Eight's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Eight crouched on the weathered stone ledge of the old clock tower, watching the red-haired man below. One target. One name on the list. Eight had never missed, and tonight would be no different. Every defector from Luna Eclipsed would be closed out, one by one, and this was the first. Eight stepped off the ledge and into the pocket dimension. The world folded. They reappeared on the cracked sidewalk, directly in One's path. The katana stayed sheathed. The shadow demon coiled tighter around their shoulders. One stopped. His eyes hardened. He knew the mask. He flicked open the lion-faced lighter without a word. A plume of black fire bloomed from the flame, curling upward in sharp tongues, eating the air. "Not yet," One said, flat. "But close enough." Eight slipped sideways into the pocket dimension as the blackfire swallowed the spot where they had stood. Through the thin veil they felt the heat warp the street. One's shape changed inside the bloom — taller, heavier, a mane of black flame, a lion's jaw. Leona stepped out where One had been. Eight teleported back. They landed behind her, katana drawn in one clean motion. The blade caught the streetlight. Leona turned, slow, smiling with too many teeth. Cracks spread in the concrete under her paws. The fight had started, and Eight's record was still intact — for now.