This is a story that goes back to a time when the fruits of chaos are still being formed, the cruel fates yet to be revealed.
In another volume of his journey through the Underworld, the "Adam's Heir" will fight memorable battles and meet people who might have the answers he is looking for.
Origins, convictions, and duties. Everything will be put to the test once more.
The fight between Susumu and Blasius reached its climax as the detective was determined to end their struggle with the next shot. They pointed their guns at each other — a duel of speed where the one that could pull the trigger faster would win, plain and simple.
"Interesting" Blasius smiled a cocksure smile and said.
Their confrontation came to a standstill. Then, the aztec went against the rules as he left his position and closed on him. However, the boy was expecting that and promptly leaped backwards so as to keep a safe distance between himself and Blasius.
Images of his previous training with Zosimus and the technique he perfected at the request of the Chains Man flashed through Susumu's mind.
"When Zosimus said there was something else he wanted to work on, I knew he was talking about the Bullet of Justice. It's my trump card, after all…" the young man said.
The teenager managed to be the first to fire their gun, but the prisoner was only grazed in the left arm by the bullet. Blasius was overjoyed, as if he had won the fight.
"Haha, you have lost!" the prisoner laughed and exclaimed.
Yet Susumu's calm body language suggested that he was nowhere near being finished; Blasius' arm unexpectedly began to swell with teotl right after he got shot. Mare turned her attention to their fight as that was a turn-up for the books.
"What?!" the ex-policeman looked in disbelief at his upper limb as it gradually swelled out with spiritual energy and said.
"This second version of the Bullet of Justice causes an explosion when the projectile comes into contact with the target's body. The first thing that struck me was how much it reminds me of Lied's Unda" the vigilante smiled triumphantly at his enemy "It's not just about the society's needs — I have made a commitment to myself too. No matter what you say, that's something no one can deny" he conjured away the Progressus Justitiae from his hand and asserted himself, with palpable conviction.
At last loud bursts of teotl erupted as Blasius found himself right in the epicenter of a massive explosion. Susumu's Bullet of Justice V2 seemed to have packed quite a punch.
In the other fight, Experiment 05 was having a hard time coping with his opponent's pressure as the latter kept outdoing himself with each passing minute. After much effort, Lied was finally able to close the distance between him and Hitoshi, ultimately throwing a punch that sent the Mad Snake flying backwards. Despite this, the Adam's Heir was disappointed when he realized that not even his emotional biff was enough to bring Hitoshi back from the abyss of his soul.
"DEEEVOOOUUUR!" Experiment 05 recovered from his opponent's blow and screamed.
"You leave me no choice" Lied said.
The prince prepared to use his signature move, but this time he slid his right foot four centimeters away in comparison with the standard Unda. This variation consumed more teotl than normal, but if that was the only way to save his friend, then he would gladly discharge all his energy. The lad channeled teotl into his right hand as he used his left to stabilize the energy, shaping it like he usually does. The Adam's Cross started moving in a manner that deviated from the regular rhythm, swaying intensely in the air, as if resonating with its owner, who was bursting with resolve.
The Mad Snake sensed danger and charged at Lied as he tried to throw him into confusion with his attack. In spite of this threat, the Adam's Heir was dead set on performing the Unda.
"I will not waver" Lied said as he finished his preparations ahead of their clash and gritted his teeth.
"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hitoshi roared.
The prince knew that only a few meters separated him from victory or defeat. Lied preferred to wait for the right moment to fire at Hitoshi, and in the meantime Experiment 05 summoned a spiritual snake that targeted his opponent's throat. However, the Adam's Heir was faster than him and aimed the strange Unda at Hitoshi's abdomen.
"THIS IS EVERYTHING I HAVE GOT, HIIIIITOOOOO!" Lied cried out in a loud voice and fired before the limbless reptile could bite him.
This complex Unda actually replicated the oceanic phenomenon in which the waves beginning at two weather systems that are distant from each other meet at a place far from either of those systems. When the two swells collide, it creates a cross-shaped wave. As the Unda rose in hazardous undulations, its crest became flattened and rounded and its surface smooth, until it finally broke five times and caused the largest blast on the floor. That was truly Lied A. Corum's final strike.
"5-Kai Unda: Cross Swell" he said.
The cross swell diverted Mare and Pantera's attention for a few moments.
Meanwhile, Susumu made sure not to let his guard down until he had confirmed the defeat of his own opponent, Blasius, whose body couldn't be seen due to the fog that formed when the Bullet of Justice V2 hit the target and triggered its special effect.
"…Brilliant. For what it's worth, I acknowledge your strength, Susumu Shinichi" the voice of the former aztec agent came from the thick cloud.
