Floor 10,000—-
Kohaku locked eyes with Omariro, a wide grin stretching from ear to ear.
"Finally, there you are, my husband! At last, you've come to show me your strength!"
"Give boy back," Omariro ordered.
Kohaku laughed, almost maniacally. "Oh? That's all you've come here to say? Let me tell you something, Omariro. You're going to fight me. And you're going to fight me with all you've got. Do you understand?"
"Hmm."
"Look above your head."
Omariro looked up, noticing a UI.
〈Rule: The *Predator* Cannot Be Defeated.〉
Rika's eyes widened.
"No wonder she can't lose!" Rika thought. "She's the predator of the room!"
Omariro watched as Kohaku's body shifted back to normal, and her eyes began to glow. "Now, shall we begin?"
"Woman will be dealt with."
Without another word, Kohaku's body began to rise into the air, and a green glow enveloped her. "Jugen-Henshōsha: Hoshokusha no Haha!"
Her entire body glowed green as her hair extended, flowing like green waves. Extending a hand, a swarm of lions burst forth, all rushing for Omariro.
"Jugen-Metsusha: Obliterate!"
With a clap of his hands, he erased them all, taking both of Kohaku's arms in the process.
"He could have eviscerated me with that last strike," Kohaku noted. "And yet he chooses to hold back. No more!"
The kids watched as Kohaku appeared in front of Omariro in the blink of an eye, rapidly pummeling his arm as he blocked, calmly walking back.
Green serpents emerged from Kohaku's hair, snapping at Omariro, but he cleaved them in two with his blade.
"Rise, my pets! Rise!"
Three giant tigers burst from the ground, and as Kohaku kicked Omariro back, they charged.
"Jugen-Tōshi: Seijin Rangeki!"
A powerful barrage of blades met the tiger's head on, but they deflected the attacks as Kohaku floated above them, pointing to Omariro. "Attack!"
One tiger moved at incredible speed, tackling Omariro through a wall as Kohaku and the other tigers chased after him.
Zaria pushed herself to her feet. "Come on, we need to help!"
As the others got up, they all found themselves ensnared by wires, and Han hung them from the ceiling.
"Han!" Rika pleaded. "Let us go!"
Nothing.
Zaria attempted to break free, but the restraints kept her in place. "Han, what are you doing? Mr. Nyugawa is here! Your whole team is here! Snap out of it!"
Han looked at her, and for a brief moment, he paused. And then...
He dropped them from the ceiling, dragging them towards Kohaku.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Shino insisted.
He followed through the hole in the wall, which led to a large Colosseum-like room, where Kohaku and Omariro were fiercely dueling in the center.
Omariro evaded all of Kohaku's attacks as the tigers dashed toward him, missing him by a hair. Kohaku extended her hand once more and recalled the tigers into her body, which resulted in a tiger-like avatar surrounding her.
"More! MORE! I want MORE! You want the privilege of standing by my side, you have to earn it! Or else I'll kill you!"
With a swipe of her hand, large claw slashes began dancing around the room, and one grazed Omariro's shoulder. As more came, he tapped his foot on the ground, disappearing and reappearing behind Kohaku.
"Too slow!"
She swung her fist, nearly backhanding him, but he blocked with his elbow and landed on the ground.
Kohaku turned around, and as Omariro attempted to slash her with his blade, the top half of a tiger emerged from her chest and bit the blade in two.
"I spoke very highly of you. Do not tell me I was mistaken?"
The tiger attempted to bite at Omariro, but he erased it with a clap. Kohaku raised her hand into the air, forming an eagle, which merged with her body and gave her a mix of sharp claws and large wings.
"Han, my child," Kohaku ordered. "You may let them go."
"Yes, Huntress."
Han tossed the group into the center of the room, taking his place next to Kohaku. Omariro narrowed his eyes as Kohaku patted his head.
"Good. Now, I'll need your power. If your Master won't show his true strength, I shall draw it out of him, by force."
Kohaku's eyes drifted between Omariro and the rookies. "I wonder, can you protect all of them and still fight?"
