The night air was thick with electricity — a scent of asphalt, iron, and incoming blood. Tokyo, once bustling, now stood fragmented. Half-lit signs flickered over cracked roads and abandoned buildings, casting warped shadows that twitched with the movement of cursed energy.
Maki Zenin walked forward with heavy, controlled steps. Her burnt scars glimmered faintly under the streetlamps, testament to the life she'd clawed through. Beside her, Yuta Okkotsu's gaze remained alert, calm as a still pond but ready to explode at any ripple.
"So..." Maki muttered, not looking at him. "You're still following me like a lost puppy."
"I'm making sure the puppy doesn't walk into a minefield," Yuta replied flatly.
Just then, a piercing sound like the screech of bending steel cracked the silence. A chunk of nearby concrete exploded — and from the dust walked a man with green hair, cocked smirk, and an air of brutal satisfaction.
Ishigori Ryo.
"Been waiting for a good fight," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Didn't expect dessert to arrive in pairs."
Yuta's expression didn't change. Maki's fingers twitched toward her weapon.
"You're one of Kenjaku's toys?" Maki asked.
"I'm no one's toy," Ishigori replied. "But a chance to go all out again? Against a legend-in-the-making like Yuta and the girl who butchered her own clan? How could I resist?"
Without warning, Ishigori raised his hand. A roaring blast of cursed energy launched toward them like a meteor. Yuta leapt in front, erecting a barrier that shattered on impact — the force still sending both him and Maki tumbling back through a parked car.
Maki snarled, flipping upright and shooting forward.
Yuta caught up, blades drawn.
Their synchronized attack began.
Maki struck first, her polearm slicing through the air. Ishigori blocked with raw cursed energy, the impact sending shockwaves into the windows around them. Yuta followed up with a cursed slash across Ishigori's flank — but the man twisted and countered, firing off a point-blank beam of cursed energy.
Yuta took the hit and staggered. Maki yelled his name and retaliated with a flurry of precise, fast strikes — cutting through Ishigori's shoulder armor, drawing blood.
But Ishigori only grinned wider.
"You hit hard," he said, licking blood off his lip. "Now let me return the favor."
He released a spiral barrage of cursed cannonballs, each crackling with refined power. Yuta summoned Rika's energy partially, diverting the blasts, while Maki leapt from shadow to shadow, searching for a weak point.
The fight turned chaotic — buildings crumbled, roads split open, and the sky above began to pulse with cursed lightning.
Yuta's eyes sharpened. "Maki — coordinate with me."
She nodded once, crouching low.
The street became a warzone.
And the real fight was only just beginning