NOVEL WEB 『Chapter 26: Ogre』
Kito then finally sees the two victims in his hands.
He looks at Makoto without much of a thought, and then turns to Naoki.
Naoki, shivering and on the verge of tears, says nothing. It takes a second before Kito finally says something.
"...Kid?" Asks Kito.
"You know this guy, Naoki?" Stammers Makoto.
"Naoki, huh?" Continues Kito with a grin. "So you were lying."
Saizo stands there, paralyzed. He stares at the remains of his friend. All he can do is breathe in and out real hard. In. Then out.
Small puffs of smoke escape his nose.
Viral rockets towards Kito, aiming her spear at Kito's back.
Kito senses her and lets go of Naoki and Makoto, sidestepping the vessel.
"Oh. Tch." Mutters Kito in an annoyed tone.
Naoki tries to run away from Kito, heading towards the exit.
There he sees Kasumi Murobuchi standing in the middle of the exit. His statuesque bodybuilding pose is as permanent as his smile. He, much like Kito, radiate the same malevolent aura.
Makoto follows Naoki and makes a finger gun, pointing at Kasumi's head. She uses [Kaze] to form a giant pressurized bullet, and shoots it at Kasumi's face.
The pressurized gust of wind has no effect.
Creeping out of the same door, Robert Baskerville walks in, cracking his knuckles. He looks at Naoki and doesn't say anything. He then looks at Makoto. He visibly frowns.
Saizo can feel something inside him well. His inner being, his soul, transform. Nae, malforms into something greater; something worse. His skin becomes redder. A gust of smoke crawls out of his mouth. He emits a deep, low growl. He mutters to himself.
Viral reaches a pillar, readjusts herself, and bounces off of it. Again, she aims for Kito's stomach.
Seeing this, Kito steps back. Viral thrusts her spear many times towards Kito stomach, face, and any place that she could at least get a graze with her spear. Kito on the other hand casually weaves through each thrust. Getting the timing down, he eventually catches the tip of the spear, and rips the spear out of Viral's hands.
He then turns the spear around, and uses his other hand to latch on to Viral's shoulder.
Panicking, Viral instinctively tries to use her other hand to stab Kito; her index finger serving as another syringe.
All of a sudden, a sharp pain hits her stomach.
She is too late.
For Kito's greater strength and speed proves itself.
She feels blood coming out of her mouth.
She looks down at her stomach.
Her own spear skewers through her body.
"Mediocre." He says.
Kito hears murmuring behind him.
Saizo, with smoke inside his mouth pouring out at a rapid pace. The inside of his mouth is ablaze. His skin is the darkest red it has ever been. The straps of his backpack slowly burn off, plopping to the ground. He is chanting.
"Death of a brother
Lost yet another
The sense of grief evaporates
Muted expression
Alone again
Boiling rage
Hell on earth
Permanent hate
Man on fire."
He then finishes his incantation with a contract.
"I'll kill you."
Saizo's technique, [Ride or die] activates "gears" within himself. These "gears" serve as power up modes. By intaking lots of air, and combusting it within himself, Saizo's Ki is not only boosted in terms of raw power and speed, but it also makes his body hotter. All at the cost of melting his Ki in real time. As such, the higher the gear, the stronger the effects, as well as the cost. At its peak, Saizo's body can melt through steel like butter, and even temporarily match a Ki specialist that's at a similar skill to him.
All at the cost of burning himself from the inside out.
Kito looks at the red gangster in front of him. He smiles. A small chuckle leaves his lips. "Hm. Interesting." He comments.
Saizo uses [BURST] to rush towards Kito. With all his might, combined with his continuous dash, Saizo swings massive, wide haymakers at Kito, aiming to bisect him any way he can; his arms acting like large, lava coated cleavers.
Kito on the other hand backtracks, ducks, and sidesteps through Saizo's brutal offense.
Screaming relentlessly, Saizo relinquishes his accuracy, vaguely aiming in the direction the monster is at.
Kito counts under his breathe as he continues to dodge. "13,14,15..."
Eventually, one monstrous haymaker heads towards Kito's way. Kito stops dodging, stands still, and holds his hands near the side where the haymaker is coming from.
