The Night of the Gashadokuro

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness outside and the vehicle advanced cautiously, he realized the truth. They weren't the only transport on the road. The Unified Government hadn't just come for him and Tanimoto. Dozens of black vehicles identical to theirs had left the Hachioji facilities that night, fanning out like a network across the Kanto region to pick up candidates from different shelters.

It was supposed to be a synchronized, rapid operation, a silent return under the cover of night. The black camouflage and silent engines were supposed to make them invisible.

They were wrong.

The explosions they had seen earlier weren't random battles. They were screams for help. The Gashadokuro had awakened. And they were hungry.

"Damn it!" shouted the pilot, swerving to avoid a smoking crater in the earth.

Through the window, Ken saw a scene that turned his stomach. Several meters away, another armored transport was being lifted off the ground by a giant skeletal hand. The vehicle looked like a child's toy in the monster's grasp. With a sickening crunch, the skeleton clenched its fist, and the armored transport compacted like a soda can. Fire and blood gushed between its bony fingers.

"This has to be a dream!" whispered Tanimoto, pale as a ghost. "They're eating them! It's like ants against dinosaurs!"

"Quiet!" ordered the hooded girl.

The vehicle slammed to a halt. Ahead of them, blocking the path, were the remains of another allied transport. It was crushed against the guardrail, smoldering.

"I'll assess the situation," ordered the girl.

The pilot, Ken, and Tanimoto cautiously got out. The hooded girl was the first to approach the wrecked vehicle. She moved with a calm that contrasted with the distant chaos. She tore off the driver's door, which was already hanging, and looked inside.

There was no emotion in her posture. "They died instantly," she said. "Candidates and driver. No survivors."

Ken moved closer, but Tanimoto put a hand on his chest to stop him. "You don't want to see that, Ken. Believe me."

The girl began searching the wreckage. She retrieved a few weapons and some gasoline. "What happened?" asked Ken, looking at the remains. "Were they unlucky?"

The girl turned. Beneath the hood, her eyes flashed with contained fury. "Gashadokuro don't wake up in groups by chance. And they don't attack invisible convoys unless they know where to look. This isn't bad luck. It looks like an ambush."

"To the vehicle! NOW!" yelled the pilot, pointing at the sky.

A deafening chattering sound filled the air. Right above them, emerging from the night fog, a fifteen-meter-tall Gashadokuro had found them. Its empty ribs glowed with spectral light, and its giant skull lowered toward them, opening a mouth full of irregular teeth the size of tombstones.

"It's going to crush us!" screamed Tanimoto, paralyzed by terror.

"Get in," said the girl. Her voice was soft, but it was an absolute order.

Ken and Tanimoto ran back into the armored vehicle. But the girl didn't get in. She remained standing in the middle of the road, tiny before the mountain of bones descending upon her.

"What is she doing!?" Ken shouted from the window. "Run or they'll kill you!"

The girl reached her hand to her back. In a motion so fast Ken's eyes could barely follow, she drew her sword. It wasn't a normal katana. The blade glowed with an intense violet hue, humming with condensed energy.

The skeleton swung its hand down to crush her. The girl didn't run; she jumped. It was an inhuman leap, propelled by Kijin energy. She became a violet blur that shot straight up toward the monster's arm.

Ken held his breath. The girl landed gracefully on the ground, sheathing her weapon with a soft click.

A second later, the Gashadokuro's giant arm separated from its body. The cut was so clean the bone took a moment to realize it was severed. The monster roared, thrown off balance. But she wasn't finished. As the monster fell, she slashed through the air from a distance. A violet shockwave of energy flew forth and split the giant's skull in two.

The colossus of bones crumbled, turning to dust and ash before it hit the ground.

Ken and Tanimoto stared at each other, mouths agape. "Is that... an instructor's power?" murmured Ken. Tanimoto couldn't even respond, trembling from a mix of fear and awe.

The girl got into the vehicle. "Let's go. Before the others arrive."

The rest of the journey passed in tense silence. They managed to escape the ambush zone, leaving the echoes of battle behind.

When they finally reached the coordinates, the sun was beginning to rise, tinting the mountains gray. The Hachioji facilities were imposing. An ancient fortified university, surrounded by containment walls and high-tech surveillance towers.

But what froze Ken's blood wasn't the base itself, but what he saw in the arrival yard. The parking lot was enormous, designed to receive dozens of vehicles.

Yet, it was nearly empty. Only eight vehicles were parked, some smoking, others with deep dents. Of the hundreds of recruits who were supposed to arrive that night... barely a handful had made it through the gates.

The vehicle stopped, and the engine shut off.

Ken looked at the hooded girl. She said nothing. She was looking at the sky, or perhaps at the watchtowers.

Ken and Tanimoto exchanged one last look before getting out. In both their eyes was the same silent question: Were we lucky? Or was this the first selection test?

The door opened. Welcoming them to Hachioji.