Shibuya, Tokyo
A group of Hunters stood before a massive blue Gate, its swirling energy casting an eerie glow onto the surrounding buildings. The air was thick with tension as they prepared for what lay beyond.
At the forefront stood Keiji Katakura, an A-Rank Hunter and the Vice Guild Leader of the Azure Guild, the sixth-ranked guild in Japan. His sharp gaze swept over the assembled team, twelve A-Rank Hunters and six B-Rank Hunters, all fully geared and armed for battle.
Despite their impressive lineup, Keiji couldn't shake the unease settling in his chest.
"Twelve A-Ranks and six B-Ranks… and I'm still hesitating. That mana spike from earlier, it could only belong to an A-Rank Dungeon. But how did a C-Rank Gate turn into this?"
His cape fluttered as he turned to address his team. "Alright, last chance to double-check your supplies. Mana potions, health potions, stamina potions, this is an A-Rank Dungeon. We can't afford mistakes."
"Right!" The Hunters responded in unison, each one meticulously going over their inventory one last time.
As they did, the low hum of an approaching engine caught Keiji's attention. A sleek black Lexus pulled up behind them, its tinted windows glinting under the morning sun. The doors opened, and two figures stepped out.
The first man was immediately recognizable, Takashi Sujimura, an S-Rank Hunter and Guild Master of the Azure Guild.
"Guild Master?!" Reiji straightened in surprise. "What's going on?"
Takashi ran a hand through his dark hair, his presence alone commanding attention. "Looks like I'll be joining this raid after all."
Reiji's eyes widened. It had been a long time since he'd seen Azure's Guild Master in action. The guild rarely took on A-Rank Dungeons these days, not since the Blade Guild became the dominant force in Japan.
But his shock didn't end there. As he turned to the woman standing beside Takashi, he felt his breath hitch.
"Y-You're…"
The woman's crimson eyes glowed faintly as they landed on him, cold and calculating.
"Explain." Her voice was sharp, commanding. "Why is there an unregistered A-Rank Gate in the middle of Shibuya?"
She was Kanae Tawaka, another S-Rank Hunter, and a member of the Blade Guild. Dressed in a dark purple hat, a fitted blue jacket, and sleek black pants, she exuded an air of authority that made even veteran Hunters wary.
Takashi sighed, "Oi. Don't scare my Vice Leader." He turned to Reiji expectantly. "Reiji, tell her what happened."
Reiji swallowed, gathering his thoughts. "Y-Yes, sir."
"This morning, a team of our C-Rank and B-Rank Hunters, along with a few solo Hunters, entered what was supposed to be a C-Rank Gate. Everything was normal for the first few hours… until the Gate's mana signature suddenly spiked."
He took a breath, recalling the escalating reports.
"At first, it only rose from Lower C-Rank to Upper C-Rank. We were immediately notified and sent in our B-Rank team to clear it. But then,"
He clenched his fists.
"The Gate's mana kept rising. It climbed to High B-Rank… then, just a few hours ago, it spiked again, straight to A-Rank."
Silence settled over the group.
Kanae's sharp gaze remained fixed on the blue Gate, its swirling energy unstable and pulsing with mana. Her voice was cold and direct as she turned to Reiji.
"Do you have any information on the dungeon itself?"
Reiji blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "Ah, yes. About four hours ago, just as the Gate spiked to A-Rank, a solo Hunter named Gin managed to escape." His expression darkened. "He was critically wounded, but he was able to give us some intel before collapsing."
Takashi crossed his arms. "And?"
"According to him, it was a Lizardman Dungeon. The creatures inside were mostly mid-tier monsters. However, high-ranked Lizardmen Chiefs, the kind that usually appear in B-Rank Dungeons, were also present."
Takashi nodded. "That would mean we should expect Dragonkin inside."
While Takashi seemed satisfied with the information, Kanae's crimson eyes remained locked onto Reiji, as if searching for something deeper.
"What about the Hunters inside?" she pressed. "Did he say anything about their condition?"
A heavy silence settled over the group as Reiji hesitated. Then, his shoulders tensed, and he spoke in a strained voice.
"By the time he escaped… most of them had already been killed." He clenched his fists. "The few remaining Hunters… they stayed behind to buy him time, to get out and warn the guild."
Kanae's reaction was subtle, but Reiji didn't miss it, the slight tremble in her clenched fist, the way her glowing red eyes dimmed for a split second.
"Was someone she knew in that group…?"
Before anyone could dwell on it further, a sudden shout broke the tension.
"Hey! The Gate!"
