Meanwhile, somewhere else entirely, Li Xiaoyi lies face down on the ground, battered and barely conscious. She clutches her bruised backside and wobbles upright. Her clothes are torn to shreds, though even now she somehow looks striking.
Her head is spinning. "What happened?"
She presses a hand to her head and thinks back. Right. She and Xiaoya were shopping when the alarms went off. Then they were just running with the crowd.
"Xiaoya," she calls out. "Where are you?"
Her hand brushes something warm and wet. She looks back, and Xiaoya is there. Only half of her. Eyes fixed on Li Xiaoyi, empty.
Li Xiaoyi can't speak. Her whole body shakes.
A cold presence rises at her back. The evolved specter stands behind her, blades raised, aimed directly at her.
Li Xiaoyi slowly turns around. She looks into that twisted, monstrous face. Inches away. A hollow feeling washes over her.
So this is how I die. The kind of thing you only see in movies, happening to her. If this were a movie, the hero would show up right about now.
But this isn't a movie. No one is coming. There are no heroes in the real world.
The blade swings. Something drips.
The pain she braced for never comes.
Slowly, she opens her eyes. Li Xiaoyi blinks, reaching up to wipe the tears from her face, almost not daring to believe it.
A figure stands in front of her, cloaked in shadow, one hand gripping the specter's blade bare-handed, stopping the killing blow cold.
Jang Yu wrenches the blades aside with a sharp twist. The specter stumbles back.
Li Xiaoyi stares. "You—"
Jang Yu has activated claw form. Power absorbed from a predator aberrant, dramatically boosting both damage and mobility. In an instant he vanishes. A blink later, he's already above the twin blade specter. He drives his claws down hard and the specter's massive body goes flying.
The specter jams its blades into the ground, barely stopping itself from skidding further. It wheezes, straining to recover.
Then it hits Li Xiaoyi. She knows exactly who this is. Her eyes light up. "No way. It's actually the assassin."
She claps her hands together with a shriek, startling Jang Yu half to death. She rushes right up to him. "I'm your biggest fan. I've watched every single video. I love your content."
Jang Yu stares at her, speechless. "Your stockings are ruined. Your skirt's torn too."
Li Xiaoyi takes two quick steps back, flustered. "Hey. What are you looking at?"
Jang Yu throws up his hands. "I'm just letting you know."
Li Xiaoyi smooths her hair and gives him a sweet smile. "But if you want, I could go home and change into a fresh pair."
Jang Yu's brain short-circuits. He swallows. "Really?"
Li Xiaoyi nods. "Sure."
The twin blade specter watches this exchange, completely thrown off. It lets out a furious roar, apparently very offended at being ignored.
Jang Yu's expression hardens. Shadow energy coils around him. "We'll pick this up later."
Li Xiaoyi pumps her fist from the side. "Go get it."
Jang Yu sinks into the sea of shadow until only his voice remains, cold and calm. "The hunt begins."
Something latches onto the back of the specter's neck. He seizes the shadow wire and yanks. The twin blade specter is ripped clean off the ground. A claw blade tears out from the darkness, its tip gleaming cold gray. The specter's body nearly splits in two. Jang Yu steps past it and lands clean.
He glances back at the specter writhing on the ground. Not precise enough. A clean hit would have ended it instantly.
He moves lightning fast, straight at the specter. Something tugs at his instincts. His arms snap up on reflex. Two sets of blades crash down onto his claws. He barely holds the block, but when he looks up, his blood runs cold.
Two more twin blade specters hover above him, eyes locked on him like he's prey.
Jang Yu clicks his tongue. Two more. This just got a lot harder.
From behind him, Li Xiaoyi shouts, "Come on! You've got this!"
Those words hit different. Jang Yu is instantly fired up, adrenaline surging. He kicks off the ground and launches himself at the specters. Blades come down hard, but Jang Yu snaps his shadow wire taut and swings clear.
The second specter isn't slow. It brings both blades down right at him. Midair, nowhere to dodge. This is bad.
