Kiyotugu Kurogumo's pov:
And there was her. Most people would have stiffened once the doors shut. She didn't. Interesting.
I didn't look at her immediately. That was intentional. Let silence rot in the space between us.
The city lights slid across the tinted windows, neon streaks smearing across the dark like wounds that refused to close. Tokyo at night always looked better from a moving car-distant, disposable.
Finally, I spoke.
-You didn't ask where we're going. - My voice was calm, conversational. A test.
Most people would rush to fill the gap. Fear makes people talk. She didn't. Good.
I turned my head then, yellow eyes settling on her fully.
I smiled faintly.
-You offered assasination without knowing who I am, - I continued. - without knowing who you'd be killing. That's either stupidity…or confidence bordering on suicide.
A pause.
-I dislike stupidity.
One of my men shifted beside her, just slightly. She didn't react. That alone told me about her experience level.
I leaned back crossing one leg over the other.
-The target is a dark bearer operating independently in Nakano. He's been skimming territory, stealing wraiths meant for distribution. Worst of all-my smile sharpened-, he thinks he can leave. Nobody leaves the underground unless we let them.
I watched her face carefully as I spoke, searching for tells-excitement, hesitation, greed.
There was something there. Not fear, not hunger, something else. Focus.
-You kill him, - I said - Publicly enough that people talk. Quietly enough that they don't see us behind it.
Another pause.
I let Aspect energy leak - just a little.
The car dimmed. The air tightened. Threads of barely-visible black webbing shimmered and vanished along the ceiling, reacting to my will. My Aspect never fully manifested unless needed-fear worked better unleashed.
Her Aspect responded. Not explosively, not defensively. It bristled.
That was the moment I decided she wasn't prey.
-You are not aligned with any gang, - I said quietly. - Yet you walk like someone who expects the world to move out of her way. Tell me - are you running from something or toward it?
The car slowed at the red light.
For just a second, reflected in the glass I thought I saw something behind her. A shape. Too many edges, too many eyes.
The light turned green. The image vanished. I smiled again.
She is something more than just a normal human being. Whatever she is, if we can tame her, she will be useful to us. I have no doubt.
-Do this job properly, - I said-, and I'll give you work. Protection. Access.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
-Fail….and I'll personally make sure whatever you're hiding inside you crawls out in pieces.
The car surged forward into the neon-lit dark, and I found myself anticipating the outcome.
It had been a long time since someone made me curious.
My pov:
The car stopped beneath an unfinished overpass, concrete pillars rising like ribs around us.
Sodium lamps buzzed overhead, their light sickly and uneven. Rainwater dripped somewhere in the dark, rhythmic, patient.
The engine cut.
No one moved.
This wasn't a drop off point. This was a test.
Kyotugu exited first. His men followed, forming a loose perimeter without being told.
One of them opened my door.
-No. - Kyotugu said calmly. He looked at me. - Get out on your own.
Another test.
The moment my feet hit the ground, Aspect energy reacted-not flaring, not hostile, but aware. The air thickened, threads of Kyotugu's Aspect humming faintly through the space like tension pulled too tight.
Kyotugu studied me under the flickering light.
-You don't look nervous.
A pause.
-That worries me.
He stepped closer. Too close. Close enough that I could smell the faint metallic tang of blood beneath his cologne. Close enough that his Aspect energy pressed against mine, probing, deliberate.
His gaze dipped - just briefly - to my throat, to the pulse there.
-Most people's bodies betray them before their mouths do. - he said, keeping his gaze on my pulse. Voice calm, hungry, predatory.
He reached out. Two fingers stopped just short of touching my jaw. A deliberate restraint.
-That means one of two things, - he said. - You are lying to me….or you're used to standing this close to death.
Silence stretched.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
-Good.
He turned away, gesturing sharply. One of his men produced a thin envelope-lighter than the one before. Inside were details: a name, a location, a rough sketch of a face.
-Nakano. Abandoned bathhouse. He operates alone, but don't underestimate him.
He uses wraith amalgamation. Ugly Aspect. Inelegant.
His eyes flicked back to me.
-Kill him before dawn.
He began to walk away - then stopped.
-Ah.
He turned back, eyes glinting with something unreadable.
-One more thing.
He stepped into my space once again, this time close enough that retreat would be obvious if I tried.
-If you survive, - He said quietly, - don't disappear afterward.
A beat.
