Chapter 30: The Hunt Begins
The night was thick with the scent of rain and blood. The wind howled through the abandoned city ruins, rattling broken signs and shattered windows like the whispers of ghosts. In the heart of this desolation, six figures moved like shadows, their presence barely disturbing the silence.
Daijin and his group had arrived.
Their target: a high-ranking informant who was supplying intelligence to a rising warlord—the same warlord who had begun tightening his grip on the underworld after Daichi Sato's fall. They had little information on him, only whispers of a name: Tenshi. But the way people spoke of him, the fear in their eyes, told Daijin all he needed to know. This man was a different breed of monster.
Daijin raised a clenched fist, signaling his team to halt. They crouched behind the remnants of an old train station, eyes scanning the neon-lit skyline for movement. A single building stood intact among the ruins—a former corporate office repurposed as a safe house. Their informant was inside.
"Haru, vantage point. Akane, with me. The rest, perimeter defense," Daijin commanded in a hushed tone.
A quiet acknowledgment passed between them, and they moved into action.
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Inside the Safe House
The informant, a thin man with jittery fingers and sweat beading on his forehead, sat across from two men clad in black combat gear. Their insignias bore the mark of Tenshi.
"I told you everything I know!" the informant pleaded. "Please, I—"
A sharp slap sent him sprawling. One of the enforcers cracked his knuckles. "Then why do you look so nervous? You wouldn't be thinking of betraying our Lord, would you?"
Before the informant could answer, the power cut.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then—
CRASH!
A body slammed into the floor as gunfire erupted.
Daijin moved like a demon through the room, his blade slicing through flesh before his enemies could react. Akane struck fast, severing tendons and arteries with surgical precision. By the time the emergency lights flickered back on, the enforcers lay motionless, blood pooling beneath them.
The informant clutched his chest, hyperventilating. "Wh-What the hell was that?"
Daijin grabbed him by the collar. "You tell us. Who is Tenshi?"
The man swallowed hard. "H-He's not like Daichi. He's worse. No honor. No rules. He doesn't fight for power—he fights because he enjoys breaking people. If he knows you're after him…"
The door burst open before he could finish.
A grenade rolled inside.
"AMBUSH!"
Daijin barely had time to react before the explosion tore through the room, sending bodies and debris flying.
---
Outside the Ruins
Haru, stationed on the rooftop, saw the flash of fire before hearing the blast. He cursed, gripping his rifle tightly.
"It's a setup!" he yelled through the comms.
Before he could fire a shot, a figure appeared behind him.
A blade glinted under the moonlight.
A cold voice whispered in his ear.
"Tenshi sends his regards."
A flash of steel. A spray of blood.
Haru's body crumpled, lifeless.
Tenshi had arrived.
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