The circular black oak table dominated the center of the office, but what really filled the room was the static pressure of four overwhelming presences. The air was thick, saturated with the smell of tobacco and the latent Dao that overflowed from the bodies present.
Yue, the Captain of the North Zone, held the paper with her slender fingertips. She was of foreign origin, with delicate oriental features and a sharp gaze, but her voice broke the solemnity of the room:
"A Sunflower? A calamity of this level... here?" She slid the letter across the wood toward the man on her left. "Draezen, are you sure about what you wrote to the Empire? Isn't it a miscalculation?"
Draezen did not respond immediately. The Captain of the South Zone lit a cigarette, the match illuminating the scars on his face for a second. He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and looked Yue directly in the eye. His gaze was not just cold; it was a physical threat.
"Watch your tone, Yue," Draezen said. "I didn't invite you to this table to be my conscience or to call me a liar."
To his right, Kimyo, the Captain of the West Zone, let out a light laugh. He was a thin, bespectacled man whose permanent smile never reached his eyes.
"A Flower at our festival... how enviable," Kimyo murmured, adjusting his lenses. "I would love to taste his steel."
"It would be an honor to have him at the festival if he were on our side," interrupted Ganken, the Captain of the East Zone. He was the opposite of Kimyo: robust, tanned, and bald, with arms like tree trunks carved for war. "Unfortunately, he is just a pest to be eradicated."
Behind each of them, like silent and lethal shadows, stood their Assistants. Motionless, hands at rest, but with their senses on high alert.
"He increased his power during combat. Drastically," continued Draezen, his voice devoid of any emotion. "The bastard is smart. He beat me on the details."
The silence that followed was absolute. The eyes of Ganken, the Captain of the East, widened. Draezen was a legend of invincibility; since childhood, the man had never known the taste of defeat. He had refused the title of Imperial Warrior several times just to remain there, as the absolute lord of his own jurisdiction. The idea that something, a demon, had broken him was a bad omen for that village.
"He defeated you?" Ganken murmured. "Draezen... if what you say is true, that being is the first on the face of the earth to accomplish such a feat."
"The calamity is at my level, Inferior Maestro," Draezen ignored his colleague's astonishment, focusing on the smoke from his cigarette. "And I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow I woke up at the next level. After all, we are talking about a Sun Flower."
Kira, behind him, clenched her fists tightly. Yue glanced at the letter, her mind already calculating escape routes from the Empire.
"Yue," Draezen concluded, "the Empire will surely come, but when..."
BOOM.
A violent explosion shook the mansion's foundations. Flames tinged the curtains orange. Before the echo of the blast had even dissipated, movement in the room became fluid.
The four Assistants did not hesitate. In the blink of an eye, they turned into blurs of speed, leaping through windows and doors toward the courtyard. It was military doctrine: the Assistants were the first line of defense; the Captains only intervened if the world was falling apart.
Kimyo, the Captain of the West, didn't even get up. He just adjusted his glasses as he watched the sparks streak across the night sky.
"Uhh! Looks like it's going to be a busy night," he commented with his usual cynical smile.
Rain fell heavily on the courtyard. In the center, Shinjimaru dropped a guard's body to the ground. His face was covered by long, wet hair.
The four assistants entered the courtyard. Ganken's assistant, with his shaved head, drew one of the swords and unleashed a gust of wind from bottom to top. Shinjimaru jumped onto the side wall and ran along it. Yue's assistant clasped her hands together and the structure of the wall broke apart, closing in on Shinjimaru to trap him. He used a vertical Soul Dash, dodging the impact and remaining suspended in the air.
Kira paused for a second. She recognized the move. "It's the demon's dog," she thought.
She threw her two electrified daggers at him. In midair, Shinjimaru grabbed one of the daggers, spun his body, and threw it back at Kira. The blade was covered in fire and exploded into flames as it approached. Kira used her technique to switch places with the second dagger, appearing in the air next to him. Shinjimaru grabbed her by the shoulder, reversed her position, and threw her to the ground.
Below, without giving her time, Kimyo's assistant executed his attack in a dash.
"Sword Art: Kimyona Ugoki."
Five blades of energy followed his movement as he delivered rapid blows against Shinjimaru, finishing with a stomp that threw him back to the ground.
Ganken's assistant jumped in immediately to finish him off. He twisted his body like a screw, pointing the tips of his swords at his opponent's chest: "Meteor Sword Art."
At the same time, Kira slid across the floor with her lightning-bathed dagger, aiming for Shinjimaru's throat.
Kira's movement crossed paths with Ganken's. The assistant had to deflect the blow so as not to hit his ally, exploding the ground beside her. The impact knocked Kira off balance. Shinjimaru seized the moment, grabbed her wrist, stood up, and struck her in the chest with the palm of his hand.
"Fire Art, Ensho Style: Burn!"
Shinjimaru's palm released an explosion of fire in the shape of a phoenix. The blow incinerated Kira's tunic and threw her backward with force. Her body collided with Yue's apprentice and they both fell.
Shinjimaru moved away, jumping out of the courtyard.
"Damn, Kira! I thought you were above Veteran. What the hell was that coordination?" Ganken shouted, before setting off in pursuit along with Kimyo's apprentice.
Kira got up and also ran after Shinjimaru. Yue's assistant stayed behind, sighing as she cleaned her clothes.
"Damn, I hate this job."
Shinjimaru left the South Guard complex and entered the neighborhoods and alleys of the village. Even in heavy rain, there were still people on the streets. He was pursued across the rooftops until he decided to descend into the alleys and blend in with the crowd.
"Damn, I failed the distraction. I must be very rusty," he thought.
To throw them off his trail, he entered a dark alley. He quickly tied his hair back and took off his top kimono, leaving only the bottom piece on to look like a random civilian.
Just as he was about to leave, a fist appeared in front of him. Shinjimaru turned his face to the side. With one hand, he grabbed the attacker's arm; with the other, he molded flames around two fingers, pointing them directly at his opponent's abdomen to pierce it.
He stopped the blow at the last second. The person had been equally quick: a dagger was pressed against Shinjimaru's throat.
They let go of each other. Shinjimaru retreated into a fighting stance, but Kira lowered her daggers.
"I give up," she said. "I don't intend to fight you, Demon Dog."
Shinjimaru lunged at her, knocked her down, and pinned her to the ground. He was about to deliver a punch to knock her out when she spoke:
"I know where they are... I can give you the book and sword you seek."
Shinjimaru stopped his fist inches from her face. He slowly backed away, releasing her but keeping his guard up.
"Talk," he ordered.
"I knew it was you in the courtyard," Kira said, composing herself. "I would have known sooner if I had activated my eyes. Remember, I was the one who found you in that square."
She activated her eye technique and her eyes glowed in the dim light of the alley. "Hide now, someone's coming."
Soon after, one of the assistants entered the alley, running.
"Kira! Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her.
Before she could react, Shinjimaru moved. She appeared behind the man and knocked him out with a sharp blow to the back of the head. The assistant collapsed to the ground. Shinjimaru turned her gaze back to Kira.
"Now do you believe I'm on your side?" she asked, without moving.