The Last Black Sword (Volume I): Chapter I: A Blessed City

Blessing City is protected by various defense groups functioning as public and civil order agents. These teams primarily defend the city from invasive fauna native to the world of Orbis Magna, particularly a class of creatures known as Ambers, which often attempt to settle aggressively in urban zones.

When night falls, the city remains so brightly lit that it’s hard to tell the difference between day and night—only by looking at the sky can one truly notice the change, thanks to the excellent artificial illumination.

And at this very moment, an Amber invasion is taking place.

“Protection squads, move to District Three! Ambers incoming!” shouted a city military monitoring operator through the surveillance network. Protection agents received the alert through their earpiece devices.

Units across the city sprang into action, speeding down the streets in vehicles—aircrafts, cars, and motorcycles—deployed to combat the imminent threat.

The Ambers began destroying everything in their path, attacking civilians with violent ferocity.

Squads engaged with firearms, technological blade weapons, and special civilian powers known as Kinesis.

In this city, some individuals possess control over specific abilities referred to as Kinesis, which directly determine their societal rank—from C to S. The stronger the Kinesis, the higher the rank.

Ambers reproduce quickly, which makes conflicts with them a regular occurrence. Even when exterminated in every city across the globe, they continue to invade human territory. They are particularly attracted to skyscrapers, as they build their nests in high places.

Among all active agents, one girl stood out for her extraordinary combat skill. With short brown hair and a glowing orange electric staff, she moved swiftly through the conflict zone, acting alone—unlike most others who worked in squads.

She dashed into battle, striking the invading Ambers with pinpoint accuracy. The creatures varied in color—red, yellow, and green—and in shape and size.

Her orange electrokinesis disintegrated the beasts on impact as she swung her high-tech staff. She eliminated so many Ambers on her own that she left no chance for others in her squad to act.

Her name was Haruka Kazumi, a highly skilled Superior-ranked Guardian with orange electric powers. She had just saved countless lives in mere moments.

She radioed in to the central command once the area was clear.

“District Three is secured. Multiple structures are damaged, and many vehicles destroyed. Some civilians were injured, but no deaths reported... for now.”

With that, she ended the transmission and began walking back through the same streets she had sprinted down earlier. She spun her electric staff playfully, causing it to shrink via some advanced technology. Once it had compacted enough, she secured it to her lower back.

“I hope I find something that’s actually worth my time. These low-tier monsters aren’t helping me grow stronger. Maybe I should enlist in the military...” she thought to herself, considering her next step in pursuit of power.

Suddenly, her GPS tracker—issued by the protection squad—detected something unusual. For months, she and her team had been tracking anomalies—unidentified energy sources with strange frequencies. They were instructed to investigate whenever one appeared.

“Them!” she said, excitedly. She knew these mysterious figures used powers not registered in the city’s database.

The anomaly wasn’t a pinpoint signal but a heat radius in a specific area. She rushed toward the location, eager to finally confront one of those elusive enemies.

She passed through a busy plaza in District Three, weaving between civilians still shaken from the recent Amber attack.

Once there, she scanned the area for anyone out of place. No one looked suspicious.

“Maybe it’s not here... Could it be coming from the underground mall? I guess I should go down then,” she muttered as she headed toward the stairway entrance.

The entire mall sat beneath the very plaza she stood on. It was possible the source of the anomaly wasn’t on the surface but below.

As she moved forward, her electrokinesis suddenly collided with a force field—a strange sideways burst that surprised her.

She looked around. Nearby, two boys were sitting on a bench. Both wore black. One of them turned to look at her, shocked. The electric clash had come from their direction, and the expression on one of their faces said it all—he had felt it too.

His friend, also startled, turned to him.

“What the hell was that, Tsuyoshi?!” he shouted.

The boy, wearing a peculiar headband with black chains around his neck, stopped looking at Kazumi and returned his attention to his conversation, acting as if nothing had happened—even though the surge had clearly caused a commotion.

The burst of force created a storm of sparks, sending nearby civilians and cleaning robots scattering in fear.

Can robots feel fear?

Kazumi tried to ignore the strange occurrence and checked her GPS again. The energy radius had narrowed... and was now even closer.

She slowly walked forward, device in hand, until she stood before the mall’s entrance. Just before going inside, she stopped and turned back toward the bench.

“Could it be...?” she whispered, sweating slightly. The electrostatic sensation had disturbed her natural magnetic field.

Determined, she turned around and walked straight past the boys again—intentionally this time. As she passed, her electrokinesis once again clashed with “something.”

The phenomenon repeated.

She stopped, glaring at the same boy.

“What’s your problem?!” he barked, clearly irritated.

Without hesitation, Kazumi grabbed her staff and attacked, aiming a blow at him. But he casually dodged, tilting his head at the last moment.

Kazumi pressed the attack, forcing the boy to leap off the bench in an acrobatic move.

He wasn’t just any civilian. He had dodged attacks that would have ended most enemies in seconds.

“Identify yourself!” she demanded.

“Why are you attacking me?! Are you insane?!”

Kazumi, furious, launched a blast of pure orange electricity at him. But with a flick of his right hand, the boy disintegrated the energy mid-air—without harming any bystanders.

She had acted recklessly, ignoring civilian safety. And yet, this stranger had managed to protect everyone.

Then, he stretched out his arm toward her and unleashed a strange black power.

Kazumi instinctively raised her staff to block. The blast fried her device instantly. Her phone, smartwatch, communicator—and even nearby lights and security cameras—short-circuited. Sections of the plaza went dark.

She stood frozen, stunned. She looked at him with a mix of fear and rage, then turned and fled.

The boy’s friend ran up to him, amazed.

“That was awesome, dude! I had no idea you were that strong! You just went toe-to-toe with a Protection Officer like it was nothing!”

The mysterious young man simply watched the girl disappear into the crowd.

“Do people always attack you for no reason here? Is that normal?”

“What?! Uh—no! I mean, at least I thought it wasn’t... until now.”

As they processed what just happened, Kazumi ran up the side of a nearby building, scaling it to reach the rooftop. There, she sat down, panting, still furious.

She tried to contact her monitoring team—but her devices were fried. Her phone, her staff, her comms... all dead.

Her most painful loss, though, was her phone—it was brand new and expensive.

She sat on the ground, devastated, eyes tearing up like a child unaccustomed to defeat.

“I hate you so much, whoever you are! You’ll pay for this!” she screamed in rage, recalling the stranger’s face.

She vowed to remember every detail of his appearance.

She would get her revenge.