"Certainly."
Okimasa drew the tantō — only to wince as a sharp sting flared across his palm. When he looked down, a bead of blood welled up from the skin.
Those still holed up in Kongōkaku were already shaken to the core by the Kabane. Biba understood that fear better than anyone, and he turned it into a weapon. The instant Okimasa's blade left its sheath, the trap had sprung: somewhere in the crowd, a poisoned needle had already kissed his hand, seeding the Kabane pathogen into his blood.
"Father, there's something I must tell you — about how I survived the battle against the Fused Colony."
Biba's voice was calm, almost intimate. Okimasa, drawn into the words, forgot the strange sensation spreading through his palm.
"The Kabane threat isn't outside our walls." Biba continued, eyes glittering, "It's among us. Even now, their numbers keep rising. But I know how to identify them… and that's why I lived."
"You mean bite marks." one noble said, forcing bravado into their voice, "That's why we established inspections."
Biba watched Okimasa's hand begin to warp, the veins darkening, the flesh taking on that ominous sheen. A thin, delighted smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Inspections are meaningless." He raised his chin toward the Shōgun, "The proof is right here. Look closely…"
A samurai finally noticed the rapid change, saw the faint, sickly glow that heralded a Kabane's transformation, and jerked up their rifle with trembling hands.
"That glow — Kabane! Before he attacks, shoot him!"
Bang!
Fear pulled the trigger before reason could.
One bullet was never enough to stop a man who had only just begun to mutate.
Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!
"Biba Amatori!!!" Okimasa staggered under the impacts, blood blooming across his robes. He stared at his son with a hatred that finally sharpened into understanding. He had been framed from the beginning.
"Father, it isn't my fault." Biba said softly, almost tender, "It's fear's fault. This is what you taught me."
His lips curved as he drew the gun-sword and drove the blade straight through his father's heart.
For a heartbeat, the hall froze. Then the Shōgun's corpse hit the floor, and confusion curdled into panic.
"Look carefully." Biba announced, voice carrying like a sermon, "Even the Shōgun became Kabane. Stay vigilant — because the person beside you could turn at any moment."
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Afterward, Biba seized the city's loudspeakers and poured paranoia into every corner of Kongōkaku. While he preached, his men moved through streets and corridors with practiced ease, pricking citizens with poisoned needles and turning them into Kabane one by one.
Kongōkaku descended into chaos.
Neighbors eyed neighbors like strangers. Old alliances shattered. Suspicion became a blade, and soon brawls turned to executions.
"Not enough… not enough… hehehe." From a high platform, Biba watched the carnage unfold, his smile widening as if he could drink the terror from the air.
Rumble!
Beyond the walls, a colossal blue radiance flared into existence. Kabane swarmed toward it as if drawn by a tide, bodies piling and fusing until a monstrosity — nearly fifty meters tall — rose over the city.
With one sweeping motion of the Fused Colony's arm, it flung a rain of Kabane into Kongōkaku itself.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"It's all your fault!"
Biba's gaze slid to the Shōgun's body — already being kicked in furious resentment by one of the samurai. The contempt was almost… satisfying.
He lifted his steam gun and shot the man through the head without hesitation.
Then he settled into the chair that had once symbolized his father's authority — and felt a hollowness spread through him.
That was it. His revenge was complete… and with it went the purpose that had kept him moving.
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
By the time the Kokujō reached Kongōkaku, everything had already spiraled out of control.
Kajika escorted Yukina, Shino, and the two little girls into the Crystal Palace Realm. Before letting Yukina and the others step into the Divine Kingdom, Kajika thoughtfully strengthened Ryuji and the remaining girls with a buff.
Leaving the Kokujō's defense to the women staying behind, Ryuji rushed toward Kongōkaku with Mumei, Horobi, and Ayame.
Ayame went straight for Biba, with Mumei and Horobi at her side. Ryuji split off to find women suited for contracts. With two Kabaneri girls and three Shadowkhan at her back, the Yomogawa princess had more than enough strength to claim vengeance for her father.
Guided by retainer instincts and Shadowkhan senses, Ryuji formed contracts with each suitable woman he found and sent them into the Crystal Palace Realm. Three hours of work brought nearly forty women into his domain.
"Biba Amatori!"
The sharp, furious cry snapped Biba out of his daze.
"Oh?" He rose slowly, studying Ayame and the girls gathered below the steps, "Isn't this the Yomogawa daughter? To what do I owe the honor?"
His men leveled their guns at them in unison.
"Hmm. Mumei… and Horobi…" Biba's eyes narrowed, a cold, amused light flickering through them, "So even you've betrayed me. Fine."
He raised his gun-sword.
Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!
At his signal, the hunters fired as well.
Mumei and Horobi stepped in front of Ayame, watching the bullets streak in. In perfect coordination, both women drew their short blades.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The stone around them was chewed apart by lead, yet not a single bullet touched the three women.
Ayame nocked an arrow and loosed a [Whirlwind Arrow]. The air screamed; Biba felt as though a hurricane had locked onto him. In raw panic, he hurled himself backward, tumbling away.
Whoosh!
His subordinates weren't so lucky.
After the last battle, Ayame had reached Level 3. She could fire three or four Whirlwind Arrows in rapid succession now, each one far more destructive than before.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gale ripped through the hunters, flinging bodies and weapons into the air. When the debris crashed back down, Biba found himself surrounded by severed limbs.
