Michael mashed the app icon. "C'mon, c'mon—"
[Welcome Back, Player!]
[Unread Notifications: 47]
[VIP Tier Upgraded! New Shop Items Unlocked!]
[Current Balance: $152,340]
The login screen dissolved into pandemonium.
A holographic interface flickered to life above the screen—crisp menus floating in midair, glittering "SALE" banners throbbing like carnival lights.
GAME MENU:
[Summons Portal] [Weapons Gallery] [Divine Boosts] [Player Customization]
"What the…" Michael swiped through tabs.
The Weapons Gallery showed floating swords dripping lava, bows that crackled with lightning, a baseball bat wrapped in chain lightning (Wait, seriously?). Divine Boosts offered stat multipliers, XP jackpots, even a " Resurrection Token" for $25k.
Every pixel screamed SPEND ME.
Aiko's tent appeared in a smaller window—live footage? Tatsuya's shadowy figure paced the clearing outside, blades glinting.
"Live microtransactions?!"
Michael's pulse spiked. He jabbed the Summons Portal.
[SUMMON CATEGORIES:]
[Minions] [Elites] [Bosses] [Celestials]
[Celestial Tier Locked – Reach Level 50!]
[New Player Bundle: Level 1 Shadow Wolf Pack – $5.99!]
"Skip the filler." He mashed [Bosses].
The screen exploded with dragon silhouettes, giant golems, a three-headed wolf the size of a tank.
He mashed [Next Page] until he couldn't.
A red flash.
[SSS-TERMINUS PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.]
A new tab unfolded—
At the top:
[LIMITED SSS-TIER SUMMON: RANDOM]
[Duration: 15 Minutes]
[Power: ★★★★★★★]
[Cost: $39,999]
Thirty grand for fifteen minutes?!
Michael's finger twitched.
On the live feed, Tatsuya's blade sliced through Aiko's tent. She scrambled back, clutching her dagger.
"Screw it." He punched [Purchase].
[Processing Payment…]
[ERROR: Insufficient VIP Level. Purchase Restricted!]
"Are you KIDDING?!" He stabbed the [VIP] tab.
A progress bar appeared:
[VIP Level 3/10]
[Spend $8,000 More to Unlock Tier 4!]
"FUCK YOU!" he hissed, as if Aiko could hear him.
Shield her first!
Michael swiped to the [Protection & Charms] menu. His eyes scanned frantically:
[Bulwark of Dawn] (3-minute invincibility) – $12,000[Sacred Barrier] (Blocks 5 attacks) – $7,500[Emergency Bubble] (10-second immunity) – $1,200
"Bubble's too short. Bulwark's pricey… No, Sacred Barrier!"
He slammed the $7,500 option.
[Purchase Confirmed!]
[Sacred Barrier Activated! Aiko is protected from 5 lethal strikes.]
In the tent, Aiko flinched as Tatsuya's blade swung down—then clanged against a sudden golden barrier. Sparks flew.
The Kagekiri recoiled, his masked face tightening.
"Kami-sama…" Aiko breathed, clutching her dagger.
The barrier shimmered faintly around her.
Five hits. That's all I bought her. Michael wiped sweat from his eyes.
[VIP Level 4 Unlocked!]
[SSS-Tier Summon Available! Purchase Now?]
"Yes! Yes!" He punched the $39,999 summon.
[Processing…]
[RANDOM SSS-TIER SUMMON SELECTED: THE SCARLET SOVEREIGN]
[WARNING: Summon Duration - 15:00 Minutes.]
[Entity Deploying…]
The ground beneath Aiko's tent erupted.
…
Tatsuya leapt back as the earth split open.
Roots thicker than tree trunks burst from the soil, coiling like serpents. A stench of rot and blooming flowers choked the air.
From the fissure rose a figure—a warrior seven feet tall, encased in armor forged from what looked like petrified rose thorns. Her left arm was a gnarled prosthetic of gold and blackened wood, dripping with glowing scarlet sap. A crown of wilted lilies fused to her helmet.
Tatsuya's fingers tightened around Mist Cutter.
What… is this?
Aiko crawled backward, blood trickling from her split lip. "Kami-sama… is that… YOU?"
"Whoa." Michael gaped at the holographic stats:
[SSS-Tier Summon - "The Scarlet Sovereign"]
[Level: ???]
[Abilities:]
• Divine Rot (Passive): Every strike inflicts cumulative decay.
• Waterfowl Onslaught (Ultimate): Unleashes a hurricane of slashes. [LOCKED - Upgrade to Unlock]
[Timer: 14:57… 14:56…]
A pop-up flashed:
[UPGRADE ULTIMATE MOVE? $10,000!]
"Yes!" Michael shouted, slamming the button.
His donated funds plummeted to $102,341.
[WATERFOWL ONSLAUGHT ACTIVATED!]
Rain started falling.
Each droplet sizzled against her petrified thorns, releasing curls of steam that reeked of rust and funeral lilies. The clearing's pines trembled, needles blackening as her passive decay aura seeped into the soil.
Aiko pressed herself against a rotting log.
This… this being is scary strong.
Tatsuya's masked face tilted upward, tracking the Sovereign's movement.
Twin kodachi hummed in his grip—Mist Cutter's edge blurred like heat haze, Bone Drinker's serrated teeth dripping void.
