A flickering television cast a dull, restless glow across the cluttered apartment. Empty cans lay scattered among half-filled notebooks, ashtrays overflowing with burnt incense. The air smelled stale—like something left smoldering too long.
A man dressed entirely in black sat before the screen, motionless.
His long, dark hair hung past his jaw, shadowing a pale, sharp face. His eyes—restless, sleepless, fractured—never blinked, fixed on the crawling static hissing from the speakers.
Then his phone rang.
He let it buzz three times before answering.
"Hello?"
Kenji Sato's calm voice crackled through the line. "Ogi. Some of the lesser teams have been compromised. Arrested."
Ogi's lips curled into a thin, blade-like smile. "So…" He leaned back slightly. "You're finally subbing me in."
Kenji sighed—soft, almost annoyed. "Yeah. Don't disappoint me."
"What's the job?"
Kenji lowered the phone to his desk. In the dim light of his office, he scribbled several names onto a notepad, snapped a photo, and sent it.
Ogi's phone buzzed.
"You're hitting the Hunter Association Headquarters," Kenji said. "You'll lead a small strike team. Secondary cells will attack other locations to divide attention."
Ogi cracked his neck lazily. "Hunter HQ, huh? You really don't play fair." He chuckled. "But why send me with dead weight? You gave me this mark—shouldn't that be enough?"
He rolled back his sleeve.
Etched into his forearm was a large, uneven red spiral—like paint smeared mid-motion. The mark pulsed faintly, alive beneath his skin.
Kenji's voice hardened. "That mark doesn't make you a god. It amplifies your Tao. What you do with it determines how long you live."
Ogi's smile thinned. "So they're strong."
"They're more than that," Kenji replied. "You're not fighting normal Hunters."
A pause.
"They're the Asura."
The line went dead.
Hunter Association Headquarters — Present Day
The night sky split as a black, manta-shaped craft glided silently through the clouds. Its hull shimmered with Tao inscriptions—crimson veins of power pulsing beneath polished obsidian plating.
Inside, six figures stood unmoving.
Each bore the same spiraling red emblem as Ogi.
Their expressions were calm. Reverent. Devoted.
The craft tilted, wings folding inward as it descended toward the top floor of the Association Tower—the domain of the Asura Division.
The hull peeled open with a low hiss. Rain rushed in.
The marked soldiers stepped onto the rooftop one by one, weapons gleaming under moonlight.
Ogi stood at the front, a bandaged hammer slung across his back. Rain slid down his hair, dripping from his chin as he stared at the glowing spiral emblazoned on the craft's flank.
Its pulse matched his own.
"Let's make history," he murmured.
A Few Days Earlier
Ogi leaned against a rusted balcony railing, phone pressed to his ear.
"Your target," Kenji said, "is Guy. The Fifth Asura."
Ogi frowned. "Who the hell is that?"
A pause.
"He's the one you're killing."
The call ended.
Ogi slipped the phone into his pocket, eyes gleaming. "Hope you're worth it."
Present — Hunter HQ, East Wing
The manta's wings folded inward, sealing the rooftop behind them.
Inside the Asura dormitory wing, everything was quiet.
Guy lay asleep on his bed, city lights humming faintly through the window. His room was unremarkable—white walls, a cluttered desk, blinds half-drawn. Nothing about it suggested that he ranked among the most dangerous Hunters alive.
The door clicked open.
Ogi stepped inside, hammer dragging across the floor with a slow, deliberate scrape.
His gaze locked onto the bed.
"…This is easier than I thought."
He raised the hammer. Bandages tightened as his Tao flared crimson, pressure cracking the air.
The hammer fell.
The room exploded—shockwaves tearing through walls—
—but the bed was empty.
Ogi's eyes widened. "What—"
Wind screamed through the shattered window.
Guy stood on the rooftop, barefoot, hair swaying in the rain, eyes half-lidded like he'd barely woken up.
"You're loud," he said flatly. "Do you know what time it is?"
Ogi laughed, rolling his shoulders. "So the guardian wakes."
He raised his hammer again—
A blur of violet light smashed through the ceiling.
A man with long purple hair and glowing eyes seized Ogi by the face mid-swing. His Tao detonated—dense, violent, crushing.
"You picked the wrong target," the man said coldly.
Ogi was lifted off his feet and driven straight through the concrete floor.
The rooftop buckled. The other marked soldiers were thrown aside like dolls.
Ogi coughed blood, grinning through the pain. "You must be—"
"Now."
Golden Tao lines erupted from the floor, forming rings of scripture that snapped shut around the intruders. The symbols compressed, weaving into chains—condensed light binding their limbs like coiled serpents.
Ogi's grin finally broke. "Heh… figures. Jin. Second Asura."
The chains pulsed once.
The group vanished in a blinding flash, leaving scorched stone behind.
Silence.
Dust drifted through the shattered ceiling.
Guy stared at the empty space, expression unreadable. "Who approved this?"
Jin straightened his coat, brushing off debris. "Orders from above. Kenji's stirring something."
Guy exhaled slowly. "You can handle it. They weren't impressive."
Jin nodded once.
"It's begun."