The Chancellor's Address
(Static distorts the screen—then clears to reveal Chancellor Aldric Voss, his steely gaze piercing through every viewer.)
Chancellor Voss (voice cold, precise): "You are in a state of war. Not against borders. Not against ideologies. Against extinction." (The feed cuts briefly to scenes of crumbling cities, Seishu-twisted skies.) "Hunters believe themselves our protectors? They are the spark that will burn this world to ash." (His gloved hand slams onto the podium.) "And you have precious little time left... to choose whose side you're on."
(The broadcast flickers—then stabilizes on a world map, zones highlighted in violent red where Hunters and human forces clash.)
Chancellor Voss (voice sharp): "Active measures are now in effect. Neutrality is treason. Sympathy for Hunters… is suicide." (The image shifts to classified footage—Seishu-corrupted soldiers turning on their own squads.) "They call it the Shattering Sky War… we call it cleansing."
(Then—sudden static. A glitch. For half a second, something inhuman flashes across the screen before cutting back to Voss's impassive face.)
Voss (leaning forward): "Every nation must choose: stand with humanity... or burn with them."
(Elsewhere, Shin stands in the dim warehouse, arms crossed as Kurobe listens grimly.)
Shin: "Keep Kota safe… no matter what happens out there." (His voice tightens.) "I have to try stopping this madness while Ryo's gone."
(Shin walks away, each step heavy. Behind him, Kota stands by the window, watching silently as Shin vanishes into the darkness. He knows not to follow—there are some choices you have to make for the sake of all you love. Still, in that instant before Shin faded into the night...
Unvoiced Words: "Please… come back." (Kota whispers it into the wind. The warehouse is silent again.)
(Alone in the city's underbelly, Shin pulls out an old photograph—edges frayed, colors faded. A younger version of himself stands beside a man whose face has been torn from the image violently.)
Shin (voice low, bitter): "All this war… it started with us." (His fingers trace the scar on his neck—a wound that never fully healed.) "Time to find out why."
(He crumples the photo in his fist and steps into the neon-lit streets—toward answers buried deep enough to burn.)
(Elsewhere, a military radio crackles to life. A soldier's voice comes through—garbled, panicked.)
Radio Transmission: "—ey're not human anymore! THEY'RE NOT HU— [STATIC] … god help us… they're breaching Sector 7–" (Then gunfire. Then silence.)
Captain Ryota "Ironjaw" Hasegawa – The Unbreakable Soldier
(The camera pans across a dim war room—maps litter the table, marked with blood-red X's over fallen outposts. A towering figure leans against the edge, his scarred jaw clenched as the radio transmission dies into static.)
Appearance
Face: A brutal scar runs from his left temple down to his chin—courtesy of a Hunter's Seishu-blade. His right eye glows faintly cybernetic (government tech to counter Seishu illusions).
Gear: Black tactical armor reinforced with anti-Seishu plating; gauntlets crackling with suppressed energy (stolen Hunter tech repurposed for war).
Weapon: A modified railgun named "Hakuto's Fist"—capable of punching through low-tier Seishu from Hunters.
(He exhales smoke from a cigarette before crushing it underfoot.)
Ryota (to the silent room): "...Sector 7's gone. That makes four this week." (He slams a fist onto the map.) "We either hit them first… or we die waiting."
Doctor Naomi Takasaki – The Brilliant Mind
(The doctor looks up from the data pad on the far table. She pushes her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.)
Appearance
Clothes: An open lab coat over her military uniform; thick gloves protecting her hands from radiation exposure.
Trait: A genius in her field, her intellect rivals the world's greatest minds. Specialization: Hunter-tech analysis (and replication without Seishu tech.)
(Ryota's fist crashes down, rattling the war table. His voice is raw, barely contained—a storm held back by sheer discipline.)
Ryota (through gritted teeth): "1,872 men. Gone in three weeks." (His cybernetic eye flickers with suppressed data—names, faces scrolling too fast to catch.) "Not just dead. Erased. Seishu doesn't leave bodies behind—just ghosts."
(Naomi exhales sharply but doesn't flinch; she's seen the reports.)
Naomi (quietly): "Then we stop counting corpses… and start making them."
(Silence hangs like a blade before Ryota nods once—cold agreement.)
(The feed changes to an array of charts—the Chancellor's words continue over the shifting graphs.)
Chancellor Voss (voice): "Total warfare isn't just bullets and blades. Economics, politics, and media—they're all weapons now."
(He talks about countries refusing to trade with allies, misinformation campaigns, and a crisis in foreign relations that only escalates)
Chancellor Voss (voice, coldly): "When people lose trust… they'll do anything to restore order."
(Ryota glances over his shoulder at Naomi, then back at the screen. The graphs on the feed show economic collapse, political upheaval—all spreading from the main frontline.)
Ryota (under his breath): "The whole damn planet's a battlefield now."
(Ryota straightens abruptly as a new stat flashes on the screen—a rising number that leaves a pit in the pit in their stomachs.)
Ryota (voice tight, almost hopeless): "No country's safe. Not one." (His voice tightens, his cybernetic eye blinking bright. His grip on his gun goes white-knuckled). "… not even Hakuto."
(Shin moves through the neon-drenched streets, his trench coat blending with the rain-slicked alleyways. His eyes scan every shadow—every flickering sign. He's close.)
Thoughts (inner monologue): "The old records should be here… if they haven't burned them already." (His fingers brush against a concealed pistol under his coat—a Hunter-made weapon, illegal in human hands.)
