Sanemi examined his surroundings, exiting the start room. "It looks like we're in some sort of city? And that gigantic freak's inching closer to us..", he said, eyes locked onto the figure away from the city.
"Everything looks so dystopian!", Mitsuri said, seeing the architecture of the buildings. "It's so cool!"
"It's just buildings, Mitsuri.", Obanai sighed as he walked forward. As he did, three Strays spawned on some sort of stage, but there was something off about them. Their bodies were modified, almost robotic in some areas. A cannon replaced their right arm, and most of their right side was cybernetic. "That's different.."
The Soldiers charged up their cannon and fired a spray of orbs at Obanai rather than the trademark singular projectile. Caught off-guard by this, two orbs grazed Obanai's clothes, but he managed to deflect most of them quickly. "They just had to make you things stronger..", Obanai sighed, concentrating his breathing.
"Serpent Breathing, First Form: Winding Serpent Slash!"
Obanai stepped forward, giving himself momentum before slicing apart a Soldier's arm cannon. His blade aimed for its neck next, and it reached its target in less than a second. "At least your neck doesn't have protection.."
Obanai decapitated the Soldier, as he used its body to shield himself from the second spray of projectiles coming at him. Rengoku dealt with the first one, while Mitsuri finished off the second. The Hashira traversed through the city, soon finding a small electrical box mounted on a wall.
"So, the point of this is..?", Sanemi asked, looking at it curiously. It fizzled with electricity for a small moment.
"It could be a puzzle, like the skulls and pedestals.", Shinobu said. "Why not try breaking it?"
"Why would it be a puzzle? It just looks like a normal electricity box to me.", Sanemi replied.
"Just try it. There's no harm in breaking it, right?"
"Tch, whatever you say.", Sanemi scoffed, slicing apart the electrical box. As soon as he did, two Soldiers spawned nearby, along with two rapidly approaching Streetcleaners. "Huh, you might be on to something.."
A Soldier shot a burst of orbs at Rengoku, the latter deflecting a projectile into a Streetcleaner's gas tank, blowing it up and evaporating both Soldiers and the other Streetcleaner. "My precision's better than I thought!", he beamed.
As they left the area, they went out searching for more electrical boxes. Giyu jumped on a bounce pad, which launched him to another box. He stabbed it with his sword, summoning three Soldiers and a Malicious Face.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux."
Giyu charged toward the demons, constantly slashing and deflecting the stream of projectiles made by the Face and the Soldiers. His body twisted and turned as it sliced apart the Soldiers while also evading several orbs. A water dragon manifested as Giyu finished off the final Soldier, now turning and rushing at the Malicious Face. It charged up a yellow orb in its mouth, signaling its laser attack. However, Giyu got to it quickly enough and sliced it apart before it could fire its attack, the water dragon rushing into it in his eyes. Giyu fell to the ground gracefully, as the Malicious Face did so as well, creating a small rumble in the ground.
"Right, where next?", Tengen said to himself as he saw Giyu finish off the Maurice. He looked inside several houses, before finding an electrical box in one and a skeleton on a bed.
"Sorry to barge into your home uninvited, but I need to destroy this..", Tengen said to the skeleton as he broke the box with his fist. He heard the telltale sound of a Cerberus awakening, along with other enemies spawning. He left the house to see himself cornered by a Cerberus and four Soldiers. "Let's do this."
"Love Breathing, Sixth Form: Cat-Legged Winds of Love!"
Mitsuri's blade extended and unleashed an arced slash, decapitating all Soldiers at once. While returning back, it struck the Cerberus, turning the demon's attention to her. Mitsuri tried to strike the Cerberus with a winding slash, however, it was caught by the Cerberi's firm grip. The Cerberus yanked it, launching Mitsuri into it.
"Sound Breathing, First Form: Roar!"
As it was about to punch Mitsuri back, it was slammed into the ground by Tengen's blades, consequently turning into rubble. Tengen offered Mitsuri a hand and helped her up. "I could've handled that myself, you know."
"Sorry!", Mitsuri replied, dusting off her kimono. "I was just worried, you know?"
"It's fine, let's just go back. I heard something open."
Turning back, Tengen saw a previously locked door now open, leading to a hallway that soon led them to a tall, dark room with a spiral staircase wrapped around a large glass pillar emitting a yellow glow, with a giant deadly fan spinning far below. Entering the checkpoint, a Malicious Face spawned, before Tengen jumped onto it and slammed it into the ground using his legs, instantly defeating it. Shinobu entered the room soon after, carrying a tired Muichiro.
"Is he asleep?", Tengen asked, looking at Muichiro's peaceful rest.
"Yes, he just needs some rest right now.", Shinobu replied. "Let's go, I'll cover your back."
Tengen took the lead while Shinobu watched for any enemies behind him. As they made it to the middle of the staircase, four Drones and four Streetcleaners appeared, blocking their path. With a precise throw, Tengen threw his blades at a Drone, ricocheting off of it and hitting another Drone, a Streetcleaner, another Drone, another Streetcleaner, and so on before it boomeranged back to Tengen, the room cleared.
"It's good to give these things a flashy end!", Tengen smiled before continuing to ascend upward. Soon, they made it to a new area; a bracket-shaped hallway that connects the staircase and the second block. Upon entering, two Soldiers spawned to greet the Hashira, firing projectiles at them which Tengen sent back using Constant Resounding Slashes.
