CHAPTER 32: I CAN FEEL IT!
"Not bad, not bad at all! That was a beautiful flying kick, Rodem!"
Q-Taro couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh, his eyes fixed on the monitor.
Beside him, Yagyo Hikoichi narrowed his eyes and let out a silent sigh. So, that's how it is?
Rodem's "nature" was fundamentally different from a martial artist's. He wasn't a master seeking enlightenment, nor was he an underground fighter seeking fame. He was a biological weapon—a machine of meat and bone designed by Q-Taro to do one thing: kill.
Against an opponent who "only wants to kill," someone who "only wants to win" is at a severe disadvantage.
Ren Shiroki had made a tactical error. He had tried to treat this like a duel. But a "Battlefield" doesn't care about your technical execution or your sportsmanship. It's a space where if your bare hands can't close the gap against a weapon, you use a knife. If you don't have a knife, you use a gun. If you don't have a gun, you die.
Whoosh—Whoosh—!
The wind howled through the shattered window. The corridor was empty of prey.
Rodem stood before the jagged opening, hot vapor hissing from his mask as he waited for Q-Taro's next command.
{ Only three left... is that right? }
Q-Taro let out a predatory chuckle, but his tone shifted instantly. { Don't get cocky, Rodem. Approach the window slowly. I want to see the body. }
Yagyo raised an eyebrow. He had to give it to the old man; Q-Taro's mercenary background made him a cautious hunter. He didn't believe a target was dead until he could count the entry wounds.
"Heh... there are three possibilities," Q-Taro analyzed coolly.
"One: Ren Shiroki fell six stories and is currently a pancake on the pavement. Two: He's clinging to the exterior wall, waiting for an ambush. Three: He's mortally wounded and barely hanging on."
"As for the fall—the rules say you have to 'step' out of this building alive to win. Even if he's breathing, if he's lying in a heap on the sidewalk, it's not a victory!"
"Hahaha!" Q-Taro slapped his knee. "Approach with caution, Rodem. We are invincible!"
Rodem gripped his combat knife and stepped forward. Every boot-print was heavy and deliberate. Behind the mask, his eyes darted frantically, searching every inch of the window frame.
Just as he reached the ledge and prepared to lean out—
SHING!
Rodem's instincts screamed. He slammed his foot into the windowsill and backflipped into the hallway, diving back into the shadows.
"...?!"
He looked down at his arm. A fresh furrow had been carved into his bicep. If he hadn't moved, the bullet would have taken his head off.
Rodem flexed his arm, the blood dripping onto the carpet. "Hah... it hurts. But I'm... okay..."
{ Good! Excellent reflexes, Rodem! }
Q-Taro praised him, but his own face was darkening with fury.
"Tch. I got too caught up in the hunt. I forgot about the 'Support'!"
Outside, on the roof of the neighboring building, Fusui Kure was still there. She had a clear line of sight on the exterior of the Kujo Building's southwest face—exactly where Ren had been kicked out.
"This is a nuisance. With that Kure sniper watching, Rodem can't check the exterior..."
{ Back away from the window, Rodem! } Q-Taro commanded. { She can't see into the interior. Stay in the dark. We still hold the initiative! }
Neighboring Building Rooftop.
Fusui Kure wasn't smiling anymore.
The veins around her eyes were bulging—the [Removal] was at its maximum. Her black-and-white eyes were glued to the scope.
"He sensed my killing intent from across the street? He's a total freak..."
"Ren-chin? Ren-chin, can you hear me? Are you still with us?"
Fusui shifted her aim slightly downward.
On the exterior wall of the Kujo Building, just below the shattered window, Ren Shiroki's hands were visible. His fingers were dug into the concrete ledge with white-knuckled intensity. He was dangling six stories above the street.
Ren's face was turned toward the building, so she couldn't see the damage. But a steady rhythmic drip of crimson was falling from his chin into the abyss below.
Q-Taro's guess was right. The dropkick had shattered Ren's nose and sent his brain rattling inside his skull. He was on the verge of a blackout, hanging on by pure muscle memory.
"I'm... fine. It was... a good hit..."
Ren's voice was a ragged whisper. Blood was leaking from his nose and the corners of his mouth. He wasn't sure if it was from the kick or the sheer mental strain of the "Overdrive."
{ I forced the monster back. He's not near the window anymore, } Fusui reported. { But be careful. I have blind spots. I can't see the whole floor from here. He's probably waiting for you to climb back in. }
"Mhm..."
