Dozens of men knelt, heads bowed, trembling as they looked up at the man lounging casually on the Ritz Family's own throne couch. Kenji leaned back, golden eyes sweeping over them, cold and sharp.
The air in the room was thick with a palpable tension, a suffocating silence broken only by the faint, ragged breaths of the kneeling mob.
Fortuna was in front, her head bowed low, the Ma Brothers behind her. Behind them stood the rest of her family's remnants, battered, defeated, bound. The black tattoos of Kenji's Contract Chains were etched onto their skin. Fortuna felt an urge to touch hers but didn't dare, not with his hawk-like stare locked on her, a predator watching its prey.
"Well," Kenji said at last, the single word cutting through the silence like a blade. The entire room flinched. How could they not? This man had strolled into their territory, dismantled their elites, crushed their leader, and worse, bound them all to his will. The sheer audacity of his takeover had broken their spirits more completely than any physical damage.
The silence that followed was unnerving. Kenji let the weight of it press down on them, letting their own imaginations do the work. He watched the subtle tremors in their hands, the glisten of sweat on their foreheads, the way their eyes darted around the room, desperate for an escape that didn't exist.
Their terror was a tangible thing he could almost taste, and he felt a cold satisfaction in their fear. It was a measure of his success. They should not have come after him.
"I'm sure I don't need to explain what's happening here… or what will happen, do I?" he said.
Nobody answered, but that didn't seem to deter him. He sat up straighter, his voice taking on a harder edge. "Honestly, your family wasn't even in my sights before you decided to put yourselves in my sight, so congratulations." He gave a slow, mocking clap, the sound echoing through the cavernous room and making every person in it shudder.
Fortuna flinched. She had been a predator all her life, a queen of her own criminal empire, and in her ambition, she had misjudged. She had seen an opportunity and pounced, only to discover she had leapt at a lion.
Now, she was nothing more than a link in a new chain, her life and the lives of her entire family tethered to the will of a man she barely knew.
It was a humiliating, terrifying reality. She sighed mentally. There was no changing the past. The Ritz Family, as it had existed, was dead. All that remained was what Kenji chose to spare.
"Now, I'm sure you expect me to burn it all down," Kenji went on. "But actually… nothing will really change, things will still be the same."
Murmurs rippled through the room. Fortuna blinked, confused. Was he saying that he was just going to leave them be, after everything? She narrowed her eyes. She had seen how cruel and unyielding the world of Nen could be. Mercy wasn't a concept that should be entertained unless...well, unless you had this kind of power, so she could understand his thought a little better.
But still, this felt like a trick, a more insidious form of control. Her mind, so used to scheming and plotting, tried to find the angle, the hidden trap, but she came up empty. He was simply too powerful to need a complex plot.
He smirked, a cruel twist of his lips. "Well, not the same, though there will be some small changes here and there. For example… the marks on your necks." He tapped his own throat, and their faces paled.
He spoke lightly, almost cheerfully: "Well, basically… I own you."
The cheer drained from his tone, dropping into a dark growl that sent a shiver through every spine in the room.
"You'll keep your businesses. I can't be here to babysit you every day. But don't mistake it, the old Ritz Family is gone. You are now extensions of my will. If I want something, you'll get it. If I need something, you'll do it. I am your boss now."
The weight of his words pressed down on them, almost crushing, before it lifted, leaving them gasping for breath and staring at the man who held their lives in his hands. He was their new sun, and their world would now revolve around his will.
"Well, get." He flicked his hand dismissively.
The room cleared in seconds, the sound of scrambling feet and low whispers filling the air. As they fled, they looked not at each other, but at the door, as if they feared he would change his mind.
"Not you five," Kenji said, his eyes narrowing on Fortuna and the Ma Brothers.
'Shit,' all five thought in unison.
For the next half hour, Kenji laid down the rules. He wasn't interested in running a family; he was interested in efficiency. "Human trafficking, drugs that destroy lives—gone."
Those operations would end immediately. The Ma Brothers were dismissed at last. Only Fortuna remained, standing stiffly before him.
Kenji rose from the couch, towering over her. His eyes bored into her, and she could feel the immense weight of his gaze.
