"Excuse me… are you… looking… for… me…?"

A monotonous, emotionless voice that seemed to emerge from the pits of hell asked.

Kento Maeda swore that he had never been so terrified before in his life, not even when watching the infamous Japanese horror thrillers.

Whoosh!

Without waiting for his reply, a whistling sound pierced through the air once more.

Another black arrow has found its home as it bit into Kento Maeda's other hand vengefully.

Fresh blood, torn flesh…

Agony, spasms…

Fingers were said to be directly connected to the heart. The agony of having arrows right through his palms had Kento Maeda howling uncontrollably with pain.

He bent down abruptly, trying to reach for the gun he had dropped at his feet!

Before he could succeed, a silhouette flashed by and kicked him squarely on his chest.

The impact of the blow knocked Kento Maeda over and sent him flying backward, his feet leaving a trail in the accumulated snow.

The gun that was supposed to be at his feet ended up in the crater because he was kicking around wildly.

"Ahh!! My hands!!"

The temporary numbing effect of adrenaline had worn off. The arrows had pierced deeper into his palms upon his fall. Kento Maeda wailed in pain.

Alas, before he could look down to assess his wounds, a force yanked him up hard from behind his neck and lifted him easily.

"As a human being, you devoted your life to another race and oppressed your own kind. This is called treachery!"

Slap!

"You came to this god-forsaken land, disregarded human lives and abused your people. This is called being inhumane!"

Slap!

"You conspired against your friends and family, and threw your morals away for personal gain. This is called being shameless!"

Slap!

Three crisp, open-handed slaps were served right across Kento Maeda's despicable face.

These slaps were so powerful Kento Maeda saw golden, shimmery stars. His entire world was spinning.

Before he could utter another word, another rousing slap struck him across his cheek so powerfully a few bloodstained teeth flew out of his mouth.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The agony on his hands, the burning sensation on his face, and the dizziness overtook him. Kento Maeda collapsed.

He was greeted by bone-piercing coldness. Eyes closed, Kento Maeda's blurry consciousness suddenly became clear as he realized - 

He was pushed aggressively against the snowy ground.

Whoever that was clamping him down at the back of his neck showed no mercy.

That same force on his nape pushed his head down firmly and proceeded to knead his face forcibly into the ground.

His already swollen face was scraped hard against wilted grass and sharp stones, making it more painful than it already was.

"Let me die… I beg of you… Let me die!"

To be manhandled like a little chicken with an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength, Kento Maeda lost the will to resist and fight back.

All he wanted was this "devil" to end this torture now, once and for all.

He was immediately flipped over, and a face slowly became clearer before his eyes.

"It's you... Su Mo!!"

Kento Maeda's face warped in shock and horror like he had seen a ghost.

"It's me. What is it? You're shocked, you don't understand, you don't know why my shelter didn't collapse, you also don't know why I'm here?"

"And I thought you knew everything."

Su Mo sneered and whipped another hearty slap across Kento Maeda's wrinkled face - the side that still had teeth in it.

The fortified strength behind the slap that was laced with fury almost gave Kento Maeda a whiplash.

Su Mo's eyes seethed with rage as he watched the old dog pass out. Without hesitating, he reached into his storage space for some psychic energy water.

He twisted the bottle open and emptied half of it into Kento Maeda's bloodied mouth.

The healing effect of the water was instantaneous. Compared to the previous time when he woke up with his face in the snow, it only took a few short seconds this time for Kento Maeda to regain consciousness and open his eyes.

"C'mon, tell me, what else do you know?"

Slap!

"Now, you devoted your life to the kobolds, brought humans back to become dogs for them, what have you gained?"

Slap!

"Here, for conspiring against me, you old dog. Do you seriously have no idea what I'm capable of?"

Slap!

One slap after another mercilessly resounded against Kento Maeda's face. Every time he passed out, Su Mo would use psychic energy water to wake him up.

The third time Kento Maeda was forcefully awakened, he quickly exclaimed, "It's Ying Xiong… Ying Xiong was the one who told me that, as long as I buried explosives here, it would break open your shelter and we would've been able to help ourselves to your treasures!" 

Desperation filled Kento Maeda's face. He was so afraid that he would get another round of slaps if he were to speak slowly.

Nonetheless, all he received in response was another slap.

"Did I ask you to speak? Since when is it your turn to talk, you sorry-excuse-for-a-human b*stard?"

Su Mo could smell the gradually thickening smell of putrid blood from all around him, even through the mask of his photometric combat uniform.

