Chapter 77; Back off

...10/09/2009 Thursday; Dark Hour...

Everyone looked at her, concerned. No one knew how to react because no one expected to see Aigis like this. 

Hiro, still watching her closely, sighed, his gaze softening. "Aigis…" 

Minato took a step forward. 

With slow movements, he approached until he was standing right in front of her. Aigis kept her gaze lowered, as if she didn't have the courage to look at him. 

Then, Minato raised a hand and gently held her face, tilting it upward. 

Aigis opened her eyes, and for a moment, they just looked at each other. 

There was no need for words. 

Minato gave a small smile and placed his other hand on her shoulder. 

"It's okay… don't worry anymore." 

Aigis blinked, confused. "But… you…" 

Minato nodded. "I know… we're all exhausted. But you don't have to panic just because of me… think about the others too." 

His words resonated within her. 

Aigis looked around once more, her sensors picking up details she had previously ignored. Everyone was exhausted. Everyone was injured. 

But they were still there. Together. 

Slowly, she turned her gaze back to Minato. Her previously tense face softened. And then, she smiled, her expression finally calm. 

"I understand…" Her voice was quiet but sincere. "Thank you, Minato-san." 

Hiro took a deep breath, feeling relief mix with the weight of exhaustion in his body. 

His muscles were tense, and he ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. 

Mitsuru watched him carefully, her expression softening slightly. "Are you alright?" 

Hiro nodded slowly. "Yeah… just tired…" 

On the other side, Yukari turned her attention back to Shinjiro's chest. 

After one last green glow from her healing magic, the wound finally closed completely. She stood up, dusting off her hands with a sigh. 

"Alright… I'm done. Feeling better, senpai?" 

Shinjiro sat up slowly, testing his body's movement before rubbing his chest. "Yeah… thanks, Takeba." 

Junpei, who had been watching everything in silence until then, stretched and threw his arms behind his head before turning to Mitsuru. "So… Oh, Mitsuru-senpai… what's going on with these Shadows again?" 

Mitsuru blinked, as if snapped back to reality. "Ah, right… I almost forgot." 

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Wait… so there's actually an explanation for why that horde came out of Tartarus?" 

Mitsuru ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath, searching for the right words.

The problem was that even she wasn't entirely sure what was happening. 

"Well…" She sighed, her tone carrying a slight weight of frustration. "I'm not sure… but many times, Shadows from Tartarus emerge when there's an increase in the number of souls outside." 

Junpei furrowed his brows and scratched his head. "Huh? I don't get it." 

Akihiko crossed his arms, casting a sharp look at Junpei. "Let's just say that sometimes, Tartarus can sense when too many people accidentally enter the Dark Hour. And as we all know, Tartarus attracts those people." 

Junpei placed one hand on his chin while resting the other on his hip. 

Slowly, he started piecing things together. "But when there are too many people at once… it can't pull them all in?" 

Akihiko smirked, snapping his fingers as if confirming Junpei's deduction. "Exactly. When there's a large number of souls like now, Tartarus influences the Shadows to go after them. However…" 

His expression grew more serious. "That's not exactly what's happening here." 

Yukari raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Wait, what? Then that's not what's going on?" 

Mitsuru looked at Yukari, intrigued. "Not exactly. Shadows can only consume the souls of people who enter the Dark Hour… if the person isn't inside a coffin." 

Hiro processed the information and looked directly at Mitsuru. "So you're saying this horde isn't here to consume souls?" 

Mitsuru nodded. "It looks like they're gathering the coffins to summon something…" 

Minato narrowed his eyes, confused. "Summon?" 

Junpei's eyes widened as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. 

He clapped his fist into his palm, exclaiming with satisfaction, "Ahhhh, I get it! That's why that old guy turned into a samurai." 

Hiro, Minato, and Shinjiro all turned to him at the same time, confusion written all over their faces. "Huh?" 

Yukari sighed, as if she had already expected that reaction. "In the residential area… a Shadow marked one of the coffins and… after a few minutes, the coffin just exploded, and an old man came out." 

She then turned to Akihiko, clearly unwilling to continue explaining. "Sanada-senpai… can you take over?" 

Akihiko took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the ground as if searching for the right words to describe what he had witnessed. 

After a few seconds of silence, he finally lifted his head, steeling himself. "Well… a Shadow threw a stake at this old man and… ah, shit…" 

He paused, frustrated with his own words. "And when the stake pierced his chest, a bunch of Shadows started jumping on him…" 

Mitsuru let out a heavy sigh, her voice carrying an undeniable weight. 

