Bod
THE BUTCHER OF DREADLIGHT
CHAPTER ONE: BLOOD SUMMONING
The world had been dying for so long that no one remembered what living looked like.
Rain fell like bullet casings on the corroded buildings of what was once called Dreadlight City. The scarce streetlights flickered, powered by a mixture of outdated technology and blood sacrifices made by the city's maintenance cult. Their crimson robes could be spotted making rounds near the generators, children in tow—payment for another month of electricity.
Through this decaying landscape walked a figure in a simple black suit, like a salaryman from a forgotten era. Kagetsu Ibara—known to the whispers of the fearful as the Dreadlight Butcher—moved with unnatural stillness. His white-silver hair caught what little light existed, creating a faint halo that contrasted with his expressionless face. He carried a black blade that seemed to absorb rather than reflect the dim illumination around it.
"Price goes up each time," muttered a vendor as Kagetsu passed the market square. Nobody met his pale gold eyes directly. "Three pints per household this month. The little ones recover faster, so families with children pay in kids' blood."
Kagetsu's face remained an impassive mask as he continued walking. His movements were economical, without wasted energy—a stark contrast to the desperate scrambling of the market's patrons. The blade at his side never touched the ground despite its impossible weight. Locals whispered that the steel had tasted so much devil blood it had developed a hunger of its own. Others said the man himself was already half-devil, though no devil would claim him.
Far below the market, past the sewers where the screams of prey echoed longer than prayers, a cult prepared their final gambit.
The Crimson Hand had once been Dreadlight's most powerful devil-worship faction, but recent hunting campaigns—whispered to be the work of the white-haired slayer—had left them desperate. Nearly three hundred orphans huddled in the center of a massive summoning circle—children nobody would miss, taken from the streets over months.
"The ancient texts speak of sacrifice multipliers," explained Elder Verek to his followers. His hands trembled as he opened a tome bound in human skin. The pages seemed to breathe in the flickering torchlight. "Most summonings call one devil. We call many and receive one. But with enough sacrificial essence..."
A younger acolyte looked uncertain. "We need a devil powerful enough to defeat the slayer. The one they call the Butcher."
"This will bring us seven," Verek said, eyes gleaming with fanatical certainty. "Seven aspects of the most terrible devil. The ultimate weapon against the one who hunts us."
As the ritual began, the children's screams synchronized into a terrible harmony. The air split open in seven places, tearing reality apart like wet paper.
But something was wrong.
The ritual circle didn't glow red as expected. It burned with blinding white light. The summoning wasn't bringing devils—it was tearing through dimensional walls in all directions.
"STOP!" Verek screamed, but it was too late.
Seven vortexes of light crashed into the chamber. When the blinding flare subsided, seven women stood in the circle, each radiating confusion and power despite looking utterly human.
"This... this isn't right," Verek stammered. "We called for devils!"
A tall, blue-skinned woman with flowing mint-blue hair coiled in an elegant braid over her shoulder regarded him coldly. Her lavender-gray eyes narrowed with gentle condescension. "I am Vados, Angel Attendant to the God of Destruction. Where am I, and who dares to summon me?"
She suddenly gasped, doubling over as if struck. All seven women simultaneously clutched at their chests, feeling something fundamental changing within them.
"My power," whispered a crimson-haired beauty in tattered noble clothing. Her teal blue-green eyes widened in shock as she felt her demonic energy drain away. "It's gone. What have you done?" This was Rias Gremory, her aristocratic posture wavering for perhaps the first time in her existence.
"Something is binding us," observed a woman with snow-white hair and icy sapphire eyes. Velzard's voice remained calm despite the panic evident in her slitted pupils. "A contract of some sort, but not of my making."
The summoning circle pulsed once more, forming strange runic chains that seemed to stretch outward from the chamber, through the walls, seeking something—or someone.
Above ground, Kagetsu stopped mid-stride, feeling a strange pull in his chest. His black blade hummed with unfamiliar energy.
"How boring," he muttered, the first words he'd spoken in days. His tone was flat, almost disinterested, despite the supernatural phenomenon affecting him.
The wall beside him exploded as a Blood Devil burst through, eight feet of muscle and exposed sinew, with a mouth that opened vertically across its torso. The creature had been hunting him for weeks.
"SLAYER," it gurgled through the mouth-torso. "YOUR FEAR SMELLS DIFFERENT TODAY."
Kagetsu's blade moved with such speed it seemed to teleport rather than swing. The black metal separated the creature's head before it could finish its sentence. Black blood splattered the cracked pavement, but not a drop touched Kagetsu's immaculate suit.
As the devil's body dissolved into ash, Kagetsu felt the strange pull intensify. It came from below—from the old subway tunnels. With a slight shrug, he followed the sensation, blade held casually at his side as if it weighed nothing.
In the chamber below, chaos reigned. The failed ritual had attracted lesser devils who now feasted on the cultists. Children screamed as robed figures were torn apart. The seven summoned women, weakened and disoriented, struggled to defend themselves with purely human strength.
A tall, blonde woman with heterochromatic eyes—one gold, one emerald—and an impossible figure tried to shield three children, using a broken staff as an impromptu weapon. This was Lucoa, former goddess of fertility, now reduced to mortal vulnerability.
"Stay behind me," she ordered the children, her voice still carrying unnatural calm despite the panic in her eyes. Her golden-blonde hair with jade and aquamarine tips flowed around her like lazy serpents as she positioned herself protectively.
Across the chamber, a woman with long dark hair tied in a traditional braid was making a last stand with a ceremonial sword she'd taken from a fallen cultist. Despite being stripped of her divine power, Unohana moved with the muscle memory of a warrior who had seen countless battles. Her deep violet eyes remained serene even as she dispatched a minor devil with surgical precision.
"Form a circle!" she commanded the others. "Backs together!"
The blonde knight, Artoria, had already assumed a defensive stance, placing herself between the devils and a tall woman with crimson-gold hair. Artoria's emerald eyes assessed the situation with the calm efficiency of a seasoned commander, while female Reinhardt trembled slightly, unused to feeling fear.
"This isn't possible," whispered Velzard, the ice empress whose touch no longer froze. "I cannot be... mortal."
The chamber doors exploded inward.
Kagetsu stood in the opening, his black blade held casually at his side. For a moment, the entire scene seemed to freeze—devils, women, cultists all staring at the newcomer. The devils attacking the women turned, sensing greater prey. Three lesser devils—a Rat Devil, a Glass Devil, and something that resembled an inside-out bear—lunged at once.
Kagetsu moved without appearing to move at all. One moment he stood at the entrance; the next, he was on the other side of the chamber, his blade completing a casual arc. The three devils fell apart simultaneously, their bodies dissolving before they hit the ground. The entire sequence took less than a second.
As the last devil dissolved, Kagetsu's pale gold eyes met those of the seven women. Something electric passed between them—a recognition none could explain. The runic chains from the ritual suddenly materialized in the physical world, golden threads connecting each woman to the slayer's shadow.
Elder Verek, bleeding but alive, began laughing maniacally from his hiding place behind an overturned altar.
"It worked! Not as planned, but perhaps better," he wheezed, blood bubbling from his lips. "The ritual bound them—not to devils but to the devil's bane! The slayer himself!"
Kagetsu approached with unhurried steps, his face showing nothing beyond mild boredom as he examined the seven women. They felt the invisible tethers between them strengthen with proximity.
