MHGA Chapter 241: The Upheaval Begins
In the Afterlife bar, Rogue was anxiously waiting for her intel source to report back.
Just moments ago, Kairo Retsu had abruptly hung up on her, pushing Rogue to the brink of panic.
She didn't know exactly what Kairo was planning, but Rogue was certain—Night City was about to be turned upside down.
Right then, one of her mercs called in.
"Fuck! Rogue! Fuck! You need to see this!"
The merc was swearing as he sent a video to Rogue's inbox. The hastily captured footage unfolded on her cybernetic eye.
It showed a sleek silver beast leaping from the ruins, and in the sky, squads of NCPD officers in their AVs were swarming.
There were enough cops in the air to crush a minor gang—but in the next second… everything changed.
From the clouds above, massive electrical currents erupted, and in a flash, an expensive AV was ripped from the sky.
And that was only the beginning.
With the silver beast's piercing shriek, bolts of lightning rained down like divine punishment, obliterating all the AVs in the air, leaving only flaming debris.
The blinding flashes of lightning filled the entire screen. When the light faded, nothing stood between the Kirin and the sky above.
Rogue nearly forgot to breathe.
She had sensed the Kirin was something terrifying—but she hadn't imagined it would be this fearsome.
"How the hell do those lunatics dare call themselves Hunters in front of a monster like this?" Rogue cursed. "What the hell are they hunting with—nuclear warheads?"
As the words left her mouth, a realization hit her.
Right now… Saburo Arasaka was in the city.
And a berserk monster like Kirin couldn't be taken down with conventional force. If its existence posed a threat to the real big shots in Night City… then what would they do?
Would those elites truly care about what happened to Night City?
"Rogue! Have the corpos lost their minds?!" another intel source shouted over the line. "They're crazy! These rich bastards are fleeing the city like maniacs, not even caring about their own assets! What the hell do they know?!"
"Rogue! Is it a damn meteor about to hit Night City? Or some goddamn alien invasion?" the man yelled. "I saw those corpo mutts all mobilizing! Don't tell me it really is aliens!"
"Say something, Rogue! Don't tell me you actually know something! You're never this quiet!"
The calls kept flooding in, confirming to Rogue that something truly catastrophic was unfolding in Night City.
"Bastards…"
Rogue slammed a fist onto the counter, then fell silent. She looked at Claire and ordered a Johnny Silverhand.
She wasn't young anymore. She'd weathered her share of storms. She still remembered storming Arasaka Tower with the others after Alt Cunningham's abduction.
All her Atlantis brothers were long gone—she was the only one left, still brokeraging gigs from the Afterlife.
"Claire, give everyone in the Afterlife… a Johnny Silverhand," Rogue finally said.
"Got it," Claire nodded. "You okay, Rogue?"
"I'm fine." Rogue stood. "I'm not too old to keep fighting."
She thought of those insane Hunters. What were they really after? She remembered just yesterday—they had kidnapped Yorinobu Arasaka.
These lunatics were clearly anti-corporate, with their own code.
Just like the stunts they pulled in the Afterlife. Just like the chaos they caused during their time in Night City.
The biggest irony was that while the Hunters had been active in Night City, the city had been more peaceful than ever.
The loudest gangs had their bones crushed, their operations smashed by raw force.
They even exposed dirty dealings between the NCPD and Scavs via Rogue's own network, and then hunted down the dirty cops themselves.
Which was exactly why Rogue didn't want to get close to Kairo Retsu and his crew. Many fixers in the city had already marked them as dangerous—if not for their overwhelming strength, they'd have been slaughtered and dumped into the sewers a thousand times over.
And it was only when they kidnapped Yorinobu that Rogue finally understood their true intent.
If you asked who was responsible for the most unforgivable crimes in Night City—whether you asked kids or mercs or cops—everyone would point to the towers looming in the city center.
The corps.
Was there anything more vile than them?
Rogue couldn't imagine if the Hunters could actually pull it off.
She once read that the megacorps who shaped human history had long surpassed human constraints—they had become something akin to immortal organisms. Even if a dozen key execs were assassinated simultaneously, the corporations wouldn't collapse. Others were always ready to step up, fill the vacancies, and access the vast corporate data troves.
Kirin, no matter how terrifying, was still a monster with a form and a presence.
But the corps… were something that couldn't be destroyed by normal means.
Rogue didn't want to get involved in any of this.
But now that upheaval had come, Rogue realized she was standing on the edge of a cliff.
Either she would fall into hell with Night City… or she would struggle with all her might and survive—dragging Night City up with her.
Thinking this, Rogue picked up her phone and began calling in every resource she had.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the Afterlife…
"What the hell is going on?!" Pilar was listening to the news. "They're putting the whole city under lockdown? These corpos are fuckin' nuts…"
"Yo, old man, what're you listening to?" Rebecca sipped her drink. "Hm? Lucy, what're you looking at?"
