The chains surrounding Touya's body began to disperse into fragemnts of core energy, flowing into Colt's veins as small sparks of life.

His core power must've let him create chains from his core energy...

I should heal myself, but it'd be wiser to save my core energy for Hokkaido.

I just absorbed this guy's core energy with that critical burst, so it should be enough.

Despite his flawed logic, Touya's unconditional love reminded him of Mitsuba. Having someone who be by your side, ready to defend you at a moment's notice. No matter how bad of a person you become.

Maybe that love was wasted on someone like Hokkaido.

"Wait!"

Colt came to a stop as Touya grabbed onto his ankle, "No way..."

"A-As long as I'm breathing, you won't reach my boss!" Grudging between breaths, he dragged himself from the mess in the dirt, "I won't-"

Colt snatched away from Touya, leaving him to crash down to his knees, "Dude, you're literally being a puppet for him to exploit. While you and your other friends are out here, risking your lives against us, Hokkaido's sitting in his room!"

"And we're fine with that!" Touya clutched at his wound, struggling to keep his gaze locked.

"He's terrorizing a village of innocent people, can't you see what's wrong with that? He killed a girl's father right before her eyes!"

"What of it?"

Watching the man fall back to the floor, groveling to rise again, Colt felt nothing but pity. "Don't you have a son? How would you feel if he had to watch you die?"

"Leave him out of this! Without Hokkaido's help, I wouldn't even be able to send my boy money! He saved my entire family!"

This is getting nowhere...

I know he isn't a piece of shit like his boss. He let Hemiko get away, and even gave me multiple chances to leave...

Why-

"We're different." muttered Touya, "We both have things to protect, but you're fragile."

"Tough talk coming from the gut who can't even stand."

"I mean it!" Touya clenched his fists, "If your devotion can be earned so easily, is it even real? Compared to the bond I've developed with Hokkaido over the years, you're obligation to protect this villagers is as fragile as glass!"

Originally planning on leaving the man to rest in the dirt, those words rang deep within him. The steely gaze reigning down onto him was not one of a man on the brink of death, but a man willing to lay everything down on the line.

"I get it..." Colt shook his head and walked over to the stairs, "I can't defeat you. You're determination must be stronger than mines, if it lets you throw your life away for someone like him..."

"So, you've conceded?"

"But still...This village is something worth fighting for. I don't care if I just happened to drop in when they needed someone the most, I want to protect them. You're a wall, so I'll just destroy the man who built you."

"No!" Touya shot up from the dirt, in a final ditch of effort, he stormed over to Colt, "You will not pass-"

The air surrounding them flared up as sparks began to erupt from Touya's body. In a violent flash of heat, his body burst into a blast of heat, ripping through the garden in the form of a large explosion.

A dense wave of heat stung over Colt's body as he was engulfed in the spiral of carnage. Chunks of bone pierced his flesh, blowing him through the charred grass.

It could have been minutes, hours, days, he wasn't sure at this point. The ringing in his head forced him to pound his fist into the dirt, watching as the scenery burned around him.

A stark burn mark stained the floor where Touya once stood, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke in its wake.

"N-No..."

What happened?

A burnt piece of a suit fluttered down from above, serving at the final remnant of what was.

I-I didn't do this, right?

H-He had a son...

"I know you're probably freaking out, but worry not." An imposing voice spoke out from hole in the wall on the third floor, "I did it."

A bald headed man stood there, clad in a black and gold suit.

"You must be the brat responsible for this commotion?" The man erupted into hysteric laughter, "You should see the look on your face! All I did was blow him up to hit you, why are you so heartbroken?"

"Y-You..."

"Yup, I blew up...Tommy?" The man titled his head, "No, I think it was Tony-Shit, who cares about his name?"

Even more than the heat of the explosion that killed Touya, fumes swelled within Colt's head as he rose to his feet.