"What have you done?" Vados demanded of the cultist, her divine authority still evident in her voice despite her reduced state.
"Created the perfect weapon," Verek coughed blood as he spoke. "Seven divine beings, stripped of power but not knowledge, bound eternally to the one man devils fear more than their own extinction. The contract is sealed in the blood of innocents."
Kagetsu's blade moved in a casual flick. Verek's head toppled from his shoulders before anyone saw the slayer move.
The slayer looked at the seven women, then at the surviving children huddled in the corner. His expression revealed nothing, but his next words carried the weight of a decision made.
"How troublesome," he said, voice as flat as if commenting on mild weather. "You're bound to me now."
Rias stepped forward, her aristocratic bearing intact despite her tattered clothing. "And if we refuse this... arrangement?"
"Die, probably," Kagetsu replied with a slight shrug. "The binding feels like a contract. Break it, and it breaks you."
"Then it seems we have no choice," said Artoria with quiet dignity. Her formal bun had come partially undone, golden strands framing her face. "But know this, slayer—we were royalty, divinity, and legends in our worlds. We may be diminished, but we are not broken."
"Okay," Kagetsu said, his tone suggesting complete disinterest in their former statuses. He turned toward the exit, expecting them to follow, and after a moment's hesitation, they did.
Lucoa caught up first, her natural cheerfulness somehow surviving the trauma of interdimensional abduction and power loss. "So, do we get to know your name at least? Since we're apparently stuck together forever and all that."
"Kagetsu Ibara," he replied without looking at her. "Some call me the Butcher."
"Well, Kagetsu," she said with a smile that could still warm despite no longer carrying divine charm, "at least our new home comes with interesting company."
"It comes with death," he corrected flatly. "And devils. And more death."
Behind them, the other women exchanged glances—some resolute, some resentful, all processing the bizarre hand fate had dealt them. Velzard's eyes narrowed as she studied their new "master," noting the complete lack of fear or concern in his bearing. Unohana watched his movements with professional assessment, seeing a killer whose efficiency rivaled her own. Reinhardt kept close to Artoria, seeking comfort in the familiar presence of another warrior.
As they ascended toward the broken city above, none noticed the shadow that briefly formed in the chamber behind them—a darkness deeper than absence of light, watching with interest before dissipating into nothing.
The world continued dying. But something new had just been born.
CHAPTER TWO: SHELTER IN NIGHTMARES
The safe house wasn't much—a converted maintenance depot with reinforced walls and three separate escape routes. It sat in what was once a middle-class neighborhood, now reduced to a patchwork of ruins and desperate fortifications. Outside, the constant patter of acid rain ate at the concrete.
Kagetsu shouldered open the heavy door with casual strength, gesturing for the seven women to enter. The interior was spartan: a main room with a woodstove, several worn mattresses arranged along the walls, crates of supplies, weapons mounted on racks, and a single table strewn with maps and devil-hunting contracts.
"Home," he said simply.
Velzard surveyed the space with thinly veiled disdain. Once empress of an ice kingdom, now reduced to... this. "Charming," she murmured, folding her arms across her chest. Her flowing white gown with its layered frost-veil accents looked absurdly out of place in the grimy shelter.
Unohana moved immediately to inspect the medical supplies stored in a cabinet. "Primitive, but workable," she assessed, already organizing bandages and antiseptics with practiced efficiency. Her long black braid swung gently as she worked, her modified kimono with its blood-flower patterns standing out against the drab surroundings.
Kagetsu dropped his black blade into a specially reinforced stand near the door. The metal hummed briefly as it settled, almost like a living thing sighing after a long day's work. He then removed his black suit jacket, revealing a simple white shirt underneath. Despite the violence they had witnessed, not a speck of blood marred his clothing.
"You'll need clothes," he observed, noting their tattered and otherworldly garments. "Food. Rest."
"And explanations," added Artoria firmly. The former king stood with perfect posture despite her exhaustion, her golden-blonde hair now fully loosened from its bun. "What is this world? What are these 'devils' you hunt?"
Kagetsu opened a trunk and began pulling out spare clothing—practical, worn items clearly meant for survival rather than style. As he distributed them, he spoke in clipped sentences.
"Devils are manifestations of fear. Human fear gives them form, power. The more primal the fear, the stronger the devil." He paused, something dark passing behind his otherwise bored expression. "Gun Devil nearly ended everything twenty years ago. Darkness Devil came after. Both gone now, but new ones always form."
"And you killed them both?" Rias asked, her teal eyes studying him with newfound interest. Her crimson hair cascaded down her back as she accepted a set of clothes.
"The Gun Devil, yes. The Darkness Devil..." Kagetsu trailed off with a slight shrug. "It died. That's all that matters."
Reinhardt—her crimson-gold braid now dulled with grime—accepted a set of clothes with a polite nod. "And you... hunt them? Alone?"
"It's a job," Kagetsu replied blandly, as if discussing office work rather than slaying manifestations of primal terror.
Rias, who had been examining the maps on the table, looked up sharply. "These tracking patterns... you're not just hunting them. You're exterminating them systematically."
Kagetsu didn't confirm or deny. Instead, he moved to the stove and began preparing a simple meal from preserved supplies. His movements were precise and practiced, suggesting years of self-sufficiency. As he worked, the women changed into the provided clothing behind hastily arranged privacy screens.
Lucoa emerged first, somehow managing to make the plain shirt and pants look like a fashion statement. Her voluptuous figure strained against the fabric in ways that would have been distracting to most men, but Kagetsu didn't seem to notice or care.
"So! Seven divine beings from different worlds, bound to one grumpy devil hunter in an apocalyptic hellscape. This would make quite the light novel back home." She smiled brightly, apparently determined to find humor in their situation.
Vados, elegant even in borrowed clothing, raised an eyebrow. Her mint-blue braid was slightly disheveled but still coiled neatly over her shoulder. "I fail to see the entertainment value in our predicament."
"It's either laugh or cry," Lucoa replied with a shrug that did interesting things to her generous proportions. "And crying ruins my makeup... not that I'm wearing any now." She touched her face self-consciously, her heterochromatic eyes showing a vulnerability that contrasted with her cheerful demeanor.
A sudden impact shook the building. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Kagetsu was on his feet instantly, blade in hand without anyone seeing him move to retrieve it. "Patrol," he said tersely. "Hide."
The women quickly discovered that their binding to Kagetsu allowed them to sense his intentions. They followed his mental direction to a concealed panic room beneath the floorboards. As they descended, Reinhardt hesitated.
"Let me help," she offered, her clear sky-blue eyes showing determination despite her uncertainty. "I may not have my Divine Protections anymore, but I still remember how to fight."
Kagetsu regarded her for a moment. For the first time, he seemed to truly see one of them as an individual rather than a collective problem. "Next time," he finally said. "Need to know what you can do first. Training."
Another impact, closer this time. Through a narrow window, they could see mechanical searchlights sweeping the area.
Once the women were hidden, Kagetsu extinguished the lights and positioned himself in shadows. Minutes later, the door crashed open, revealing three figures in tactical gear bearing the insignia of Dreadlight City's Devil Management Bureau—the corrupt government agency that ostensibly protected citizens but actually farmed them for resources.
"Life signs registered here," announced the lead officer, a woman with a cybernetic eye. "Unauthorized occupation of Sector 7 property."