"A puppet show," he said. "How quaint."
The Sovereign lunged.
Her gnarled prosthetic arm—a grotesque fusion of gold filigree and knotted wood—slammed into the earth.
The ground ruptured, vomiting up spines of petrified bramble.
Tatsuya's form shattered into shadows an instant before impact, the spikes skewering only afterimages.
He rematerialized midair, flipping above the Sovereign's crown of wilted lilies. Mist Cutter slashed downward in a crescent of cursed steel.
Clang—!
Thorn armor screeched. The blade bit deep, lodging between plates. Tatsuya's eyes narrowed behind his mask.
A mistake.
The Sovereign's helm creaked as it rotated 180 degrees.
Sap oozed from the wound, glowing scarlet.
[Divine Rot - Stage 1]
Tatsuya's blade sizzled.
He released Mist Cutter just as decay spiderwebbed up the steel, devouring the kodachi in seconds.
The weapon dissolved into black slurry, splattering the mud.
"Ah." Tatsuya landed light as ash, assessing the loss. "That complicates things."
The Sovereign ripped Mist Cutter's remains from her armor and hurled the molten slag.
Tatsuya blurred sideways, but the projectile morphed midair—a shrieking storm of thorns. He crossed Bone Drinker in a guard stance, the blade's serrated teeth drinking the attack's momentum.
Shadows coiled around his boots, ready to pivot—
Crack.
Aiko's dagger plunged into his shadow.
Tatsuya's knee buckled.
A gash bloomed on his calf—impossible, his Shinobi Sight hadn't detected her approach.
His gaze snapped to the girl. She stood trembling, her blade dripping with liquid shadow. The cut on his leg… mirrored her dagger's angle.
Reflective curse. Amateur-tier, but clever.
The Sovereign didn't wait. Her intact fist—a gauntlet of interlocking thorns—smashed downward. Tatsuya triggered Shadow Step, but the decay field thickened. His teleport sputtered, stranding him mid-dodge.
He twisted, taking the punch on Bone Drinker's flat.
Crunch.
The impact drove him into the muck. Mud geysered.
His ribs creaked—three fractures, maybe four. Bone Drinker's serrations groaned under the Sovereign's pressure, edge inches from his throat. Up close, her helm's visor was a lattice of fused lilies, their petals pulsing with necrotic light.
Black veins spread from the blade, crawling up Tatsuya's arms. His muscles frayed.
He smiled.
"Kage Bunshin: Reversal."
The Sovereign's fist plunged through his chest—
—and exploded.
Her armored form rocked backward as Tatsuya's clone detonated into black flame, the blast funneled by precise strings.
Bone Drinker clattered to the ground, unscathed.
The real Tatsuya slid from the shadows behind Aiko, a fresh Mist Cutter already drawn from the void.
"You…" Aiko scrambled back, dagger raised. "You can't beat Kami-sama's champion!"
"Champion?" Tatsuya flicked blood from his new blade.
Michael watched the holographic timer bleed seconds.
Are you kidding me?!
The live feed showed Tatsuya weaving through another onslaught, his movements economized to perfection.
Each clash shaved minutes off the clock. Michael's finger jabbed the [Divine Boosts] tab.
[Emergency Overdrive: 2x Damage (30 sec) - $5,000]
He mashed it.
"DO IT."
The Sovereign froze mid-swing.
Her thorn armor screamed, fissures spiderwebbing across the plates. Crimson light erupted from the cracks.
Tatsuya's pupils dilated.
Retreat.
He Shadow Stepped—
—and the world ripped.
Her remaining arm became a blur, slashes manifesting as physical storms. Razorwind petals filled the clearing, each a crescent of decay so potent it melted rain into acid. Trees disintegrated. Earth became slurry. Aiko's log shelter vaporized, and she screamed as the Sacred Barrier flared—
Blocked!
[2/5 Lethal Strikes Remaining]
The waterfowl onslaught had just scrapped Aiko's side, yet it was enough to take one of her shield away.
Aiko scrambled to the side, avoiding further damage.
Tatsuya danced through the maelstrom, shadows flickering. Mist Cutter's runes blazed as he deflected projectile rot.
A petal nicked his shoulder.
[Divine Rot - Stage 3]
His left arm withered to a husk.
No hesitation. Bone Drinker flashed—
Schtak.
His own arm fell severed at the elbow.
Crude, he thought, cauterizing the stump with a flame seal, but necessary.
The Sovereign pressed her assault, each step cratering the earth.
Tatsuya's remaining kodachi clashed against her gauntlet, sparks carving brief sanctuaries of light in the decay fog.
His mind raced despite losing his arm—
Patterns. Gaps. The helm's lilies pulse with each strike. Central weak point?
He feinted left, baiting a downward smash. The Sovereign obliged. As her fist descended, Tatsuya's foot hooked a root—
Shadow Step: Anchor Swap.
He teleported to the root's tip, now positioned above the Sovereign. Mist Cutter plunged toward her helm's floral core.
Behind.
Instinct saved him.
Tatsuya abandoned the strike, twisting midair as the Sovereign's severed arm—regenerated in secret—speared upward from the mud.
Thorns grazed his ribs, shredding cloth and flesh. He hit the ground rolling.