The Tokyo Area.
On the street, a young man was "fiercely" pedaling his rickety bicycle across the road. Intermingled with the gasps of breath squeezed from his chest, he slammed the brakes in front of an apartment building.
"Huh?"
"Are you with Civilian Security?"
The plainclothes police chief, who had a square face, frowned, scrutinizing the young man before him. His voice betrayed a hint of suspicion.
"A student uniform... A kid like you is working as a Civil Security Officer?"
"I belong to the Civilian Security, what can I say."
The young man grumbled. This person was none other than Satomi Rentaro. He wore a dark uniform with a white shirt and tie underneath. His messy dark blue hair fell casually, covering part of his forehead, and his slightly upturned eyes had blue pupils. He looked a little gloomy at first glance.
"Tendou Civilian Security Agency... never heard of it."
"Tch, our agency... is just not that famous, not your business, old man."
He impatiently snatched his occupation card back from the police chief's hand.
"Can we get to the point? There's a lot of work to be done."
"Follow me."
Rentaro walked behind the police chief, listening to the old man explain the situation as they went.
"The incident happened on the second floor of the building. Room 102 below kept calling about water leaking from the unit above."
"Leaking water?"
Rentaro frowned.
"There's no water... of course, it's leaking blood."
"Also, there were more movements recently, like crashing sounds, and even the sound of glass shattering. It must be a Gastrea, no doubt about it."
As the two spoke, they had already reached the second floor. Here, the police chief noticed something missing. He turned back with suspicion to ask Rentaro.
"Wait, where is your Initiator partner?"
To explain, ten years after the Gastrea War, society—or rather, the remnants of human society—saw the emergence of a new component called Civil Security.
Operating directly under the Civilian Security Headquarters, and supervised by the IISO (International Initiator Supervising Organization), the profession of Civil Security Officer was established. They were like mercenaries, grouped into larger organizations to clean up the Gastrea that strayed into human territory.
Civil Security Officers typically operate in pairs: a Promoter and an Initiator. The Promoter usually provides combat support, while the main combat force is the Initiator—or a Cursed Child selected by the IISO.
Civilian Security personnel always fight in pairs.
Accompanying the appearance of Civil Security, a new law was established. In cases involving Gastrea, neither the police nor detectives could intervene unless a Civil Security officer was present. This had caused great dissatisfaction among the police force, leading to a difficult-to-describe relationship between the two sides.
This was why the police chief looked at Rentaro with such annoyance at the beginning.
"I don't think I'll need the kid's help for this case."
Rentaro avoided the question with his gaze. He couldn't say it was because he drove the bike too fast and didn't notice when his Initiator had flown off.
But he wasn't too worried. Normally, a Promoter only serves to support the Initiator in combat, but Rentaro himself possessed a certain level of fighting ability. At the very least, if he faced a normal Gastrea, he wouldn't die.
The two reached the end of the second-floor corridor, where several other armed police officers with guns were standing guard in front of a door.
"Is there anything unusual?"
"S-Sorry, Inspector. Two minutes ago, two of our men rappelled through the window. We've lost contact with them now..."
"You fool!"
The police chief angrily grabbed the police officer by the collar.
"Why didn't you wait for Civil Security to arrive?!"
"B-Because we didn't want those guys taking credit..."
"You idiot! How does credit compare to human lives!"
"Move aside. I'm going in."
Rentaro forcefully interrupted the interrogation. His demeanor became entirely serious. He drew his black Springfield XD pistol and advanced toward the door.
Crash!!!
The door was violently kicked open by him. Rentaro seized the opportunity to rush in, his gun raised straight forward with his finger already on the trigger, ready to fire at any moment.
Inside the room was a chaotic mess, with deep claw marks streaking the walls and a large trail of blood running diagonally across the floor.
But compared to that, the scene on the wall was even more shocking.
Two police officers were pinned to the wall, trapped within a giant claw mark. Both had wide-open eyes, seemingly unable to comprehend why they had died. Their limbs and bodies were twisted and broken, blood ceaselessly pouring out, dyeing a section of the wall crimson.
And in the middle of the room stood the bizarre white-masked man—Kagetane Hiruko.
"You're a little late, Civil Security boy."
"What is this? Who are you?"
Rentaro still did not lower his gun. For some reason, he sensed danger emanating from this man. This made him extremely vigilant.
"Are you also a Civil Security Officer?"
"I also track the source of infection, but I am not your colleague, young man."
"Because... I killed those two police officers."
Bang!
Rentaro fired instantly. The bullet flew out of the barrel, but as soon as it reached the space two meters away from Kagetane, it was deflected—the invisible shield had blocked the projectile's path.
Seeing that it had no effect, Rentaro quickly took a deep breath. He lunged forward, his right fist clenched tight and drawn backward, seemingly compressing an enormous source of power. As he neared Kagetane, he unleashed it like a folding fan snapping open from its initial shape.
"Tendou Style Martial Arts, First Form, Number 8!"
Thud!!!
The fist and the barrier collided, creating a massive tremor that seemed to shake the entire room. But despite the enormous power Rentaro unleashed, he still couldn't break through the invisible defense to reach Kagetane.
"Damn it! What is that!"
"You're quite good, young man."
Kagetane praised him unreservedly. With his veteran's eye, it wasn't hard to recognize that Rentaro was also an excellent martial artist; his striking ability and power were not ordinary. In a true close-quarters battle, that blow could certainly have injured him.
But that was the limit.
A very potential individual, but merely "potential." Compared to the monster from before, Rentaro was nothing more than a lamb who had just stepped out of the farm.
He no longer paid attention to Rentaro, intending to leave. But at that moment, the armed police officers rushed in, and without a word, began to open fire on Kagetane.
The bullets fired at him were no longer deflected as they were for Rentaro; they stopped in mid-air in a peculiar manner. Rentaro's pupils contracted. Sensing the danger contained within the projectiles, he hurriedly shouted:
"Get down!!!"
Unfortunately, his warning was a moment too late. The bullets suspended in mid-air suddenly reversed and flew back at horrifying speed, giving them power no different from when they were initially fired. Only half of the police officers managed to duck in time to escape. The rest had several holes punched through their bodies, dying with their eyes wide open.
"Damn it! Who the hell are you!"
"Who am I?"
Kagetane had already stepped out onto the balcony railing, leaning his head slightly back, glancing at Rentaro.
"The one who will destroy this world..."
"And no one can stop me."
With that, he jumped away, disappearing into the night in Rentaro's helpless frustration.