"It's all done," a tall guy says as he approaches into the alley where I'm waiting in. A few others quickly follow him into the shade and out from sight of the outside street.

All caution aside, for the time that I've been waiting here I haven't heard a single sound of conversation or activities expected in a city. Although the thought that the city's inhabitants have long forsaken their home strikes as ludicrous.

Edo is more than that.

     "What do we do now, Bansai-sama?" the same guy asks. 

I glance around to the other end of the alley. The closed doors of residents pressing from both sides darken the space and make the day seem young.

The others I've dispatched to observe for more information of the city's condition have yet come back. The Terminal might be indeed well guarded, I dare say.

     "Sir!"

We all turn as a group of voices growing near the alley. I'd say it's about three or four of them, speaking urgently. One of my followers peeks his head out to get a look.

     "It's the aliens," he says, tensed. "Don't tell me they found out..." His hand comes to rest on his sword, the others crowding my view of the outside street doing same, gripping the hilt of their blade. I motion for them to halt.

     "There's a commotion by the port," one voice says, more footstep shuffling closer but seemingly ignorant to our presence here. My follower retreats his head back out of sight, his hand still ready at his side.

     "What happened?" another voice says, likely the leader of the scout around this part of the city.

     "Some samurai showed up out of nowhere and killed all of our scouts at the harbor."

     "Where is he now?"

     "Probably still around there."

     "Curse those apes," the approximate leader snarls. "Gather the others and bring them there. The rats have finally come." With that, footsteps separate ways, the leader running up to and past us without a glance while the others scurry to fulfill their order.

My men relax when they're gone, all turning to me. A few faces present here are new, I've taken the privilege to recruit more after I get here, and the guys I brought with me are probably sneaking around the Terminal sniffing for hidden places to hide explosive bombs.

Only the ones who's been with me long enough show hints of anticipation in the set of their eyes. I can feel myself feeling the same if I focus. The changing of the music of the city, a dull constant rhythm to a tempestuous crescendo reaching highest at the port.

Finally.

I give my men an encouraging smile, confusing the new recruits. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time we near the harbor, the overflowing air carried by the sea already reeks of blood and death.

We slow down, scanning the area for the source of gunshots and cries. A large group of amanto swarms near the edge of the port facing the sea, forming a tight circle and overstepping their own allies' corpses lying bloodied on the ground. I don't need to see who they're surrounding, already knowing whom the swift deadly movements moving in the middle belongs to.

Even an army of the alien reinforcement from other parts of the city isn't enough to satisfy the thirst for bloodshed of his sword as more fly out of the circle and collapse one after another.

Numbers don't matter. It takes only one man like him to turn the table and make the battle into a massacre.

The sound of metal screeches as my men draw out their blade, the new ones slower to react. It doesn't cost me an order for them to march straight into the fight, more rejoicing with their commander than assisting him.

Shinsuke barely has time to notice them beyond the thick walls of bodies as the aliens jump at him. Some naively attack him head on with mere blades, others taking chances to aim. Several gunshots explode from the circle, and soon I see more body dropping.

The crew penetrates through the mass to help distract some of them away, quickly killing off their enemies before they can fire their guns, and try to shield their leader.

More amanto floods the port, and this group is smart enough to attack from afar using guns and rifles. I leap toward them, blade ready to serve their heads. The first bullets fly through the air, all coming for me but greet my blade.

The vibration from the impact bounces in me as I leap onto the closest solider in reach, slicing the alien's gun and himself. Blood splatters before he knows it's from his own chest.

More bullets shoot for my head as the other amantos draw back their steps, too afraid to fight in close range. I dance amidst the flying bullets and duck low when I reach the first row of soldiers and kick their weapons away. Soon, all drop to join the ground with their fractured arms, grunting then motionless.

I turn to the where the others are, and see that the only ones standing are the crew and Shinsuke. He meets my gaze sharply across the distance, standing among the fallen in foreign clothes, unscathed. Some of the new recruits look at him with bright admiration and respect.

An odd sense of peace befalls the harbor, the kind of stillness that follows after a battle. As if the winners aren't sure if they actually won. But we have not won, yet.

