Omariro watched as the two Heralds stepped forward, with dark energy crackling around them.
"What's the matter, Master?" The Sixth taunted. "Losing your edge?"
The Seventh immediately lunged at Omariro, clashing attacks at high-speed. While Omariro was busy with Shion, Mirei formed a white field and launched it at Omariro, who clapped and teleported away from it.
Shion landed next to her. "Should we show Master a taste of our full strength?"
"Yes, Shion," Mirei agreed. "I believe we should."
Their bodies began to glow with dark energy as Omariro steadied his blade, unmoving. "Children will go back in cage."
The Sixth held a hand out, stopping the Seventh. "I've got this."
Dozens of gray orbs began to form around her. "Jugen-Daraku: Yami no Hōju!"
She ran forward as an orb formed beneath her. With a thrust of her hands, she fired orbs repeatedly at Omariro, who used his blade to block.
The Seventh watched as Omariro formed his bow and fired an arrow, but the Sixth raised an orb and absorbed it, causing the orb to turn golden and fire a powerful gold explosion at Omariro.
"Girl stronger," Omariro noted.
With speed double her previous output, she fused multiple orbs and sent them barreling toward Omariro, who used his Jugen to reverse it.
Before it could hit Mirei, Shion sent it in the other direction with a blade.
"We still aren't capable," Mirei realized. "But don't worry, Master. We will be stronger, and the others, they want your head just as much as we do."
The Hellsfloor began to shake.
"Looks like we've overstayed our welcome!" Shion pointed out.
With a loud thud, Atsushi's golem form burst through the roof, with the rookies and all the other Kaidanchō hopping off his back.
"Master!" Zaria called out.
"We're here! Are you okay?" Rika worried.
"The Nurse! She, she left my body!" Han exclaimed.
They all stopped when they saw the two Heralds.
"What the—-?" Han questioned. "Nurse? You…I thought I had to use Soul Jugen to get rid of you!"
"Pitiful child," she scoffed. "I never wanted YOU. I only wanted your Master
In the blink of an eye, she appeared before Omariro, a glowing white hand reaching for him. Omariro quickly evaded and sent her back with a push.
"Don't you worry, Omariro," Mirei assured. "We have plans for you. Can't have you dying, now. You're too precious for that."
Shion formed a portal as Atsushi stepped forward. "Mirei? What is the meaning of this?"
"You know them, Dad?" Nonoka interrupted.
"Atsushi," Shion recalled. "Heh. Thought you'd quit by now. Or died."
"Backstabbing traitors, you'll answer for this—-!"
"No," Mirei declared. "We won't."
As they began to step through the portal, Mirei stared back at Omariro one last time. "We still love you, Master. But unfortunately, we have no choice but to hurt you. Goodbye, for now."
They disappeared through the portal before Omariro could catch them.
"Sir," Zaria blurted out. "What was that?"
"Trouble," Omariro answered. "Big trouble."
〈Ahh. Those Heralds worked exactly according to plan.〉
"Who said that?" Yuka questioned.
Emeru began to shake in her hand. "Crap, crap! That sound, it's the Mujinsha!"
〈Omariro Nyugawa. Thanks for handling the Huntress for us. But since you're the new Predator…〉
A large red gate appeared.
〈You must be slain.〉
Rui walked out of the red gate, his arms extended in a welcome gesture. "Greetings, Kaitansha! May you all suffer the pain of defeat."
"Rui," Yuka realized.
He shook his head. "Not just me. The Priestness, Neraziria, would like to have a word as well."
A tall young woman with gray skin, glowing black hair, and bottomless eyes emerged from the gate, wearing a priestess dress.
"Hmm," she remarked. "Mere mortals."
With a wave of her hands, dark vines restrained everyone. Omariro easily broke free, causing her to lift an eyebrow. "Interesting. You're strong. Much stronger than I expected."
"First Heralds, now these freaks?" Kōichi groaned. "What the hell is happening?"
Omariro rushed forward, but Neraziria slammed the ground, forming a glowing purple forcefield around her.
