Back to the present in the VIP room, Kenkō smoked her third and sighed at the screen. “Sometimes, I wonder why the blood god keeps doing the same old schtick with every newbie. It’s painfully formulaic, at this point.”

“Hey ma’am, are you alright?” Kakunō stood in front of Tokino.

“Yeah… My head was splitting a bit… I’m not so sure why…” she stopped holding her head.

Yukino came closer to the screen. “Papa!” she yelled, seeing her critically injured father on the ground.

Kakunō held her right shoulder. “It’s okay, Yuki… The Fools’ Theater houses the best paramedics in the city. It looks like two of them are healing your dad. He’s in good hands.”

“Tell me….” Tokino looked up at him.

He muted the screen and turned around. “Yes, ma’am?”

“…Tell me what you know about Hokori. Those eyes…” she panted.

Kakunō sighed with his eyes closed. “Sorry, ma’am. That would take a while. All you should know right now is that he’s super strong, has no magic, and calls himself a ‘Child of Zeus’ to fit the naming scheme of Athena and Hephestus. He’s been issuing the Vulgus Chamber to officialize the term.”

He sat back on his seat, as did Yukino.

“In my country, we call them the Ryūkoshu (竜子種), out of the belief that they were once birthed by the powerful seadrakes. And not to bother you too much on this, but I’m curious. Considering the rumors about your husband’s past, shouldn’t you already know what’s going on?” he raised an eyebrow.

Tokino’s eyes lowered. “Sorry… He only talks about how special Rubio was, despite being magicless. It confuses me—because that’s usually lethal.”

Kakunō sighed again. “Y’all are just full of secrets, huh? Not that I don’t understand, though. I don’t like to talk about how I got these scars, but would you like to insist? I could ask for her consent.” He presented his right forearm.

Tokino covered her mouth and gasped. “Oh no, no… please don’t… I would never!” she shook her head.

Kakunō chuckled, putting his arm down. “Your loss, I guess. I would have also told you how she gets scars on her hands.”

“I insist, Big Bro. I would like to know each of you better,” Yukino held his shoulder.

“Aight. You see, when—” he interrupted himself, hearing a bang on the wall.

“Don’t you fucking dare, country boy… Even for Yukichi, I won’t allow it.” Kenkō threw away her last cigar in a bin from afar.

Kakunō stood up in retaliation and walked to her. “Oh, come on! Why not? We’re gonna be a family, aren’t we? That’s what Hokori tells us—”

Kenkō flash-stepped to him and grasped his shirt. Her pace created a gust of wind around the room.

She let go and sighed. “Fine… but only some other time, you hear? Be more sensitive. Because you’re not even like that to yourself.” She sat on the left couch.

Kakunō’s eyes rolled, and he unmuted the holographic screen. They all heard Hokori mocking Haruto as they fought each other.

A while back, when Hokori finished performing the lariat, Dominique and Engo witnessed something horrifying.

Haruto got bloodied and beaten to a pulp—his limbs twisted and mangled. He copiously bled from the mouth, eyes, nose, and back of the head. The two paramedics heard him gasping for air in long bursts.

“Turn him on his side, kid. But don’t put pressure on his arm!” Dominique ordered. Using his innate ability: All-Knowing Eyes of Yahweh, he witnessed things more horrifying than the outside. “Jesus H. Christ, what have you done, Hokori! Forty seconds in, Haruto’s already built up so much myoglobin. His insides are now Jell-O!”

He cast runes within, while Engo cast ones without. Haruto’s organs, bones, and muscle tissue slowly reverted to normal. Outside, the blood covering his body seeped back in as his skin healed.

Regaining consciousness, Haruto heard voices around him getting clearer. His vision came back, and he slowly got up, taking deep breaths. Dominique and Engo stepped back.

He groaned, “Ow… my head…” he held it with his right hand.

“That’s a good thing, kid. Means I brought it back to life.” Dominique nodded.

“Larry…?” Haruto noticed him and Engo outside the dome.

Then, he heard a familiar laugh behind him.

“Hey, boy… think fast!!!” Hokori punched the runic dome with his right. Haruto recieved a graze on his cheek. He could not keep his footing and panted.

Hokori pulled out his fist. “Wow! I barely gave that shit any power. But you’re scared right now, arentcha? You should be, ‘cuz now you’re fightin’ the real me!” He did stretches and grinned at his opponent. “Round two… Fight!!!”

Hokori flash-stepped before Haruto. Unlike his brutish, incoherent attacks before, Hokori fought him instead with finger jabs and false swipes.

Although blocking most of them, some of the “attacks” hit Haruto, yet he felt next to nothing. Even then, he fortified his body with magic out of extra carefulness. Other times, he dodged the attacks with great speed.

Hokori took notice of his surprising behavior. “Oh shit! You found out about my trick! So the rumors are true, aren’t they, boy?”

Haruto’s eyes quickly narrowed after his opponent’s words. He delivered a rightward side swing, but all he cut was an afterimage. “Shut up!” he shouted while panting.

“‘Ey, dat ain’t nice. I just wanted some confirmation….” Hokori shrugged.

“I said, shut up!!” He swung his left-hand sword.

“Well, whatever. Your anger means I’m on the money. So tell me, have you seen this trick before!” Instead of attacking, Hokori darted around a still enraged Haruto. He noticed him slashing with all his might, and none of them were random. Every sword swing predicted his next move.

For the crowd, both appeared as a blur. Either way, they sat in awe. Hokori, however, witnessed a tortoise slowly but surely getting faster.