Ren grunted. A wave of nausea hit him. He felt the temptation to just let go.
But "Falling" wasn't part of the plan. He hadn't come here to survive; he had come here to Win.
In the haze of his vision, he saw the phantom of Zangief leaning over the windowsill. The massive Russian master wasn't offering a hand; he was clapping his massive palms together, roaring with laughter and encouragement.
Unlike the quiet, stoic Ryu, Zangief's teaching style was a hurricane of energy.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
With every thunderous phantom-clap, Ren's brain seemed to snap back into focus. The vibration cleared the fog. His "Mental Overdrive" accelerated to a new terminal velocity.
The feeling—the Synchronization—finally arrived.
Everything he had learned from his exchange with Rodem crystallized. His body and mind underwent a sudden, violent "Phase Shift."
SHING!
Ren's arms bulged with a new, explosive power. He hauled himself up the ledge in one smooth motion and vaulted back into the building.
{ Ren-chin! You're back in! How are you feeling? }
"Incredible..."
Ren rolled his neck and shoulders. The exhaustion was gone, replaced by a volcanic surge of adrenaline. The mental "High" was so intense it completely numbed the pain in his face.
Though his breathing was still a mess.
Ren reached up and touched his nose. It was smashed to the side, blocking his airway.
"..."
He spotted Rodem standing twenty feet away, precisely in the sniper's blind spot. The monster was waiting.
"Perfect. Simply perfect!" Ren muttered.
He gripped the bridge of his own nose. With a sharp, violent twist, a loud CRACK echoed through the hallway. He snapped the bone back into its proper alignment.
He covered one nostril and blew hard, clearing out the blood clots. He let out a long, satisfied breath.
Ren looked at Rodem and tapped his own forehead.
"I need just a few more seconds to get used to the 'Russian' rhythm."
Rodem didn't move. He stood like a statue, staring at the youth.
Q-Taro was baffled. { Rodem! What are you doing? Finish him! }
"He... he's becoming dangerous," Rodem rasped. "I have to be careful. I can't let him... finish preparing..."
{ What are you talking about? Dangerous?! He's a broken brat! KILL HIM! }
Q-Taro was screaming now, but then he noticed something on his secondary screen. { Rodem! BEHIND YOU! JUMP! }
BANG!
A shot rang out. Rodem lunged upward, the bullet passing through the space where his legs had been a millisecond ago.
He landed perfectly and spun around. At the far end of the corridor stood Shigeru Akagi, leveling the captured M9.
Beside him were Madarame Baku and Kaji Takaomi.
Q-Taro stared at his hand-held tracker. He wasn't surprised by their location—he'd been watching the "Coins" move.
"Rodem's instinct is weird. 'Dangerous'? Please," Q-Taro sneered to himself. "But look at this! Hah! This is hilarious!"
"You three actually came back?! You were almost at the exit, and you ran back to the fifth... then all the way up to the sixth?!"
Q-Taro laughed until his lungs burned. "Running back to 'protect a friend'? How sentimental! How utterly stupid! I overestimated the 'Lie Eater' and the 'Man of the Divine Realm.' You're just amateurs!"
Q-Taro ground his teeth, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper.
{ Ren Shiroki is a dead man walking. But finishing him can wait. Rodem... kill the three idiots with the guns first! }
{ Erase them from the board! }
As Rodem began his slow, predatory advance toward them, Kaji Takaomi felt his soul leaving his body. "Oi... oi! Baku-san! We were supposed to take the old man hostage! Why are we here?!"
Baku slung an arm around Kaji's shoulder, grinning like a shark. "Ren-chin isn't done warming up yet. He needs time to find the rhythm. We're just here to provide a little 'Distraction'!"
Kaji's head spun. A distraction?! Against a biological super-weapon that Ren couldn't even beat?!
Baku turned to Akagi. "By the way, old man... your aim is terrible. You've fired ten shots and haven't even grazed him."
"Ah—we're doomed—!" Baku said in a monotone, mock-panic voice. "We're all going to die because of your bad eyes!"
"Heh. Death is just a final discard," Akagi replied with a weary smile. "Life is a gamble with zero odds of winning in the end. Everyone loses their seat eventually."
Akagi looked past Rodem, locking eyes with Ren Shiroki.
"The only thing that matters, Ren-kun, is how you play the hand you're dealt."
"The process... is everything."