Chapter 119: Fierce Battle, Kaito Shirogane's True Form
[Heartless]'s heart pounded. He kept his thumb on the call button of his communicator, ready to call for backup at any moment. He wasn't the genius that he was, but after so many missions at his side, he had learned how this Infinite Space game was played.
Betrayal and deceit. Abandon all rules and common sense. Assume the worst of every Reincarnator, regardless of whether the Nexus called them your teammate or your opponent. Everyone was an enemy. The only good Reincarnator was a dead one.
He gasped for breath, a sense of indescribable ecstasy washing over him as he looked down at the senior Reincarnator he had just shot in the heart.
But then, he realized something was wrong. The body was twitching, but he wasn't dead. No system notification for a kill had appeared.
He scrambled back, pulling a bottle of water from his inventory and splashing it over himself to wash away the blood.
At that moment, the man on the ground, Kalpa, finally coughed up the blood from his throat. A strange smile was on his face.
"You actually came out, you little fool. Heh."
"A final word of advice," Kalpa rasped. "Be careful of that Mercenary Tao. He wants to rip your turtle shell off…"
With that, Kalpa's body went limp. But then, his face began to change, morphing into that of a woman.
[Heartless] still hadn't received a kill notification. A cold fear began to creep into his heart. He remembered Kalpa's words and immediately ran to the edge of the roof, looking down at the chaotic street below.
The riot between the gang and the police was still raging, the number of casualties steadily climbing. A few Supes had begun to appear. He scanned the crowd, his eyes searching. That guy… the one in the pink robe with the unbelievably ugly face… where is he?
He was gone.
His heart began to hammer in his chest. The fear was coming back. Failing to kill Kalpa had made him realize that these famous Reincarnators were far more powerful than he'd imagined. They weren't like the nameless scrubs he had dealt with before. They all had trump cards.
Tap.
The sound of a soft footstep behind him. [Heartless] held his breath and spun around. Sure enough, that terrifying Mercenary Tao had leaped up onto the rooftop.
He first looked at the woman's corpse that Kalpa had left behind, even crouching down to pull some of the organs and flesh from the hole in its chest, carefully grinding them between his fingers. This sight only confirmed to [Heartless] that this man was an absolute freak.
Kaito sniffed the blood. It was already rotten, smelling as if the body had been dead for days. But the wound itself was fresh. That guy, Kalpa, definitely had some kind of special ability. Whether it was that mental-stabbing energy or this substitution technique, he was a hard man to kill.
"In that case," Kaito mused, "I should probably just kill you first and take the Card."
He suddenly turned, his gaze fixed on the now-invisible [Heartless]. His lips curled into a grim smile.
"At a time like this, don't tell me the Card isn't on you. That would be… very disappointing."
BOOM!
The ground trembled. [Heartless], terrified, slammed the call button. "I need backup! Now!" He no longer cared how Kaito had found him. A colossal force had already erupted in front of him. A protective talisman glowed, then instantly cracked and shattered.
BAM!
The residual force of the blow hit him, sending him sliding backward uncontrollably.
Golden ripples of Hamon flowed over Kaito's right arm. He dislocated his own shoulder joint, his arm extending an extra foot as he shot forward and grabbed the invisible figure. His senses were sharp. Although his opponent's ability made even his internal organs invisible, his heartbeat was a deafening drum. This guy was an inexperienced Reincarnator, unable to control his emotions in a crisis, and his frantic heart had given him away.
Kaito grabbed his body, his expression shifting. He violently yanked, shattering his opponent's center of gravity. His dislocated shoulder, under the healing power of his Lv7 Hamon, was instantly repaired.
Kaito's right palm began to twist into a spiral. The terrifying sound of grinding muscles and sinew made [Heartless]'s heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. The back of his neck prickled. The direct, physical sensation of death made his entire body tremble.
I'm going to die…
[Sage Art - Rakshasa's Palm]!
The air was torn by the spiraling force, letting out a horrific shriek.
BOOM!
The space in front of Kaito was suddenly empty. A much more powerful sonic boom followed, and a gust of wind shattered the air currents stirred up by his attack, dissipating them into white foam.
