Part 2

  Suoh stood there in amazement. He couldn't believe that the guy would just decide to jump out of the window like that. Of course, you can jump from the second floor with almost no injuries if you know how. But Minato was clearly unable to do so, given his injuries.

  Looking down, he saw nothing that resembled a blonde man dying from his wounds with a piece of metal in his side. Only trash bags and scrap metal.

  “Hmm, he really is crazy,” Suoh sighed, lighting a cigarette. “He probably used his whole arm and jumped inside, catching hold of the window.” Even if it was just a passing theory, he was ready to give up smoking for the rest of his life if it wasn't true.

  But he doubted that he would get into a fight right after being beaten up. Just like Takeshi himself. He quickly set his leg and felt his own injuries.

  “More than half of my ribs are broken, my skull is cracked, my nose is broken, my ankle is dislocated, and I have a few more wounds. Damn. More than I would have liked.”

  He understood that if Minato wanted a second round, he would have to be extremely careful, because he wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight.

  The thought of a fair fight made Suoh smile. How could there be any fairness when the entire building was littered with traps in anticipation of an intruder? Besides, he had reloaded the traps during his battle with Minato, which he had used on Aranagi before that.

  “If he went in for hand-to-hand combat, it could only mean a lack of ability. It couldn't be anything else.”

  ...

  “Damn, I really almost died.”

  Minato lay with his feet up, his eternal companion — his emotionless face — always with him.

  Somehow sitting up, Minato began to suck the poison out of his wounds. It tasted even worse than it smelled. It was like surstr?mming mixed with sour milk.

  It was worth thanking Suoh, because thanks to him and his boundless courtesy, Minato did not have a single wound in his mouth. This allowed him to suck out the poison calmly, without fear of making things worse.

  When it came to the wounds on his legs, he had no choice but to dislocate them from the joint and then suck on his ankles.

  “At least my flexibility came in handy here,” Minato muttered.

  Putting his legs back into their joints, he was about to slowly crawl outside when he suddenly discovered something broken beneath him.

  The darkness prevented him from seeing the metal properly, so he went outside and stood under a canopy so that Suoh couldn't see him.

  If anyone saw him now, they would think that Minato had been fighting a couple of bears in the forest. But his appearance was the last thing he cared about. When the bright, scarlet sun finally illuminated the contents of his hands, Minato began to study it closely.

  It looked like a small iron plate, about the size of a playing card. Several millimeters thick, it could easily hold some kind of projectile.

  Since it was already broken, there was no shame in breaking it further. Cracking the metal as if opening a walnut, Minato noticed a small trigger mechanism inside, with a projectile shaped like half a disc.

  “And how does this piece of junk know when to fire?”

  The question was rhetorical, because when Minato looked at the torn-off part of the body, he saw a sensor that, he guessed, reacted to objects in the line of fire. On the back was engraved the inscription “ARES.”

  Minato's limited knowledge of Greek mythology, gained from a game he only wanted to play because of its erotic content, told him that Ares was the god of war. He didn't understand why a device designed to kill from the shadows would be named that way. Either for simplicity's sake, or because some schizophrenic thought about Greek mythology every five minutes, pausing occasionally to ponder the Roman Empire.

  “For fuck’s sake, you can't see a damn thing in the dark and chaos.”

  Looking up curiously, he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take to set up a battlefield with such mechanisms. An enemy like Suoh must operate only on the basis of his own rules, which he himself sets.

  With the question came fatigue. Not only had he hardly slept, but he had also suffered a bunch of injuries. The last thing he wanted was to walk into certain death in this condition.

  Of course, the enemy was also battered, but what the hell was he supposed to do with dozens of traps hidden on both the first and second floors? They didn't work on the first floor at first, because Suoh wanted to check if Minato really knew Aranagi. But now, the first floor was just as much of a minefield as the second.

  “I guess Specialists won't be much help. As usual,” Minato muttered, scratching his head.

  By the time they’ll finally show up, Suoh would already be long gone.

  He wasn't afraid, he was still determined to finish the job and beat up anyone connected to the serum. And apparently, Suoh had a direct connection to it.

  But he was also well aware that his life was at stake in this battle. He knew it would be difficult. But he couldn't remember the last time he had to walk such a fine line.

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  “Don't run away,” he whispered to himself.

  “It would be much easier without someone who has no intention of doing anything about it.”

  Her words came back to him, loud as if shouted by an unstable lunatic.

  “I chose to get myself involved in all this, and I know more than you do. So the last thing I want is to drag you into a hell you don't even know exists.”

  Aranagi said this herself, knowing full well what might await her. And yet, she came here, risking her life. She herself said that anyone who tries to get involved in this business will voluntarily fall into a hell from which no one can escape.

  She personally took the first step, for which only she herself could be blamed. He was not going to fight for someone he didn't even know. And yet...

  “Ugh. I hate myself at times like this,” Minato muttered, looking back into the darkness of the warehouse, where Aranagi was still bleeding. Now that the sun no longer illuminated the first floor, it was completely filled with darkness. It was like a small branch of darkness. Darkness that he would willingly enter so as not to leave a woman he had known for less than an hour to suffer alone. “Well, abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

  Even if his hands were torn off, even if he had to crawl like a worm without limbs, he had already decided that he would see it through to the end.

