A flickering TV cast a dull glow across the cluttered apartment. Empty cans, notebooks, and burnt incense littered the floor.
A man in all-black sat before the screen, motionless. His long, dark hair hung past his jaw, casting shadows across his pale face. His eyes—restless, half-sane, sleepless—never blinked, fixed on static that hissed in the silence.
Then his phone rang.
He let it buzz three times before answering."Hello?"
Kenji Sato's calm voice crackled through the speaker. "Ogi. Some lesser teams have been found out and arrested."
Ogi smiled faintly, his lips curling like a blade. "So… you're finally subbing me in."
Kenji sighed softly, the sound almost annoyed. "Yeah. Don't let me down."
"What do you want me to do?"
Kenji lowered the phone to his lap. In the dim light of his office, he wrote several names across a small notepad before snapping a picture and sending it.
A few seconds later, Ogi's phone buzzed."You're attacking the Hunter Association HQ," Kenji said. "You'll lead a small strike team. Other groups will hit secondary targets to divide attention."
Ogi leaned back in his chair, cracking his neck. "The Hunter Association, huh? You really don't play fair." His grin widened. "But why do I need to go with these losers? C'mon, you gave me this mark. That should be enough to handle some hunters."
He rolled back his sleeve.Etched into his forearm was a large, uneven red spiral—like paint smeared in motion. The mark pulsed faintly, alive.
Kenji's voice darkened. "That mark doesn't make you a god. It just amplifies your Tao output. What you do with it is up to you."
"So they're strong," Ogi said flatly.
"They're more than that," Kenji replied. "You're not fighting normal hunters. They're the Asusra."
The line went silent.
The Hunter Association Headquarters – Present Day
The night sky split open as a black manta-shaped craft soared silently through the clouds. Its hull shimmered with Tao inscriptions that pulsed like veins, reflecting crimson light against the storm.
Inside, six figures stood still—each marked with the same spiraling red emblem as Ogi. Their expressions were calm, almost reverent. Warriors of chaos, guided by belief and blood.
The manta ray tilted, its wings curling inward as it descended toward the top floor of the Association Tower—where the Asusra division resided.
The hull cracked open like a living thing. The air pressure shifted. Then, with a low hiss, the manta landed on the rooftop.
The marked soldiers stepped forward one by one, weapons gleaming in the moonlight.
Ogi stood at the front, bandaged hammer slung over his back, rain dripping from his hair. He looked at the glowing emblem tattooed on the manta's flank—the same spiral mark he bore. His pulse matched its rhythm.
"Let's make history," he said softly.
A Few Days Earlier
Ogi leaned against a rusted balcony railing, phone to his ear.
"Your target," Kenji said, "is Guy—the Fifth Asura."
Ogi frowned. "Who the hell is that!?"
Kenji's tone was unreadable. "He's the person you're killing."
The call ended with a click. Ogi pocketed his phone and grinned, eyes gleaming. "Hopefully he's strong.."
Present – Hunter HQ, East Wing
The manta's wings folded inward, sealing the exit.Inside the Asura dorm wing, everything was quiet.
Guy lay asleep on his bed, the faint hum of city lights buzzing through the window. His room was simple—white walls, messy desk, half-open blinds. Nothing about it hinted that he was one of the most powerful hunters alive.
The door clicked open.
Ogi stepped through the darkness, hammer dragging along the floor with a slow scrape. His eyes locked onto the bed.He smiled. "Man… this is easier than I expected."
He raised the hammer high, bandages shifting as his Tao flared crimson. The air cracked around it—an execution in silence.
The hammer came down.
A shockwave rattled the room—but the bed was empty.
Ogi's eyes widened. "What—"
A gust of wind burst through the ceiling window. Guy stood on the roof, barefoot, hair swaying in the wind, eyes still half-closed like he'd just woken from a nap.
"You made a lot of noise," he said flatly. "What time is it?"
Ogi laughed. "So the sleeping guardian wakes." He raised his weapon again.
Before he could move, a blur of purple light crashed through the ceiling.
A man with long, violet hair and glowing eyes grabbed Ogi by the face mid-swing. His Tao energy flared—violent, pressurized, overwhelming.
"You picked the wrong target," the purple-haired man said coldly.
Ogi's feet left the ground as the man slammed him through the concrete floor. The shockwave knocked the other marked men off balance, sending them tumbling across the rooftop.
Ogi coughed blood, smirking through the pain. "You must be—"
But before he could finish, the purple-haired man's voice boomed through the air.
"Now!"
Golden Tao lines erupted from the floor, forming rings of scripture around the intruders. The energy compressed, weaving into chains—beads of condensed light wrapping around the marked soldiers like serpents.
Ogi's grin vanished. "Man how lucky am i, Jin the 2nd Asura."
The chains pulsed once.In an instant, the entire group vanished in a blinding flash, leaving only scorch marks where they stood.
Silence.
Dust drifted through the broken ceiling. Guy stood still, eyes focused where Ogi had been. "Who authorized this?"
The purple-haired man straightened his coat, brushing dust from his sleeve. "Orders from above," he said. "Kenji's stirring something. These attacks are just the start."
Guy exhaled, expression unreadable. "Then we're moving soon."
The purple-haired man nodded once, his tone quiet. "It's begun."