Takami moved like a blur through the misty grove of the Dark Valley. His daggers sang, slicing through the air and landing with sickening accuracy into the heads and cores of incoming spirits. Their howls echoed as they burst into glimmers of darkness and Grant. He twisted, flipped, and weaved through the chaos with a flow only someone who had bled, fought, and learned could master.
His chest heaved. He tapped on the air beside him, pulling up his system interface. His HP read 58%.
"I've never pushed myself this far before." He wiped a trickle of blood off his cheek and summoned a healing potion. It materialized in his hand like water forming from mist.
He downed it. His HP jumped up by only 20%.
"So... each bottle heals and adds 20 to my health points. Alright, noted." He popped open another and gulped it down. Before the comfort of restored health settled in, a new system alert cut through his thoughts.
⟨New Wave Approaching…⟩
His body turned on instinct, eyes narrowing as figures began forming in the fog.
Unlike the other waves, this one comprised of only C ranks. His system had coded five of them green, an indicator they matched his current power.
Takami cracked his neck, lifted his daggers, and whispered, "Bring it."
The spirits charged, all teeth, claws, and rage. The first few, weak ones, he tore through without a thought. But as he lunged at the first green-coded spirit, it blocked his strike midair with an eerie screech. Takami's eyes widened. Before he could even process, a second one slammed into him from the side.
He rolled, barely avoiding it. Then out of nowhere, a claw swiping toward his throat. Twisting his torso, he intercepted it with one of his daggers, sparks flying on contact. He somersaulted backward to get distance, his heart thudding.
"My body... it's lighter. Faster. I've grown considerably fast since I started this." He dodged another incoming rock, fired like a bullet from a spirit. "But... something about this pressure, I've felt it before, I know I have."
He darted between trees, closing in on the rock-throwing spirit. With a running leap, he grabbed a branch, swung around, and threw himself into the air hurling his dagger. It drilled into the spirit's forehead. It shattered.
He landed, smirking. "Guess this won't be so boring after all."
But the remaining four surrounded him. Too fast. Too coordinated.
For a moment there it felt like he couldn't move, an oppressing pressure, their speed, His blades clashed against bone-like swords just in time as they attacked. Sparks flashed. One of them shrieked and hurled its blade. Takami ducked, only for the thrown blade to behead another spirit in its path.
He used that opening, backflipping to safety. His body began to glow faintly.
His thoughts had been confirmed "Now I remember, they're just like the one I fought in Okutama. Tch."
⟨Drive Skill Active ⟩
He lunged forward like lightning, slicing one spirit clean in half. The other two hesitated. He bled from multiple cuts now, his clothes torn, his muscles burning. One of them pounced. He sidestepped, dismissed his right dagger mid-motion, and punched.
CRACK!
The spirit flew, slammed into a rock, and its skull cracked under the weight of another falling boulder. It crumbled.
The final spirit swung erratically. Takami didn't retaliate. He danced around its strikes, reading its movements like an open book. "Unlike the one in Okutama, I can read this movements faster," But then, pain. "Aahh"
His thigh. A deep cut he'd ignored earlier flared in rebellion. It gave out.
"My leg! I need to end this before it becomes a bigger problem" he hissed, barely dodging a slash. He forced his weight forward, stabbing with both daggers. One went through its arm. The other,
SCHINK. Stabbed straight through the neck.
⟨Extraction Complete…⟩
⟨Spirit Resonance +10⟩
⟨Time Left: 4h 42m 31s⟩
Takami dropped to one knee, breathing hard. "At least it's almost over."
A new alert shimmered before him.
⟨Level Up! Player has reached Level 20⟩
⟨Learnable Skill Available – Grant Control⟩
⟨Skill Note: Allows manipulation of Grant energy, enhancing abilities and controlling spirit affinity.⟩
⟨Learn?⟩
"Hmm… sounds useful."
He tapped Learn.
⟨Success rate of learnable skills are based on players Intelligence stat.⟩
⟨Continue⟩
"I can pull this one off," he tapped on continue
⟨Skill Learned Successfully⟩
A sharp rush flowed through his veins like electricity. He sat, examining his leg, now a bloodied mess.
"Almost forgot about you." He summoned three healing potions, gulped them one after the other. The pain numbed. The wound sealed.
Then, another wave alert.
He stood, smirking, eyes glowing. Then he walked slowly to the direction where they were coming then stopped, arms spread wide.
"It might be really exhausting for me, but…we both know how this ends."
7:30 AM - Normal World
TVs, radios, online broadcast all cut switching to the emergency news broadcast, the news played on screens across Tokyo, across Japan.
