394 Spirits ?

One year ago, a month after the awakening.

Tokyo, Japan.

Late night.

Matsuo's eyelids fluttered open.

He wanted very much to go back to sleep, but his bladder could not be put on hold much longer. He sat up begrudgingly, then swung his legs to the floor.

As he got to his feet, he heard muffled, rapid footsteps from outside the room.

His eyes snapped wide open in alarm. He reached for the baseball bat that he kept by his bedside.

The bat was a staple in his room. Matsuo worked in a casino, so he had his share of unfortunate encounters with vengeful gamblers.

It served as a precaution for times like this.

He lived alone in the apartment, so the footsteps were a dead giveaway that there was an intruder. He was not sure if it was a gambler or a burglar, but he had to deal with it either way.

Matsuo tightened his grip on the baseball bat. He felt a lot less vulnerable with it in his hand. He tiptoed across the room and placed his ear against the door.

He listened.

The patter of footsteps would crescendo, then grow dull, before becoming louder again. It was as if someone was running laps in his living room, which was odd.

Who would break into his house for a little indoor jogging?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the footsteps came to an abrupt stop.

The entire apartment had become dead silent.

Matsuo gulped. His throat was dry.

He was on edge. The air was thick with tension. The person outside had stopped moving and he did not know why.

He took a few deep breaths.

He intended to open the door just a little. He just needed a small gap that he could peek through to see what was happening.

Matsuo put his hand on the doorknob and turned.

He did so soundlessly.

He did a quick scan of the dark living room.

"No one…"

His gaze was sweeping through the living room again when a pair of bloodshot eyes appeared suddenly through the gap, staring right at him.

Matsuo let out a frightened shout and slammed the door shut.

He was still holding onto the baseball bat, but his hands were shaking so violently that he was about to drop it.

He just witnessed a real-life jump scare and it terrified him, but he recovered quickly. He was part of the Yakuza after all. He had balls of steel.

"A**hole! I'm going to kill you!" he cried, swinging the door open and charging into the living room.

He was ready to fight whoever was there, but what he saw caused the bat to slip from his fingers and crash onto the ground.

There was a young man in his room. He was doing warm-up exercises in sportswear.

Matsuo knew this man. He knew that he had lost quite a bit of money in the casino, which was why he threw himself off a building three days ago.

"What's going on?"

*

The darkness was spreading and it was frightening.

You could almost hear everyone's heart begin to race.

As the footsteps grew closer, the room grew darker.

There was something sinister in the air.

Zhao Xue could feel countless eyes fixed on herself and her friends.

Then, the whispers began. The first few were difficult to detect, but the voices got louder and louder, talking rapidly at the same time and over each other.

Black Panther strained his ears to make out what they were saying, but he could not catch a thing. He gulped.

Every hair on Zhao Xue's skin was standing on its end. Her diligent training had strengthened her in every way. She did not only grow physically stronger, her intuition was much more refined as well.

This was why she could sense the evil that was lurking in the darkness. It felt almost palpable, like a sharp blade that was dancing across her skin, ready to make a deep cut whenever it wanted to.

Soon, the entire office had become pitch black.

The only source of light was from Fish Ball.

"This does not feel right. It does not feel right at all," Xiao Yu said.

Her expression was severe.

"I can feel immense energy from the darkness. They are coming."

Zhao Xue turned to her. "They?"

Her attention was snapped back to a corner in the room, where it looked like something was churning within the dark.

A young man emerged. He walked towards them with quick and lithe steps.

He stopped when he spotted Ishida, whom was still passed out on the floor. He stared at his unconscious figure for a moment, then shook his head gravely.

"Useless."

He turned his gaze to Zhao Xue, Black Panther, then Xiao Yu. There was surprise in his face when his eyes landed on the little girl.

"Oh? I never knew there were apostles like this."

He then looked right at Nekomata.

"Ah, seems like the power belongs to this cat."

Nekomata was shaken.

In spirit form, he was incorporeal. He could not be seen or touched. In fact, no one had ever seen him in this form before.

How could the man standing before him be able to do so?

Meng Hao's response to the man was far more dramatic than anyone else's. His entire body had begun to tremble. His eyes were shining with fear.

The man let out a sigh. "I really don't want to do this, so why does everyone force me to resort to it? Why does each and every one of you yearn to be a hero?"

As he spoke, the evil in the darkness started to stir. It was growing stronger and Zhao Xue was having a hard time curbing her instinctive need to attack him.

She was terrified. Her pupils had contracted into pinpoints when she looked at him. However, deep in her gut, she knew she had to stop him.

Zhao Xue took a step forward and planted her foot deep into the ground, rupturing the cement beneath her. She used that force to propel herself towards the man at lightning speed.

She threw a punch in his face.

Zhao Xue could deliver punches that smashed concrete walls into pieces.

However, even though she had thrown all her energy into this one, it could not reach the man.

Her mouth opened in horror when she saw what was keeping her away from him.

Countless black figures had appeared in front of the man, protecting him.

She struck again with her other first. It was stopped by another team of black figures.

"Watch out!" Zhao Xue heard Xiao Yu called out, "Those are spirits!"

At the same time, Xiao Yu used all the phantom energy that she could muster to grip the mysterious young man, squeezing him.

More dark figures appeared. They surrounded the man, trying to block him from harm's way.

Xiao Yu turned them into dust before sending a blast of energy straight at the man.

His body started to crack from the impact. Within seconds, the ripped pieces floated into the air and dissolved into nothing.

Soon, however, another figure emerged from the darkness, taking the place of the young man.

This time, it was a teenager. He was still wearing his school uniform. A look of annoyance crossed his face.

"Why must you resist?" he asked.

Xiao Yu, Zhao Xue, and Nekomata launched attacks on him at the same time.

The teenage boy did not flinch. He remained rooted to the spot while legions of spirits sprung from the ground and stood in front of him, deflecting the attack.

Fish Ball released a flood of light in an attempt to drive the darkness away.

It did not work.

There was no way he would have known that the darkness they saw was not real. It was conjured in their minds. It was but an illusion.

The teenager laughed at Xiao Yu and Zhao Xue's dogged determination in taking him down.

"That's quite a show you've put together," he said mockingly, "Unfortunately, it's time for curtain call."

He raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

The room began to echo with the wails and moans of a thousand voices.

Xiao Yu found herself momentarily paralyzed as a cloud of grey gas left her body and traveled toward the teenager. When it reached him, it began swirling and molding into the shape of a person.

As the swirling sped up, the shape gradually became more defined. Eventually, it took on the appearance of Xiao Yu.

More clouds of grey were shooting towards the teenager. They too took on the appearance of different people, forming a barricade of ghostly spirits.

It was a sight to behold in the worst way imaginable.

They looked like an army of the undead.

A collective shiver shook Xiao Yu, Nekomata, Fish Ball, Noodle, Zhao Xue, and Black Panther. There was a prickle behind the back of their necks.

The teenage boy smiled indulgently. "It's over."

In an instant, thousands of the spirits swooped down on the gang, swallowing them whole.