— — — — — —
A figure appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Hanezu by the forehead, hoisting him into the air with absurd ease, like a farmer carrying off a chicken.
"What was that you just said about destruction?" Tilting his head slightly, Ryo looked at Hanezu with an odd expression.
If you want to run, then run. Why bother making threats?
And why make those threats right when he happened to arrive? Wasn't that just asking to get slapped?
Crack. Crack.
Under the pressure of Ryo's grip, sounds like fracturing bone echoed from Hanezu's skull.
"AAAH!"
Whether from pain, fear, or both, Hanezu cried out and immediately struck at Ryo's arm.
Once. Twice.
Again and again.
Heavy spirit power gathered in his hands as he relentlessly hammered at Ryo's wrist, trying to force it open.
But it accomplished absolutely nothing.
Ryo didn't even frown. He merely watched the tiny insect struggle with mild curiosity.
"With strength like this, you think you can destroy the Three Factions?"
"Governor."
At that moment, Suzaku hurried forward and bowed respectfully.
Although she'd shared an intimate relationship with the man before her, she knew exactly where she stood. At best, she was a lover. Perhaps something even less significant. Because of that, she never dared neglect proper etiquette. If anything, she was more careful than most.
"Governor?"
Hearing Suzaku's words, Hanezu immediately realized who had captured him.
The supreme leader of the Three Factions. The monster rumored to have defeated the Infinite Dragon God.
"How is this possible? Why are you here in person?!"
Hanezu's mind went completely blank.
He had only come to ambush a subordinate force of the Three Factions.
To put it another way, he'd snuck into a level-30 dungeon to bully low-level mobs. And now a level-999 final boss had left his throne room to camp a level-50 player.
It wasn't fair at all!
Hearing Hanezu's shrill voice, Ryo gave him a strange look, "Didn't your intelligence network tell you that Suzaku is my woman?"
Hanezu instantly stopped struggling.
His niece... had become the Governor's woman?
First came shock. Then despair.
With a relationship like that, forget revenge against the Himejima family. At this point, escaping alive would be a miracle.
Most importantly, nobody had warned him.
Hanezu refused to believe intelligence agencies had failed to notice Ryo's personal relationships. For someone of Ryo's status, every action was probably analyzed to death. There was no way two people had gotten this close without anyone finding out.
Which meant only one thing. Someone had deliberately suppressed the information.
And that person was...
"Rizevim!" Hanezu gritted his teeth. 'So this was his plan all along! Attacking the Himejima family would draw Kyoto's forces and Ryo Yagami away. He was using me as bait!'
Everything suddenly clicked.
Rizevim's proposal to attack a peripheral force of the Three Factions and lure away Kyoto's high-level combatants had never been meant for Hanezu's benefit.
Hanezu himself was the bait.
Rizevim had counted on him attacking the Himejima family out of vengeance. And because of Suzaku's connection to Ryo, there was a high chance Ryo would personally intervene.
The entire operation had been designed to lure Ryo away from Kyoto.
He had been played.
"Rizevim?"
Ryo immediately caught the name.
Given his complicated connection as Lilith's son, the man was practically a cheap imitation of his own son. After all, he had taken on the identity of Satan Lucifer, and many even believed he was the original Lucifer.
"Interesting."
A smile tugged at the corner of Ryo's mouth. "So Rizevim used you to draw me out of Kyoto. Then who's his real target? Ophis? Or Samael?"
The Infinite Dragon God Ophis.
The Dragon Eater Samael.
One was the dragon god Ryo had personally captured. The other was what he had obtained after his dealings with Nyx.
Both were incredibly valuable.
Not to mention Valerie Tepes, the current holder of the Sephiroth Graal.
Any of them could be Rizevim's objective.
Still, Ryo wasn't worried in the slightest.
The distance between Kyoto and the Himejima estate was nothing to him. He could teleport back with his eyes closed.
If Rizevim thought this counted as a successful diversion, that was a joke.
"..."
Hanezu fell silent.
Not because he didn't want to answer. Because he couldn't.
His contract with Rizevim prevented him from speaking.
Which made the situation even more infuriating.
His ally had sold him out, yet the contract stopped him from betraying that ally in return.
Naturally, Hanezu felt like exploding.
"Restricted from speaking?" Ryo narrowed his eyes. "A contract, huh. Fine. I'll remove it while I'm at it."
Black flames suddenly ignited around the fingers gripping Hanezu's head.
Whoosh!
The dark fire born from the Authority of Destruction instantly engulfed his skull.
For a terrifying moment, it seemed as though his brain itself would be erased.
Fortunately, Ryo controlled it well enough.
Well... relatively.
The flames burned away a portion of Hanezu's memories, incinerated his neatly groomed hair, and effortlessly destroyed the contract embedded within his soul.
To be honest, there wasn't much control involved.
Ryo had simply aimed carefully and blasted the right spot.
After a brief period of mental blankness, Hanezu came back to himself and understood his situation.
He remained silent for a second or two before answering, "I don't know his exact objective. But he claimed he was targeting Ophis and Samael."
The knife was at his throat. He was the fish on the chopping block.
Hanezu understood his circumstances perfectly well.
He knew what he should say and what he shouldn't.
As far as he was concerned, Rizevim's scheme was probably what Ryo cared about most.
Providing useful information was his best chance of surviving. After all, everyone understood the principle of leniency for cooperation and harsher treatment for resistance.
Then Ryo casually replied, "That's not important."
"...What?"
Hanezu froze.
Compared to that, Ryo seemed far more interested in something else.
"What I'm actually curious about is your experimentation with the Progenitor Power. The three shadow creatures. Were they transformed from humans?"
"What kind of humans? Do you have detailed research data?"
Hanezu stared at him blankly.
He genuinely hadn't expected those questions.
Rizevim's conspiracy wasn't important?
Not only that, he looked vaguely annoyed by the topic.
Seeing Hanezu's stunned expression, Ryo smiled, "What's wrong? Planning to take the data to the grave with you?"
The smile was full of menace.
Hanezu fell silent.
Then he spoke, "I'll give you the data."
"And the experimental subjects?"
"I'll hand those over too."
"Funding?"
"I'll provide it."
"Excellent."
Ryo patted him on the head, looking thoroughly pleased. "I hope you're a man of culture and integrity, Mr. Hanezu."
Then he loosened his grip and released him, "Congratulations. You're free."
"Oh, thanks..."
Hanezu reached up and touched his scalp.
His hand met smooth skin.
Not a single strand remained.
The realization hit him like a truck.
His beautiful hair was gone.
Still... At least he had survived.
Though judging from the situation, his life might have been the only thing he managed to save.
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