WHAM
The sound of a loud slam echoes throughout the factory.
In an instant, Saizo sees the ceiling of the factory, and a burning sting vibrate throughout his body. He can feel the concrete underneath him melting from his body's heat.
Kito on the other hand, examines his hand and arm.
"(20, 21, 22... as expected, shoulder throwing him burned my skin a bit.)" Thinks Kito to himself, noticing the visible burn marks on his flesh. They resemble second degree burns. And yet.
Shhhhrrrrriiiip.
Kito peels off the fresh burn, reconstructing the flesh underneath with Ki. Good as new.
He looks down at Saizo, who is gasping for air.
"25. 26. 27. Get up." Commands Kito.
Saizo, feeling the effects of [Ride or die] catch up to him, struggles to stand back up.
Yet the burning sensation of being alone in this world again, numbs his own physical pain.
As Saizo gets up, Kito takes it upon himself to look at the fight scene behind him.
Ken, showing desperation, goes hand to hand against Daiki.
"(He's...so durable!)" Thinks Ken to himself. "(Its like he was built specifically to fight me.)"
Ken sees the 6'4", thick and squarish figure made of black spirals and swirls parry and defend against his attacks with ease. His forearms are so thick they look like shields. Where Ken would have an easy time bisecting other sorcerers limbs, Daiki's durability naturally defended himself with ease.
All Kito sees is his student in their default body.
"Hmph." Says Kito, before continuing. "32. 33. 34."
Mustering up his strength once again, Saizo cocks his fists back. His chest audibly roars.
[Engine Gatling]
"I'M GONNA RIP YOU IN HALF." Declares Saizo.
"36. 37. 38." Responds Kito.
With great vigor, Saizo walks forward. A wall of thousand degree punches careen towards Kito.
Despite Saizo's rate of punches being so fast it looked like a solid wall, Kito sees through each little gap in the attack. The gap in timing, dodging each punch. Through each small window of space where a punch wouldn't be there, Kito would dodge towards. Over and over again, denying a solid hit. A couple seconds later, Kito decides to catch each punch with the palm of his hand, staying in even pace with Saizo.
"44. 45. 46."
Kito eventually switches from catching the punches, to contesting Saizo's punches with his own fists.
Shocked, Saizo feels Kito's solid punches clash with his own flurry of strikes. Despite going at his maximum effort, Saizo feels his hands quickly shave down to the bone.
"(It's...it's like I'm fighting a mirror!)" Thinks Saizo to himself. "(No...NO. I WON'T LET HIM WIN.)"
Under his breath, he makes a final declaration for the night.
"I sacrifice all of my remaining Ki for this next strike."
Saizo immediately stops his onslaught and cocks his arm back.
Kito pauses his own clash, and tilts his eyebrow. "57. 58. 59..."
The vessel's flesh is visibly melting. His pompadour so ruffled, it lets his long hair loose, flowing with livid liveliness. His engine shaped chest, so enlarged, so enraged, bellows out the sound of an explosion out of his mouth. His arm ablaze, cocks itself so far behind himself in exaggerated fashion. Saizo rips his finishing blow.
[V8 TORMEN-]
"60."
Right in the middle of Saizo's brutal swing, he feels something sharp stab his chest.
Immediately, the red in his skin dissipates. Smoke leaks out of his lungs, and out in front of him. Saizo looks down. Kito's hand, shaped like a knife, plants itself firmly inside Saizo's body.
The gangster looks up. He whimpers, but resists the urge to cry. All he sees is Kito's unamused face, surrounded by the visible cloud, and stench of smog.
"You have the strength and the speed, but you're too wild. Too impatient. Too...muddled by emotions." Explains Kito, as he drives his hand deeper inside Saizo's lung. "And even with a clear head, I doubt you would come up with a good plan. You lack skill and intelligence. I let you enchant yourself and yet, this is all you could muster? Hmph."
Kito pulls his hand out of Saizo's body. He looks at it.
"(...Black dried blood?)" He thinks to himself. He looks at Saizo.
