Sensing imminent peril looming over Kazuya, Akira's instincts quickened, propelling him urgently towards his friend's whereabouts.
Kazuya, lurking near the Mikadzuki, noted a sudden absence of sound among them.
A melodious yet veiled feminine voice resonated, "It appears we have an eavesdropper." Flanked by her vigilant guards, the woman remained concealed from view.
In the blink of an eye, Kazuya found himself discovered by the enigmatic lady and her protectors, who swiftly launched an assault, casting him down without mercy.
As Akira approached the scene, he discovered Kazuya already hurled against a nearby edifice.
"Kazuya!" Akira's cry pierced the air as he hastened to his companion's aid.
The vigilant bodyguards, presuming Akira for an ally of Kazuya's, moved to intercept him, only to swiftly succumb to Akira's wrath, "Back off!" Both the bodyguards were beaten easily by Akira, demonstrating his impressive strength.
"Hey, you alright?" Akira used his Blood Magic: Healing, aiding Kazuya's wounds.
"Tch, her guards are pissing me off." Kazuya rose up to his feet, a tinge of annoyance was on his face. "And don't even think I owe you anything."
Kazuya sped his recovery and rushed back to the scene. The fight wasn't over with the two of them, even being beaten by Akira they still stood.
Two of the bodyguards launched themselves full speed while Kazuya dropped a knee to the ground and placed his hand.
[Shock Magic: Erupting Earth.]
The whole place quake, some properties drowned, and the two lost their stance. With immediate action, Kazuya hurled himself and touched their abdomen. A simple touch with shock magic had shaken through their organs, making their body unstable. As the rest was incapacitated all it was left wa-
"Behind you!"
A single body flicker had caught Kazuya by surprise. Her whole hand appeared so black, it was about to reach Kazuya's face.
Before she did so, Akira smacked away her hand in result making Akira's whole hand decayed into black.
"(Ugh... My hand...)" Akira quickly remove his hand and regenerate it back. "(The pain was intense... It's almost like being burned but worse...)" Akira's hand was fidgeting, showing the pain was extreme.
His whole hand went almost about to reach his arm in a quick paced. His hand was into a process of decaying, but unlike any normal decays, it was shrouded by a black substance that turned his hand into almost like a void.
"If I were a second late, you would've been killed!" Akira yelled.
"Stay out of my way! I'm doing fine solo." Kazuya replied with a tone of arrogance.
In any type of situation where Kazuya faced alone, Kazuya admitted silently that the situation required teamwork.
"(That damn Mikadzuki is too goddamn strong... My Danger Sense keeps going silent but it keeps me from moving any forward...)" Akira continued to stand defensively with a drop of sweat from his forehead.
His Danger Sense shut down almost immediately. It shut down by on two different ways: either it implied a danger that could not be fend off or a very low level threat. However, in this scenario... Akira was way far out of league than hers.
"How impressive, boy... It seems the rumors are now a spoken fact now that I've seen what you're capable of." The woman took off her hood, showing pupils of red with darkness surrounding it and a face of amusement. She was as pale as a corpse.
"Rumors?"
"Back when I had my duties at the headquarters, let's just say... I caught wind of this newfound information about an immortal being. Why yes, I have an interest in that topic, but it's the least of my care to obtain it."
"You're immortal!?" Kazuya was dumbfounded.
"Rest assured. I'm not here to take you in, rather someone has already set his eyes on you, so it's out of my line of business. I'd be careful if I were you, possessing such a great power comes with a greater cost." The woman walks towards her unconscious men.
"I have other businesses to do and it would seem you wouldn't let me, so I'll just let you two have fun with them."
When her hand touched their bodies, they began to feel an outburst of power going through them. A massive boost of power as they turned into like a lifeless puppet shrouded with black ominous energy.
"What the hell? Their powers increased a hundred folds!"
Kazuya expressed his disbeliefs, never had he seen someone had the power to boost their allies becoming a hundred times stronger.
Akira followed suit, increasing his power by applying blood magic all over his body and inside. Akira had learned an ability whereas he didn't need to apply blood magic and surround it on his body. By pumping his blood using magic, Akira was able to increase all of his stats by ten times before getting his body cramped and fatigued.
Not only using his blood to shield him, but pumping the blood in him to get stronger.
"You go after her, I'll take care of this." Akira brandished his scythe.