"This is a lovely view..", Shinobu said, looking down at the city lights below her. "I wish Muichiro could see this!"
Tengen traversed forward, coming across an open-air section with a parallel platform. Three Soldiers spawned on this platform, as they blasted the duo with orbs from far away.
"How will we reach them?", Shinobu asked, gracefully evading between the attacks. Tengen pulled out the Piercer and fired a piercing shot at all three, killing them one by one. "I honestly forgot I had this!", he admitted.
Walking through the see-through hallway once more, they were rushed by four Filths and two Streetcleaners. Shinobu poisoned the Filths whenever she had the chance, while Tengen dealt with the Streetcleaners as he evaded their flames. Once they were finished with this encounter, they entered through a checkpoint and a door, taking them to a new room. Inside was some sort of weapon being held in a suspended light cylinder. As Tengen took it, an entry opened in front of them revealing five Strays in a straight line. Tengen fired the weapon at the Strays, shooting out a strong electric bolt that killed the husks in an instant. "Jeez, this thing's strong.."
Holding his new weapon, he walked through the hallway and entered another part of the city, where two Strays, Soldiers, and a singular Schism greeted them. Tengen aimed the Railcannon at them once more, but it seemed to be cooling down, as it didn't fire anything. As a result, he was totally unprepared for the onslaught of projectiles that were launched at him.
"Mist Breathing, Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash."
In an instant, the attacks were redirected back at the husks, splattering blood all over the pavement. Muichiro sheathed his blade back, holding onto his leg.
"Muichiro? You're awake?", Tengen asked, seeing him in a seemingly perfect condition.
"Yeah, I just woke up. What did I miss..?", he replied, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "What is this place? Some sort of city?"
"That's what it seems like.", Shinobu replied. "The architecture here is rather impressive."
"Oh.. and that thing?", Muichiro said, pointing at the far away giant.
"Yeah, we don't really have any idea what that is either.", Tengen replied. "It's one hell of a demon, though."
"Jeez, I missed a lot..", Muichiro muttered, walking around the city. "What are we supposed to be doing now?"
"Find electrical boxes and destroy them; it'll help us progress.", Tengen said. Muichiro shrugged. "Whatever you say.."
Muichiro entered inside a random house. Inside, four Filths and a single Soldier spawned, making Muichiro grab the hilt of his sword. "This seems easy enough.."
He dashed forward, slicing apart the Filths and coming face to face with the Soldier. As it charged up its cannon hand, Muichiro decapitated its head with a single slice. He walked upstairs, searching for any electrical boxes that Tengen mentioned. He didn't find any, but he did find a book on a table. Its contents contained someone named "Gabriel" slaying someone named "Minos". Muichiro was confused, but he kept it in his pocket, just in case. He went downstairs to meet up with the others.
Meanwhile, Shinobu found and pierced an electrical box that was to the right of the exit door. She heard a Cerberus awaken nearby and sighed. "This'll be troublesome.."
She went out of the area to see a Cerberus slowly walking towards her. She readied her blade and pointed it at the demon.
"Insect Breathing, First Form: Butterfly Dance, Caprice!"
Shinobu jumped in the air and dived down at the Cerberus, piercing its body with multiple stabs in one that injected deadly amounts of poison in it. It turned around before its body started shaking, and it turned into rubble. "Huh, easier than I thought.."
Just then, a projectile grazed her knee; a Malicious Face was behind her. It charged up its yellow laser and fired at Shinobu, the latter attempting to dodge out of the way but the explosion knocked her to the ground before she picked herself up and dashed at the Face.
"Insect Breathing, Second Form: Dance of the Bee Sting, True Flutter!"
Her blade stabbed through the Maurice, as she took it out and stabbed it multiple other times, effectively killing it as it dropped to the ground with a slight shockwave. "Whew, that was close.."
Meanwhile, Tengen spotted a box on top of a building, so he scaled it to get to the top. As he broke it, five Drones spawned around him, cornering him. They all shot a burst of projectiles at him at the same time.
"Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes!"
Tengen swung his blades to meet every single orb, deflecting them back at the Drones as explosions surrounded his movements in his eyes. Once he was done, all that was left was a pool of blood on the ground. "That looked and felt amazing! As expected from the God of Festivals!", he said, clapping for himself. He spotted yet another electrical box in the distance. As he walked in its direction, three Soldiers and a Malicious Face spawned nearby. So, he breezed through the Soldiers, slashing them into bits one by one, and brought down the Face once he reached it. With that, he stabbed the box, destroying it and opening a previously locked door.
"Hm?", Muichiro muttered, coincidentally being next to the door as he saw the final bar disappear. It opened, revealing the red door which opened as well. "Oh, they must've found the last one.."
Shinobu met up with Muichiro and walked inside with him. She smiled. "Ready when you are."
"Shouldn't we wait for the others first?", Muichiro asked.
"I'm sure they'll catch up soon! Now, shall we?"
"Whatever you say..", Muichiro sighed as he jumped down, Shinobu following shortly after. Tengen soon jumped down as well, and the other Hashira finally made it to the red door.
"You mean they've already left this place?", Sanemi sighed.
"Whatever, let's just go down already..", Obanai replied, as the other Hashira soon descended another level.
2-2: COMPLETE
RANK: P