"HARGH," screams Saizo, as he headbutts Kito in the face. He steps back and sees what damage he's done to Kito, remembering that the contract is still in effect, since his last attack technically didn't hit.
Kito stands there with a minor bruise on his nose, and blood leaking out of his nostril. Kito wipes the blood, sniffs the air, and grimaces. "And worst of all," says Kito. "I smell a damn dirty spirit near me."
Kito then latches onto Saizo's hair and slams him to the ground. Saizo's body splats onto the concrete. His skull is broken. His muscles are fried. He can't move.
"Mongrel," snarls Kito in disgust.
Despite not remembering much from his past, for some reason, Saizo remembers that word very, very, vividly.
He slowly closes his eyes, and falls into a deep, deep rest.
Kito then looks back at Viral. She's still on the ground. He notices the turquoise blood leaking out of her stomach and onto the ground. There's a tiny trail. He stomps over to her corpse, sniffs the air, and lowers his head near the ground.
Meeting eye to eye with Viral's face, he comments in disgust.
"I know you moved."
.
.
.
A couple minutes prior, Naoki and Makoto are blocked off by Robert and Kasumi.
"I'll take the girl," whispers Robert to Kasumi. Kasumi keeps his pose and doesn't say anything.
Robert runs over to Makoto. Makoto charges up an even stronger ball of pressure, and shoots it at Robert's face. Robert uses [Deflection] to slap it away with his arms. Naoki intercepts Robert's side by punching him in the face. Robert gets a bruise on his cheek but punches Naoki away, continuing to rush towards Makoto.
Just as Naoki was going to continue his offense on Robert, thinking that him and Makoto would work better to take one guy down, he hears a loud, rapid THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP approach him.
Naoki looks to his side.
Kasumi murobuchi, with a stiff pose, and a permanent smile, is four centimeters away from grabbing Naoki's throat. His veiny arms and curled fingers reeking of malicious intent.
"So you want to be a statue, h-huh?" Asks Naoki.
No response.
"Then I'll just treat you like a training dummy."
No response.
Naoki concentrates his Ki into his right fist, and hurls a mean right hook to Kasumi's face.
Blood splatters the ground. Crimson paints Kasumi's permanent smile.
Naoki holds his hand. He stares, seeing that a couple of his finger bones are poking out of his hand. The pain stings so hard, that it revolves back to numbness. Kasumi is still in his peripheral vision. Naoki proceeds to knee Kasumi in the balls.
No reaction; Kasumi is still.
Quivering, Naoki steps back. "Wh-what?" says Naoki in a shaky voice.
Meanwhile, Robert tries to catch up to Makoto, while assuming a boxer's stance. Makoto swirls around, until she's backed into a wall.
"Got you now you stupid bi-" Mutters Robert, throwing a left hook towards her face.
POP.
Robert's hand bleeds, as he punches an invisible bubble that Makoto formed around herself. "(That bubble was hastily made... but at the same time.)"
She pressurizes a block of wind and punches Robert in the face, pushing him back.
"You were saying, asshole?" she barks back.
Robert wipes the blood off his nose. He stares into Makoto's eyes.
"You think you're scary?" scoffs Makoto. Using [Kaze] once again, she uses an expensive amount of magic to form three sharp claws, and commands the wind near Robert to slice his face, carotid artery, and shoulder.
Robert walks forward.
The wind slices his face, neck, and shoulder.
Yet they only leave small scratch marks on his skin. His wifebeater's strap is barely scratched as well.
With utter confusion, Makoto yells "What?" She then swirls the wind near her hand at a rapid pace, turning it into an oversized drill. Yet again, in the background, she forms a thin bubble around herself. "Come at me!" She yells.
Robert rushes forward, leans in and rams his elbow, aiming for her stomach.
The bubble pops again.
He's blown back, this time only a couple inches, and with a scratch against his elbow.
"You sure are a dumbass," comments Makoto, forcing her drill against Robert's stomach, alternating the speed of the wind to such a high velocity, just to make sure it goes through him.
"I'll say it once again." Mutters Robert.
