Kiochi’s heart raced.

He hadn’t seen Izanagi in four years, but instead of heartfelt feelings of nostalgia, Kiochi was overcome by guilt and sadness. His facial membrane dissolved, revealing his pitch black eye’s and sombre face.

“Well… thanks to you, not all of me is here.” Izanagi said as he showed of his metallic arms. Kiochi sensed that he had even more prosthetic body parts beneath his clothes.

Izanagi let go of Kiochi’s wrist and the two of them silently stared at each other as the battle raged on around them.

“Well… aren’t you going to say something? Anything would do.” Izanagi said with his head tilted in a comical manner.

“Wh- what do you want me to say?” Kiochi asked with a stutter. He was nervous, so nervous he struggled forming his sentences. Izanagi’s face broke into a twisted grin.

“Really? You’re asking me? Ok, then let me remind you.” The grin completely disappeared from his face and the air sunk and Kiochi could feel several chills running up Kiochi's spine.

“You’re a monster Kiochi. I don’t care what cause you choose to fight for, but you’ll always be a monster. You took everything from me. You took my body and my desire to live, but most importantly you took Ena from me.” Izanagi’s voice trembled as he spoke.

Kiochi was confused. He remembered rampaging all those years ago but he didn’t remember killing Ena.

“Wait a minute! I didn’t kill Ena! It was-"

“Don’t speak just yet! I know. You think you’re innocent because you weren’t in control of your body, but I know for a fact that you did it and nothing you do or say will change my mind.” Izanagi interrupted.

Kiochi remained silent.

“Well, now that we’re all caught up, I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen. I’m going to take everything from you, just like you did to me. Oh and don’t worry, I’m not a monster like you, so I’ll let you keep that hedious body of yours.” Izanagi said and in a flash, he was gone, leaving Kiochi confused. He didn’t remember killing Ena. Actually, he didn’t remember much about that night.

[Do you want me to recover those memories?]

Eve asked.

‘Yeah. I’m curious as well. If only I could remember on my own. Maybe I could have convinced Izanagi somehow.’ Kiochi thought. Then a bullet whizzed past him. Kiochi remembered that he was still on the battlefield.

“Everyone, full retreat!” Kiochi yelled to anyone listening. The mercenaries began pulling out of the battle field, leaving the Kynigoi behind in the clearing. Kiochi ensured that none of them followed.

The Kynigoi looked at Kiochi with frightened expressions as his dark visage hung on the battlefield. Kiochi sheathed his Nodachi and the Kynigoi backed away. No one fired a single bullet, even though Kiochi was wide open and vulnerable to attack. Once all the mercenaries left Kiochi joined to them in the darkness of the forest.

.

..

“You are Kiochi’s men?” A middle aged Japanese woman asked.

“Yes. Now stay still. We don’t want to kill any of you.” Yassine pleaded.

“You don’t, but my trigger finger has been itching ever since the captain transformed.” One of the mercenaries blurted out.

“Yeah, that was scary. For a second I thought he was going to kill all of us!” Another mercenary said with a hollow expression.

“Transformation? Did Kiochi rampage again?” The middle aged woman asked.

“Guys, I don’t think we should be discussing this in front of our captives.” Yassine said with a pained expression. He had a hard time dealing with the mercenaries as they were loud and loose mouthed.

“Don’t worry about it.” A mercenary called Johan said casually. Yassine, Dalila and the mercenaries had run into the main Kynigoi training camp and they managed to capture all of the students and instructors.

Their success was partially thanks to the fact that all the other Kynigoi in the area were fighting their own battles further south from where they were.

“Well then, tell me. Did Kiochi rampage again?” The woman asked again.

“Listen Uh- ma’am-"

“It’s Mai Hashimoto.” She corrected.

“Ok, Ms. Hashimoto. Kiochi transformed, yes, but he didn’t rampage.” Yassine ended up spilling the beans.

“I see.” She said with a sombre expression. Yassine heard the sounds of footsteps and all the mercenaries readied their weapons and pointed them in the direction of the insect.

Several shadows emerged from the shadows.

