Twilight painted Kyoto in a deep shade of purple.
The sky looked like someone had brushed it with long strokes of fading red bleeding into cold blue, while paper lanterns slowly lit one by one across the old streets.
But on this street — narrow, lined with dark wooden houses and worn-out signs — there was no one.
Only the wind, dragging old newspapers that tumbled across the ground in restless circles.
Bold letters, smudged with dust:
"NEW MONSTER SIGHTINGS IN KYOTO — GOVERNMENT SILENT."
A slender shadow dashed through the flying papers.
A girl.
Fast. Focused. Her navy coat whipped behind her like a short cape, the tight grey shirt hugging her quick, feline movements. Reinforced black pants, combat boots — perfect for fighting. Her silver-blonde hair flicked in the wind, and the eyepatch on her right side made her look almost predatory.
Sayuri, with sixteen now.
The Silver Lily of Kyoto.
And tonight?
She was late.
"Crap, crap, crap…" she muttered, sprinting faster.
At the end of the alley, the building she was heading for towered above everything else:
A cathedral-temple hybrid — ancient Buddhist curves mixed with Western cathedral height. Tall bell-like towers beside shishi-lion carved gates. A sanctuary where two faiths had decided to merge.
Sayuri inhaled once and pushed forward—
A shadow moved.
Then another.
And another.
Six Ghouls crawled from the alley — dragging limbs, hollow-eyed, jaws open in silent hunger. Their skin was cracked and grey like dead clay.
Sayuri stopped.
Looked at them.
And smiled.
"Finally… something fun."
One Ghoul lunged first.
She spun and greeted it with a spinning kick that shattered its jaw and slammed it into the wall, where it burst into dark dust.
Another came at her side.
Sayuri grabbed its head and smashed it into the ground so hard it crumbled like dried mud.
She kept running — through the Ghouls, not away. Jumped over one, slid beneath another's claws, punched a third straight in the chest with shocking force.
Every downed Ghoul turned to dust, carried away by the wind like the world was cleaning itself.
"Outta my way, annoying corpse!" she yelled, knocking the last one out with an upper kick.
Then she kept sprinting.
Inside the temple, the atmosphere was completely different: the last note of a hymn echoed across the wooden hall.
At the center, in front of a massive stone statue of Ulisses, the Moon Knight, a boy finished his performance. His voice still vibrated in the air — warm and bright like a living prayer. He wore white robes with golden edges: the markings of his role.
Hikari.
He bowed as the congregation applauded, though his eyes kept searching the hall.
When he finally spotted Sayuri slipping into a seat at the back — breathless — he relaxed and smiled.
She lifted her hand in a playful little wave.
He returned it instantly.
Moments later, the old leader of the order, Reigan Hoo, stepped onto the altar. Long golden vestments, voice deep and commanding.
Behind him towered the statue of Ulisses, wolf-like armor and sword resting at his feet. His stone eyes looked ready to come alive.
Reigan touched the pedestal and began:
"Centuries ago… the Moon Knight Ulisses turned against his own brother, Dracula, and sealed him away for the sake of humanity."
Whispers rose — awe mixed with fear.
Sayuri rested her chin on her hand.
Half-lidded eyes.
Bored out of her mind.
Across the hall, her adoptive sister, Liora, stared at her with that usual judgmental look. Liora was strict, disciplined — Sayuri's opposite.
Reigan continued:
"Despite Ulisses' sacrifice, many have forgotten the truth. Should monsters and humans merge once more, we humans would stand no chance… and fall into submission!"
Sayuri rolled her eyes.
"There he goes again…" she muttered.
The old man lifted his arms.
"So I ask you to unite! Pray that if the age of chaos returns, our Savior will shelter us!"
Hikari, sitting beside her now, tried to look attentive.
Sayuri just slipped an earbud in.
Heavy rock blasted into her head.
Reigan kept preaching.
Hikari felt something under his chair — a small gift wrapped with a blue ribbon.
He glanced at Sayuri, happy and surprised.