-I dislike people who vanish without permission.
It wasn't a threat. It sounded personal.
The car doors slammed shut behind him. The engine roared back to life, tailings bleeding red into the wet concrete as the vehicle disappeared into the city.
I exhaled. The tension he created inside me was something else. Every molecule in my body screamed danger, yet somehow, I wanted to see him again.
Focus.
I was alone, again. The familiar, cold embrace of solitude settled around me, but this time, it was different. This time, I had a purpose, a focused and singular mission that burned away the usual ennui of my existence.
Fear was absent. Instead, a potent cocktail of anticipation and raw excitement coursed through me, sharpening my senses for the challenge. The thrill of the chase and the promise of a powerful confrontation made my spirit soar.
Let the hunt begin.
A slow, predatory, demonic smile stretched across my face, an expression that rarely saw the light of day but perfectly reflected the internal storm. I felt the Something coming out, my smile getting wider-the smile of the Something- and with a guttural surge of power, twin plumes of vibrant, hellish flames burst into existence from my open palms, casting a flickering, unnatural glow. In the sudden illumination, my eyes were visible—not their usual colour, but glowing a menacing, electric red in the profound darkness of the abandoned world around me.
My initial focus, however, was mundane despite the theatrical display.
I need to look for a bathhouse.
I scanned the broken skyline. My eyes, even without the flame due to the Something's power steering inside me, were unnaturally sharp. In the distance, I caught sight of a massive, hulking structure. It was large enough, imposing enough, and definitely abandoned enough to be the target. The aura of decay and neglect surrounding it was palpable.
The area was a desolate ghost town, a monument to disaster or time. The abandonment made my silent approach easy; I was a ghost among the ruins, ensuring my quarry didn't sense me.
The guy's got some balls working alone in a place like this. This is too easy. I scoffed internally, the overconfidence of my target almost an insult to my capabilities.
Let's get this over with.
I found a point of entry—a large, jagged hole where a window had been violently shattered. I pushed off the ground, a silent, agile shadow, and slipped through the opening. The landing, however, was less than graceful. My boot came down right onto a treacherous patch of broken glass.
A sharp, audible crik-crunch echoed in the stillness.
"-Shit. I should be more careful than this," I whispered to myself, the irritation a hot spike in my chest. Such a rookie mistake was beneath me. The hunt hadn't even begun, and I was already compromising my stealth.
I forced the momentary anger down, focusing on the immediate objective.
I need to detect his energy if I want to find him in this enormous place.
The building's interior was an absolute, light-swallowing darkness. Using my flame was too risky for a stealth approach. I relied instead on my enhanced night vision—a supernatural benefit from the spirit sharing my soul—which allowed me to discern the gray and black outlines of debris and decaying architecture.
Silence reigned supreme, a heavy blanket of quiet that seemed to press against my eardrums.
Then, a faint sound. A distant, minute crack.
I froze. A sudden, sharp gasp escaped my lips, adrenaline rushed through my chest.
I didn't sense his energy, but what was that noise? My thoughts raced; the easy hunt was fundamentally wrong.
I instantly dropped flat against the floor, scrambling behind a massive piece of crumbled debris—a probable pillar or section of wall. The sound, though faint, was unmistakable. It had to be a wraith, a potent one capable of masking its own energy signature. Yet, the presence itself was unprecedented. I was unfamiliar with this specific type of Aspect energy; it felt alien, oppressive, and utterly overwhelming.
The power was immense, shaking the air. I used my detection ability to gauge the malignant force. My senses registered two powerful wraiths, but the source seemed singular.
I cautiously peered out from the safety of my makeshift shelter.
It wasn't one wraith. My eyes and enhanced senses confirmed two distinct, monstrous high level wraiths had fused, their combined malevolent energy amplified into a single, cohesive entity of pure destruction.
The sight of it stole the breath from my lungs. It was one of the most powerful, most terrifying wraiths I had ever seen. I had absolutely no frame of reference for its abilities, its vulnerabilities, or its sheer destructive capacity.
The hell. Excitement replaced by grim, determined fatalism. The mission shifted from a hunt to a desperate fight for survival. I'll just have to kill it before it kills me.
The brick wall gave way with a deafening blast of Aspect energy. A shockwave rippled out, sending shrapnel and fragments of stone flying like deadly hail in every direction, momentarily obscuring the area in an opaque, mushrooming cloud of grey dust and pulverized rock.
