The End

"Gray Owl's" mockery fell like icy poison rain, relentlessly drenching Kazama In.

"The target? It was always you, the 'Arbiter' of the Kazama Family!" Gray Owl's voice carried cruel glee, his gun barrel steady, aimed at Kazama In's heart. "The others? The Sakayanagi Family's caged canary? The Kanzaki Family's little wolf cub? And that Ichinose, blinding as sunlight? They're just extras! Killing them earns a bonus, letting them live doesn't matter! The organization's core objective, from start to finish, has been to erase you—a rusted blade that still dares to covet the sun!"

He took a step forward, the cold muzzle nearly pressing against Kazama In's rain-soaked chest. Raindrops gathered and slid down the dark metal barrel.

"Now, the game's over, little young master." Gray Owl's voice carried a hint of mocking pity. "For the sake of you being the last bloodline of the Kazama Family, I'll give you a chance. Speak. What are your last words? I'll deliver them to that poor mother waiting for you underground... Oh, or perhaps to that golden-haired girl who's about to wither away because of your foolish 'protection'?"

The icy killing intent pierced Kazama In's nerves like solid ice spikes. The image of his mother collapsing in a pool of blood, Ichinose's bright smile, Koenji's flamboyant back as he left, the grateful gazes carrying warmth from the Class D camp... Under Gray Owl's venomous provocation, instead of breaking him, they fed the icy flame in his heart like fuel thrown into a furnace, driving it to its extreme! All the contradictions, struggles, and pain were compressed, tempered, and finally solidified into a pure, unprecedented—killing intent!

Kazama In slowly raised his head. Rainwater dripped from his ink-black hair tips, sliding past his sharp jawline. Deep within his ink-black eyes, the two icy flames no longer merely burned; they condensed like a collapsing universe into two points of profound, heart-stopping cold stars! The corner of his mouth, extremely slowly, extremely coldly, curled upward into a barely perceptible arc. That smile held no warmth, only absolute, indifferent contempt for an ant.

"Last words?" Kazama In's voice rang out, low and calm, yet like a blade tempered in ten-thousand-year-old ice, easily piercing the sound of the pouring rain and reaching Gray Owl's ears clearly. "Saying that now... isn't it a bit early?"

His voice carried a strange, spine-chilling certainty: "It seems now, it's your turn to speak your last words."

Before the words faded!

Kazama In's right hand, which had been hanging loosely at his side, suddenly yanked downward! The movement was as fast as lightning!

"What?!" Alarm bells screamed wildly in Gray Owl's mind! He hadn't even seen what the other had done! He only felt an irresistible, immense force suddenly surge from the submachine gun in his hand! As if countless tough steel wires had instantly tightened! The gun body uncontrollably plummeted!

"Crack!" A grating sound of metal friction!

The gun strap did its job, preventing the weapon from falling directly to the ground, but the heavy gun body was yanked downward by the immense force, the muzzle instantly pointing at the muddy ground! Gray Owl's fingers nearly slipped off the trigger from the sudden, overwhelming pull!

In that split second, as Gray Owl's center of gravity was thrown off!

Kazama In moved!

No warning, no buildup! His body seemed to vanish from its spot, leaving only a blurred afterimage stretched by the rain! The next instant, he appeared at Gray Owl's right side!

"Whoosh—!" A sharp sound of breaking air was drowned by the rain!

A powerful, thunderous low roundhouse kick, like a steel whip, viciously struck the outside of Gray Owl's right knee!

"Thud!"

A dull sound! Accompanied by a clear crack of bone!

Immense force poured in without reservation!

Gray Owl felt his right leg instantly lose all sensation, an indescribable, excruciating pain and numbness shooting straight to his head! His entire body, as if hit broadside by a speeding truck, completely lost balance and flew backward through the air with a scream!

"Plop—!"

He crashed heavily onto the muddy ground! Cold mud mixed with rotting leaves instantly engulfed half his body! Mud splattered everywhere! The immense impact darkened his vision, and his internal organs felt displaced! A piercing pain shot from his right knee, clearly indicating severe damage to ligaments and bones.

"Ugh—ah!" Gray Owl let out a pained grunt, struggling to lift his head, to grab the submachine gun lying beside him. Mud caked his mask and combat suit, leaving him a complete mess.

However, Kazama In gave him no chance.

Like a reaper claiming a soul, he walked with steady, icy steps, one by one, through the mud and rain, toward the collapsed Gray Owl. Rainwater dripped from his hair tips and clothes, each step seemingly landing on Gray Owl's heartbeat, bringing a suffocating pressure!

"Bastard!" Gray Owl's eyes bulged with rage; immense humiliation and the fear of death instantly overpowered the pain! Gritting his teeth against the agony, he used his still-functional left hand to grab the submachine gun from the mud, not even bothering to aim, and frantically pulled the trigger at the slowly approaching, demonic figure!