Touya was right...Why am I feeling angry and sorry for him? We were literally just fighting a moment ago...

That's right...

I may be stupid, naieve, and even overprotective...So what?

Why is it a bad thing to help people, to do what's right unconditionally?

If raging for others lets me be human, then I'll keep being me!

"If anyone understood that, I'd expect it to be a man in a mafia." muttered Colt, "Isn't it a thing to uphold bonds over anything else?"

"Ow...I guess good ole Hokkaido's a fraud," teased the man as he tugged on a dog leash in his hand, "Look at what my fraudulent methods brought in."

Linking to this leash was Hemiko, bound by her neck, tears stained her face as burn makrs etched up and down her body.

"Hemiko!"

Hokkaido chuckled as he pat her on the head, "This little one broke into my room, so I had a little fun with her. Nothing too serious, I just tickled her with some heat. She cried like hell though."

"C-Colt..." She struggled to breathe as his name left her frail lips.

Colt scaled his way up the walls, swinging at Hokkaido, "I'm going to kill you!"

Hokkaido leapt back, putting Hemiko in front of him. "Be careful, you don't want to hit my piece of merchandise."

"Shut up-" A fierce explosion crashed into Colt, sending him barreling through the ballroom.

Fingers burnt down to the bone, Colt rushed through the smoke, growling like a feral beast. As he took another swing, another explosion blast him through the room.

"How are you still alive?" asked Hokkaido. "I can keep this going all day y'know?"

Calm down...

I can't win if I just keep charging at him, keep a cool head and think!

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Colt dusted himself off as he stood from the ground.

His explosions are weaker than the one that killed Touya, it must be harder to charge a blast on a speeding target!

With this assumption, Colt began to dart around the ballroom, keeping a keen eye of his opponent as he did.

He won't kill Hemiko, since he needs her for the Blue Apples.

But still-

Ignoring the instincts telling him to hit Hokkaido, he dove in, scooping Hemiko from the floor and shooting out into the hallway.

"C-Colt..." She held onto his shoulder, speaking between sobs, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't speak, just save your energy."

"N-No. This is why everyone told me to give up on trying to fight him, I didn't stand a chance." She lowered her head with a defeated sigh, "I just wanted to be useful for once."

"Hemiko, Stop." As he spoke, her broken eyes widened. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to help someone. It's the worst feeling when you can't."

"Wh-What do you know, Colt?" she muttered, "You're strong, and I'm weak." Choking up at the end of her claim, tears began to swell within her eyes.

"Hemiko, I'm going to tell you something that I needed to hear when I was in your same position a few years ago. You're weak right now," he mentally kicked himself for saying that, but carried on for her sake, "When you're weak, you're supposed to live your life while being protected by the strong. There's nothing wrong with that. However, some people get sick of being weak, and that's how strong people are made. If you want to protect people, you need to get stronger."

"W-Wait, you're not scolding me?"

"No, but you shouldn't try to fight someone when you're weak. That's more like a death wish than anything else. Which means, you need to start by improving yourself day by day. You'll be able to do what you want when you're stronger."

A gentle smile formed on her face, "Th-Thank you, Colt. But if you're preparing to send me off, I'll have to refuse."

"What?"

"I can't beat Hokkaido alone, but I want to help you. As long as I'm the daughter of the village leader, I need to be involved in defeating the tyrant who's been torturing us." She tugged on him, "Please, let me help you..."

"But-"

"Colt, I have a plan."

Hokkaido stepped out from his golden room, wearing some sort of golden cyber suit. The mask had some sort of tubes connecting into the body of the suit. "No need to thank me. While you gave the little runt a pep talk, I gathered my tool of immortality. With this, I'm killing you, along with the rest of the villagers. The only one necessary is the little girl."

Colt took a defensive stance, "You know damn well I'm not letting that happen."

"R-Right!" Hemiko climbed onto Colt's back, "Hokkaido, we're going to kill you!"