Everyone's attention snapped toward the Gate as its swirling mana began to shift. The surface rippled, and slowly, figures began to emerge.
"Someone's coming out!"
Reiji immediately reached for his weapon, bracing for an attack, but what he saw made his breath hitch.
Two figures stepped through the Gate.
The first was a young woman, her short, dark hair slightly disheveled, clad in an outfit that looked far too pristine for someone who had just come from an A-Rank Dungeon.
The second was another woman, taller, with a composed demeanor and piercing crimson eyes that glowed faintly in the dimming light.
Kanae's eyes widened.
The first woman blinked at the gathered Hunters, momentarily shielding her eyes from the evening sun. As she adjusted to the light, her gaze landed on Kanae.
Her expression shifted from confusion to shock.
"Sis?! What are you doing here?"
Her voice rang across the battlefield, cutting through the stunned silence.
The response was immediate.
"Did she just say 'sis'?"
"As in, sister?"
"Wait… so her sister is an S-Rank Hunter?"
"Whoa, that's insane!"
Murmurs spread rapidly through the group, shock evident on their faces. The idea that Kanae Tawaka, one of Japan's most powerful Hunters, had a sibling, and that she had just walked out of an unstable A-Rank Dungeon, was almost too much to process.
But amidst the murmuring, Takashi Sujimura stood still.
His expression, usually calm and unreadable, had shifted into something unreadable, his gaze locked onto Kaede.
"This…" he whispered, his voice barely audible, but filled with disbelief.
Kanae, too, hadn't moved. Her crimson eyes remained locked onto her sister, unreadable emotions swirling beneath their glow.
But of everyone present, Reiji was the most shaken.
Even as an A-Rank Hunter, his perception was sharper than most. He could see it, the aura radiating from the S-Ranks beside him.
Kanae's power surged around her in a dark, suffocating purple aura, thick and oppressive.
Takashi, standing beside her, exuded a weighty gray aura, dense enough that it almost felt tangible.
And yet…
Standing opposite them, the young woman, Kaede, was shrouded in an overwhelming black and red aura.
It crackled and pulsed, shifting like a living entity, and every now and then, red lightning flickered across her body, vanishing just as quickly as it appeared.
The space between them felt frozen in time, the air too afraid to move, as if even the wind understood that a single wrong shift could break the fragile balance.
Three figures stood at the center of it all, Kaede, Kanae, and Takashi, a silent, invisible storm swirling between them.
And then, Kanae spoke.
Her voice was a whisper, but in the deafening silence, it carried weight like thunder.
"How…?"
Reiji's breath hitched as he murmured under his breath.
"Could she actually be Japan's 22nd…?"
A title only given to the country's most terrifying, unknown powerhouses. If she really was, then Japan might have just gained another S-Rank monster.
But before he could dwell on it further, Kanae's cold voice cut through the tense atmosphere.
"We're leaving. Now."
Takashi blinked at the abruptness but quickly recovered, a slow, knowing smile forming on his face.
"We'll have to ask her a few questions first." He turned toward Kaede, his expression friendly but unreadable. "To put together a full picture of what happened in there. If you don't mind."
Kanae's eyes narrowed.
"Now."
Her purple aura flared violently, the temperature around them dropping instantly. A suffocating weight filled the air, pressing down on everyone nearby as her glowing crimson eyes locked onto Takashi with undisguised hostility.
Unfazed, Takashi allowed his own gray aura to surge outward, clashing against Kanae's in an invisible battle. The air between them crackled, as if reality itself was on the verge of tearing apart under the sheer pressure of their auras.
Two monsters in human skin, staring each other down.
Then, Kaede moved.
"Hey, here's my address." She handed a small piece of paper to Vivi before turning her attention to Takashi.
"Vivi here can explain most of what happened inside. She only missed the last part, but maybe later, I guess."
Takashi resisted the urge to frown. His mind worked quickly, calculating his options. 'Can I take on two S-Ranks and win?'
The odds weren't great.
In the end, he sighed. "I understand. Do you want us to drop you off?"
Kanae didn't hesitate.
"We'll manage."
Takashi finally allowed himself to frown as he watched the sisters walk away, tension still lingering in the air like a storm that had barely passed.
"…Fuck."
Reiji stepped beside him. "Guild Master, should I look into her? Maybe we could recruit her into Azure."
Takashi shook his head. "I highly doubt it. Not with her sister in Blade. You can try, though."
Then, shifting his focus, he turned to the other survivor of the dungeon. "Well, hello there." His tone was polite, but his gaze was sharp. "Would you mind coming with us to explain exactly what happened?"
Vivi smiled, nodding without hesitation. "No problem at all."