⚠️ Content Advisory
This series is rated 16+
It contains themes and scenes that may not be suitable for younger audiences, including:
Mild violence and psychological tension
Mentions of crime, corruption, and moral conflict
Occasional strong language
Emotional and mature themes related to loss, identity, and humanity
[ Viewer and reader discretion is advised ]
CHAPTER 8 – THE SHOWDOWN : GENESIS PROTOCOL
The rain intensified above the ruins.
Thunder rolled across the sky, violent winds shaking the abandoned structure.
The moon was completely hidden behind thick clouds.
Was this just weather… or a warning?
Deep underground, inside the main chamber—
Kye stood unsteady on his feet.
Blood dripped slowly from his fingers, staining the cracked metal floor.
His grip on the sword was loose, his breathing uneven—
yet his eyes showed no fear.
"Morrow," Kye said coldly, forcing himself upright,
"return the children. They have nothing to do with this fight."
He took a step forward.
"And stop hiding. Face me."
A low chuckle echoed through the chamber.
"Really?"
"But when exactly was I hiding?"
Kye's pupils shrank.
He felt it—
behind him.
Without hesitation, Kye spun and swung his sword with full force—
SWISH—
But—
Morrow was faster.
He leapt cleanly over the blade, twisting mid-air, and landed directly in front of Kye.
The ground cracked under his feet.
Morrow straightened his posture as if nothing had happened.
"Kye," he said calmly,
"I don't care about these things."
There was no emotion in his eyes—only emptiness.
"I don't care about my men…
or this place."
He walked closer, each step deliberate.
"All I want in life is entertainment."
A brief pause.
Then his tone suddenly sharpened, rising dangerously.
"I'll let the children go."
"After I kill you."
A single thought crossed Kye's mind—
This guy is even more insane than me…
But before he could finish that thought—
BOOM!!
Morrow's fist slammed straight into Kye's chest.
The air itself seemed to explode.
Kye was sent flying nearly thirty meters, crashing through a metal wall and skidding across the floor. A trail of blood followed his body.
He forced his hands against the ground, stopping himself.
His breathing spiked.
That punch… wasn't normal.
His ribs screamed, pressure surging through his chest—nothing broken, but the impact had shaken him to his core.
Kye slowly stood back up, grabbing his sword again.
"…I see," he muttered.
"You're not weak like your soldiers."
"Morrow says" -
"Kye… is this all it took for you to break?"
A twisted grin spreads across his face.
"I really thought you'd be stronger."
Kye
"Shut up."
A faint smile appears despite the blood dripping from his mouth.
"I didn't expect you to be this strong.
I won't lower my guard again."
For a brief moment, Morrow's eyes widen—
then excitement floods his expression.
In the next instant, he vanishes.
Kye barely has time to brace himself.
A fist tears through the air toward his face.
Kye bends down at the last possible second.
SMASH!
The punch crashes into the floor behind him, the impact shattering the metal-reinforced ground, shockwaves rippling through the hall.
Kye (thinking)
"What the hell…?
That speed… and that power—
This isn't normal."
Morrow doesn't give him time to recover.
He comes again.
Punches.
Kicks.
Elbows.
A relentless storm of attacks raining down in mere seconds.
Kye blocks what he can, dodges what he must—
but each impact sends vibrations through his bones.
Kye (thinking, strained)
"At this rate… I'll lose.
I need a counter.
Damn it—my injured leg… it's slowing me down."
Morrow suddenly bursts into laughter.
Morrow
"This is boring, Kye!
Is this really all you've got?"
He leans forward, eyes burning with madness.
"Show me something worth killing…
or should I end this myself?"
Before Kye can react—
Morrow throws a full-powered punch.
Kye instinctively raises his sword to block.
The moment they collide—
CRACK!
The blade shatters.
The ground beneath Kye collapses, and his body is sent sliding violently across the floor, sparks and debris flying everywhere.
Morrow walks toward him slowly, footsteps echoing.
Morrow
"You're useless, Kye.
Completely worthless."
He steps on Kye's face, pressing him into the broken floor.
Kye's vision blurs.