“Captain, you’re back!” Johan greeted. Kiochi ignored Johan and sat down on one the camp chairs the mercenaries had set up. The diversion force and the bomb squad reunited, exchanged greetings and then remained silent.

Both sides had witnessed Kiochi’s dark form and so everyone kept their voices low as they all noticed Kiochi’s expression was rather sour. In truth, he was making that face because he was deep in thought.

“Hey you, sit down!” One of the mercenaries barked, shocking Kiochi back into reality. He then saw a familiar looking woman trying to walk past one of Kiochi’s men.

“I just want to speak with him.” She insisted, but the mercenary didn’t back down. Kiochi stood up and approached the two.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Kiochi asked.

“Sir, this woman says she wants to speak to you.” The mercenary said. Kiochi recognized the woman. She was the training commander of the Japanese branch of the Kynigoi.

Kiochi felt slightly embarrassed by the fact that he was holding his ex boss hostage.

“Let her go. I’ll talk to her.” Kiochi said and the mercenary complied. Kiochi then led the woman to his camp chair and offered her his seat.

She sat down gracefully then proceeded to stare at Kiochi, who felt a bit embarrassed about getting looked over by this captive.

“You’ve grown.” She said.

“Uh- yeah, I guess.” Kiochi replied awkwardly.

The two looked at each other for two minutes straight before either of them said anything else.

“Can I see it?” The woman asked.

“oh… ok.” Kiochi compiled as his skin darkened. He could see her face contorting as though she was in pain. He was told that she led the team that was sent to rescue him and his classmates all those years ago, but he was never told about the full extent of the damage he had caused.

Mai Hashimoto was an A ranked Kynigoi at the time and yet she and her team of equity skilled Kynigoi were barely able to stop Kiochi when he rampaged. His skin hardened and his eye’s turned black.

Kiochi prevented the membrane from forming on his head so Mai Hashimoto could still see his face and most importantly, his eyes. She stood up and reached out to touch his face and for a moment, she hesitated.

Her slender fingers hovered mere centimetres from his body. Kiochi looked at where her left arm was supposed to be and found that her jackets sleeve was neatly tucked into itself.

His heart sank.

Hashimoto quickly noticed the change in Kiochi.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” She said as she placed her hand on Kiochi’s face.

She felt around the black surface of his skin. Kiochi had become the manifestation of terror, but the look Mai Hashimoto was giving him was the farthest thing from fear.

“How do you feel?” She asked.

“Stronger. Much stronger” He softly said.

“I see. Do you have full control now? Because I’m not loosing another arm to you.” She asked with a bitter smile.

“Hehe, yeah I’m in control.” Kiochi said as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

The two reminisced about Kiochi’s time as a student for thirty long minutes before a call interrupted their chat.

“Yamamoto?” Kiochi was slightly frustrated that by the old mans timing.

“Yes, we’re all within safe distance.”

“Ok.” Kiochi confirmed.

“Everyone, get ready.” Kiochi ordered and everyone assumed a crouching position and covered their ears.

‘That old man is too reckless.’ Kiochi muttered internally.

“What’s going on?” Hashimoto asked.

“We’re going to blow up Vestibule Charlie.” Kiochi said and just as her expression changed from one of curiosity to one of shock, a loud explosion went off in the distance.

“That’s it?” A random mercenary said.

Then suddenly- BOOM!

The shockwave from the blast reached the camp blew away anything that wasn’t tied down.

Hashimoto snuck into Kiochi’s arms as the force of the shockwave intensified.

‘Eve!’ Kiochi pleased and a membrane began to form around him and Hashimoto.

Dirt and debris went flying everywhere and the only thing keeping Kiochi men safe was their armoured vehicles, which they proceeded to hide behind.

Everything eventually calmed down as the dust settled.

“Causalities?” Kiochi barked.

“None, sir! But some guy passed out!” Someone answered.

“Roger!”

Good. Kiochi thought.

The membrane covering him and Hashimoto dissolved and he helped her get up.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Hashimoto asked.

Kiochi turned to face the direction the Vestibule was in.

