The handoff was scheduled for 11:30 p.m. under the rusted pedestrian overpass near Kinshicho Station.
The buyer—a quiet man in a charcoal coat, face half-hidden by a surgical mask—was already waiting when Ren and Aoi arrived. He carried nothing visible except a slim black briefcase. The Current had described him as "reliable repeat client, pays on time, no questions." That was supposed to be enough.
Ren held the small reinforced case containing the second vial of the night—same green swirl inside, same tracer enchantment humming faintly. Aoi walked beside him, hood up, hands loose at her sides. They looked like any other late-night couple cutting through the industrial fringe of the city.
The buyer nodded once.
"Case."
Ren extended his arm.
That was when the air changed.
Not a rift. Not a drone.
Just the sudden, greasy pressure of multiple essences converging at once.
Three figures dropped from the overpass girders above—landing in perfect triangle formation around the buyer. Leather jackets, silver fox pins gleaming under the sodium lights. Mei's crew again. The same purple-haired woman from the Ikebukuro alley led them, tanto already drawn, crimson foxfire licking along the blade.
"Change of plans," she said, voice light and mocking. "The vial stays with us. And the Kurogami boy comes too. Mei sends her regards."
The buyer cursed under his breath and stepped back—briefcase snapping open to reveal a concealed short-barrel essence pistol. He wasn't running. He was ready to fight for his purchase.
Ren felt Aoi tense beside him.
"Ren—"
"I know."
No more hiding. No more half-measures.
He let the Anchor's blue light flare—just a pulse, visible to everyone present.
The suppression seal protested with a sharp burn, but the 65% cap held. Void tendrils uncoiled from his shoulders, slow and deliberate.
Aoi's hands lit up gold—not the full spear yet, just radiant gauntlets that wrapped her fists like molten sunlight.
Purple Hair's eyes narrowed.
"So the little angel's really playing for the other team now. Cute."
She lunged first—tanto slashing in a crimson arc aimed at Ren's throat.
Ren Shadow Stepped sideways, reappeared behind her, and drove a Void Chain straight into her back. The black links wrapped her torso, yanking her off balance. She snarled, foxfire exploding outward in a ring that scorched the concrete.
Aoi moved at the same instant—golden gauntlet slamming into the second attacker's chest. The impact rang like struck metal; the man flew backward into a support pillar and didn't get up.
The third attacker—a bulky man with bone spurs protruding from his forearms—charged Ren.
Ren met him head-on.
He didn't dodge this time.
He caught the bone-spiked fist in his palm, shadows surging up to meet bone. The collision cracked like breaking ice. The man screamed as black tendrils burrowed into his arm, eating the essence straight from the source.
Essence fragment absorbed. Minor gain.
The buyer fired his pistol—three essence-charged rounds that punched glowing holes through the air.
Purple Hair twisted free of the chains with a burst of foxfire and deflected the shots with her blade.
"Enough games," she hissed.
She raised her free hand.
Crimson threads erupted from her palm—dozens of them—lashing toward Ren and Aoi like living whips.
Ren threw up a Shadow Veil; the threads passed through blurred air instead of flesh.
Aoi stepped forward—golden light flaring brighter. She clapped her hands together.
A dome of soft radiance snapped into existence around them both—threads sizzling and dissolving where they touched the barrier.
The buyer stared.
"You two… you're the ones from the crimson alert."
Ren didn't answer.
Purple Hair laughed—sharp, furious.
"Fine. Let's see how long your little love bubble lasts."
She slammed her tanto into the ground.
The concrete cracked in a spiderweb pattern. Crimson energy pulsed outward, shattering Aoi's dome in a shower of gold sparks.
Ren felt the Anchor thrum—warning him the surge was approaching the red line.
He looked at Aoi.
She nodded once.
Together.
Ren extended both hands.
Void Chains erupted—not one, not two, but a net of black iron links that shot toward Purple Hair and her remaining conscious subordinate.
At the same instant Aoi thrust both palms forward.
Golden chains of light answered—intertwining with the black ones mid-air.
Shadow and radiance fused.
The resulting lattice slammed into the attackers like a closing jaw.
Purple Hair screamed as the hybrid chains wrapped her completely—neither devouring nor purifying, just binding. The other man collapsed under the same net, unconscious.
The buyer lowered his pistol slowly.
Silence fell over the overpass—broken only by the distant hum of traffic and the faint crackle of dissipating foxfire.
Purple Hair glared up from the ground, bound tight.
"You think this ends here? Mei will burn this city looking for you two."
Ren crouched in front of her.
"Tell Mei something for me."
He leaned closer.
"Tell her the next time she sends people after us… we won't leave them breathing."
He stood.
Aoi dismissed her light chains. The black ones lingered a second longer—then dissolved into smoke.
The buyer holstered his weapon.
"You just saved my merchandise. And probably my life." He opened the briefcase again, pulled out a second envelope—thicker than the payment agreement. "Bonus for exceptional service. Current will hear about this."
He tossed the envelope to Ren.
Then he walked away—calm, unhurried—into the night.
Ren and Aoi stood alone with the bound attackers.
Aoi looked at him—breathing hard, eyes bright.
"We just fought together. In front of witnesses. As equals."
Ren nodded.
"And we won."
He offered his hand.
She took it.
They left the overpass together—leaving Purple Hair and her crew bound for whatever cleanup crew the Current would send.
Behind them, the city lights glittered like they always had.
But something had shifted tonight.
They weren't just hiding anymore.
They were starting to fight back.
And word of two fugitives—one shadow, one light—who could chain the darkness and the dawn together—was already spreading through the underground currents like wildfire.
End of Chapter 14