Sector 13. The Alley.
Rain slicked the cobblestones, turning the narrow street into a mirror reflecting the neon lights.
I stood alone.
In front of me, fifteen Shark-men formed a wall of blue scales and steel.
Behind them, Captain Arlong towered like a monument to violence.
He dragged his weapon a Leviathan Cutlass, six feet of serrated bone and steel along the ground. Sparks flew with every step. Scrape. Scrape.
"You have spirit, rat," Arlong rumbled. His voice vibrated in my chest. "But spirit doesn't stop steel."
I gripped Zev's hilt with both hands.
The leather wrapping was gone, burned away by the sword's heat. My skin sizzled against the black metal, but I squeezed tighter.
"Come and get it," I spat.
Arlong didn't charge. He didn't need to.
He nodded to his squad.
"Peel him."
Three Shark-men rushed me at once.
The first one swung a heavy iron mace at my head.
The second thrusted a spear at my gut.
The third circled to my flank with dual daggers.
[Left,] Zev whispered.
I didn't think. I moved.
I pivoted on my left heel, dodging the spear thrust by an inch. The wind of it brushed my shirt.
I used the momentum of my turn to swing Zev.
Not a chop. A horizontal sweep.
CLANG.
My black blade met the iron mace mid-swing.
The impact shook my bones. But Zev was harder. Denser.
The iron mace shattered.
The Shark-man stumbled, shocked.
I reversed my grip. Thrust.
I drove the pommel of my sword into his throat. CRUNCH. Windpipe crushed. He went down.
"One," I counted, gasping.
The dagger-wielder lunged from my right.
I couldn't lift Zev fast enough to block. It was too heavy.
So I dropped.
I fell to one knee, letting the daggers slash the air where my neck had been.
From the ground, I swung Zev upward in a rising arc. An uppercut of black steel.
SHING.
The blade caught the Shark-man under the chin. It exited through the top of his skull.
He fell backward, split open.
"Two."
The spearman hesitated. He looked at his dead comrades.
That hesitation was his death.
I lunged. Not with the blade, but with my shoulder.
I slammed into him, knocking the wind out of his gills.
As he stumbled back, I brought Zev down in a vertical execution strike.
SPLAT.
Shoulder to hip. Clean cut.
"Three."
I stood up, panting heavily.
Sweat and rain stung my eyes. My arms were burning. Every swing of this massive sword felt like lifting a boulder.
Twelve Shark-men left.
They circled me now, wary. They realized I wasn't just prey. I was a predator with a very big tooth.
Arlong laughed.
It was a deep, booming sound.
"Impressive," he said. He walked through his men, pushing them aside.
He stopped five meters from me.
He raised his massive Cutlass. It was as wide as a man's chest.
"But sloppy. You rely on the sword's weight. You have no form. No discipline."
He assumed a stance. Feet wide. Sword held high in a 'Roof Guard'.
"Let me show you Shark Style: Tsunami Crush."
He charged.
He didn't run. He exploded forward.
He covered the distance in a blink.
The massive Cutlass came down like a guillotine.
I raised Zev to block.
Cross Guard.
It was the only thing I could do.
BOOM.
The impact was catastrophic.
The ground beneath my feet shattered, spiderweb cracks spreading for meters.
My knees buckled.
My elbows popped.
I screamed as the sheer weight of his strike crushed me.
Arlong was Level 15. I was a scavenger who just found a sword.
The difference in raw strength was absolute.
"Heavy, isn't it?" Arlong grinned, pushing down.
His blade ground against Zev. Sparks showered my face.
"Your sword is strong. But your arms? They are twigs."
He kicked me in the stomach.
OOF.
I flew back.
I skipped across the wet pavement like a stone, crashing into a dumpster.
Garbage spilled over me.
I gasped for air, but my lungs wouldn't inflate. Broken rib. Again.
I tried to stand.
My arms hung uselessly at my sides. Numb.
Zev lay in the mud a meter away.
Arlong walked toward me slowly. Dragging his blade.
"Is that it?" he asked, disappointed. "I expected more from the artifact user."
He stopped in front of me.
He raised his sword for the killing blow.
"Die, rat."
I looked at Zev.
The red vein was pulsing frantically.
[He is mocking us,] Zev hissed. [He thinks we are weak.]
"I am weak," I wheezed, spitting blood.
[Yes. You are.]
[But I am not.]
Time seemed to slow.
Arlong's blade was descending.
[Let me in, Ren. Give me the wheel. I will break his bones.]
[Warning: This will hurt. A lot.]
"Do it," I whispered.
[OVERDRIVE.]
A shockwave of black energy exploded from my body.
It blew the rain away.
Arlong flinched, blinded for a second.
That second was all I needed.
My hand moved on its own.
It didn't grab the sword.
It grabbed Arlong's wrist.
My fingers dug into his blue scales, crushing muscle and bone.
CRACK.
"ARGH!" Arlong screamed, dropping his sword.
He tried to pull away, but my grip was absolute.
I looked up.
My vision was red. I couldn't feel my broken rib. I couldn't feel the rain.
I felt only power.
I stood up, still holding his wrist.
With my other hand, I summoned Zev.
The sword flew into my grip.
But I didn't swing it like a club this time.
My stance shifted.
Feet light. Hips locked. Blade held low.
This wasn't my stance. It was Zev's.
An ancient Swordsmanship form lost to time.
[Form 1: The Void Slash.]
I stepped in.
I released Arlong's wrist and spun.
The blade moved so fast it didn't make a sound.
It was just a black blur.
Arlong tried to backstep. He tried to harden his scales with mana.
Useless.
The black blade passed through his waist.
It passed through the Shark-men behind him.
It passed through the brick wall of the building across the street.
Silence.
Arlong stood there, eyes wide.
"What..." he whispered.
A thin red line appeared on his torso.
His top half slowly slid off his bottom half.
THUD.
Wet organs spilled onto the street.
The twelve Shark-men behind him fell in pieces. Shields cut in half. Armor useless.
The building groaned, and the entire top floor collapsed into the alley.
One swing.
Total devastation.
The red energy faded from my eyes.
And then the pain arrived.
"AGHHHHHH!"
I fell to my knees.
My right arm the one that swung the sword was purple. The muscles were torn. The skin was split. Blood poured freely.
My bones felt like dust.
Overdrive had forced my body past its limit.
I lay in the mud, staring at the carnage.
I had won.
But I couldn't move a finger.
"Ren...?"
A small voice came from the ventilation shaft.
Maya crawled out.
She saw the bodies. The blood. The ruined street.
She ran to me, crying.
"Ren! Wake up! You're bleeding!"
I tried to smile.
"I got him, May," I whispered. "We're safe."
I wasn't safe.
Footsteps approached.
Not heavy boots.
Soft, clicking heels.
"Impressive," a woman's voice said. Cold. Elegant.
I forced my eyes open one last time.
A woman stood over me.
Silver hair. Blue eyes. Armor that glowed like moonlight.
She looked at Zev. Then at me.
"You broke my city, boy," she said.
"But you killed Arlong. So I suppose I owe you."
She knelt down.
"Sleep now. We have much to discuss."
Darkness took me.