The air inside the dorm had thickened and was more oppressive. The shadows bent unnaturally. Each second dragged, as if daring them to flinch first.
For a moment, it felt like they were staring defeat right in the eye. But then…
Ken smirked, that reckless grin of his stretching from cheek to cheek. "I've missed you guys," he said, his voice low but filled with excitement, eyes locked onto the spirit. "You always know how to make an entrance."
"Tch," Jin scoffed, though a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "That one's mine, Ken. Don't push your luck."
"Oh, please. Like I'll ever listen." Ken's chuckle was soft but sharp, like he'd been craving this kind of chaos for too long. "Let's just share it then."
Matsuda stood behind, brows furrowed, trying to understand the sudden shift in their energy. He'd fought plenty of spirits in the last five years, and just joined a guild a few months ago. But he never really faced emotion-bound spirits before. The atmosphere was different. But what confused him the most was the way Ken and Jin's expressions changed.
"What's going on?" Matsuda asked, stepping closer but keeping his distance from the front line.
Ken turned halfway and casually handed his gun to Matsuda. "Hold this."
Before Matsuda could even respond, they vanished.
It wasn't just speed, it felt like disappearance. One blink and they were there. The next? Gone.
The emotion-bound spirit reacted instantly. A blur of pale and dark energy, its grin widening. One of Jin's twin swords came slicing toward its neck, precise, silent, deadly. But the spirit's body didn't move like it should've. It bent, twisted unnaturally, like its bones didn't understand rigidity. The blade missed by a breath.
Ken came in from the right, a comet of motion, his fists glowing a light blue hue. He aimed for the midsection.
The spirit caught the punch with one hand, redirecting it in a smooth movement. Then, in a fluid, almost lazy motion, it spun backward midair, flipped, and landed gracefully a few meters away, its grin still intact.
Matsuda's jaw hung slightly open. "What the…"
"It's a gleamer." Jin flicked one of his swords, loosening the wrist.
"The smile says it all already," Ken replied, still smiling.
And just like that, round two began.
Even before the spirit moved, the space itself seemed to bend. Ken cracked his knuckles, his fists glowing with that soft light blue hue again. Jin, his expression unreadable, pulled his twin short swords from the scabbards strapped to his back. The two stood side-by-side, facing the creature that had just stepped out from behind the cracked pillar.
The emotion-bound spirit tilted its head, its face still fixed in that horrific grin. Its body shivered in excitement, dark energy rippling through its veins like fire through dry grass.
Matsuda stood behind them, silent. The spirit's presence made the air feel thick, but never enough to terrify him. This just wasn't his battle.
The first to move was Ken.
Like a meteor shot from the space, Ken blitzed forward, his glowing fists trailing light like as he moved. He twisted his body midair, bringing down a hammering right fist toward the spirit's face…but the grin widened.
The spirit vanished.
Ken's punch shattered the floor, concrete dust and energy scattering with an ear-popping boom. The spirit was already behind him.
Jin reacted in a blink, his foot sweeping out in a roundhouse that forced the spirit to backflip away. His twin blades glinted, from the light Matsuda had summoned earlier.
"Its reflexes are off the charts. Guess they went to train." Ken chuckled, cracking his neck. "This is gonna be fun."
"We don't know if they've come back with upgrades, just alert," Jin replied calmly.
The spirit launched itself again. A blur. Ken intercepted with a glowing punch, but the spirit deflected it mid-air, flipping over and launching a spinning kick toward Jin. The short swords moved like wind, catching the leg in motion and slicing across, but no blood came, only shadows, dissolving like ink in water.
Ken removed the bandages on his right hand and aimed at the spirit like a, sending out a burst of light-blue energy that caused the spirit to stumble. Jin moved in instantly, his swords flashing, slicing and thrusting with blinding precision. Each strike was met with an impossible dodge, the spirit twisting its body in ways that defied logic.
Ken was there again, his left fist colliding with the spirit's shoulder. This time, the hit connected.
BOOM!
The spirit was flung backward, slamming through a half-standing pillar and skidding across the floor. It quickly got to it's feet.
"They're holding back…why are they holding back?" Matsuda muttered from the back. "They've intentionally missed a lot of openings. They're… enjoying this."
Ken flexed his fingers, the light around his fists growing brighter. "Wooh this feeling."
Jin didn't respond. He was already moving.
His blades carved through the air with grace, slicing at the spirit from both sides. The spirit backpedaled, twirling and dodging, then clapped its hands together, suddenly launching a dark tendril at Jin. Jin ducked, then slashed the tendril in two, leaping to the left just as another tendril speared the floor where he'd stood.
Ken slammed down like a wrecking ball, his punch creating a shockwave that disrupted the tendrils. The spirit glitched again, flickering to the side, and Ken followed, launching a flurry of punches that shook the walls.
Each impact was met with swift dodges, but the spirit was starting to slow. Jin noticed it too.
"It doesn't have the stamina to keep this up. Thought as much." Jin said
"Aw man, it's gonna start getting boring. No upgrades at all?"
