The Thing That Shouldn't Be

It had been a few days since the class arrived in Ōkuma, and much had happened. Every day, each group of four would set out into the ruins, hunting Shades, before returning to the makeshift basecamp they had set up near the buses. They would eat, rest, and do it all over again, twice a day, once for lunch, once for dinner.

So far, only two groups had been forced to return to Korin early due to injuries. Rumor had it they encountered something far beyond their level, though the Breakers quickly stepped in and dealt with it.

Today marked their final full day in Ōkuma. The plan was to depart the following morning, and so far, the first Shade they fought still remained the most powerful one they had seen. The rest had been weak, more like twisted animals than anything else, and posed little threat to a well-coordinated team.

"Hopefully today will be less boring than yesterday," Kai muttered, dragging his staff across the ground with a sigh.

"It's not so bad," Sava chimed in cheerfully, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Better than getting impaled, right?"

They continued walking, heading toward an area none of them had explored yet. The dense foliage began to thin, and the trees gave way to a small clearing. There, half-hidden beneath overgrown vines and cracked stone, stood an old shrine.

It was the classic kind, exactly like the ones from old stories and anime. A tall torii gate stood at the entrance, its once-red paint faded to a weathered brown, the wood beneath rotting in places. Moss clung to every surface, and the stone path leading to the inner sanctum was fractured and uneven. Two komainu statues (Lion-like statues) stood guard on either side of the gate, their features worn down by time, their expressions strangely unreadable.

The main building of the shrine was eerily still. The roof, once ornate and proud, now sagged slightly in the middle, covered in dark shingles slick with moisture. Thick vines had wrapped themselves around the support beams, and countless paper talismans, most of them torn or blackened, fluttered lifelessly in the breeze. The shrine gave off a feeling of deep abandonment… and something else.

A dark aura hung in the air like a fog, thick and heavy, as if the very place was trying to warn them to stay away. The birds had stopped singing. Even the wind seemed to hush in reverence—or fear.

"What do you guys think?" Ryumi asked, stepping just past the torii and glancing back. His voice sounded quieter here, like the shrine was swallowing sound.

Kai and Sava simply exchanged a look and shrugged. Fukoro remained still, gazing at the komainu statues as if waiting for them to move.

"Well then," Ryumi said, drawing a steady breath, "let's go."

With that, the group stepped past the gate. Kai and Ryumi led the way, weapons ready, as they ventured deeper into the silent, haunted shrine.

They spent several minutes exploring, wandering through the moss-covered grounds and weathered buildings. Each structure whispered fragments of a forgotten story, and the air grew heavier with every step.

It felt as though something was watching them. No matter where they turned, that eerie sensation clung to their backs, but no eyes ever revealed themselves. Despite carefully checking every corner, every crevice, they found no sign of a Shade. The entire shrine seemed lifeless, as if even the monsters had abandoned it.

Satisfied, or at least trying to be, they turned toward the gate to leave—only to stop cold.

Standing in front of the torii was a Shade, and this one was unlike any they had seen before.

It stood around six feet tall, clothed in a pristine white and crimson kimono that rippled gently in the windless air. Its face was eerily human, though too perfect, too smooth. The skin was pale as snow, almost porcelain-like, and its eyes were pitch black, deeper than space itself, reflecting nothing. There was no soul in that gaze.

A wide, unsettling grin stretched across its face, far too wide to be natural. Its long, bony hands hung at its sides, each finger tipped with sharp, obsidian-black nails that extended into needle-like points.

The shrine was no longer abandoned.

"You are all trespassing. You must be punished"

The Shade spoke, terrifying the group.

"It can talk?!" Kai said, the group started to take a few steps back. Sava quickly used her bracelet to call out for help, not even wanting to attempt to fight the Shade alone. 

"W-we need to get out of here!" She shouted, her normal cheerful self gone, replaced by fear.

Her bracelet lit up, letting them know that help was on the way, however, they still needed to survive until it got there. 

The Shade vanished in front of them, completely disappearing. The four looked around, all looking in different directions to cover more space.

However, the silence was broken by a scream, turning around, Sava was being held by the creature, tearing the bracelet off her wrist, examining it.

"What did you just do? This device, what does it do? Answer me."

The Shade tightened its grip on her, glaring into her eyes. However, Ryumi quickly slashed at it, attempting to lob its head off. The blade dug into the Shades neck, however, stopped before piercing through most of its skin, leaving just a small trickle of blood to leak out.

The Shade dropped Sava and swung at Ryumi, causing a large shockwave that sent everyone flying.

When the dust settled, Ryumi was severely injured, his chest clearly broken to some capacity, blood leaking from his mouth, as he lay unconscious against the wall of the Shrine. 

"RYUMI!" Kai shouted, trying to run over to him, however, his path was blocked by the Shade.

"I asked you, what does this device do?" The Shade spoke, still examining the bracelet.

Fukoro spoke, trying to buy them some time. "It called for help, you're so screwed you freak! Our Instructors are on their way so you better run!"

"I see." Is all the Shade said before dashing towards Fukoro, swinging his arm downwards in a chopping motion, creating another large shockwave.

The attack landed directly, shattering Fukoro's arms, even when he used Rin to reinforce them. He was also sent crashing backwards, nearly going through the wall of the Shrine.

"Damnit, what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Kai yelled out to Sava.

"Start healing the other two, I'll try to keep it away from you!" Sava responded with a nod, running over towards Ryumi first, trying to heal his injuries so he may be able to assist again.

'Both of my fighting teammates are down…this thing is clearly much stronger than me, it's probably close to an Orange or Red Core, I only recently broke into Green! Shit, this is really bad!' 

The Shade then looked towards Kai, smiling widely, then charging towards him, going for another downward chop.

Kai managed to sidestep it and attempted to retaliate with a swing of his Staff, however, it pretty much bounced off the Shade. Jumping back, Kai forced a lot of Rin into his Staff and began spinning it around the air quickly, causing the dust on the ground to kick up.

He then jumped at the Shade, swinging it downward directly at the Shades head, trying to crush it. 

The attack landed, sending the Shade skidding back a bit, a small drop of blood leaking down from its skull, however, it suffered little to no damage, laughing maniacally. 

"You really are pathetic." The Shade dashed at Kai, landing a blow to his stomach, causing Kai to fly back and crash into the wall near Fukoro, spitting blood. 

The Shade walked towards the four of them, prepared to finish all of them off, when a crashing sound could be heard.

Two Red Core breakers walked through the gate of the shrine, shocked at the site. 

"You two must be the backup. How annoying."

The Breakers shared a confused look, "You can talk? Must be pretty strong. These kids didn't stand a chance."

The Breaker in the front, a tall man with red hair, charged at the Shade with blinding speed, clearly using Jin to enhance his movement. He landed an insanely powerful punch to the Shades stomach, sending it crashing through temple walls.

The Shade was clearly dazed, bleeding from his chest with clear bones protruding, its ribcage broken. 

Before it could recover, the other breaker, a girl with green hair, shot a large bolt of lightning towards it, her ability allowing her to control electricity.

The bolt struck the Shade, causing massive amounts of pain to pulse through its body, the Shade screaming out in obvious pain. However, before it could suffer more, the man charged into it, shattering its core in one blow, completely dominating the Shade that took on the four of them with ease.

'Incredible. That's the level I have to reach…in order to face him.'

After witnessing the massacre, Kai passed out due to his injuries. Sava started healing him, however, was interrupted when the two Breakers picked them up and began carrying him, as well as the other two, back to the base camp.