"Do it, Priestess! Call upon our god!" Rui insisted.
She began a chant. "Ji Endoresu no kami yo, kase o uchikudaki, mizukara o tokihanate. Jigoku o kono yo ni tokihanachi, futatabi subete o shihai seyo!"
As she continued to repeat it, more gates formed, and Atsushi managed to break his bindings.
"Nyugawa, what are they doing?"
"Unclear."
As the gates opened, various monsters appeared, from dragons to slimes to goblins and even knights.
"Get back!" Atsushi ordered the beasts.
〈Ability: Ready.〉
Atsushi's armor began to glow.
"Immovable Wall!"
He slammed his hands on the ground, forming an array of walls in front of the gates and slowing the monsters down, but the dragons began to tear them down, allowing the other monsters to advance.
"Not enough, damn it!"
Omariro erased all the surrounding monsters with a clap, but more took their places, and a large exit gate appeared in the middle.
"Wait, your plan was this?" Yuka realized.
"They're gonna let dungeon monsters into the real world!" Kaoru gasped.
"We gotta stop 'em!" Gakuto bellowed.
Before they could, Neraziria forced them all back with a powerful vine as the monsters flooded the exit gate, disappearing within it.
"Go, children!" she ordered. "Be free and slay the humans who would dare slay you!"
Hundreds of thousands of monsters exited before the gate began to close, and Nerazira and Rui exited the gate as well. "This place shall explode soon, killing all of you. Any humans that remain allied with you shall be dealt with accordingly."
They left, and the floor began to collapse.
"We gotta move!" Zaria stated.
The gate started to crumble apart as Omariro motioned to everyone. "Now! Come!"
They all crowded around him as the final pieces of the gate fell off. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Cursed Movement!"
With a tap of his foot, they all disappeared, reappearing and falling into the exit gate as the entire room collapsed.
Kagoshima——
Landing back on top of the volcano, they noticed Hayate and Marin staring across the waters, where mass destruction had already occurred. People were fleeing from various monsters, while smoke rose miles high into the air.
"What have we done…?" Yuka said, horrified.
"It's madness!" Hayate explained. "All of a sudden, beasts just started showing up out of nowhere and began attacking people! We must help!"
Omariro teleported across the waters and deleted all of the nearby monsters. Scared civilians stood up, taking in his young form.
"Is that the Legendary Kaitansha?"
"It is! Thanks for saving us, Mr. Nyugawa!"
"Where are the others? Weren't they supposed to handle this Huntress thing? They failed?"
"Why is only the old man here? Such uselessness! This is their fault!"
Omariro took in the scene, with the corpses of the innocent lining the streets. "Hmm. Monsters everywhere. Not just here."
The other Kaidanchō caught up, only to be met with boos and hateful remarks.
"You failed, dickheads!"
"Look at all this death! You told us what happens in a dungeon stays in a dungeon!"
"My son…they killed my son…"
Kaoru put her hands out. "We're sorry, everyone! If you could all please calm down—-!"
An elderly lady walked over, hatred on her face. She had the body of a young girl in her hands. "Look at what you've done. Those knights slaughtered my poor grandchild. Why? Tell me, what good are you for if you can't even clear a dungeon properly!"
She jabbed a finger in Kaoru's face. "Maybe if we still had the Legend protecting us, and the Legend only, this wouldn't have happened."
The Kadianchō watched, speechless. Omariro reverted back to his old state.
"Children come," he ordered. "Time to go."
With a tap of his staff, he and the rookies disappeared, leaving the others to take in the carnage.
Kaitansha HQ—-
In the holding cells below, Hayate walked over to confront Kohaku, who was sitting in a straitjacket as she hummed to herself.
"Oh?" she noticed. "The Director, as they call you?"
"Was this invasion part of your plan?" Hayate questioned.
"Not at all," she admitted. "My husband and I were to counter it, after he defeated me. Where is my love, by the way?"
"Not here," Hayate told her. "And he's not your love."
"He most assuredly is," Kohaku chuckled. "He became mine once he defeated me in combat."
