CHAPTER:58
And she came through
THE FIRST GENERAL – SERAPHINE
A figure stepped out of the pulsing gate, she was calm, composed,confident ...the swirling vortex bending around her form as if bowing in reverence.
She was tall impossibly tall her silhouette cutting a flawless figure
Her long, hair flowed like black fire and her horns curved elegantly like a crown, her eyes glowed with a cruel, unearthly light with black chains coiling around her arms like serpents, clicking softly as she moved.
But it was her smile that made Renji's stomach twist.
It was mischievous
Behind her, four more dragons poured out of the gate but they moved as though in formation an army, not a horde.
One of the dragons lowered its head , bowing, as she climbed onto its skull as though it were her throne.
From her new vantage point, she scanned the battlefield with lazy interest until her gaze locked on Renji.
Her grin widened.
Seraphine softly, almost purring "Ooooh… found you."
Renji froze.
Takeda tightened his grip on his blade
Hiroto's grin faded as genzo's flames flared hotter.
All four of them said it at once, their voices a mix of confusion and alarm
Takeda, Renji, Hiroto, Genzo (together):
"…A humanoid beast."
Seraphine tilted her head at them, clearly amused by their reaction
"hmmm you smell… different from the rest of these little humans how curious so this is the stench of humans with Mana
She stretched out her hand, and the chains around her wrist unraveled with a hiss.
Seraphine smiled wilder "let's see what makes you so… special."
Renji's teeth ground together. He could feel her mana pressing against him suffocating, oppressive.
Which is odd he never feels mana pressure not even from takeda
At that exact moment, across Tokyo, the other gates all pulsed in unison.
SHINJUKU GATE
Fujimoto Kaoru of Iron Blossom Guild stood her ground, glaive at the ready, her guild members forming a semicircle behind her.
The gate split open and a hulking figure crawled out on four limbs.
Its armor was made of bone, its horns like jagged spikes, and behind it marched an army of ogres and minotaurs, their roars shaking the earth.
Kaoru (gritting her teeth):
"What the hell is that thing…?"
The creature stood tall, towering and imposing, its skull-mask splitting into a grin.
General #2 (voice deep, guttural) "a battlefield… good."
It slammed its massive hammer into the ground, summoning a circle of blood-red light that caused more beasts to crawl out of the gate.
AKIHABARA GATE –
AGH!!!
A figure sliding back.. it was Taro
Gasp Gasp Gasp
Sasaki Taro of Scarlet Fang twirled his spear, a confident grin on his face until the figure that emerged made him go pale.
This general was sleek, elegant, dressed in a robe of shadow, its face hidden by a blank mask.
Behind it came not beasts, but wraiths hundreds of shadowy figures whose whispering voices made the hunters clutch their ears.
Taro (snapping to his team):
"Stay close! Don't get separated they'll drag you into the shadows!"
The masked general extended one hand, and the wraiths froze, then pointed in perfect unison toward the hunters.
UENO GATE
Kobayashi Ren of Thunderclaw Guild stood with electricity crackling around his fists.
Through the gate came a general draped in black iron plates, its body glowing with molten veins.
Behind it came beasts of magma and stone, their bodies leaving trails of fire wherever they walked.
The general roared, and the temperature in Ueno skyrocketed streetlamps began melting from the heat.
Ren (gritting his teeth):
"…Great. Just great."
SHINAGAWA GATE
Minamoto Rikuya of Azure Shadow Guild crouched low on a rooftop, his eyes narrowing.
This general didn't roar.
It simply stepped through slender, insect-like, with too many limbs and too many eyes,
Behind it came an army of chittering, insectoid monsters, crawling across buildings like a living tide.
Rikuya's breath slowed as he melted into the shadows.
Rikuya (whispering):
"…This one's mine."
Seraphine's dragon mount lowered its head slightly, and she leaned forward, smiling like a predator.
Seraphine smirked slowly "you four will do nicely as my entertainment."
Renji's golden aura surged involuntarily, his jaw tightening.
Renji (low, to himself)
"…So this is what he showed me."
Takeda took a single step forward, spinning his blade into position.
"Renji. Hiroto. Genzo. Get ready."
Hiroto grinned again, his earlier fear turning into bloodlust.
"Heh. Been a while since I had this much fun."
Genzo slammed a fist into his palm, fire roaring around him like a cloak.
"Then let's give her a warm welcome."
Seraphine's chains rattled, and she laughed softly, the sound sending a chill down Renji's spine.
"Humans."
The air grew colder...
The ground beneath them trembled as the colossal gate behind Seraphine pulsed again, pouring mana into the air like a storm about to break.
Takeda's eyes narrowed. His knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on his blade
Low, sharp he spoke
"Renji, Hiroto from the sides. Keep her distracted. Her mana levels are…"
He paused, his pupils contracting as he sensed her full power.
The weight of it pressed on his lungs like a boulder.
Takeda gritting his teeth
"…insane almost Stronger than me."
Genzo's flames flared, licking higher around his frame.
"Stronger? What do you...."
WHOOSH
Seraphine moved
One moment she was standing on her dragon's skull, lazily twirling her chain.
The next she was right in front of Genzo, moving faster than the human eye could follow.
Her fist slammed into his face with a sound like thunder.
WHAM!!
Genzo's head snapped back violently as the blow launched him across the battlefield, his body crashing through two buildings before finally slamming into a third with a fiery explosion.
Renji (shouting, panicked):
"MR GENZO!!"
Renji blurred forward, his instincts screaming, and appeared just in time to see Seraphine's clawed hand cutting toward his neck.
Clang
The sound of his blade and her claws clashed together
Seraphine whispered slightly "eiii you dodge that"
Renji cursed under his breath " she's fast I barely brought my dagger up to block and still felt the impact rattle through my entire body.