Kagetsu remained silent, blade ready but his expression showing nothing beyond mild inconvenience.
The officer's artificial eye swiveled, scanning the room. "Ah. The Unseen Executioner himself. Operating outside your designated zones again." She smiled tightly. "That's a violation of Protocol 23-B. The Bureau has a cell waiting for you."
"Pass," Kagetsu replied, his voice as flat as if declining a dinner invitation.
"Not a request." The officers raised pulse rifles. "The Bureau Director wants a word. Something about the mass casualty event in the subway. Got an interesting report about women appearing from nowhere."
In the hidden room below, the seven bound women listened intently. Vados closed her eyes, concentrating on the strange connection forming between them and their reluctant host. To her surprise, she could sense his tactical assessment—the angle of his planned strike, the sequence of movements, even the cold calculation of acceptable damage he might sustain.
"He's completely calm," she whispered to the others. "No fear, no anger, just... mathematical precision."
Above, Kagetsu moved like lightning. His blade cleaved through the first officer's rifle and continued into her shoulder, not quite lethal but certainly disabling. The second officer managed to fire, the energy pulse grazing Kagetsu's arm before he separated the man's head from his shoulders.
The lead officer with the cybernetic eye backed toward the door, transmitting rapidly into her communicator. "Asset non-compliant! Requesting—"
Her words ended as Kagetsu's blade impaled her through the chest. As she collapsed, her eye continued recording, its feed transmitting to Bureau headquarters.
Kagetsu kicked the door shut and moved to release the women from their hiding place. As they emerged, they found him binding his wounded arm with practiced efficiency.
"We need to move," he stated flatly. "They'll send more."
Unohana immediately approached, taking over the bandaging with expert hands. "The wound is superficial, but needs proper cleaning to prevent infection."
Kagetsu stilled as she worked, unused to being touched with such care. A strange discomfort passed across his features before his stoic mask reasserted itself. Unohana noted his reaction with clinical interest, her deep violet eyes observing far more than she revealed.
"Why did you kill them?" Artoria asked, troubled. "Were they possessed by these devils?"
"Worse," Kagetsu replied. "Humans who serve devils willingly. The Bureau farms people for blood and fear. Keeps the population controlled through managed devil attacks."
"And people allow this?" Rias looked horrified, her aristocratic sensibilities offended by such governance.
"People will accept anything when the alternative is extinction." Kagetsu's tone suggested he found the moral complexities of the situation tedious rather than troubling.
Within fifteen minutes, they had packed essential supplies and were moving through back alleys away from the safe house. The city's architecture was a grotesque blend of futuristic technology and medieval squalor. Bridges of gleaming metal connected upper-level residences where the wealthy maintained some semblance of civilized life, while the ground levels festered with poverty and desperation.
As they navigated the shadows, avoiding Bureau patrols, Velzard moved gracefully alongside Kagetsu. "I sensed a pattern to your movements," she observed. "You've escaped pursuit many times before."
"Too many," he replied without looking at her.
"In my world, I was feared as much as respected," she continued, studying his profile with analytical interest. "Power demanded isolation. This... connection between us. It's uncomfortable."
"For me too." His pale gold eyes briefly met hers, and for a moment, she sensed something beyond the boredom—a fundamental weariness.
"Yet you saved us."
"You're bound to me. My responsibility now." The way he said it suggested obligation rather than choice, but there was no resentment in his tone.
They paused at an intersection as a patrol hovercraft passed overhead, its searchlight painting stark shadows across ruined buildings. Kagetsu ushered them into an abandoned shop, where they would wait until the search patterns changed.
Inside, Reinhardt helped distribute water rations. "In my world, I was blessed with Divine Protection. Everything came easily." She handed Kagetsu a canteen, their fingers briefly touching. "Now I feel... human. Vulnerable. It's terrifying and... exhilarating."
"Being human is overrated," Kagetsu muttered, but there was no malice in his tone.
"Is it?" Lucoa interjected, settling herself on a broken counter. Her languid movements carried the memory of divinity despite her current limitations. "Humanity has always fascinated me. Such brief lives, yet so much passion." She studied Kagetsu with curious heterochromatic eyes. "What drives you to hunt devils when most humans just hide from them?"
For a long moment, it seemed he wouldn't answer. Then:
"Family. Gone. Gun Devil took them." His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Nothing left but hunting."
The simplicity of his answer hung in the air, devastating in its starkness.
Artoria's expression softened with recognition. "A quest for vengeance, then."
"Justice," Kagetsu corrected. "Vengeance is personal. Justice is for everyone."
A crash from the street interrupted them. Through grimy windows, they could see a small devil—a twisted amalgamation of broken glass and children's dolls—stalking a stray dog. The creature stood about four feet tall, its movements jerky and unsettling.
"Nightmare Devil," Kagetsu identified. "Minor one. Feeds on children's bad dreams."
"Those poor children in the ritual," Rias realized. "Their terror must have manifested this."
Kagetsu moved toward the door, blade ready, but Vados placed a hand on his arm. He stilled instantly at the contact, his pale gold eyes meeting her lavender-gray ones with mild surprise.
"Allow us," she said. "We may lack our powers, but not our skills. Consider it... a demonstration of what we bring to this arrangement."
After a moment's consideration, Kagetsu nodded. "Be careful. Even minor devils are dangerous."
The women exchanged glances, silently coordinating through their newfound connection. Unohana, Artoria, and Reinhardt—the warriors of the group—moved first, slipping out into the street with makeshift weapons scavenged from the shop. Rias and Velzard positioned themselves at flanking positions, while Vados and Lucoa remained in reserve.
The Nightmare Devil sensed them immediately, its head rotating 180 degrees with a sound like breaking glass. It abandoned the dog and skittered toward them with unnatural speed.
What followed impressed even Kagetsu. Despite their lack of divine power, the women moved with perfect coordination. Artoria and Reinhardt engaged directly, drawing the devil's attention with precisely timed attacks while Unohana circled behind. When the creature lunged at Reinhardt, Unohana struck at a joint in its glass body, causing it to shriek and splinter.
Rias, revealing tactical acumen that hinted at her noble military background, called directions from her vantage point. Velzard used her knowledge of vulnerabilities to guide their strikes.
The devil, realizing it was outmatched despite their human limitations, attempted to flee. That's when Lucoa stepped into its path, her heterochromatic eyes catching what little light filtered through the polluted clouds above.
"Sorry, little one," she said with genuine regret. "Wrong world, wrong time."
As the devil hesitated, transfixed by her otherworldly presence, Vados delivered the finishing blow with a length of rebar, striking at the exact point where the creature's fear-essence was concentrated. It shattered into fragments that dissolved like bad dreams at dawn.
Kagetsu had watched the entire encounter without moving from the doorway, his expression unreadable. As the women regrouped, he offered a single nod—high praise from a man of so few words.
"Efficient," he acknowledged. "You'll survive longer than I thought."
"Such glowing praise," Velzard remarked dryly, but there was a hint of satisfaction in her tone.
As they continued their journey through the broken city, Kagetsu led them toward a network of maintenance tunnels that would take them to another safe house—one the Bureau didn't know about. Along the way, they passed evidence of the world's slow collapse: mutation gardens where plants grew in impossible configurations, prayer walls covered in desperate pleas to gods that never answered, and the occasional devil shrine where the truly hopeless offered sacrifices for protection.
