Engines roared down the quiet stretch of countryside road. DNS and Neel rode side by side, the Tokyo skyline shrinking in the rearview mirrors. Their bikes carved through the cool air, headlights slicing through the darkness.
A buzz in DNS's pocket broke the rhythm. He pulled out his phone.
"Speak," he answered curtly.
"Old skyscraper. Countryside, Tokyo outskirts. We need to regroup," Congruency's voice came, tight with urgency.
"Understood," DNS replied, ending the call.
Neel leaned slightly toward him. "Broooo... can we please stop at that shawarma joint on the way? Y'know, the one were the garlic sauce slaps?"
DNS cracked a smile but shook his head. "Not now, brother."
Neel groaned dramatically. "One day... I swear I'll lead a gang that has meal breaks written into our code."
"Later. First, business."
6 Years Ago: How They Met Congruency
Rain poured over Karnataka's blood-soaked alleyways. Congruency's gang—The Biters—was under siege. After the death of their leader David, his brother Congruency took charge. But rival gangs saw opportunity.
DNS and Neel were just finishing a deal nearby when the chaos caught their eye.
DNS nudged Neel. "Looks like they've bitten off more than they can chew."
Neel grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Then let's help them choke on it."
They tore into the fight. Neel was wild and fast—laughing while he knocked out grown men like a video game boss. DNS moved like a seasoned tactician, calculated and ruthless.
DNS reached Congruency, bloodied and dizzy. DNS looks at congruency as his eyes widen,
"You're David's brother, right?" DNS asked, catching him. "Sorry for your loss, man."
Congruency blinked. "He was a..." and collapsed.
Before blacking out, he felt it—that pulsing aura around DNS. It was terrifying. Stronger than David's had ever been.
Neel appeared, dripping in blood and dust. "Told you not to bring that ancient thing."
"He doesn't like being called that," DNS muttered.
A translucent force shimmered at DNS's neck—Vajra. It hissed, "Mind your tongue, kid."
Neel raised a brow. "Alright, alright... chill, bling-bling ghost."
From that day, Congruency swore loyalty—not to a gang, but to DNS himself.
Present: The Skyscraper
The old skyscraper loomed like a ghost of forgotten Tokyo. DNS and Neel arrived, tires screeching.
"You're late, king," Roxy shouted.
"yea yea shut up will ya?" Neel replied.
"Dude, manners," DNS deadpanned.
Neel mock-bowed. "Shut up, please?"
DNS nodded. "Much better."
Roxy scoffed and flopped into a chair like a grumpy cat.
Then Lily stormed in. Her eyes scanned Neel first.
"WHAT did I tell you about keeping him safe?! Look at my darling! Scratches! Dust! Drama!"
Neel, covered in grime and bruises, raised his hand. "To be fair, he looks like he just came out of a spa."
DNS lit a cigarette. "You want one?"
Neel pointed to the approaching doom. "Yara will kill me."
Yara, Lily's assistant (and Neel's girlfriend), was already on him. "Sit Down you mess of a beast"
Neel plopped into the chair. "aww u love me don't ya"
yara :" yea when u were not an idiot".
Meanwhile, Lily checked DNS's injuries. "You alright?"
"Just tired."
"Well, stop being reckless. You make it hard to stay mad at you."
DNS grinned. "You look cute when you're mad."
She sighed but smiled.
Kyan stepped in with a tablet. "We ready?"
"Go ahead," DNS nodded.
Flashback: 9 Years Ago, College Days
DNS's first week of college was... not great. Bullied for being quiet and small, he mostly kept to himself—until he snapped.
A bully flew across the room. Then another. DNS was a storm.
As he stood breathing heavily, a figure appeared.
"You good, cuh?" Neel asked, stepping from the shadows.
DNS winced. "Do I look good?"
"Nope. But that was cool. I'm Neel. You got a name, warrior monk?"
"DNS."
From that day, they were inseparable.
Third Year
DNS noticed someone tailing him for weeks. Eventually, he turned and confronted her.
