New Resolve

"Phew... phew..."

Baku Madarame was panting with exhaustion, but the smile at the corner of his mouth was hard to hide. "Kaji, we could just run away like this, but don't you want to see it? The look on that old man's face when he regrets his life and confesses before us..."

For no apparent reason, Takaomi Kaji shuddered.

The presence of the other man beside him—Akagi Shigeru—made Takaomi Kaji shudder even harder, until he could barely breathe.

"Yes, just leaving it at this isn't enough..."

The silver-haired middle-aged man chuckled softly and murmured, "This gamble should get even more interesting."

Clearly, these two "outsiders" had other plans.

Fourth floor of the tower, corridor.

Shiraki Uke faced off against Lodem.

The two were nearly equal in height and weight, but their musculature differed. Shiraki Uke's lines were much smoother, while Lodem had an inhumanly fierce appearance.

"Kill... kill!"

Without the slightest preamble, Lodem gripped his dagger in a reverse grip and charged forward with long strides.

Shiraki Uke didn't avoid the attack. He clenched both fists, drove off the ground with his right foot, and propelled his whole body half a step forward, throwing a straight punch with all his strength.

[Fighting Spirit Burst: Impact Strike]!

Whoosh!

The high-speed, short-range lunge nearly warped the air as Shiraki gathered the strength of his entire body behind the punch aimed at Lodem.

Even [Nioh] Komada, despite weighing nearly 30 kilograms more than Shiraki Uke, had been unable to take that punch head-on.

But Lodem merely reached out with his right hand, tracking Shiraki Uke's fist with his dynamic vision, then used his monstrous strength to seize the incoming punch.

Bang!

The force of the punch only made Lodem's body tremble. Without pausing for an instant, he slashed at Shiraki Uke with the dagger in his reverse grip.

Swish!

Seeing the danger, Shiraki Uke chose not to retreat. Instead, he pushed off the ground with his left foot behind him and advanced another half step, driving his left elbow at Lodem's chest.

[Fighting Spirit Counterattack: Piercing Chest Elbow]!

Thud!

The elbow struck Lodem's chest with a muffled thump, forcing him back two or three steps before he regained his footing.

Drip... drip... drip...

Drops of blood fell.

A "red line" had appeared on Lodem's dagger, while a bloody gash had opened across Shiraki Uke's left forearm!

The Piercing Chest Elbow had indeed forced Lodem back, but at the same time, Lodem's dagger had cut Shiraki Uke!

The wound wasn't deep, but blood was indeed dripping from it.

Fifth floor, office.

Yagyou, the "referee," watched the surveillance screen as Lodem cut Shiraki Uke, his gaze showing a trace of wonder and surprise.

He said slowly, "The Kengan Association's fighters are all people sought after by major conglomerates and corporations. There are plenty of top-notch fighters among them—men who can win even against armed opponents."

"But now, a man who once defeated a Kengan fighter has been cut by a dagger and put at a disadvantage."

Yagyou couldn't help remarking, "So that's Lodem, the Ninefold Tower's legendary 'savage soldier.' How truly brutal..."

"..."

Hearing Yagyou's remark, Q Dalang grew much happier.

"Haha, comparing Lodem to a weapon? You're not wrong!"

Opportunities like this were rare. Naturally, he had to show off to this Kakerou referee and take him down a peg for his earlier arrogance.

"Back when I was a mercenary, I often had opportunities to come into contact with classified military intelligence."

"In the past, detailed experimental records showed that, by rewriting the brain's 'receptive fields' and combining the procedure with drugs, the human body's latent abilities could be induced and its potential stimulated to the limit."

Q Dalang narrowed his eyes.

"For example, in other cases, people have suffered accidental brain injuries and acquired astonishing artistic abilities, or an explosive capacity for memory."

"But in the military's experiments, what they wanted to strengthen wasn't 'memory,' but 'martial strength' capable of surpassing everything."

"So they developed a drug called Dihydroxyphenylserine and used artificial intervention to rewrite the human brain."

"—That was the entirety of the enhanced soldier experiment."

"..."

Yagyou raised an eyebrow. "So that man called Lodem is an enhanced soldier who underwent human experimentation?"

"No."

Q Dalang shook his head. "To be precise, the one experimented on was my son—Maruk."

Yagyou froze.

Q Dalang smiled and explained, "Although the experiment did greatly strengthen Maruk's body, it came at a corresponding cost."

"Maruk's 'intelligence' and 'moral sense' were both impaired as a result."

"And for some reason, Maruk became less and less willing to obey my orders—he wouldn't even do something as small as killing someone when I told him to."

"Then one day, perhaps because of the pressure he'd been under for so long, or perhaps because of the experiment's aftereffects..."

"When I was administering his medication with a syringe, the act of the needle piercing his skin became the trigger that caused Maruk to develop a 'second personality.'"

"That was the soldier I'd hoped to see—savage and useful: Lodem!"

"..."

After hearing Q Dalang's account, Yagyou nodded slightly.

"I see. By 'rewriting' the brain with drugs and using a dual personality as a catalyst, the savage violence known as 'Lodem' was ultimately born."

Yagyou glanced at Q Dalang, leaving some things unsaid.

Using one's own son for human experimentation—even in the underground world, that was an inhuman atrocity.

Yet Q Dalang, this utterly inhuman devil, used precisely that kind of powerful violence to maintain his authority and satisfy his own desires.

Even the [Lie Eater], who had once devoured Kakerou's members one by one, had no choice but to obey this iron rule.

Martial strength was life.

—This planet kept spinning in a vortex of martial strength!

"Then, you who seek to understand 'what it means to be strong'..."

Yagyou raised his head and looked at the injured Shiraki Uke on the screen. He couldn't help growing curious, hoping to witness the answer.

"Can the 'strength' you possess defeat Lodem—that 'martial strength' filled with human malice?"

Chapter 30: New Resolve

Higashi Kōichi was Kakerou's referee number two.

The literal meaning of "referee" was "one who officiates a gamble."

Though their personalities and ways of doing things differed, referees were, in short, a group of people who longed to "witness."

To witness a gamble that demanded every ounce of ingenuity and combined "intellect" with "martial strength."

"Intellect" alone was not enough.

Its counterpart, "martial strength," was a gambler's life!

Without the police, who represented martial strength, people would continue to commit crimes, taking others' lives for their own benefit.

Or, surely no one would submit to "authority" that possessed no martial strength, just as no one feared a tiger made of paper...

In the world of gambling, martial strength was also one of the important factors.

Only with equal martial strength, or under an order maintained by superior martial strength, was one qualified to negotiate and restrain potential injustice.

The greater the stakes, the more completely a person would forget all prior agreements and morals once utterly defeated.

And the victorious "weakling" might even be eliminated by the other party. That was the law naturally born of society!

Yagyou continued to carry out his duties as a referee, witnessing and officiating the gamble.

Even so, Yagyou was already feeling somewhat bored, and he sighed inwardly.

Usogui's side lacks martial strength...

Leaving the matter of teams aside, the only person truly on Usogui's side was the ordinary man named Takaomi Kaji.

Anyone could see that Takaomi Kaji's courage and martial strength were both inferior, practically nonexistent. He even seemed liable to hold the others back.

By comparison, Akagi Shigeru, the [Man of the Divine Realm] on the other side, and Shiraki Uke, who had defeated a Kengan Association fighter, were rather more worth watching.

At that thought, Yagyou was suddenly moved for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

How had the [Lie Eater] fallen this far?

That was right. It must have started on the day he "defied his superior."