Assassination (IV)

That kind of peaceful life, that second-by-second passage of time deemed natural and proper by others, was a slow, stagnant hell for any Blade of Delirium.

He loathed those long, endless yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows.

What he craved was the present.

With every second he remained awake, he felt the pure rage driving him gradually seep away, leaving him weaker and weaker.

He needed sleep as much as he needed air.

But he needed killing even more.

It surpassed even the strongest stimulants. Not even the pleasure of sex could compare—killing was intoxicating, and he wanted nothing else.

This was what the demon in his heart desired.

Yet he could not tolerate becoming a vessel for a demon. That was the final sliver of a boundary he upheld in the depths of his soul.

But that line was about to break. He had to put an end to this.

"Die!!"

He smashed the Ork's helmet with all his strength, shattering its silver horns. The claws on both his hands were stained with blood, and he wielded his pistol like a club.

Boom!

Suddenly, he felt a tremendous impact. A hellishly hot explosion hurled him away from his victim and slammed him hard into the ground.

"Ugh..."

Thick, drug-laced bloody foam poured from the breathing holes in his helmet, yet he could no longer taste pain.

A mass of white-hot warmth filled his chest and slowly swelled.

It spread through Kasko's limbs and organs, bringing him an unprecedented, dizzying bliss.

Bullet grazes and blade wounds caused his organs to fail one after another. Below the knee of his right leg, only scraps of mangled flesh remained.

Every muscle in Kasko's body began to tremble. This signal of death triggered a device hidden beneath his sternum.

When any Blade of Delirium faced