“We’re going to do some clean up work.” Kiochi said.

“Just stay here and you should be safe. You can go wherever you want when we’re done.”

“What if I want to come with you?” She asked, causing Kiochi to freeze up.

“Why would you want to do that?” Kiochi asked. Mai looked around and surveyed the camp.

“Well, as far as I see it, I have two options: return to the council or join you. So I’ll join you.” She said with a determined expression, leaving Kiochi dumbfounded.

“Uh- ok. Give me some time to think about it. I’m not sure if I’m fit to lead anyone anymore.” Kiochi said and she nodded to his request.

Kiochi then moved to where his men where grouped.

“Ok, is everyone ready?” Kiochi asked.

“ “ Yes sir! “ “ They all said in unison.

“Well, actually not all of us are fit for battle.” The mercenary known as Johan said as he pointed at a man who was splayed out on the floor. Someone was standing over his body, trying to kick him awake.

“Get up already!” A familiar voice said.

“Dalia? I thought Yamamoto said that you shouldn’t be here.” Kiochi said as his eye’s narrowed.

“Oh, about that… hey, there’s something far more important than that going on. Yassine won’t wake up.” She said as she kicked the defenceless Yassine.

“Yassine is here too?” Rin gasped.

“And where have you been?” Kiochi asked.

Rin scratched his head sheepishly.

“I was blending in with the other men, hehe.”

What kind of a vice captain does that? Kiochi wondered.

“Alright! Get Yassine up, we're leaving. Oh and you guys, don’t harass the captives, ok?” Kiochi ordered as he walked into the forest.

“ “ Yes sir “ “ everyone said as the morning sun cast its rays on the distorted forest.

.

..

Kiochi and his men walked through the newly formed wasteland that was once a beautiful forest and where once stood a small shed, now stood a gigantic crater that scared the earth’s surface.

Kiochi and his men stood next to the craters edge and they could see remnants of Vestibule Charlie below. Only someone who was well informed would know that Vestibule Charlie was a bunker within a bunker and that was their true target.

“Let’s go.” Kiochi said as he descended into the giant hole. The crater was about fifty meters deep and had a diameter of about five hundred meters.

As Kiochi and his men neared the craters centre Kiochi put on his gas mask. His men did the same as the air became really hot and was contaminated with all sorts of chemicals from the fallout of the explosion. None of it was radioactive, but Kiochi wanted didn’t want to take any chances.

Kiochi stumbled on what looked like a hatch in the dirt. It must have been made of an extremely durable metal because it looked stainless and shiny. One of Kiochi’s men reached out to touch the hatch and as soon as his right hand touched the hatches surface, the residual heat from the blast burnt through the man’s glove and burnt his hand.

“Arrg!” The man screamed.

“Hehe.” His comrades chuckled at his recklessness.

Kiochi walked around the hatch and found a lever. Kiochi knew that touching it as he was would be painful and so he did the next best thing.

‘Eve, second form.’ He requested.

[Your EP reserves are almost empty.]

Eve reported.

‘Really? Since when?’ He asked.

[Since you recklessly charged at Izanagi.]

‘Oh. My bad.’ Kiochi apologized.

[Fortunately for you, I have learnt something about ethereal energy. It exists everywhere around us, although in tiny amounts. I can absorb it through your skin but it will take a while.]

Eve explained.

‘Ok. I’ll leave it to you then.’ Kiochi confirmed.

He sat down on the still warm ground, closed his eye’s and steadied his breathing.

[Beginning absorption process]

..

[Searching for nearby sources of EP]

..

[Searching…]

..

[Searching…]

“Oi, what are you doing captain?” Johan asked.

“I don’t think I want to know.” Rin whined. Kiochi sighed as Eve sent pulses throughout his body.

They were like radar pings and they were searching for ethereal energy.

“I’m just resting. Need to get some energy back.” Kiochi said. His men all exchanged glances and slowly started backing away from Kiochi.

Rin hid behind all of them and

Kiochi could hear them retreating into the distance.

Do they think I’m going to go berserk or something? Kiochi wondered.

[Ethereal energy source found!]

