Chapter 220: Slaughter Approaches, The Mind-Game Assembly
[Satsui no Hado (Special, Lv1): The ultimate killing intent born from an assassination art. Its destructive power is immense. The Hado grows stronger with every living being killed, and grows substantially stronger with the defeat of powerful enemies. At the same time, it inflicts a powerful corrosive effect on the user.]
(This ability cannot be leveled up through any other means.)
Kaito Shirogane's consciousness returned from the Infinite Dimensional Space, his physical body materializing back in the real world.
He was lying on the second-floor veranda of the exquisite wooden house, soaking in the warm, natural sunlight. He stared at the description of the Satsui no Hado on his personal status panel, his mind perfectly calm as he contemplated its nature.
This ability was, without question, his greatest hidden danger.
Simultaneously, it was his most direct, golden-paved highway to absolute power.
A power source that grew, endlessly, simply through the act of killing. For a Reincarnator—a member of a species whose entire existence was defined by plunder and conflict—it was the most perfectly-suited energy system imaginable.
Moreover, the "Hado," or "surge," was just a specialized application of ki. The martial artists from the Street Fighter world were all, at their core, ki practitioners; they simply specialized in releasing that ki in the form of this destructive, all-consuming wave.
Reincarnators were, by their very nature, a swarm of locusts, creatures who could slaughter and destroy without ever having to bear the weight of moral responsibility. The only thing a Reincarnator using the Satsui no Hado had to fear was the other side of the coin: as the Hado grew in power, the corrosive, self-destructive backlash would also grow in equal, terrifying measure.
In the original story, the legendary warrior Akuma had been ravaged by this power after awakening it. He was consumed by it, driven to the brink of death, before finally, after a long and agonizing internal war, he conquered it.
First, he had fallen, entering a special state of pure, homicidal instinct—a "Raging Demon" state where he was completely dominated by the killing intent. But from those depths, he had ascended, surpassing the Hado to gain total mastery over it, achieving the "Shin" (God-like) state.
But Akuma was, in the context of his own world, a "Chosen One," a figure of fated destiny. The countless other martial artists who had trained in the assassination arts and awakened the Satsui no Hado... they had all met pathetic ends. They were either struck down while challenging a stronger opponent, hunted down and killed by heroes after committing unforgivable atrocities, or, most commonly, they simply withered away, their own bodies and souls eaten alive from the inside out by the very power they sought to wield.
This ability was the ultimate double-edged sword.
"Boss! Boss, Kaito!"
"Someone just called—a director from the Korean March Consortium! He said... he said they want to invest in our 'paradise' construction project! This... this is..."
Linford, the man Kaito had saved, came hobbling up the stairs, leaning heavily on his cane. He stopped at the doorway, his body language a perfect mix of terror and reverence, but the sheer, uncontrollable delight in his voice was impossible to hide.
The March Consortium!
Even on a global scale, that name was legendary. They were one of the titans, a mega-corporation that held the entire economy of Korea in its grip and controlled nearly a third of the world's telecommunications industry.
For a behemoth like that to contact him, a small-time operator in this lawless border region... Linford could only attribute it to one source: the terrifying, mysterious young man he knew only as that "madman," Kaito. He had to be the heir of some shadowy, ancient martial arts family, or something even stranger.
Kaito Shirogane had no desire to waste his time on these trivial, mortal-world logistics. He waved a hand, his eyes still closed as he enjoyed the sun.
"Yes, that's right," he said, his voice casual. "The eldest daughter of the March Consortium... we have a connection. Just give them a number. Whatever you ask for, they will send the money."
He paused, then added, "Money, people, resources... ask for whatever you need. Don't be shy."
Hearing this, Linford's mind, which had been buzzing with logistics, was suddenly filled with a montage of trashy short-form videos he'd seen online. The reclusive heir of an ancient, powerful clan... the cold, beautiful heiress of a global corporation... tsk, tsk. The Boss truly lived a blessed life!
Linford thought about his own life, how he had groveled and scraped and bled for every penny, wasting years in this godsforsaken place, while this young man could conjure a corporate empire's treasury with a single, lazy sentence.
"However..."
Linford's scalp exploded in a burst of pure, ice-cold panic. The voice, which had just been lazily drifting from the balcony, was now directly beside his ear.
He snapped his head around and saw the madman, Kaito, standing right next to him, having appeared from nowhere in perfect silence.
A jolt of absolute, primal terror, like a high-voltage current, shot straight up Linford's spine. Every hair on his body stood on end. He flinched violently, his balance lost, and he instinctively stumbled backward, about to tumble all the way down the stairs.
A hand, moving with impossible, supernatural calm, was already there. It had anticipated his every micro-reaction, catching the back of his collar before he had even begun to fall, holding him steady.
Linford's heart hammered against his ribs so hard it hurt. This lunatic, Kaito... he was becoming more and more like a ghost, a demon from a folktale. He suddenly, desperately questioned his own "ancient martial arts" theory.
Could any martial art... could any human... do something like that?
"However," Kaito's voice continued, now utterly devoid of its earlier laziness, replaced by a coldness that felt like freezer burn. "If you take their money... and you fail to build the paradise I want... Linford, you know exactly what will happen to you."
The frigid words snapped Linford out of his shock. He had been getting careless. He had been letting his gratitude for Kaito saving his life blind him, making him forget the ruthlessness of the man he was serving.
"Yes! Yes, Boss, I understand!" he stammered, nodding frantically. He turned to retreat, his entire body trembling. He was halfway down the first step before he remembered the other reason he had come up. He froze, then, bracing himself, turned back around.
