Chapter 80: Storing Freakers
SWOOOSH!!
Daito cut through the night like a streak of black lightning, his body tearing across the rooftops with relentless speed.
He didn't slow down.
Not once.
Even as terrified screams echoed from every direction. Even as columns of smoke swallowed the stars overhead. Even as the crimson glow of burning buildings painted the entire skyline blood red.
Kingsville had become a battlefield.
By the time he reached the city center, the destruction was already worse than he had imagined.
Collapsed storefronts lined the streets.
Abandoned wagons burned fiercely.
The bodies of defeated, disintegrating Freakers littered the roads while frightened civilians fled through clouds of ash, desperately searching for somewhere—anywhere—that promised safety.
At the heart of the chaos...His team was already fighting.
Steel clashed against claws.
Gunfire echoed between shattered buildings.
Savage Powers illuminated the darkness with flashes of blue, purple, and gold.
"...Daito!"
Aerin's voice rose above the chaos.
She had barely finished calling his name before he landed beside them with a powerful impact.
BOOM!!
Broken stone exploded beneath his boots.
Without wasting a single second, Daito's sharp eyes swept across the battlefield.
Every movement. Every Freaker. Every civilian. Every escape route.
He analyzed everything almost instantly.
"...Status."
Wasabi stepped toward him without hesitation, her holographic display still floating beside her.
"The outbreak has spread across three sectors," she reported rapidly. "We're holding this section, but the infected keep pouring in from the east. If this continues—"
Daito raised a hand.
She stopped immediately.
"...Fah-jin."
"...Aerin."
The two women turned toward him.
"I need both of you to find Champagne."
Aerin frowned.
"...What about you?"
"We should stay together."
Daito's expression remained unchanged.
"That's an order."
His voice carried no anger, and no emotion.
Only absolute certainty.
For a brief moment, the two exchanged glances.
Then both nodded.
"...Understood."
Without another word, they disappeared into the burning streets.
WHOOSH!
Their silhouettes vanished into the smoke almost instantly.
Wei-Wan stepped beside Daito, pointing toward the far end of the avenue.
"...We may have found one of them."
Daito followed his gaze.
Amid the panic...Amid the burning buildings...
One man walked calmly through the destruction as though he had no concern for the chaos surrounding him.
Purple hair.
Calm expression and unhurried footsteps.
Unlike the terrified civilians sprinting past him, he moved with complete confidence.
Almost...Like he belonged there.
Daito narrowed his eyes.
"...That's not Baekho."
The man certainly resembled him. The same striking purple hair. The same unsettling composure.
Yet...Something felt different.
Daito's mind briefly flashed back to his earlier battle.
Baekho's wild grin.
His reckless laughter.
His madness.
"...Different presence..."
He muttered quietly.
"This one's..."
His eyes sharpened.
"...Calmer."
Without another word, Daito stepped forward.
He intended to intercept him before he disappeared.
He wanted answers.
But before he could take another step—
SCREEEEEECH!!
The shrill cry of Freakers erupted from both sides of the street.
A dozen monstrous figures launched themselves from shattered storefronts.
Fast.
Far faster than ordinary Freakers.
Their claws glistened beneath the firelight as they lunged directly toward Daito.
Too close and too sudden.
Before Daito could draw his blade—
BOOOOOOM!!
Brandon crashed into the nearest Freaker with enough force to shatter its entire torso.
Bones exploded outward.
The creature's body folded in on itself before being driven straight into the pavement.
Brandon didn't even look at it.
"...Don't lose focus."
His deep voice cut through the noise.
"They're everywhere."
That was all the team needed.
The battle erupted.
* * *
Steel flashed through the darkness.
SLASH!!
Zachia's blade carved cleanly through two charging Freakers before he spun on his heel, severing a third without breaking his rhythm.
Bodies collapsed around him.
Wasabi calmly raised both pistols.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Every shot struck precisely between the eyes.
Three Freakers dropped before they even reached her.
Wei-Wan disappeared.
SWISH!
For several seconds...He simply wasn't there.
Then, Three Freakers collapsed simultaneously.
Thin lines of blood slowly appeared across their necks before their heads slipped cleanly from their shoulders.