She motioned: open it later.
"Let us pray!" Reigan declared.
Everyone joined their hands.
Except Sayuri — who turned the volume up and stared at the ceiling.
She stood.
"Sayuri… what's wrong?" Hikari whispered.
"I'm leaving."
"But it's not over—"
"All this preaching is putting me to sleep."
She stepped away.
And then—
Her eyepatch glowed.
A bright, ethereal blue.
Sayuri froze.
"What the…?"
The ground trembled.
Glass cracked.
And from above — a red shadow tore through the ceiling.
KRRRRAAASH!
Glass exploded like shimmering rain.
A woman landed in freefall — long crimson coat whipping around her, wavy red hair wild, a red-silver sword strapped to her back.
She landed atop the altar table with a silent, elegant impact.
Her eyes gleamed blood-red.
Lucy.
Thirty-eight.
The Crimson Huntress.
Reigan turned white.
"Y-You—" he stammered.
Lucy drew a gun faster than a heartbeat.
A single shot.
It echoed like thunder trapped indoors.
Reigan fell before he hit the ground.
No one breathed.
Lucy stood on the shattered table, turning to the crowd.
Blood dripped down her cheek, shining in the light from the broken ceiling.
Two burning embers for eyes.
Fangs unmistakable.
Liora drew her saber.
"Your Holiness!" she cried, shaking.
Some members in white and black robes — light armor, hidden knives, assassin-like clothing — charged at Lucy.
Others fled, screaming, overturning benches.
Chaos swallowed the temple.
Sayuri stayed still, eyes locked onto Lucy.
Lucy stared back.
For one silent second, eternity passed.
Hikari moved behind Sayuri, trembling.
"S-Sayuri… who is she…?"
Sayuri's breath grew heavy.
Because she knew.
The woman wasn't just an intruder.
She was a warning.
A storm.
And the fight ahead wouldn't be against street Ghouls…
But against truth.
And the past.
The guards turned toward Lucy like a corrupted choir.
Lucy smiled.
A predator's smile.
She unsheathed the Dracallion — silver-red, pulsing like it breathed — and leapt.
Her first strike was too fast to process.
A head hit the floor, and a spray of blood painted the altar.
A second guard raised his shield — she impaled him straight through it, pinning him to the ground.
The rest tried to retreat.
Too late.
Lucy carved through them in a brutal dance — ripping, slicing, crushing. Blood pooled across the floor.
Lucy didn't have a drop on her.
Liora dropped to her knees beside Reigan.
"No…" she whispered, voice breaking.
Everything else faded.
Only the body.
Only the grief.
"Come on!" Sayuri yanked Hikari, dragging him with her. "We're leaving NOW."
"B-But… her… she—"
"Shut up and MOVE!"
They slipped through panicked bodies and fallen guards.
Behind them, the slaughter continued.
Lucy slammed another guard into a pillar, impaling him so hard he hung like a broken doll.
She rested the Dracallion on her shoulder and turned—
And saw Liora holding the priest's body.
Lucy smiled.
Slow.
Malicious.
Hungry.
She stepped toward her.
"Hikari!" Sayuri shouted as the boy broke free, running toward Liora.
"HIKARI, NO!"
Too late.
Lucy didn't even look his way — she grabbed a half-dead guard and hurled him at Hikari like a sandbag.
He fell, breath knocked out.
Lucy stood over him.
Hikari froze — truly seeing her for the first time.
Cold.
Predatory.
Empty.
"H-huh…" he tried to speak, voice failing.
Sayuri screamed — fury exploding — and launched herself like a missile.
Her kick smashed into Lucy's face so hard the vampire flew across the hall and crashed into the statue of Ulisses.
Stone shattered.
Sayuri skidded to a stop.
Her Magnum flashed into her hand.
Three shots.
Lucy twisted midair, unsheathed her blade, and cut the bullets clean in half — sparks and metal raining.
She landed on the statue's shoulder like a graceful shadow.
Sayuri leapt after her, clashing boot against blade.