She then notices. Her drill is having such a hard time penetrating his Ki, its sliding off to his side. As she tries to dash back, Robert catches her arm and affirms.
"I got you, you stupid bitch."
He yanks her arm and forcefully throws her towards the center of the factory, near where Kito is.
She uses [Kaze] to soften the landing. Yet, she can tell her shoulder is dislocated. Severe pain rings throughout her arm, as she stands up. She turns around, and sees Kito, crossing his arms while his foot is on Viral's neck. The vessel is struggling, clawing at Kito's leg, to no avail.
"Do anything stupid, I'll kill you." Affirms Kito.
Makoto does the math in her head. If this guy is the leader of everyone, and he's already taken down Viral and Saizo, especially in the amount of time she was fighting Robert, on top of being unable to see him when he appeared from in front of herself and Naoki, to behind, then fighting him is out of the question.
She grits her teeth. "(How pitiful.)" She thinks to herself. "(How weak. If only I were stronger, I could blow this entire place to shrapnel and dust. But for now, I don't really have a choice. I'll have to come up with something in the background.)"
She raises her usable arm.
Kito waits a couple seconds before snapping his fingers. "Don't hurt them anymore. Bring them in." He calls out to his men.
Naoki, who has been keeping on eye out on Kasumi, is stuck. "(If I go to the center, the other men will kill me. But I fear if I walk out those doors, this guy will also just kill me. I can't even hurt him. It's most likely a condition of his ability.)"
Kasumi, standing still, eventually loosens up. His smile is gone. "Hey kid," he calls out. "Either you die here, or you walk back towards the boss. It's your choice."
Naoki shivers and raises his arms. "What if both end up in me dying?"
Kasumi shrugs. "Not my choice, nor my problem."
Naoki keeps his arms raised and reluctantly walks back. "(I have to think of something... if I use my [Shakuhachi] flute I can probably make a tune. Either that, or Kito blitzes me on the spot. I just have to think...)"
Ken, on the other side of the factory, desperately holds Daiki off.
"(I cant directly cut him,)" thinks Ken to himself. "(So for now, I just have to make a run for it. I'm sorry guys, but calling the academy and letting them know these freaks are here is a surefire way of taking care of this. You'll just have to survive in the meantime. You would do the same.)"
Ken stands still, lowers himself near the ground, and assumes a stance.
Daiki guards himself, waiting for an impact.
CRASH
Bara falls from the sky, making a small crater right behind Ken.
Ken cancels his stance and immediately swipes behind himself, aiming to slash Bara's face.
Bara blocks it with his meaty hand. Ken glances at it. "(Is...that a bear claw?)" Thinks Ken to himself.
Daiki rushes in and strikes Ken in the rib, launching him to the side. Bara follows up with quick, swift steps. Ken hears the sound of clops galloping on the concrete. Ken quickly tries to get up but is soccer kicked on the ground, getting wallsplatted onto the factory wall. Bara follows up the wombo combo by slamming his meaty claw into Ken's chest, thrashing him through the metal wall. Ken holds his chest, bleeding from the mouth and eyes. Ken tries to crawl away. Yet in hearing Bara walk behind him, he knows there's no point, and lies there limp.
Bara drags Ken's body near the center, along with the rest of the Ordinance students.
Naoki and Makoto stand by each other, holding their (usable) hands up. Kasumi is behind Naoki, and Robert is behind Makoto. Naoki stares at Viral, who's neck is still being stepped on by Kito. Saizo is still unconscious, right behind Kito. And Ken is throw near Saizo; still conscious, yet very weakened, rasping for air.
Kito looks at the bag that isn't too far from Saizo's body. "Bara, check what's inside." Commands Kito.
Bara opens the bag and pulls out the bottle. "...Alcohol?" Announces Bara.
Kito's face wrinkles with disgust. "Throw it out. It has no use to us."
Kito then faces Naoki. "Now then, what is your full name?"
"Naoki Miyamoto."
"Hm." Kito steps off of Viral's neck and walks up close to Naoki. He towers over the kid. "Alright Naoki, since we have a bit of history, I'll let you explain. Once again, why are all of you here?"
