Alpha-1 let out a quiet breath as he turned to face his partner.

  “Prepare yourself, Kenji,” he whispered, before flipping the switch on the torch.

  The light revealed a horde of demons clinging to the sewer ceiling like bats. Their eyes glowed a bright yellow as the beam illuminated their small, green bodies, each one bearing oversized fangs and metal claws that glimmered faintly in the dark.

  A speck of glowing white vanished from the ceiling above and reappeared an arm’s length from Kenji, followed by a flash of silver claws. A loud whoosh tore through the air, missing its target by mere inches. Alpha-1 spun around, startled by the sudden gust beside him, only to find Kenji facing his direction with his blade fully unsheathed.

  Huh? When did…

  “Ren! Behind you!” Kenji screamed, the warning already too late for the monstrosity looming over him.

  Ren pushed his hands toward his hips, reaching for his sheathed blade, his thoughts racing as his fingers fell short. I have to… no, I won’t get it in time. Judging by how frantic Kenji seemed, whatever was behind him was already dangerously close.

  Do I take the risk? How close is it? Where is it!?

  Questions flooded Ren’s mind. There was no strategy for an enemy he couldn’t see. He glanced at Kenji, who appeared frozen in place, screaming at something Ren himself couldn’t perceive. Is this how I die, little brother? For a brief moment, the world seemed to slow. Ren’s gaze drifted to Kenji’s blade, drawn to it like iron to a magnet, and a strange sensation washed over him. Wait. His blade…

  Ren’s eyes widened as the realization struck. It isn’t facing me, or the ground. It’s facing something behind me. Kenji… is the demon that close? I see.

  A smile crept onto Ren’s face as his knees gave way, forcing him toward the ground, though his intent was something else entirely.

  Yeah. I remember this lesson like it was yesterday. Water Arts, lesson five. Rotational Defence.

  Lowering his torso, Ren unsheathed his blade. Instead of bracing himself, he allowed his body to fall diagonally toward the thin sheet of water beneath him. Kenji caught on instantly and dashed backward without hesitation, his eyes locking onto the demon now mere inches from Ren, its metal claws nearly grazing his armor. although that no longer mattered.

  Whoa, whoa, whoa… he’s doing that? Here!?

  Ren’s eyes closed fully, his silver blade clenched tightly in his right hand. Kenji stared at his partner, barely able to endure the anticipation.

  I think I’m out of his range… I hope so.

  The torchlight flickered. For no more than half a second, darkness swallowed the tunnel, yet within it Kenji saw a spark of silver rotating through the void, followed by the sharp splash of cold water.

  He’s done it.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  The light returned, revealing the aftermath of Ren’s silent attack. Only a few feet ahead of Kenji, Ren hovered briefly above the ground, still gripping his blade, a whirl of red water spiralling around him as countless fragments of evaporating demons dissolved nearby. For Kenji, time seemed to stop as his brother’s rotating form hung in the air.

  “Amazing, Ren,” he breathed. “You truly are amazing.”

  [Info Page: Water Arts, Rotational Defence]

  An advanced defensive technique created by the D.S.O. to clear entire rooms of enemies. Rotational Defence combines several advanced maneuvers, most notably Void Sense, allowing the user to perceive an attack moments before impact.

  The red water thinned, sliding back across the brown concrete in slow rivulets as drops pattered softly from Ren’s blade. He raised his shoulders and straightened, his grip loosening as the last fragments of the dying demons evaporated into nothing.

  “Don’t praise me yet,” he said quietly, sheathing his blade in a slow, mechanical motion. “There’s more, further down. I can feel them.”

  Kenji let out a breath of relief before turning to face the true source of his fear, the darkness stretching ahead. He didn’t know how many demons remained between them and the missing children, or whether they could overcome whatever presence lurked deeper within the tunnels, but their duty was clear.

  Besides, Alpha Squad B should be here any moment. Hopefully.

  They continued forward, the faint glow of the torch barely pushing back the shadows. Ren occasionally angled the light downward to avoid uneven platforms, but this time something felt off. He lowered the beam again, revealing deep grooves carved into the concrete beneath their boots, dragged long and uneven across the floor, and both agents halted immediately.

  “What do you think, Kenji?” Ren asked.

  Kenji knelt, removing his glove before pressing his hand against the gouges. “Deep scars,” he muttered. “Whatever did this was dragging something, and it looks like it was resisting.” He glanced at the surrounding impressions. “Actually… there are several tracks. Two sets. Four claw marks each.” He looked up. “Some kind of demon hound.”

  “Demon hound?” Ren echoed, frowning. “The nearest species lives hundreds of miles away. What would one be doing here?”

  Kenji studied the tracks again. They’re small. No doubt about it. Damn it. Hounds don’t travel alone, and we can’t afford another ambush.

  “Ren,” he said quietly, “raise the light a little. We might be able to follow their footprints.”

  Ren nodded, gripping the torch more tightly as he raised it slowly, allowing Kenji to track the prints along the sewer floor. As the beam climbed, a wet, deliberate sound echoed through the narrow tunnel, like a butcher tearing apart a carcass by hand, and both agents reached for their blades at once. Ahead of them lay a grotesque spectacle of rotting flesh and severed limbs scattered across the concrete. Hunched around the remains were wolflike creatures, their fur darker than the night itself, red eyes fixed on the grisly feast before them.

  Kenji froze, one hand clamped over his mouth as sweat streamed down his face. Each second he stared at the scene pushed him closer to his limit as he watched in silent horror while one of the hounds lowered its jaws around a severed head. While Kenji stood rooted in place, Alpha-1 had already unsheathed his blade and charged.

  Ren… how can you still move?

  Do you not see the bodies? The blood?

  Kenji’s thoughts fractured as Ren tore into the horde, cutting them down one by one.

  Wait a minute… why aren’t they reacting? Even as they fall, why are they so still? So…uninterested?

  Kenji’s gaze drifted across the tunnel, over the blood-soaked floor, the gouged walls, and finally to a dark corner at the far left, unease tightening his chest as he leaned forward slightly.

  “Ren, stop! There’s something else here!”

  But Ren didn’t slow, his focus locked on the hounds before him, while Kenji’s attention remained fixed on the shadows. This feeling… it’s the same as before. That heavy, overbearing pressure. As he stared, a dull grey shape emerged from the darkness, its outline unmistakably wrong.

  A statue? Why is there a statue of a knight down here? Wait no… that doesn’t make sense. His breathing grew shallow as sweat soaked through his clothes. That pressure… it’s coming from that thing. Kenji lowered his hands, forcing himself to breathe, his eyes burning red, forcing him to blink. And as he focused on the statue once more.

  Its head had turned.