A bright laugh rang through the dimly lit basement.
“Pfft! Ha! Ahahaha! Wow, you really figured everything out.”
Sosuke, with Sakaki still holding his collar, gazed at Kwon Oh-Jin with intrigued eyes. He remained as relaxed as ever even though his carefully laid plans had just crumbled into nothing.
Either he’s insane... or he’s still got another trick up his sleeve. Maybe both.
Kwon Oh-Jin looked at Sakaki and Koshiro with a heavy gaze.
“Koshiro, is it true?” Sakaki asked.
Koshiro remained silent.
“I asked if it’s true.”
Sakaki’s icy, hardened eyes bore down on Koshiro.
With his head hung low, Koshiro chokingly sobbed. “I’m sorry... Oyabun.”
Sakaki slowly closed his eyes and deeply sighed. His clenched fist trembled.
Tears dripped down Koshiro’s face as he repeatedly apologized like a broken machine. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”
Sosuke smirked and taunted Sakaki with a playful grin. “He’s begging like that. Wouldn’t it be nice to show some mercy? Just like you did to me.”
A thick vein bulged on Sakaki’s forehead. “Kurosaki Sosuke.”
Yanking Sosuke’s collar, he swung his fist without hesitation. An invisible wave of force surged through his punch, landing squarely on Sosuke’s philtrum.
Instead of his fist meeting flesh, it sounded like his fist plunged into a puddle.
Sosuke’s face caved in, only to ripple and restore itself, as if time had reversed.
“The hell is he, a T-1000?”
Kwon Oh-Jin scoffed at the sight of Sosuke turning into liquid like some kind of living slime.
The handcuffs restraining him were supposed to suppress his Stigma, making such a transformation impossible. However...
Koshiro must’ve undone them.
After all, it was Koshiro who had brought Sosuke down to the basement. With his sister held hostage, he wouldn’t have properly restrained Sosuke.
“Hahaha! That kind of attack won’t work on me,” Sosuke cackled and twisted his body effortlessly.
Sosuke liquefied and slipped effortlessly from Sakaki’s grasp.
“Where do you think you’re going!?” Sakaki raised his fist once more.
His arm pulled back like a drawn bow, and the Stigma of Taurus flared brightly as he channeled waves of energy into his fist. If Sosuke could absorb the impact by turning into water, then Sakaki would just hit him with enough force to scatter that water entirely.
His fist, charged with concentrated energy, swung straight for Sosuke.
Koshiro, who had been kneeling with his head lowered, suddenly sprang to his feet and stepped in front of Sosuke. A glowing, blue shield formed over his crossed arms in an X shape.
Sakaki’s eyes widened in shock, but he could no longer pull back his punch.
A deafening explosion rang out as Koshiro flew back.
His shield shattered into pieces, and a trickle of blood dripped from his lips.
“What’s this? Did you just protect me? Damn, that was so hot. I might actually fall for you,” Sosuke said.
Koshiro glared fiercely at Sosuke, who continued smirking at him. “S-Shut up!”
“Hmm? You sure you want to be talking to me like that?” Sosuke slowly raised his hand. “With just a flick of my finger, the poison inside your dear sister could start acting up, you know?”
Koshiro’s face went deathly pale. “N-No! Please, anything but that!”
He desperately dropped to his knees and grabbed Sosuke’s pants.
“Hmm, what should I do? Maybe I’ll just spread the poison through her waist and leave her crippled for life. Or maybe her face, so she can never show herself in public again?”
“I-I did everything you asked! P-Please, just spare my sister!”
Sosuke burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as if Koshiro’s desperate pleas were the funniest thing in the world.
Sakaki sternly stared at Koshiro, who was bowing his head at Sosuke’s feet.
Sakaki’s fist trembled violently. He finally stepped forward as his patience reached its breaking point.
However, Kwon Oh-Jin jumped in first.
“What a load of bullshit.”
He lunged at Sosuke with explosive speed, so fast that it looked like he was being stretched out. Lightning crackled violently as he pulled a metal rod from his waist and poured mana into it.
The moment his mana surged into the rod, it shone brilliantly and morphed into a spear. The spear thrust forward cleanly and precisely, piercing straight through Sosuke’s solar plexus.
However, Sosuke once again transformed into liquid. The spear passed through effortlessly and emerged from his back.
“I told you. It’s useless.”
Kwon Oh-Jin smirked and channeled lightning into the spear.
He imagined a lightning rod receiving a thunderbolt from the sky. Blue lightning crackled around the spear still lodged in Sosuke.
The blue lightning exploded outward in a fan shape, electrocuting Sosuke’s liquefied form.
Sosuke’s face twisted in pain. He staggered back with a groan, retreating beyond the lightning’s range.
Judging by his contorted expression, the shock had been more intense than he expected. He furiously glared at Kwon Oh-Jin.