The six-to-seven-meter-tall wraith lord, a monstrous arthropod-annelid fusion, instantly registered the violent disruption. Its compound eyes focused on the blast's epicenter. With a horrific, grinding screech, it attacked. Its multiple, razor-tipped, spider-like limbs extended like tentacles, smashing down with terrifying force where I had been, cratering the floor and spraying debris.
The explosion was just a feint, a brief diversion to seize a vital second. As the wraith's strike decimated the earth, I countered with a scorching wave of fire, engulfing it momentarily. While the flames disoriented the creature, I unleashed a powerful Aspect blast directly into its form.
The immense CRACK instantly sheared off two of the wraith's colossal, segmented legs, which skittered across the floor in jets of dark fluid. Before I could process the victory, full, functional replacements sprouted from the severed limbs, hardening instantly.
It must be a general or higher if it can heal so fast. This is going to be more troublesome than I anticipated.-----Kanzaki Shuma's Lair - Deep Underground
The narrative shifts to the target of this confrontation: Kanzaki Shuma.
Kanzaki Shuma, a man whose existence was a dark footnote in the history of modern sorcery, was the architect of this confrontation. He was born with an Aspect of unimaginable gruesomeness—a perverse ability that allowed him to capture, combine, and ultimately control multiple wraiths, forging them into horrifying, unique chimeras. It was a brutal and singularly destructive variation of Blight Forging.
Before his destructive turn, Shuma was a brilliant but deeply disturbed scientist. His megalomania was unique; he sought only the utter, comprehensive destruction of everything. Shuma possessed the intellect, cold detachment, and potent Aspect to achieve this. A strategic killer, he eliminated former accomplices the moment they lost utility. Operating alone, Shuma only required a constant supply of captured wraiths to fuel his growing, horrific army.
His activities had made him a genuine, existential threat to the gangs and smaller bearer syndicates that controlled the city's dark underbelly. Shuma's manufactured curses were routinely deployed to assassinate rivals and disrupt operations. Furthermore, he possessed the audacity to actively steal and absorb wraiths that other users relied upon, systematically dismantling their power bases from the shadows.
Character Profile: Kanzaki Shuma
Shuma presented a thin, almost frail figure—a common trait among those who spend their lives in the shadows. His skin was perpetually pale. His dark blue eyes were his most striking feature: intense, calculating, and cold, yet burning with an unmistakable, intelligent ambition. His hair, a deep, midnight blue, was long enough to often obscure his gaze, giving him a perpetually shadowed expression. He was dressed in a pristine black uniform, a relic from his forgotten past working within a high-security nuclear research lab—a constant, subtle reminder of his scientific pedigree. Tall and lean, his age rested squarely between twenty-seven and twenty-nine years.-----Kanzaki's Point of View
I sensed somebody entering the building. The subtle ripple of Aspect energy crossing his pre-set detection boundary was nothing more than a minor annoyance. No bother, I mused, allowing a slow, confident, and deeply malicious grin to stretch across my face. Masato will take care of them.
Masato, one of my earliest and more successful prototypes—a combination of a general and two Colonel spirits—was a testament to my early genius. I summoned the towering chimera with a thought, issuing a silent command to scout the periphery and eliminate any unauthorized presence it encountered. Satisfied, I turned my back on the summoning point. The wall before me was a patchwork of monitors, each displaying live feeds from the surveillance system I had painstakingly established throughout the sprawling, abandoned facility.
This will be enjoyable to watch. The words were a quiet, cold promise to himself. The intrusion was merely entertainment, a brief, violent interlude before returning to the serious business of perfecting his next creation. He settled in, ready to watch the hunter become the hunted.
My pov:
"Damn it!" A sharp, frustrated exhale. "I need a way to kill this thing; I can't keep dodging." The desperate thought spurred a frantic assessment.
The entity—a grotesque tapestry of shadowy tentacles and psychic dread—was a relentless storm. It assailed me with concussive blasts, piercing shadow tendrils, and insidious psychological attacks, exploiting every fear. I was a leaf in a hurricane, barely adapting; my muscles screamed from the unnatural exertion. Each dodge was raw, fading will, and with every parry, exhaustion deepened, clinging like a shroud.
"I could use a little help here!" I managed the sentence somewhere between dodges. "I have the rage you want; there's nothing I want more in this world right now than killing this damned thing, so why won't you give me your power! You are enjoying this, aren't you?"
