after her. "Hey, wait up!" He called, his voice betraying the worry he tried to keep at bay. He knew Yukira—when she committed, it was with everything she had. There was no room for hesitation or doubt.
Catching up to her, he added, "By the way, you seem to be forgetting this mission isn't just about us anymore."
As they passed an alleyway, the darkness itself seemed to come alive. An inky black tentacle shot out, moving with a speed that blurred the line between reality and nightmare. It coiled around Orenji's legs, yanking him off his feet and dragging him toward the shadows before he could even scream.
"Yukira!" His voice trembled, laced with raw panic as the alley's darkness closed in around him.
Yukira spun on her heel, her eyes wide with shock. "Shit—" The curse slipped from her lips as she darted after him, her heart hammering in her chest. She unleashed a flurry of fire from her hands, each burst a searing arrow aimed at the tendril that was dragging Orenji away, her desperation lending deadly precision to her attacks.
But the tentacle was too fast, slithering with a sinister grace that defied her flames. Orenji's screams echoed as he was pulled into the suffocating shadows, and without a second thought, Yukira plunged after him. The darkness swallowed her whole, pulling her into its depths.
Her breath caught in her throat as she was enveloped by the alley's oppressive gloom. "Renji...?" Her voice wavered, the word barely more than a whisper as it was swallowed by the silence. The night seemed to close in around her, too quickly, the last remnants of light devoured by an inky void. Shadows clung to the walls like malevolent spirits, pressing in from all sides, suffocating her with their oppressive weight.
Yukira clenched her fist and summoned a flame, the brief flare of light carving out a small, defiant space in the darkness. In that fleeting moment before the light extinguished, she saw them.
Their eyes gleamed with a bright, menacing amber, glowing with a predatory hunger.
Shadowdrakes—demons born of the abyss, their bodies twisted by darkness and malice. Towering figures with bulging, hateful eyes and mouths lined with razor-sharp teeth, their inky black skin was a void, absorbing the light and leaving only a sense of dread in its wake.
No one had ever captured a Shadowdrake, not even the Foundation. They were shadows incarnate, able to dematerialize into smoke and darkness, only to reform at will. Now, they were closing in, encircling her in a coordinated attack.
Yukira's pulse quickened, but she forced herself to stand tall. With a swift motion, she summoned another flame to her palm, casting a flickering light across the alley. The shadows seemed to retreat, but only for a moment. As her eyes darted around, a sudden movement caught her attention—a figure leaping toward her with inhuman speed.
She dodged on instinct, her body moving with the fluidity of a dancer and the precision of a warrior. In one seamless motion, she spun and lashed out with a powerful kick, aiming for the figure's retreating back, hoping to catch it off guard.
A sharp thud echoed as her foot made contact, but the sound that followed was not the satisfying impact of flesh against flesh. Instead, it was the crash of something unnatural—a splintering of brick and metal, more reminiscent of a structure breaking than a body.
It had dematerialized.
Frustration bubbled up within her as she charged at another figure, already beginning to fade into nothingness. Instead of landing a blow, she found herself crashing into a dumpster, her impatience making her moves reckless. She whirled around, her eyes darting to catch the shadow that had just flashed to her right, only to pivot swiftly when another darted to her left. Each turn, each twist, was a desperate attempt to confront the elusive threat that danced around her.
A sudden blow from behind sent Yukira stumbling forward. She whirled around with a fiery glare, her anger driving her to launch at it. The force sent the figure sprawling to the ground, both of them crashing heavily onto the pavement. As she grappled with her attacker, realization hit her like a lightning bolt—what she had thought was a threat was actually Orenji.
"Orenji!" She shrieked, a mixture of relief and anger flooding her voice.
"Oh, hey," he groaned, his voice tinged with pain.
For a brief moment, Yukira's controlled exterior cracked. "Dammit!" She muttered, relief thickening her voice as she winced at her own bruises.