“I’ll handle him. Mr. Sakaki, please restrain Koshiro,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.
“Your attacks won’t work on him anyway.”
Sakaki stared at Sosuke before giving a heavy nod. “Alright.”
Song Ha-Eun stepped up beside Kwon Oh-Jin, her eyes flashing with fierce determination.
“Don’t worry, old man. I’ll make sure this slime bastard vaporizes without a trace.”
Meanwhile, Sosuke had barely recovered from the lightning. He curled his lips into a twisted grin.
“But do you really have time to fight me here?”
“What?” Song Ha-Eun asked.
“It should be starting right about now.”
“What’s starting?” she asked with disgust.
Sosuke whistled and simply replied, “A massacre.”
The chilling word and the ominous scent of blood made her shoulders tremble.
“I left orders for my men stationed at the digestion chamber to attack everyone nearby if you guys didn’t show up on time.”
“Y-You crazy bastard!” Song Ha-Eun shouted in horror and pulled out her phone.
She couldn’t read Japanese, but the live news feed showed Osaka in flames.
“If you don’t hurry and stop them, the number of casualties will spiral out of control.” Sosuke snickered, his shoulders shaking in amusement.
So this was the backup plan he had.
Kwon Oh-Jin clicked his tongue and stared at the burning Osaka on Song Ha-Eun’s phone. He wondered why Sosuke remained so calm even after his plan had been exposed. It was because he still had this trick up his sleeve.
Song Ha-Eun grimaced at the sight on her screen.
Flames had engulfed the city through the violently shaking camera, and Seahorse Awakeners were indiscriminately attacking civilians.
Her fists trembled with rage.
Unlike Kwon Oh-Jin, who hardly cared whether others lived or died, Song Ha-Eun had a kind heart. She couldn't possibly stay calm after seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people being slaughtered.
“Ha-Eun, take the Kuroshi members and go stop them.”
“I can handle this bastard on my own.”
Kwon Oh-Jin tightened his grip on his spear as he eyed Sosuke. Judging from the enemy’s carefree attitude, he likely had more tricks up his sleeve. However...
It’s not like I’ve been sitting on my hands either.
After fighting countless Seahorse Awakeners, Kwon Oh-Jin had reached one clear conclusion.
These bastards can’t beat me.
With a sharp grin, Kwon Oh-Jin looked at Sosuke and gently pushed Song Ha-Eun.
“You’re sure you can handle him alone?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
“Well, not this time. Trust me.”
“Tsk. You better not get your ass kicked. If you do, I’ll kill you myself.”
Song Ha-Eun turned around and bolted out of the basement.
“You guys, follow her,” Sakaki ordered the Kuroshi members waiting for his command.
Only Sakaki, Koshiro, Kwon Oh-Jin, and Sosuke remained in the basement.
Sosuke sneered as he stared at Kwon Oh-Jin.
“Hehe. You really think you can take me on alone?”
The wound in his solar plexus liquefied and regenerated before their eyes.
“I guess landing one lucky hit made you cocky.”
“Funny coming from a guy who was crying like a bitch after getting fried.”
“Ha. Just because lightning worked once, you think you’re invincible?” Sosuke clicked his tongue and smirked. “What are you gonna do about this?”
The Seahorse Stigma engraved on his left chest shone brightly as the severed stump on his left arm wriggled and fully regenerated.
The boiling water filled the air with bubbles. Tiny, invisible particles mixed with the bubbles spreading outward.
“Pure water doesn’t conduct electricity, you know.”
Sosuke kicked off the ground and dashed toward Kwon Oh-Jin.
Kwon Oh-Jin swung his spear low, skimming the floor as he aimed for Sosuke’s knee. The blade cut through with the sound of water spraying.
Kwon Oh-Jin discharged his lightning precisely when the spearhead pierced Sosuke’s knee, but the blue lightning simply flickered and fizzled out instead of spreading throughout Sosuke.
“I told you it’s not going to work, dumbass!”
Sosuke cackled as he slashed down in an X-formation with his hands, which morphed into razor-sharp scythes.
Kwon Oh-Jin remained unfazed and activated the Stigma of Hourglass.
The world slowed down. He calmly observed the trajectory of Sosuke’s attack, dodging with minimal effort.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Every strike missed by mere centimeters as Kwon Oh-Jin evaded each attack flawlessly. It felt like watching a professional boxer toy with an amateur, dodging every punch with ease.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
“Y-You son of a bitch!”
Frustrated, Sosuke cursed as his attacks continued to slice through empty air. He didn’t specialize in close combat, but to not even graze his opponent? It felt infuriating.
Sosuke leaped back and spread his arms out wide. He violently bubbled again, and water droplets formed around him.
Kwon Oh-Jin smirked as he looked at Sosuke spewing out water droplets.
“Now that I think about it, male seahorses are the ones that get pregnant."