[27] Heart breaking

"Well, I appreciate you making it this far." A low, mocking voice echoed from above. Kaoru, Yukikaze, and Rinko looked up, meeting the gaze of a man standing arrogantly on the balcony of the now-ruined brothel. Kuroi Ryuuji stared down at them with a smug expression, a sly grin etched across his face.

"Who are you?" Yukikaze responded immediately, her face flushed with barely contained rage. The gun in her hand was aimed directly at his chest, her finger ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

"Kekeke~ Who am I?" Ryuuji chuckled, as though the question meant nothing to him. "Who knows... Some call me a king, others call me a sin."

Kaoru, standing calmly beside Yukikaze, let out a small laugh, the sound of it causing Ryuuji to stop for a moment and look at him with a strange expression. His brow furrowed as an unsettling sensation crossed his mind. "What's with this kid? Why do I feel repulsed just by looking at him?" It was a rare feeling—an odd sense of discomfort.

"I don't care who you are," Kaoru said with a thin smile on his face, gazing at Ryuuji with eyes filled with a madness that seemed to erupt from within. "I just want to watch you die slowly."

Yukikaze, growing more frustrated, shouted with a voice full of unrestrained anger. "If you're the owner of this brothel, tell me where my father is!" Her voice trembled, overflowing with explosive emotion.

Rinko quickly attempted to calm her companion, who was on the verge of losing control. "Calm down, Yuki-san. Don't let him provoke you."

Ryuuji only laughed louder, his voice like a demon's laugh, chilling to the soul. "Kekekeke~ So, you're connected to one of the Taimanin we captured. How pathetic, isn't it? But too bad, you're too late. The one you call your father... he's now a successful product of the biological weapon we've been developing."

His words lingered in the air, like poison slowly seeping into Yukikaze's mind. Her face turned pale, her breath caught in her throat.

"What... do you mean?" Yukikaze struggled to maintain her composure, but her voice trembled, filled with deep fear and anxiety.

Ryuuji raised his hand, and with a theatrical gesture, pointed towards the giant iron door behind them. "What I mean... is this!" he said, full of horrific enthusiasm.

Suddenly, an emergency siren wailed, shattering the tense silence. The massive iron door trembled with a rumble, as though something monstrous was being held behind it. A loud thud echoed as the door was finally forced open, and from the darkness emerged a terrifying figure.

The creature—a grotesque abomination. Its flesh was grotesque, its muscles swollen unnaturally, with four tentacles protruding from its bloodstained back. Sharp claws replaced its fingers, and its face... was half human, half monster. Eyes that once may have held love were now empty, filled with nothing but void and hatred. The figure stood tall, letting out a thunderous roar that shook the very walls of the room.

Yukikaze's eyes widened as the realisation hit her hard. Her voice cracked in a panicked scream, filled with disbelief. "F-Father?!"

The creature let out another deafening roar, "GROOOOWL!" Its sharp teeth jutted out, while the tentacles on its back writhed violently. With each step it took, the ground trembled, cracks forming beneath its enlarged feet, creating an unavoidable sense of terror.

Rinko held Yukikaze's trembling body tightly, her voice shaking with concern. "Yuki-san, please... focus! We have to face this together!" But her words echoed emptily in the air, seemingly unable to penetrate the fog of horror that enveloped Yukikaze's mind. Her eyes remained fixed on the terrifying figure that was once her father—now a soulless abomination, a creature that lived only to destroy.

Kaoru stood slightly behind them, watching the scene unfold with mixed emotions. His usually cold face now showed a brief flash of sympathy, but only for a moment. The sight before him was utterly nauseating, tearing at the humanity within him. These people, he thought, they're not human. They are monsters. Those who would dare use humans as experimental subjects for their own gain and satisfaction, without any regard for the suffering they caused. People like that, he thought with a deepening conviction, do not deserve mercy; even death is too cheap for them.

Kaoru felt his heartbeat quicken, not from fear, but from the excitement that coursed through his veins. There was a sense of relief in knowing that he no longer had to feel guilty about what he was going to do. His heart trembled, full of both anger and joy, clashing within him. This wasn't just about the fight. This was redemption—revenge for all the suffering they had inflicted on innocent people.

For a moment, Kaoru imagined what it would be like if it were his father who had turned into a monster. If the figure he once admired became a wild beast devoid of love. If that happened, he knew, he would completely lose control. Perhaps Yukikaze felt the same right now—a terror unimaginable, hitting the soul like an endless nightmare.

With steady steps, Kaoru moved forward, leaving Rinko, who was still trying to snap Yukikaze out of her mental collapse. He couldn't wait any longer. The creature was too dangerous, and although Yukikaze was still trapped in horror, Kaoru knew he had to act.

Ryuuji, standing above, observed with a mocking grin. "Going alone, are we? Hm, interesting." His voice was cold, filled with satisfaction. "Alright, let's see how long you last, kid." He chuckled softly, as if Kaoru were just a toy that his biological weapon would soon crush.

But Kaoru wasn't fazed by the taunts. He glanced briefly at Ryuuji, then refocused on the massive creature before him. Earlier, he had fought off the henchmen barehanded—but this was different. This was a monster, not an ordinary human. Kaoru grabbed an iron rod from the rubble nearby. In an instant, the rod vibrated as he channelled his aura into it, making it glow a deep red, almost resembling a real sword.

The creature let out a piercing roar, "GROOOOWL!" The sound reverberated through the room, shaking the surrounding walls. With surprising speed, its large, heavy hand swung towards Kaoru, ready to crush anything in its path. But Kaoru merely tilted his head slightly, his eyes sharp like those of a wild animal on the hunt.

"Aslan Sword Style..." Kaoru whispered, as his aura intensified. "Second Form—Wolf Fang."

His movements were so fast, they were almost impossible for the human eye to follow. Kaoru thrust the makeshift sword towards the massive creature. The red-black aura surrounding his body exploded outward, forming the shadow of a ferocious wolf that lunged with his strike. The attack not only pierced the creature's body but also tore through the air around it, creating the illusion of a giant wolf with sharp fangs pouncing on its prey.

A sound of flesh being torn echoed, black blood gushing from the monster's body, causing it to let out a more terrifying roar. But Kaoru didn't stop there. He spun with deadly agility, launching a follow-up strike with an increasingly ferocious aura, relentlessly hammering the creature.

Ryuuji, watching from above, only grinned wider. "Interesting... very interesting. Maybe you're not just an ordinary kid." He looked at Kaoru with eyes full of dark excitement. "But, you haven't seen the real deal yet."

Suddenly, the creature, despite being severely wounded, rose again with even more terrifying strength. Its muscles swelled unnaturally, and the tentacles jutting from its back attacked with alarming speed, forcing Kaoru to retreat a few steps.

Behind him, Rinko had finally managed to calm Yukikaze, whose eyes were still brimming with tears. "Yuki-san, we have to fight. We can't let this go on," Rinko whispered softly but with firm resolve.

Yukikaze gritted her teeth, staring at the creature that had once been her father with a mixture of pain and anger. "I... I'll free you, Father..." she said with a voice full of determination, gripping the gun in her hand tightly. "No matter what... I'll end this suffering."

Kaoru, his breathing still steady despite fighting the creature alone, turned slightly, seeing his two companions beginning to rise again. "It's time we work together, isn't it?"

Rinko nodded, and Yukikaze, tears still flowing, wore a face full of resolve. This battle had only just begun, and they wouldn't back down—not now, not ever.