"Boss," he said, his voice strained. "About the paradise construction... we have an immediate and... a very large problem."
"According to your vision, the 'paradise' you described... it would have to encompass the entire Wa State border region. That... that amount of land... this isn't like investing in a single hotel or a casino. The number of local factions involved, the...'
Linford's voice trailed off, his mouth dry. Before, when there was no money, he had just assumed Kaito was truly insane. He had dismissed the grand plan as the meaningless, fevered ramblings of a lunatic.
But now... now the March Consortium was involved. Money was no longer an object.
Linford was struck by a terrifying realization: if the plan had been a madman's fantasy before, it was now a madman's direct command. And if he, with unlimited funding, still failed to make it happen... this lunatic would kill him in a heartbeat.
Seeing Kaito's silent, unblinking stare, Linford hurriedly proposed his own, "sane" solution.
"Maybe... maybe we should wait for the March Consortium's people to arrive? A mega-corporation like that... even the 'Big Families' around here, even the Myanmar regional government... they would have to give them some face, right? After all... nobody wants to make an enemy of that much money..."
Linford's solution was, of course, the logical one. It was how the normal world operated.
But Kaito Shirogane simply shook his head. He had no patience for the slow, ponderous dance of mortal politics, of waiting for a pack of parasites and corrupt officials to scheme and posture.
There was a reason he had left the highly-ordered Eastern Federation. There was a reason he had come to this lawless, chaotic border region in the first place.
It was precisely so he would not be constrained by their pathetic rules.
"Linford," Kaito said, his voice flat. "Get me a complete list. Every faction in the Wa State. Their leaders, their industries, where they are located. Everything."
"I'll go... and have a little chat with them."
Linford looked up. He saw a cold, cruel smile spreading across Kaito's lips. For just an instant, he thought he saw a flicker of... something... a faint, terrifying purple aura coiling around the man like smoke, but he blinked, and it was gone.
He was so frightened he could barely breathe. He just nodded, and practically crawled, hands and feet scrambling, down the staircase.
Only when he was back on the ground floor did a violent shiver run through his entire body. He knew, with the certainty of a man watching a tsunami form on the horizon, that a storm of blood was about to wash over the entire Wa State.
Up on the second-floor veranda, Kaito sat back down, completely unbothered. The Secret Manual - Wind God Legs materialized in his hand once more.
He closed his eyes, and his consciousness plunged inward. His mental energy began to drain rapidly as he activated the "Martial Deduction" state.
In this phantom mind-space, he saw himself leap into the air. His internal ki flowed, surging from his core and condensing entirely in his legs. In a single, explosive instant, his legs dissolved into a thousand afterimages, a ferocious whirlwind of phantom kicks that descended upon an imaginary foe below.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
[Through Martial Deduction, you have comprehended: Wind God Legs, Third Form: Storm of the Raging Tempest.]
Meanwhile, in a high-security luxury villa in Seoul...
The white-haired, elderly butler, Steward Park, carried out Lee Chae-rin's orders with his usual, meticulous professionalism. He had already processed the command to have the corporation's legal team begin investment procedures in the Wa State region.
His mind, however, registered a faint flicker of confusion. He had absolutely no memory of the woman named "Kyung," the personal assistant who had, until recently, followed his mistress everywhere.
Because of this memory wipe, he found his current task... odd. This sort of high-level, sensitive business negotiation was exactly what an assistant like Kyung would have handled. Why was the Young Mistress tasking him, the head steward of the household, with such a thing?
Lee Chae-rin—the Reincarnator known as Moon Fiend—sat on the plush sofa, rubbing the bridge of her nose, her eyes tightly shut. She was exerting every ounce of her willpower just to control her own thoughts.
The restrictions that madman—that man—had placed on her were absolute. They were woven into her very soul.
The instant a thought detrimental to Kaito Shirogane even began to form in her mind, a spike of agonizing, neural pain would erupt in her brain.
He had set the parameters of her enslavement to the most paranoid, meticulous, and cruel degree possible. Just thinking of his name with malice would alert him. Just contemplating betrayal would trigger the punishment.
This... this was more brutal than house-training a dog.
Right on cue, as her resentment crested, a blinding, white-hot pain lanced through her skull. She gasped, immediately cutting off her train of thought, forcing her mind into a state of placid blankness.
I must not. I cannot.
"Steward Park," she said, her voice tight with pain. "Tomorrow morning... have the regional director for our Southeast Asia division come and see me."
The old steward bowed. "Yes, Young Mistress." He then stepped forward, picking up a thick, embossed envelope from a side table and presenting it to her on a silver tray.
"Mistress, earlier today, a man calling himself 'Seo Ji-woo' came by. He said he was the eldest son of the Seo Pharmaceuticals Group. He left this invitation for you."
Lee Chae-rin took the invitation. The moment she opened it, her pupils contracted to pinpricks.
[The Mind-Game Assembly
Sincerely invites
Lord Moon Fiend
To our headquarters, to discuss matters of national destiny and the future of our nation.]
Her head snapped up, her eyes sharp and cold. "Did anyone else see the contents of this envelope?"
Steward Park shook his head immediately. He was an experienced, old-school professional. He would never, ever commit such a taboo.
Lee Chae-rin waved her hand, dismissing him. The moment he was gone, her brow furrowed in deep, anxious thought.
She didn't know any "Seo Ji-woo."
But she knew the Mind-Game Assembly. It was a small, but notoriously vicious, assembly in the Eastern District.
And according to the rumors... its leader was a 'Special' type of Reincarnator. And he was... exceptionally ruthless.
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Guys We cross the 200 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 300 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
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