Chapter 8: The Madness
Fwish!
Two cold lights flashed. Kaito instantly let go of his broken weapon and retreated, keeping his back pressed against the cliff face.
The woman's attacks were incredibly fast. To Kaito, her hands were like two striking vipers, moving with a speed that far surpassed his own.
This woman is strong.
Her daggers kept striking empty air, flicking droplets of poison into the mist. Green Snake's heart sank slightly. This man with the dangerously handsome eyes was no ordinary person.
But she didn't relent. Her feet slid across the ground, and while her advance wasn't fast, it was incredibly stable, preventing any chance of slipping. Her center of gravity shifted fluidly, allowing her attacks to come at Kaito from all angles.
Kaito made several attempts to attack her lower body, but he was forced back each time by her dagger strikes. His dirty street-fighting tricks seemed to lose their element of surprise when faced with a truly ruthless killer like her.
As Kaito continued to retreat, his heart began to beat faster and faster. He wasn't the type to freeze up with anxiety.
On the contrary, the massive rush of adrenaline made him feel lighter, faster.
He abruptly stopped his retreat, planted a foot on the cliff wall to his left, and vaulted over Green Snake, aiming to land behind her.
It was an incredibly daring move. The mountain path had a cliff face on only one side; the other was an unguarded drop into the foggy abyss. The path itself was less than a meter wide and slick with rain. The slightest misstep would mean a fatal fall.
Green Snake hadn't expected such a bold maneuver. She didn't leap up to meet him in the air; her style was based on fluid, grounded movement. An aerial battle was a major weakness for her.
Kaito leaped two or three meters, landing behind her. A silver flash, and the revolver was in his right hand.
A sudden chill went down Green Snake's spine. She spun around to see Kaito already raising the gun.
BANG!
Green Snake's hips dropped, and her entire body twisted on the ground like a serpent, her form coiling and uncoiling in a bizarre motion that propelled her toward Kaito.
Kaito retreated, pulling the trigger again.
BANG!
Another shot rang out, but Green Snake stayed low to the ground, her movements completely unpredictable. It seemed [Misfortune's Knock] wasn't triggering its special effect.
She was incredibly fast. By the time Kaito fired his third shot, she was already on him. A cruel look flashed across her face as she snapped her head to the side, causing the bullet to miss, and thrust her right hand straight at Kaito's face.
Kaito's pupils constricted. He felt a foul wind on his cheek as he tilted his head, dodging the poisoned dagger by a hair's breadth. The revolver vanished, and he grabbed the woman's attacking arm with both hands, leaping backward.
"Ha!"
With a sharp exhalation, Kaito pulled her off balance and tried to snap her arm over his shoulder.
Crack. The sound of the joint giving way was much quieter than he expected.
Something was wrong. Kaito tried to let go, but Green Snake was already wrapping herself around him.
The woman's body was astonishingly flexible. Whether it was the way her arm had just bent without breaking or the way her legs were now coiling around his lower body as she slithered onto his back, her abilities were clearly beyond the scope of a normal human.
"You've got some strength, kid," the woman hissed, a cruel smile on her lips. "Struggle a little more for me…"
She always cultivated a seductive appearance, but her greatest pleasure came from moments like this, when she was strangling the life out of strong men.
Kaito grabbed both of her arms, preventing the daggers from stabbing into him, but her body had him completely trapped. She used her entire frame to lock his joints and was now using her full body weight to wrench his arms backward.
CREAK…
The terrifying sound of muscle and sinew grinding against bone echoed in the quiet mist. Kaito could feel the muscles in his shoulders beginning to tear.
The moment his strength gave out, the daggers would plunge into his neck.
He could feel the serpent's breath on his skin. The muscles on his neck tensed and bulged.
Thump-thump!
Thump-thump!
A heavy, frantic heartbeat suddenly filled the air.
Green Snake paused for a second, then leaned back, pulling even harder.
"Such a violent heartbeat," she whispered, her voice dripping with excitement. "Are you… that afraid of dying?"
Her excitement grew, to the point that she began to feel a dampness between her legs.
Kaito felt his arms being bent further and further back. He could almost feel the cold steel of the daggers against his neck.
His heart beat faster and louder, until suddenly…
THUMP!
After one final, deafening beat, like the pounding of a war drum, a shudder ran through Kaito's entire body.
SCREEE…
The backward momentum of his arms came to a dead stop. Then, with unstoppable force, they began to pull forward again.
Green Snake felt the immense power coming from his arms and her eyes widened in shock. She instantly uncoiled her legs from his waist and planted her feet firmly on his back, using the full leverage of her body to pull.
This was her maximum strength.
For a brief second, they were locked in a stalemate.
"Ha…"
A strange, soft laugh escaped Kaito's lips, followed by an explosion of raw, overwhelming power.
Green Snake was instantly thrown off balance, her entire body slamming into Kaito's back. The immense force shattered her nose, the pain overloading her senses.
"AGH!"
She screamed, but the world was already spinning. Through the mist, she could feel a terrifying heat radiating from the man's body, as if he were steaming.
CRUNCH!
Kaito grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the stone path. Her spine snapped, and blood erupted from her nose and mouth.
"Gaaah!"
All the strength drained from her body. The daggers fell from her nerveless fingers.
Through her blurring consciousness, she saw the man crouch over her. His eyes were a horrifying, solid white.
"Mon… ster…"
Kaito's skin was now flushed red, his muscles visibly swollen. His entire frame seemed to have grown larger. He squatted down and looked at the dying woman, the smile on his face far more unrestrained than hers had been moments before.
SMASH!
Kaito's fist obliterated Green Snake's beautiful face. He followed it with another punch, and another, caving in her skull.
[You have killed the assassin Green Snake. You have gained 200 Dimensional Points.]
Thump!
Thump!
He continued to rain down punches, tireless, feeling a sublime sense of joy in the act.
He had seen many doctors. Some had recommended therapy. Others had prescribed him psychiatric drugs.
But in the end, Kaito was still Kaito.
He didn't think he was a madman. He was just an anomaly, born in the wrong era.
It wasn't that he was too crazy; it was that everyone else was as docile as sheep.
SPLAT!
With a sound like a watermelon bursting, a spray of red and white matter erupted into the air.
"Urrgh!"
In the distance, the sound of someone vomiting was followed by the sight of a chubby figure scrambling and stumbling away down the mountain path.
Kaito paid him no mind. He simply stood up, letting the mist wash the filth from his hands.
Toguro Hachidan's face was pale, his body rigid with shock. He didn't know how many times he had fallen on his way back down. Even after reaching the safety of his inn at the foot of the mountain, he couldn't stop shaking.
"A madman… that guy is a genuine madman!"
With trembling hands, Hachidan dialed Mercenary Tao's contact number. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to go back in time and slap himself for ever thinking that young man was suited for a true martial artist like Master Roshi.
A lunatic like that… besides Mercenary Tao, who would possibly take him?