"I…"
Lucy scanned the room, visibly anxious. "David still isn't back yet… I don't know why."
"Oh, that I know—he's a guy. Guys always need a couple days to chill!" Pilar made a vulgar gesture and leered. "A young buck like him probably ran off to—"
"You think everyone's like you?! No—wait! You spend all day locked up in your room fiddling with tech!" Rebecca smashed Pilar over the head. "David's strong. He'll be fine. Nothing big's happening anyway—"
"Hm?"
Maine suddenly raised a brow, a puzzled expression on his face. He glanced around and noticed several others in the bar had the same reaction.
He'd just received… a gig from Rogue?
The payout was massive. The job: attack a corporate stronghold. Now?
"Kiwi, can you get in touch with David?" Maine asked his team's netrunner.
"No signal. That dumb kid's like he got torn apart by Scavs—no trace at all," Kiwi crossed her arms. "Why? Got a job?"
"No signal, then nothing we can do." Maine stood up. "It's urgent. We're moving out now."
"Now?" Dorio frowned, noticing most of the bar patrons were also getting up. "What's going on? Is this gig even doable?"
"The pay's good, and the fixer's top-tier." Maine said, "It's from the Queen of Night City herself—Rogue."
"But you're right—we need to be careful." He glanced at Kiwi and the distracted Lucy. "You two netrunners dig up what's going on. We're heading to… an Arasaka factory."
"…" Lucy didn't say anything, but she still tried calling David.
No matter how many times she tried, his phone wouldn't connect—like he was unconscious.
And just then, in a trash bin near the Sapphire Tower…
David's discarded cyberbody occasionally pinged a signal before the call timed out automatically.
Meanwhile, the real David—reborn after carting—was chasing after the Kirin with Tanjiro, completely unaware someone was calling his old body.
Lucy's unease continued to grow, but since Maine's crew was already mobilizing, she could only follow along.
At the edge of Night City—after the NCPD AVs had been destroyed—Tanjiro and the others finally laid eyes on the Kirin as it ravaged the MaxTac unit.
Once feared across Night City, these elite squads deployed only against cyberpsychos were now being slaughtered by the Kirin.
Some were electrocuted into blackened husks, others trampled to death under its hooves.
And the Kirin kept rummaging through their corpses—as if looking for something—but only uncovered meat and scrap.
Then the Kirin raised its head and locked its gaze on Tanjiro and the others.
It had completely zeroed in on the scent coming from their backpacks.
"Wait! Is it targeting us?"
Shirou clutched his bow as they stopped their vehicles, tension rising. "What do we do now?"
"Do we fight it?" Rakuro Hizutome unsheathed his dual blades, practically itching to act.
"Wait, we're fighting it? Just us?" David was baffled.
"Hold it off! Until the Guildmaster and the others arrive! And most importantly… Mr. Himmel!" Tanjiro jumped off his bike and drew his Long Sword. "I'm already familiar with its movements!"
"But Tanjiro, we—"
Before Shirou could finish, Tanjiro had already charged ahead.
He wasn't thinking much. He only wanted to stall the Kirin—so it wouldn't hurt more people in Night City.
The Kirin, seeing the boy charge straight at it, snarled in return.
It let out a short shriek—and charged right at Tanjiro.
The remaining MaxTac members, hiding in the corners, watched in horror. They imagined the kid being flattened, bones shattered, maybe even impaled by that sharp horn…
But Tanjiro drew a deep breath, forcing oxygen into every part of his body—and moved forward instead of dodging.
"Modified Sun Breathing…"
He focused his mind to its absolute limit. The mark on his forehead expanded, covering more of his body—his world turned transparent.
Yet… the Kirin still looked the same.
But after all his training and battles, Tanjiro was finally beginning to perceive the monster's motion—the flexing of its muscles.
"—See Through Slash."
In the same instant he drew and sheathed his blade, he clashed with the Kirin.
Its charge struck only air—missing Tanjiro completely. In return, Tanjiro's counterattack struck the Kirin's neck, sparks flying off its scales.
"!"
The MaxTac troops rubbed their visors in disbelief.
That thing's charge could crush armored vehicles—yet it didn't even scratch that small boy?
"Tanjiro! Let me handle drawing aggro!" Rakuro downed a Dash Juice, his body flaring with red light. "HERE I COME! THIS STUFF HITS HARDER THAN CAFFEINE!!!"
"Demon Mode!!!"
Rakuro's sprint accelerated. He charged in low, scraping twin blades against the Kirin's hide and kicking up a trail of sparks.
In response, the Kirin erupted in fury—ionized particles crackling violently around it once again.
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