"Hmph."
"We shall see. Han!"
Han unleashed his wires and anchored them into one of the walls, pulling it down on the entire group. Omariro shattered the wall with one hand, keeping it from striking the kids.
Zaria rushed up to Omariro. "Sir, what do we do?"
"Boy compromised. Must get him away from woman."
Omariro put his hand toward Han. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Nendō Tensō!"
Han's body began to move forward, but Kohaku interrupted them by delivering a powerful slash toward Omariro, breaking his focus and causing Han to drop.
"Nuh-uh! He's MINE!"
Kohaku tackled Omariro, who sent her flying with one hand.
"Restrain boy!" Omariro ordered. "Woman deals with me!"
Kohaku recovered, launching a ferocious assault on Omariro, who withstood and countered. Meanwhile, Zaria locked eyes with Han.
"Han, look at me. You remember me, right?"
Han analyzed her for a moment. "Zaria...Zaria..."
Rika quickly rushed forward. "You do remember her! What about me? Do you remember me?"
"Rika..."
"Hey, it's working! That's it, Han! Just slow down, and breathe!"
Han's eyes drifted over all of them, before pointing his watch at them. "All of you...must die."
Before they could respond, he sent an electric gate flying at them, shocking them before pinning them to the ground.
"Great, your sweet little sentiments didn't work!" Nonoka growled.
"What's wrong with Friend Han?" Sōshin asked.
"He's not himself," Zaria explained. "I think it's some Abyss stuff inside of him!"
Nonoka paused. "Abyss?"
"Yeah...the way he was talking to me back on that island, the way he was acting, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was this bad!"
"Well, that's not important!" Rika insisted. "We just need to save our friend! Maybe if I can just touch him, I can fix him!"
Zaria kicked the gate off of them. "Don't you understand how dangerous that is? We needa at least calm him down first!"
Sōshin raised a hand. "I can help with that!"
He quickly sped toward Han. "Friend Han! It's me, Sōshin! Wanna play a game?"
"Yeah," Han agreed. "It's called I kill you all."
Rei quickly formed a shield around Sōshin as Han tried to grab him. With a crack of his whip, he cracked the shield and sent it flying into Rei.
"Okay," Nonoka sighed. "All else has failed. Time for Plan B: Catch him!"
"Ugh, fine..." Zaria sighed. "Sorry about this, Han...still love you!"
She sent a blade flying at Han, who wrapped it with his wire and sent it flying back, forcing Zaria to jump back.
"The hell? Han never fought like this before!"
"It's probably that dark energy inside of him," Nonoka mused. "It's like it's rewriting his entire identity!"
Rei fired a moon blast at Han. "I'm sorry, Han! I'll try and be gentle!"
Han formed a cage around himself that deflected the moon blast, sending it crashing into another wall.
Shino used a vector to erase the cage, and Han responded by firing darts at her, which Zaria blocked with her blades.
Rika held up the Lifeforce Sigil. "Maybe I could use this to try and separate that Abyss energy...but what if it hurts Han?"
Han fired a smoke bomb into the ground, and through the smoke chains wrapped around Rika, dragging her closer to him.
"Rika..." he commented. "You must...die..."
Rika tried to reach out and touch him, but nothing happened. "Why? Why isn't it working?"
The chains began to wrap around Rika's neck. "Because your time is up."
She held the sigil up with all of her strength. "I'm...not going...to hurt you...but...I am...going to save you...!"
She crushed the sigil in her hand.
〈Sigil: Activated.〉
The sigil began to drain black energy from Han as he roared and tossed Rika aside. As the smoke disappeared, Zaria leapt on him from behind, pinning him with her knees.
"Han! Stop, please!"
Both Nonoka and Shino pinned his arms as he hissed at them. "No! NO!"
Rei and Rika both held his head.
"It's us, Han!" Rika pleaded. "Please come back!"
"NO!"
As he struggled, his mind began to dim.
2 years ago——
Han was busy walking around the streets of Tokyo, entering a fast-food shop.
"Stupid parents," he muttered. "Stupid doctors, stupid lawyers..."