"And those Shadows overwhelmed the man's body. As if… they fused with him and became one. And what we faced before coming here… was the result of that. A Shadow Samurai." 

Hiro blinked a few times, stunned. He brought a hand to his mouth, a cold wave of shock running through his body. 

The thought that Shadows could merge with humans and transform them into something even more monstrous made his chest tighten. 

Minato, on the other hand, furrowed his brows, deep in thought. Something didn't add up. 

Why were the Shadows doing this? Weren't they only supposed to be influenced by Tartarus? 

And more than that… was the Werewolf Shadow they had fought before also another person who had fused with a Shadow?

Minato lifted his gaze toward Akihiko, his expression filled with suspicion. "Sanada… I get what you said about the increase in souls… but is there any way to influen—" 

Before he could finish, a tremor cut his words short. 

The ground shook violently, far stronger than before. 

The buildings around them trembled, windows creaking under the pressure. 

A deep, underground roar echoed through the city, and a terrible premonition spread through the air. 

The violent quake forced everyone to fight to keep their balance. Their legs wavered, their bodies stumbling as if they were about to be hurled into nothingness. 

"Shit! This is way stronger than before!" Hiro shouted, trying to plant his feet on the asphalt, but feeling the world spin around him. 

Yukari grit her teeth, forcing herself to stay upright, but her legs gave out. 

She fell face-first onto the ground, a sharp burn slicing across her cheek as it scraped against the rough pavement. 

"Stronger?!" She reached for her face, feeling the warm blood trickling down. 

Shinjiro, in a swift motion, crouched down and scooped up Koromaru, shielding the dog from the relentless tremor. His gaze shot toward Aigis. "Aigis! What the hell is going on?!" 

Aigis, with a calculated movement, dropped to one knee and dug her fingers into the asphalt. Her eyes glowed as she activated her scanners. 

"I have detected an energy source from underground!" She lifted her head abruptly, her metallic voice gaining an urgent edge. "But I can't decipher what it is!" 

Before anyone could react, Minato suddenly turned toward one of the buildings. His eyes widened. 

"What?! She's still alive?!" 

The group followed his gaze—and a wave of shock ran through them. 

There it was. The Werewolf Shadow, emerging from within a shattered building. Its head had been severed… yet its body still moved. 

"Oh, come on!" Hiro ran a hand through his hair, both incredulous and frustrated. "Give me a break, you son of a bitch!" 

The creature staggered forward, each step a struggle against its fractured existence. 

It stumbled toward the mountain of coffins and, as its final act, lifted a bloodied claw and plunged it deep into one of them. 

"No!" Aigis fired, her built-in machine gun spinning into action. She took aim, but— 

It was too late. 

From the distorted sky of the Dark Hour, a light descended like a falling comet. 

It crashed into the ground with devastating force, turning everything around into a blinding blur of white. 

The impact obliterated the street. A shockwave expanded like a silent nuclear explosion. The windows of nearby buildings imploded, shards scattering through the raging wind. 

And then, everyone was sent flying. 

The world spun. 

Hiro felt his body spiraling uncontrollably through the air, like a puppet with its strings cut. 

The wind roared in his ears, and amidst the chaos, his eyes caught a glimpse—Yukari. 

She was flying in the same direction, completely out of control, screaming in terror. 

His heart pounded. 

Without a second thought, Hiro pulled a kukri from inside his coat, and at the exact moment he crashed against the ground, he drove the blade into the asphalt. 

The impact made his hand tremble, but the blade sank deep, catching in the shattered concrete. 

The shockwave still pushed against him, but he held on. 

His eyes locked onto Yukari, who was spinning in the air, her face twisted in panic. 

"Yukari, grab my hand!" Hiro shouted, reaching out as far as he could. 

Her eyes found his. Without hesitation, Yukari stretched out her trembling fingers. 

For a moment, it seemed like she wouldn't reach—but then, his fingers closed around her hand. 

He pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her and using the kukri's hold to anchor them against the storm of energy. 

"Got you!" Hiro said, relief mixing with the rush of adrenaline. 

Yukari clung to his coat, breathing heavily. "Thanks, Hiro…" 

On the other side, Mitsuru and Akihiko were hurled toward a massive crater that had opened in the ground. 

Mitsuru saw the imminent fall, but before she could react, Aigis leaped toward them, her hand outstretched. 