"We arrested a spirit near here over a week ago. We made him a slave to the state. He wanted his friend to join him so we agreed to help. And then you killed him."
Kito looks confused, before looking behind himself. "Ah, the spirit, right. But tell me, why would you want to help him?"
"I'm assuming you already know we're from the Ordinance Academy."
"Had a hunch but, thanks for confirming." Says Kito.
"Well, the government will take anyone who can help do their dirty work. That's about it."
"Right, I get that. But I'm asking you Naoki. Why would you join this mission?"
"Because..." Naoki's voice because rasp and shaky. "I wanted to prove you wrong. I wanted to prove her wrong too." Says Naoki, motioning towards Makoto.
Kito and Makoto both raise their eyebrows.
"You both make the world seem so hopeless. But I couldn't believe in that. I don't want to live like some cruel, cynical person. So I wanted to test it out. Surely, if I helped someone out, it wouldn't be so bad. And look where it got me."
Kito smiles, and chuckles a little. "Took the words right out of my mouth."
Makoto starts to speak. "And I'm assuming you're the asshole he's been talking to."
Kito turns to her. She continues. "I don't know what you believe in, nor do I care. But from what you said to him, I can tell a loser like you has never been with a woman, have you?"
Kito stares at her with a blank look. He then latches on to her hair and slams her face into his knee. Blood splurts out of her nose.
"Makoto!" Cries Naoki.
Kito glances at him for a second, before making a mental note.
Makoto tries to hold her face, yet Robert grabs her wrists. His ki overpowering her own strength.
Makoto huffs before smiling. "Struck a nerve, did I?"
Kito hovers over her face. "I didn't hit you because you insulted me. I hit you because you spoke without permission."
Kito stands back up. "Well, Naoki, you have guts. You're admirable, but ultimately naïve. I don't know who raised you but, they sure made you an idiot. And besides, why would you ever help a measly spirit? It's stupid."
"Even if they are different, and even if they're not the person they used to be, I believe spirits can be 'human' too."
Kito blinks. "Naoki," he says, holding onto the kid's face. "They think they have a personality. They think they have emotions. How could you fall for something so simple? They're monsters."
Viral, lying in the ground hears this. With most of her ki already bled out, the only thing she can do, is lie there and accept.
"Well, whatever," continues Kito. "I'll admit, you remind me of myself when I was a kid. And hey, I have a soft spot for the naïve and innocent. You were raised wrong so, I can fix that. So how about this."
Kito, with his boot, scooches Saizo, Viral's and Ken's bodies out of the way. He claps his hands. "I'll give you an opportunity for you to prove yourself to me." He holds his hand up. "Four minutes. You have four minutes to impress me. If you bore me, I reduce the time. Hell, I'll even throw you an extra bone. I won't use my techniques. What do you say?"
Kasumi backs away from Naoki. "And what if I don't accept?" Nervously asks the kid.
Kito shrugs. "Then I kill everyone."
"O-OK OK, I accept." Frantically says Naoki. "But, what happens if I win?"
"Then you join my group, and I'll train you to be your best self possible." Kito snaps his fingers. "Look at Daiki over there."
Naoki looks at the spiraling mass of scribbles. He's tall, bulky, and imposing. He's like a giant wall of muscle. His arms and legs are all as thick as tree trunks. He's seven feet tall.
"I worked him hard to the bone and now, he's the strongest man he can be. And you wouldn't want it any other way, isn't that right, Daiki?"
"Oh, you know it, boss!" Says Daiki in an enthusiastic tone.
"I can attest to that too!" Proclaims Bara in an even prouder tone.
"Me too." Casually says Kasumi.
Robert doesn't say anything.
"See?" Says Kito. "I'll be doing you a favor. And you'll be doing me a favor, by being a part of my crew."
Naoki's body weakens. He's sees the situation, but knows for the sake of his teammates, knows what he has to do.
"And I can use anything in my power, right?" Asks Naoki.
"Yes. Please, do use everything in your arsenal," says Kito. His eyes twinkle.
Naoki assumes his fighting stance, and stares at Kito.
Kito crosses his arms, and smiles.
Naoki rushes forward.