"Your world is dying," Vados observed quietly as they descended into the tunnels. "The balance between creation and destruction has been irreparably damaged."
"Been dying a long time," Kagetsu replied. "Gun Devil accelerated it. Darkness Devil ensured it."
"And yet you fight," Artoria noted. "Without hope of victory."
Kagetsu's pace never slackened as he navigated the darkness. "Who said there's no hope?"
"You did," Rias pointed out. "When you said nothing was left but hunting."
"For me," he clarified. "World's different. Still people worth saving."
The tunnel opened into a vast underground chamber that had once been a subway station. Makeshift dwellings lined the platforms, and children played in the eerie light of bioluminescent fungi that grew along the walls. An unofficial settlement of those hiding from both devils and the Bureau.
As they passed through, residents nodded respectfully to Kagetsu. Some offered small tokens—a piece of fruit, a handmade trinket, a grateful touch on his sleeve that he endured stoically. The women attracted curious stares, whispers following in their wake.
A small girl with patches of scaled skin—a devil-touched child—approached Reinhardt boldly.
"Are you angels?" she asked, eyes wide with hope.
Before Reinhardt could answer, Kagetsu intervened. "No. Just people."
The child looked disappointed but offered Reinhardt a small wooden carving anyway. "For luck," she said before running back to her friends.
Reinhardt studied the crude carving—a sword-wielding figure that bore an uncanny resemblance to Kagetsu. "They revere you here," she observed.
"They shouldn't," he replied, but led them onward with what might have been a slightly less rigid posture.
The new safe house was smaller but better equipped than the previous one, hidden within the maintenance areas of the underground settlement. As they settled in, distributing sleeping spaces and organizing supplies, a strange domesticity began to emerge among them.
Lucoa discovered cooking supplies and took charge of preparing a proper meal, her movements light despite their dire circumstances. "I've been a guest in strange places before," she explained cheerfully. "The key is to make yourself useful and bring a little joy where you can."
Artoria and Reinhardt inspected and maintained weapons with military precision, occasionally exchanging quiet observations about technique and craftsmanship. Though from different worlds, their warrior backgrounds gave them common ground.
Unohana sorted medical supplies, her practiced hands moving with serene efficiency. Rias and Velzard created a map of what they'd seen of the city so far, their regal bearing evident even in this mundane task. Vados observed everything, occasionally offering suggestions with her characteristic calm authority.
Kagetsu watched this transformation of his spartan quarters with something approaching bewilderment. His safe house had never been anything but functional—a place to rest between hunts. Now it was becoming... something else.
When Lucoa called everyone to eat—a surprisingly appetizing stew made from preserved ingredients—he hesitated before joining them at the table.
"You need strength," Lucoa said cheerfully, placing a bowl before him. "Devil hunting on an empty stomach is just asking for trouble."
Kagetsu looked at the food, then at the seven women now seated around his table. Something shifted in his typically bored expression—a minute adjustment suggesting that he was reassessing his situation.
"Thanks," he said simply, the word sounding strange in his mouth.
As they ate, conversation flowed more freely, each woman sharing brief glimpses of their former lives and worlds. Kagetsu remained silent but attentive, studying them with new interest.
"I was an angel attendant to Lord Beerus, God of Destruction," Vados explained, her posture perfect even on the crude bench. "My duties included training him, guiding him, and ensuring cosmic balance was maintained."
"I was heir to House Gremory, a noble devil family," Rias added. "We valued our servants and treated them as family. I had assembled my own peerage—a team bound by magical contracts, but also by genuine affection."
"I was once worshipped as Quetzalcoatl," Lucoa said with a reminiscent smile. "A fertility goddess, among other things. More recently, I was living with a human family, helping a young mage learn to control his powers."
One by one, they shared their stories—Artoria of her kingship and the responsibilities of ruling; Velzard of her ice kingdom and the complexities of immortality; Unohana of her dual paths as healer and warrior; Reinhardt of her divine blessings and the weight of expectation they carried.
"So," Rias eventually asked, "what happens now? We're bound to you, stripped of our powers, in a dying world overrun by manifestations of fear."
"We hunt," Kagetsu replied simply. "Train you first. Then hunt bigger devils."
"And your ultimate goal?" Vados inquired. "There must be more than endless hunting."
Kagetsu set down his spoon, his expression darkening. "There's one devil left. The worst one."
"Worse than the Gun Devil and Darkness Devil you mentioned?" Unohana asked, her violet eyes studying him intently.
"Much worse." Kagetsu's voice dropped almost to a whisper. "Fear Devil. The original. Source of all others."
A heavy silence fell over the table as the implications sank in.
"And you believe you can defeat this... primal entity?" Artoria finally asked.
Kagetsu's gaze swept over the seven women, something new kindling in his typically cold eyes. "Couldn't before. Now? Maybe."
"Because of us?" Reinhardt sounded doubtful. "We've lost our powers."
"Not your knowledge. Experience. Different perspectives." Kagetsu tapped his temple. "Feel it already. The connection. Makes me... sharper."
Lucoa brightened. "A hive mind? That's actually pretty cool!"
"Not exactly," Vados corrected. "More like... resonance. Our souls are harmonizing despite our different origins."
Velzard nodded slowly. "The ritual may have taken our divine power, but it created something new in the process."
As night settled over the underground haven, the group dispersed to their assigned sleeping areas. Kagetsu took the first watch, positioning himself near the entrance with his blade across his knees.
Sometime during the night, Unohana silently joined him. They sat in comfortable silence until she spoke.
"Your fighting style is fascinating," she observed. "Brutal yet precise. No wasted movement."
Kagetsu glanced at her. "Yours too. Different, but effective."
"In my world, I was the first Kenpachi," she explained. "The most feared swordswoman of my time, before I became a healer. I understand the path of the blade."
"And the path of healing," he noted. "Rare combination."
"Perhaps that's why I was brought here." Her smile held secrets. "To help kill devils and save a slayer from himself."
For the first time, Kagetsu regarded one of them with genuine curiosity rather than obligation. "You think I need saving?"
"Everyone does, eventually," Unohana replied. "Even those who save others."
Kagetsu's expression remained neutral, but something shifted in his posture—a nearly imperceptible relaxation. "Get some rest. Training starts tomorrow."
Unohana nodded and returned to her sleeping area, leaving Kagetsu alone with thoughts more complicated than he'd experienced in years.
Outside their shelter, the settlement continued its nighttime routine. Children were sung to sleep with lullabies about heroes who would save them. Adults traded stories of devil sightings in hushed voices. And somewhere in the darkness above, Bureau hovercrafts continued their search patterns, hunting for the Butcher and his mysterious companions.
The world kept dying. But for the first time in a very long time, Kagetsu allowed himself to consider an alternative.
CHAPTER THREE: SEVEN LIGHTS BURNING
Dawn in Dreadlight City wasn't marked by sunlight but by the systematic brightening of artificial illumination strips mounted on the taller buildings. The polluted sky remained a constant bruised purple, occasionally split by lightning that carried no rain.
Training began before most of the underground settlement stirred. Kagetsu led the seven women to a disused maintenance bay—a cavernous space with enough room for combat practice. His black blade rested against the wall as he assessed each woman individually.
THE BUTCHER OF DREADLIGHT
CHAPTER THREE (CONTINUED): SEVEN LIGHTS BURNING
"Show me what you can do," Kagetsu instructed, his voice flat despite the early hour. "One at a time. No holding back."
