A month passed then another and another but the wear of time made no changes in the city, demons kept coming and a hunter kept coming to hunt them before any guild does.
An helicopter flew over an isolated 40km circle with all inhabitants cleared from that section of the city by the government under the pretext of " covert city maintenance".
The helicopter belonged to the Kokuryūkai and carried three Alpha operatives and a Beta their mission feed were being transmitted over to the base.
" Kokuryūkai this is the elimination squad, no heat signatures within forty kilometers. Over" Akihiro said over the radio.
" Elimination squad this is Kokuryūkai, you are free to engage I repeat you are free to engage. Over" Hikari ordered over the line.
The elimination squad dropped into the isolated zone. A high level demon was lurking within the city, one every guild was trying to kill.
" Heat signatures detected elimination squad 12kilometres north east of you, multiple hostiles making in" Hikari warned over the radio.
" No doubt our friends from other guilds" Rikuya, a seasoned professional of the alpha team whooped.
" Let's get to it first" Jade said. " Ladies first" Akihiro grinned. They charged forward in a stealthy formation.
Meanwhile a figure waited in an emptied restaurant enjoying a free lunch, He steadily tore through the bowl of ramen like he hadn't eaten in ages.
Then he downed the rest of broth and drank a cup of energy drink. Then he let out a long exhale. " Time to go hunting" he said narrowing his eyes both the human and demon eye concealed behind his hair.
The demon was a living nightmare of a beast, humanoid equipped with a black exoskeleton and terrifying horns that curved backwards parallel to his head before gently lifting their tips upwards.
The demon roamed the city, it's movements slow and deliberate like it was in search of something.
Then it spotted a person emerging out of a corner in front of it. It growled as the figure came into view.
The Figure clad in a simple white undershirt worn underneath a jacket topped off with a pair of well worn jeans and boots.
" Oh hello… and goodbye" Renji grinned, retrieving two custom made pistols and unleashing a fast barrage of bullets upon it…
" Alert! Multiple gunshot sounds south of you" The Kokuryūkai tech support warned. " Range to estimated location 2km"
" We heard it too" Hayabusa the Beta operative replied. " Think it's the other guilds?" Rikuya asked.
" I guess will find out" Jade said, double checking the holster she and the rest of the team sported. Then with a quick adjustment of her stance so that she stood ramrod straight, she sank into her own shadow cast on the floor.
In was a special technique called the shadow walk meant to help teleport through shadows. The other Kokuryūkai members followed her move.
Meanwhile…
Renji fired until his pistols fell silent. The demon which had been blocking the attack with it hand to avoid the bullets from hitting it's eyes used the momentarily reprieve to summon it's sword of steel forged from the flames of hell.
" Abyss vision" Renji murmured his voice harsh with urgency while he quick reloaded a single pistol, his demon eye responded instantly, altering his vision so he saw in a form of thermal mode but a single red spot in the centre of it's chest glowed like a heat lamp.
" Jackpot" Renji smiled and aimed it's fire at the spot, this time the demon blocked the fire with it's sword till the gun fell silent for a second time.
Now it was the demon's time to grin, it charged forward at Renji who immediately launched into evasive parries.
The sword smashed the pavement where Renji stood a microsecond earlier. A Ikazuchi-dan guild elite materialized at the scene in a flash of lightning.
Takeda Yoruya a feared soldier of the Ikazuchi-dan guild charged into the fray unleashing a fast combo of lightning charged punches and finishing with a powerful charged jab into the demon's abdomen.
The demon surprised by the sudden interference stumbled back. Takeda attempted moving to continue his attack on the demon when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
" He is mine!" Renji said. " Get your hands off me!" Takeda began but trailed off when the demon gave a mighty bellow and slashed hard in a wide arc.
A sudden reflex action made Renji stand in front of Takeda, shielding him. The slash cut through Renji's chest in one smooth motion while He managed to push Takeda some distance away from him.
A pained yell echoed the city then as if on cue a dark cloud passed over the quarter moon sending everywhere pitch black.
Then Takeda frozen by shock saw Renji's exposed demon eye glowing in the dark and shadows began to coalesce around him.
A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the night and within that time Takeda saw that Renji's wound was gone without a trace.
" Shin'nen" the demon growled, Takeda was unable to make out the emotion in the demon's growl. Shock? Awe? Respect? Fear? Or some awkward combination of all four?
The deployment from the Kokuryūkai base materialized in a flurry of shadows. Only to meet the hunter who had been evasive from their surveillance for the past three months face to face.
Renji crafted two deadly looking katanas from the shadows and his dressing changed before their eyes from a casual wear to that of a shadow born ninja.
His eyes: the human and demon were both clearly visible from under his half mask.
" Let's begin round two shall we?" Renji said in a voice that was nothing more than a whisper but felt bone chilling and menacing, it was hard to believe it came from a human.
They clashed again, demon versus an hybrid of both sides steel against steel, Renji fought with a speed that defied physics.
Slashing and ducking continuously with lingering shadow afterimages partially obscuring his movements while pressing attack after attack upon the demon till eventually an unintentional opening was discovered.
Renji cleanly slashed off both limbs of the demon, black blood spurted from the dismembered limbs while without breaking a sweat Renji pushed both blades into the spot in the demon's chest.
A shockwave rolled out from the force used, Black blood spurted from the demon's mouth while it fell to it's knees.
Renji pushed till both blades tore through its body and burst out in the back. " Tell the others to beware of the abyss" Renji whispered in it's ear.
Then drew both blades in the opposite direction till it cut the demon in symmetrical halves in a motion that birthed another shockwave.
" Wha!" Akihiro coughed. The rest of the Kokuryūkai along with Takeda were equally stunned.
A quick hand movement made multiple shadows emanate from Renji's form while he transformed back into his normal human form.
His demon eye was again hidden by his hair and with a smile he phased into thin air.