Kye (weakly)
"I… can't breathe…
Am I… dying?"
Morrow
"No. You're alive."
He presses harder.
"But what's the point?
What can someone this weak even do?"
He looks down at Kye with clear disappointment.
"Just the fact that you made it this far is impressive enough."
A cruel smile forms.
"Now hurry up and die.
I don't like weak people."
Kye's voice comes out broken, barely audible.
Kye
"…Why…?"
A cough of blood.
"Why are you doing this…?"
"Why am I even doing this?"
"Morrow muttered to himself. Hmph..."
Suddenly, the floodgates of memory opened, and Morrow was dragged back into his grim past.
They had been poor—dirt poor, surviving on the fringes of existence in a squalid, suffocating slum. His family could barely scrape together a single meal a day. To make matters worse, his father was a hopeless drunkard, and his mother... Morrow never could shake off a sense of deep unease whenever he looked at her.
"I was never allowed the simple joy that a child deserved, he thought bitterly. The other kids would shun me, keeping their distance as if I were a plague. No one wanted to play with me. But why? What truly set me apart from them? Weren't we all drowning in the exact same poverty?"
Before long, his father drank himself to the grave. Not long after, the cruel reality of the slums claimed his mother—she was brutally assaulted and murdered, left for dead.
And just like that, he was entirely, utterly alone....!!
Left with nothing but the void, a sinister craving took root inside him. I just wanted entertainment. Only entertainment.
At that moment, a chilling, devilish grin stretched across the face of young Morrow.
"I couldn't have been more than six or seven years old back then."
The details are a blur now, but I remember how I began to feed that insatiable hunger for amusement.
-------------------------------------------------------
Step by step, I hunted down every single child who had dared to refuse to play with me.
I slaughtered them. I used rocks, blades, broken glass—any brutal method I could get my hands on. And then, I consumed them. I devoured their flesh, just to satisfy my twisted thirst for entertainment, and to quiet the howling hunger clawing at my soul.
Morrow continued,
"But my savagery didn't last very long."
"Eventually, people caught me. Even though I managed to deal with three or four of them by myself..."
"The entire slum turned against me."
"They captured me and decided to burn me alive."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"But on the day that was supposed to be my last... something unexpected happened."
"A group of strange people wearing white coats arrived."
"They spoke with the villagers about something."
"I never learned what they said."
"But after that... they took me away."
"They simply picked me up and left."
"I didn't know who they were."
"I didn't know where they came from... or why they had appeared."
"What did they want from me?"
"Who told them about me in the first place?"
"I had no idea."
Morrow continued,
"After that... the only thing I remember is waking up in this place."
"I've been kept here ever since, taking orders from a group of strange people... helping them push their experiments forward."
"I still don't know how I ended up like this."
"I don't know how I became this strong."
A twisted smile spread across his face.
"But whatever the reason is... I'm finally having the fun I've always wanted."
"Playing with people's internal organs... killing them in every way imaginable..."
"That is exactly what I wanted."
"I want even more."
---
Snapping out of his memories, Morrow suddenly shouted,
"Kye...!!"
He grabbed Kye by the face and lifted him into the air.
"I want to put you on display in my showcase, Kye."
"I'll kill you... slowly."
"Don't be afraid."
"I'll make you suffer so much... that you'll beg me to take your life."
Morrow's grip loosened for a split second.
BOOM!
Kye drove his fist straight into Morrow's face, sending him flying across the chamber.
Taking a deep breath, Kye steadied himself.
Kye (thinking):
"Is this guy insane? What the hell is he even talking about? He's completely out of his mind..."
His eyes briefly shifted toward Arisa and Luca.
"Looks like Arisa and Luca have already passed out... That'll make things easier."
Kye slowly turned his gaze back to Morrow.
Kye:
"I don't know what kind of nonsense you're spouting... but let me make one thing clear."
"If there's the biggest beast in this room..."
A cold smile spread across his face.
"...it's me."
"I'll tear your body apart... piece by piece."
"And then..."
"I'll eat you."
"So know your place before you speak to me."
---
The two charged at each other once again.
Their fists collided head-on.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave rippled through the chamber as both of them exchanged blow after blow.