"Why are you following me?"
Lily, stammering: "I... I wanted to be your friend..."
"That's all? Done. We're friends. Come on."
He introduced her to Neel.
Neel gave her a squint. "Why do you look more scared of me than of him?"
DNS whispered, "She probably saw you eat pizza with ketchup once."
Neel gasped. "Unforgivable."
By final year, the trio sealed their bond with a Blood Oath. Each placed a bloodied thumbprint on a parchment etched with daemonium glyphs. A promise beyond friendship. Beyond family.
Back to Present
A long iron table stretches under the amber glow of a single flickering light. A massive wall screen blinks with classified documents. Kyan stands in front of it, holding a glass file filled with fine black ash—evidence from an incinerated village. His face is pale. He looks like he just met death and got handed its business card.
Kyan (coldly):
"I've seen monsters. But Nazo Kimura... is something else."
The room stills. Even the sound of the air vents seems to fade.
Kyan:
"Publicly, he's a genius entrepreneur. The owner of Yurei Corp.—the largest tobacco and liquor empire in history. People toast with his brand at weddings and mourn with it at funerals. He funds hospitals... and funeral homes. Two ends of the same coin. And guess who's flipping it?"
He flips to a photo of a concert. Nazo stands on stage, dressed in white, singing like a fallen angel. The crowd adores him.
Kyan:
"By day, he's a god of fame. But by night... he becomes something else entirely."
A new screen flashes: symbols carved in bone, corpses burned without fire, and video stills of figures disintegrating on the spot.
Kyan:
"He's one of the Yokai Seven—a hidden circle of Yakuza warlords that command armies with just a whisper. They aren't gangsters anymore—they're myth. And Nazo is their most feared asset. He doesn't shout. He smiles. He doesn't threaten. He plays a piano sonata. And when the last note ends... so does your life."
Lily flinches. "How does he kill them?"
Kyan (quietly):
"He makes it look natural. Too natural. A perfectly timed aneurysm. An untraceable poison. Entire families have died in their sleep. No screams. No blood. Just... silence."
DNS slowly clenches his fists. You can almost hear the bones grinding.
Kyan (continues):
"And then there's the Black Market. He doesn't just run it—he owns it. Arms, drugs, humans, artifacts... but his specialty? Demons."
The room darkens as he loads a rare image—grainy and cursed—of a red-skinned beast in a cage, its eyes hollow, its teeth broken. Behind it stands Nazo, smiling.
Kyan:
"He tracks them. Binds them. Sells them to the sickest bidders alive. But some... he keeps. There are rumors of an underground vault in his mansion—each cell holds something out of a nightmare. A hundred demons. And they say… he sleeps amongst them. Not because he has to. Because he likes it."
Roxy whispers, half-horrified, half-fascinated:
"What kind of psycho does that?"
Neel, clearly disturbed but trying to keep his cool, jokes,
"Yeah well, guess I'm not the only one with bad sleep hygiene."
Nobody laughs.
Kyan (staring into nothing):
"I once met someone who served in his private guard. That man chewed off his own tongue before I could get a full sentence out of him. All he said was... 'the silence screams at night.'"
The weight of those words hangs over them like a funeral bell.
DNS finally stands. His voice is deep, shaking with fury—but his eyes? Cold. Unshaken.
DNS:
"A man like that doesn't deserve mercy. He steals lives, twists souls, and calls it business. He has the power to manipulate fear like it's his instrument—and humanity is just a song he's rewriting."
He walks over to the screen, his fingers tracing Nazo's smiling face.
DNS:
"You all know what we're facing. He isn't just a warlord. He's a walking curse. But he bleeds. And that... means we can end him."
He looks at each of them—Roxy, Kyan, Lily, Neel—one by one. A vow in his voice.
DNS:
"No more secrets. No more shadows. We burn his empire down. Brick by cursed brick."
He turns back to the screen. Nazo's face fades into static.