Eve reported happily.

[Error: source is out of bounds.]

Kiochi frowned.

‘Out of bounds? What does that mean?’ Kiochi wondered.

[Update: It is possible to absorb ethereal energy from beyond the boundary.]

..

[Do you want to begin the absorption process?]

Kiochi was confused, but now was not the time to overthink. If Eve said she could do it, then he needed to trust her.

‘Ok. Begin!’ Kiochi said.

Jolt!

A wave of energy rushed into him from nowhere.

JOLT!

Another wave hit him. Absorbing ethereal energy was far different from the time Kiochi absorbed some at Saito headquarters.

[Warning! Current ethereal energy capacity insufficient. Increasing EP capacity to 200/200.]

Eve reported as Kiochi’s body sent out pulse like waves outwards.

Koichi’s men all held their breaths as they witnessed Kiochi’s growth.

[Update: ability to cycle ethereal energy has been acquired. This will allow me to discharge ethereal energy to your various body parts with greater efficiency.]

Eve explained.

Kiochi could feel it. The energy coursing through his veins.

‘Got it!’ Kiochi confirmed as he opened his eye’s, got up and walked over to the lever he had seen earlier.

‘Second form.’ Kiochi asked.

[Roger.]

Kiochi’s muscles bulged and his skin darkened. His arms and legs ballooned to at least three times their original size and he grew about half a meter taller. His vest tightened around his body and it looked like it was about to burst at any moment.

Gasp!

All of Kiochi’s men cowered behind a nearby boulder as they bore witness to Kiochi's incredibly large new body.

Kiochi looked at his arms.

They’re huge! Kiochi thought.

[EP: 180/200]

Eve reported.

Wow! Transforming is so much cheaper now! Kiochi exclaimed internally as he held the lever.

[STR multiplier is currently at 2x]

Good!

Kiochi pulled the lever and to everyone’s surprise, the lever, hatch and the surrounding ground got ripped out from the earth.

Kiochi tossed the metal scraps aside and jumped into the hole that was the entrance to the true heart of Vestibule Charlie.

Rin exchanged looks with his comrades, then let out a defeated sigh.

“Alright! Let’s go!” He said against his will as they all jumped into the Vestibule.

The first thing that came into sight was the ruins of a large chamber that once served as the archives of the ancient knowledge the wisdom holders held dear. Although all of the shelves and cases were destroyed, there was no evidence that any knowledge had been destroyed. No burnt paper, not even a brokenn computer or two. The council had moved all their information elsewhere which didnt surprise Kiochi that much.

Yamamoto had seen this coming and he explained that the council would retreat instead of wasting resources on a large scale conflict.

“Split up! Look for anything that might be useful and call in if you find anything.” Kiochi barked. His voice still sounded the same through the membrane.

This freaked Kiochi’s men out even more, because it was like he was speaking without a mouth and that was a scenario only found within the worst of nightmares.

The team spent about thirty minutes rummaging around the archives, then Kiochi found it. The main chamber that was Natasha Lebedev’s quarters.

Kiochi approached the large reinforced door. The door opened as he approached it.

“Well, if it isn’t… wait a minute! What then hell it that?” Natasha Lebedev asked as she sat on her luxurious chair. Behind her stood a Japanese holding a Yari.

Kiochi entered the large room and he could see panic all over Natasha Lebedev’s face, which was reasonable considering what Kiochi looked like.

Kiochi dissolved the membrane on his face, allowing Natasha Lebedev to see it.

She let out a gasp.

“Wait a minute! Is that you, A-3?” She asked.

“My name is Kiochi.” Kiochi said.

“who cares! This doesn’t make any sense! How could you be one of them?”

The once maturely beautiful and elegant woman that was Natasha Lebedev was nowhere to be seen. All Kiochi could see was someone who had been corrupted by the power that they held. Her face had dark twisted lines and her skin looked brittle as though even the gentlest of winds could blow it away.

Natasha must have realised that her appearance was unsightly, because she raised a mirror and looked herself over.

“This is what you and Yamamoto have done to me. I’m so stressed I’m falling apart. Hanzo!” She barked.