Punches.
Elbows.
Knees.
Neither of them was willing to give an inch.
Kye was constantly pushed back, yet every attack he landed forced Morrow to pause for a split second.
A faint grin slowly appeared on Kye's face.
Kye — "Looks like... your childhood didn't go very well, did it?"
"...You filthy insect."
For a brief moment—
Morrow froze.
The smile on his face disappeared, replaced by pure rage.
"Shut your mouth!!"
"What do you know about me?!"
"I've been like this since I was a child!!"
With a furious roar, Morrow abandoned all caution and charged recklessly toward Kye, throwing a devastating punch.
Kye waited until the very last second.
He lowered his body, narrowly dodging the punch as it tore through the air above his head.
At the same instant—
He swung his leg.
The broken half of his shattered sword, lying on the floor, shot forward like a bullet.
THUD!
The jagged blade pierced straight into the underside of Morrow's chin.
His eyes widened.
Before he could react—
BOOM!!
Kye spun his body and delivered a devastating kick directly to Morrow's chest.
The impact launched Morrow across the chamber, smashing through layers of metal before finally crashing into a distant wall.
Dust and twisted steel filled the air.
Morrow slowly raised his head, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"...How?"
His expression was filled with disbelief.
"He shouldn't even be able to stand anymore..."
"So... how?"
---
Just as Morrow was about to make his next move—
Kye suddenly charged at him at full speed.
A faint blue-purple aura crackled around his fist, flickering like lightning.
Before Morrow could even process what was happening—
BOOM!!
Kye's punch landed.
A deafening explosion shook the entire underground facility as the surrounding walls shattered under the impact. Metal debris and dust were sent flying in every direction.
Kye let out a heavy breath.
Kye — "Huh... Did you really think I'd let you get away that easily?"
"...But I don't have time for this."
He immediately turned around and shouted,
"Arisa! Luca!"
"They should be alright... right?"
"The explosion happened quite far from them... but the shockwave was massive."
"I need to find them... now."
Kye took a step forward, only for his body to stagger.
"I can barely even walk..."
"I'm starting to hate my own body."
Dragging himself across the blood-soaked floor, he finally reached them.
The entire hallway had turned into nothing but a bloodbath.
Kye — "Arisa...!"
"Are you alright?"
"You weren't hurt... were you?"
Arisa slowly opened her eyes.
Arisa — "Kye...?"
"Is... that really you?"
"I... I can't remember anything..."
A small voice suddenly interrupted them.
Luca — "Uncle... if you two are done with your romance..."
"...could you get me out of here?"
Kye scratched the back of his head.
Kye — "Ah... right."
"I completely forgot about you."
He took a step toward Luca—
But at that very moment—
A crimson light suddenly began flashing from the direction where Morrow had been thrown.
The atmosphere instantly fell silent.
*Black screen*
Splash.!!
A warm stream of blood spilled across the floor.
Kye's eyes widened.
A sword...
...had pierced straight through his throat.
---
Kye's vision began to blur.
Everything around him was fading.
He couldn't even understand what had just happened.
"Kye! Kye!"
Arisa desperately called out to him.
"Can you hear me?!"
Before she could reach him—
BANG!
Morrow drove a vicious kick into her stomach, sending her crashing across the room.
"Keep your mouth shut."
"I'll kill him first..."
"...then I'll deal with the two of you."
Kye struggled to move.
His body refused to respond.
"Maybe..."
"I should just lose consciousness..."
Yet...
Despite everything—
He forced himself back onto his feet.
His entire body had become nothing more than a display of blood and wounds.
Morrow let out a twisted laugh.
"So you've still got the will to stand?"
"I'll put an end to your little game..."
"...once and for all."
He slowly stepped toward Kye.
But just as he was about to strike—
A calm voice echoed through the chamber.
"Hello, Morrow."
"I've arrived."
"You haven't forgotten me already... have you?"
The figure who had appeared at the entrance of the abandoned facility finally stepped into the light.
"My name is... Null."
The moment Morrow saw him—
The confidence on his face disappeared.
For the first time...
He looked afraid.