Kaito took two steps back, his heart pounding, his body already swelling into its combat form. He had instantly activated his talent, his danger sense now at its absolute peak. His body was slightly hunched, his muscles loose, his knees bent. He was like a tiger, about to pounce.
A-Train, in his blue and white suit, appeared at the edge of the rooftop. He was holding the trembling "Translucent" in one hand, while staring at the Asian man in his fighting stance.
"Chinese kung fu?"
A-Train's pronunciation was terrible, but he could feel a genuine sense of danger from the man's posture.
Kaito exhaled. A white plume of breath, like a sharpened sword, shot out nearly two meters. With his mastery of the Breathing Methods, he could now be considered a master of ancient martial arts. He looked at [A-Train], the Supe with a top speed of 342 meters per second. He was coiled, ready to strike. A-Train not only had speed that approached the sound barrier, but his body could also withstand the pressure of that speed. This meant that his strength and constitution were also terrifyingly high. For him to run through a normal person was to suffer no damage at all.
[Heartless] had finally come to his senses. He gasped for air and slapped A-Train's shoulder, signaling him to put him down. A-Train ignored the weak "transparent" man. Other than his invisibility, this guy had nothing in common with the original Translucent. He had no combat ability whatsoever. He was only on The Seven because Homelander needed a living "Translucent" to keep the team's image stable.
"You sure you want me to put you down?" A-Train asked. "This guy could probably kill you in a second." He didn't like [Heartless], but the man had leverage on him. He didn't know how he'd found out, but he knew that if [Heartless] died, a pre-set email would be sent to Vought's marketing department and to Homelander. And then, he would lose everything.
Kaito slowly stood up straight, relaxing his muscles. He began to walk slowly toward A-Train, his posture seemingly defenseless.
A-Train, not understanding, suddenly vanished.
BAM!
He instantly appeared in front of Kaito and threw a punch. Kaito's pupils trembled, and he finally caught a glimpse of his opponent's form, but the fist was already hitting him in the side of the face.
A massive force struck him. Kaito's body spun with the blow, and his right leg swung up in a seemingly casual arc.
"Look out!" [Heartless] screamed.
A-Train turned his head, just in time to see the right foot, which seemed to be swinging from pure inertia, now right next to his head. He instantly vanished.
Whoosh!
The kick hit empty air, letting out a dull, concussive boom.
Kaito spun several dozen times in the air before landing steadily on his feet. There was a fresh, purple bruise on his cheek, but he was otherwise unharmed.
A-Train looked at his own fist, a strange feeling in his heart. The feeling of that punch landing… it was wrong.
Kaito smiled. The force of A-Train's punch was far lower than he had expected. In fact, it was probably a little weaker than his own. This matched his performance in the show, where he couldn't gain a clear advantage in a fistfight with Starlight. In Kaito's opinion, A-Train's best attack was to get a running start and just smash through his opponents.
He raised his foot and began walking toward A-Train again.
"A-Train, let's go!" [Heartless] was panicking. He had already sensed the strangeness of this "Mercenary Tao." This man had some kind of martial arts ability. In a close-quarters fight, he was extremely powerful. After so many close calls, [Heartless] had lost his nerve. Even with A-Train here as backup, he was still afraid he was going to die.
But A-Train wasn't about to be scared off by some nobody. He snorted and vanished again. Kaito's pupils trembled as he tried to keep up with his speed. After a moment, he began to adapt, and could now see a blurry afterimage.
BAM!
A punch landed. Kaito tilted his head but still got clipped. A-Train vanished again. In an instant, it was as if a thousand figures were surrounding Kaito, striking him from all sides. His body shook with each impact, but he was using his master-level [Shaorii] to dissipate the damage. For a moment, A-Train found he was unable to knock him down.
Enraged, A-Train became a blur, ran a full circle around the outer wall of the rooftop, and then charged Kaito head-on, throwing a punch that carried all his momentum. The punch shrieked through the air.
Kaito's eyes lit up. He roared, his own body coiled, ripples of Hamon flowing over his right arm.
A-Train threw his punch. But in his eyes, the relatively slow Kaito had suddenly thrust his own hand forward like a great spear.
