[75] Asuka's Anxiety
Kaoru watched them from behind his mask, his smile hidden, but the cold and intimidating aura radiating from him was more than enough to make the atmosphere heavy. "Stubborn, are you? That's not a problem. You'll break eventually," he muttered in a calm yet threatening tone.
Ingrid and Kaliya stood firm, trying to hold themselves together amid the torturous uncertainty. However, the mental torment Kaoru inflicted wasn't easy to endure. It wasn't just their physical strength being tested; their minds were being pushed to the brink of insanity.
With a single smooth motion, Kaoru activated his illusion technique. He wasn't fond of brute physical violence—illusions, to him, were far more effective and excruciating, allowing his victims to drown in pain and suffering without him having to dirty his hands.
"Enjoy your new world," Kaoru whispered softly, releasing both women into a distorted dream world. In this illusion, every sensation in their bodies was magnified three hundredfold. A slight touch, a breeze, or even the smallest vibration in the air felt like crushing waves, invading their bodies, triggering unbearable sensations.
Time passed differently in the illusion. One minute in the real world equaled an hour there. In the real world, Kaoru left them for only a few minutes, casually heading off to enjoy ramen at a nearby temple. But in the illusory world, Ingrid and Kaliya had spent hours in a cycle of endless suffering.
Kaoru returned calmly, a bowl of ramen in hand, looking at the two women still strapped to their wooden chairs. Both were slumped over, their breaths shallow, their bodies trembling. They had reached their limits, and while they hadn't spoken yet, the psychological breakdown was written all over their faces.
"So, have you started thinking about talking?" Kaoru asked coldly, setting the empty bowl aside. He moved closer, this time without any illusions or physical torment. A light touch of his fingers on their hypersensitive skin was enough to make their bodies react.
Ingrid, a warrior known for her unwavering courage, began to doubt herself. Her mind was a wreck, and her iron will was fading. Kaliya, the more emotional of the two, had already internally given up but still clenched her lips, resisting betrayal.
"You can choose to keep resisting, or you can speak now and spare yourselves further suffering." Kaoru's voice was low, almost like a devil's whisper in their ears.
---
Kaoru looked at the two women, now gasping for breath, their bodies still trembling from the lingering effects of the illusion and the mental torture they had just endured. Their words about Nomad were detailed, almost more than what Kaoru and his organization already knew. From the leadership structure, secret backers, to the exclusive members operating behind the scenes.
But amidst all the information they revealed, one detail made Kaoru pause for a moment—Edwin Black. "Edwin is still alive, even after being decapitated?" Kaoru repeated the words with a hint of doubt.
Ingrid weakly nodded, her eyes still struggling to focus after the torture. "Edwin can't die in the usual way... The mysterious man who beheaded him might have only delayed him. Vampires like him can regenerate, even from fatal wounds," she responded in a faint but assured voice.
Kaoru took a long breath. His encounter with Edwin just hours ago in Yomihara had been one of the most challenging battles he'd faced—not because of the vampire's strength but because of his incredible regenerative abilities. As Hotaru, Kaoru had used ninjutsu and magic, but nothing had been truly effective against Edwin. It was only when Kaoru decided to unleash his full power—not as Hotaru, but as Kaoru—that he managed to decapitate the legendary vampire.
However, if what Ingrid and Kaliya said was true, then Edwin might already be regenerating or even fully recovered. 'This is going to be a real pain,' Kaoru thought to himself.
He glanced at Ingrid and Kaliya, still trembling, their bodies wracked with the aftereffects of the torture Kaoru had implanted earlier—an effect similar to an aphrodisiac, making every physical sensation unbearably intense.
Having gotten his answers, Kaoru rendered them both unconscious with his magic, then waited for the Masked Taimanin to come and collect them.
---
After two hours of waiting, the Masked Taimanin finally arrived, and Kaoru thought he could go home in peace—at least, that was what he imagined. Instead, he found Asuka crying while Shiranui comforted her.
"Asuka, hey… Why are you crying?" Kaoru had just arrived at his apartment and was puzzled that Shiranui hadn't greeted him at the door. When he walked into the living room, he saw Asuka, his girlfriend, sobbing as Shiranui tried to console her.
"K-Kaoru!" Asuka immediately threw herself into Kaoru's arms as he sat down on the sofa.
"H-Hey… What's wrong?"
"Sniif! Kaoru, what should I do… K-Kousuke—"
"What about Kousuke?" Despite feeling uneasy hearing her mention her childhood friend in front of him, Kaoru remained calm.
But Asuka only cried harder, as if recalling something painful. Kaoru was confused and looked over to Shiranui, who seemed to know something.
After calming Asuka down, it was Shiranui who told him the full story. Apparently, during the battle against Edwin in Yomihara, Kaoru hadn't realized that Kousuke was trapped beneath the rubble of the Chaos Arena.
It turned out that Kousuke had been kidnapped by Ingrid and the evil version of Oboro, his body modified into a living ball of flesh. His future was uncertain, but according to Asagi, Kousuke was being sent to the research center in the Taimanin village of Gosha. They might have a way to restore Kousuke to his original form.
"That's awful," Kaoru muttered, his eyes fixed on the floor, his mind spinning. He never imagined that behind his fight with Edwin Black, there was an even darker and more painful story unfolding for those around him. Kousuke, Asuka's childhood friend, had suffered in ways Kaoru couldn't even comprehend.
He looked at Asuka, still crying in his arms. Despite the storm of worry and anger over what had happened to Kousuke, Kaoru knew that what Asuka needed most at that moment wasn't strength or a quick solution—it was calm, and comfort.