Artoria stepped forward first, accepting a standard-weight sword from Kagetsu's collection. Despite the blade being inferior to her lost Excalibur, she handled it with the practiced ease of a lifelong warrior. Her form was perfect—economical, powerful, and precise.
"Royal guard training," Kagetsu observed after their brief sparring match. "Good foundation."
Artoria lowered her blade, breathing slightly elevated but controlled. Her emerald eyes met his pale gold ones without wavering. "I was King of Britain in my world. A sword has been in my hand since childhood."
Kagetsu nodded. "Your body remembers what your power once amplified. Useful."
One by one, the others demonstrated their capabilities. Reinhardt's fighting style was similar to Artoria's but more fluid, relying on speed and precision rather than power. Unohana moved with terrifying grace, her technique so refined it bordered on artistic. Velzard, despite preferring ice magic in her former existence, proved adept at close-quarters combat, her movements crisp and efficient.
Rias showed proficiency with ranged weapons, her aim nearly perfect with the compound bow Kagetsu provided. Vados demonstrated a fighting style unlike anything in Kagetsu's world—graceful yet devastatingly effective, using an opponent's momentum against them.
Lucoa surprised everyone with her competence in hand-to-hand combat. With a mischievous smile, she managed to flip Kagetsu onto his back, straddling him momentarily in a position that would have been compromising if not for the seriousness of their training. Her heterochromatic eyes sparkled with triumph as she looked down at him.
"I'm a few thousand years old," she explained with a wink before rolling gracefully to her feet. "You pick things up along the way."
For the briefest moment, Kagetsu's normally impassive face registered surprise before he regained his composure. "Unexpected," he admitted, rising to his feet with fluid grace.
As they rested between exercises, drinking purified water from metal canteens, Kagetsu outlined his assessment.
"Different strengths. Different weaknesses. Together, formidable." He pointed to each woman in turn. "Artoria, Reinhardt—frontline fighters. Unohana—assassination and medical. Velzard—tactical support and close combat. Rias—ranged specialist. Vados—strategy and command. Lucoa—infiltration and... distraction."
"Distraction?" Lucoa placed her hands on her hips, emphasizing her impossible figure. "I suppose I can see why."
Velzard rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of amusement in her icy gaze. "Some things transcend worlds, it seems."
"What about you?" Rias asked, studying Kagetsu with newfound respect after witnessing his combat prowess. "Where do you fit in this arrangement?"
"I kill what can't be killed," he replied simply, but there was less flatness in his tone than before—perhaps a hint of purpose.
Their training continued through the morning, with Kagetsu adjusting his instruction to each woman's abilities and background. By midday, they had established a rudimentary team dynamic, learning to coordinate their movements and cover each other's weaknesses.
"Enough for today," Kagetsu eventually declared. "We patrol tonight."
As they returned to their shelter, the women talked among themselves, their initial wariness of each other gradually giving way to camaraderie born of shared circumstances.
"Your swordsmanship is impeccable," Artoria remarked to Unohana. "I've rarely seen such precision."
Unohana's smile was gentle but held untold depths. "I've had centuries to perfect it. Your technique is formidable as well—the mark of true royalty."
"I was wondering," Reinhardt addressed Vados hesitantly, "in your world, were there beings comparable to these 'devils' we face here?"
"Not exactly," Vados replied thoughtfully. "There were Gods of Destruction, whose purpose was cosmic balance rather than terror. But the principle is similar—primal forces given consciousness."
Meanwhile, Rias and Velzard compared notes on the city's layout, identifying potential danger zones and safe routes. Their aristocratic backgrounds gave them similar approaches to territorial assessment despite their different origins.
Lucoa had fallen into step beside Kagetsu, her natural cheerfulness seemingly undiminished by their dire circumstances. "So, Butcher," she said conversationally, "do you ever do anything for fun, or is it all devil slaying and brooding?"
Kagetsu glanced at her, momentarily taken aback by the question. "Fun," he repeated, as if testing an unfamiliar concept. "I read. Sometimes."
"What do you read?" she persisted, genuinely curious.
"Old books. Survival manuals. Poetry," he added after a pause, the admission seeming to surprise even himself.
Lucoa's eyes widened with delight. "Poetry! Now that's unexpected. Any favorites?"
Before Kagetsu could respond, a scream tore through the underground settlement. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the sound, the seven women following close behind.
They found a section of the settlement in chaos. A Devil—a misshapen creature with elongated limbs and a face composed entirely of screaming mouths—had somehow breached the security perimeter. It towered over the fleeing residents, its limbs stretching to impossible lengths to snatch at them.
"Grief Devil," Kagetsu identified, his blade already in hand. "Mid-tier. Dangerous."
The devil turned at their approach, its many mouths forming words in a horrific chorus. "SLAYER. BROUGHT FRIENDS. MORE HEARTS TO BREAK."
Kagetsu moved with blinding speed, but the Grief Devil was surprisingly agile. It twisted away from his strike, one elongated arm lashing out to slam him into a wall. The impact would have killed an ordinary man, but Kagetsu merely picked himself up, expression unchanged.
"Spread out," he ordered the women. "Circle formation. Rias, high ground. Lucoa, evacuate civilians."
They moved instantly, taking their positions with practiced coordination despite having trained together for only a few hours. The connection between them seemed to strengthen in combat, allowing them to anticipate each other's movements.
Artoria and Reinhardt engaged the devil directly, their swords flashing in perfect synchronization to keep its attention divided. Velzard circled to the creature's blind spot, a makeshift spear in hand. Unohana's movements became nearly invisible as she darted between shadows, looking for vital points to strike.
From her elevated position, Rias called out the devil's movement patterns, guiding their attacks with strategic precision. "Left tendril extending—Artoria, duck right! Reinhardt, opening at its core!"
Vados coordinated their efforts, her calm voice cutting through the chaos. "Maintain pressure. Its regeneration is focused on the central mass. Target the connecting tissues of the limbs."
The devil shrieked in frustration as it found itself unable to focus on any single opponent. It lashed out wildly, one tendril catching Reinhardt across the chest and sending her flying into a stack of crates.
"Reinhardt!" Artoria cried, momentarily distracted.
The devil seized the opportunity, wrapping a tendril around Artoria's throat and lifting her off the ground. Its many mouths stretched into grotesque smiles as it began to squeeze.
Suddenly, Kagetsu was there, his black blade severing the tendril in a single stroke. He caught Artoria as she fell, their faces momentarily inches apart.
"Careful," he said, his typically flat voice carrying an unfamiliar note of concern. "It feeds on emotional distraction."
Artoria's eyes widened slightly, whether from the close call or their proximity wasn't clear. "Understood," she replied, recovering her composure quickly.
The fight continued, with Kagetsu and the women gradually wearing down the Grief Devil. It became increasingly desperate, its attacks more erratic. In a final gambit, it lunged at Lucoa, who was helping a child to safety.
Without hesitation, Kagetsu threw himself between them, the devil's claws tearing through his white shirt and into the flesh beneath. He didn't flinch, didn't even acknowledge the wound. His blade moved in a perfect arc, cleaving through the devil's central mass.
The creature let out a final chorus of wails before collapsing into a puddle of viscous black fluid that quickly evaporated.
In the aftermath, the settlement residents emerged from hiding, regarding Kagetsu and the seven women with awe and gratitude. The child Lucoa had rescued clung to her, face buried against her generous bosom.
