It had been exactly one week since the two brothers had tumbled into this reality. On a massive digital billboard overlooking the Shibuya Crossing, a sleek Japanese news anchor adjusted her earpiece, her expression calm and composed as she stared straight at the cameras.
"The Draw Sword Guild has officially declared the A-Rank 'Oni Gate' cleared," she announced, her voice echoing between the skyscrapers. "While the Guild has confirmed a one hundred percent success rate, the official raid footage and tactical reports remain strictly classified under a direct mandate from Guild Master Goto Ryuji. Public speculation continues to swirl regarding the leaked information about the 'anomalous energy spikes' detected during the final boss encounter, which sensors suggest briefly rivaled an S-Rank eruption."
Five miles away, at the site of the now-dormant Gate, dozens of heavy-duty carts hummed as they emerged from the flickering blue portal, piled high with jagged, faintly glowing mana crystals that pulsed with a faint, dying light. Massive transport trucks reinforced with mana-suppressing lead lined the perimeter, their engines idling as the raw wealth of the dungeon was loaded into their holds.
Ippei stood near the loading ramp, his eyes were fixed on his smartphone as he scrolled through the morning's top headlines. He let out a long, heavy sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
He looked up from the screen, watching the miners come out of the gate after systematically stripping the cavern walls within the portal. The sheer volume of crystals being pulled out was staggering, a testament to just how much energy had been packed into that "A-Rank" dungeon before it was dismantled. If it could even be categorized as an "A-Rank".
"That's the last of the high-density crystals," a voice called out.
Ippei looked over to see Kei stepping out of the portal, with a relaxed expression. He wiped a smudge of soot from his forehead and caught the tail end of the news broadcast playing on Ippei's phone.
"Classification is still restricted, huh?" Kei asked, leaning against the side of a transport truck. "Goto-san is really keeping a tight lid on those two. Can't say I blame him. If the public saw what that green light did to the altar in there, they'd be frothing from their mouth at the prospects of having two additional S-Rankers in Japan. Ippei continued scrolling through his phone before replying, "It's not just our internal secrets we have to worry about anymore. Look at this."
He turned the phone toward Kei. The news anchor's face had been replaced by a grainy, high-speed photograph of a dark-haired man with glowing blue eyes.
"...In neighboring news, the Korean Hunters Association has officially confirmed the emergence of a new S-Rank hunter. Re-awakened Hunter Sung Jinwoo has shattered all previous measurement records during his recent re-evaluation."
Kei whistled low, his eyes narrowing at the image. "Sung Jinwoo? Korea's been a revolving door for tragedy lately, but a new S-Rank right before Jeju? Talk about convenient timing. You think he's the real deal?"
"If he's even half as dangerous as the 'Special Consultants' currently lounging at the Blue Moon estate," Ippei muttered, pocketing his phone, "then this joint raid is going to be a crowded stage. Too many monsters in one room, Kei. Someone's bound to get bitten."
Ippei turned toward the lead foreman of the mining crew, his voice snapping back into a sharp, authoritative tone, "Listen up! I want the final manifest on Hanekawa-san's desk within thirty minutes. If a single gram of crystal goes missing or the transport log shows a gap, it's your head. Report directly to her, no intermediaries."
The foreman bowed deeply, scurrying off to coordinate the final trucks.
"Come on," Ippei said, gesturing toward a sleek black sedan parked nearby, "Goto wants a status update on the logistics. And I want to get out of here before the press drones find a way past the jammer perimeter."
Kei hopped into the passenger seat, glancing back at the fading blue light of the Oni Gate one last time.The car tore away from the site, leaving the dust and the riches of the dungeon behind.
The black sedan wove through the streets of Tokyo, "I'm starving," Ippei muttered, "Let's meet up with Akari, Kenzo, and Tatsumi. They're already at that place in Roppongi, we need to eat something that didn't come out of a dungeon ration pack."
Kei grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Count me in on the fun. I could eat a whole cow right about now." He shifted in his seat, his expression turning thoughtful, "But seriously, Ippei... What's the deal with these two 'consultants' Goto-san is hiding? I only saw them for a second at the handover. I don't get why they're getting the royal treatment. We're the Draw Sword Guild, the strongest in Japan, arguably the best in Asia. Why are we giving special privileges to two guys who just dropped out of nowhere? It's not like they're National Level hunters, right?"
Ippei didn't answer immediately and remained silent as his thumb scrolling idly on his phone screen.
"Ippei?" Kei prodded, his voice dropping an octave at the lack of expression, "Are they? Are they National Level?"