"Fine, I'll let you take care of the rest. Leave the chase to me." Kazuya ran to chase her while Akira fought the two.
Kazuya gave chase but up to no avail he had missed her. "Dang it, she ran off!" Kazuya stomped a leaf in anger.
Even with Kazuya's keen senses active, he could not find her. Not a single presence could be traced.
Soon, he came back for Akira who demolished the two with ease. "Hmph. You put up a good fight against these two." Kazuya gave an impressed reaction.
"Those two are strong, but I'm far stronger," Akira turned to Kazuya, "How's with her?"
"No clue. She's just... Gone. In an instant." Kazuya responded with a sigh. "Figures. I didn't think the Mikadzuki could roam around, now that the Warriors remained alert."
"Speaking of warriors, where have all those warriors gone?" Akira asked.
"A tournament is coming up in three days, haven't you heard the news?"
"Ah... Sir Kamui told me that too. I guess it's a big deal, huh?"
"The prize money? The fame? The fight? Duh, of course they'd be unavailable. They're training." Kazuya let out a sarcastic tone.
Meanwhile, as the two configured what was the Mikadzuki's business being here, the two went on to the Raishoun gang hideout, imparting the information.
However, before they could, all of them prepared a surprise party for Lilith. Their prep work shared a very close bond with her, the eyes could tell.
"Arrived so soon? We gave a call to Lilith, she'll be here soon." Gakuto carried a big box of foundation products. "Uhh, you do know all the funds in this group comes from her, right?" Kazuya was taken by surprised from their gifts, leaving a skeptic face whether it should be considered a gift.
"Why, we all did our best to make a living. Gakuto here worked the hardest, and all this comes from us too, but the MVP goes to Gakuto. All the gifts here came from us." Horka interrupt the conversation, giving praise to Gakuto's efforts who left Gakuto blushing.
"Yis not yhat bad to give gifts once yin a while. Ye've been spoiled many times, yit's our own yery right to give her." Yeru was decorating the walls.
"You know... Speaking with you kinda makes me getting used to it. The first time was quite the experience." Both Akira's brow raised.
"?"
"She's here." Kazuya sensed her coming and reached out to turn off the lights. After the lights were shut down, Lilith came with a confused expression.
"If you're here to get battered by my bat, don't blame m- EEK!" Lilith smacked a person who bumped into her in the dark with her bat. It was Akira.
"Aki-?"
"SURPRISE!" Everyone came in just in time and startled her.
"WHO THE HELL DID THAT!?" Akira rubbed his bruised cheek.
"Pfft! Hahaha... It was one of Yeru's ability of teleportation. Switch." Kazuya admitted he was the culprit who sent Akira to bump into her.
"You guys... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? YOU WASTED MY MONEY JUST TO GIVE GIFTS FOR ME WITH MY MONEY?!" Lilith gave an overreaction. "ARE YOU LOGICALLY UNSTABLE!? YOU CAN'T JUST GIFT SOMEONE WITH THEIR OWN MONEY!"
"Relax. You should thank Gakuto here. He's the one who bought all of these... None of them comes from your credit card."
"You guys..." Lilith eyes gave a tear.
"What say we enjoy ourselves now? Let's get the party started!" All clink their drinks and the party commenced.
"And for the food, that'll be on Gakuto's! So let's enjoy!"
"Haha... Sure. Just give me the receip- HUH!? 830,000 GOLS!? WHERE THE HELL DID YOU BUY!?"
"Well, ya said ya'd be treating yus. Yand so, we went to yan yexpensive restaurant." Yeru tapped Gakuto's shoulder.
Gakuto was stunned, his world crumbling beneath him. "That's all my life savings..." he muttered, his face pressed against the cold, unforgiving floor.
Laughter and joy filled the room, a stark contrast to the darkness that had settled over Gakuto.
Akira approached Kazuya, who was nursing a soda in a quiet corner. "Quite the gang you have," he observed.
Kazuya shrugged. "Not really. We're a small team of five, so it's easy to keep the party going for days. We're pretty close, though."
"Like a family?" Akira pressed.
Kazuya paused, his eyes distant. Then, a soft smile graced his lips. "Yeah, like a family."
As the festivities continued, the secrets of the Mikadzuki were temporarily shelved, waiting for the party's end.