Dio looked at the now bestial Ji Liao. His entire body ached, especially from that last attack, one he hadn't expected, hadn't been prepared for. The impact left him with serious internal injury, it seemed like he was bound to lose this battle, despite this Dio's grip on his katana didn't loosen, as he stared at the beast before him. A combination of tiger and man.
Sniff.
Sniff.
Ji Liao's feline pupils narrowed, his nostrils flaring. He could smell it now. The sharp, metallic tang of blood—not just from the shallow cuts, but from deep inside. The unchained was broken.
"You're standing," Ji Liao said, rolling his shoulders, "but only just." He took a slow step forward, the ruined floor crunching beneath his weight. "You feel it, don't you? The tremble in your fingers. The fire in your ribs."
Dio didn't respond. He just adjusted his grip on his katana.
Ji Liao looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "Let me tell you what your body's already screaming at you."
He raised one clawed finger, counting.
"Your ribs? Cracked. At least three. Every breath you take is grinding them against your lungs."
A second finger.
"That last hit? It did more than send you flying. Your stomach's leaking acid into your gut. A slow burn now, but give it a minute—you'll be drowning in your own blood."
A third finger.
"Your right arm. Nerve damage. You felt it, didn't you? How your grip almost failed just now? Your fingers will go numb soon. That sword?" Ji Liao tilted his head. "You won't even be able to hold it."
A fourth.
"And the worst part? Your heart." Ji Liao tapped a clawed hand against his own chest. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. "Beating too fast. Struggling. Your body's screaming to shut down, but whatever you're doing to stay upright is working. For now."
He lowered his hand, staring down at Dio. Gaze steady "You're not just losing. You're dying."
The words hung in the air. Heavy. Unavoidable.
Ji Liao took another step forward, eyes gleaming. "So why fight it? Why stand when you're already falling?"
"You've become quite a lot more chatty." Dio said as he slowly circled Ji Liao, but Ji Liao didn't seem to mind this at all, he laughed "Have I?" Ji Liao chuckled "Perhaps it's because I know this battle is already won, in my favor." "Rather confident aren't you" Dio said, Ji Liao licked his lips "merely stating the obvious unchained."
Dio exhaled slowly, his body screaming in protest. Ji Liao's words echoed in his mind, but he didn't acknowledge them. Didn't waste breath.
He just needed one chance.
His eyes flicked to the ceiling—there. The fire suppression system.
Plan. Execute. Survive.
Dio adjusted his stance, rolling his shoulders as if to prepare for a final desperate strike. Ji Liao smirked, stepping forward, already savoring the kill.
Then—Dio moved.
Not at Ji Liao. Up.
His katana flashed—a single precise cut—
SHHHRRRRRK!
The sprinkler pipe ruptured.
An instant later, the system reacted. A burst of pressurized mist flooded the room. The temperature plummeted.
Ji Liao's smirk faltered. His feline pupils contracted, nostrils flaring.
CO2. Not just mist—gas.
His enhanced lungs sucked in air, expecting oxygen—but got nothing.
A sharp, instinctual cough. A second. Then—his breathing staggered.
Dio didn't hesitate.
Through the mist, he moved.
Silent. Precise. Death incarnate.
Ji Liao's claws lashed out blindly, slicing air where Dio had been a heartbeat ago. Too slow.
Dio was already behind him.
A whisper of steel—
Then—
Blood sprayed.
Ji Liao's body jerked, a deep gash carved across his back.
Another flash of movement—SLASH.
Another wound.
Ji Liao tuned in relying on his enhanced hearing. listening.
but all he could hear was silence his nose while a bit sensitive from the gas could still pick up scent.
Sniff.
Sniff.
Nothing, not a whisper of sound nor scent, what the hell was going on, before he could react,
Slash!
A deep wound opened up in his waist, he didn't scream out at the pain but attacked his claws lashing out at where the attack came from, but all he cut was mist, then..
Slash!
A fresh slash tore across his leg. The attacks were getting faster now, Dio had just been testing him before. Now, he was cutting deep. Cut after cut after cut, all deep wounds and everytime Liao retaliated all he hit was smoke, like a ghost he vanished with Ji Liao never getting a glimpse of the unchained.
"ENOUGH!!"
Still breathing heavily from the server attacks Ji Liao jumped high into the air reaching even reaching the ceiling then falling slammed a fist to the ground.
BOOM!
The shockwave blew away the mist and destroyed the few remaining furniture still whole turning them to powder, even as deep cracks spread through the walls, ceiling and marble pillars, Ji Liao only had eyes for one his muscles coiling like a spring he shot himself at the unchained grabbing him by the neck as he slammed him into the already cracked pillar.