The sheer force of her blow cracked the earth under his feet.
Seraphine leaned close, smiling almost gently.
Seraphine whispered soft, amused " I see you're fast but not fast enough."
Around them, her dragons were already wreaking havoc.
One swooped low, grabbing a screaming civilian with its talons before ripping him into two!
Flames spread across the district as several dragons exhaled torrents of fire, turning entire rows of buildings into molten ruin.
Wrecking havoc throughout the entire city
Hiroto snarled "tch… you think you're the only fast one here?"
He yanked his twin daggers free, lightning crackling across the blades.
With a blur of motion,
Whoosh!!
he was on her, his daggers flashing as he struck at her from multiple angles a whirlwind of steel and sparks.
SLASH
SLASH
SLASH
But seraphine didn't even bother dodging.
Her chain moved like a living serpent, intercepting each strike with a metallic clang
Clang
Clang
Clang
Then, bored, she lashed out with one hand and caught Hiroto by the throat mid-strike.
Slamming him into the ground
WHAM!!
Immediately hiroto coughed out blood
Gulp!
She lifted him off the ground with casual strength.
Seraphine mocking him
"Weak."
Hiroto's legs kicked as he tried to pry her hand away.
Seraphine laughed again
"Do you still want to dance, little dagger?"
Her free hand curved into a spear of claws, aiming straight for his chest ready to pierce his heart.
But takeda moved with precision
The air cracked like a whip as he appeared beside her, his blade shifted form into a naginata spinning in a blur before he drove the weapon between her and Hiroto, forcing her to release her grip.
He followed up with a punch his fist glowing with compressed mana that connected with her midsection.
The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, shattering windows and splitting the ground.
Seraphine staggered back several steps, her chains rattling as she caught herself.
She looked down at the faint scorch mark left on her armor and smiled wider.
Seraphine pleased "Ooooh. not bad you will do just nicely
Her mana flared, dark and violent, whipping her hair around like black fire.
"Come and let's see you do that again."
A pillar of fire erupted from the distant rubble.
Genzo emerged, blood running down the side of his face, his flames burning hotter than ever.
His expression was no longer playful it was murderous.
Genzo snarled
"You hit me once, monster you won't get a second chance!"
He turned his head around as he saw the dragons heading towards choji and lily
He raised both hands and slammed them together.
A wall of fire exploded outward, forming a massive blazing barrier that stopped several dragons from advancing toward Choji and Lily, who left the barrier earlier scrambling to evacuate nearby civilians.
By now, the battle had consumed the entire city
Dragons filled the skies, their roars drowning out sirens and screams.
Hunters from nearby guilds arrived, forming defensive lines, but were quickly overwhelmed.
Mana explosions lit up the night sky like fireworks.
And still, in the middle of it all, Seraphine stood smiling as if this was merely the opening act.
Meanwhile fujimoto Kaoru spat blood from her lip, gripping her glaive tighter as the bone-armored general advanced.
The Shinjuku gate was more terrifying than she thought
Kaoru gritting her teeth roared "everyone! Formation! Don't let them surround us!"
But the army of ogres and minotaurs kept coming.
The general swung its colossal hammer, and the ground shattered, knocking three hunters off their feet.
General #2 (voice like rolling thunder)
"You will break first."
Kaoru snarled, charging forward and aiming for the creature's head.
Her glaive struck true only for the general to catch the blade in its bare hand and twist, sending Kaoru flying.
AKIHABARA GATE
Sasaki Taro spun his spear, taking down one wraith after another but for each he destroyed, three more appeared.
The masked general raised its hand, and the shadows of every building in the district moved.
They stretched like living things, forming grasping claws that tried to drag the hunters down.
Taro yelling at the hunters
"Stay in the light! Don't let the shadows touch you!"
Hunters screaming
AGH!!
AGH!!
But it was to late because one by one they were getting pulled into darkness
CUT TO: UENO GATE
Kobayashi Ren stood knee-deep in molten streets, sweat dripping from his brow as the heat intensified.
The magma beasts advanced, their claws glowing white-hot.
But he was no pushover
Ren slammed his fists together, calling down a massive lightning strike that tore through several of them but the general barely flinched, its molten armor glowing brighter as if absorbing the energy.
Ren breathing hard "Yeah. This is bad."
SHINAGAWA GATE
Minamoto Rikuya moved like a ghost, cutting down insectoid creatures one by one.
But there were too many.
The general's many eyes glowed faintly as it clicked its mandibles, and the swarm responded instantly climbing over one another to form a living wall that blocked Rikuya's escape routes.
Rikuya (grim):
"…Guess I won't be going home tonight."
She vanished into the shadows again, preparing for another strike.
Now renji landed beside Takeda, his sword humming with mana.
Renji panting She's not holding back." Takeda-sensei this looks like what he showed me
Takeda (nodding, eyes locked on Seraphine)
Maybe that explains why the gate suddenly shattered instead of the seven days period
We need to take her alive and ask some questions if possible
Seraphine tilted her head, her grin widening as her chains uncoiled completely... You want to take me alive I see It wouldn't be fun otherwise."
With a flick of her wrist, the chains shot forward like vipers.
Takeda swung his naginata, deflecting one chain.
Renji blurred forward, slicing through the other mid-strike, his blade ringing with impact.
Genzo's firestorm intensified, boxing her in from behind.
Hiroto, still coughing from the earlier chokehold, spat blood and smirked.
"…Round two, witch."
He disappeared from sight, reappearing behind Seraphine with both daggers aiming for her spine.
She turned slightly, her smile turning predatory.
"yes that's better c'mon keep trying
The battlefield lit up as the clash truly began.