"You're bleeding," Unohana observed, approaching Kagetsu with calm authority. The slashes across his chest were deep enough to be serious, yet he stood as if unaffected.
"It's nothing," he replied, but allowed her to lead him back to their shelter for treatment.
In the privacy of their quarters, Unohana cleaned and bandaged his wounds with expert hands. The other women busied themselves with various tasks, though each occasionally glanced in their direction.
"You shouldn't have intercepted that attack," Unohana said quietly as she worked. "I was positioned to disable it before it reached Lucoa."
Kagetsu's pale gold eyes met her violet ones. "Reflex," he said simply.
"Interesting reflex for someone who claims to care only about hunting," she observed with a knowing smile. "Your body betrays what your words conceal."
Before Kagetsu could respond, Lucoa approached, carrying a steaming cup. "Medicinal tea," she explained, offering it to him. "An old recipe from my world. Helps with healing."
As Kagetsu accepted the cup, their fingers brushed, lingering perhaps a moment longer than necessary. Lucoa's usual playfulness was tempered by genuine concern. "Thank you," she said softly. "For what you did back there."
Kagetsu looked uncomfortable with the gratitude, as if unused to such interactions. "You're bound to me," he replied. "My responsibility."
"Is that the only reason?" Rias asked from across the room, her aristocratic features arranged in a thoughtful expression.
Kagetsu sipped the tea, using the moment to avoid answering directly. "We should patrol the perimeter," he eventually said. "Find out how the devil breached security."
The subject was dropped, but something had shifted in the atmosphere of their shelter. The women exchanged glances, a silent communication passing between them that even their bond with Kagetsu didn't fully reveal.
That night, they patrolled in pairs, checking the settlement's defenses and reassuring the still-shaken residents. Kagetsu, despite Unohana's recommendation that he rest, led the effort, his movements betraying no sign of his injuries.
When they finally returned to rest, their sleeping arrangements had subtly changed. Whereas before they had maintained careful distance, now they positioned themselves in a loose circle around Kagetsu, as if drawn by an invisible current—or perhaps by the instinctive need for mutual protection.
As Kagetsu closed his eyes, he was acutely aware of their presence—seven distinct energies, seven breathing patterns, seven heartbeats gradually synchronizing with his own. The sensation was unfamiliar but not unpleasant.
For the first time since the Gun Devil had taken everything from him, Kagetsu Ibara slept deeply, without nightmares.
CHAPTER FOUR: DEPTHS OF DREADLIGHT
The next few days established a pattern. Mornings were dedicated to training, with each woman improving rapidly under Kagetsu's terse but effective instruction. Afternoons involved reconnaissance missions in pairs, mapping the city and gathering intelligence on devil activity. Evenings were spent on patrol, protecting the underground settlement from threats.
Gradually, a transformation occurred—not just in their capabilities as a fighting unit, but in their interactions with each other and with Kagetsu himself.
Velzard, initially the most aloof, began sharing tactical insights from her centuries of rule. "Ice empires aren't built without understanding vulnerabilities," she explained during a strategy session. "Devils have patterns, just like any other predator."
Kagetsu, typically silent during such discussions, found himself contributing more frequently. "The Glass Devil hunts by reflection," he noted, pointing to a sector on their map. "Avoid surfaces that can mirror. Kill it by breaking its prime reflection."
Rias, whose noble upbringing had included extensive education in governance, proved adept at diplomacy with the settlement's various factions. "They need structure," she observed. "A sense that someone is in control, even when the world is falling apart."
Artoria and Reinhardt often trained together, their similar fighting styles complementing each other. They developed combination attacks that utilized Artoria's power and Reinhardt's speed, creating openings that even mid-tier devils couldn't defend against.
Unohana divided her time between combat training and establishing a proper medical station for the settlement. Under her guidance, several residents with background in healthcare became a functioning medical team.
Vados took charge of fortifying the settlement, her millenia of experience with cosmic architecture translated surprisingly well to practical defense systems. "Protection is universal," she remarked while directing the reinforcement of a vulnerable section. "Whether guarding galaxies or subway stations."
Lucoa, with her natural charisma and nurturing instincts, became beloved by the settlement's children. She established a makeshift school, teaching not just survival skills but also stories and songs from her world. "Hope needs cultivation," she explained when Kagetsu questioned the practicality. "Like any other resource."
On the seventh day after their arrival, a significant discovery was made.
Kagetsu and Vados were investigating reports of increased devil activity in the eastern quadrant of the city when they encountered a Bureau patrol operating in unusual secrecy. Following them led to a heavily guarded facility built into what had once been a luxury high-rise.
"They're moving something," Vados observed from their hiding place, her lavender-gray eyes narrowed in concentration. "Regular intervals. Heavy security."
Kagetsu nodded. "Devil fragments. Bureau collects them after kills."
"For what purpose?"
"Research. Weapons. Control." His expression darkened slightly. "Or summoning."
They watched as armed guards escorted a containment unit into the building. The security measures were far beyond what would be necessary for conventional research.
"We need to investigate further," Vados suggested. "This facility could be connected to the ritual that brought us here."
Kagetsu considered this. "Dangerous. Bureau headquarters nearby. High alert since our last encounter."
"Yet necessary," Vados countered. "If they're experimenting with the same forces that created our binding, it could affect us directly."
After a moment's hesitation, Kagetsu nodded. "Tonight. Full team."
When they returned to the settlement and shared their findings, the other women agreed with the need for investigation.
"If they're conducting rituals similar to what summoned us, they could potentially bring more beings through," Rias pointed out. "Or worse, attempt to control us directly."
"The binding magic felt incomplete," Artoria noted. "As if the ritual was interrupted before its final phase."
"Which might be why we retained our free will," Reinhardt added thoughtfully.
Kagetsu listened to their theories with unexpected attention. "Planning. Now," he finally said, spreading a rough map of the target area on their table.
The operation they devised was elegant in its complexity. Lucoa and Rias would create a diversion several blocks away, drawing Bureau attention. Velzard and Reinhardt would secure their escape route. Artoria and Unohana would accompany Kagetsu and Vados into the facility itself.
As night fell, they prepared for the mission. Kagetsu distributed the limited weaponry he possessed, ensuring each woman was equipped according to her strengths. When he reached Lucoa, he hesitated before handing her a compact pulse pistol.
"Be careful," he said, his typically flat voice carrying a barely perceptible note of concern.
Lucoa smiled, her heterochromatic eyes warm in the dim light. "Worried about me, Kagetsu? How sweet."
"Practical," he corrected, but didn't pull away when her fingers brushed his as she accepted the weapon.
Rias, observing the interaction, exchanged a knowing glance with Vados. "The binding grows stronger," she murmured. "In unexpected ways."
"Indeed," Vados replied quietly. "His resistance diminishes daily."
The mission began precisely at midnight. Lucoa and Rias initiated their diversion—a controlled explosion in an abandoned warehouse that quickly drew Bureau response teams. Velzard and Reinhardt moved into position along their planned escape route, neutralizing patrols with silent efficiency.
Meanwhile, Kagetsu led Artoria, Unohana, and Vados to the facility's service entrance. The security systems were advanced, but Vados's cosmic knowledge translated surprisingly well to electronic countermeasures.
"Fascinating," she murmured as she bypassed a retinal scanner. "Primitive yet elegant in its application."