Haruto’s swords converted into falchions again. Even when his opponent did not touch him once, he kept swinging as if his life depended on it.

“Welp, there goes all my magician’s secrets.” Hokori noted, now out of surprises for his opponent.

After constantly dodging with not a single hair or cloth severed from him, Hokori hit Haruto with a two-finger knuckle fist to the stomach. His attack flung him further than his uncoordinated punches in their previous battle.

Haruto got up, no matter the agony of his shaking legs.

Hokori walked closer. “Say, boy, let’s chat some more as we duke it out. Because…” he delivered a blinding straight punch. “…fighting while monologuing’s my real, actual preference!”

As Haruto fought seriously, Hokori did the opposite while still making it effective.

“Y’know what? Maybe you’re not so lame after all, boy! You’re piquing my interest as we speak! However… you still act like you’re some light novel protagonist.

“If you really are—where the fuck’s your harem?!!” He hurled Haruto with a turning kick to the chest. “Or better yet—shouldn’t ya be boning your sister or some shit’?” he raised an eyebrow.

Haruto panted and struggled to stand. “I never had one!” his eyes narrowed.

He chuckled. “Well, that’s a plus.” He cracked hus knuckled. “Aight, let’s have some more fun. Imma gon’ pulverize you for real dis time, boy. But not too much. Cuz dat won’t be fun at all.”

“W-What do you mean…?” Haruto’s eyes squinted.

“It’s pretty simple. Do you wanna go flyin’, or do you want your head flyin’? Das right, boy. Any and all is legal here…” he grinned.

Haruto sweated bullets. “Legal? Don’t tell me—” he was kicked again on the side by Hokori.

As the battle continued, Hokori’s revelation distressed Tokino and her daughter. Kakunō saw the former rushing toward the door. “Hey, hey, ma’am! Weren’t you so sure a while ago that he wouldn’t die?”

Tokino looked back but said nothing, proceeding to go outside.

Kakunō sighed with his eyes closed, “By the Gods…” he followed her.

Meanwhile, a sobbing Yukino endlessly pleaded with Kenkō to let her go, “Mama! Papa!” she cried.

She held her close. “It’s okay, it’s okay… If Hokori would kill anyone in the arena, it’d be escaped murderers or pedophiles. He may be the blood god, but he’s no monster.”

Yukino stopped struggling. Kenkō felt her tears dripping on her arms. “Big Sis… Let me go. Please let me go. I beg you. I’m scared….”

As Yukino continued sobbing, Kenkō shed small tears and hugged her more. “No, no… Look at me, Yukichi. I know how that feels. But remember what your Big Bro said? We’re gonna be a family.

“It may not look like it—but Hokori will definitely live by that. You have to trust me. Because I trust all of them. Trust my heart.” Kenkō moved Yukino’s hand to her chest.

Yukino felt disgust, irritability, seeth, and even hatred. Yet, love overshadowed all, and her negative emotions never lingered.

Even more, Yukino realized Kenkō’s platonic love was purely unconditional. Her serene eyes did not match what she felt at first. Instead, it looked like her parents’ whenever they took her to an ice cream parlor for her pistachio waffle cone.

Yukino rubbed her eyes. “You didn’t need to do that, Big Sis… I can control it at will.” She hugged her tightly. “Sorry. I’m still scared….”

Kenkō rubbed her back, eyes closing. “Take your time….”

Tokino continued running down a flight of stairs, hearing Kakunō cry her name out. However, as she ran on the hallway below, runes glowed from two walls. The arrays covered her body.

Tokino grunted and tried to draw her rapier, but she realized she was stuck in a running position. She saw the two paramedics in front.

Dominique stood in front. “Sorry, kid. Hokori doesn’t like anyone spoiling his fun. You’re not the first victim of my creations, either. You’re the seventy-eighth.”

Tokino struggled in place, grunting further.

Eventually, Kakunō caught up. “Oh, thank the Gods… Once again, I owe ya a million, Larry.”

Dominique sighed in relief. “Don’t mention it. Now, how are you gonna get this girl back in?” he raised an eyebrow.

Kakunō turned around. “Well, I got a lot of toys with me. I’ll just have to bind her pretty firmly.”

Dominique’s eyes squinted, mouth opening slightly. “Um… that sounds quite—Oh, nevermind. Do what you gotta do, Kaku—”

“Wait! Wait!” Engo exclaimed, raising her hand. She introduced herself once more. Like Hokori, Kakunō asked her a question in Japanese but got interrupted.

However, midway through Engo’s explanation about her family roots, she got the same treatment from Tokino. “You. All of you. Get out…” she breathed heavily with her eyes lit up, looking down.

“No can do, ma’am.” Kakunō shook his head. “We got a system goin’ on here, and you’re disrupting it.” He pulled out a seamless silver box via runes.

“Please… Get out. Don’t make me do this. I wouldn’t—wish for this either.” Tokino repeated the third phrase over and over. Her pleas fell deaf on Kakunō’s ears as he walked closer.

He touched her hand, and, “Don’t make me do this!!!” she startled the three and began hyperventilating. They felt Tokino’s overwhelming pressure as they tried to shield themselves. Engo noted internally that it felt like being inside a sauna beyond the max setting.

“Don’t make me—fucking do this!” Runes of a different color though an exact copy appeared all around her. The arrays she cast overwrote the ones on her before, and dissipated into thin air.

Dominique sweated bullets and backed away. “Hold on, now… That isn’t somethin’ most people can do! She’s bad news, Kakunō! Throw that thing at her now!”

He turned to him. “I can’t! It doesn’t work that way—” In a flash, a rapier pierced through his gut.