The clash between Rayyan, Ryuu, and the Warlord shook the heavens—but their battle was only one half of the nightmare.
While the warriors fought in the square's heart, chaos reigned in the festival grounds.
Scene 1: The Evacuation
The red moon loomed over the city like a bleeding wound, its light staining every lantern, every stone, every face. Screams echoed as families rushed through the streets, clutching children, abandoning belongings. Hunters guided civilians with desperate urgency, herding them into safe shelters.
At the forefront of this evacuation were Yukihana and Shiori.
Yukihana's violet eyes were fierce as she sliced the air with her twin blades—one glowing with cold, sapphire light, the other shimmering like falling sakura petals. Frost spilled from one strike, blossoms from the other. She wasn't fighting for glory; she was carving paths of safety, freezing rubble, sealing collapsed roads with ice to redirect panicked crowds.
Beside her, Shiori moved like a storm. Wind swirled violently around her, bending her long coat and hair as if she was the eye of a tempest. In her hands gleamed her customized gun—a weapon that changed forms at her command. Each shot bent the wind itself, bullets flying with surgical precision, dropping lesser monsters that slipped through the chaos.
Shiori (snapping):
"Move! This way! Don't look back—JUST RUN!"
Yukihana (calm but firm):
"Stay together, keep your children close. The Association will protect you. GO!"
Their powers carved order out of madness, guiding terrified civilians toward safety. Yet even as they pushed the last wave of people toward the outer barricades, an ominous roar shattered the night.
The two beasts that had stepped out of the dimensional rift now moved fully into the battlefield.
Ten feet tall. Obsidian-scaled. Their molten eyes glowed like twin furnaces, and their claws dragged sparks against the stone streets.
And waiting for them stood Elira and Dr. Ivar.
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Scene 2: The Stand
Elira, the Vice Chairwoman, held her katana steady. The crimson aura of blood surged faintly from her blade, a living force that responded to her heartbeat. Every fiber of her body radiated discipline—sharp stance, calm breath, the elegance of a warrior who had mastered both mind and steel.
Dr. Ivar stood unarmed, his hands loose by his sides. His posture was plain, even humble, yet the aura around him was like a mountain—solid, unshakable. Where Elira was razor-sharp, he was iron-strong.
The two monsters roared and charged.
Stone shattered beneath their weight. Their molten breath seared the air.
Elira (to Ivar, low):
"I'll strike their vitals. You keep them busy."
Ivar (half-smile):
"As if I need your permission."
The beasts crashed down.
Elira blurred, her katana glowing crimson as she weaved between their claws. Her blade pierced one beast's arm, and with a single twist, blood burst like a crimson fountain. The beast howled—but before it could retaliate, Ivar was there.
His fist slammed into its chest.
BOOM.
The impact cracked its obsidian scales, sending the monster reeling. The man's bare hand had hit with the force of steel meeting steel—martial arts honed beyond human limits.
The second beast lunged toward him, jaws wide. Ivar raised one arm, catching its bite—his skin tearing, blood dripping—but his stance didn't falter. His other fist slammed upward, breaking its jaw with a thunderous crack.
The crowd that had not yet fled screamed in awe and terror.
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Scene 3: Reinforcements
Yukihana and Shiori arrived, their auras blazing.
Yukihana's swords crossed, blossoms and ice scattering as she leapt forward. She landed on the back of the first beast, plunging her blades deep into its obsidian hide. Blue frost spread instantly, crawling across its body. The monster roared, thrashing violently, but her eyes burned with unshaken determination.
Yukihana (yelling):
"For the people—fall!"
The beast slammed against walls, rolling, trying to dislodge her. Yet frost continued to consume it, blossoms erupting where cracks formed, as if nature itself sought to break it apart.
Meanwhile, Shiori's winds howled. She aimed her weapon, the gun transforming into a long rifle.
She whispered: "Pierce."
The bullet she fired was not ordinary—it was wrapped in a spiral of compressed air, slicing the atmosphere itself. It tore through the second beast's eye, bursting it in a fountain of molten blood.
The creature screamed in blind agony.
Shiori (smirking, to herself):
"Bullseye."
But victory was far from won.
The first beast, though half-frozen, broke free with an explosion of molten fire, melting Yukihana's ice with sheer heat. The second, though blinded, thrashed violently, swiping through buildings, turning the battlefield into rubble.
Dr. Ivar jumped back, wiping blood from his arm. "This isn't enough. They're regenerating too fast."
Elira narrowed her eyes, katana glowing brighter as the aura of blood expanded, crawling up her arms. "Then we finish this in one strike. Together."
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Scene 4: Synergy
The four Hunters moved as one.
Yukihana froze the beasts' legs, her blades anchoring them in place with frost that spread like chains.
Shiori summoned a cyclone, winds swirling around their heads, cutting their movements, dragging them down.
Dr. Ivar charged in, his fists glowing faintly as his aura condensed. With a roar, he slammed into one beast's ribs, breaking its stance.
Elira leapt high, her katana drinking her own blood, glowing crimson. Her voice was cold, absolute.
"Crimson Sever—Final Form."
She descended like lightning. Her blade cut through the blinded beast's neck in a single, flawless stroke. Blood erupted, spraying across the plaza as its head rolled, body collapsing with a ground-shaking crash.
The second beast roared in rage, snapping its frozen legs free. But Yukihana's eyes narrowed. Her blades glowed brighter—sakura petals swirling into a storm with her frost.
Yukihana (softly):
"Sakura… Blizzard."
Her twin swords danced.
The air froze and bloomed at once, frost and blossoms swirling together into a storm of beauty and death. The beast's body was shredded, layer by layer, its obsidian hide breaking apart until it collapsed in frozen silence, buried under a field of pink and blue.
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Scene 5: Silence
The four Hunters stood together, bloodied, exhausted, but victorious.
Civilians had escaped. The beasts were slain.
But in the distance… the sound of chains echoed.
The Warlord still stood. And Rayyan and Ryuu were still locked in despair.
The night was not saved.
It had only just begun.