A Night of Crimson Revelry

"Where is your leader?" the assassin inquired, facing a man from the gang that currently controlled 'Street Five.' He traveled with his followers.

"Huh?! Who the hell do you think you are talking to? Are you here to cause trouble with us and your lackeys behind you?" the man retorted.

"Not trouble but death!"

"What the...!"

With a sudden, the assassin struck the man squarely in the face with his powerful kick. The force of the blow shattered the man's nose and left his face disfigured. He crumpled to the ground, blood streaming from his face as he screamed in pain.

"Wah Ah Ah Ah! My face! It's so painful! Wah Ah!"

"Hahahahaha! Even after I take over this part of the slum, I won't let you join us since you are just too weak!"

"Leader! We've captured his accomplices!" one of the followers reported.

"Great! Bring those two to me!"

"Sure! Hey, you two! Just kneel before our great leader and tell us where your leader is!"

"We… We don't know! Our leader usually wanders around without telling us his whereabouts! Please spare our lives!" the two accomplices trembled, pleading with the assassin.

"Hmm…" The assassin didn't reply, but he pointed his finger at the disfigured man as a warning.

"Woahh! I got it! Our leader is now drinking with those senior members in the pub right now! We've told you his whereabouts, please let us leave now! Please!"

"No way…" The assassin walked slowly toward them, a bloodthirsty expression on his face.

"Woahh! Please don't hurt us! Please…" They kept kowtowing at the assassin.

"Hahahahaha! Two of you! You will be part of us starting from now on!"

"Huh?! You mean…"

"You two idiots! Our leader gave you the chance to be reborn! Don't you know how to show your appreciation?!"

"We... We got it! Thank you so much! We will follow your orders from now on!" The two replied, though a bit reluctantly.

"You two can get up! Bring me to the pub!"

"Al... Alright! This way…"

The assassin followed them to the pub, standing at the entrance, scanning the surroundings and every individual inside. His eyes settled on a man sitting in a corner, surrounded by bar girls. He locked onto the man as his target and attempted to approach him, only to be immediately halted by a group of gangsters.

"Stop right there! Who the hell are you, prick?"

"I believe that big-shot looking guy in that corner must be your leader, am I right?" the assassin asked.

"Watch your mouth! Or you will die!"

"Die? Well… Let's see then… All of you just wait here. I will settle it very soon."

The pub was dimly lit, faces barely visible in the shadows. The assassin dismissed the gangsters and continued his stride toward the corner table. The gangsters pursued until they reached behind a massive white curtain, casting eerie silhouettes of the impending clash.

"HEYY!! I said you can't enter this place without our permission! Are you deaf?!" a gangster yelled, grabbing the assassin's shoulder.

"I give you three seconds to release your hand or else… One… Two!!"

"Huh!? Are you drunk or sleepwalking?! Let me teach you some lessons, you prick!"

"Three!!"

The assassin seized the gangster's hand, a lightning-fast blur, and with a swift, controlled motion, slammed him to the ground. The thud echoed through the pub, drawing the attention of other gangsters who, in a moment of realization, drew their knives and lunged toward him.

"Yehahaha! My dears, just look at that silly, skinny man fighting my men… Who in the hell in this world would dare to challenge me?" the boss proclaimed to the bar girls.

"Oh, poor man… He must be out of his mind to challenge our mighty boss! Come on, let me feed you the cherries while enjoying the show!" one of the bar girls chimed in, her laughter ringing through the tense atmosphere.

The pub's patrons, initially engrossed in the spectacle, were now witnessing a fierce battle behind the curtain. Suddenly, a gangster swung a wine bottle at the assassin's head. In a breathtaking display of reflexes, the assassin seized the bottle, twisted the assailant's head 180 degrees, and seamlessly continued his relentless assault.

As the clash unfolded, each move of the assassin seemed like a carefully choreographed dance of death. The air crackled with tension, and the onlookers were held in suspense, their breaths caught between fear and fascination.

After what felt like an eternity but was merely ten seconds, the assassin stood amidst fallen gangsters, their defeated forms sprawled across the floor. The pub, once a buzzing hive of activity, now stood in stunned silence. Reality crashed in, and chaos erupted as patrons scrambled to escape the unfolding nightmare. 

The once-white curtain, now stained with the vivid red of spilled blood, hung as a gruesome backdrop to the pandemonium. The pub, once a haven of revelry, transformed into a nightmarish scene of fleeing patrons, their desperate cries for help reverberating through the air.

The assassin, now the master of this grim stage, strolled casually toward the boss. His sinister smile spoke volumes, a prelude to the impending confrontation. The boss, cornered and trembling, had lost not just his men but also his voice, unable to comprehend the swift and brutal downfall he had just witnessed.

"Good night, Sir! What are you drinking? Although the air is full of the smell of blood, I can still savor the taste of these wines."

"HeeEee!! What do you want from me!?"

"Hmm… A sip of your red wine."

"Huh?! Wine? You killed all my men just to taste the wine?!"

"Yes! Anything wrong with it?"

"You son of a crazy bitch! You…"

The leader's head was separated from his body before he could finish his words.

"YAHHHHH!!! All the bar girls surrounding him were screaming after seeing the bloody scene.

"Hmm? I thought all of you had already gotten used to seeing this kind of thing in the slum… Am I wrong about it? Whatever, mission accomplished!"

"Please don't kill us!"

"I'm not interested in any of you! Just leave those wines here and get out now!"