"Kirijo-senpai!" 

Mitsuru didn't hesitate. She grabbed Aigis's hand, but Akihiko was still out of reach. 

He stretched his arm out, but he was too far. 

However, in a split-second reflex, Mitsuru let go of one of Aigis's hands and grabbed Akihiko's leg, catching him at the last moment. 

Akihiko held his breath. When he realized he was still there, he let out a nervous laugh. "Damn… that was close…" 

Shinjiro, clutching Koromaru, managed to grip a street pole and brace his feet against the ruined ground, resisting the shockwave. 

Junpei, on the other hand, drove his two-handed sword into the ground, using all his strength to hold onto Minato by the sleeve of his jacket.

The force of the explosion subsided, and everyone collapsed to the ground, exhausted, gasping for air, trying to understand what the hell had just happened. 

Junpei, still catching his breath, let go of Minato and looked around. "Jesus Christ... what the hell just happened?" 

Mitsuru staggered as she stood up, her widened eyes locking onto the place where the light had fallen. 

"No... No... this can't be..." she muttered, wishing that what had just happened was a lie. 

A massive crater had opened before them. 

Dust still floated in the air, but as the gray mist dissipated, something began to reveal itself at the bottom of the hole. 

The group slowly got to their feet, each of them still feeling the effects of the impact. 

Yet their eyes were fixated on the enormous crater ahead. 

Junpei swallowed hard, his voice coming out weak, almost like a whisper. 

"Oh my God... the people were..." 

Hiro yanked the kukri from the asphalt, gritting his teeth in frustration. 

"They were disintegrated..." He gripped the blade's handle tightly, his gaze dark and furious. "What the hell..." 

The realization hit Yukari like a crushing weight. 

She fell to her knees, her breath quick and uneven, her wide eyes staring at the void that remained where dozens of coffins once stood. 

"They're dead..." Her voice cracked, trembling fingers covering her mouth. "All of those people..." 

Shinjiro crouched down, placing Koromaru on the ground, but his gaze remained locked on the crater. Something was moving down there. 

"Shit..." A chill ran down his spine. "Mitsuru, there's something down there!" 

Everyone turned to look at the same time. 

A deep growl emerged from the bottom of the crater, reverberating through the air like distant thunder. 

The ground began to tremble. 

Then it stopped. 

It trembled again. 

Stopped. 

The rhythm was irregular, like heavy footsteps—like something colossal was moving. 

Then, a massive claw emerged from the edge of the crater, sinking into the asphalt with brute force. The black talons cracked the ground beneath their weight, digging deep into the concrete. 

A suffocating silence spread across the group. 

Slowly, the creature pulled itself up, crawling over the abyss's edge. 

And then, it revealed itself. 

A grotesque, towering Shadow, its massive body as large as an entire house. 

Its sickly green, slimy skin glistened under the artificial light of the Dark Hour, covered in pulsating lumps that looked disturbingly alive. 

Its face was a walking nightmare. 

A gaping maw dominated its head, jagged yellowed teeth like sharpened daggers, ready to tear apart anything in its path. 

Inside the mouth, a deep, unsettling darkness stretched—like a living abyss, hungry, waiting to devour everything. 

Its fleshy tongue twitched, pulsating in a grotesque rhythm, while its beady yellow eyes above the maw gleamed with sadistic insanity. 

They watched them… studied them… like a predator preparing to strike. 

Terror seeped into each of their bones. 

They wanted to run. Wanted to scream. Wanted to move. 

But their bodies were frozen. 

Hiro took a few steps back, his eyes wide. 

"Jesus Christ..." His voice broke. "Look at the size of that thing..." 

The Shadow tilted its grotesque head, as if savoring their fear. Then, it began dragging itself toward them. 

Mitsuru clenched her fists, trying to control her breathing. But her mind screamed in pure panic. And her eyes showed nothing but despair. 

The creature's growl deepened, a guttural sound filled with primal fury. The tension in the air reached its peak. 

And then— 

It roared. 

The roar was devastating, a sonic explosion that made the very air vibrate. The remaining glass shattered, streetlights wobbled, and a chilling shiver ran down everyone's spine. 

Minato felt the despair spreading through his chest like poison. 

His eyes darted from one teammate to another, seeing each of them frozen, unable to react. 

If they stayed there—they would die. 

He turned to them and screamed with every ounce of strength in his lungs: 

"RUUNNN!!"