The door creaked open.
"Well, if it isn't Raikou's other half," the old man muttered as he rose to his feet, glaring at the boy in the doorway.
The boy clicked his tongue. "The name's Kai, old man." He leveled a finger at him, his voice like a knife. " And embed it in your lousy brain. Once you're in hell."
The man burst into hysterical laughter. "You kill me? That's ludicrous a boy can't kill the man who raised hi-"
His words broke into a gasp as Kai's hand clamped against his throat.
"Never say you raised me," Kai snarled. "You raised Raikou. I raised myself".
Blood spilt as the man's throat opened under Kai's slash, blood spraying covering Karu's hands. The old man staggered, choking, and collapsed against the floorboards.
Kai crouched over him, seizing his head with one blood-slick hand. "Raikou won't be happy," he murmured. "You were close… but you were planning to use us." His grip tightened. The man was silent.
"I didn't cut too deep. Speak."
Silence again.
Kai squeezed even harder until blood oozed through his fingers. "Fool"
The man let out a grunt of pain, grabbing Kai's arm. Kai smirked.
"How do you know?" the man asked in pain.
The boy sighs and in a blur of motion—his hand was gone, sliced away in an instant.
Kai leaned in close, purple eyes glowing as they locked onto the man's trembling gaze. His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Simple. I heard you. You laughed at shouting your amazing plan at night. Like an idiot".
He shoved the man's chest, slamming him into the wooden wall. Blood coughed from the man's lips as Kai stalked forward, each step echoing with his screams. Kai pressed a finger to his own lips, silencing him.
"Now listen," he said coldly. "If I heard you right which I did. You planned a ritual—a human soul to carry a demon's mana. Tell me, whose soul? We both know it wouldn't be yours."
Kai vanished, reappearing behind him. The old man froze, gulping.
"You'd use Raikou's pure soul… to steal my cursed demonic mana. Or should I say—Shinsu's mana."
The old man's eyes widened as he turned to face Kai. "The brat's eyes look normal. Does that mean… he can't control Shinsu's mana?"
The man thinks as sweat drops from his head.
Desperate, he staggered to a rack, snatching a blade. His hands shook as he leveled it at Kai.
Kai chuckled. "Your silence says enough. But tell me one thing—" He raised a glowing blue finger, pressing it against the man's chest. His smile cut like a blade.
"Why the hell are you still trying to fight"?