(Ahead, a decrepit building looms—its windows boarded up, its door barely hanging on its hinges. The sign above it reads: [SERENIA ARCHIVES – RESTRICTED ACCESS].)
(Shin spins around, instincts kicking in. The Sword Unsheathes—an all-too-familiar sound in a world gone to hell.)
Shin (inner monologue, grimly): "Should've known—this place isn't just abandoned." (He watches the shadows of the alley, eyes sharp.) "Show yourself."
(Nothing. A beat of tense silence… then, a whisper from the darkness.)
???: (soft, almost taunting): "My, my… they make you detectives younger every day." (Footsteps echo—slow, almost lazy.) "Didn't your momma tell you not to go into dark alleyways?"
(Shin's eyes narrow as the figure steps into the light—a woman with steel in her gaze and a Hunter emblem on her Kimono.)
Shin (voice even, betraying no doubt): "I have something that could change everything. Information that can turn the tide in this war."
???: (skeptical, yet intrigued): "Oh really? And what's it worth?"
(The Hunter's eyes gleam at Shin's revelation—she's just as shocked as he is.)
???: (cautious surprise, intrigued) "You… you're human. Yet you know this?"
Shin (unflinching, serious): "I see the big picture. We're all just pawns in a bigger game."
???: (calmly, and without hesitation): "My name is Suiren Hōzuki."
(Now Shin gets a better lookout at her appearance and understands her somewhat better.)
Suiren Hōzuki (水蓮・宝月)
Meaning: "Water Lotus" (Suiren) + "Jewel Moon" (Hōzuki) — a name that sounds both serene and lethal, embodying elegance that conceals danger.
Rank (as told by her Kimono): Hoten (Crushing Heaven)
"Pillars of their factions—each leads with absolute authority under Ishikawa law."
Appearance
Hair: Silvery-auburn gradient that fades into muted lilac at the ends. It's tied in a half-up wisteria knot, strands cascading down her back like falling petals in moonlight.
When she fights, her hair's ends drift weightlessly, as if underwater, reflecting Kizugami's aquatic nature.
Eyes: Iridescent teal with faint rings of gold — like ripples across a still pond when moonlight hits. When her emotions stir, the gold expands outward, turning her eyes into "sunrise water."
Kimono: A deep indigo kimono woven with threads that shimmer like liquid mercury.
Along its hem flows an embroidered motif of lotuses blooming upside down — symbolizing life emerging from ruin.
Across her back, her rank is inscribed in calligraphic white kanji:
崩天 — "Hoten", brushed in her own hand.
Accessories: A crescent-moon hairpin shaped like a broken mirror shard — said to reflect only the truth within one's heart.
A silver neck guard shaped like water waves folding in on themselves (both protection and symbolism: serenity swallowing chaos).
A Juzu bracelet of black pearls and cracked glass beads — each bead representing a soul she personally "released" in battle.
Kizugami Blade: Her Kizugami Blade takes the form of a tessen (iron war fan) called "Suigetsu" (Water Moon) — its folds ripple with mirages when opened, distorting her silhouette as if she were never truly there.
In its second form, it becomes twin curved blades connected by a silken blue thread that dances like water when spun.
Voice: Calm and ethereal voice (think Maaya Sakamoto or Miyuki Sawashiro tone).
Color motif: Indigo, silver, and moon-gold.
(The scene shifts to the street, the shadows deep as a full moon rises over the city's neon. Suddenly, a voice rings through the quiet night.)
Suiren (cold yet calm, commanding presence): "What a dark night to conduct business. Even in the shadows, the full moon shows every dirty secret."
(For a moment Shin can't help but gaze, her presence a captivating contrast to the grime of the city. But he quickly regains his composure, turning his attention to the task at hand.)
Shin (inwardly, focused on the matter at hand): "Indeed. The moon illuminates and reveals all. Now, I've come here to make a bargain."
(Suiren's gaze is cold, scanning every inch of Shin as though waiting for a trap to spring. Her guard is high, years of caution etched into her every move.)
Suiren (voice cool, laced with suspicion): "A bargain, is it? From a human? What do you have that's worth my time, much less my trust?"
(Shin slowly reaches into his coat—not for a weapon, but for a weathered dossier. The moment Suiren's fingers twitch toward her tessen, he stops and slides it across the wet pavement toward her.)
Shin (firm, unwavering): "Seishu Experimentation Files. Blueprints from Hakuto's black labs." (A beat.) "They weren't just weaponizing it… they were recreating Hunter bloodlines."
(Suiren's eyes flicker—gold rings expanding like shockwaves. For the first time in years… she is stunned and silent.)
(Unconsciously, Shin's gaze drifts to Suiren's blind spot—a building's rooftop where a shadowy figure steadies a rifle to her back. He sees him in time to warn her, yet the soldier's finger is already on the trigger.)
Shin (hissing urgently): "Look out, Suiren!"
(The gunshot CRACKS through the air—
—And Shin stumbles forward, blood already blooming across his chest as the Seishu-laced round tears through him. Suiren whirls around, her teal eyes flaring gold in shock as she catches him before he collapses.)
Suiren (voice uncharacteristically shaken): "...Why?"
(Shin smirks weakly, coughing crimson onto her pristine kimono.)
Shin (choking out a laugh): "Guess… even humans can be useful."
(Behind them, the sniper reloads—but Suiren's gaze locks onto his position. The last image is of her blade unsheathing with a sound like rushing water... and then the same sound from when Shin first slept in his Black Ops designated Home. Nothing but silence...)
⛓️💥🌌🪖End Of Chapter Sixty Five