🌌 Scene1 – Rising Tension
A dark-colored car sat in the jam a block away, headlights still on. Inside, two figures had yet to step out.
Arzen leaned against the window lazily, one arm propped under his chin, eyes half-shut. To him, the chaos ahead was little more than a mildly interesting distraction. His posture screamed disinterest, as though he were simply waiting for traffic to clear.
"Mmm…" he muttered, voice low and dry. "Traffic jams are always a pain. This one's just louder than usual."
Beside him, Ryuu gripped the steering wheel. His knuckles were pale, his gaze sharp — locked entirely on the battlefield ahead. He didn't blink as the lava beast roared and sent a hunter sprawling into the wreckage of a car. His jaw clenched.
"…Stay here if you want." His tone was cold, almost cutting. "But I'm not watching them get torn apart."
He shoved the car door open, boots hitting the asphalt. Sparks of mana already danced along his arms, faint arcs of static crawling between his fingers. His entire body felt like a storm about to break.
Arzen stretched, yawning wide as though waking from a nap. He moved slowly, pushing his own door open, stepping out with the grace of someone who had all the time in the world.
"I didn't say I wouldn't fight," he replied casually. His voice carried no urgency, no fire. Just calm. "Just don't expect me to do the heavy lifting. You love showing off anyway."
Ryuu didn't bother answering. His focus was already consumed by the battlefield.
The two stepped forward, their silhouettes illuminated by the glow of fire, crystal, and broken neon. Their presence was like a ripple in the storm — subtle but undeniable. Even the weary hunters noticed, their battered faces flickering with a fragile hope. Reinforcements had come.
---
🌌 Scene 2 – Sparks at the Crossroad
The obsidian beast struck first.
With a guttural roar, it slammed a molten claw down, cracking the road wide open. Asphalt shattered. Fire spewed up from beneath, engulfing two B-rank hunters in an inferno. They screamed, barely rolling away in time, their armor scorched black.
The crystalline beast followed with its own attack. Its body pulsed, veins glowing brighter, and with a shriek it launched a storm of crystal shards in every direction. Windows shattered for blocks. Cars were pierced through like paper. One B-rank was caught across the chest, blood spraying as the shards ripped through his armor.
The hunters staggered. Their formation broke.
And Ryuu moved.
His body blurred forward in a streak of lightning. The world itself seemed to slow — the storm of crystal fragments frozen in midair, the hunters mid-scream, the lava monster mid-roar.
Ryuu's fist glowed with crackling energy.
"Here's a shock to your system."
His punch slammed into the obsidian beast's jaw. The explosion of sound was deafening — a thunderclap that rattled every window within five blocks. Sparks flew, arcs of blue-white lightning splitting the sky. The beast's massive frame lifted off the ground, hurled backward like a toy, crashing into the side of a skyscraper. Concrete and glass exploded outward, raining debris across the crossroad.
Every hunter froze.
The halberd wielder's eyes widened until the whites showed. His jaw hung open.
"…What… what speed is that?" he whispered, unable to comprehend.
The crystalline beast shrieked, enraged by its fallen counterpart. Its chest pulsed violently, and with a roar it unleashed another barrage — hundreds of razor-sharp shards flying toward Ryuu.
But Ryuu didn't flinch.
Lightning surged around him in a violent aura, wrapping him in a protective storm. Every shard that touched his barrier disintegrated, exploding into harmless glitter.
"Pathetic."
He raised his arm. Bolts shot outward, tearing apart the entire volley midair. Smoke and dust clouded the battlefield, but Ryuu was already gone — a blur of light flashing straight at the monster.
His blade was drawn in one seamless motion. Lightning enveloped the steel until it looked more like a fragment of the storm than a weapon.
He swung.
The arc of energy was blinding. It split the air itself, slicing clean through the crystalline beast from shoulder to hip. The explosion rocked the ground, rattling buildings, shaking every parked car violently. The monster staggered forward two steps, shrieked one last piercing cry, then collapsed into two twitching halves that disintegrated into steaming crystal dust.
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
Then the obsidian beast roared from the rubble.
Its scales were cracked, glowing brighter as molten blood poured down its sides. Yet it still lived. It stomped forward with furious strength, each step leaving craters in the ruined crossroad. Its molten jaws snapped, dripping lava across abandoned cars, setting them ablaze.
Ryuu sighed, rolling his shoulders, as though dealing with a nuisance.
"Persistent little torch, aren't you?" He smirked. "Fine. Let's end this flashy."
He raised his hand to the sky.
The clouds churned instantly, drawn by his call. Lightning lanced across the heavens, converging above his palm. The hunters gasped, their bodies instinctively recoiling from the raw force gathering. The air itself vibrated, charged with violent static.
A spear of pure electricity formed — massive, glowing, radiating death.
Ryuu's eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.
"Thunder Lance."
The weapon fell.
The obsidian beast didn't even scream. The lance impaled it through the skull, lightning surging through every molten vein. Its entire body lit up like a furnace exploding from within. Lava burst outward, raining across the street, before the creature collapsed into a smoldering corpse. Smoke billowed high into the sky, arcs of electricity crawling along the ruins.
Ryuu lowered his hand slowly, the storm fading behind him.
He brushed ash from his jacket.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said with a mocking bow. "Applause is optional, but recommended."
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🌌 Scene 3 – Uneasy Applause
The hunters didn't clap.
They just stared — wide-eyed, pale, unable to process what they had witnessed.
One of the A-ranks dropped his halberd. The weapon clattered against broken concrete, his hands trembling.
That thing nearly killed us… His thoughts raced. And he… he played with it.
The wind-user sat on her knees, her face streaked with sweat and blood. Her lips moved, whispering words no one could hear — a prayer, or perhaps disbelief.
Ryuu turned his back to them, strolling casually toward the car as though he had merely finished a morning jog. His grin was wide, satisfied.
"Well," he muttered. "That was entertaining." He glanced over his shoulder with playful malice. "So… who's buying me dinner?"
None answered. None dared.
Their silence was enough of an answer.
And above them all — unnoticed in the chaos — another figure watched.
On the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper stood a lone silhouette. His presence was commanding yet silent, his outline caught against the faint moonlight.
A dark cloak rippled violently in the high winds. His eyes glowed with a deep, menacing purple — twin beacons in the dark. Mana swirled around him, his aura alive, threatening, suffocating. The very air bent around his form as though reality itself struggled to contain him.
Rayyan.
His gaze cut through the night, focused entirely on the crossroads below. His expression was unreadable, but the power radiating from him made the city itself feel smaller.
The storm of lightning had ended. But something far greater… had just begun to stir.