"You don't know how lucky you are," he said quietly. "I was ready to kill you all. But I decided against it. Betray me, fail me, and you'll wish I had ended you today. Am I clear?"
Fortuna nodded so fast it looked frantic, her mind reeling. "Good."
He left her with a handful of final instructions. By the next morning, Kenji was already gone from Yorknew. He had his fun, and now it was time to go back and finish the mission. Things here will go as ordered, his word was law, so it would be wise to obey it if they wanted to live. He had already thanked Naomi before leaving the city.
Heaven's Arena
A giant of a man flew across the stage, crashing into the wall as Kenji's fist landed, the sound a dull thud that reverberated through the arena. The crowd's roar was deafening, a wave of applause and cheers for the new champion. The giant, a renowned fighter known for his durability, was out cold, his body a testament to the devastating force of Kenji's final punch.
"Winner!" the announcer bellowed, his voice hoarse from a long day of calling out victory after victory for the same fighter.
Kenji exhaled. Done.
In a single day, he cleared every floor up to the 200th. The mission was complete. The system's chime confirmed it, offering him the option to leave. He accepted instantly.
Instantly, he was back home.
He stretched, feeling the strange dissonance of time. God, it felt like he was gone for years. Yorknew, the blood, the Nen, the battles, felt like a long, arduous dream he was only just waking from.
He decided not to check his rewards yet. Instead, he went for a walk. Fresh air, after all that blood and mist, was welcome. He needed to ground himself, to reconnect with the life he had fought so hard to protect.
He walked slowly, his senses stretched outward, the rhythmic hum, the faint chirping of crickets, the cool breeze on his face. This was what he fought for.
As he wandered, his senses stretched outward. Peace. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and smiled faintly. A golem patrolling, it was almost invisible.
Good. The factory is working properly. Before he had left, He had advanced his spirit magic far enough to mass-produce golems. They used materials from his IDs, patrolled his neighborhood, and kept it safe.
Weak individually, sure, but in groups, they could take down a stray devil, and he got the EXP. Add the protective shield he'd placed around his home and the surrounding blocks, and this part of town had become a fortress.
'Crazy. I used to worry about a single low-class devil. Now my golems sweep them like trash.'
He walked back into the house after a while, expecting chaos from the kids. Instead, he found only Anastasia, sitting on the couch with a book. He closed the door quietly behind him, letting the peaceful quiet envelop him.
"Hey," he greeted, his voice a little hoarse from disuse. He came up behind her and leaned down, kissing the top of her head.
She smiled, not looking up from her book at first, a faint blush on her cheeks as she leaned into his touch. "Hey, to you too. You're back a little earlier than I expected."
"Where are the kids? The house is… quiet."
"Ayaka and Aoi are at that slumber party, remember?"
"Oh." The memory was distant, like something he'd heard years ago. For him, it had been months. It was hard to reconcile that with the simple, domestic events of their life. "I did… I guess I forgot."
"And Ren?"
"Asleep. Wore himself out at school today," she said, her voice soft and full of love.
Kenji blinked, letting the information sink in. So they were all alone today. A sense of excitement washed over him. He moved closer, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder. The scent of her shampoo, the warmth of her body through her clothes, the steady, calm rhythm of her breathing—it was all a powerful anchor, pulling him back to himself.
She leaned back against his chest, her head tilting to meet his. He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, his thumb stroking her cheekbone. She closed her eyes, sighing softly, her hand coming up to cover his on her waist.
"So… the house is just for us tonight?" he whispered, his lips brushing the shell of her ear. The question wasn't a casual one, it was loaded with the longing of a man who had been away for what felt like a lifetime.
She shivered, a soft moan escaping as he kissed along her neck. Her hands trembled for only a moment before sliding up around his neck, pulling him closer still.
"Kenji—" she breathed, her voice a fragile whisper.
"Been too long," he murmured, his hands roaming her body, his touch desperate with the longing of a man who had just re-entered his world.
She didn't resist. She didn't complain. She leaned into him, hungry too, for the man who had returned to her.
They kissed, deep, devouring, months of pent-up longing spilling out. He lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around his waist, carrying her toward their room.
The night was theirs.
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