Ken's fists turned into blurs, radiant streaks hammering the air. The spirit ducked, jumped, twisted. But with every dodge, Jin was already moving in, his twin blades closing the gaps in the spirit's patterns.
Matsuda couldn't help but watch in awe. The coordination between them wasn't something built overnight or by being a team for a long time. It was instinct. Trust. Timing. Ken's overwhelming power paired with Jin's surgical precision created a perfect net of destruction.
The spirit screamed, the grin splitting even wider, as if it urged it's to face would fall of soon.
It transformed.
Dark energy exploded outward, forcing both fighters back. Ken dug his heels in, arms shielding his face, while Jin flipped mid-air and landed with gently.
The spirit now had wings, shadows twisting like crow feathers, and four arms, each tipped with claws that shimmered.
"Wow, I take back what I said…that's new," Ken muttered.
"It stayed long enough to evolve. It's starting to close in the gap between high-class 2 spirits and great spirits, but it still has a long way to go." Jin explained.
This time, it came for both of them.
Ken caught one claw with his glowing hand, his aura flaring up. The impact shattered the ground beneath them, energy bursting like fireworks. Jin parried the other set of claws with a series of metallic clashes, his blades humming with energy.
The spirit's grin twitched as it tried to pierce Ken's chest with one of its lower claws. But Ken caught it, twisted it, and flipped the spirit over his back.
Jin was already there, slashing down with both blades, leaving twin trails of energy. The spirit screamed and evaporated in a cloud of black mist, then reformed mid-air behind him.
"So it can phase too," Jin said.
"Great," Ken replied, leaping back in.
He kicked upward, the blue light now around his legs creating a shockwave. The spirit dodged but Jin was behind it again, swords slashing in an X-formation that cut clean across its back. The spirit faltered. This time, its eyes turned from excitement to…anger.
"It's adapting," Matsuda warned. "You have to end it."
Ken cracked his knuckles, smirking. "Relax."
He launched himself with pure speed, zigzagging as light trails marked his path. The spirit tried to match it, but it couldn't track both him and Jin.
Jin appeared at its side and slashed one sword high, one low. The spirit blocked the high one but took the low to the knee.
Ken landed a spinning punch to its head, sending it crashing into the far wall.
"How's that for adapting?" Ken yelled.
The spirit twitched, the grin now trembling. Shadows poured from its body like smoke. It screamed, not in fear but rage.
"Get ready," Jin said. "This is its desperation phase."
The spirit exploded with energy, releasing a wave that shattered the ceiling above them. Rocks tumbled, but Jin and Ken stood their ground.
Four tendrils launched at once. Jin sliced through two. Ken dodged one and caught the other, swinging it like a whip to slam the spirit into the floor.
The ground cratered. Ken dashed in, his fist cocked back.
But the spirit vanished and reappeared above him.
Claws came down.
Jin was there. Steel clashed with the claws, "Move!"
Ken ducked under and launched an uppercut.
BOOOOM!
The spirit's body split into mist again but this time, the mist pulsed, unstable.
"It's almost done!" Matsuda called.
Jin dashed in, his swords glowing with silver energy. Ken followed.
Together, they launched a pincer assault. Jin slashed from above, Ken punched from below.
The spirit tried to dodge but the timing was perfect. It had nowhere to go.
SLASH. CRACK. BOOM.
The two attacks met at the spirit's core, light erupting like a dying star.
A silence fell.
The spirit's body flickered, its grin fading.
Then a crack. Its form shattered like glass.
The pieces dissolved, nothing left but what seemed like dark smoke.
Ken exhaled, fists still glowing. "Now that's what I call a fight."
Jin cleaned his blades, sheathing them with a soft shing.
"Good teamwork," Matsuda said, approaching them. "Have you been fighting together for a long time?"
Ken winked. "Not really, just once. One long run. Well, when you've fought enough spirits with this guy, you kinda just click."
"He's annoying but useful," Jin replied dryly.
Just then, the air cracked like glass. Then the dorm shattered, its remains floating to the sky
Matsuda chuckled. "We have one more to deal with."
Ken threw a thumbs up. "Lead the way."
Behind them, the dark energy finally dissipated, leaving only silence in its place.
The emotion-bound spirit was gone.
Jin's men stood outside, already finished with the other dorms.
"Go to the inner city and help the other spirit slayers," Jin ordered.
Their leader nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Take the mages and healers back to Guild Master Tai. Thanks for all your effort," Jin added.
With a nod, they climbed into their SUVs and drove off.
Jin turned to Ken and Matsuda. "Let's move on."
Matsuda returned Ken's gun, following Jin.
"I hope we meet something more interesting in the next one. Oh, hold on." Ken pulled out his phone and took a selfie.
Jin palmed his face.
Ken shrugged. "What? The fans need something. Didn't post yesterday."
Matsuda shook his head, continuing the walk.
"Hey, wait up!" Ken jogged after them.