     "Vice-commander!" one of the guys, the tall one I dispatched to sneak around the quarters of the scouts, shouts to me. A cue.

I stride toward them and raise my voice over the soft washing of waves. "Set them all off!"

     "Yes, sir!"

Two seconds later, multiple parts of the city erupt in explosions. The sounds echo throughout the main part of Edo, acting as a good cue to let our predators know of our arrival. Fire from the explosions licks some of the buildings the amantos claimed for their gathering, and shouts and alarm can be heard in the distance.

     "Commander, what do we do now?" the same guy asks, and all eyes fall on Shinsuke.

He has his eye facing the black smoke that's curling upward from the burning buildings, stark perilous tendrils reaching for the leaden sky. When he turns to look at his men, a certain twist is on his lips.

     "You can leash out to your full extend," he says darkly to the guys, a killer glint back in his eye. And that glint is reflected back as the entire crew waste no time to charge into the city. The blades gleaming in their holds as carry a fraction of the bloodthirstiness of their captain.

I watch as they disappear into the city, daring to take exposed streets now that we've made our arrival official. It'll take the city awhile to send some more reinforcement.

Instead of leaving off after them, Shinsuke steps over a corpse and out of the bloody circle of corpses. He quietly scans the length of the harbor, piercing the docks with his gaze alone. His eye trails to the very end of the port, and shows no clue of his thoughts when he spots no boats that are new to arrive.

I dare say he's not looking for more enemies to fight.

     "I came alone. Don't worry," I say to him, giving my blade a little flick before sheathing it behind my back.

Shinsuke takes his gaze from the docks, something undoubtedly relaxing behind his look. He imitates my gesture and also sheathes his blade with a click, paying no reply.

The air around us helps to lessen the iron stench of blood and gradually replaces it the salty scent of the calm sea. For awhile, there are no sounds of shouts and cries, no disturbance of peace whatsoever besides the smoke still rising in the distance. It seems like the crew have taken care of their task.

     "It was quite devious of you to sneak out alone, I dare say." I cast him a side glance, noticing that he's still watching the sea as it crashes against the docks softly. "Thanks to that, she was so wrecked by your sudden absence. You should've at least told her," I add. There might not come another chance to tell it to him later.

     "And yet," Shinsuke turns to face me, hard lines wrestling with soft, "you didn't encourage her to come." I can't tell if it's appreciation in his tone, but I catch a shift in his overall tone. His music wavers from a hard rock to a lighter melody in a split second.

But even that is crushed when he asks his question.

     "There's something wrong with her, is there?"

I find myself turning away from his gaze to the dead bodies that swarm the small area of the entire surface of the harbor.

A pause settles in between us. It was a mistake from the beginning to even try to keep something from him. And especially that something concerns with the person who remains by his side almost constantly.

     "So you've noticed it too?" I sigh in defeat, inwardly apologizing to Y/N. I lower my voice to a solemn tone. "She doesn't have long to live."

His brows narrow at the corner of my eyes. A sign that he needs an elaboration.

     "When she received Utsuro's blood, it didn't make her like the immortal but simply delayed her death. And while she fought in the past, that blood in her body eventually lessens, leaving her weaker. Now, not only that she's healing much slower than before, and because the blood that helps delay her death is decreasing, her body is damaging and slowly bringing itself back to its original state - death." 

Shinsuke is glaring at the city after I finish, a storm warring on his face. His stance is rigid, even his hands clenched at his side seem stiff. Although he's looking at the burning town, for a moment it appears he sees nothing to the sort.

I step up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He barely blinks and glances my way.

     "Don't blame her," I lightly tell him, remembering Y/N's terrified eyes when she told me of the message from the immortal himself. How she begged me to keep it from everyone.

I squeeze his shoulder when he doesn't speak. "She was only trying to keep you from worrying."

For a moment, I think he's going to say something or maybe even empathize with Y/N. But then he takes a step forward, as if he's been constructing some sort of plan all this time, heedless to what I said.

He continues to walk toward the noise that's coming again from the city, no doubt our arrival already well-informed. And when he speaks again, it makes me pause. His voice indifferent and cold.

     "I'm not going to worry about that," he says without looking back. "Not when I've got the entire city after my head."

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Sorry for such a late update! 😖