“Yes, madam.” The man known as Hanzo said as he held up a wooden box. Natasha Lebedev opened the box, revealing a beautiful golden syringe. She stuck the syringe into her left arm and the strangest thing happened. She started getting younger before Kiochi’s eyes. Her wrinkles faded and her skin brightened as it gained youth.

“Ah! Impressed? This is the result of decades of research, my very own elixir of life. I’m this close to perfecting the formula, but that damned scientist you killed back then hid the formula. Well, not like any of this matters. You’re still going to die. No matter which form you wish to take. Hanzo, kill him.” She ordered.

Hanzo gave her a quick bow before walking towards Kiochi.

Kiochi looked at him intently.

Something was strange about him.

Hanzo then took of his peach trench coat, leaving his metallic arms.

“Like what you see? That is an S ranked Kynigoi. Secretly designed to kill Aethon’s such as yourself.” Natasha Lebedev said with an ecstatic expression.

Kiochi frowned.

“I’m not an Aethon.” Kiochi said.

“Is that so? Well, it won’t matter soon anyway. Be a dear and just die already. I have a meeting to get to. I would have been there already but all my precious research is still here so…” Natasha Lebedev said casually as she looked at the reflection in her handheld mirror.

Kiochi and Hanzo faced each other as Kiochi’s facial membrane reformed and covered his head. He didn’t want to loose an eye in the coming battle.

Hanzo made the first move and dashed towards Kiochi at an incredibly high speed.

There were no feints and no tricks, Hanzo simply wanted to pierce Kiochi with his spear.

Kiochi rolled to the side and grabbed Hanzo's Yari and used it to pull Hanzo closer in order to punch him the face, but Hanzo wouldn't fall for such an obvious trick.

He let go of his Yari, jumped into the air and sent a flying kick towards Kiochi head.

Kiochi blocked it just in time, but quickly backed away as he had lost his footing.

Hanzo picked up his Yari and attacked Kiochi again.

Kiochi narrowly managed to avoid getting the business end of the spear, but his heavily armoured form was making it hard for him to move.

Wait a minute! Kiochi realised as he stopped trying to dodge the Yari. Hanzo took full advantage of this and stabbed Kiochi in the chest, right where the heart is.

The spear made contact but unfortunately for Hanzo, it had no effect.

Kiochi sighed internally. He panicked a little when Natasha Lebedev said that the S ranked Kynigoi were specially designed to kill Aethon’s.

“Impossible! Hanzo, stop wasting time and kill him!” Natasha Lebedev yelled, Her mirror still in hand.

Kiochi punched Hanzo in the chest, but to Kiochi’s surprise, Hanzo didn’t move that much.

Hanzo’s expression hardened.

He had taken the full brunt of Kiochi's punch, yet was still standing.

I just need to hit harder then. Kiochi deduced.

‘Eve, set my strength multiplier to three times the normal amount!’ Kiochi requested.

[Roger! Setting STR multiplier to 3x.]

..

[Warning: doing this will result in the continuous consumption of EP for as long as the multiplier is active.]

Eve cautioned.

Kiochi acknowledged her warning but just as he did, the seams of Hanzo’s metallic arms separated, revealing red hot devices similar to those Trevor had, except Hanzo's ones were more refined. They looked better in some way.

Kiochi dashed backwards, but Hanzo wouldn’t let him go that easy, he dropped his Yari and then-

FLASH!

Kiochi saw nothing but white and felt an intense amount of pain assaulting his body.

Ouch!

Kiochi opened his eye’s and saw the blurry images of Hanzo repeatedly striking him at incredibly high speeds.

[Warning: HP is below 50%]

Eve warned.

Kiochi couldn’t move much as his body was at the mercy of the force of Hanzo’s punches, which did a surprising amount of damage. He desperately tried to block Hanzo’s strikes but doing that meant putting his arms at risk, so Kiochi launched himself forward and tackled Hanzo.

The two rolled on the ground a few times and Kiochi made sure not to let go of Hanzo’s arms. Hanzo struggled but the strength of Kiochi’s second form was just too incredibly high.

