The Crimson Lotus was theirs, but Ash knew the Mori would not let this humiliation go unanswered.


    The club, now under Shirogiri control, buzzed with tension. Kaito''s men worked quickly, securing assets, filtering through financial records, and ensuring that Mori loyalists were either eliminated or coerced into switching sides. Kenshiko monitored digital traffic, ensuring no distress signals slipped past their net.


    Ash stood in the VIP lounge, overlooking the city through the floor-to-ceiling window. Below, the neon-lit streets carried on as if nothing had changed. But war was coming.


    "They''re coming," Kaito said, stepping up beside him. "We intercepted chatter. The Mori are mobilizing whatever forces they have left."


    Ash turned slightly. "How long?"


    "An hour. Maybe less."


    Ash smirked. "Let them come."


    The Assault Begins


    The first attack came from the shadows.


    A dull thump echoed through the club as power flickered. A split-second warning before a hailstorm of bullets ripped through the entrance. The bouncers-turned-enforcers barely had time to react before a breach team stormed through—masked figures clad in combat armor, their augmented limbs moving with inhuman speed.


    Ash was already moving.


    He slid behind a bar counter as the first wave of gunfire shredded the lounge''s sleek furniture. Kaito barked orders, and the Shirogiri fighters responded with disciplined bursts of return fire. The Mori''s mercenaries were fast, but Ash''s men knew the layout better.


    Ash vaulted over the counter, catching an advancing soldier mid-step. A flash of steel—his blade severed cybernetic tendons, sending the attacker sprawling. He spun, parrying another strike, then buried his knife into the gap between armor plates.


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    The enemy collapsed, but more were coming.


    Kaito fought at his side, a blur of ruthless efficiency. He gunned down one soldier before closing the distance on another, dispatching him with a precise slash across the throat.


    A grenade clattered across the floor.


    Ash reacted instantly, kicking it back into the breach just before detonation. The explosion rocked the entrance, momentarily halting the Mori''s advance. Smoke and fire licked at the edges of the club, and for a moment, everything was chaos.


    The Digital War


    Meanwhile, Kenshiko fought a battle of her own.


    The Mori had deployed their AI counterattack—Onryo, a war-class digital entity designed for cyber-assassinations. It surged into the system, corrupting firewalls, attempting to override the security Kenshiko had put in place.


    "Oh, you''re persistent," Kenshiko mused as she dodged the first wave of viral strikes.


    Onryo came at her like a phantom, its presence shifting unpredictably. Kenshiko countered with a pulse of fragmented code, forcing the enemy AI into a controlled data loop. But Onryo was unlike Lotus-9. It adapted.


    Data spikes lashed out, narrowly missing her digital form. It was learning her patterns.


    Kenshiko grinned. "Alright then. Let''s get serious."


    She executed a hard-reroute, pulling Onryo into an isolated system—a trap. Before it could escape, she activated a logic bomb, collapsing its core functions. The enemy AI shrieked, its form fracturing into broken code before dissolving entirely.


    "And that''s game," she whispered, retaking control of the network.


    The Final Stand


    With their digital support cut off, the Mori forces faltered. Ash took full advantage.


    He moved like a ghost, weaving through the wreckage of the club, cutting down enemy after enemy. A final wave pushed in—heavily augmented fighters, their bodies reinforced with military-grade cybernetics.


    One lunged at Ash with bladed arms. He sidestepped, severing a key joint before driving his sword through the enemy''s spine.


    Another charged Kaito, but the veteran was faster—disabling the attacker with a precision strike before finishing him off with a single gunshot.


    The last of the Mori forces tried to retreat. Ash didn''t let them.


    By the time silence fell over The Crimson Lotus, the Mori counterattack had been crushed.


    Ash exhaled slowly, surveying the carnage. Bodies littered the floor. The Shirogiri had held their ground. But this was just the beginning.


    He turned to Kaito. "This won''t be their last move. We hit them first."


    Kaito nodded. "Where to?"


    Ash wiped the blood from his blade. "Their stronghold. We end this."


    The Shirogiri weren''t just defending what they had taken.


    Now, they were going to finish the Mori Clan for good.