"YeeYahh!!!" The bar girls screamed in relief and ran away.

The assassin left the pub with a face full of satisfaction and reunited with his followers. He continued his assault on the other gangs ruling different parts of the slum. Each time he defeated a gang leader, he would gather their men to join his cause. The relentless assaults continued until the next morning, when the last gang was wiped out and joined their ranks as well.

"Woohoo! We've done it! I still can't believe we've accomplished so much!!" One of his followers said, amused.

"I already told you all! It's a simple task! Right now, our next target would be outside of this slum! But not now; I am getting a little tired already! Hahahahaha!!"

"You are indeed incredible, as you said! You achieved something that we have been unable to do for years in just one night!"

"What you all lack is bravery and ambition! Just follow me and watch closely! I will show you all how capable you are!"

"Yeahhhh!!!" Everyone replied excitedly, and the hatred towards the Kothern military was ignited by the assassin.

"Hahahahaha!! Now the entire slum is ours and under our control!"

The fate of the slum, unchanged for so many years, was suddenly transformed entirely overnight. None of the innocent residents in the slum, including Ayukawa, had realized the changes in such a short period. The assassin brought all his followers to a hideout and began planning their next move.

Ayukawa, holding the army knife that Rosseaulyn gave her while sleeping, experienced a nightmare. In her dream, she fought a ghost-like shadow, and the shadow stabbed its knife right into her heart. She was immediately awakened by the nightmare.

"Bwahh! Hahh… Hahh… Hahh… Dream? It feels so real… It's morning already? So, nothing happened to me…? Weird, I thought the assassin wouldn't let me go for sure… Just forget about it."

Ayukawa had a slight migraine after enduring the nightmare. She opened the window, hoping to get some fresh air, but instead, she sensed the air was full of blood. Looking down the street, she noticed a significant increase in bloodstains. Even a bloody, broken human arm was spotted on the street.

"There must be something that happened last night! Or did the assassin purposely do all this as a warning to me?! I need to go out and take a look!"

Ayukawa changed her dress and put on her jacket, taking the army knife with her. When she opened the door and left the house, the kitten slipped through the gap and followed her.

The once-familiar street now bore the gruesome marks of the assassin's conquest. Puddles of congealed blood mirrored the chaos that unfolded the night before. Ayukawa cautiously navigated through the blood-stained path, her senses heightened by the unsettling sights around her.

As Ayukawa walked through the blood-stained streets, following the gruesome trail, the extent of the assassin's brutality became more apparent. The corpses multiplied, each one a testament to the merciless efficiency of the night's assault. She paused by one particularly horrific scene, where a body lay in the most gruesome state—headless, dismembered, and with organs scattered on the street, attracting a swarm of flies.

"Ah, disgusting… A slashed wound… Although I already knew who did all these, right now, I can fully confirm the assassin is the one who created all these messes. What do you think, kitty?"

"Me..ow… Wurghh plehhh!" The kitten, clearly repulsed, threw up.

"Nobody else could have done something so brutal like this… What the hell is he thinking about?! Just because I didn't show up, so he did all these?! Or he just simply having his cheap fun?!"

"Meow…" The kitten padded on Ayukawa's leg repeatedly.

"This place is making you sick, let me bring you out of here first!"

"Meow!" Ayukawa lifted the kitten and carried it back to the house.

'All the people who get killed on the street are male so far… I haven't seen a female corpse lying on the street yet…' Ayukawa thought.

On her way back, she noticed some stores and shops were still open as usual, despite the corpses lying in front of their units. The owners seemed indifferent to the macabre scenes. Ayukawa encountered a shop owner smoking on the street and stopped her.

"Oh, young lady! Are you having a morning walk with your pet? It's so rare to see a young and beautiful girl here!"

"Beautiful…? Well… Is this your shop?"

"Yeah! This is my place! I'm a blacksmith."

"Blacksmith… You can make a dagger for me if I give you a piece of metal?!"

"Of course! But I prefer you give me the money instead of metal, which I already own a lot! Haha, just a joke!"

"I'm a bit curious… How do you manage to work when there are so many rotten corpses right in front of your shop?!"

"I can tell you are definitely new here! I should advise you not to stay, but everyone has their own reasons and difficulties. So… To me, watching those corpses has become part of my routine already."

"As I thought, people here sure get very used to it."

"But I still admit they are disgusting even though we get used to it!"

"Of course! Who the hell would like to see dead people every day!"

"Haha! You are an interesting girl! By the way, are you interested in crafting a dagger?"

"Probably, but not now. At least now I know a blacksmith is here."

"Then I will wait for you to pay me a visit again! I've got to get back to work! See you, nice girl!"

Ayukawa nodded.

"Amazing but disgusting… There really are people who can live normally in such a place… Oh, I almost forgot about those two innocent girls who also live here happily… No wonder the tall monster wants Carmella to leave here." Ayukawa muttered.

"Meow… Meow… Meow…" The kitten showed a very uncomfortable face.

"I got it! I will take you back home right now!"

"Meow…"

After returning home, Ayukawa prepared the specially made pet food by Carmella for the kitten. However, the kitten seemed reluctant to eat and started to throw up again.

"Hey, kitty! What's wrong? Still not feeling well? I should have left you at home just now."

"Me..ow…"

"Hoping you will be fine after throwing up. If you refuse to eat your food and start losing weight, then both of them will blame it on me!"

"Meow!" The kitten improved after throwing up and began to eat.