Lead

Unbeknownst to Kai, eyes watched him from above - mechanical, silent, and ever-present. High over the ruined town, one of Nyx's drones hovered quietly amidst the smoke and ash, its lens zoomed in on the blood-soaked battlefield.

Elsewhere, in a shadowed control room lined with humming screens and data feeds, Nyx leaned forward with a fascinated grin. His pale eyes glowed with interest, flicking between the multiple angles displayed before him - each one showing a different view of Kai. One of them caught the moment he wove the stream of blood back into the old woman's body.

"His control over his ability has already grown this much," Nyx mused aloud, voice smooth but steeped in dark amusement. "And he's managing to suppress the Bloodlust, even with all that carnage... Not bad."

He leaned back in his chair, folding one leg over the other as he twirled a pen between his fingers.

"But control is a fragile illusion. Let's see what happens when he's truly desperate - when the blood isn't from strangers, but someone he can't bear to lose..."

He chuckled softly to himself, the sound hollow and cruel. The glow from the monitors danced across his sharp features, highlighting the sick fascination in his eyes as he watched the destruction unfold from the other side of the world.

"Bloodweaving... a power that can both end and save lives," Nyx said, letting the pen fall from his fingers as he leaned forward again, more engrossed than ever. "How poetic."

A wicked smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He reached up and pressed two fingers to the earpiece nestled in his ear.

"Phantom V," he said softly, almost sweetly.

There was a pause, followed by a lazy sigh over the comms.

"Yeah?"

Nyx's grin widened.

"Time to give our little Bloodweaver a push. Can you..." Nyx gave his instruction while struggling to suppress his excitement of how things would unfold.

"Whatever. Long as it's interesting."

"Oh, I guarantee it will be."

The line went dead, and Nyx sat back, eyes never leaving the screen as the drone feed continued to trail Kai's movements. His fingers drummed slowly against the armrest, anticipation crackling beneath his skin like a child waiting for his favourite part of a movie.

"Let's see how you react to this..."

-

Kai had just saved the old woman's life - at least, for the time being. He glanced down at her unconscious body, wrapped in torn cloth and barely breathing. There was nothing more he could do.

He clenched his jaw and turned to leave. More people were dying by the second. His mission hadn't changed: survive Nyx's twisted game, find whoever was behind this horror, and end them.

That's when it happened.

A sudden shift in the air - an unnatural presence. One moment, there was nothing, and the next, someone stood beside the old woman. No sound. No warning. Yet Kai's instincts screamed.

He spun around, locking eyes with the masked figure just as he plunged a syringe into the woman's neck.

"It's a gift from Nyx," the man said with an eerie calm.

Then he vanished.

But not fast enough.

Kai's blood instincts fired before his mind even caught up. From the blood still leaking out of the old woman's leg, he sent a burst of hardened shrapnel in every direction - razor-sharp crimson blades exploding outward.

Several shards clipped the man as he dissolved into the air just before he was completely out of sight. Kai's heart pounded as he scanned his surroundings, trying to see where the man had disappeared to. 

But just as he was about to give chase, something slammed into his side like a freight train.

He flew across the street, smashing through a crumbling wall and tumbling into the ruins of a broken-down house. Dust filled the air as Kai staggered back to his feet, his ribs aching.

A monster stood where he'd been, lurching forward on one powerful leg.

It was grotesque and hulking, the missing limb compensated for by how it spun violently with each leap - like a savage cyclone. Bladed bone jutted from its forearms, and every spin sent them slicing through the air with a high-pitched whir.

A Raging Threat.

'So much for trying to save the granny,' Kai groaned internally.

'And of course it's a damn C-Rank,' he added, spitting blood from his mouth.

Just his luck. The bastard he needed to chase had vanished, and now this freak was blocking his path.

But…

His eyes narrowed.

There was blood. The shards he'd grazed the man with were more than enough. That meant...

He could trace him!

As Kai dodged a spinning swipe from the beast, he landed in a crouch and grinned to himself, despite the pain.

'I'll catch you soon enough.'

But first, the monster.

He ducked under another spinning strike, the wind pressure alone stinging his skin. The creature whirled toward him, its body a blur of rotating violence, and Kai barely rolled aside in time before a bone blade cut deep into the concrete.

That was when he saw it - a blur racing across the rooftops above, moving so fast it was almost a mirage. The flowing dark robes, the signature blindfold. That elegant movement.

Takeshi.

Kai tried shouting over the chaos, but it was pointless. The noise from the burning buildings, the howls of distant monsters, and the roar of the spinning freak before him drowned everything out.

So instead, Kai focused, then snapped his fingers.

'This should get his attention.'

A short, sharp spark of red burst in the air - blood igniting like a flare.

Takeshi paused.

Meanwhile, the one-legged monster lunged again, a spinning leap aimed straight at Kai's chest - but he twisted aside at the last second, sliding under the monster and slicing a line across its leg with his blood blade.

The creature stumbled and shrieked, but was still far from being defeated, as it burst back over towards Kai.

That's when Takeshi appeared, effortlessly kicking the monster away, launching it tumbling backwards. Just like that. Silent, smooth, precise.

Kai exhaled in relief. 'It's nice to have him on your side.'

The swordsman didn't speak as he stood in front of Kai, but he tilted his head slightly. His blindfolded gaze lingered on the blood blade in Kai's hand - its length and shape eerily similar to his own.

'Isn't he supposed to be blind?' Kai wondered before raising the weapon slightly, grinning.

"Haha, just tried copying you a little," he said, then jerked a thumb at the monster. "But do you mind handling this thing for me?"

Takeshi's head turned. For a second, Kai thought he was going to help.

Instead, the man began walking away.

Kai blinked.

"Hey!"

He couldn't help but be slightly frustrated, but then again, he could somewhat understand his reasoning. There were still monsters everywhere. Fires spreading. Survivors screaming. It wasn't that Takeshi didn't want to help - he had other priorities and misunderstood Kai's intentions.

"I saw who's doing this," Kai called out just before the swordsman was off with the wind. "I need to chase after him and stop him."

That stopped Takeshi in his tracks.

He turned his head slightly. A brief nod followed.

Then he stepped forward and prepared to face the one-legged monster that was enraged after being swatted away.

Meanwhile, Kai didn't wait. With a wordless thank-you, he turned and bolted off through the street, blood blade still in hand, his body aching but burning with resolve.

The town was in shambles. Fires roared from collapsed buildings. The air was thick with ash and despair. Monsters were still appearing - too fast to contain. Too many to stop.

But now… he had a lead.

He had blood to trace. And that meant he had a chance.

As he leapt across a broken ledge and sprinted through an alley, his mind raced faster than his feet. He quickly realised it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be to trace him, even with his newfound lead.

'Where do I even begin to look?!'

The chaos roared behind him.

But ahead?

Maybe a way to end this nightmare...