The embarrassment of the "Call" lasted exactly as long as it took for the first Abyss Fiend to lunge.

  My body moved before my brain caught up. Before I could finish processing the indignity of the transformation, I was already pulling both triggers on Yōko and Inko.

  Recoil was non-existent, but the output was devastating. A searing white beam from Yōko tore through the creature's physical shell, and a bolt of dark shadow from Inko snuffed out the exposed essence in the same instant. The combined impact threw it backward through a glass display case. It didn't just bleed; it shattered into a cloud of dark, oily mist.

  *Weight: negligible. Reflexes: enhanced by at least forty percent. Output: sufficient.*

  I pivoted, boots clicking against the polished marble floor. Two more monsters were descending from the upper balcony. Instead of stepping back, I coiled my legs and launched.

  The world blurred. This wasn't a jump; it was a launch. I cleared fifteen feet in a single bound, landing on the railing of the second floor with the grace of a cat. The sensation was intoxicating-a level of physical freedom absent since my teens, backed by the tactical experience of a lifetime.

  "Misaki! Watch your six!" Kibi yelled, hovering near my head.

  I didn't look. The shift in the air was enough-the cold draft of an incoming strike. A spin followed, swinging Inko in a wide arc. The heavy barrel of the shadow-pistol connected with the monster’s jaw with a sickening crunch. I didn't just hit it; a pulse of mana was channeled through the weapon at the moment of impact. The creature’s head didn't just snap back-it disintegrated.

  *Brute force remains a viable option,* I noted.

  Below, the mall was a scene of controlled chaos. Most civilians were screaming and running blindly, but one man stood out. Tall, dressed in a grey hoodie, he was currently hauling an elderly woman toward the service exit while barking orders at a group of panicked teenagers. He moved with a purpose that suggested training. He wasn't just running; he was managing the evacuation.

  *Capable asset,* I thought. *Good.*

  Attention turned back to the horde. At least a dozen were crawling out of the rift like spiders. It was time to see what these "twin stars" could really do.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  "Kibi. Area suppression. How?"

  "Focus the flow into both barrels and cross them!" Kibi chirped. "Think of it like... a big hug of destruction!"

  I ignored the metaphor. Arms crossed, Yōko and Inko forming an 'X' in front of my chest. I visualized the mana not as a bullet, but as a wave. A flood. Both triggers pulled and held.

  A blinding sphere erupted from the intersection of the barrels—white light from Yōko and dark energy from Inko spiraling together into a shimmering, silver shockwave. It expanded outward in a ring, a kinetic pulse that caught every monster within thirty feet. They didn't stand a chance. The wave passed through them, severing their connection to this reality. They dissolved into nothingness before they could even screech.

  The atrium fell silent, save for the distant sound of sirens and the heavy breathing of the survivors.

  Standing on the balcony, I looked down at the man in the grey hoodie. He was looking up, his expression a mix of shock and something else... There was no time for analysis. I gave him a sharp, professional nod—a soldier's acknowledgment of a job well done—and moved.

  The stairs were a waste of time. I leaped for the rafters, my fingers catching a steel beam with effortless strength. In three seconds, the shadows of the ceiling swallowed me as I moved toward the roof access I'd spotted earlier.

  The "Black Ghost" was gone before the first police cruiser pulled into the parking lot.

  ***

  The room was cold, the only light coming from a dozen floating mirrors that shimmered with a sickly, pale luminescence. Each mirror showed a different angle of the shopping district-the shattered glass, the fleeing crowds, and the girl in the violet armor.

  Kagen no Saika stood at the center of the chamber, her long, dark robes pooling around her feet like living shadow. Half her face was hidden behind an ornate mask etched with runes that pulsed faintly in the dim light. She watched the girl on the screen—the way she moved, the way she held her weapons.

  "A soldier," Saika whispered, her voice like dry leaves skittering across stone. "Not a child playing at heroics. A weapon that has been used before."

  She reached out, her fingers brushing the surface of the mirror. The image rippled, showing a close-up of Misaki’s eyes-the steel-blue, weary gaze of a veteran.

  "The Leylines are desperate," Saika continued, a faint, cold smile touching her lips. "To pull a soul like that back into the fray... they must know the end is coming."

  She turned away from the mirrors, looking into the darkness of the Abyss that stretched out beyond the chamber. Thousands of shapes shifted in the gloom, a tide of entropy waiting for the signal.

  "It doesn't matter," she said, her voice growing hard. "One ghost cannot stop the convergence. The fusion will proceed—this world and the Abyss will become one, whether she accepts it or not. But first, I need to know what I'm dealing with." She lifted a hand, and the shadows coiled around her fingers like obedient serpents. "Send the next wave. Double the density. I want to see how much pressure she can take before she breaks."

  The mirrors flickered and died, leaving the room in total darkness.