"Nice trick, but not good enough!" Ji Liao snarled, tightening his grip around Dio's throat. Then—he hesitated. Even this close, he still couldn't catch a scent. The unchained smelt like… nothing. Ji Liao's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Don't overthink it, just kill him and be done with it." Mancini indifferent voice came from above, Ji Liao looked up at him then nodded, turning his attention back to the unchained in his grasp as he reared his other hand back, claws gleaming with intent to sever head from shoulders he paused as he noticed the colour of the blood dripping down from the unchained to the cracked floor.
Drip!
Drip!
The colour was red, Ji Liao cat like pupils dilated in shock, as he looked from the blood to the thing in his grasp.
"Get on with it Ji Liao I'm losing patience"
"Boss! It's human!" Ji Liao still in shock exclaimed turning to look at Mancini as Mancini stood looking down at Ji Liao in shock as the words slowly processed in his head "impossible" he whispered, as the glass cup in his hand fell to the floor shattering into fragments the wine spilling on the floor.
"Boss! What should I do!" Ji Liao exclaimed, too shocked to notice the already moving Dio, he wanted to know what Mancini would have him do to this shocking discovery, the last thing he heard was.
"Pay attention."
As a katana stabbed him from jaw, into his brain, shooting through his skull. He was dead before he even hit the ground.
Thud!
Dio fell on to the floor but landed on his feet, quietly looking at the corpse of the man named Ji Liao, he knew the only reason he is still standing is a mixture of luck and planning and arrogance on Ji Liao part, if it wasn't for his arrogance he could have killed Dio in an instant but instead he went on to taunt him which led to Dio cutting the pipes that blocked his vision, if he hadn't used Nullification to erase his sound and scent…
Yet despite all that it almost wasn't enough, if Ji Liao wasn't distracted and in shock he would have died.
But all that doesn't matter ; all that matters is that the tiger is dead while he lives.
knowing he didn't have time to lose himself in his own thoughts, especially with the injuries he has,after all, nullifiying your biological reaction and pain sensation can only go so far, with that he turned his attention to where Mancini calmly sat. Dio slowly walked up the stairs until he was directly in front of Mancini.
Mancini looked at Dio from head to toe. "Magnificent." Mancini whispered, his eyes gleaming with fascination.
"How old are you, little one? Eight? Nine?"
Dio didn't answer.
Mancini chuckled. "No matter. You're not fifteen. That much is certain. And yet, here you are—an awakener, standing over a Rank 5 Beast Warrior's corpse. A walking impossibility. An anomaly among anomalies.
I want you to work for me." Dio tilted his head in silent question, Mancini smiled "Right now, you're probably thinking—why the hell would I agree?"
Mancini smirked. "Well, while you were busy reflecting on your little murder spree, I wasn't just sitting here twiddling my thumbs.
See that camera?" He gestured to an intact lens on the far wall. "It's been recording everything. Your fight. Your abilities. Your kills.
And though I wasn't born with combat based abilities my low ranked ability to give machines simple commands is more than enough for this, if I die, it would broadcast the footage to every major network in New Kyoto. TV stations. Billboards. Commercials. By sunrise, the whole city will know about you—the eight-year-old killer with a talent for butchering seasoned warriors.
S.A.M.T. will want you. The C.P.D. will want you. The Nobles, the A.R.I., and the ones lurking in the dark? They'll all hunt you down.
Or… you work for me, and that never happens." I'm sure even your seven year old brain can comprehend the severity of that situation
"OR"
"You could work for me and you wouldn't be hunted for the rest of your life, Mancini leaned forward "it's an easy pick." Dio moved.
Slash!
A wet slice. A dull thud.
Mancini's head hit the floor before his smirk even had time to fade.
"You talk too much."He said as he walked away towards the exit but before leaving he glanced at the camera on the wall nullifying it's electricity, turning it off but the damage has already been done right now as Dio battle was broadcasted to all major network hubs and more in the city of neo Kyoto.
In the heart of New Kyoto, where neon billboards painted the night sky and holographic advertisements flickered over towering skyscrapers, a single broadcast hijacked every major network.
A dimly lit club. A battlefield of broken bodies. A boy—white-haired, red-eyed, standing amidst the carnage.
The city watched in collective silence as the feed rolled.
They saw the club security guard crumble, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. They watched as a Rank 5 Beast Warrior—a seasoned combatant—fell, his skull punctured by an emotionless child. And then, Mancini, a well-connected crime lord, met his end in a single stroke, his head tumbling to the blood-soaked floor.
The boy stood over the corpse, eyes cold, face blank. Not even satisfaction. Not even anger. Just… nothing.
Then, the screen cut to black.