Super Violence

"Hey—"

Before the short mercenary could say another word, Q Dalang changed the communication frequency, cutting off contact with the four mercenaries.

"..."

The short mercenary's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Gritting his teeth, he crawled into a corner, turned his Transceiver back on, and contacted the slicked-back-haired mercenary whom Shiraki Uke and the others had taken away.

"Hey, can you hear me?!"

As soon as he heard the channel connect, the short mercenary hurriedly said, "Let's talk, all right? The first three floors have the most traps, and I know them well. Let me give you a hand!"

"Whether you want me to turn myself in afterward or hand me over to the police, fine! Let's just get out of this damn building together first, or the consequences will be unthinkable!"

"If we don't get out quickly, that... that guy will be here!!!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Before a reply came over the communicator, heavy, rapid footsteps sounded from the stairwell.

The short mercenary's eyes widened. A menacing figure climbed the stairs and raced through the dark corridor like the grim reaper, charging straight toward him.

"?!"

Baku Madarame and the others had tossed the guns they couldn't take with them elsewhere, leaving no firearms nearby.

In desperation, the short mercenary reached for a dagger not far away.

But the next second—

Whoosh!

Lodem flashed past, swinging the blade in his hand. In the blink of an eye, he slashed open the short mercenary's outstretched arm.

With a squelch, the short mercenary's right arm fell limp, the upper arm and forearm connected by only a strip of skin.

"Ah... ah..."

The short mercenary was so terrified that he couldn't make a sound.

Lodem, however, was in no hurry to finish him off. Instead, on Q Dalang's orders, he stomped on the other two mercenaries lying unconscious nearby.

Thud! Thud! Thud...

He brought his foot down again and again, finally stopping only after he had crushed both mercenaries' heads, leaving the floor a bloody mess.

Lodem turned back and pointed the camera beside his ear at the short mercenary, allowing Q Dalang to admire his prey in his final moments.

Slash!

Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, Lodem swung it and slit the short mercenary's throat.

Scalding blood sprayed from his carotid artery, staining the surroundings crimson. All that remained of the short mercenary was his final dying wail.

"Ah! Ah—ah..."

"..."

With the three men dead, Lodem set off again, but instead of going downstairs, he raced all the way to the roof.

Q Dalang was delighted. "Very good, Lodem! The remaining targets are on the fourth floor. Take the 'shortcut' there!"

On the fourth floor of the building.

Shiraki Uke, Akagi Shigeru, Baku Madarame, and Takaomi Kaji were holding the slicked-back-haired mercenary captive and preparing to head to the third floor when they suddenly received a call from the mercenary on the sixth floor.

The mercenary's voice went from panic to despair, then to a final wail before falling deathly silent.

"..."

The slicked-back-haired mercenary immediately panicked. "Hey! Stop holding on to me! I won't resist. We have to get out of here, now! That guy will kill every one of us!"

Baku Madarame frowned slightly. "By 'that guy,' do you mean the masked man beside Q Dalang?"

"That's him!"

The slicked-back-haired mercenary jogged a few steps and called to the four of them, "Anyway, I'll tell you where the traps are. Let's hurry!"

His tone was as though the grim reaper had come to claim his life, and it was truly unsettling.

Immediately afterward, Kure Fusui suddenly cried out in Shiraki Uke's earpiece, as if she had seen something extraordinary.

{Bai Mu, what on earth is that thing?!}

In her alarm, Kure Fusui had no time to say more and could only give that warning.

How was she supposed to describe what she had just seen?

An agile masked man had suddenly burst through the iron door on the building's roof and appeared in the field of Kure Fusui's sniper scope.

He carried a coil of cable, tied one end to the iron railing on the roof, then gripped the other end and leaped from the roof into open air.

He had pushed off with such force that he had broken several bars of the iron railing!

"!?"

The entire sequence had been so fast it hardly seemed human. Even Kure Fusui couldn't help widening her eyes.

The speed and ferocity the masked man displayed went beyond human limits. Even among the monsters of the Kure Clan, no one like him could be found!

In an instant, veins bulged around Kure Fusui's eyes as she used "Removal" to greatly enhance her ability to track movement.

Her eyes, black with white pupils, moved, finally managing to keep up with the masked man's speed and catch him in her scope again.

Lodem sensed that faint hint of killing intent from afar while still in midair. His eyes moved behind the mask, looking in Kure Fusui's direction.

Their gazes met.

At that instant, Kure Fusui felt as though the grim reaper's scythe were pressed against her neck. An overwhelming sense of danger surged through her, as if her head would fall from her shoulders the next second!

Even among the monsters of the Kure Clan, her own elder brother, Kure Raian, was merely ruthless and violent, not a full-blown homicidal maniac.

Such an "inhuman" display of force was practically that of another kind of "creature"!

Kure Fusui couldn't even spare a thought for the fact that this was a "support commission." She wanted to kill him.

But in the next instant, the masked man gripped the cable tightly and adjusted his posture in midair, using its attachment point on the roof as a pivot to swing back toward the lower floors from outside the building.

"?!"

Kure Fusui finally realized the masked man's true objective.

With no time to fire, she shouted to Shiraki Uke over the communicator instead:

"Bai Mu, get out of the way!"

Crash!

The moment Kure Fusui shouted her warning, the masked man had already swung back to the building on the cable, smashing through the window of a room on the fourth floor. Aiming at the sheet-metal door ahead, he launched a flying kick with all his strength.

Bang!

The sheet-metal door was kicked to pieces and struck the slicked-back-haired mercenary behind it, "smacking" him against the wall like an unlucky mosquito and splattering blood everywhere!

Chapter 28: Super Violence

Clatter...

Stones, dust, sheet metal, pipes, blood, pieces of flesh... all sorts of debris pattered down around them, leaving the area in a mess.

Amid it came the sound of heavy breathing.

"Whew—!"

The masked man named Lodem stood half-crouched, his feet planted in the blood on the floor, hot breath pouring from his mouth.

Before him stood Shiraki Uke, Akagi Shigeru, Baku Madarame, and Takaomi Kaji.

They had just broken through a wire trap in their path and were heading toward the third floor.

There had originally been a mercenary with slicked-back hair as well, but Lodem had now sent him flying with a kick, smacking him hard against the wall.

Q Dalang's sinister laughter could be faintly heard from the Transceiver beside Lodem's ear.

"Very good! Lodem! Nice landing! Show them what you can do!"

"..."

At that instant, everyone except the heavily panting Lodem involuntarily held their breath. It was as though everything had fallen silent, and only a bloody, oppressive feeling hung in the air.

"Hah... whew..."

A second later, Takaomi Kaji could finally hear his own breathing and feel that he was still "alive."

Overcome by a powerful sense of unreality, he glanced from side to side at the others, trying to find something to cling to.

First was Mr. Baku—Baku Madarame. His eyes were also wide as he stared blankly at Lodem, his thoughts unknown.

But in any case, Baku Madarame must have been thinking a great deal—so much that his nose was bleeding, though he was completely unaware of it.

Then there was Akagi Shigeru. This older middle-aged man seemed to have remained calm from beginning to end.

Even now, there were only a few more beads of cold sweat on Akagi Shigeru's forehead. His gaze was as clear as it had been at the start, clear enough to make one uneasy.

"..."

Takaomi Kaji was momentarily stunned. He simply couldn't understand those two, or even read their emotions.

Then Takaomi Kaji suddenly heard the two of them mutter to themselves—

"This is so much fun!!!"