His movements were almost invisible. Like the wind itself had learned how to wield a blade. Brandon roared as another wave charged toward him.
He grabbed one by its arm.
Spun.
Then hurled it directly into five others.
CRAAASH!!
Concrete shattered beneath the impact.
The creatures never rose again.
Daito moved through the battlefield like flowing water. Every swing carried purpose. Every step eliminated another enemy. He wasted no energy.
No unnecessary movement.
One strike.
One kill.
His blade danced through the air.
SLASH!
One.
SHINK!
Five.
CRACK!!
Nine.
The numbers continued climbing.
Fifteen.
Twenty-one.
Twenty-eight.
Thirty-three.
The last Freaker collapsed at his feet.
Silence.
It arrived so suddenly...That it felt unnatural.
The only sounds remaining were crackling flames and the distant cries of civilians elsewhere in the city.
Then...
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Purposeful.
A towering figure emerged from the drifting smoke. Every step seemed to shake the street beneath him. His expression remained completely emotionless. His broad shoulders blocked the firelight behind him.
Shogun.
He stopped several meters away, watching and waiting.
"...You're one of them."
Daito's voice was calm.
Shogun said nothing.
Not even a blink.
Zachia slowly stepped forward.
His sword rested comfortably on his shoulder.
"...Talk."
Still...Nothing.
Several long seconds passed.
Then Shogun tilted his head ever so slightly.
"...No."
One word...nothing more.
The atmosphere instantly changed. Daito felt it before anything happened. His instincts screamed.
Every nerve in his body tightened.
"...Wait—"
Too late.
Shogun slowly raised one hand. The space around him distorted. Tiny cubes began appearing from thin air.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Then hundreds.
Perfect geometric cubes floated around him, each one no larger than a clenched fist.
They hovered silently in the air, vibrating with strange energy.
The sight alone was unsettling.
"...Savage Power..."
Wasabi whispered.
Her voice carried genuine concern. Shogun calmly reached toward the nearest cube. His fingertip barely touched its surface.
Then...He flicked it.
THUD!
The cube shot forward with incredible speed.
Then—
POP!!
It exploded.
Not into debris, not into energy, but into something that burst out from within it.
A Freaker.
Its body launched forward like a cannonball, screaming as it hurtled through the air at impossible speed.
"...What?!"
Brandon barely managed to dodge as it smashed into the street behind him.
The pavement exploded. Shogun reached for another cube.
Then another.
His movements never changed.
Gentle.
Precise.
Almost casual.
POP!!
POP!!
POP!!
Cube after cube burst open.
Each one released another Freaker.
Not crawling.
Not climbing.
They were fired from the cubes like living bullets, screaming as they shot through the battlefield from every conceivable angle.
"...MOVE!!"
Daito's command echoed across the ruined street.
Everyone scattered.
The barrage rained down around them.
Some Freakers slammed into walls with enough force to destroy them. Others crashed through abandoned buildings. Several struck the ground. Only to immediately leap back into the air and attack again.
Wei-Wan narrowly avoided one that altered its trajectory mid-flight.
"...He's spawning them?!"
"No."
Daito's eyes remained locked on the floating cubes.
"...He's storing them."
Understanding struck him immediately. Those cubes weren't creating life. They were containers.
Portable prisons.
Shogun had been carrying an army with him the entire time.
He flicked another cube.
Then another.
Then ten at once.
POP! POP! POP! POP!
Dozens of Freakers exploded into existence simultaneously.
The team was immediately forced onto the defensive. Brandon found himself surrounded. Wasabi barely escaped another airborne attack. Even Zachia had been pushed backward.
Meanwhile...Shogun remained exactly where he had started.
His arms rested calmly at his sides.
He simply watched.
Like a battlefield commander observing the progress of a carefully planned war.
A faint murmur escaped his lips.
"...Let's see..."
His empty eyes swept across the struggling team.
"...How long you last."
The air itself seemed to tremble.
Not merely from the battle.
But because Daito could sense something deeper hidden behind Shogun's ability.
A pattern.
A strategy.
Something far more dangerous...Was still waiting to be revealed.
To be continued...