The leader's eyes gleam.
"Determination? More like delusion."
Ajax, without another word said, runs at the group.
The three Ronin leap back, blades singing from their sheaths as Ajax sprints at them.
"Too impatient," the leader hisses. "Foolish."
Ajax slashes through the three Ronin with ease.
The leader stares, stunned-sword held mid-swing to block what should've taken Ajax's head.
"What?!"
His eyes narrow in confusion, trying to understand how Ajax cut through their defense.
Ajax spins through the air and slashes more.
The Ronin leader retaliates back, parrying his blows-barely avoiding getting his guard broken.
"What...are you? You don't fight like an amateur." The leader gawks.
"And what gave you the idea I was an amateur?" Ajax grins.
The leader blocks another blow, teeth gritted.
"Because you charge with the subtlety of a drunk ox!"
"Well because I am an amateur!" Ajax says before he sweeps his legs.
The leader gets caught off balance, tripping and landing on his back.
"Gahh!"
Ajax smacks him with the back of the hilt of his sword.
He grunts, head snapping backwards as he stares up in stunned shock.
"What are you...?"
"The next who will find Nelazaru Kimmegona's sword." Ajax declares to the leader.
He glares up through a trickle of blood from a cut above his eyebrow.
"You're delusional. Kimmegona's sword is a myth. A bedtime tale."
Ajax just sheathes his sword and continues walking alright. "Let's go kid." Ajax says to the little boy.
The boy hesitates, glancing at the downed Ronin.
"Y-You really beat them?"
He quickly scurries after him as Ajax continues down Ashura Lane, the wind howling through the alleys.
But behind Ajax, one of the fallen ronin slowly pushes himself up. He touches his bleeding brow... and smirks.
"So... that's where your will burns now."
Then-he vanishes into smoke.
Ahead, distant torchlight flickers near rotting docks.
Creaking wood.
Ajax and the little kid arrive at the dock after a couple more minutes of walking.
"Kid you stay here it's gonna be dangerous if you come with me." Ajax says.
"But-Big Brother Ryizen-" the boy protests, fists clenched.
He takes a step forward, then stops. Scared. Small. But trying so hard to be brave.
"...Just... just bring him back, okay?"
"Yeah no sweat." Ajax says.
A small smile flashes over the little boy's face.
"You promise?"
"I already promised, didn't I?" Ajax chuckles.
He nods solemnly.
"...alright. I'll.....I'll wait here. Just... keep your promise."
Ajax just nods before he jumps and climbs over the fence.
Ajax lands silently on the wet grass beyond the fence.
Wind howls across the desolate dockyard. Moonlight casts long shadows from wooden shipping containers, the old wood creaking and groaning as tides lap against barnacle-encrusted pilings.
And from a rusted warehouse in the corner... a low moan. Like someone struggling for each breath.
"Jeez this place is depressing." Ajax says.
The air smells of stagnant water and rotting wood. Rats skitter underfoot as he picks his way through the maze of wreckage.
Chains clink from within the warehouse, hidden in the shadows...
Another labored groan. Louder now.
Ajax eventually just cuts through some rotted wood. "I still don't quite understand why he's being executed. However he intrigues me" Ajax says
The warehouse creaks around him as he cuts through the rotted boards covering the doorway.
Inside, broken crates and half-sunken cargo litter an open space like a sea of driftwood. Moonlight filters through gaps in the roof, outlining a low beam.
And dangling from the beam—a rope. Tied around someone's arms, pulling them up.
A rasped breath.
"Who's...there?"
"It is I the all mighty one." Ajax says jokingly.
Ryizen's head lifts-barely. Face bruised and bloodied, his hair wild and tangled.
"Ahhh... you...?"
"Nope just some regular Ronin but I bet you believed it didn't you?" Ajax says getting a laugh out of the situation.
Ryizen lets out a weak, raspy laugh-blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Ha... you're either crazy... or brave. Probably both."