Kiochi squeezed his opponent and he could hear the painful sounds of metal twisting and bones breaking.

Hanzo coughed and blood sprayed all over Kiochi’s face. Hanzo frowned for the first time since the battle began. He then gave Kiochi a head-butt.

Kiochi’s mask took most of the impact, but Kiochi still felt a little shaken. Hanzo did it again and again as Kiochi squeezed the life out of him. Hanzo then suddenly stopped his head-butting and an eerie smile appeared on his face.

“Forgive me ma’am, it would seem that I cannot defeat my opponent. Requesting permission to self destruct.” Hanzo asked S blood trickled down the sides of his mouth.

Wait what? Kiochi wondered.

He looked over to where Natasha Lebedev was and saw that she was packing a bunch of papers and files into a bag.

“You're useless, ugh! Fine! Do whatever you want!” She said as she walked past the two combatants.

Kiochi couldn’t let her escape, but letting go of Hanzo wasn’t a good idea. The same could be said about holding onto him. He could feel Hanzo’s body heat up and a high pitched humming coming from his chest.

Kiochi panicked.

Natasha Lebedev had just left the room which meant that there was a chance that she would run into one of the trigger happy mercenaries. Kiochi couldn’t allow her to die. At least, not yet.

Yamamoto had explained that in order to save mankind, they’d need all of the knowledge the council had.

“Haha, they told me that you were strong, but no one said anything about you being an Aethon. Haha, it’s almost funny. I was under the impression that I could fight, but it would seem that I am just a tertiary character in this story so I will soon meet my end. The only good part is that I get to take you down with me.” Hanzo laughed.

Kiochi was confused.

Why are they calling me an Aethon? I’m human, right?

Kiochi’s heart raced, but that wasn’t the time for internal conflicts. He squeezed Hanzo even harder and even more blood sprayed out from all the holes in his head as Kiochi lifted him into the air as he stood up. Kiochi then jumped into the air and rotated himself to that Hanzo’s head would be the first to touch the ground.

That resulted in their combined weights crushing down on Hanzo’s neck. Kiochi heard a loud crunching noise as the two landed. He didn’t have the time to kill him mercifully and so he bashed his chest in until in collapsed.

Hanzo’s bruised and battered body was splayed out on the ground and a pool of blood and other liquids surrounded it. Kiochi got up quickly and ran in the direction Natasha Lebedev had gone. He ran for a couple of minutes before he heard an explosion from behind him. He ignored it as he returned to where he had separated from his men. There he found his entire team, plus one other person. It was Natasha Lebedev who was being held at gunpoint.

Kiochi’s mask dissolved and sunk back into his skin.

“Hey captain, we found this lady on our way back here.” Johan reported.

Kiochi noted how he was an even better vice captain than Rin.

“Good. We’ll take her back to Yamamoto. Tie her up and let’s go.” Kiochi ordered. His face still stained with Hanzo’s blood.

“What did Yamamoto tell you about us humans? Huh? I’m sure he said that we’re corrupt and we want to keep all of the knowledge to ourselves. But that’s not true.” Natasha Lebedev said calmly.

“We have done more for mankind than you Aethon’s could have ever expected. We’ve extended the human lifespan twofold and the poverty rates are as low as they’ve ever been, see? As long as we remain in complete control, everything will be fine.” She continued.

“It’s just that your kind is so sensitive about the little details-"

“Um- Kiochi, you might wanna see this.” Rin said as he held up a file he got from Natasha Lebedev’s suitcase. Kiochi took the file and flipped through the first few pages.

Kiochi’s eyes narrowed. The file had numerous images of mutilated children and various other images with vile’s of what looked like blood.

“Ignore that! That is merely a side project of mine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with-"

“It was you.” Kiochi cut her off, causing Natasha to freeze.

“The Super Stem Cell project was your idea.” Kiochi growled.

“All those years ago… that scientist I killed. You’re the one who wanted to silence him. All those children…” Kiochi hissed. He was already mentally fatigued and this was pushing him closer to the edge.

