The Raiju warriors closed in, their movements swift as arcs of living lightning. Ash stood unmoving for a moment, his crimson gaze sweeping over the battlefield. He was not merely a hunted warrior—he was the Shogun of his people. The weight of his title carried more than authority. It carried expectation. It carried vengeance.


    Fifty hunter-warriors surrounded him, each a master of their craft. Their storm-forged armor crackled with raw energy, their eyes burning with the will of the Tempest Lords. Any lesser being would have surrendered to the overwhelming force bearing down upon them.


    But Ash was Oni-Rai. The storm did not command him. He commanded it.


    With a flick of his wrist, he summoned Shinsei Raijin (神聖雷神) – Divine Shadow Bolt. The black lightning struck the first warrior mid-stride, freezing time for an instant before reality shattered around him. The Raiju convulsed, his very essence unraveling before he could comprehend his fate.


    The storm broke loose.


    Ash moved like a phantom, his form flickering between presence and absence, weaving through the ranks of his enemies with the fluidity of the wind itself. Blades of crackling thunder slashed at the space he had occupied a heartbeat before. He countered with a strike so swift it left afterimages in the rain. One by one, the Raiju fell, yet for every warrior he felled, another took their place.


    A battle of attrition.


    He would not win by cutting them down one by one.


    The castle gates loomed behind him. Beyond him stretched the Stormlands, an endless expanse where the sky never rested, where the land itself had been shaped by tempests that raged since time immemorial. He had no choice.


    Ash exhaled. "Very well."


    He raised a hand, the storm bending to his will. Yami no Arashi (闇の嵐) – Storm of the Abyss ignited in his palm. Black lightning spiraled outward, consuming the battlefield in a vortex of raw destruction. Time and space fractured. The Raiju hesitated for the first time, their forms distorting within the raging void. Some vanished into the abyss. Others faltered, struggling against the force that threatened to consume them.


    Ash did not wait to see the result. He vanished, moving as shadow through the storm, his form weaving between reality and the void.


    Ash''s vision blurred, fatigue setting in as the storm''s wrath battered him from all sides. He had fought endlessly, weaving between lightning strikes and fending off relentless warriors, but he knew this wouldn''t last. His body was nearing its limit. He needed a way out.


    "Rin," he said, forcing steadiness into his voice. "Contact Kaito Shirogiri. Tell him I need extraction. Now."


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    A flicker of blue light from his AI companion, then silence. Moments later, Rin''s voice cut through the storm. "Message sent. Stand by."


    Above the storm-ridden sky, the void trembled. A tear in the darkness formed as a massive frigate-class warship materialized, emerging like a shadow in the heavens. The insignia of the Shirogiri Clan glowed red against its dark hull.


    From its underbelly, a dropship disengaged, streaking downward like a meteor breaking through the sky. Its engines roared against the stormwinds, cutting through the chaos with precise movements. The Raiju warriors stopped in their tracks, gazes snapping upward at the sudden arrival of an overwhelming force.


    The dropship slammed into the ground a short distance from Ash, its ramp already descending before the dust could settle. Kaito "Kaisho" Shirogiri stepped forward, his imposing presence amplified by his ornate yet battle-worn armor. Behind him, twenty warriors clad in a fusion of feudal-era samurai armor and high-tech enhancements marched forth in perfect unison.


    The Oni Brigade had arrived.


    Lightning cracked. The battlefield was set.


    Kaito''s voice boomed through the storm. "Ash! Get to the ship—we''ll handle these wretches."


    Ash clenched his fists, taking one last glance at the advancing Raiju. Then, with a nod, he turned toward the ship—but the enemy would not let him leave so easily.


    The Raiju warriors roared, surging forward like a relentless tide of thunder. The Oni Brigade met them head-on.


    Blades of energy and steel clashed, illuminating the battlefield in a symphony of destruction. Plasma bolts and arc-rifles flared amidst the chaos as Kurokenshi, the Oni Brigade''s elite commander, led the charge, his massive crimson-edged katana carving through foes with surgical precision.


    Ash cut down two warriors attempting to flank him, his Kage Oni-Rai powers flickering in sync with his strikes. Every movement was an extension of the storm itself, an elegant yet deadly flow of shadow and lightning.


    The battle raged, Raiju and Oni locked in a war of blades and raw power.


    The ground beneath them trembled as Meidou Raiko (冬道雷鼓) – Underworld Thunderclap built within Ash''s core, its energy pulsing with the fury of the abyss. He turned toward Kaito, who met his gaze with a knowing smirk.


    "Do it."


    With a final surge, Ash unleashed the attack.


    A deafening crack of black thunder erupted, swallowing the battlefield in a cataclysm of energy. The impact sent warriors scattering, the very air trembling in its wake.


    The storm itself seemed to recoil.


    As the dust cleared, Ash stood at the foot of the dropship ramp. Kaito and his warriors regrouped, their armor scorched but their spirits unbroken. The remaining Raiju staggered back, hesitant, their hunt now met with a force they could not overcome.


    "Fall back!" One of the Raiju commanders barked. "This battle is lost!"


    The enemy dispersed into the storm, vanishing like fading lightning.


    Ash exhaled, his body finally giving in as he stumbled onto the dropship.


    Kaito grasped his forearm, steadying him. "You''re still reckless as ever," he said with a smirk. "But you did well, Shogun."


    The title held weight—respect.


    Ash closed his eyes briefly before meeting Kaito''s gaze. "Let''s go home."


    The dropship ascended, returning to the awaiting frigate as the stormlands of Raiju faded beneath them.


    But before they could reach the upper atmosphere, a new presence emerged in the void above.


    A second tear in space ruptured the sky, blacker than night itself. A chilling aura washed over the battlefield below, freezing even the retreating Raiju in their tracks.


    A single figure descended from the rift, cloaked in shadows darker than the abyss. His armor bore the insignia of a ghost long feared in the underworld.