Asagiri Utsunomiya didn't answer, and neither did Asuna Yuuki. Both of them looked past the man and at the first person who was thrown out of the room.
After that person bumped into the caregiver, his body fell limply to the ground. It could be clearly seen that there was a very deep wound on his neck, and blood was constantly gushing out of the wound. The caregiver stood there motionless, looking to be a little confused, not understanding what had happened.
The next second, Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki's eyes turned to the blood-stained kitchen knife in the surviving man's hand.
"Look, I'll tell you what I'm saying." Asagiri Utsunomiya first said this, then whispered to Asuna Yuuki beside him, "I didn't expect there were other Players here besides us, and that one actually used someone in the same ward as a human shield. That person's neck was almost cut off. How severe was the attack? Wow, it's really scary."
At this moment, Asuna Yuuki couldn't say a word. After all, before today, she was a young lady from a rich family, but still an ordinary girl; she had never seen such a bloody scene.
What was happening before her eyes... was undoubtedly... murder.
Why? Why in this situation could Asagiri Utsunomiya remain calm and even have the energy to joke?
This guy... couldn't he feel fear?
Asagiri Utsunomiya reached out his hand, gently placed it on Asuna Yuuki's slightly trembling shoulder, and said with a shooting tone, "Okay. We should go now. The time is almost up."
Asuna Yuuki took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She whispered, "Yes..."
Just as the two were about to turn around and leave, the man holding the blood-stained kitchen knife finally reacted. A ferocious look appeared on his face, and he gritted his teeth and spoke sternly.
"You all saw it... so you can't leave!"
"Yo-ho?" Asagiri Utsunomiya's face didn't show fear or vigilance, but rather a look of a fisherman who had finally caught a big fish, and his voice was filled with the joy of a good harvest. "I never realized you're such a merciless person. You're planning to kill us too? That's quite interesting."
When he heard Asagiri Utsunomiya's words, the man with the knife was stunned. He didn't understand why the other party was not afraid at all when facing him, who had just killed someone.
(Is he crazy, or does he think I won't really do it?)
The man thought so as he looked at Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki, confirming that neither of them seemed to be carrying any weapons. There was no need to worry about the girl; she posed no threat at all. He just needed to kill the boy first...
"Go to hell!!!"
The high-pressure environment, coupled with the fact that he had just killed someone, made the man completely lose his mind. He raised the bloody kitchen knife high, with a ferocious and distorted look on his face, and rushed towards Asagiri Utsunomiya who was standing there.
Facing the attack of the knife-wielding man, Asagiri Utsunomiya just stood there quietly with a carefree smile on his face, turned to look at Asuna Yuuki beside him, and said casually, "Yuuki-san, if you don't do something, he's going to murder me first."
Seeing that the man had rushed in front of her and the blood-stained kitchen knife was about to hit Asagiri Utsunomiya, Asuna Yuuki had no time to think and took action subconsciously.
"'Wind Protection'!"
As she recited the name of her skill, Asuna Yuuki felt her body become unusually light, and the slender rapier appeared in her hand. With an extremely dexterous movement, she immediately stabbed the man's wrist, whose hand was holding a kitchen knife.
*Clang!* The kitchen knife fell to the ground with a crisp sound, followed by the man's scream of pain: "Ah!!! My hand!!!"
Asuna Yuuki drew out her rapier and looked at the man holding his wrist and screaming in pain. She did not feel any pity or anything like that. She just looked at the smiling Asagiri Utsunomiya and sighed slightly. She asked, "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"Of course." Asagiri Utsunomiya first admitted it directly without hiding anything, then explained, "Even if I didn't get the reward for completing the mission objective, I wouldn't be hacked to death by a guy like that with a kitchen knife. I just wanted you to do it. After all, similar things will definitely happen again in the future. I want you to get used to it sooner rather than later, so that you don't drag down our team because of your hero complex or benevolent thoughts about not wanting to hurt anyone."
Asuna Yuuki snorted lightly, raised her left hand to tidy up her long flaxen hair, and said in a calm tone, "Humph, when others are planning to attack me, how can I just sit there and wait for death because I'm afraid of hurting them? I'm not that stupid."
"Hehehe." Asagiri Utsunomiya chuckled, and his next words directly exposed Yuuki Asuna's pretense of toughness: "If that's the case, why didn't you just pierce his throat with your sword? Don't say you were worried I'd get hit by the kitchen knife. With the speed you just displayed, you could easily have pierced his wrist first and then his throat. You speak so tough, but you really can't kill him, right?"
After pausing for a few seconds, Asuna Yuuki managed to defend herself, saying, "I... Isn't this a normal thing? That is murder! Who can just do it? You're just talking about me, but you can't do it either, right?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya looked first as if he had heard a bad joke, then said, "What are you talking about? I can do it without hesitation. Now that you've familiarized yourself with your abilities, it's my turn to familiarize myself with mine."
After saying this, a black pistol suddenly appeared in his hand. The next second, Asagiri Utsunomiya made a move that made Asuna Yuuki's pupils shrink in shock.
Asagiri Utsunomiya raised his pistol, but instead of pointing it at the man who was covering his bleeding wrist, he placed it directly against his own temple, with his index finger on the trigger.
"What are you going to do..."
Before Asuna Yuuki could finish her words, a golden light suddenly burst out from Asagiri Utsunomiya's originally dark gray eyes, and he pulled the trigger of the pistol without hesitation.
"Per... so... na..."
Asagiri Utsunomiya recited each syllable slowly with a deep tone. Then he announced his Persona's name—
"Come forth... Hitoshura!"
The gun did not fire the bullet as Asuna Yuuki expected. After Asagiri Utsunomiya pulled the trigger, a humanoid creature over two meters tall suddenly appeared behind him. It was completely black with no facial features, and red patterns were glowing on its body.
"Is this... Persona..."
When Asuna saw Persona named Hitoshura appear, she thought that Asagiri Utsunomiya's previous action did not seem to be an attempt to commit suicide. The pistol that could not fire bullets and the action of shooting himself should be the prelude to summoning his Persona.
Only...
Asuna noticed that the caregiver, who had been standing at the other end of the corridor and had not moved at all, actually retreated several meters the moment Hitoshura appeared, and even his tall body was shaking.
To ordinary people, this caregiver was like a monster... no, he was a monster, but... was he afraid because of Hitoshura?