Kiochi’s men all noticed the change in his tone and backed away towards the reinforced bunker walls.

“No! Don’t be stupid! I was merely investigating that wicked man’s research. Yes, that’s it! I was investigating him and his crimes.” She said with a nervous smile. Kiochi let out a deep sigh.

She is too troublesome to deal with when conscious. Kiochi thought. He approached Natasha. She trembled in fear as his black gaze met hers, but something about her was off.

She was afraid, yes, but she still seemed confident.

“Izanagi.” Kiochi hissed.

A smile slowly formed on Natasha Lebedev’s face.

“Everyone, get out! Go, go, go!” He barked and His men all burst into action. They all climbed out of the hatch on by one. Leaving Kiochi and Lebedev. Kiochi grabbed her and climbed out of the hatch.

“Hey! Would it kill you to be a little more gentle?” Lebedev complained.

“Uh- Kiochi…” Kiochi heard Rin from above. He emerged and saw that his men all had their guns pointed at someone. He looked and saw Izanagi.

Kiochi dropped Natasha Lebedev and walked towards Izanagi.

“Hey! Be careful!” She complained. Kiochi ignored her.

“Are you here to stop us?” Kiochi asked as Eve sent energy into his arms, just in case.

“Oh, me? No. I’m here for a clean up job." Izanagi said as he glanced at Natasha Lebedev.

“Oh, thank goodness. Please do get rid of this idiots quickly. I still have a meeting to attend. Oh, and where is my helicopter?” She asked as she yanked her briefcase from Rin.

Kiochi stepped away from her and ask so his men as Izanagi’s gaze remained fixed on her.

She looked around and was confused by the situation.

“Wait…. What’s going on here?” Lebedev asked hesitantly. Izanagi slowly walked towards her with a smile on his face. Sending a chill up Kiochi’s spine.

Something about Izanagi made Kiochi fell cold and guilty.

“Natasha Lebedev, you’ve been relieved of your seat as a council member, but rejoice for the seat has been given to Kaijin Saito.” Izanagi loudly announced.

Lebedev’s eyes widened and she began trembling in newfound fear.

“Wait… what? That’s impossible. Kaijin didn’t meet the requirements. This doesn’t make- huek!” In an instant, Izanagi’s arm pieced her chest, emerging out of the other side.

Kiochi frowned. He didn’t see Izanagi move and yet he'd already killed Natasha.

[He’s fast.]

‘I know.’

“what- why- Arrg! Arrg!” Lebedev wept as she was overcome by intense amounts of pain. Izanagi then punched her face multiple times with his metallic fist. Each strike was clearly witnessed by Kiochi and his men and it was as though Izanagi was doing this purposefully.

Natasha Lebedev was long dead by the time his fourth punch landed but the effect of his punches reached its targets.

After what seemed like an eternity, Izanagi removed his arm from Natasha’s chest and dripped her body onto the ground.

“Till next time, Kiochi.” Izanagi said as he walked away. Kiochi had already marked Izanagi as a dangerous person and he could have fought him then, but he knew too little about the S class of Kynigoi, so he didn’t want to take the chance. This coupled with the fact that he had already taken some damage.

Kiochi walked up to Lebedev’s body. Her skin had lost all the elasticity she got from the syringe and she now looked like a mummified corpse.

“Does anyone have a lighter?” Kiochi asked.

“Yeah, I got one!” One of the mercenaries said. Kiochi took the lighter, kicked aside the suitcase Lebedev clung so dearly onto and lit one of the papers inside.

This completely burnt all of Lebedev’s work. Kiochi doubted that she had any backups on the internet.

“Ok gentlemen, let’s get out of here.”

Kiochi and his men hiked out of the crater and walked back to the Kynigoi training camp. There they found several vehicles waiting for them along with Ichika Kobayashi.

“Yamamoto is about to hold a press conference on the discovery of ethereal energy, but he ways that he wants to speak to you and everyone first. The captives are also en route to Saito headquarters.” She said frankly before entering a large armoured truck.

Kiochi and his men entered the trucks and rode off on thier return to Tokyo.