Just then, Kira landed beside him, sword in hand.

"Raito!" she called.

Before Raito could reply, the giant spider screeched. Its massive legs dug into the ground as it lunged forward, firing a thick web toward them.

Raito dodged instantly, rolling to the side. The web slammed into the wall, cracking the tiles. He darted forward, leaping up, and drove his fist straight into the monster's head.

Boom!

The spider's head snapped back, completely detached from its body, and crashed to the ground. Silence filled the room.

"What's going on?!" one of the hunters gasped. "He's so strong!"

"Who is that person? I've never heard of him before," another whispered.

"Is he even ranked?" someone else muttered.

"Wow… interesting. He's strong. Strong enough to fight me on equal ground," said one of the B-rank hunters watching from the side.

"Ah, what are you all waiting for?!" Itoshi roared. "Get him! Go get him!"

Dozens of hunters charged toward Raito.

"Hey, Kira!" Raito shouted. "There's that door, take Neo and wait for me there. Stay behind it and don't come out until I say!"

"Are you sure about this?" Kira said, glancing between Raito and the oncoming attackers. "You can't take them all yourself! Don't die on me!"

"I promise I won't," Raito said with a smirk.

Kira nodded, grabbed Neo, and lifted him onto her back. She ran toward the steel door, slipping into the shadows behind it. Hunters rushed for the elevators, shouting and cursing as alarms blared.

Raito turned back toward the advancing group, dozens of armed hunters, blades flashing.

He smiled. "This feels just like the game before," he said quietly.

They came at him all at once.

The first swung his sword. Raito sidestepped and kicked him in the head. The man dropped instantly, unconscious before hitting the floor.

Another lunged forward. Raito raised his arm, a glowing shield appearing just in time to block the strike. He countered with a punch so fierce it shattered the man's front teeth and sent him flying across the hall.

The third hunter slashed at Raito twice. Clang clang! Raito dodged backward, weaving around every attack. Then, he moved in, grabbed the man by the jaw and neck, and slammed him into the ground with a thunderous crack.

Itoshi froze, watching from the balcony. His smile faded.

What… what is this power?

Other guards which just arrived through the elevator were already panicking.

"Who is that guy?" one whispered. "He just defeated three B-rank hunters like nothing."

Itoshi's thoughts ran cold.

No… this isn't normal. Who the hell is he?

"Move. Ryo, take him out!" someone barked.

Ryo drew his sword and charged. His blade cut the air toward Raito's head with lethal intent. Up close he looked dangerous: precise, hungry for blood, with the posture of someone who'd killed for sport. Raito did not flinch. He watched, calm as still water.

Ryo's blade screamed down. For a heartbeat it felt like time slowed. Then the sword met nothing. The attacker's movement froze in the middle of the arc. He smelled it before he saw it: a pressure, a wrongness that crawled along his spine. Something in Ryo's body recoiled, instinct screaming danger.

What is this? Ryo thought, confused. I know strength. I can read it. But this… this is different. When my blade fell, I felt like I would be the one cut. The thought made his arms slack.

Raito's voice was low, almost bored. "Anyone who comes at me to kill, human or not, is evil. The moment your blade tries to land on me, I'll slice you into a million pieces."

Ryo staggered back as if hit by a wind. Hinata, watching from the side, bristled. "What the?" she muttered. "This thing might be on your level."

"Don't be stupid," Ryo snapped. "He's a weakling. I'll show you how it's done."

Raito didn't argue. He launched.

He moved like a shadow with weight. In one blink his fist smashed into Ryo's face. Ryo's head snapped back; he flew and slammed into the wall, collapsing unconscious in a heap.

Hinata's expression went flat. She and Raito faced each other. Both had their hands cocked, ready. The crowd held its breath.

"Bad idea," Raito said plainly. "You don't want to trade punches with me."

"Let's do it," Hinata growled.

They collided.

Fists became thunder. The first exchanges were a blur, raw power, perfect timing. The impact threw up a wind that rattled chandeliers. Each hit carried the distinct, clean violence of two athletes at their peak. Blow after blow, they didn't so much fight as rewrite the air. Sound compressed around them: steel on leather, exhalations, the dull CRACK of bone meeting bone.

Itoshi pressed himself against a marble pillar at the edge of the VIP hall and watched the display with widening eyes. The camera feeds Jiro planted earlier were catching everything, but even the screens could not describe the force in the room. The floor trembled. Glass rattled in its frames.

Who is he? Itoshi thought. What is this power? How is a man like that

A status like flicker slid across Raito's vision for a split second, unreadable to anyone but him:

[Combat Log Activated]

Speed +48 / Strength +72 / Shield: Active

Holy Burst: ON

Raito's shield flared green for a beat between blows, a thin seam of light that absorbed the worst strikes. Where Hinata connected, the shield hummed and the force trickled off harmlessly. Where Raito struck, Hinata stumbled as if some internal motor had been wrenched loose.

Around them the gamblers screamed, the hired hunters surged, and Itoshi's confident smile thinned into cold calculation. This was not the simple entertainment he'd paid for. This was something else entirely.

Raito's lips twitched, not from effort, but from the thrill. He was deeper into the fight now, and every hit wrote another line in the ledger of his rise.

The hall filled with the sound of impact as the battle escalated, not a duel, but a statement.

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