The Night of the 16th, Part 4

IN THE CLOSING HOURS OF THE OBON FESTIVAL, disaster had struck Tokyo. Reminiscent of the events of eight years ago, a mass contamination event had broken out in the midst of a major holiday.

Now, instead of bidding farewell to their dearly departed loved ones, many families found themselves haunted by them. Even the Kami had turned hostile, turning the solemn celebration into a sacrilege of the highest order.

Soldiers were out in the streets in droves, fighting off monsters and ghosts. And up in the air, a dark, terrible dragon sowed chaos and death, accompanied by the music of the underworld.

It was a living nightmare, but just as the people were about to lose hope, an unmistakable voice echoed in the air like a portent of salvation.

“I say descend. Descend and crush my enemies.”

Every adult and even most children in Tokyo had heard that voice before.

At the time, it had belonged to the Voice of Ruin… but now, it came from a woman who descended from the sky, riding atop a celestial dragon in all its majesty.

It was a sight to behold, as if the Heavens themselves had sent their herald. And to the horror of her foes… the woman and the dragon weren’t alone.

Dozens of lights pierced the sky, falling from space like furious meteors racing to the ground. Little did her enemies know, these were Rods of God — tungsten weapons, sent to low orbit via Kotodama over the past several days.

And now, these devices were screaming toward the ground, wreathed in flames of fury and glory against the targets Miyuki had flagged with the Moon Mirror earlier.

In a matter of seconds, the rods struck the earth, and the air around Tokyo became armageddon. Explosions raged all around the city and mountains, flattening the ritual sites set up by the Red Thread.

Even the dark dragon wasn’t spared, its dreadful figure impaled by three of these missiles. The force of impact was such that its body was torn apart, the rods piercing through its scales like butter.

Then, as the lady on the celestial dragon witnessed the aftermath, she made one request to her trusted partner.

“Clean up the stragglers, Reigetsu. I’ll handle the rest.”

The dragon nodded, and the woman stepped off and disappeared.

With the ritual sites gone, the angered spirits were snapping out of their frenzy, and now busied themselves with finding their way home. However, the yōkai and oni created from this were an entirely different matter.

The stench of corruption was thick, and even to Reigetsu, the outcome of this crisis was a foregone conclusion. It was a shame, truly… but given the circumstances, this would likely be the last request he would ever grant for Hotaru.

* * *

AS THE DUST SETTLED AMIDST THE SEA OF FLAMES, Hakurō and his closest allies were surprised they were still alive. A few rods had crashed in their surroundings, but they didn’t land a direct hit. It almost looked like a miracle, but he soon realized the horrifying truth.

For starters, Akiko’s singing had stopped.

And more importantly... so had the dampeners.

“Get up! Get up, you shits! They’re coming!” he yelled at his troops, urging them to retake their positions.

However, as they were readying their weapons, a hail of fire came upon them from above. It was Aoi, nailing them with suppressive fire.

Hakurō and his girls rushed for cover, but he was promptly cut off by the flash of a blade coming for his neck. He barely managed to dodge, and fired at the attacker with his sidearm.

Ryuuji parried the shots, his senses unimpeded for this encounter. The time had come for the showdown he so craved, and he had no intention of holding anything back.

Yet, as Ryuuji bore the brunt of the gunfire, another figured dashed by him. It was Ren, darting forward to claim the heads of his sister’s shooters.

Low on bullets, Hakurō ditched his pistol and drew his sword, clashing head on with the Blade of Amaterasu. Sparks flew in the air as they traded blows, and gunshots echoed around them as the other combatants joined the fray.

Notable among them was Akari, who rushed at the short woman next to Hakurō. The woman, Saya, tried to shoot her with a submachine gun, but Akari raised a barrier using a talisman in her hand. A hail of bullets crashed against it, but it bought Akari enough time to draw more talismans and toss them into the air.

Her opponent raised a barrier of her own, just in time to block the firebolts and lightning blasts that shot from the paper slips. However, Akari did not relent. She pressed forward as the magic raged around them, and she drew her retractable baton in one hand and her pistol in the other.

Saya raised her weapon, ready to gun down Akari again. Her barrier was still active, while Akari needed a talisman to cast another. It was checkmate.

Yet, Akari made no effort to duck for cover. She swung her baton, wreathed in magic energy, and it shattered Saya’s barrier like glass. Shocked, Saya tried to squeeze the trigger, but it was too late. Akari’s weapon hit her gun, bending the barrel and knocking it aside.