  “I will save Aranagi, and I will kick ass for Aya-nee. And it will be Finita La Commedia.”

  He didn't know the whole situation, but he didn't need to. Better to make a rash, wrong decision and save someone than to leave them to their fate. It was just to ease his conscience, but that was all he needed.

  “If you, freaky bastard, have decided to play by your own rules, then I have no intention of falling behind.” Minato muttered, a couple of black sparks flying out of his hair.

  From this seemingly simple action, a light bulb went off in Minato's head. A simple, unpleasant for him, but at the same time incredibly effective plan had just been born in his skull.

  ...

  Suoh leaned over the unconscious Aranagi, gently stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. There was no malice or mockery in his action. Only a slight melancholy in his touch.

  "You know that we chose our path ourselves. We have to answer for the consequences," whispered Suoh Takeshi.

  Suddenly, a dull clanging sound rang out from the first floor, as if a dozen barrels had fallen to the floor. This could only mean one thing: Minato had decided to make himself known, challenging Suoh to a second round.

  He didn't know why he was making so much noise. To attract the attention of outsiders? That wouldn't work, as the warehouse was quite far from other buildings.

  To intimidate him? Then it was absurd, as trying to scare him with noise would be as effective as putting out a fire with gasoline.

  “Damn, I'm stuck here. I need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

  But before he could leave the building with Aranagi, Minato slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor, dragging a barrel that was rusted to the ground behind him. His breathing was labored, and beads of cold sweat stood out on his face.

  “Yo. Geez, you really made me run.”

  Suoh didn't understand why a chill ran through his body, but looking at Minato, who seemed oblivious to all his wounds, he felt a discomfort akin to being immersed in a pit full of worms.

  He couldn't have passed through the minefield he left on the first floor so quickly and silently. After all, there were traps at every turn, linked together in deadly combinations that no one could escape.

  Especially for someone who didn't use Special. Someone who relied solely on physical abilities in battle.

  And yet, he stood right in front of him, as if confident in his invulnerability, with a bored and imperturbable expression on his face.

  “Honestly, you're quite the character. I would never have had the patience to set all these traps so tediously. Sing for joy, for I have deigned to praise your rat-like efforts.”

  Saying this, Minato pointed to the barrel he was dragging behind him.

  “You mean you used the barrel as a shield?”

  “Are you completely retarded? It's been rusted through for a long time. Pizza crusts make better shields.”

  After Minato's words, Suoh looked inside the barrel, where there were several dozen iron plates that he had previously left at the bottom. He couldn't have found and collected them all so quickly and quietly, could he?

  “Ha. Fool. You keep your traps so close to you. You didn't think they would only be activated by a sensor, did you?” With a slight smirk, Suoh took a deep breath and whispered, “Ares.”

  But even after his words, only the trap set here, at the top, was triggered, which Minato dodged without looking, only slightly tilting his head.

  "They can be activated remotely. They have a built-in voice recognition system. Do you think I didn't have time to figure out one of them? I'm sorry, but I've already figured out this cheap trick. This circus stuff won't work on me anymore."

  The mercenary's heart sank with tension. He didn't understand what was going on. All the traps looked intact, but they weren't working. It didn't make sense.

  “What the hell!? ARES!” Suoh shouted, but nothing happened. He had run out of traps on this floor, and the ones on the lower floor had already been disabled by Minato.

  “Don't yell. My head is already buzzing without you.”

  Although his tone was unhurried, his words concealed a hidden rage that Minato wanted to vent on him with every cell of his body trembling with anger.

  In reality, Minato didn't resort to anything extraordinary. Of course, he had to struggle to collect the traps, but he neutralized them by emitting a weak electromagnetic field that prevented Suoh from activating them. Naturally, this caused his head to throb and his vision to blur, all due to using his ability for a long time after a long period of inactivity. But the pain was worth it, because his desire to beat Suoh half to death was overwhelming.

  “I had to use it after all. It's a shame.” Minato whispered bitterly, cursing his inability to find another way.

  Gripping the rim of the barrel tightly, Minato rushed towards Suoh like a bullet.

  Suoh Takeshi could do little in his condition, especially with Aranagi in his arms. One second felt like an eternity, and only when Minato was right next to him did he realize what was happening. But it was too late.

  Kicking Suoh in the temple, Minato threw him aside, causing him to drop Aranagi, whom Minato caught and laid on the floor.

  “Take your scrap metal.”

  Following the sarcastic words, a heavy barrel filled with plates flew at Suoh, hitting him in his broken ribs. The heavy piece of metal pinned him to the ground, and Minato, who had caught Aranagi, only snorted contemptuously.

  He hated his power. A power that was only good for destruction, for causing harm. A power that had brought him nothing good in life. A power that made him who he was. An apathetic freak who couldn't express even the most basic human emotions.

  But still, it was good for something. With it’s help, he could fight back against scumbags like this.

  “Fighting filthy bastards with filthy power, huh?”

  Releasing a couple of black sparks from his forehead, Minato gave the signal to all the traps he had set to activate. Without exception, they all sprang into action, releasing sharp blades that could cut through even metal. And they were all aimed at one person - Suoh Takeshi, who screamed in agony, but soon, unable to bear it, lost consciousness.

  Only after making sure that the enemy was no longer a threat did Minato snort and head for the exit, carrying Aranagi in his arms.

  “Bye-bye.”