Chapter 5: Gala of Smoke and Blood
After the training in the mansion, where Adam finally defeated Tessa in a fair fight, things seemed to calm down. The sun was already setting, and for once, Adam felt like he could relax. But that sense of peace was broken quickly.
That night, Tessa's mother appeared in a gala dress, her posture as firm as always.
—Adam. Tessa. Tonight you will attend the company gala. You will represent our family.
—A gala? With the spoiled kids of executives? —Adam said, not bothering to stand—. What an exciting life.
Tessa clicked her tongue.
—How important is this?
—Important enough that you will make concessions. You'll be alone. No desertions.
—Talking to your manipulator-in-chief again? —Tessa asked, raising an eyebrow.
—Yes, dear. And you should learn to have one too —her mother replied, leaving the room.
J watched silently from the doorway. But inside his processes, something was already activating. A protocol he had never used before.
---
At the gala
The gala was held in a floating building, with crystal architecture, suspended lights, and drones serving as waiters. The hall shone with luxury and tension.
Adam wore black, with an expression of eternal annoyance.
—The brighter the lamp, the darker the shadow —he muttered.
Tessa, on the other hand, walked with elegance. She knew what this night represented: politics, power, alliances. There was no room for mistakes.
---
While mingling with the other heirs, Adam started overhearing things.
—Did you hear about the missing executives? —murmured a young man in a gray suit—. They vanished without a trace. No DNA. Nothing.
—They're calling it "a curse" —added another—. Some say it's a demon.
—A demon? What is this, an old manga? —Adam joked, forcing a laugh. But something in his neck prickled.
Tessa listened as well, without interrupting. Just observing, absorbing each word like pieces of a puzzle.
---
Far from the main hall, in the dark corridors of the north wing, something slithered unseen.
An executive adjusted his communicator when a clean slash opened his throat. There was no sound. Only blood soaking into the white carpet.
The demon was real.
It had the appearance of a human wrapped in shadows, with razor claws and a terrifying technique: perfect invisibility.
One by one, the company's top brass began to fall. No one noticed anything. Only when the drones failed to respond to their owners… did the tension begin to rise.
---
In the middle of the party, J sensed the imbalance.
Atmospheric pressure distorted. Body heat vanishing instantly. Death signals… with no source.
He didn't hesitate.
Of all the people present, there was only one he trusted more than his own logic: Tessa.
He approached her, breaking every social protocol.
—Tessa. There are deaths in the north wing. Bodies with no thermal energy. Something is moving unseen.
—And Adam? —she asked, already on alert.
—Still talking to the other youths. He hasn't noticed yet.
—Show me.
---
Adam, unaware of the horror unfolding just meters away, continued his casual questioning.
—What's the real story? —he asked a young heir.
—Some call it a demon. Like the ones from Kimetsu. They say it consumes souls.
—Souls? —Adam clenched his jaw.
A chill ran down his neck.
He turned. No one was there.
But the demon… was watching him. Measuring him. It wasn't his moment yet.
---
Chapter ending: First Glimpse
Tessa and J reached an unlit hallway. The walls were streaked with blood. A trail of bodies with no voice, no defense.
Tessa activated her Sharingan.
J prepared his defense systems.
And then… they saw it. Just for a fraction of a second.
An almost ethereal figure. Bloodied claws.
Eyes like burning coals.
And then, it vanished again.
Tessa gritted her teeth.
—This isn't human.
---
The atmosphere at the gala had changed.
The lights still glimmered, the drones still floated among the guests… but the air felt heavier. Colder. As if a shadow had slipped into the hall without anyone noticing.
Adam didn't know why, but something was wrong.
"This isn't paranoia… it's instinct."
Since training with Tessa, his senses had sharpened. And ever since his left eye awakened the first tomoe of the Sharingan, he could notice subtle things: an irregular blink, a false reflection, an energy… different.
He slipped away from the noise, walking toward a side corridor of the floating building. He had been watching a group of absent executives.
Too many empty chairs.
Too many broken conversations.
That's when he felt it.
A gust of cold air. A faint reflection in the glass. A flicker of movement caught for only a second.
—What was that?
Adam pulled out black tactical glasses with thermal filters and field distortion sensors, designed for operations.
Nothing too sophisticated… but enough to aid his limited Sharingan.
When he put them on, the world shifted. Not completely, but enough.
He saw a distorted shape on the ceiling, as if the air was being "bent" by something that shouldn't be there.
A long, hunched figure, with clawed arms… and invisible fangs.
—Knew it…
The single tomoe in his Sharingan spun slightly.
Not enough to track every movement, but enough to see what others could not.
The figure dropped like lightning.
Adam barely leaned back as a claw sliced the air centimeters from his throat.
He rolled to the side and raised his hand, releasing concentrated cursed energy.
—Dismantle!
The cursed slash shot in a straight line at the invisible demon. The air vibrated.
The strike was imprecise… but it grazed the enemy. A line of blood appeared floating in the air, as if space itself had been torn.
The demon let out a near-silent growl. It wasn't dead yet.
Adam stepped back, breathing heavily.
—Not enough… I can't see it fully. I can't track it.
He tried another technique… nothing. His cursed energy didn't respond to healing commands.
"I can't regenerate… of course. I still don't know how. All I can do is cut."
The demon vanished again.
Adam froze. Absolute silence.
Then he saw a faint circular pattern forming beneath his feet…
A line of cursed symbols, faint… unstable. As if something deeper in his power wanted to come out. The beginnings of an incomplete domain expansion.
But it faded.
"What was that...? Did that come from me?"
Before he could think further, a flash appeared in his peripheral vision.
J and Tessa.
Tessa's Sharingan was already active, her chakra flowing.
—Adam! Behind you!
Tessa thrust her palm forward, unleashing a wave of chakra that dispersed part of the demon's camouflage.
And at last, they all saw it.
A grayish demon, with skin like cracked stone and multiple eyes. Invisible claws. Sharp teeth.
Wounded, but still alive.
Adam stood tall. His red eye bled from the strain of battle.
—I saw it first… I felt it first. But I'm still not enough.
Tessa glanced at him.
—Doesn't matter. We'll face it together.