All I could hear as a response was a manic laugh inside my head. I could see the Something's grim stretching from eye to eye across his face. The demon is supposed to give its power to the vessel with enough rage and murderous intent, but then again, it indifferent to my life or anyone's for that matter. The only thing it wants is chaos and blood.
My fatal distraction let the thick, barbed tentacle strike with viper speed, violently tearing through my defenses and across my right arm. The impact was an explosion of white-hot agony and a sickening snap as tendons shredded and bone was nearly severed. The wraith retracted, leaving a gushing, crimson wound pulsing onto the ground.
I was knocked off balance by a blinding pain and fell heavily. The catastrophic blood loss and the impact of the fall shocked me back to consciousness. A terrifying new reality fractured my world as I fought for breath, tasting the metallic fear and sheer effort in my mouth.
Regaining my composure, I met the gaze of the monster before me, awaiting the command to strike.
"You are ugly as hell, and I've had enough of you." If only I could get the Something out...
I launched myself forward with blinding speed, landing a powerful kick on its head. My movements were so swift that the monster could barely register my presence.
Wielding my Aspect, I shredded its flesh, severing countless limbs and spraying dark fluids into the air. All the pent-up anger within me was unleashed in that moment.
Leaping into the air above the creature, I began charging a concentrated blast of fire.
"Just die already!"
With a final, crushing blow, I descended upon the wraith, unleashing the full force of the accumulated energy. A blinding light erupted from its head as it exploded with a dying groan.
There has to be more where this thing came from. The air still vibrated with residual dark energy. I was still panting, my lungs burning, the taste of metallic blood and ozone sharp on my tongue.The sheer force of its attack had jarred every bone in my body, and I was holding a throbbing bruise on my ribcage that promised to be a spectacular display of purple and black later.
I have to find this crazy scientist dude before he unleashes an army of these wraith lords on the world, or worse, just on me. He clearly has an agenda, a terrifying level of power, and an even more terrifying willingness to use it. I'm deep within his domain.
"—Well done! You've impressed me, I must say."
The voice cut through the heavy silence, smooth and laced with an unsettling amusement. He was approaching me, the sound of his slow, deliberate applause echoing unnervingly in the vast space. The man himself was slender, impeccably dressed in a black coat that seemed immaculate despite the surroundings.
"Though, you did kill Masato, so I'll have to kill you in return.
He stopped clapping, and the air immediately solidified, pressing in on me like a physical weight. The temperature plummeted. The casual facade vanished, leaving behind a terrifying, focused hostility.
"Wait, you name your wraiths?" I threw up the question, with a mix of genuine confusion and biting sarcasm. The absurdity was almost laughable. Man, you are weird."
He gave me no response. My sarcasm had no effect on the stone-cold exterior. Instead, his hand rose in a casual gesture, and the energy snapped. In an instant, three new wraiths materialized from the swirling shadows and residual energy of his Aspect. Each was a grotesque masterpiece of horror, pulsing with raw, concentrated power. One was a hulking, four-armed brute, the second a slender, insectoid horror that seemed to hover on buzzing wings, and the third, the most unsettling, was a faceless humanoid wreathed in flickering, blue flame. Each possessed special, unique abilities that radiated danger.
"You can't run or defend yourself," the man stated, his voice a calm monotone." You are overpowered at this point. Here, everything obeys my rules, and that, naturally, includes you. I control the flow of Aspect Energy, the very space, the exit, and your fate."
He unleashed the three wraiths with a negligent flick of his wrist. I had no chance of escaping or dodging; the space itself warped around me, placing me directly in their line of attack. They didn't rush; they flowed, surrounding me in a lethal, coordinated triangle.
They showered me with all kinds of attacks. The fire-wreathed one spat torrents of searing blue flame, the brute brought down crushing physical blows, and the insectoid thing zipped past, leaving deep, burning scratches with its razor-sharp limbs. My meager defenses crumbled instantly. I had minutes... no. Moments before I'm done for. This wasn't a fight; it was an execution.
"People like you are flea for a bear. Just irritating," he continued, watching the spectacle with detached interest. "I have a goal: to destroy the current spiritual order, to reshape reality into something truly free. People fear me, recognize my genius, and yet they still send me somebody like you, a pathetic assassin with a weak Aspect and no skill. It's an insult to my intellect. I really do hate people." His voice was low, saturated with pure annoyance and hatred, though his cadence remained perfectly calm and logical. His face expression was constant, empty—a perfect mask. His eyes, sharp and cold, were fixated on me, anticipating my death with the same patience one might show while waiting for a kettle to boil. I was simply a minor calculation, soon to be erased.