Inside, the facility revealed itself to be far more extensive than its exterior suggested. Subterranean levels stretched deep beneath the city, housing laboratories, containment units, and what appeared to be ritual chambers.
"Like the cult, but organized," Kagetsu observed as they moved through the dimly lit corridors. "Government-sanctioned devil worship."
They encountered minimal resistance—most security forces had been drawn to the diversion—but those they did encounter were dispatched with lethal precision. Kagetsu's black blade moved like a living shadow, while Artoria and Unohana demonstrated why they had been legendary warriors in their respective worlds.
The deeper they ventured, the more disturbing their discoveries became. Observation rooms contained humans in various stages of devil transformation. Laboratories displayed dissected devil fragments preserved in unknown solutions. And throughout, there were symbols eerily similar to those used in the ritual that had summoned the seven women.
"They're trying to create hybrids," Unohana concluded after examining several research terminals. "Human-devil symbionts under Bureau control."
"Failing," Kagetsu noted, gesturing to a chamber filled with malformed corpses. "Devils consume. Don't share."
Their exploration led them to a heavily secured central chamber. Inside, they found what appeared to be the facility's primary objective—a massive containment unit housing a pulsating mass of darkness.
"Fear Devil fragment," Kagetsu identified, his typically impassive face showing genuine concern. "Prime source."
Vados approached the containment field cautiously. "This is what they used in the ritual. A piece of the original."
"They're trying to control it," Artoria realized. "Harness the source of all devils."
"Fools," Unohana said softly. "They cannot comprehend what they're tampering with."
As they examined the chamber, an alarm suddenly blared throughout the facility. Security protocols activated, sealing exits and deploying automated defense systems.
"Diversion discovered," Kagetsu concluded. "Need to move."
They retreated from the central chamber, fighting their way through increasingly dense security forces. Kagetsu moved with supernatural speed, his blade cleaving through Bureau agents and mechanical sentries alike. Artoria and Unohana fought back-to-back, their coordinated swordplay creating a deadly zone around them. Vados utilized the facility's own systems against it, triggering containment breaches that released captured devils into security checkpoints.
As they neared their extraction point, they encountered a final obstacle—a Bureau Commander in a powered exosuit designed for devil containment.
"The Butcher," the commander's voice echoed metallically from the suit. "And his mysterious companions. Director Voss will be pleased."
The exosuit's weaponry deployed—pulse cannons, restraint fields, and chemical dispensers designed to incapacitate devil-level threats. Kagetsu stepped forward, placing himself between the threat and the three women.
"Go," he ordered them. "Extraction point. Now."
"We fight together," Artoria countered, moving to his side.
"Or die together," Unohana added, taking position on his other flank.
Vados merely nodded, completing their formation. "The binding works both ways, Kagetsu. You're responsible for us; we're responsible for you."
Something flickered in Kagetsu's pale gold eyes—surprise, perhaps even gratitude—before his combat focus returned. "Together then."
What followed was a demonstration of why Kagetsu had earned his reputation as the Dreadlight Butcher. Despite the exosuit's advanced technology, he moved faster than its targeting systems could track. His black blade struck with impossible precision, finding weak points in the armor that shouldn't have been vulnerable.
Yet the commander was skilled, using the suit's multiple weapons systems to keep them separated. A pulse blast caught Artoria in the shoulder, spinning her to the ground. A restraint field temporarily immobilized Vados. Unohana took a glancing blow from a mechanical arm that would have crushed a normal human.
Seeing his companions injured triggered something in Kagetsu that the Bureau commander hadn't calculated for—emotion. For the briefest moment, his typically bored expression shifted to one of cold fury. His movements, always efficient, became something else entirely—a blur of lethal intent that the human eye couldn't follow.
The exosuit's left arm separated from its body, followed by its right. The commander barely had time to register shock before Kagetsu's blade pierced the suit's central power core. The resulting explosion forced them all to take cover.
In the sudden silence that followed, Kagetsu moved first to Artoria, helping her to her feet with unexpected gentleness. "Injured?" he asked, his voice carrying genuine concern.
"I'll live," she replied, wincing slightly. "You move even faster when you're angry."
"Wasn't angry," he insisted, though the evidence suggested otherwise.
They reunited with the rest of their team at the extraction point, all bearing minor injuries but otherwise intact. Lucoa immediately embraced Kagetsu, pressing her generous curves against him in relief.
"You had us worried!" she exclaimed. "The Bureau deployed their entire eastern division."
Kagetsu stood awkwardly in her embrace, not quite returning it but not pulling away either. "Mission successful," he reported. "Found evidence of Fear Devil experimentation."
As they made their way back to the settlement through maintenance tunnels and abandoned subway lines, they shared their respective experiences. The diversion had worked perhaps too well, drawing massive Bureau response. Velzard and Reinhardt had been forced to eliminate an entire patrol squad that had stumbled upon their position.
"They'll increase security citywide after this," Rias observed. "We've revealed our capabilities."
"Good," Kagetsu replied unexpectedly. "They should be afraid."
The statement hung in the air, uncharacteristically assertive coming from him. The women exchanged glances, sensing the change in their normally reserved companion.
Back at their shelter, Unohana insisted on treating everyone's injuries. Kagetsu, who had taken several hits that would have incapacitated anyone else, submitted to her ministrations with uncharacteristic patience.
As she cleaned a deep gash on his shoulder, their faces were mere inches apart. "You protected us," she observed quietly. "At risk to yourself."
"Tactical necessity," he responded, but without conviction.
"Is that all it was?" Her violet eyes searched his pale gold ones.
Before he could answer, Lucoa appeared with fresh bandages, brushing against Kagetsu as she handed them to Unohana. "Our hero needs proper care," she said with a warm smile. "Though he'd never admit it."
Later that night, as they reviewed their findings from the facility, the group's dynamics continued their subtle evolution. They sat closer together than before, the space between them diminishing both physically and metaphorically. When Rias detailed the Bureau's experimentation with the Fear Devil fragment, she unconsciously placed her hand on Kagetsu's arm to emphasize a point. He didn't pull away.
"They're trying to create a controlled apocalypse," Vados concluded. "Harness the Fear Devil's power while containing its influence."
"Impossible," Kagetsu stated flatly. "Fear can't be controlled. Only confronted."
"Speaking from experience?" Velzard asked, her icy blue eyes studying him with renewed interest.
Kagetsu was silent for a long moment, his typically impassive face showing hints of an internal struggle. Finally, he spoke in a voice quieter than usual.
"Gun Devil took my family. Tried to fear it. Failed. Darkness Devil came after. Tried to hide from it. Failed again." His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Only thing that worked was facing it. Hunting it. Becoming what devils fear."
It was the most he had ever revealed about himself, and the women recognized the significance of his disclosure.
"And that's why no devil will contract with you," Reinhardt realized. "You've become anathema to them."
"Your very existence is a paradox," Artoria added thoughtfully. "A human who embodies the fear of fear itself."
Kagetsu shrugged, uncomfortable with the analysis. "Just doing a job."
"A job that has cost you everything," Rias observed gently. "Yet you continue."
"For justice," Lucoa remembered his earlier words. "Not vengeance."
"For everyone," Kagetsu confirmed, his gaze sweeping across the seven women before briefly dropping to the table. "Not just... family."
