NOVEMBER 11TH, 2 A.M.
Furōkawa stepped into the Sendai Barrier, the oppressive energy enveloping him immediately. He glanced around, expecting to see Yuta nearby. Instead, the air shimmered, and the landscape shifted.
In an instant, Furō found himself high above the city, the cold wind rushing past him. His wings flared open instinctively, catching the air and steadying him as he hovered. He scanned the landscape below-Sendai City was alive with chaos. Fires burned in pockets, cursed spirits rampaged, and distant explosions marked the battles of other sorcerers locked in combat.
"Great," Furō muttered to himself. "Thrown right into the deep end."
With a powerful flap of his wings, he descended toward the chaos. But as he neared the ground, an invisible force slammed into him. The shockwave rattled his body, though it didn't hurt much.
"What the hell?" Furō spun in the air, searching for the source.
Another shockwave came, this time narrowly missing him. Furō's sharp perception caught the faint shimmer of cursed energy and traced it to its origin—a tall, thin man with long black hair standing by a shattered window in one of the taller buildings.
"Found you," Furō muttered.
Without hesitation, Furō blitzed forward, breaking through the building and tackling the man with enough force to send him flying out the other side.
Before the man could react, Furō grabbed him by the collar, lifting him into the air.
"You know," Furō began, his voice calm but menacing, "I should really just drop you from here. Pretty sure you'd die. And if you don't, I'll kill you when I land."
The man's eyes widened in fear.
"W-wait, please! I've waited too long for this second chance at life! Spare me!"
Furō's wings flapped, keeping them airborne. He looked at the man's terrified face and felt a pang of hesitation.
With a reluctant sigh, Furō descended to the street and dropped the man unceremoniously. "Whatever," he said dismissively.
The man scrambled to his feet and bolted, disappearing into the chaos.
Furō stood in the empty street, shaking his head. "What a start," he said sarcastically.
Suddenly, Kogane, the floating creature that managed the Culling Game, appeared beside him. Its voice was shrill and annoying.
"RULE ADDED. INFORMATION OF PLAYERS CAN BE DISCLOSED IF ASKED."
Before Furō could respond, a surge of cursed energy erupted in the distance, its intensity almost resembling a domain expansion. The ground beneath him trembled as an invisible shockwave tore through the street, accompanied by a sound like discordant piano notes crashing together.
Furō winced, covering his ears. "It's rupturing my eardrums!" he yelled, the sound grating painfully against him.
As the noise faded, Furō sensed movement around him. Out of the shadows, three sorcerers emerged, each armed and ready for battle.
The first, a towering man with a massive odachi, glared at Furō. "He's strong. Stay on guard."
The second, a man with fire dancing in his hands, smirked confidently. "Let's make this quick."
The third, a woman wielding a meteor hammer, swung her weapon experimentally. Her cursed energy flared as she stared Furō down.
Furō's ears were still smoking from the earlier shockwave. He activated Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the damage, earning wary glances from the group.
"He can heal," the odachi-wielding man warned.
The odachi wielder charged first, swinging his massive blade in a wide arc. Furō blocked with one of his wings, the black feathers absorbing the impact. In a single fluid motion, he materialized Onamazu into its axe form, Oryx, and forced the man back with a powerful counterstrike.
"What's with this guy?" the fire sorcerer exclaimed, launching a volley of fireballs at Furō. "His cursed energy reserves are massive, and our attacks barely affect him!"
Furō dodged the fireballs with ease, weaving through them without breaking a sweat.
"Look," he said sternly, "I really don't want to kill you. But if you keep pushing me, I won't have a choice."
"Cocky bastard!" the woman shouted, swinging her meteor hammer.
The chain wrapped around Furō's body, her cursed technique activating as thorns embedded themselves into his skin. Furō winced but remained standing.
"Not so tough now, are you?" she taunted, tightening the chain.
Furō looked up at her, his expression cold. Grabbing the chain, he yanked her forward with a single pull, impaling her on a Spear of Putrefaction. The woman coughed up blood, the toxic energy from the spear spreading through her body.
"Let... go of me!" she demanded weakly.
"You first," Furō replied, twisting the spear.
"Stop him!" the odachi wielder roared, swinging his blade again. Furō incinerated the chain with a burst of cursed energy and swatted the woman aside with the broad side of Oryx. He hopped over the man's attack and shot forward, grabbing his face and slamming him into the ground.
"Had enough yet?" Furō asked, crouching over the downed sorcerer with a smirk.
"Go to hell," the man spat.
Furō raised his axe, ready to deliver the finishing blow, but a fireball struck him in the back, halting his attack. Furō turned, his eyes narrowing as he shifted Onamazu into its whip form, Basilix. He lashed out with the tendrils, each strike leaving deep gashes in the fire sorcerer's skin.
Furō glared at the three sorcerers, all of them battered and struggling to stand.
"Listen here," he declared. "I don't want to kill you because I don't know how many points l'll lose. Surrender now, or I'll make this messy."
The woman staggered to her feet, blood dripping from the hole in her torso. "You just won't give up, huh?" Furō muttered.
"Kogane," he said, summoning the creature. "How many points do these guys have?"
The Kogane displayed their names and points:
•Tsuyoshi Ono (Odachi-wielder): 30 points
• Rin Ayasaka (Meteor hammer): 10 points
•Retsu Takakura (Fire ball): 26 points
"66 points.." Furōkawa thought. "That's too tempting, I need to keep them alive. C'mon Yuji and Megumi!"
Before he could decide, another massive shockwave like earlier slammed into him, sending him tumbling down the street. Furō stood, his eyes narrowing as he called out, "Kogane, who is that?"
The Kogane responded:
Naoto Kinji
75 points.
Furō turned to see the lanky man with long black hair walking toward him, cursed energy radiating ominously. Furō shifted Onamazu back into its oar form and readied his stance.
"It's gonna be fun kicking your ass," Furō said with a smirk.
"Try me," Naoto replied, his voice cold and confident.