~Daigo POV~
'Didn't think they'd act so soon.' I thought, gesturing for one of the captains to move into position across the giant courtyard the moment communications from the others outside went silent. 'That bitch must be desperate.'
The past few days had been hectic—forged letters and messages had arrived for some of my most trusted men. I chuckled at the memory, only to frown right after. They were rushed. Crude. Sloppy. It wasn't the work of a group that knew what they were doing—or maybe they just lacked experience when it came to targeting those loyal to a cause.
'Then again... they did succeed in bringing us together.'
After confirming that Mizuki and her group were behind the ploy, the rest of us agreed that it was the perfect time to strike. She wouldn't be able to send a large force, nor could she use methods that risked revealing her weakening grip on power.
In short, the manpower we had would crush whoever she dared send tonight. Afterward, we'd use the momentum to take the rest of the area.
'A solid—'
I froze as the air went still—seconds before the base shook, rocked by the sound of explosives going off.
'That bitch!'
More blasts followed, echoing through the rain, but I raised a hand to signal calm.
"Boss."
I glanced down at one of the captains.
"That woman's stunt might draw attention from spies in her own ranks. This could complicate our next move—especially once you take over."
I chuckled as the last of the explosions faded.
"We'll deal with that when the time comes."
He nodded, though his body twitched at the sound of distant thunder rolling in, followed by a cold downpour.
Tap
Tap
I turned toward one of the entrances.
Soft. Barely audible footsteps echoed through the courtyard—paired with the dragging sound of something heavy scraping against the ground.
Tap
Tap
I wasn't the only one hearing it now. All eyes turned to the source. Weapons readied. Muscles tensed.
'A kid?' I frowned.
A blood soaked boy—no older than thirteen or fourteen—stepped into the courtyard. Confusion rippled through the men, but my breath stopped as I looked down at what he was dragging.
"Pico-chan..."
I wasn't sure if he heard me.
But he looked straight at me.
And I knew—knew—something was wrong. Deeply wrong. His twitching, the drool running down his chin... he wasn't right in the head.
Then he threw Pico's body in front of us.
A gasp rippled through the ranks as the men recognized the corpse. He opened his arms wide, his grin splitting his face unnaturally—directed at us. At me.
(image)
"So many o' ya, huh?Heh—blood's gonna flood this bitch tonight…"
The confusion turned into a thick electric tension as he laughed, the sound manic—until my eyes snapped fully open.
He vanished from view.
Before anyone could react, he reappeared behind the closest men, Tanto in hand—and in one swift fluid motion, he decapitated four of them.
"What are you doing?! Attack!" I roared.
The shock vanished.
In its place, hate. Fury. Determination.
They charged—not just to kill, but to avenge.
To avenge my Pico and the lives taken.
'I will avenge you, my love—and take back Kumamoto.'
~Kazuya POV~
My body was cold and on fire at the same time. Like I was standing in flames while submerged in the coldest water.
Tanto in a reverse grip, I sliced off an arm and used it like a bat, slamming it into someone to knock them off balance. I let go of the limb, grabbed the staggering man by the neck and snapped it. I dropped low as a weapon cut through the space where I'd just been.
Exploding forward, I bear hugged another and threw them into the crowd—only to feel a blade skim across my shoulder. I grabbed it, snapped it in half and rammed the jagged edge into its wielder before forgetting them entirely and jamming my Tanto into someone else's chest.
My senses screamed from every direction—not just from the weapons and hands trying to bring me down, but from the light, the sound, the feel of everything my skin touched. It all hurt, but it felt so good.
Someone managed to grab hold of me.
I twisted.
Wrapped my legs around their neck and tensed.
Their arm snapped as I fell and I used the momentum in my legs to launch myself up to their head. My fist shot downward, crushing their throat—then I turned to someone swinging a bat at me like I was a rat to be squashed.
The world was melting at the edges of my vision. I couldn't tell if there were people there or not.
Then—blinding pain.
A katana ran through my neck.
I didn't scream.
I ripped it out, head lolling, body twitching. Somewhere, I heard gasps and shouts—but I ignored them. I grabbed the katana wielder by their wrists and snapped them both. Their scream was cut off as I slashed their stomach open, spilling hot life onto my hands.
Screams turned to static. Laughter bloomed in my chest. Only the blood coating my eyes kept me focused on what was ahead.
My foot crunched with a wet squelch—and I realized it wasn't grass.
It was someone's skull.
Steel flashed.
A dagger flew straight into my eye. Sight vanished from the left. I ripped it out, pain blooming—but the wound slowly, agonizingly, stitched itself closed.
Colors warped. The ground turned blue, the sky went green—then they pulsed back to normal.
A hook attached to a chain wrapped around my chest and then pierced my shoulder. The next thing I knew, I was airborne.
'So slow.'
Through the pain, time seemed to halt. The world couldn't keep up. I was too fast—too broken—for normalcy to bind me.
Boom.
Bones pierced my flesh as I slammed into the ground. The hook and chain still dug into me.
"I-is the freak dead?"
My eyes, which I hadn't realized were closed, snapped open.
The static was louder now.
I surged forward as my bones cracked back into place.
Skulls gave way.
Skulls gave way.
Skulls gave way beneath my strength.
I felt so free—
Crk.
Boom.
My organs turned to mush, sloshing inside me like half frozen soup—before solidifying again, hard and cold.
"Child."