Saya stumbled back, desperate to cast another barrier, but Akari already had her handgun trained on her. They stared at each other for a fleeting moment, until Akari broke the silence.

“Here’s your payback, bitch.”

And she opened fire.

Bullet after bullet, each of them landed in Saya’s chest, overwhelming her body armor through sheer magical might. The woman staggered backwards and fell, lying lifelessly on the ground.

Hakurō gritted his teeth, watching the scene unfold from the corner of his eye. Yet he was in no position to help her, as Ryuuji and Ren were hellbent on killing him, and they didn’t allow him any breathing room.

And to make matters worse…

“Die,” came a familiar voice behind him, casually ordering his squad to drop.

Sensing the new arrival, Hakurō stepped back, thanking the Gods that Ryuuji and Ren didn’t follow immediately after him.

“I’m surprised… you didn’t kill me…” he said with ragged breath, sparing a glance at Hotaru. He had no means to counter her while fighting the other two, so she could’ve nailed him then and there.

“You’re not for me to kill,” she dismissed him with disdain. For better or worse, the guys had called dibs on his head, and the Songstress had no intention to finish him.

“You guys suck,” said Hakurō, looking back to them. “Two-on-one, where’s the glory in that? Take turns, damn it.”

Ryuuji and Ren glanced at each other, actually in agreement.

“He shot Akari,” Ren said, itching to get the kill.

“No, he shot me. Akari already got her shooter.”

Ren glanced at his sister, standing next to a fresh corpse on the ground. Indeed, it seemed Ryuuji spoke the truth.

“Fine. Just get this over with,” he conceded, swinging the blood off his blade before returning it to its sheath.

With him out of the fight, it was only Ryuuji and Hakurō left, with the rest of Ryuuji’s allies bearing witness. Thanks to Hotaru’s arrival, the remaining Hands had been slain, and the final duel was little more than a formality.

It was all but inevitable. Hakurō was going to die.

Understanding this, he swore a last vow to himself: no matter what happened, he would bring his opponent down with him.

Each of them took a stance, sizing the other’s distance.

Then, a leaf quietly fell between them, serving as the de facto start of their fight.

They charged forward, their swords filled with magic. They were too close to allow for ranged spells, so they traded blows instead. Their figures blurred in the flurry of battle, until Hakurō snuck a wind spell to blow some dirt at Ryuuji.

Ryuuji flinched for a moment, and Hakurō lunged his blade at his neck. It barely missed its mark, as Ryuuji did an emergency teleportation backwards. Seeing this, Hakurō stepped back and unleashed his own magic, well aware of the cooldown that teleportation incurred after casting.

He pointed his hand at his opponent, crackling with energy before shooting a lightning bolt at him. Ryuuji dodged it by a hair, tossing his sword as a decoy to absorb the hit as he ran to the side.

Hakurō, in turn, pressed the attack. He raised a barrier to defend himself as Ryuuji opened fire with his pistol, and he charged forward while blocking the bullets.

In the end, Hakurō’s barrier prevailed, and he closed the distance with Ryuuji to strike him with his sword. Ryuuji reached for a summoning charm, but had no time to activate it. He had to teleport again to dodge the incoming sword strike, and as he did, Hakurō seized the moment to deploy a smoke screen.

Now, Ryuuji had no way to know what kind of attack his enemy would unleash… but this was a disadvantage that went both ways.

As Hakurō readied his next strike, Ryuuji played an ace he had under his sleeve.

The cooldown imposed by teleportation magic only applied to rune-based spells… and as it so happened, Ryuuji had recently acquired celestial magic, courtesy of one Reigetsu-sama.

So, when Hakurō tried to kill him with a stalagmite spell, Ryuuji used the summoning charm to conjure a barrier talisman. The rock spikes crashed against the barrier, revealing to Hakurō what kind of item Ryuuji had summoned.

With this, Hakurō was convinced his opponent was unarmed. Ryuuji’s handgun needed reloading, his sword was on the ground, and his runic magic was on cooldown. All he needed to do was to shatter his barrier and stab him.

So, Hakurō charged out of the smoke with a lightning spell in one hand and his sword ready in the other… only to see Ryuuji aiming straight at him with a celestial beam spell.

Hakurō had no time to react. He unleashed his lightning against Ryuuji, but it crashed against his defensive spell, leaving Hakurō completely open against the beam of silver light that Ryuuji shot at him.

It was a direct hit, leaving a gaping hole in Hakurō’s torso where his heart used to be. And with that, Ryuuji’s nemesis fell to the ground, his sword harmlessly rolling away from him.