今日天晴。我帶備獵槍，調整偽裝系統至「晴天」，出發進行第8497次的版圖拓展及狩獵務任。

出發前，我如常到中央登出作離線模式。碰巧看到「犇」剛剛完成恆常任務回來。彼此沒打招呼就分開了。反正我跟她不算熟絡。

離開「城」後，我打開預先上載的資料檔，鎖定目標地後開動自動導航及BGM功能，我正式進行今天恆常任務。

「玄二！明天不是期考嗎？你打算玩手遊到….」

系統又出現奇怪雜訊，還是不能放著不管，回中央後要申請進行一次冼底更新。

「晴，到醫院前麻煩幫我買些孕婦產後進補食品，畢竟沙朗今次生產….」

慢著！孕婦是甚麽？生產又代表甚麽？

管不了那麼多。反正肯定都是一些不明不白、沒有來由的雜訊罷了，不是人類所能理解通用的語言或資訊。

不過出現頻率這麼高，回中央最好還是先上報。

「！！」

前方有「獸」出現，立即進入攻擊模式。

「…….」前方的生物凝視着我，異様的目光跟之前遇上的「獸」有所不同。由於系統貞測不到生物的敵意，我只把它鎖定但並未進行射擊。

「….. 你….. 難道….. 不認得我了嗎？晴！」生物用人類的語言向我發問。由於確認不到對方意圖，先行把它消滅吧。

射擊模式啟動！

500years ago, when the legendary,  Tenshin Yumeichro, had created his pioneering swordsmanship that fascinated not just the whole Yamato but the Divinity, a Kami in the form of a Dragon was described to have been descending from the sky and Enlightened him.

From then on, he founded the Ten-Ryu Dojo with countless dedicated followers in seek of perfection in martial art as well as philosophy. And in each generation, a Successor would be selected in order to lead the Dojo and to inherit the Legacies as well- the precious Holy Sword and the moment that allow the Successor to communicate with the Dragon, the Enlightenment which grants one the Power and Wisdom of The Divinity.

Today, the Leader of the 5th generation of Ten-Ryu Dojo is invited by the Yoshie Clan to uphold their Justice by execution of a lynching against their nemesis, the Okada Clan for the accusations of murdering and enslaving their clan members.

Sora needs to choose between whether to act righteousness in the expense of facing the challenge from her best friend, Haru, or to compromise Justice for the sake of friendship and love.

Yet Fate is sadly irreversible and what was planned by IT can never be alterable.

Until Sora has discovered the true identity of herself and the conspiracy, what would she do to strive against all odds and tragic lay ahead?

Thank you so much to Slashiy (social link below) for hosting the great fanart contest. This short story is based on the original character “Sora” owned by Slashiy and my submission for the contest “SoraSpring”.

https://x.com/slashiyy?s=21&t=qdgWJ0NwtLoQcpFaDWafgg

2023年的夏天，炎熱的一個中午，於新宿一楝時尚的精品酒店內擧辦著一場名牌時裝義賣籌款秀。 但當中加插了一段特備「人質挾持」節目，而演出者並非一般人-甚至不是人類，而是自稱「三柱」之一的惡鬼：大天狗。

儘管派出你們自稱精英的「獵犬」來吧！我將預告「三柱」的齊集，「大召喚」即將降臨，惡魔時代的篇章會用人類的血與悲嗚作為引子！

「東京對魔特別行動組」立即派出組內精英成員，連同「日美對魔聯盟」的特派註日成員一同進行營救行動。但正當部隊磨拳擦掌準備大幹一場之時，現場除了人質與「大天狗」外，還有兩名同樣手持對魔用兵器「召喚除魔刃」（EVOKER) 的「召喚士」（SUMMONER)在場正進行一場人對魔、魔對魔的大對決。

營救最後以「大天狗」休戰及一場大爆炸而終結，雖然人質全數安全救出，但「柱」所下的戰書已經為歷時數年人魔大戰的一方帶來史無前例的威攝和震撼。散落在世界各地、人類的唯一希望「召喚士」們，會否攜手合作，共同對抗外敵，還是繼續各持己見，為自身目的而戰？

歴史遺下的傷痕和毒害，魔化的人性或是人化的魔性，青春的熾熱與死亡的餘溫，一場場人與魔的群像戲將在此上映。

Human!

History has taught us that

We will fight each other just for food for survival

We will fight for wealth and honor

We will even fight for justice and rights

dignity and pride!

But this time, we fight for nothing else but PEACE!

造物主在創造萬物時，或許已經在不同「產品」中留有「編碼」以備隨時隨心「升級」、「更新」-以現代科學的說法可解讀為「進化」吧。

如果「人」是祂最後的作品，說不定我們自身內都存在一組編碼，等待著某個契機、某個誘發點、經由「更新管理器」Update Manager 的啓動，你我都有機會執行「補丁」。

In the year of 2023, humans will have to face their ultimate NEMESIS, Demons. Invaders from a reign of unknown dimension threaten every lives in the world we live.

At the same time, there emerge Humans with enigmatic weapons which are capable to summon Demons of different characters and abilities, as their alliance.

With the invasion of demons becoming more and more vigorous, will the Summoners join force eventually to strive for the survival of mankind from extinction? Or will they keep on fighting for their own destined goals?

(All illustrations are drawn by myself. Visit my twitter account https://Twitter.com/pseudocamou to find out more)