A serious Blasius emerged from the fog groaning in pain, his clothes tattered. He steadied himself and limped toward the human detective as he favored his left leg.
"Even that wasn't enough, huh?" Susumu said as he had foreseen this scenario.
The teenager knew that Blasius couldn't die because he was a spirit of Mictlan, so the only way to incapacitate the man was to either make him lose consciousness or leave him injured to the point where he cannot get up. The boy was also forced to recognize the resilience of his enemy as the latter stuck to his ideals, even after death.
The two police officers stared at each other and Susumu realized that his foe had no intention of using his revolver. An unexpected attitude coming from him, but apparently Blasius was finally willing to have a real and honest duel of fists, without dirty tricks. The final bout between two men who defended completely different ideologies.
The teen accepted his challenge and then made the Progressus Justitiae disappear.
Mare found it hard to follow all the twists and turns. She hemmed and hawed before deciding to watch the final moments of the Susumu vs. Blasius bout.
"Susu…" Mare muttered as she was feeling extremely nervous.
The aztec threw two punches in the human's face and the latter's cheeks turned red. Blasius gave Susumu no respite as he continued thumping him like a steamroller. The young man wasn't getting shaken up by all that beating, but he didn't fight back either, as if he was trying to prove something.
"They sold you an impossible dream, and you fell for it. 'Doing the right thing'? 'Acting in accordance with the law'? For whom? I'll tell you: for the richest, for the strongest, for those who stand at the top and dictate the laws as they see fit! Wake up and smell the coffee before it's too late! Free yourself from the burden of self-denial, reframe that very same concept, and abandon the chimerical core principles that you live by! The justice you believe in doesn't exist anywhere but your imagination!" the inmate said as he punched Susumu without pity or mercy.
The detective remained silent. He remembered hearing those words before, from Zosimus' mouth, when Susumu was still a child. In the teen's soul, the Chains Man patiently watched the nostalgic conversation unfold.
"Are you done talking?" the youth looked up at Blasius with a serious expression and asked a rhetorical question.
Susumu didn't even give the sinner time to respond as he punched the former agent twice, with enough force to break the man's front teeth. Those quick and hard punches made Blasius see stars and seconds later constellations as he got hit in the face again and again.
"Many novice Spirit Mode users make the mistake of neglecting exercise and rely entirely on their spiritual power, but Susumu is different. Thanks to the intense training he underwent in order to become a police officer, he has a strong body" Zosimus thought deeply about the human's strength.
The teen didn't give the former police officer time to breathe, let alone defend against his blows. It wasn't as if Blasius had never done bodybuilding or other exercises designed to enhance the human body's muscular development, and that was precisely why he knew Susumu's punching power was a combination of biomechanics, speed, leverage, and precision. The amount of kinetic energy he was building from the body's motion and transferring into the punch at the moment of impact required immense training and dedication.
"As a matter of fact, among all the Ganeden agents, Susumu is the one that spends the most time in the gym, and now that he has awakened the Spirit Mode, he's reaping the rewards of his hard work" the Chains Man thought.
This abusive sequence of blows went on incessantly until the detective landed his twentieth punch and Blasius fell to the ground. Their duel came to an end as its unequivocal winner was Susumu, who stood firm like a rock.
"When I first met Susumu, I didn't have high expectations for him. In spite of his superior intelligence in comparison to boys his age, he was still an ordinary person. That's also why he's so special, because he stands out among the many chosen ones. In a game of cards, Susumu could very well be the card whose value is inestimable…" Zosimus thought.
Blasius was a defeated man, lying on the ground and unable to move, staring at the youth with a disgusted look. Their eyes met, Susumu exuded an air of serenity and elegance.
"Y-Your naivety will lead to your downfall someday" the former police officer foreshadowed the teenager's future.
"I'm looking forward to that day… so I can oppose it" the contrarian gave a smile that exuded confidence and said.
🐍🐍🐍
In a certain garden…
A young adult wearing a golden hooded cape stood under a tree whose leaves were crimson like the sunset. He was eating a red apple with his left hand while holding three cards in his right.
The hooded man smiled, amused, and walked over to a rectangular white table a few feet away from him, where he placed the apple and the cards. Besides a certain picture in a frame, there was a fourth card face down on the table. He picked up the card and raised it to the sky. That was the Joker card, which didn't have a number.
🐍🐍🐍
Back at Level -4 of the Restricted Block, the shadow and the joker smiled together as if signaling the beginning of a new tale, ringing the bells of destiny that echoed through Time and Space.
"…the Joker of Destiny" the Chains Man thought, looking upon him as his ace in the hole.
As for Blasius, the man answered some of Susumu's questions regarding the circumstances of the former agent's death and lost consciousness shortly thereafter.
Lied's current SSL: 60%
[END OF CHAPTER]