The Eternal Swordsman
Chapter 4: Battle at West Shibuya
The city of Shibuya had always been alive with neon and chatter, but tonight it screamed. Buildings groaned under invisible weight, glass shattered like rainfall, and the streets crawled with shadows that weren't supposed to exist.
Hollowkind.
Twisted bodies, warped from human despair, now tore their way through the district. Some lumbered with claws scraping asphalt, others slithered like serpents with jaws stretching too wide, all of them pulsing with hunger. Their eyes glowed red and purple, feeding on fear itself.
From atop a tilted streetlight, Hiruko Kyotetsu swallowed hard. His knuckles were white around the moonlit blade at his side.
"Damn," he muttered. "This ain't no videogame. Place looks like a horror movie set."
"Stay sharp." Hayate Senju, Division Seven's prodigy, stood ahead, calm even as the earth split beneath him. His long hair flowed in the wind, and lightning shimmered faintly at his fingertips. "Hollowkind aren't here to scare. They're here to eat."
Haku, the Division Six PA, stood beside them. His pale eyes narrowed with cold annoyance as he twirled the his blade in his grasp. "And we've wasted enough time with your jokes, rookie."
Hiruko raised his hands. "Yo, chill. Just tryna lighten the mood before we get mauled, alright?"
Haku ignored him, stepping forward. The Hollowkind had already noticed them a pack of five, claws scraping the pavement, jaws dripping black ichor. Their very presence warped the air.
Hayate's tone sharpened. "Formation. I'll lead the charge. Haku, you pierce the gaps. Hiruko…"
"Yeah?"
"Don't die."
"Wow, great pep talk, thanks," Hiruko grumbled, but tightened his grip on his sword anyway.
The first Hollowkind lunged, its limbs cracking like splintered wood as it swung down a claw bigger than Hiruko's body.
Hayate raised his hand. "Raiken Lightning Art."
The air split. Lightning surged down his arm, coiling around his blade before exploding outward. His strike ripped through the monster's claw, severing it clean, then burst through its skull in a flash of searing white. The Hollowkind screeched once before collapsing into ash.
Hiruko's jaw dropped. "Yo what?! That was clean!"
Hayate didn't even glance back. His eyes were already fixed on the next one. "Focus, Hiruko!"
Two more Hollowkind lunged from the sides. Haku moved like mist, body weaving through shadows, his blade stabbing so fast it barely left a trail. Each thrust was precise, piercing joints, throats, and eyes. The monsters staggered, their limbs riddled with holes, before collapsing.
Hiruko exhaled. "Dude's playin' acupuncture with demons…"
Haku finally turned his head, his pale eyes full of disdain. "This is my Piercing Art. Needle strikes guided by Raiken. Not that your ignorant tongue could understand it."
"Yeah, yeah, you got skills," Hiruko said, forcing a grin even as sweat dripped down his temple. "Still don't mean you gotta act like you smell somethin' bad every time you look at me."
But the humor vanished when another Hollowkind barreled forward, bigger than the rest ten feet tall, fangs jutting past its chin, its chest glowing with red cracks.
resuko's instincts screamed. His body moved before his brain did, raising his sword as the monster's claw came down. The impact rattled his bones, but somehow he held his ground.
"Ghh!"
"Hiruko, move!" Hayate shouted. Lightning crackled again, but he was too far to intercept in time.
The Hollowkind's second claw swung faster than Hiruko could dodge.
Then Haku blurred past him, his blade jabbing into the beast's eye. The strike burst through the back of its skull with a sickening crack. The Hollowkind screeched, black ichor splattering the ground, before collapsing in a heap.
Hiroko fell back, panting, his heart hammering. "crap you saved me."
Haku pulled his blade free, expression blank. "Don't thank me. If you die, you become a liability. Stay alive because I won't always bother."
"Tch. Cold as ice," Hiruko muttered, forcing himself back to his feet.
The battle raged on. Hollowkind poured from twisted rifts, each one howling as it clawed its way into the ruined streets. Hayate's blade sang with lightning, cleaving monsters in half with raw precision. Haku danced among shadows, his Piercing Art leaving corpses riddled with perfect holes. And Hiroko though his strikes lacked their mastery kept moving, kept swinging, his moonlit blade cutting where he could.
Blood black and human alike painted the streets. Sirens wailed in the distance, but no civilians saw the truth. To them, it would all vanish before dawn, another disaster covered by "gas leaks" and "earthquakes."
Hours bled into minutes. The last Hollowkind fell, its scream echoing as it dissolved into nothing. West of Shibuya was a ruin glass everywhere, fires flickering, silence heavy as death.
Hiruko leaned on his sword, his chest burning. "We… we did it?"
Hayate frowned. His eyes scanned the destruction. "No. Something's wrong."
Haku's blade stilled. "The Hollowkind were too organized. They never attack like this. Not in packs this coordinated."
Hiruko raised a brow. "You saying someone… like… was coaching them?"
The ground trembled.
From the smoke at the far end of the street, a figure stood. Half-hidden by shadow, presence cold and deliberate. The Hollowkind hadn't been random. They'd been guided.
A voice rolled through the ruins low, calm, almost amused.
"Good. The swordsmen sent children. This will be… entertaining."
Hayate's grip tightened. Haku's expression darkened. Hiruko felt every instinct scream at once.
This wasn't over. It was just beginning.
TO BE CONTINUED...