Both armed — pistol to pistol.
Both glaring.
"SAYURI!" Hikari cried below.
"Hikari!" she yelled, eyes still on Lucy.
"Go with your sister! NOW!"
"I will bring reinforcements!" Liora shouted, tears dried, rage alive.
"You better run," Sayuri muttered. "Because I'm not holding back."
She opened fire.
Lucy danced between bullets — each shot grazing inches from her skin, smashing through stone.
They both jumped.
A death ballet.
Kick. Block. Slash. Slide.
Steel and gunfire clashed like lightning.
Lucy almost looked like she was having fun.
Sayuri's anger spiked.
They landed together.
Sayuri aimed.
"You have a messed-up idea of fair play," she snarled. "And it's pissing me off."
Lucy smiled again.
A very old smile.
Sayuri's stomach twisted.
She ripped off her eyepatch.
Blue light surged out.
A thick scar crossed her eye — but the power burning there distorted the air.
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"Hm."
Sayuri dashed.
Superhuman speed.
Her kick smashed Lucy's face sideways — the vampire flew, crashing into rubble, sword clattering away.
Sayuri was already on her — raining punches like thunder.
Each strike cracked stone.
Dust rose.
Her screams were raw, feral.
Lucy didn't fight back.
But black veins crawled under her skin — claws itching to emerge.
She held them back… for some reason.
Sayuri grabbed her by the throat and hurled her.
Lucy crashed through the statue's structure, stuck in the stone.
Sayuri didn't wait.
She grabbed the Dracallion.
And hurled it.
It pierced Lucy's chest, pinning her to the statue like a blasphemous crucifix.
Sayuri gasped.
Turned away.
"It's done."
Then a whisper:
"…hmpf."
She turned.
Lucy lifted her bloody face.
Smiled.
"I may have underestimated your… skills."
She yanked the blade out of her chest like removing a splinter.
Sayuri's eyes widened.
"You… you are not human, are you?"
Lucy sighed.
"We're the same, you and—"
She winced, pulling the blade free.
"—me and them."
Sayuri turned.
One "dead" guard's skin was turning grey… fangs showing.
A Ghoul.
Lucy was already perched on the broken roof.
Casual.
Almost bored.
"Though I suspect you're carrying something… different."
"What are you talking about?!" Sayuri shouted.
Lucy stood.
"You will understand soon enough."
A small smile.
"But I have business elsewhere."
"Hey!" Sayuri fired at the roof.
Lucy appeared once more, framed by twilight.
"Goodbye, kid."
A lazy wave.
Gone.
Minutes later, surviving guards stormed in.
Sayuri clutched her glowing eye, breathing unevenly.
Destroyed statue.
Dust.
Blood.
Silence.
Something inside her throbbed.
Something Lucy had awakened.
"Hikari!" he came running with a bulky case.
"You brought it?" Sayuri asked, exhausted smile creeping in.
"Liora made me finish it," he said. "It was supposed to be a surprise but… well… this happened."
Sayuri unzipped it.
Her sword.
A gear-like edge along the blade — like a chainsaw. When she pulled it out, blue electricity hummed.
"This sword…" she whispered, "is the best battle partner a swordswoman could ask for."
Hikari held the little gift she'd brought him — now dusty — close to his chest.
Sayuri laughed softly.
"And the woman?"
"Witnesses say she arrived recently in Kyoto," Liora answered, serious.
"Seems she's… sightseeing."
"You're joking at a time like this?" Liora snapped.
Sayuri rested the blade on her shoulder.
"Ask for something harder."
"You need to capture her."
"Trust me," Sayuri smirked. "I will get it done."
"Please… be careful," Hikari begged. "You… haven't even recovered…"
"Duty calls, Hikari."
She noticed the necklace she gave him hanging from his neck.
Her smile softened.
Liora turned away.
"I'll report this to HQ."
Then—
The ground rumbled.
Deep.
Terrifying.
As if something ancient was… waking up.
To be continued…