The smell of black blood and the scent of cold iron filled Kagemitsu Weapons Shop. After defeating a dozen zombies inside the shop, the four of them immediately worked together to drag the corpses into a corner. They planned to use the remaining wooden tables and metal cabinets to patch up the front door, which had been smashed through.
Uncle Kagemitsu brought several bottles of drinking water and bandages from the back room. Daiki restocked his arrows from a storage drawer, while Kazuki inspected the straps securing the thick iron skillet to his left arm.
"The front door is badly damaged," Kazuki said, wiping the sweat from his face. "If we want to spend the night here, we need some strong supports."
"Let's use the display cabinets on the second floor to block the gap," Daiki replied.
Renjiro had just sheathed his swords when he suddenly stopped moving. His eyes stared straight toward the highway outside the shop.
His expression grew tense.
"Wait," Renjiro whispered. "Listen."
They all fell silent at once. From outside the quiet shop came a sudden, powerful vibration that traveled through the tiled floor.
DUM... DUM... DUM...
That wasn't the sound of ordinary zombie footsteps. These were the footsteps of something gigantic and incredibly heavy, shaking even the shards of glass on the checkout counter.
The intensely fishy stench of rotting flesh suddenly entered the shop, overpowering the smells of wood and iron around them.
"That smell..." Daiki's eyes widened behind his two-toned hair (yellow/black). "The fish monster from the market earlier!"
"There's more than one," Renjiro cut in coldly. His hands immediately tightened around the hilts of both katanas. "There are two."
DHOOOMMM!
The shop's wooden wall and front door frame exploded apart!
Two gigantic monsters burst inside at the same time. The impact of their bodies knocked down the shop's support pillars, sending dust and splinters of wood flying everywhere.
GROAAAARRRR-GSHHHH!
The two monsters stood upright in the middle of the shop's main hall. Their bodies were enormous, resembling adult polar bears with incredibly thick shoulders. Their entire hides were covered in slick, wet blackish-gray scales. Gills along their wide necks and jaws constantly leaked thick black fluid. Both their hands had transformed into huge, muscular fins tipped with sharply curved claws.
"Split up!" Renjiro shouted quickly. "Kazuki, Daiki, hold off the monster on the left! Uncle Kagemitsu, help me finish the one on the right!"
"Got it!" Kazuki shouted back.
A fierce battle erupted inside the shop's ruins!
The first fish monster on the left immediately whipped its fin, destroying a wooden sword rack, then leaped at Kazuki!
Kazuki didn't flinch. He planted a solid stance on the floor, angled his body, and raised his iron skillet shield to absorb the monster's charge!
DHOOOMMM!
The impact sounded like a cannon blast. Kazuki was shoved two meters backward, his shoes scraping harshly across the floor, but his skillet shield held against the monster's claws and fangs!
"Daiki, fire now!" Kazuki yelled, bracing against the monster's push with all his strength.
Daiki, already standing on top of the checkout counter, pulled the string of his composite bow as hard as he could.
TWANG! TWANG!
Two steel-tipped arrows shot forward at high speed. With astonishingly precise aim, the first arrow lodged straight into the monster's left eye, while the second pierced the gill slit in its neck!
GROAAARRRGH!
The fish monster roared in pain as black blood sprayed from its neck. Its massive body immediately staggered and lost its balance.
Seeing his opening, Kazuki shoved his skillet shield forward. His right hand, fitted with a steel-studded knuckle guard, swung hard into the monster's lower jaw!
KRAK! DUB!
Kazuki's powerful punch shattered the scaly jaw. Before the monster could retaliate, Daiki jumped down and swung his steel-chain nunchaku with all his might. The brutal blow crushed the first monster's temple, killing it instantly on the floor.
At the same time, on the right side of the room, Renjiro and Uncle Kagemitsu faced the second fish monster with incredibly nimble movements.
This second monster moved faster. It swung its fin-claws sideways, slashing at anyone in front of it.
Uncle Kagemitsu moved calmly. He sidestepped, then drove the tip of his yari spear straight beneath the monster's throat!
JLEB!
Uncle Kagemitsu's spearpoint stopped the monster's advance and pinned its head in place for several seconds.
"Renjiro, finish it now!" Uncle Kagemitsu shouted, gripping the spear shaft tightly.
Renjiro shot forward from the side at incredible speed.
The pair of black katanas in his hands rose in a cross. He leaped over a wooden table, then unleashed a spinning double slash in midair!
SLAAASH!
Renjiro's blades cut through the joint of the monster's right fin, severing it and sending it crashing to the floor. Before the monster could bite, Renjiro landed on its back, reversed his katana grips downward, and drove both swords deep into the back of its head!
CRACK-JLEB!
Both blades pierced all the way through. The second monster's body convulsed for a moment, then collapsed onto the floor with a thunderous crash.
BRUUUKKK!
The shop fell silent again.
The four of them stood panting amid clouds of dust and pools of black blood spilling from the corpses of both monsters.
Kazuki leaned against the wall and lowered his iron skillet, now dented in the center. Daiki took a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then tucked his nunchaku back into his waistband.
Renjiro pulled both katanas from the monster's head, then wiped the black blood from the blades with a strip of bandage cloth.
KRAK... KREKKK...
Suddenly, the sound of splintering wood came from above the ceiling.
The shop's main wooden support pillar, struck by both monsters earlier, had apparently been badly cracked. The tiled roof on the second floor began to tilt, dropping splinters of wood onto the floor.
Uncle Kagemitsu stared sadly at his ruined shop.
"This place isn't safe anymore," Uncle Kagemitsu said softly. "The walls have collapsed, the roof is about to cave in, and the smell of this monster blood will definitely draw a lot more zombies here soon."
Renjiro looked around the wrecked main hall, then nodded in agreement. This place could no longer be used as shelter.
"Take all the arrows, spare weapons, and food that remains," Renjiro ordered firmly. "We have to leave now."
Uncle Kagemitsu picked up his supply bag and gripped his spear tightly. Daiki and Kazuki quickly strapped their food packs and water bottles to their backs.
With their weapons ready and enough supplies in hand, the four of them stepped out through the wreckage of the shop's front entrance.
They left Kagemitsu Weapons Shop behind and made their way along the ruined Shinjuku highway, searching for a safer new shelter in the middle of the danger-filled city.