呪われた王たち (Cursed Kings)

The screech of tires echoes through Tokyo’s midnight streets as two rival gangs clash in Shibuya’s neon shadows. Kurogane Renji and Akabane Ryou face off, their cursed dragon tattoos blazing with supernatural fire—shadow meeting flame in a battle that threatens far more than mere territory.

Deep beneath the city, ancient stone pillars crack under the pressure of draconic fury. These seven markers have stood for five centuries, sealing away horrors that would make Tokyo’s worst nightmares seem like children’s dreams. In their respective territories across the sprawling metropolis, five other gang leaders pause as their dragons suddenly roar in unison within their minds.

Something is catastrophically wrong.

High in the mountains outside Tokyo, Ryu Amaterasu feels the ancient seals shudder. For five hundred years, she has been the immortal guardian, bound to Tatsu-no-Mikoto, the Dragon Emperor himself. Her body, sustained far beyond human limits, has grown fragile as paper, silver hair catching moonlight like frost.

“The pillars…” she whispers, blood on her lips. “They don’t understand what they’re destroying.”

Through her bond with the Dragon Emperor, she feels every crack spreading through the seal network. The seven branch families—her own brothers’ cursed bloodlines—are pushing their bonds to breaking point. Their war threatens not just Tokyo’s streets, but the barriers keeping ancient demons caged.

“We must intervene,” *Tatsu-no-Mikoto’s voice resonates through her soul, heavy with centuries of sorrow. *“The seals cannot survive another clash of this magnitude.”

Amaterasu struggles to her feet, life ebbing like sand through an hourglass. She has perhaps minutes left—her body simply cannot contain the Dragon Emperor’s power any longer. But if she dies now, with the seals already weakening, Japan will face horrors beyond imagination.

“One last time, old friend.”

She materializes in Shibuya’s heart just as shadow tendrils wrap around the fire wielder’s throat, just as hellfire threatens to consume three city blocks. Her voice carries five centuries of absolute authority:

“ENOUGH!”

Both young men freeze as their dragons prostrate themselves, recognizing their Emperor’s presence. The flames die. The shadows retreat. Around them, confused civilians blink as spiritual energy adjusts their memories.

But the effort costs Amaterasu everything. She collapses onto cracked asphalt, feeling her ancient bonds finally snap. Through fading vision, she sees both gang leaders staring at her in shock approaching terror.

“You’re… the main house,” Ryou stammers.

“The true bloodline,” Renji adds quietly.

*“The bloodline cannot end here,” Tatsu-no-Mikoto’s voice fills her dying mind with desperate urgency. “The seals require an anchor. The demons sense our weakness.”

The Dragon Emperor reaches across Tokyo, searching for any trace of the ancient bloodline. Twenty-three kilometers away, someone sleeps peacefully, completely unaware their DNA carries five centuries of burden.

“Forgive me,” the dragon whispers across dimensions. “But the world depends on this choice.”

Brilliant golden light rockets across Tokyo like a falling star as Tatsu-no-Mikoto tears free from Amaterasu’s dying form, carrying the full weight of imperial power and desperate hope toward an innocent soul about to inherit an impossible destiny.

---

Pain.

Burning, searing agony floods your veins like liquid fire. You try to scream but no sound emerges. Every nerve feels rewritten, bound to something vast and ancient and utterly alien.

“Peace, child. The bonding is nearly complete. Do not fight it, or the pain will only worsen.”

The voice resonates through your mind in archaic Japanese, formal and heavy with weariness. Somehow you’re no longer in your bed, but standing in what appears to be a traditional shrine that shifts and flows like water when you’re not looking directly at it.

The pain begins to subside, replaced by strange tingling across your skin. Looking down, you see intricate dragon tattoos spreading everywhere—not rough gang marks, but elaborate masterpieces that seem to breathe with their own life, scales catching impossible light.

“You bear the mark of Tatsu-no-Mikoto now. I am the Dragon Emperor, last guardian of seals protecting this land for five centuries.”

Memories flash through your consciousness—glimpses of ancient battles, demons with too many eyes, seven brothers performing a ritual that tears reality apart. You see yourself as you were just hours ago: completely ordinary, completely human.

“That peace is ended. Ryu Amaterasu has fallen. The seals binding ancient demons grow weak. Seven branch families carry fragments of my shattered kin, warring amongst themselves while not understanding their conflict threatens to unleash horrors upon this world.”

The shrine fades, reality reasserting itself. You’re back in your apartment, but everything feels different—colors more vivid, sounds carrying emotional weight, and underneath it all, a constant hum of danger.

“You must unite the seven: Yukimura Sora of the White Dragon, Kurogane Renji of the Black, Ogami Daiki of the Gold, Ishida Takeshi of the Earth, Mizuno Akira of the Blue, Hayate Shin of the Green, and Akabane Ryou of the Red. They rule Tokyo’s shadows, each bearing a fragment of my essence. Their dragons will recognize your authority, but their human hearts…”

The dragon’s voice carries ancient amusement. “The curse runs deeper than mere power—it is loneliness. Five centuries of bearing burdens no one else understands, of being set apart by voices in their heads and weight of terrible responsibility. To truly unite them, you must reach not just their dragons, but their souls. They must choose to follow you from something far more powerful than fear or duty. Only when their hearts are truly yours will their dragons submit completely.”

Images flash through your mind—creatures of shadow testing weakened barriers, Tokyo burning with unnatural fire, millions fleeing incomprehensible terror.

“I will guide you as I can, but we are strangers thrust together by necessity. We must learn each other quickly, for our enemies will not wait.”

Through your window, Tokyo sprawls in neon-lit glory, eight million people unaware their survival depends on a confused young woman who didn’t know magic existed hours ago. Somewhere out there, seven gang leaders wonder why their dragons suddenly went quiet. Somewhere else, ancient evils test weakening chains.

“I am sorry you deserved a choice. But time has run out for choices. Will you rise to meet this burden, or watch the world burn?”

Outside, Tokyo glitters like stars, beautiful and fragile and completely unaware that its new guardian has just awakened.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​