[Devil Lance]!
SPLAT!
The air was pierced. A shockwave of rippling air exploded outwards. A-Train tilted his head, his forward charge ruined by his own evasive maneuver. He stared in shock at his opponent's terrifying attack, wondering if it was some kind of superpower.
But Kaito was already taking another step, his left hand clamping down on A-Train's shoulder. A-Train tried to shake him off, but the man's grip was like a vise.
A grim smile spread across Kaito's face. At his right fingertip, a golden light began to condense.
"Run, A-Train!" [Heartless] screamed. He pulled out his own gun and began firing at Kaito.
But Kaito's senses were too sharp. He instantly used A-Train as a human shield, blocking the bullets, and at the same time, the light of the Dodon Ray had fully condensed.
A-Train, feeling the terrifying energy in front of him, felt a fear he hadn't felt since he was facing Homelander's heat-vision.
BOOM!
He suddenly pushed off his feet, dragging Kaito with him in a burst of speed. The inertia sent them both crashing through the rooftop's edge. Kaito's expression changed, but with a twitch of his finger, the Dodon Ray fired.
Fzzt!
A-Train was pierced in mid-air. His momentum carried him hundreds of meters, and he crashed into an adjacent skyscraper.
Kaito, meanwhile, was now falling from a height of nearly one hundred meters.
"AH!"
Below, the office workers and pedestrians finally noticed the man falling from the sky and began to scream.
In mid-air, Kaito suddenly spread his arms. As golden ripples of Hamon flowed over his already-swollen body, it seemed to stretch even further, as if he were spreading wings.
With his current constitution, a hundred-meter fall would have a high chance of seriously injuring or even killing him. But Kaito felt no fear. He didn't feel the approach of death. He just felt… excited. He knew he would live.
My time to die is not now!
He stretched his body out like a flying squirrel. The intense wind resistance began to alter his trajectory. He scanned his surroundings, and in an instant, he had adjusted his position. All he needed was a little push.
Without hesitation, the light at his fingertip glowed again. The golden Dodon Ray rapidly condensed. In the second before he hit the ground, he pointed his finger diagonally downward and fired.
*VMMMM-BOOM!
A massive explosion. Kaito was thrown into a series of flips and landed, light as a feather, on top of a lamppost.
He looked up at the hundred-meter-tall skyscraper, then at his own unharmed body, then at A-Train, who was now a bloody mess in the building opposite, and then at the chaos on the ground below, filled with tear gas and panicked screams.
He was filled with an immense joy.
"Hahahahaha…"
He laughed, a wild, unrestrained sound. He felt as if a primal instinct, long suppressed, was finally awakening. This was what he wanted. To do whatever he wanted, to transcend all limits. His enemies couldn't defeat him. The sky couldn't restrict him. Gravity couldn't kill him. This feeling… it was too good.
Kaito laughed with pure, unrestrained delight. This scene happened to be witnessed by George and Bobby, who were struggling in the chaos below. A new strength was born in them. They idolized Mercenary Tao's power. They idolized his ambition. In that moment, they seemed to understand what it was they were truly fighting for.
"Hah…" The two men locked eyes. They suddenly picked up a fallen riot shield and charged the police line.
"FUCK THE LAW!"
"WE'RE A GANG!"
The chaos was now irreversible.
[Your reputation with the special faction B45 Gang has increased. Current: Revered.]
High above, [Heartless], having witnessed the chaos, ignored the riot and immediately contacted Vought headquarters. "We're under attack! A-Train is injured! I need backup!"
SHIING!
A flash of light. The next second, [Heartless] screamed, looking down at his own severed right hand.
"AGH! MY HAND!"
A silver-haired boy had appeared on the rooftop. [Bad Kid] had a cruel smile on his face. "You're not very good at hide-and-seek, are you?"
"But that's fine. You've saved me some trouble."
VMMMM!
A sharp roar filled the air. [Bad Kid] looked up and saw the tell-tale sonic boom clouds. Homelander was coming. He immediately threw a knife, which pierced [Heartless]'s chest, disabling his invisibility, and then vanished.
At that same moment, [Heartless]'s body, his ability gone, also disappeared.