There was no mystery to it — these were ordinary people, their Constitution barely scraping H-. Against a skill with H rank destructive power, they simply had no chance.
Biba's expression tightened. He retreated in one swift motion and produced a syringe filled with viscous black fluid, plunging it into his neck.
Blue light burst from his chest in clusters, spreading like veins of flame until iron-gray plating crept across his upper body.
"It's Nue!" Mumei stepped forward, face grave, "Everyone — be careful!"
{T/N: A Fused Colony is the name given to the giant creature, while Nue is the name of the controlling core of the Fused Colony. I don't know if in the original material the Nue can leave the colony and fight normally.}
Horobi drew her pistol as well.
"Hah…"
Biba exhaled, and a faint cloud of blue iron powder escaped his lips. Then he lifted those glowing blue eyes and flicked his hand, hurling a sphere of blue flame straight at Ayame.
"Damn it!"
Mumei and Horobi fired together.
Bang! Bang!
Useless. The flame didn't even waver as it bore down on Ayame.
Mumei and Horobi tried to step back, desperate to shield her, while Ayame squeezed her eyes shut and braced for agony —
Whoosh!
A massive figure dropped in, blocking the attack.
"Ayame!" ×2
Bang!
Smoke erupted and rolled outward.
When it cleared, a towering woman — nearly three meters tall — stood between them and Biba, clad head-to-toe in black ninja garb. The blue flame had been stopped cold.
"Is that… the Shadowkhan Ryuji mentioned?" Mumei stared, stunned.
She only reached the giant's knee.
Mumei swallowed, eyes drifting upward — particularly to the colossal chest that looked like it could swallow her whole…
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
More shadows rippled. Several women dressed identically appeared at the giant's side.
Biba roared and hurled more blue flames. The Shadowkhan units scrambled into position, barely managing to block the barrage.
"Roar! Annoying ants!"
Some shred of Biba's mind remained. Seeing his attacks fail, he charged, gun-sword raised.
A Razorkhan met him head-on, thirty-centimeter claws tearing toward his throat.
{T/N: Just a reminder that Shadowkhan is the term that encompasses all other tribes, including Razorkhan.}
Clang!
Biba parried, then started to kick the Razorkhan away — only for a shadow to swell behind him. A huge, serrated maw snapped down at his head: an unmasked Squidkhan, trying to devour him whole.
At the last instant, Biba twisted into a side somersault and slipped free.
But before his feet could even touch the ground, a Mantiskhan's scythe erupted from his own shadow. From that angle, if he landed normally, he would be cut clean through the middle.
Biba caught the scythe with his iron hand, sparks spraying, then flipped away to escape the kill zone.
Even with the mutated Kabane virus in his veins, there were no true Kabane here for him to fuse with. Without that fusion, he was far weaker than the Nue (Uryū) Ryuji had slain before — at best a G- overall.
The Shadowkhan averaged only H+, but their ability to sink into shadows made them maddeningly unpredictable. With more than a dozen operating like a single organism, they managed to stalemate Biba for a time.
"Hiss… that one with the claws is insane. It's actually holding Biba back."
"Whoa, and what's with that huge mouth?"
"Ehhh! That wasn't a scythe, it's actually — "
When Ryuji arrived, he found Mumei dragging Horobi off to the side, munching snacks and making commentary, while Ayame searched for openings to put an arrow through Biba.
Biba, stronger than any one Shadowkhan, was being driven nearly mad.
Every time he cornered one, it melted into shadow. Attacks came from every direction, and ambushes burst from beneath his feet. It was like fighting a battlefield itself.
Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!
After dodging yet another wave of strikes in a sorry state, Biba threw back his head and roared, blue flame surging higher as if he were burning his own life away.
His Strength climbed toward G-rank, his raw power approaching the Sumokhan's current level. Aside from the Sumokhan, none of the others could take even a single direct hit.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Under the shocked gaze of the snack-eating spectators, fifty Shadowkhan units emerged all at once, encircling Biba.
Even the irrational Nue shuddered.
If he still had words, he would have been screaming them.
How the hell was anyone supposed to fight this?
The fifty Shadowkhan surged forward in a wave, drowning him with sheer numbers. Even with heightened aura and battle instincts, Biba was overwhelmed.
Time blurred. When Ryuji, Mumei, and Horobi finally felt full, Biba lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky like a man already dead. Even Ayame — carrying the weight of her father's murder — found herself pitying him.
His limbs had been carved away by Razorkhan claws, leaving him a living stump.
Ayame took Ryuji's rifle, aimed at Biba's heart, and fired. The shot ended him cleanly, leaving little that looked human.
Afterward, Ayame stood still, lost in thought, as if unsure what was supposed to come after revenge.
Ryuji clapped his hands, brushed the crumbs from his fingers, and walked to her side.
He kissed her gently, then deepened it until her breath caught and her knees went weak. One arm held her slim waist; the other shamelessly squeezed at her softness, kissing her until her thoughts turned hazy and her body trembled — only then did he let her go.
Still confused? I've made your legs weak — let's see if you can keep overthinking now.
The best way to break through confusion is to keep Ayame stuffed with cream puffs all night until she's too full to think about anything else.
Ryuji handed her to Mumei and the others, then turned his gaze toward the gigantic Fused Colony rampaging beyond the city.
That enormous experience-point generator…
He had no intention of letting it escape.
✦✦✦
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
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