Ippei finally looked up from his phone, "I have no idea, Kei," he sighed, shaking his head as if trying to clear his thoughts, "And that's the part that scares me. Goto-san hasn't been this secretive since the third S-Rank gate two years ago."
The car pulled up to the curb of a high-end, discreet establishment. A glowing sign above the door read 'Kagurazaka Iron', a restaurant known for hosting the city's elite and high-ranking hunters who valued privacy over publicity.
"Be that as it may," Ippei said, adjusting his coat. "Now that Goto-san has them, it's not like they can go anywhere else. They're tied to our banner now, for better or worse."
Kei nodded, following him toward the entrance. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It certainly won't hurt our image to have extra S-Rank level firepower when we show up in Korea. We'll make those Korean hunters look like amateurs."
As they pushed through the heavy wooden doors of the restaurant, the scent of seared meat and expensive sake hit them. The interior was a masterpiece of art, designed with dark stone and water features.
"Ippei! Over here!"
Ippei looked across the room to see Akari waving enthusiastically from a large corner booth. Beside her sat Kenzo and Tatsumi, but as Ippei and Kei approached, the atmosphere at the table felt... off.
"I wonder though," Kei whispered as they walked between the tables, "where those two brothers are right now? Probably under heavy security from Goto-san which wouldn't really be all that surprising, I…"
Kei stopped mid-sentence. He noticed that Akari's hand had frozen in mid-air. Kenzo and Tatsumi weren't looking at them with weird expressions.
From their gaze, it almost looked like their eyes were locked onto something directly behind Ippei and Kei.
"Uh... guys?" Kei waved at them, "What's wrong? Did someone die or something?"
That was when he heard the abrasive voice from directly behind him, dripping with the kind of casual arrogance that usually got people punched in Roppongi.
"Hey, Ulquiorra, you sure this place is actually gonna have a decent cut of wagyu? I don't want it to be like that last joint, man. That shit tasted like they pulled it straight out of a freezer and called it 'blue rare'."
A much calmer, toneless voice responded to the first one, vibrating with a weary patience, "That wasn't wagyu, you idiot. It was bluefin tuna. They explicitly mentioned it was sashimi. Your palate is as refined as a caveman's."
Ippei and Kei spun around so fast they nearly became blurs. Standing at the entrance of Kagurazaka Iron were the two brothers.
The one who had just spoken, the calm one had messy, jet-black hair that fell over emerald eyes. His skin was unnervingly pale, almost like porcelain under the restaurant's lights. He was wearing a custom-made, white, high-collared Japanese-style gakuran jacket. It was fully buttoned and accented by a striking red and black striped armband on his right sleeve. His trousers were white and slightly baggy, tapering at the ankles with a modern, structured silhouette.
To his side, his brother was a walking lightning bolt. His vibrant, light blue hair was styled in an upward, spiky pompadour. He wore the same white jacket, but in a complete reversal of his brother, he left it entirely unbuttoned, fluttering behind him like a cape. Underneath, he sported a light blue and green patterned T-shirt featuring a stylized, minimalist white panther. He had his hands tucked deep into the pockets of his fitted black trousers, leaning back with a slight slouch.
'That's them. The blue-haired one... he's definitely the one with the aggressive complaints. He looks like he's looking for a reason to break a table.'
Ulquiorra's emerald eyes swept the room, lingering for a fraction of a second on the S-Rank hunters gathered at the corner booth. Grimmjow noticed them a moment later, and his grin widened while showing his slightly sharpened canines.
"Huh," Grimmjow muttered, his eyes locking onto Ippei. "Look at that, the 'clean-up' crew is here for dinner too. Small world."
The restaurant went dead silent after that. The chef behind the teppanyaki grill froze, his spatula hovering over a sizzled onion at the fact that someone actually called an S-Ranker a clean up crew. The air felt like it was ionizing, the spiritual pressure of the blue headed newcomer leaking out just enough to make the glassware on the tables vibrate.
The standoff lasted for five agonizing seconds until Ulquiorra lightly elbowed his brother to stop with the theatrics. Akari, showing more guts than the rest of the table combined, raised her hand again, waving toward the two brothers with a nervous but welcoming smile.
"Hey! Over here!" she called out, her voice slightly too high-pitched. "There's plenty of room at our table. Come and join us!"
Ippei let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, his shoulders dropping two inches as he looked at the two Espada brothers, then at his colleagues.
"Wonderful," Ippei whispered, though he looked like he was heading toward a firing squad. "Absolutely wonderful."
————-
Japanese Hunters Association headquarters
Matsumoto Shigeo, President of the Association, sat reclined in his plush leather chair, his head tilted back as he stared at the geometric patterns on the ceiling.
