[Awakening – Part 3]
Cities never slept completely. Even as the night advanced, avenues remained bathed in neon lights, trains crossed the metropolises, and millions of people followed their routines without imagining that the world around them held far more than they could perceive. For most, the country was only what could be seen on the surface: advanced technology, ancient tradition, and an organized society that seemed to function like a perfectly tuned clock. But there was another side. A side that lived in the shadows of that same land.
Over generations, Japan had been quietly divided between two great clans. Ancient families whose names rarely appeared in public, but whose influence extended across institutions, companies, and structures that never drew attention. Each controlled half of the country, maintaining a delicate balance that almost no one fully understood. Between them existed rivalry, history, and constant surveillance. Yet, there were rules.
Each clan was responsible for its own territory. Its activities, its agents, its decisions. A member could never interfere in the affairs of the other half without a legitimate justification. It was an old, silent agreement, sustained by the understanding that any breach could generate unpredictable consequences. That kept the country stable.
There was only one exception.
Demons.
They did not appear frequently, but when they did, they left marks. Sometimes they manifested as small, almost invisible distortions in the air. Other times they crossed the boundary between the natural and what simply should not exist. Most people never saw them. Nor did they even feel them. For ordinary citizens, many of these events ended up recorded as unexplained accidents, collective outbreaks, or strange stories that faded with time.
But the clans knew the truth.
When one of these entities appeared, specialized agents were sent to eliminate it. They called it a purge. A silent and quick process, carried out to ensure that the world continued exactly as it had always seemed. If a demon manifested in rival territory and no local agents were present, the rule allowed intervention. Only for the purge. Nothing else. No investigation, no parallel action. Once the task was completed, the agent was to retreat.
It was a line that neither side dared cross.
Outside these circumstances, members of both clans could move freely across the country. They could live their lives, traverse cities, work, coexist like any other person. But they should never use their abilities outside the permitted situations. Because what made them capable of confronting demons also made them dangerous.
This ability had a name.
Ether.
An invisible energy that did not belong to the everyday world but could be accessed by those who ingested a special substance known as an Ether pill. When activated, this energy flowed through the user's body and awakened capacities far beyond human limits. Enhanced strength. Faster reflexes. Uncommon endurance.
But above all, it granted something even more essential: the ability to perceive what normally remained hidden.
Ether users could sense disturbances in the environment, identify strange presences, and see distortions that completely escaped ordinary senses. This state was simply known as Ether Perception. Without it, facing a demon would be impossible. Without it, it would not even be possible to understand that something was wrong.
"Are you trying to stall?" asked the man, as a dagger slid discreetly from his sleeve. "Emitters are usually a threat. And one that doesn't seem to control their own flow… is even worse. Naturally, they attract demons when uncontrolled. It's a danger to everyone."
The woman remained firm.
"That's none of your concern. You are in Kagutsuchi clan territory. The emitter is the responsibility of the clan leader. Under what authority do you come here wanting to kill him?"
The man let out a light sigh.
His gaze alternated between the woman and the unconscious boy on her shoulder. In his mind, only one order echoed repeatedly.
"Eliminate anyone suspected of being the emitter."
He glanced for a moment at the demon still being restrained by the black-clad agents further ahead. Then he returned his gaze to the woman.
He smiled.
The next instant, he was no longer there.
He appeared beside her, near the shoulder where Li rested. The dagger moved in a direct trajectory toward the boy. But the blade was intercepted at the last second by the woman's weapon, which she maneuvered with impressive precision. She deflected the strike and, without losing time, spun her body into a high kick aimed at the opponent's neck.
He raised his arm to block. The impact was strong. His body tilted slightly to the side. She was strong. He realized this immediately. His smile widened. He let go of the dagger. Still in motion, before the weapon even touched the ground, he spun his leg and kicked precisely at the handle of the blade. The dagger flew through the air again, now heading toward Li.
The woman reacted without hesitation. She threw the boy aside, preventing the weapon from reaching him. Li was suspended in the air for a moment, about to fall.
Taking advantage of that brief interval, she advanced against the man. She unleashed a rapid sequence of attacks. He blocked the first, but could not parry the final strike, which hit his chest and pushed him several steps back.
The woman spun her body. The short blade was already flying. She threw the weapon precisely at a point. The blade pierced Li's clothing and lodged in a nearby wall, catching the fabric and supporting the boy there.
The man did not give up. He drew two knives and advanced again. The woman also moved to meet him.
Their movements surpassed any common human limit. Speed, strength, reflexes, everything occurred in a superhuman cadence. He attacked with two blades, she responded with the short knife that remained in her hand, identical to the one now holding Li against the wall.
Sparks flew with every clash of metal. They retreated. They advanced. It was almost a lethal dance, in which any opening could mean the end.
"How stubborn you are!" he exclaimed, clearly enjoying the fight.
Suddenly, he changed the rhythm. His combat style shifted abruptly, enough to confuse the woman's reading. His blade found an opening and slashed her arm. A deep cut, enough to draw blood. She immediately jumped back. Blood ran and splattered onto the ground.
Even so, her expression remained calm. Her eyes never left the opponent. As she watched him, she analyzed subtle details: the rhythm of his breathing, his posture, small muscle tensions. That was when she realized. His time was running out.
"You must have been searching for the emitter for hours," she said.
He did not reply.
"The effect of your pill should wear off in a few minutes."
She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and tied the cloth around the wound, pressing to stop the bleeding.
"You better get out of here before that happens."
He laughed.
"What's this? Compassion?" he taunted. "You're the one bleeding!"
He twirled the knives between his fingers and ran again toward the attack, with evident bloodlust.
But he did not reach her. Midway, metal chains crossed the air. The leader of the black-clad agents had intercepted the advance.
The chains, anchored to a weight at the end, shot forward with force. The man dodged the first swings, but one managed to catch his arm. The chain tensed and violently pulled him forward. At the same moment, the leader advanced. His fist struck the opponent's face with brutality.
The impact made the man's body spin and roll on the ground. He slid several meters before regaining his balance. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth and nose. He breathed heavier now, and the expression on his face made clear how irritated he was.
"It would be terrible for the Kagutsuchi if a Mizuchi executive died here," said the leader, collecting the chain as he stepped forward.
Not far from there, the demon had finally been defeated. Its grotesque body began to dissolve into black smoke that slowly dissipated after its core was destroyed.
"Get out of here," continued the leader. "And tell your superiors that we handle Kagutsuchi matters ourselves."
The man wiped blood from his mouth with the sleeve of his suit.
Inside, irritation boiled. Part of him wanted to stay. Wanted to make him swallow those words. But he knew he couldn't. The pill's effect was nearing its end. If he remained, he would lose access to Ether, and then he would be at a disadvantage.
He smiled one last time. Without a word, he leaped onto the nearest rooftop. From there, he continued jumping from building to building until he completely disappeared into the city's darkness.
The leader turned to the woman.
"You okay? The wound…"
"I'm fine," she replied, sheathing the short blade. "It wasn't serious."
Her gaze shifted to Li.
"The boy…"
The other agents were already approaching to remove him from the wall. Even unconscious, the flow of energy around him was perceptible.
"So it wasn't an object with him… or in the house," the leader observed.
"Yes…" she said, watching the young boy carefully.
The energy continued emanating.
"It's coming from him."
She remained silent for a moment.
"The clan leader was right," she murmured finally. "This boy can emit Ether without the need for pills."
Her eyes stayed fixed on Li's unconscious face.
"He… might be a reincarnation."