The very atmosphere warped with the sound, pressing against skin and bone. Even the reinforced marble underfoot groaned under the pressure.
Then something emerged from its black, swirling depths.
A supermassive monstrosity the size of a mid-size skyscraper began to slither out of it.
Its body was a fusion of abyssal scales and polished bone-like plating, hundreds of jagged crimson eyes blinking in rows along its serpentine frame. Its maw was lined with teeth so thin they looked like needles, and from its back jutted symmetrical wings made of bloodied bone and broken metal.
A horrifying energy signature erupted from the beast like a tidal wave.
General Raikuro did not hesitate.
With a single pulse of power, his body rocketed into the sky, wind and thunder roaring in his wake.
The General was actually a dual element user, and both were the extremely rare and powerful advanced element!
From somewhere within the Royal Palace, Vice Captain Renji joined him a split second later, leaping so hard the stone floor cracked where he launched.
Below, General Raikuro's voice rang out like divine command:
"Bring the two princesses to safety and protect them. That is your one and only order."
The Ninth Battalion moved as one, forming a hexagonal wall around Yuki and Sora, every shield up, every sensor focused, every heart burning.
Even Akira found himself being pulled behind the formation.
"Move out." the Battalion Commander ordered tersely.
As one, the formation surged into motion, guiding the two Princesses deeper into the Royal Palace.
Sirens howled throughout the halls, their wails piercing the air as soldiers and super warriors assembled with urgent precision. Boots pounded across marble, spells lit the corridors with arcs of colored light, and the scent of charged elemental energy filled every breath.
Amid the disciplined motion of the Ninth Battalion, Akira suddenly faltered. His foot slipped slightly against the polished floor, and a violent shudder ran through his body. His breath caught.
A strange power stirred from the very depths of his soul and a mark on his back flared hot. The pain was sharp and searing, as if a brand had been reawakened after years of silence.
Strange energy undulated from his body, one that matched the beast in the ripped sky.
Princess Sora and Princess Yuki both turned sharply.
They were the two people standing closest to him, and they both felt the strange energy very clearly.
"He had been marked!" Princess Sora hissed furiously. "We can't run away anymore. We have to kill that beast!"
Next to her, Princess Yuki nodded slowly. But her face was scrunched up in a deep frown.
"The JINKOKU Captains are all in Kyoto at the moment. Our only S-Ranked Warrior is General Raikuro. If there is only one Shinigami, he alone would be enough to kill it. But if another one appears…"
Princess Yuki let her words trail into silence.
IF one more appears, General Raikuro would not be able to hold the other one back. And IF more than one more appears… The consequences would be unthinkable.
"We're both B Ranked. With Vice-Captain Renji and my personal guard, we should be able to take on another one if it appears." Princess Sora whispered urgently. "Let's go and take it down before more arrives!"
Princess Yuki frowned but made no move to change their direction.
She was by far the more level headed of the two, and she would not make a decision recklessly.
Akira blinked slowly as his mind raced.
The strange beast Princess Yuki had called Shinigami had come for him.
The words still echoed through the heavens.
The time anomaly must be surrendered.
He was a time anomaly.
He had somehow traversed through time and space, and ended up in this strange but definitely futuristic Japan.
It was definitely time travel.
And Akira now understood.
He was the reason the sky had split open.
Around him, the soldiers moved with mechanical precision deeper into the Royal Palace. Shields locked. Weapons ready. Orders flowing through enchanted comms.
But Akira felt like he stood in a different world entirely. A world with no ground. No direction. Just that mark burning hotter and that voice echoing through his bones.
"You all are hunting… Me?" Akira thought incredulously.
His jaw tightened. He straightened slowly, rolling his shoulder once to ease the sting of the brand. His gaze sharpened, and for the first time since arriving in this strange new era, a sliver of the old Akira, Shinobi King of Death, returned to his eyes.
"Come then." he thought coldly, clenching his fist with rising fury. "I will carve your flesh from your bones and rip your bloody heart out of your damn chest, if that's the last thing I do!"
As if answering his challenge, the space in front of them suddenly twisted, warping with a sickening groan that echoed through the air.
A flash of violet-black light tore reality open, and with a deafening crack, the very fabric of space unraveled.
An entire block of the Royal Palace crumpled like wet paper, stone columns snapping like brittle bones, mosaic glass shattering into a rain of shimmering shards.
This tear did not open in the sky.
This time, it appeared directly on the ground mere meters away from them.
The implication was extremely clear, the Shinigamis had locked onto Akira's mark, and were able to tear open space near him at will!
The scent of ozone, ash, and something metallic flooded the air. The temperature dropped, and the floor vibrated beneath their feet. Elemental energy in the atmosphere twisted wildly, spiking into chaos.
Then, with a monstrous roar that rattled the eardrums and punched the breath from their lungs, another supermassive monstrosity lunged forth from the breach.
"Protect the Princesses!" The Battalion Commander reacted instantly.
Shields slammed into place with a metallic clang, overlapping in a perfect phalanx. Elemental barriers shimmered to life, their surfaces rippling with layers of reinforced elemental energies.
Magic arrays flickered under their boots, activating ancient palace warding systems long dormant.
Guns locked and swords rose. Sentry drones deployed like a mechanical storm, flooding the air with scanning beams and targeting enchantments.
Their visors glowed crimson as combat protocols snapped into action. A thousand hearts beat in time with a single command.
Protect.
The atmosphere turned thick with power. Sweat rolled down brows beneath helmets.
Not a single soldier hesitated.
The Princesses stood behind them.
And no beast from the depths of hell would breach that line without blood.