A middle-aged man with thick, meticulously groomed black hair and a sharp mustache, Matsumoto was a master of the long game. His mind was currently anchored miles away. The reports in front of him were grim, the ants had evolved far beyond mere insects; they were now a regional plague capable of crossing the sea to snatch humans from coastal cities. Even worse was the Deep Dweller, a nightmare from the abyss that had already capsized over a dozen Japanese cargo ships passing through the strait.
Matsumoto narrowed his eyes, he wasn't truly concerned about the ants, the Dweller, or even the loss of the cargo. Although the ships had been carrying several high-grade mana-sensitive components he'd rather not have lost. No, his concern was purely political. He was calculating how to capitalize on this catastrophe.
In his mind, he was already playing out the aftermath: the "unfortunate" loss of Korea's remaining S-Rank hunters during the joint raid. The sheer relief he would feel knowing their losses were permanent would benefit Japan's regional dominance for decades. He could almost hear the sound of his own laughter as he imagined the piles of high-grade magic stones Japan would claim as "compensation" for their assistance, all while Korea mourned its deceased heroes.
But then, his gaze dropped to the tablet in his hand once again and his pleasant daydream soured.
"Goto Ryuji... what exactly do you think you're doing?" he hissed under his breath.
He swiped through a series of high-resolution satellite captures. The first was a grainy shot of the Oni Gate, and the second photo was more troubling: a telephoto shot of a nondescript building near the Draw Sword Guild's secondary facilities.
In the frame, two individuals in striking white outfits were walking toward a vehicle. Even with the distance, the strange, bone-like masks on their faces were unmistakable. They looked less like Hunters and more like something that had crawled out of a nightmare. Behind them, keeping a respectful distance, was Minoru, one of Goto's loyal S-Ranks acting more like an escort than a guard.
Matsumoto's grip tightened on the tablet. Goto was shielding these two. He was keeping them off the Association's official books while using his own men to handle their logistics.
"You think you're the only one who can scheme, Goto?" Matsumoto murmured, his eyes reflecting the cold glow of the screen. "You've found something. Two wild cards that don't belong to the Association... and you think I won't notice when you try to play them on the world stage? Too bad i already know what most of your dealings."
Matsumoto tightened his grip on the tablet, the glowing screen illuminating the sharp lines of his face. "Ulquiorra Cifer and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," he whispered, "Names that don't hold a shred of Japanese tradition. Yet..."
He zoomed in on the surveillance captures to the sharp structure of their faces, they looked undeniably of Japanese origin. They weren't foreigners, at least not physically.
"So where exactly did Goto pull you two from?" he muttered. "No record in the Academy, no history in the minor guilds. It's as if you were birthed by the dungeons themselves."
His clinical analysis was rudely shattered as the heavy doors to his office were flung open with a violent bang causing Matsumoto to jump a bit and nearly dropping his tablet.
"Chairman! You have to see this immediately!"
"What is the reason you barged in here without even knocking?!" Matsumoto roared, his face flushing a deep, angry crimson. He slammed his hand onto his desk, the pens rattling. "I have told you a thousand times—"
"Sir, the trending news! It just broke in Seoul!" The aide didn't even flinch at the shouting, thrusting a separate tablet toward Matsumoto's face.
Matsumoto snatched it, his eyes darting across the headline. His breath hitched. "What? Another S-Rank? At this precise moment?"
He stared at the image of a young man with dark hair, "Who is this? Who is he?"
"Sung Jinwoo, sir. A re-awakened Hunter. The Association in Korea just finished his re-evaluation."
Matsumoto felt a vein throb in his temple. The timing was disastrous. He was planning for a Korea weakened by loss and grief, not a Korea bolstered by a new high tier ranker. He stood up, pacing the length of his office as he analyzed the shifting board.
"A new hope for the peninsula," Matsumoto hissed as a dark thought took root in his mind. He stopped pacing and turned back to the window, looking out over the Tokyo skyline and towards the sea. "It doesn't matter! Whether he is an S-Rank or not, he is still mortal. When our hunters go on that joint raid for Jeju Island and the Deep Dweller, this 'Sung Jinwoo' will be dealt with alongside the rest of their elite."
A slow smirk spread across Matsumoto's face. He tapped his desk, his mind already drafting the updated parameters he would send to Goto.
"I'll have to inform Goto of these new variables. We need to ensure our hunters understand their true targets." He looked back at the image of Sung Jinwoo, his eyes cold. "How truly unfortunate for you, Hunter Sung, to reach the peak at this crucial point. It will only make it sweeter when the new hope of Korea is suddenly weeded out in the chaos of the island."
He could already see the headlines: Korea's Greatest Heroes Fall in Failed Raid. Japan would step in as the sole protector of the East.