Broken human limbs, gruesome kobold remains, the entire hill where the Underground Shelter was felt like Shura's battlefield*!

Su Mo had witnessed the dramatic situation from a distance, and even he had not anticipated how complicated things were behind the scenes.

This time around, Kento Maeda was only slightly dazed after being slapped.

Then, instead of pleading for forgiveness, he began to mutter.

"S—Su Mo, I've always thought that… In this doomsday world, I was the wolf, devouring everyone I see. I wanted a piece of everyone I met."

"But… I met a calculative mastermind like you. I, K—Kento Maeda, didn't lose in vain!"

As he spoke, he tried to pull his barely recognizable face into a grimace.

"???"

Su Mo was puzzled after hearing what Kento Maeda had to say about him, and that pause gave Kento Maeda a chance to continue talking.

"You… On purpose… You leaked your shelter's blueprint on purpose. You left this weak point on it so that you could finish off… All of us… Your neighbors. What a huge booby trap. We were all blinded by greed and didn't realize!"

"I'm so angry. Why didn't I see through your tricks!"

"I'm guessing that you were the one that helped the lion people bomb the camp, right? You were also the one who ambushed the kobolds midway, right?"

"You were also the one that almost annihilated the entire lion clan, right?"

As Kento Maeda gradually increased his talking speed, his line of thoughts became "clearer" too. Held up by Su Mo's hands, he looked like a dead dog. He continued his monologue.

"I regret, I regret covering up for you when you first attacked the kobolds. The second time you robbed the kobold team, I sent the pursuing kobolds another way. The third time, I knew that wasn't your camp, but I led them to attack the lion people anyway!"

"These three times, if only I had done it right, the one standing here today would most definitely NOT be you! Hah hah hah!"

Kento Maeda laughed bitterly as though he had discovered the "truth". Blood flowed freely from the corner of his mouth. He was so angry he was vomiting blood.

"I'm not. I didn't. That's not true."

Su Mo refused to take responsibility for something he did not do, and he did not understand a single word that came out of Kento Maeda's mouth. Su Mo denied it three times!

Oreo came running over from the sidelines. She heard what Kento Maeda had to say. After looking at Su Mo's confused face, she was flabbergasted!

Her face twitched. Right there and then, she woofed aggressively. She was laughing so hard tears were running down her black and white face.

She found a considerably clean place on the ground and rolled over erratically to relieve her urge to laugh hysterically.

Kento Maeda naturally recognized that Oreo was not an ordinary dog after he had been mocked by her. He did not mind. He spat out a large mouthful of blood and went on.

"You're so evil, Su Mo. How many people in the World Channel did you trick with your performance? How many will continue to fall for your lies?"

"Even if I die I would neve—"

As Kento Maeda got more and more out of hand, Su Mo did not hesitate. He slapped Kento Maeda once more to help him come to his senses.

"I say, old man, are you for real?"

"Did you really think that you'd figured everything out?"

Kento Maeda wanted to defend himself after hearing what Su Mo said, but what Su Mo said next stopped him dead in his tracks.

"There IS a weak point in the shelter. Unfortunately, I found out by chance and got it fixed by chance too! Heh heh!"

"Oh yeah, an hour before you guys came, I was harvesting some bok choy in the shelter. I also fried some rice, and had just finished eating."

"Would you believe the coincidence? Right when I went out the door, you guys arrived, so I didn't have a choice. I followed right behind you but, out of the blue, you guys started killing each other."

"After all that, you acted like you were in a musical—jumping here and there, and so I was confused. What is going on with you?"

"Oh, right." Su Mo slapped his palm against his forehead, as though he had been reminded of something.

"Luckily you covered up for me that first time with the kobolds, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to create the explosives that bombed your camp later and, naturally, I wouldn't have been able to bomb the kobolds either, and you guys really might've won!"

"Thank you, Kento Maeda!"

"Thanks for covering my tracks, for diverting unwanted attention from me and, that reminds me, thanks a lot for sending me things! I'll use them wisely to continue thriving. Don't you worry about me!"

Before Su Mo could finish, his hands suddenly felt lighter. He took a closer look and realized that Kento Maeda was intensely vomiting big mouthfuls of blood.

Blood was spraying everywhere like a broken tap. Su Mo had literally aggravated Kento Maeda…

To his death!

TN:

Shura's battlefield: According to Buddhist cosmology, Shura (or Ashura) often warred with the Gods out of envy toward each other, so the site of their battle would look like the aftermath of destruction—dead bodies, blood rivers and destroyed land everywhere.