" Good morning Japan. This is an emergency broadcast from the Japanese Spirit Slayer Board, courtesy of the government.
The Japanese Spirit Slayer Board officially confirms the final shattering of the Life Scale is inevitable. The little part that's left of the barrier that keeps us from the greater dangers of the spirit world will eventually meet it's end soon. The exact time or date remains unknown, but the effects will be global. Be advised, this event may be in the distant future, five years, ten, maybe more. But it may also be close, two years, one year or maybe even a couple of months. We can't tell you specifically.
The government is helping in building safe houses that will be used to protect you civilians while the forces handle the crisis that's about to come. Please stay calm as that is the best we can do to help the spirit slaying guilds for now. Unnecessary chaos and protest will not do any good to the work at hand, let's support our last hopes of survival in any way possible.
This is the end of the emergency broadcast, you can now carry on with your daily activities. Thank you all for your time".
Civilians watched with bated breath.
Some gasped. Others muttered. Coffee cups dropped. Cars stopped. A quiet tension filled the air, not panic, but unease. Offices paused. Students whispered in class. Older folks clutched prayer beads. It wasn't chaos,vit was calm dread.
One yelled out, "They knew this all along and they didn't say a word about it until now? I heard this from some other countries but they told us it was all rumors,"
"Yes."
"How do they expect us to stay calm with all this tension,"
"We need to at least help them prepare."
"Yes... At least now we know, maybe they had their reasons too," another replied.
"There have been several talks about it, why didn't they tell us."
Whispers spread like wild fire in every corner. But life... went on. For now.
In Okutama
Military trucks rolled through the broken streets. Soldiers in black armor patrolled, shouting commands.
The town was under a siege.
The innkeeper who's house Takami once stayed stepped outside, only to be slammed to the ground.
"Bring out everyone!" a gruff voice boomed. The captain.
"Yes sir!"
People were dragged from homes, lined up like criminals. Their phones and devices were confiscated. No contact with the outside world.
"We know the spirit outbreak ended recently," the captain shouted. "We want names. The one who ended it. If no one speaks, punishment follows. Orders from the higher ups."
Civilians trembled. Some screamed. Others cried. Many were tortured. Beaten.
Inside a makeshift interrogation cabin, a bruised man begged.
"I swear... I just returned two days ago! I can prove it! My train ticket—" He was kicked, then tossed out.
Bloody, broken people lay scattered across the square.
The innkeeper was among them.
"Yes… I know who did it," he muttered. "Do what you want to me, but I'd rather die than tell you. I should've died 15 years ago anyways."
The captain slapped him hard.
"HEY!!" a man yelled, stepping forward. He punched the captain square in the face.
Gasps.
Two soldiers tackled him. Stun guns buzzed.
The captain stood, wiping blood from his mouth. "You little—"
The pinned man growled. "He's old enough to be your father, bastard."
The captain stomped his face. Again. Again. Then bent down. Grabbed his hair.
"You've got nerve."
The old man crawled up, trying to stop them. "Please... don't."
The captain elbowed him back, blood spurting from his nose.
He pulled out a gun. Placed it on the pinned man's head.
"How about this? I pull the trigger... and you shut up."
The man didn't flinch. "Shoot me for all you care. I'd rather be dead than watch people like you still live. You need my dying wish? Come close so I can spit in your face."
The captain gave a wicked grin. "Why am I even asking?"
"But sir that's going too fa—"
BANG.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Gasps. Then screams. Mothers holding their kids tight so they won't see the scenery. Some cried.
The rest of the soldiers felt a sudden weight on them, for a moment there they wondered if their captain was actually taking this too far.
The two soldiers who pinned the man looked stunned. But silent. Didn't dare to speak, for they knew the consequences.
The captain turned to the innkeeper. Grabbed him by the collar.
"You've got a lot to tell me you old hag."
He dragged him on the dirt. The innkeeper coughed blood.
"I can only tell you one thing…"
The captain paused.
"I can promise you that, you'll be dead… if he comes back here."
The captain smirked. Eyes glowing red.
"Ahh is that so? Let's see if he's strong enough to handle me."
His face flickered from human to spirit, then back to human.
Back in the Valley…
Takami stood at the center of a clearing. Ten spirits approached, each stronger than the last wave. But he had leveled up enough that they weren't real threats anymore
His body pulsed with Grant energy, his daggers glowing faintly.
He brought up the system and checked the timer.
⟨Time Left: 2h 40m 21s⟩
He grinned, eyes narrowed.
"Guess it's time for the last dance."
He leapt.