Without missing a beat, she sprang upright, using Orenji's face as leverage to propel herself to her feet. With a sharp clap of her hands, she began her incantation. "Rikesho Clan's fire release," she intoned, her voice steady and powerful. "Guillotine Dragon Fire!"
Her fingers formed a seal at her lips, and she exhaled a stream of fire, controlled and precise. The flames arced around them in a swirling barrier, a cocoon of heat and light that enveloped both herself and Orenji, shielding them from the encroaching darkness.
The inferno roared, and Yukira could feel its heat, a living, breathing entity that pulsed with the knowledge of the creatures' greatest weakness. The Shadowdrakes would not dare cross the barrier she had forged.
Gasping for breath, Yukira watched as the creatures gathered beyond the ring of fire, their numbers growing by the second. Their eyes glinted with cruel anticipation, claws poised to strike the moment the flames waned. They were patient predators, knowing the fire couldn't last forever.
Yukira used the precious seconds she had bought to gather her strength, her mind already preparing for the battle to come.
"I can't believe this is really happening. Mauled by monsters—what a way to go," Orenji said, his voice tinged with dry humor, even in the face of death.
"Enough with the sarcasm. You want to see true rage?"
Yukira's voice cut through the tension like a knife, her determination unwavering as she extended her arms, palms facing outward. She stepped forward deliberately, her lips curling into a confident smile as her eyes blazed with fierce resolve. From her open hands, a glyph materialized, its ancient symbols glowing a vivid crimson, a testament to the raw, arcane power she wielded.
As the creatures surged through the flames, eyes wild with bloodlust, Yukira stood her ground, unyielding. With a swift, practiced motion, she fused the seals into a single point, the air around her crackling with energy. In one fluid movement, she drew her zanbato from it—a massive, obsidian blade etched with hieroglyphs as ancient as the power she commanded. The sword hummed with a deep, resonant power, as if acknowledging the fury of its mistress.
"Then let's get angry!!!" Yukira's voice rang out, fierce and unrelenting. Flames erupted along the blade, twisting and coiling like serpents ready to strike, eager to unleash their wrath. With a battle cry that echoed the strength of her Rikesho lineage, she swung the sword in a wide, powerful arc. The immense blade cleaved through the air with a fiery whoosh, sending a wave of fiery flames cascading outward, obliterating the creatures mid-leap.
As her feet hit the ground with a force that reverberated through the earth, Yukira slammed the sword down with all her might. The impact sent a vertical inferno surging forward, a raging torrent of flames that engulfed the remaining drakes. The air around her crackled with the intense heat of her attack, and for a moment, it seemed as though the very night had been set ablaze.
The fire roared with a life of its own, consuming the darkness that had threatened to swallow them whole. As the last of the drakes were reduced to ash, the flames began to dissipate, leaving behind a smoldering, charred battlefield. The oppressive shadows that had loomed so large only moments before were now nothing more than wisps of smoke, carried away on the night breeze.
Yukira stood in the center of the destruction, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she felt the toll of her power. The zanbato, still humming with residual energy, pulsed in her grip, drawing Taiji from her body with each passing second. The sword was a voracious entity, feeding off her life force, and she could feel its hunger sapping her strength. But she remained resolute, her mind focused on the battle's aftermath.
"Orenji," she called out, her voice steady despite the exhaustion weighing on her. She turned to find him struggling to his feet, his body battered but intact.
He gave her a weak smile, wiping soot from his face. "I think I liked it better when you were just angry at me," he said, his tone light but with an undercurrent of relief.
Yukira allowed herself a rare, fleeting smile. "Trust me, this was the better option."
The air grew heavy, a sharp prickle at the base of her neck snapping her to attention. She whirled around, her breath catching as she saw them—Shadowdrakes, more than before, their twisted forms slithering out of the darkness like nightmares made flesh.
The stench of sulfur and death clawed at her throat, their glowing eyes fixed on her with ravenous intent.
"Orenji!" Yukira's voice cut through the encroaching dread as she dropped into a low, defensive stance, her blade at the ready. "Stay sharp—here they come!"