A flickering television cast a dull, restless glow across the cluttered apartment.
Static hissed from the speakers, crawling over itself in waves. Empty cans littered the floor between half-filled notebooks. Ashtrays overflowed with burnt incense, smoke clinging to the ceiling like something that refused to leave.
The air smelled stale.
A man dressed entirely in black sat before the screen, unmoving.
Long dark hair fell past his jaw, framing a pale, sharp face. His eyes—restless, sleepless, fractured—never blinked as they stared into the static.
Then—
His phone rang.
Once.Twice.Three times.
He answered.
"Hello?"
Kenji Sato's calm voice slipped through the speaker. "Ogi. Some of the lesser teams have been compromised. Arrested."
Ogi's lips curled into a thin, blade-like smile. He leaned back in his chair, the static washing over his face.
"So…" he said softly. "You're finally subbing me in."
A quiet sigh on the other end. Almost annoyed.
"Yeah," Kenji replied. "Don't disappoint me."
Ogi chuckled. "What's the job?"
Kenji lowered the phone in his office, scribbled several names onto a notepad, snapped a photo, and sent it.
Ogi's phone buzzed.
"Hunter Association Headquarters," Kenji said. "You'll lead a small strike team. Secondary cells will attack other locations to divide attention."
Ogi whistled low. "Hunter HQ, huh? You really don't play fair."A grin crept wider. "But why send me with dead weight? You gave me this—shouldn't that be enough?"
He rolled back his sleeve.
Etched into his forearm was a large, uneven red spiral—like paint smeared mid-motion. It pulsed faintly. Alive.
Kenji's voice hardened.
"That mark doesn't make you a god. It amplifies your Tao. What you do with it determines how long you live."
Ogi's smile thinned.
"So they're strong."
"They're more than that," Kenji said. "You're not fighting normal Hunters."
A pause.
"…They're the Asura."
The line went dead.
Hunter Association Headquarters — Present Day
The night sky split as a black, manta-shaped craft glided silently through the clouds.
Its hull shimmered with Tao inscriptions—crimson veins pulsing beneath polished obsidian plating.
Inside, six figures stood unmoving.
Each bore the same spiraling red emblem as Ogi.
Their expressions were calm. Reverent. Devoted.
The craft tilted, wings folding inward as it descended toward the highest level of the Association Tower.
The domain of the Asura Division.
The hull peeled open with a low hiss.
Rain rushed in.
The marked soldiers stepped onto the rooftop one by one, weapons gleaming beneath moonlight.
Ogi stood at the front, a bandaged hammer slung across his back. Rain slid through his hair, dripping from his chin as he stared at the glowing spiral emblazoned on the craft's flank.
Its pulse matched his own.
"Let's make history," he murmured.
A Few Days Earlier
Ogi leaned against a rusted balcony railing, phone pressed to his ear.
"Your target," Kenji said, "is Guy. The Fifth Asura."
Ogi frowned. "Who the hell is that?"
A pause.
"He's the one you're killing."
The call ended.
Ogi slipped the phone into his pocket, eyes gleaming.
"Hope you're worth it."
Present — Hunter HQ, East Wing
The rooftop sealed behind them.
Inside the Asura dormitory wing, everything was quiet.
Guy lay asleep on his bed, city lights humming faintly through the window. White walls. A cluttered desk. Blinds half-drawn.
Nothing about the room suggested that one of the most dangerous Hunters alive slept there.
The door clicked open.
Ogi stepped inside, hammer dragging across the floor with a slow, deliberate scrape.
His gaze locked onto the bed.
"…This is easier than I thought."
He raised the hammer.
Bandages tightened. Crimson Tao flared. The air cracked under the pressure.
The hammer fell—
The room exploded.
Shockwaves tore through the walls—
—but the bed was empty.
Ogi's eyes widened. "What—"
Wind screamed through the shattered window.
Guy stood on the rooftop, barefoot, hair swaying in the rain. His eyes were half-lidded. Unimpressed.
"You're loud," he said flatly. "Do you know what time it is?"
Ogi laughed, rolling his shoulders. "So the guardian wakes."
He raised his hammer again—
A blur of violet light smashed through the ceiling.
A man with long purple hair seized Ogi by the face mid-swing. His Tao detonated—dense, crushing, absolute.
"You picked the wrong target," the man said coldly.
Ogi was lifted off his feet and driven straight through the concrete floor.
The rooftop buckled. The other marked soldiers were thrown aside like dolls.
Ogi coughed blood, grinning. "You must be—"
"Now."
Golden Tao lines erupted from the floor—rings of scripture snapping shut around the intruders. Symbols compressed, weaving into chains of condensed light that bound limbs like coiled serpents.
Ogi's grin finally cracked.
"Heh… figures," he muttered. "Jin. Second Asura."
The chains pulsed once.
The group vanished in a blinding flash, leaving scorched stone behind.
Silence.
Dust drifted through the shattered ceiling.
Guy stared at the empty space, expression unreadable.
"Who approved this?"
Jin straightened his coat, brushing debris from his sleeve. "Orders from above. Kenji's stirring something."
Guy exhaled slowly.
"You can handle it. They weren't impressive."
Jin nodded once.
"It's begun."