"Pew pew pew pew pew—!"

The suppressed gunfire was muffled and rapid, not loud in the rainy night, but carrying deadly threat! Muzzle flashes flickered in the rain curtain; over a dozen bullets tore through the rain like venomous snakes, pouring toward Kazama In!

Facing the lethal hail of bullets, Kazama In's reaction was inhuman!

He made no large evasive movements; his body merely swayed and shifted with minute, yet incredibly precise, adjustments as he continued walking!

A slight tilt of his head—a bullet grazed past his temple, carrying away a few ink-black strands of hair!

A subtle drop of his shoulder—another bullet whistled past his shoulder, leaving a scorch mark on his soaked clothes!

A serpentine twist of his waist—several bullets narrowly passed through the space he had just occupied!

His pace didn't even falter! His entire form, amidst the dense rain of bullets, was like a ghost weaving through a storm, leaving behind a series of nearly overlapping, dazzling afterimages! As if those deadly bullets were nothing more than insignificant raindrops on his path forward!

"Impossible!" Gray Owl's pupils shrank to pinpricks from extreme terror! He had never seen such terrifying footwork! It was beyond human limits! This was a phantom! A monster! He fired wildly until the magazine ran empty, the bolt locking back with a "click"!

The mixed smell of gunpowder and rain spread. Kazama In stood unharmed, a single step away from Gray Owl, looking down from on high at the enemy sprawled in the mud like a beaten dog. Cold rain slid down his stern face, his ink-black eyes staring at Gray Owl like an abyss.

"You... what kind of monster are you?!" Gray Owl's voice twisted with fear, the empty gun trembling violently in his hand.

Kazama In didn't answer. He simply raised his right hand again. This time, Gray Owl saw clearly—wrapped around his slender fingers were several nearly transparent, extremely tough metal threads, reflecting a faint cold gleam in the rain! The other ends of these threads were connected to his own limb joints and... his neck!

It was the moment he fell! While launching the kick, Kazama In had ghost-like wrapped the threads around his body! He hadn't noticed at all!

"No... don't!" Gray Owl felt a bone-deep chill! The shadow of death had never been so clear! He watched in terror as Kazama In's fingers slowly tightened, the cold threads instantly snapping taut! A subtle yet deep-cutting pain, from his wrists, ankles, and especially his neck, came clearly! Skin was cut, warm blood mixed with cold rain, slowly seeping out, staining the mud red!

"How does it feel?" Kazama In's voice was cold, without a trace of emotion, as if stating a fact. "To be killed by the 'weakness' you looked down on? To be ended by the 'disgrace' you spoke of?"

"Stop! Kazama In! I can tell you who hired me! It's..." Gray Owl felt the true, irresistible fear of death, trying to throw out his final bargaining chip.

"Sakayanagi's father?" Kazama In interrupted him, a flicker of understanding and deeper cold flashing in his ink-black eyes. "Or that distant uncle coveting the Kazama Family's inheritance? It doesn't matter." His fingers suddenly exerted force!

"Aaaaaaah—!!!"

An inhuman, piercing scream tore through the rainy night!

The metal threads, stretched to their limit, like the sharpest strings, under the terrifying force of Kazama In's pull, sliced through in an instant!

Gray Owl's limbs were severed cleanly at the joints! His head, accompanied by a grating tearing sound, was ripped from his neck!

Scalding blood gushed out like a fountain! Instantly staining a large area of mud around him! The severed limbs and head tumbled a few times in the muddy water before completely losing life, leaving only those eyes, bulging nearly to bursting, frozen with boundless terror and disbelief!

Rain still poured down in sheets. The icy water washed over the muddy ground, and over the glaring swaths of crimson. Severed limbs and heads soaked in a mixture of blood and mud—the scene was brutal and merciless.

Kazama In stood still, letting the rain rinse the few drops of blood from his fingertips. His gaze swept coldly over the remains on the ground, his ink-black eyes devoid of any ripple—only the absolute calm of a completed mission. He bent down, picked up Gray Owl's submachine gun and the long rectangular weapon case, then searched him for a communicator and other potentially useful items.

"The Arbiter..." he murmured to himself, his voice dissolving into the curtain of rain, carrying a cold, settled finality. He turned, ready to clean up the scene and head to support Koenji.

Just then, beside Gray Owl's still-warm head, submerged in blood and mud, the bloodstained communicator suddenly emitted an extremely faint, intermittent electronic crackle. A blurred voice, laced with manic laughter, faintly broke through:

"...'Blood Claw'... got it... Class B... blonde girl... caught... wait... 'The Arbiter'... haha... you... will never... find... him..."

Kazama In's steps came to an abrupt halt! His ink-black pupils sharply constricted! A chill more piercing than this icy rainy night instantly flooded his entire body!