Shit, I have to use the Something or I'll die! This guy is a pain in the ass and I'm pissed off now. What more do you want! Take over and kill this motherfucker already!
Blackout.
When I opened my eyes, my perception of reality fractured. I was hosting two consciousnesses: my own and a vicious predator whose rage was unbearable. His laughter and the incessant chant of "Kill! Kill! Kill!" echoed simultaneously inside my skull. The voices were excruciating, and the hunger consumed me. Then, it seized control. I became a mere spectator, stripped of agency.
The bathhouse was drenched in blood, dripping from the walls, the ceiling, and even my own body when I looked down. Blood vessels emerged behind me, coiling and ready—weapons prepared to grip, choke, or pierce any enemy.
Half of my face was replaced by the Something's horrific, demonic features. Its unnaturally wide grin was filled with possibly a hundred razor-sharp fangs. A maniacal, demonic laugh tore from my mouth. The delighted, horrifying smile now fixed on my face was sadistic, manic, and utterly berserk.
The wraiths evaporated within seconds as Kanzaki lost control from the shock.
I was standing in the blood dripping down on my entire body, eyes glowing in red.
Kanzaki screams as I slowly walk toward him, his amalgamated wraiths begin tearing themselves apart as the veins tore in their flesh and blood explodes inside them.
-No-wait! - he stumbles backward, clawing at his own body as stitched wraiths rip free, dissolving into crimson mist the moment they touch the floor.
I don't rush him. The sight of him drowning in my blood gave me pure pleasure.
-Look at me Kanzaki Shuma. Because this is the face of a killer. And if you thought you were a big shot and people feared you, then I have to break it to you. You are nothing compared to me. - my face was cold, expressionless, voice cold, merciless, carrying absolute authority.
His face was pure terror as he was trembling on the floor begging with his eyes.
One clean strike.
chunks of red stained reality peeling away, leaving the bathhouse scarred, permanently wrong.
I don't see Kiyotugu. But he sees everything. From a distant rooftop, hidden beneath distant barriers and spider-thread surveillance wraiths, Kiyotugu Kurogumo watches the remains of my berserk form bleed back into Tokyo.
-That wasn't refinement. That was assertation. - His voice cold and declaring.
One of his men swallows.
-Boss….that wasn't in the report.
Kiyotugu's lips curl.
-Of course it wasn't.
He turns away, coat fluttering in the night wind.
-A power like hers, - he says softly - the world moved for her.
The scene opens in a dimly lit, underground room, the decor black yet ornate, illuminated by faint, red light. Shadows obscure most details, revealing only silhouettes. A woman sits on a black throne, her eyes glowing red in the gloom.
"So I see. We have a new fish in the pond," she says, a slow smile curving her lips. "I'm curious about her. Go and find her. I need her alive."
The perspective shifts abruptly to the bathhouse. I am standing amidst a pool of blood, panting, completely covered in it, staring down at the brutally destroyed, dead body.
The setting changes again to an ornamented room, faint classical music playing. Kiyotugu reclines on a sofa, his posture casual, chin resting on his fist and legs propped on the armrest.
"So what do you intend to do with her now?" asks one of his trusted men.
"I'm planning to keep her," Kiyotugu declares, excitement coloring his voice, a smile on his face, though he doesn't look at the men. "From what I've seen so far, she has a huge potential to become a weapon, and when that happens, we can use her to execute the rest of the gangs."
Mid-sentence, the scene cuts to me stepping out of the building, walking disoriented down the road, still bloody, my eyes blazing with rage.
"I will train her personally," Kiyotugu states, looking at his fingers which are glowing with black Aspect energy. "She needs us as much as we need her, so it shouldn't be a problem to keep her in check."
The focus returns to a close-up of my eyes.
"And besides," Kiyotugu's voice continues, followed by a brief pause. "There is something unusual about her. An ancient source of power, an immense amount of cursed energy that's even greater than mine."
My eyes begin to glow red, pupils contracting into vertical slits.
"And that makes her powerful."
The scene cuts back to a close-up of Kiyotugu's face, his yellow eyes narrowed.
"I like power."
END OF CHAPTER I