He walked up to the counter, placing some money on the table. "Just get me a burger, fries, and a soda please."
"Coming right up!" the waiter replied.
After a little while, Han received his food on a tray and sat down in one of the booths. He secretly formed his cube under the table while eating.
"Kiyoshi, why did you dump this responsibility onto me, man? I'm not ready..."
As he sipped his drink, he heard the voices of two girls behind him.
"Hey, he looks around our age. Do you think he can buy us some food?"
"I dunno. We can either ask or we can steal his food."
"Steal? No, that's too much of a risk! Let's just beg! He wouldn't turn down two girls in need, right?"
Han sighed. "What do you want?"
The two girls yelped and quickly hurried over to his booth. One was a Japanese girl with blue hair, while the other was an African-Japanese girl with locs.
"Ahem, my name is Rika, and this is my best friend, Zaria," the blue-haired girl introduced. "We're...homeless at the moment. Could you spare us some food?"
"Or a home," Zaria murmured.
Han waved them off. "I'm broke."
Rika got on her knees, shaking the table. "Pretty please? We're starving!"
Han briefly looked at them, noticing their dirty clothes and tired faces. "Okay. Fine. Here."
He handed them some money, and their eyes immediately lit up.
"Oh my goodness!" Rika gasped. "Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, you're like the first person in weeks to actually spare us something," Zaria admitted. "Wish there were more like you."
She sized him up. "What's your name?"
"Han. Why? Don't tell me you need something else..."
Rika nervously twiddled her thumbs. "Well. We could use a place to stay..."
Han slapped his forehead. "Can't help you with that. I don't have a place either."
They both shared a look.
"Really?" Zaria questioned. "Then how are you carrying so much money around?"
"I've been hotel hopping. Trying to avoid my perfectionist parents who wanna force me to be a doctor."
"Oh," Rika remarked. "What do you want to be?"
Han looked around, making sure no one was looking, before revealing his Hexagon Cube. "A Kaitansha. My friend was one. He gave this skill to me as a final blessing."
Both Rika and Zaria's eyes widened, and Zaria eagerly shook Han. "No way! Me too! That's like my dream job! We've been looking for a dungeon for months!"
"Wait, you WHAT?"
Rika slapped her forehead. "She's obsessed."
"You are too!"
"I only care about the Legendary Kaitansha," Rika scoffed. "He gives me butterflies."
"Me too!"
While they talked, Han stood up. "Both of you can use Jugen?"
Zaria nodded. "We're above 20%. But we could use some shelter while we scout for Dungeon Gates."
She gave him a wink. "If you wanna join us."
He remained silent for a long while before sighing. "Whatever. I guess it can't hurt to travel with two girls while searching for my first real dungeon."
"Yes!" Zaria cheered. "Welcome to the group!"
"You'll have to deal with her excitement, just so you know," Rika warned.
"It's fine. My siblings do the same."
As they headed out, a dark force stopped Han, and the Nurse emerged, with a tall figure shrouded in darkness behind her.
"Han, Han, Han..." she remarked.
"You...?" Han wondered. "Who...how...?"
"I wanted to introduce you to my *new* Master," she chuckled. "Lord Tsuihō-Ō."
The Abyss Lord placed a hand on Han's head. "Don't let them sway you, Han. Join us...join the Abyss...your Master will abandon you, they all will abandon you."
Han's eyes began to glow purple. "The abyss...?"
"Join us, young Han. Become greater than the sum of your parts. Become a Herald."
Suddenly, the flashback began to darken, and Han's body shifted into a black goo.
Present Day—-
With an inhuman scream, Han began to get up, pushing Zaria off and unleashing powerful wires from his own body that slashed and cut everyone around him except for Sōshin, who dodged.
"Friend Han?"
Han's hair began to grow longer, and thick armor coated his body, with his watches now growing in size and becoming wrist-mounted dart guns.
Rika covered her mouth. "What the—-?"
Han looked at his hand. "Kill them..."
And a voice inside his head finished the line.
〈Every last one.〉
——