Bones snapped back into place as a wet, meaty limb wrapped around my ankle and hoisted me upside down.
Upside down became right side up—only to feel like I was falling again.
"I see why that bitch used you. Slippery… like a cockroach."
I laughed. Spun. My leg broke where he held it—and I snapped a kick up into his chin with the other.
The world dimmed as my face slammed into the grass, sound fading to a dull throb while my leg stitched itself back together.
"Child, I am not like those you've faced before. I have strength granted to me by a being you could never understand."
I flipped myself over, face brushing wet, bloodied grass that stung against my skin. I exhaled slowly—deep red smoke drifting from my mouth.
"Are you so far gone that—"
"Can you shut the fuck up?"
I kicked up to my feet and noticed I was barefoot. Shrugging, I rolled my shoulders. More red smoke spilled out with another breath.
"Seems you're back to yourself, child."
I hummed, eyes locking on the giant in front of me.
A white kimono, green sash wrapped as an obi, held in place by a thick brown rope.
(image)
'That fat barely hides the power under it. He's massive—seven foot? Eight?'
"Why?"
His voice cracked. That's when I noticed—he was crying.
"Why did you kill my lover?"
I looked around.
Organs. Limbs. Flesh.
Everywhere.
"Why the fuck would you bring your lover here? Are you stupid?"
I turned back to him. His fists clenched.
Pop
A sick sound between his knuckles.
"I had him sent away. We knew Mizuki would send people. But I never expected them to arrive early, to kill him and drag his body here. In front of me."
I didn't bother guessing who it was.
Instead, I stretched—hoping to feel even a drop of that brew still in my blood.
'Most of it's bled out.' Not good. But at least my mind and senses were back.
"What promises did that witch give you, child? What lies did she tell you that made you go this far? To become a monster?"
I crouched and grabbed a broken katana—no handle, just jagged metal—and rested it on my shoulder as I stood.
"You were the previous leader of Kumamoto." I said, walking toward him. "Before the Elders showed up."
He walked forward too, silent, but I could see it building in his eyes.
"You want that power back."
I leaned forward, lowering the blade as I walked.
"I want to dismantle the Council of Elders. And I'm not sharing that glory."
He narrowed his eyes—and then he blitzed.
A kick that shattered the earth where I'd just been forced me to roll sideways.
"I see. Child… it's a shame we cannot stand together."
I slashed at his leg. Just a scratch.
"If you hadn't killed Pico, I would've kept you locked up. Waited until you came around to working with me."
I tilted back as a fist ripped through the rain, just clipping my ear.
Wrapping my legs around his arm, I climbed up to his shoulder—but his palm came for my head.
I let go, dropping lower just in time as the fist roared past my face and slammed into the ground, cracking it open with a thunderous impact.
'What freakish power.'
My heart pounded—adrenaline, fury, desire.
"You will not win like this, child."
Ignoring him, I braced myself as he surged toward me in a tackle stance. Before his tree trunk arms could wrap around me, I leapt and drove the katana through his eye. To my surprise, he ignored the pain, grabbing the blade before it could go any further.
"I see—" I gasped, but before I could back away, he wrapped an arm around my waist and clenched down like a vise. With a grunt, he snapped my spine and threw me to the ground. I felt my shoulder and arm shatter from the impact.
I bounced back just in time to see Daigo shift into a running stance, then slam into me like a battering ram. I was smashed into the ground again. 'I might actually die.' I thought as Daigo grabbed my head and slammed it back into the dirt.
I felt and heard my skull crack. My eye, which had been crushed when he slammed me into a partially destroyed tree, slowly began to close over the wound.
'Right...' I grinned as he wrapped his hand around my entire face.
"What's funny, child? Do you believe I can't put an end to you?"
My arms healed faster than ever before. In one swift motion, I ripped out two of my ribs. I could almost imagine the shock on his face as I drove one into his jaw. His grip loosened in pain — just enough for me to wedge the other rib between my head and his hand like a wedge and slip free.
I saw him rip the bone out, I dodged his front kick as it slammed into the ground. Sliding past his knee, I back kicked it, ignoring the minimal damage and drove the rib into the back of his Achilles tendon. The grunt of pain was all I needed.
I followed with a roundhouse kick to his heel, eliciting a sharper grunt as he toppled like a tree. Taking advantage, I drove the bone into his other tendon. He yelled in anger.
"You fu—"
I surged toward his head, dodging his heavy hand and landed a kick to his temple. I felt my foot crack from the force and the hardness of his skull.
"I will end—"
Ignoring him, I kicked a cracked dagger lying on the ground into my hand. Passing his grasping hands, I closed in and drove the dagger into his other eye, blinding him.
He managed to grab me, but unlike last time, there wasn't much he could do except throw me. Instead, I wrapped my legs around his torso as best I could to prevent that from happening.
He snapped my spine in half again, but with a yell, I punched the dagger deeper into his eye.
"Bastard! If I die, you'll be with me!" he roared and to my surprise, he slowly stood—still preventing my spine from healing.
"Just die already, you giant fucker!" I roared, pounding the dagger again and again, hoping to reach his brain.
I was jostled by my desperate assault as Daigo started running. I glanced behind me—he was heading toward a fire, probably started by the explosives.
'Shit!'
Not wanting to see if I'd heal after being consumed by flames, I ripped the dagger out of his eye. Shaping my hand like a spear, I pulled every ounce of strength from my body and rammed it into his eye.