The dark swarm of monsters rushed forward at once, their screeching sounds on the rocky ground echoing throughout the terrifying tunnel. The air grew heavy, and each footstep echoed like the drumbeat of death.
Minamoto quickly raised his hand, his metal chain snaking like a snake, coiling around one monster and then branching out into another. They simultaneously attacked and defended, leaving metallic sparks flying in the darkness.
Taiko, meanwhile, faced a massive beast, his fists clenching, his muscles tense, each step shaking the ground. The confrontation felt like a clash between two mountains. With a sudden movement, Taiko released his hand and unleashed a lightning strike from the bottom up, a lightning bolt that sent the monster crashing away with a loud crash onto the rocks.
Hairu Shin was different; he didn't engage in direct confrontation. He ran nimbly among the shadows, avoiding sharp claws, his eyes closely monitoring every movement. With his short sword, he aimed his stabs at precise spots in the monsters' bodies, as if his goal wasn't to kill them but to slow them down, to deprive them of their predatory speed.
Tsuki wasn't a natural fighter, but her hand didn't tremble as she raised the spear. The faint blue light from the spear's blade flickered as it touched the air. When one of the monsters pounced on her, she held the spear out in front of her. For a moment, time itself seemed to slow down around her. The monster's movement slowed, as if it were trapped in a single moment. This gave her a chance to step back and avoid the blow.
The dark city around them was a scene of chaos: screams, screeches, crashes, and the flickering light of the bracelets on the walls. But what made their hearts freeze was the sheer size of the swarm. There weren't just two monsters, but dozens, emerging from every direction as if the darkness itself were begetting them.
In the midst of it all, Kaito stood firm. He didn't raise his hand; he didn't appear to be fighting like the others. His eyes were fixed on the black slits extending across the monsters' backs, silently contemplating them, as if trying to retrieve something from the depths of his shattered memory.
The pressure increased. The sounds of their breathing mingled with the roars of the monsters. It seemed as if the tide would turn against them at any moment.
Then... a sharp scream cut through the chaos, coming from far away:
"Stop!!"
Everyone turned for a moment. It was Hana's voice, and beside her stood Saya, their eyes shining with a strange intensity, as if they had grasped a secret thread no one had yet understood...
At that moment, the entire team's breathing stopped.
Hana's scream rose in the darkness, her voice cutting through the terrifying noise. "Their weak point... near the ear! That area is sensitive!"
Saya quickly added, breathing heavily, "It's not for hearing, but if it's hit... their movement control collapses!"
For a moment, everyone's gaze froze on the arm-twisting monsters, their many eyes gleaming in the blackness, their bodies pulsing with ferocity. But what the two girls said gave the fight a new meaning.
A savage grin spread across Taiko's face, his fist cracked so hard that bones crackled, and he took a step that shook the ground beneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before one of the monsters, and with a loud punch that slammed into his face, he flung him away until a stone pillar behind him shattered. He roared, waving his energy-filled hand, "Now... the match is fair!"
The rest rushed in turn:
Tsuki, her spear lightly slicing through the air, twisting, retracting, and then plunging the gleaming blade into the monster's neck before smoothly drawing it back to strike the sensitive area near the ear. A horrific scream echoed before the monster fell to the ground.
Hairu Shin seemed more daring than before, his steps swift, his eyes flashing with intensity, his short sword gleaming as he sliced through the nerves that had previously slowed his opponents. Then he kicked hard at the spot Hana had exposed, the monsters' bodies falling like broken dolls.
Minamoto smiled coldly as he yanked his chain tightly. In a single motion, it split into five coiled strands, like metal snakes, piercing the monsters' bodies, aiming them precisely at their weak spots.
The scene devolved into elaborate carnage. The darkness was lit by the light of the bracelets, the sounds of metallic explosions, and the screams of the monsters that had seemed undefeatable moments before.
As for Kaito... he remained standing. Still. His eyes followed the chaos without emotion, staring at every movement, every wound, every scream... Then he looked up at the ceiling, at the darkness swallowing the echoes of battle, as if something inside him was awakening, something whose time hadn't come yet.
Everyone's breaths rose as they finished off the last monster, their bodies dripping with sweat, the ground covered in dark blood that emanated a terrifying smell.
But they didn't know... that this was only the beginning.
Fin chapter