She crossed her legs. "That's the only reason I'm humoring you people and allowing myself to remain here, because he put me here."
"Yeah, yeah," Hayate spat back. "So what do you know about this Mujinsha band?"
"Those nutcases?" she scoffed. "Crazy. In both power and mind. Ever since they took over the administration role from the Jōi, they've been on a downward spiral as they try to find a way to escape the reach of the dungeons and take over the planet."
"So their plan is world domination," Hayate commented.
"Sort of. More like turning the Earth itself into one giant dungeon, where humans like yourself are the creatures to be slain."
"Explains why they unleashed all those monsters. If you were trying to stop them, why cause all this drama? Why attack us?"
"Because I wanted a husband. Marrying me and earning my love is no small feat. Whichever was the strongest would survive and have my full assistance with destroying the Mujinsha and exterminating the Endless."
A smile crossed her lips. "And I've found such a mate."
Hayate shook his head. "Whatever. How many are there?"
"11 or 12, give or take."
"Well then. We'll be adequately prepared for the worst."
Kohaku leaned back. "You'll let me go eventually, Director."
"No. No I won't."
Hayate left the room, leaving a smirking Kohaku alone.
"You'll see."
Upstairs, Hayate walked into a meeting room, where all the Kaidanchō except Omariro were gathered. Marin stood nearby, a serious expression on her face.
"Director," she addressed. "Kaidanchō Yuka has something she'd like to tell you."
"Yes, Yuka?"
"Sir. You've seen the public's response, right?"
Hayate turned a nearby TV on, and the news immediately appeared on it, with a group of protesters facing the camera.
"Death to the Kaidanchō!"
"They have failed us all!"
"What does the short one even do?"
Kaoru gasped. "Are they talking about me?"
"I'm the shortest one here," Mizuki pointed out.
"Oh. Right."
As the protests grew louder and louder, Hayate turned the TV off. "Ignore them. They don't understand the dangers you guys deal with in those dungeons."
"But we did fail, sir," Yuka pointed out. "The people, our rookies, if it wasn't for Omariro, we wouldn't have escaped that dungeon."
"Agreed," Mizuki added. "We've simply become liabilities."
"Yeah, and if we aren't wanted anymore, there's no point in doing our jobs," Kōichi shrugged. "Besides, there's only one Legend."
"What are you all saying?" Atsushi questioned.
"Maybe it's time we quit?" Kaoru suggested. "After all, we only made a bigger mess. Mr. Nyugawa's students did more than us. I'm ashamed!"
"Quit?" Gakuto protested. "No way, guys! We gotta atone for these mistakes, we can't just give up!"
"Sorry, ya big oaf," Kōichi said, a slight hint of sadness in his tone. "But we're just not as useful anymore."
Yuka, Kōichi, Mizuki, and Kaoru all got up.
"Apologies, sir," Yuka stated, turning to Hayate. "But I believe we are done."
They all left as Atsushi slammed his fist on the table. "Cowards! As soon as you face backlash you run away? Weaklings!"
Gakuto put a hand on Atsushi's shoulder. "Just let them go, man. It's no use fighting amongst ourselves."
Marin turned to Hayate. "What do we do, sir?"
Hayate looked outside the window, staring at the city of Tokyo. "I don't know, Marin. I don't know."
???——
Rui stood atop a building, watching as a group of humans ran from armed goblins below. As he turned to leave, a slimy hand burst through the roof, and a large blob pulled itself up, easily towering over Rui.
"Ahh, my old colleague, Emerald," Rui greeted. "How are things?"
"My sister," the slime demanded. "Where is she?"
"Ah. You must mean Emeru. I believe she's been taken."
The slime growled and broke off the top half of a nearby building with a single punch. "By who?"
"A man called Omariro Nyugawa."
"Nyugawa…I've heard of him."
"Yes. He's currently in possession of your sister."
The slime grew larger, an angry scowl on his face. "Then he shall die."
Without another word, he hopped off the roof, disappearing into the night.
——