He strains against the ropes, voice low and pained.
"You shouldn't be here. They're not just gonna kill me... they're gonna make an example."
"Yeah clearly however I got better plans so you're not dying." Ajax says.
Ryizen blinks, still struggling to keep his eyes open. "Better... plans? You're either... an idiot...or the bravest fool I've ever met."
"Eh, it depends on how you look at it." Ajax says nonchalantly.
Ryizen gives a faint, bloody grin. Even bruised and bound, there's a fierce spirit in his eyes.
"Heh, you've got something about you... maybe... just maybe...you're not all talk."
"Seems they took your sword figures. Know where it's at?" Ajax asks.
Ryizen's grin fades, eyes hardening like flint.
"...You don't know, do you?" He coughs. "It's more than like somewhere they'd only let Shogunate officers go into." Ryizen says coughing out a bit more blood.
"So it's in their office." Ajax says deadpanning.
Ryizen's eyes widen, a flicker of hope in them.
"You...you know where it is?"
"Nope." Ajax says once again deadpanning.
Ryizen blinks, confused. "Wait...then how are you—"
Before he can finish, a deep voice echoes through the warehouse:
"Foolish ronin... you've trespassed
into forbidden ground."
From the shadows steps a towering figure-armored in black lacquered plates etched with serpentine symbols. A jagged, crimson-lined sword rests at his side.
And strapped to his back a sheath.
Black as void. Cracked like thunder.
And pulsing... ever so faintly...
Ryizen gasps.
"No... not that blade...
This man isn't just a guard.
He's one of the Seven Shadows-elite enforcers of the Shogunate."
"Oh so you must know where his sword is. You'll be oh so helpful." Ajax says almost gleefully.
The man smiles coldly, a gleam in his eyes.
"You're a cocky one, aren't you."
"Nope. But I bet you know where the sword is all that matters." Ajax says standing his ground.
His eyes narrow, studying Ajax like a snake sizing up its prey.
"Bold words from a common street ronin."
Ajax Slowly draws his sword. "Damn is that what I'm getting called now?" Ajax snickers.
The man doesn't even flinch, just smirks as he reaches for his blade's hilt, his voice dripping with cold confidence.
"Show some respect, boy. I am the Black Viper-one of the Shogun's elite. You cannot hope to match my speed."
Ajax in the blink of an eye slashes a thin line in his armour with ease.
The Black Viper's eyes widen in disbelief
as he looks down at the slash across his chest-plate-not deep, but just enough to draw blood.
"Impossible..."
"One of the Shogun elite? Never heard of that one before." Ajax declares grinning at the Black Viper.
The Black Viper snarls, rage flashing in his eyes.
"You'll regret those words."
In a flash, he unsheathes his
crimson-edged blade-dark energy swirling around it like smoke. The air grows heavy, oppressive.
"Prepare to die, street rat!"
He vanishes-in a blur of speed no normal man could match.
"Hmm seems he's gone, oh well guess I'll just find the sword myself." Ajax says, sighing and turning around.
The warehouse seems strangely quiet, the wind howling outside. Ryizen watches Ajax quietly, eyes flickering around the darkness.
"Be careful... he likes to play with prey before striking." Ryizen yells out.
"Prey? Like a gazelle to a lion? Yeah I'm not concerned with him." Ajax says calmly.
Ryizen shakes his head, a faint smirk on his bloody lips.
"Not like that. He doesn't chase gazelles... he waits in the dark for wolves."
Suddenly a shadow flickers behind Ajax.
The air chills.
"You talk too much for a dead man."
Black Viper reappears
now perched atop a broken crate above Ajax, sword drawn, crimson edge pulsing with eerie energy.
His voice cuts through the silence: "I've slain ten ronin who thought like you. Who were faster, stronger... and still- buried face-down in the dirt."
He leaps-blade trailing blood-red arcs like ink in rain.
End of Chapter