"Y-You..."
"How... are you here?"
Null's expression didn't change.
"How I got here isn't important."
"What matters..."
"...is that you've become a problem."
"A problem for our operation..."
"And an even bigger problem because your tongue has started wagging far more than it should."
Morrow clenched his fists.
"What the hell are you talki—"
He never finished his sentence.
A cold flash cut through the darkness.
Silence.
For a brief moment...
No one understood what had happened.
Then—
Splash.
Morrow's head slid from his shoulders.
His lifeless body collapsed to the ground.
Everything had happened so quickly...
...that not a single person in the room had managed to see Null draw his blade or does he even draw his blade??
---
Kye stared at Morrow's lifeless body in disbelief.
Kye: "What the hell...?"
"What did you just do?!"
"I was the one who was going to kill him!"
"...Who are you?"
"And how did you even get here?"
Without answering immediately, Null walked forward until he was standing right in front of Kye.
His expression remained completely calm.
Null: "Who I am... and where I came from..."
"Does that really matter?"
"What matters is this..."
"If I hadn't arrived..."
"...you would already be dead."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Even after becoming this weak..."
"...your arrogance is truly remarkable, Mr. Kye Kurasaki."
Kye's eyes narrowed.
Without hesitation, he swung his fist toward Null's face—
Whoosh!
Before the punch could land, Arisa grabbed Kye from behind.
Arisa: Kye, stop!
"I don't think he's here to hurt us."
Kye : replies immediately!
Kye: "Have you lost your mind?!"
"Didn't you just see what happened?"
"He took Morrow's head off in a single strike..."
"...without even using a weapon!"
Clap. Clap.
Null slowly applauded with a faint smile.
Null: "Exactly right, Mrs. Arisa."
"I came here to help the two of you."
"I've already informed the police."
He glanced at Morrow's corpse.
"I'll be taking this body with me."
"As for everything else..."
"...I'll leave it in your hands."
---
The moment Null disappeared...
Kye finally lost consciousness.
His body collapsed to the floor.
---
A short while later...
Police officers and investigators stormed into the underground facility.
The surviving children were rescued immediately.
Kye, Arisa, and Luca were rushed to the nearest hospital.
---
A few days later...
Kye slowly opened his eyes.
The white ceiling came into view as his blurred vision gradually cleared.
He turned his head.
Arisa and Luca were lying on the beds beside him.
Arisa noticed his movement and smiled with relief.
Arisa: "So... you're finally awake."
"For a moment..."
"I thought you were never going to wake up."
Knock. Knock.
A gentle voice came from outside the room.
"May I come in?"
Arisa frowned slightly.
The voice sounded strangely familiar.
A moment later...
The door slowly opened.
A young boy stepped inside.
Ren.
The instant Arisa saw him, her emotions completely overwhelmed her.
She rushed forward and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
Arisa: "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
"I thought..."
"...I would never get to see you again."
Ren's eyes quickly filled with tears.
Seeing his older sister standing safely before him, he couldn't hold them back any longer.
The room fell silent.
A faint smile appeared on Kye's face.
Without saying a word, he walked toward the balcony and quietly gazed at the city beyond.
His thoughts drifted into the distance.
Then—
Swoosh.
He suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap gently around him from behind.
It was Arisa.
Her voice trembled.
Arisa: "Thank you... so much, Kye."
"If you hadn't been with me..."
"...none of this would've been possible."
"I'll never be able to repay what you've done for me."
"I truly would do anything... anything at all."
Kye remained silent for a moment before letting out a faint smile.
Kye: "The world's a lot bigger than it seems... after all."
"I still don't understand anything."
"And I intend to learn the truth."
"So..."
"...this is where our paths separate."
"I want you to stay with Luca."
"Take care of the three of you."
He looked at her one last time.
"Goodbye, Arisa."
"I'll try my best..."
"...to remember you."
As soon as the words left his mouth—
He stepped onto the edge of the balcony...
...and jumped.
His figure disappeared into the dark alley below.
Without looking back.
---
End of Chapter 8 – The Showdown: Genesis Protocol
Volume 1 – Genesis Protocol Ends.