In a flash of quick thinking, he fires a shadow wire. It wraps around the specter's blades and locks them in place. The specter can't move. Two slashes cut through the air. His claws rake across both specters' throats. Blood sprays.
He glances back, a little smug. "Not so easy to kill me, is it?"
A purple figure materializes behind him and drives a blade into his shoulder. Blood pours out. Searing pain explodes through his shoulder. Something rises in his throat. He can't hold it back. A mouthful of red. He tucks into a forward roll, barely dodging the follow-up strike.
He triggers shadow form's passive regeneration, his mind racing. They're coordinating. Two to pin him down, one to strike. He has to take one out first.
He flings his arm. A shadow wire shoots straight at the specter. The twin blade specter tilts its head slightly and steps aside without effort.
Jang Yu's expression shifts. It read him.
All three specters move at once, closing in from every angle, each one from a different direction. He throws his claws up to block, gritting his teeth. They're not giving him a single opening to slip into the shadows. His HP bar is dropping fast. At this rate, he's not going to make it.
Suddenly one of the specters blinks behind him. Jang Yu doesn't react, because this is exactly what he wanted.
The specter's blade connects and Jang Yu is sent flying, but midair he locks eyes on the specter.
Pursuit hunt. Mark activated. Since your last video upload, your infamy has increased. Mark duration extended to three seconds. During this window, the marked target is seized by fear and temporarily loses the ability to think. Countdown begins.
Golden light floods Jang Yu's body. He fires shadow wires that bind the oncoming specters in place. He hurls one into the others. Both go flying. He plants his foot and drives both claws down with every ounce of strength he has.
The specter takes a devastating hit. Its HP bar crashes to seven percent. A red weak point flares up on its body. Jang Yu reaches out and seizes it.
"Shadow execute," he murmurs, cold and quiet.
The specter lets out a blood curdling shriek. And in that same instant, the three-second window expires.
He pulls his arm free and looks down at the fallen specter. And then something extraordinary happens. The gash across his back begins to close on its own.
He stares at his crackling, electricity-laced claws. "Your turn, you two. One strike, one kill."
The remaining two twin blade specters freeze, watching their companion get erased in an instant. Something in them falters. Neither dares to move.
Jang Yu grins. "What's wrong? You were so confident a second ago. If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
He launches himself forward like a coiled spring.
A flash of light cuts through the darkness nearby. Jang Yu blinks. Light in the shadow realm.
Then a strange impulse stirs inside him. An urge to lunge at it like an aberrant would. The two specters can't suppress the pull either. They break away and charge straight toward the light.
Then a gust of force, and one of them simply detonates in midair.
Night Watch Captain Sheng Qing'an steps forward, eternal flame blazing in his hand. Two agents flanking him.
Sheng Qing'an raises his left hand. Green light gathers and condenses in his palm. The hand is pointing at him. Jang Yu's entire body tenses. "Hold it!" he shouts. "I'm on your side."
At that moment, the last remaining specter creeps up behind Sheng Qing'an, about to strike. Sheng Qing'an raises one finger. The specter explodes.
Jang Yu's jaw drops. One finger. Just one. So that's what Night Watch is capable of. If that had hit him earlier, he'd be gone.
He steps forward and grabs the nearest agent's hand. "Any later and I'd have wrapped this up myself."
The sunglasses man blinks. "My apologies for the delay. And you are?"
Jang Yu waves it off. "Doesn't matter who I am. The girl over there is hurt. Take care of her."
Li Xiaoyi perks up. "Wait. Weren't you going to take me home?"
Jang Yu strikes what he clearly thinks is a very cool pose. "That was a joke. A Night Watch operative like me. Duty always comes first." He gives a casual wave. "She's in your hands."
And then he melts into the shadow on the floor and is gone.
Sheng Qing'an frowns. "Do we have anyone named Shadow in the watch?"
The sunglasses man looks at his hand. "There's a streamer who's been blowing up lately. Shadow type ability from the look of it. Not especially powerful. Probably around rank one."
A glint crosses Sheng Qing'an's eyes. He looks down at the eternal flame in his hand. "I'm holding a fire this size. Where exactly was there any shadow left for him to sink into?"