That night, as they settled for sleep, the arrangement shifted once more. This time, Artoria positioned her sleeping mat directly beside Kagetsu's. Unohana did the same on his other side. The others maintained a close proximity, forming a protective circle that acknowledged both their vulnerability and their strength.
Kagetsu, who had spent years in isolation, found himself surrounded by seven divine beings who had chosen to remain at his side despite their circumstances. The sensation was alien but increasingly welcome.
As he drifted toward sleep, he felt Artoria's hand briefly touch his in what might have been reassurance or perhaps something more. On his other side, Unohana's steady breathing carried a subtle comfort he hadn't experienced since before the Gun Devil's rampage.
For the first time in his memory, Kagetsu Ibara allowed himself to acknowledge a truth he had long denied: he was no longer alone.
And that, perhaps, was the most terrifying and exhilarating realization of all.
CHAPTER FIVE: HEARTS IN THE DARKNESS
The Bureau's response to their raid was swift and merciless. Within days, increased patrols swept through the lower levels of Dreadlight City, forcing Kagetsu and the seven women to relocate their base of operations multiple times. The underground settlement that had sheltered them was placed under martial law, its residents subjected to "protective registration"—a euphemism for being cataloged as potential devil bait.
"They're afraid," Velzard observed as they watched from a distance while Bureau forces established checkpoints throughout the former safe zone. "Not just of us, but of what we discovered."
"Fear Devil experimentation changes things," Kagetsu agreed, his expression typically neutral despite the severity of their situation. "Bureau usually manages devils. Now they're trying to become them."
They had established a temporary hideout in an abandoned cooling facility near the city's outer wall—a massive structure that ostensibly protected the remaining population from the wasteland beyond but actually served more to keep them contained. The space was cramped but defensible, with multiple escape routes and good visibility of approaching threats.
The forced proximity had accelerated the evolving dynamics between Kagetsu and the women. Personal space had become a luxury they could no longer afford, leading to increasingly intimate interactions that would have been unthinkable weeks earlier.
One evening, as Rias and Lucoa prepared a meal from their dwindling supplies, Kagetsu returned from reconnaissance with news that would change their approach entirely.
"Bureau's planning something big," he reported, setting his black blade in its stand with uncharacteristic force. "Mass collection operation in Sector 12. Tomorrow night."
"Collection of what?" Artoria asked, looking up from where she was maintaining her weapon.
"Who," Kagetsu corrected grimly. "Children. Hundreds of them."
The room fell silent as the implications sank in.
"For another ritual," Vados concluded, her lavender-gray eyes narrowing. "Similar to the one that brought us here."
Kagetsu nodded. "Based on what we saw in the facility. They're trying to perfect the process. Create more bindings."
"More soldiers like us," Reinhardt said softly. "Or worse."
"We can't allow it," Unohana stated with quiet certainty, her violet eyes meeting Kagetsu's. "No matter the risk."
"Agreed," he replied simply, but there was something new in his voice—a resolve that went beyond his usual professional detachment.
They spent the night planning their intervention. The Bureau's collection operation would target the poorest districts of Sector 12, where orphaned or abandoned children lived in improvised communities. Bureau forces would move under cover of a fabricated devil incursion, claiming to evacuate the children to safety while actually delivering them to ritual sites.
"We'll need to split up," Rias proposed, her tactical mind mapping out their approach. "Cover multiple collection points simultaneously."
"Dangerous," Kagetsu warned. "Bureau will have heavy security. Anti-devil weapons work on humans too."
"We've improved significantly since our arrival," Velzard pointed out. "And our connection through the binding gives us advantages they cannot anticipate."
The plan they developed was both daring and intricate. They would operate in pairs, with Kagetsu moving independently between groups as needed. Each team would target a different collection point, disrupting the operation and redirecting the children to safe extraction routes established by sympathetic resistance cells they had contacted.
As they finalized the details, Lucoa approached Kagetsu with a cup of her medicinal tea—a ritual that had become habitual in recent days. This time, however, when their fingers brushed during the exchange, she deliberately lingered, her heterochromatic eyes meeting his.
"You've changed," she observed quietly. "Since we first arrived."
Kagetsu accepted the tea, his typically impassive face showing the faintest trace of uncertainty. "How?"
"You move differently. Speak differently." She smiled gently. "You look at us differently."
Before he could respond, Rias joined them, her aristocratic presence commanding attention without effort. "She's right, you know. The bond between us has evolved beyond its original constraints."
"Is that a problem?" Kagetsu asked, genuine curiosity in his typically flat voice.
"Not at all," Rias replied, her teal eyes warm with an emotion that hadn't been present when they first met. "It's remarkably... human."
The night before the operation, tension ran high in their cramped quarters. Each woman prepared in her own way—Artoria and Reinhardt through focused meditation, Unohana by sharpening her weapons with ritualistic precision, Velzard by reviewing tactical projections, Vados through cosmic calculations, Rias by contacting their resistance allies, and Lucoa by ensuring everyone ate properly despite their anxiety.
Kagetsu moved among them, offering brief advice or silent presence as needed. When he approached Unohana, she looked up from her blade-work with a serene smile that didn't quite mask her concern.
"You're planning something you haven't shared with us," she observed quietly.
Kagetsu hesitated, then nodded slightly. "Bureau Director will be overseeing personally. Opportunity."
"To eliminate the leadership," Unohana concluded. "A high-risk target."
"My risk. Not yours."
"That distinction no longer exists," she replied, rising to stand before him. "We are bound, Kagetsu. Your risks are ours. Your battles are ours."
"She's right," Artoria added, joining them. Her emerald eyes held the same commanding presence that had once ruled a kingdom. "We decide our fate together now."
One by one, the others gathered around them, forming a circle that physically represented the bond they all felt strengthening daily.
"We came to this world without choice," Rias said, her crimson hair catching the dim light. "But we choose how we face its challenges."
"As one," Reinhardt affirmed, her clear sky-blue eyes resolute.
Velzard nodded, a rare smile softening her typically icy demeanor. "For better or worse, our destinies are intertwined."
"A cosmic convergence," Vados observed with philosophical calm. "Perhaps not accidental after all."
Lucoa completed the circle, her warm presence a counterpoint to the gravity of the moment. "Besides, who would look after you if we weren't here?" she teased gently. "You'd probably forget to eat."
Something shifted in Kagetsu's expression—a softening that would have been imperceptible to anyone who hadn't spent weeks studying his every microexpression. "Thank you," he said simply, the words carrying weight beyond their simplicity.
That night, their sleeping arrangement evolved one final time. Without discussion, they arranged their bedding in a communal configuration, with Kagetsu at the center and the seven women positioned around him like points on a celestial compass.
As darkness fell, Lucoa boldly rested her head against his shoulder, her golden-blonde hair spilling across his chest. When he didn't pull away, Artoria tentatively settled against his other side. Gradually, the others found their places in the arrangement, their physical proximity mirroring the emotional and spiritual connection that had been growing since their arrival.
Kagetsu, who had spent years avoiding human contact, found himself surrounded by divine warmth. The sensation was overwhelming yet comforting—like stepping into sunlight after a lifetime in shadow.
"Is this okay?" Lucoa whispered against his neck, her breath warm against his skin.
He considered the question seriously, examining his own reactions with the same analytical precision he applied to combat. "Yes," he finally replied, his voice softer than they had ever heard it. "It's... nice."
The simple admission triggered a collective sigh of contentment. Seven divine beings, stripped of their