DNS (gritting his teeth):
"Because monsters shouldn't rule this world. And if we have to become demons ourselves to drag him into the light…"
Neel (finishing the sentence, smirking):
"Then hell better make room."
30 Minutes Later: Shawarma Break
The trio sat at their usual late-night shawarma joint.
DNS and Lily slid into the booth. Neel was already halfway through his second.
"You know," Neel said, mouth full, "for a guy who fried a flyover with black lightning, you're eating like a monk."
DNS took a bite. "Can't stay mad when shawarma exists."
Lily laughed. "That's so you."
The TV blared from the corner:
"A flyover collapsed at 2 a.m. in Tokyo. Eyewitnesses claim a lightning strike followed by a supernatural explosion. Police suspect Vajra Syndicate involvement."
Footage rolled. DNS mid-air, Vajra glowing.
DNS sighed. "This is our life."
Neel raised his shawarma. "We chose it. And as long as we get nights like this... worth it."
Lily nodded. "Shawarma makes everything better."
"You just like food," DNS teased.
She poked him. "And you love chaos."
All three burst into laughter, even as the world hunted them outside.
Scene: Nazo's First Appearance – "The Demon in Velvet"
Location: Deep within Tokyo – a grand underground auction known only as The Crimson Veil.
Crystal chandeliers. Velvet-draped walls. Gentle classical music plays. The room is filled with criminals in thousand-dollar suits and million-dollar secrets. But everything goes still… the moment he enters.
Announcer:
"Ladies and gentlemen… allow me to present tonight's host. The maestro of madness, the curator of chaos… Mr. Nazo Kimura."
A single spotlight hits the staircase.
And then he descends.
Wearing a pristine white suit with blood-red cufflinks, Nazo Kimura walks as if the world was built beneath his feet. His long black hair is slicked back, and a single black glove covers his right hand. He holds a cane—not because he needs it, but because he likes the sound it makes as it taps the marble.
The crowd lowers their heads.
Nazo (smiling faintly):
"Please… don't bow. I'm just a humble collector of rare… things."
He walks past cages covered in silk. Inside, unseen horrors breathe.
Nazo:
"Tonight's centerpiece is one I captured myself… a creature that screams in languages older than sin."
He signals.
Two men wheel in a massive iron sarcophagus with demonic runes glowing faintly. Inside is "It"—a demon bound by a thousand seals. Its voice distorts the air itself.
But then…
A vision flashes across the demon's eyes—DNS.
It suddenly goes still. Silent. And then… it speaks. Not with rage.
With fear.
Scene: Elsewhere – DNS's hideout, night
Kyan is monitoring the auction remotely using a hacked stream. DNS watches silently. And then—it happens. The demon on screen, with its cracked skull mask and bleeding symbols, screams DNS's name.
Demon (distorted, otherworldly):
"D…N…S…"
The whole room freezes.
Demon (moaning):
"He comes… he comes… the Unchained Blade… the one even Hell fears…"
DNS (quietly):
"What the hell…?"
Suddenly the demon locks eyes with the camera. And with blood leaking from its sockets, it laughs.
Demon:
"Run… DNS… He sees you too."
Back at the Auction
Nazo pauses. Then looks… directly into the camera.
He raises his hand slowly.
And waves.
Not playfully.
Deliberately. Personally. Like he's saying hello to a future corpse.
Nazo (softly):
"Well now… that name hasn't echoed in years."
He smiles, leans closer to the cage, and whispers to the demon.
Nazo:
"You're not the only one who's hunted before."
The camera cuts to black.
Scene: DNS throws the monitor across the room
DNS (furious):
"He knows. That bastard knows who I am."
Neel grabs his arm. "Dude. That demon was scared of you. A demon!"
DNS (eyes dark):
"Which means he's using them to study me. He's keeping them like books. Every one of them whispers about the ones who can kill him."
Roxy (shaken):
"And he's got a hundred of them. A hundred nightmares... reading you like a prophecy."
DNS:
"Then I'll rewrite the damn prophecy."
end of chapter 2