Page: (6/6)
With every word Rinku uttered, Hōsu's agony deepened. The confidence he had flaunted moments ago had completely evaporated.
He now looked more like a lamb on its knees, begging for mercy.
But before he could even voice a plea-
A cold, low voice rang out, dripping with disdain:
"How dull. Not even the strength to struggle. Gardevoir, Psychic."
An ominous dread surged in Hōsu's heart. It was the primal instinct of a body sensing imminent death.
But under Gardevoir's crushing pressure, he couldn't move a single muscle… all he could do was wait for death to take him.
Darkness swallowed his vision
Hōsu's consciousness faded into the abyss…
Moments later, Gardevoir retracted her aura.
Hōsu's body had already crumpled to the ground, lifeless. The Nen he was so proud of was pitifully weak—he couldn't even mount a token defense.
And so he met the end he arrogantly claimed would never be his: brain death from a psychic assault. Gone, utterly and irreversibly.
With his death, the thin veil of Nen that had held him together dissipated. His body began to crumble—literally falling to pieces, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, or like Buggy the Clown after eating the Chop-Chop Fruit.
Only now did it become clear: the true damage from the Baptism hadn't just been to his skin. It had gone far deeper.
His awakened Nen and his fractured body had been in a fragile equilibrium all along.
That pitiful sliver of Nen acted like glue, barely holding him together. But now that he was dead and his Nen dispersed, his body naturally fell apart.
Ironically,
He'd claimed he would crush Rinku into pieces…
But in the end, the one shattered was himself.
Meanwhile, Gardevoir's experience bar shifted slightly, killing a D-rank Nen user had earned her a minuscule amount of EXP.
It was barely a drop in the ocean compared to the long, arduous road ahead.
And now… it's your turn.
Rinku's gaze drifted from the pile of fragmented flesh to Piers, who stood off to the side, trembling uncontrollably.
Piers had long since lost the ability to think. He was shaking like a leaf, not even daring to glance at the corpse beside him.
He swore that this was the most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed in his entire life. Not even the time he watched his own guards slaughtered in an instant compared to this.
As a mafia boss, Piers had seen death plenty of times. He'd watched people get shot, stabbed, and even executed.
But never before had he seen a man alive one moment, reduced to chunks of flesh the next.
He didn't understand Nen, so in his eyes, all of this was Rinku's doing.
And from that moment on, the image of Rinku as a "butcher of bodies" was forever seared into his mind.
Thud. Thud.
Rinku stomped twice on the floor, signaling for Piers to look up.
"AAAAHHH! Please don't kill me!"
Piers slowly raised his pig-like face, terror written in every inch of it.
To him, Rinku was no longer human, he was a void, a black hole dragging him toward a lightless, endless abyss.
"P-Please, sir… I-I beg you, have mercy…"
His hoarse voice trembled with naked desperation.
He knew Rinku wouldn't spare him.
But he couldn't, he wouldn't want to end up like Hōsu. He couldn't bear the thought of being torn apart, piece by piece.
"Where's my identification?" Rinku's tone was icy, devoid of emotion.
Piers's pupils shrank sharply, his body convulsing again.
He knew full well what he'd done these past few days. Other than using every connection he had to hire a Nen user for revenge, he'd done nothing.
As for Rinku's ID? He'd completely forgotten about it.
He'd assumed the "expert" he hired would make quick work of the punk. Problem solved.
"I-I… the ID… I…"
Rinku wasn't surprised in the slightest.
If Piers actually pulled out the ID now, that would be shocking.
"You have one hour," Rinku said calmly, arms folded. "If I don't have it by then…"
He tilted his head toward the pile of meat beside him. He didn't need to explain.
They both knew who "he" referred to.
The last man who got cocky… was now scattered across the floor.
One Hour Later
Rinku stood calmly, holding a brand-new ID.
It had his name, gender, and place of birth.
The last one had been quietly updated—his birthplace now officially listed as this very town.
With a pleasant smile playing on his face, Rinku looked down at the still-kneeling Piers.
"You see? It is possible. Turns out efficiency just needs the right motivation."
"Y-Yes, sir… quite right…"
Even on the brink of a mental breakdown, Piers had no choice but to smile through the terror.
"M-My lord, please… would you spare my life? Take everything I own, just let me live!"
Piers's mind was in shambles. All he could think about was survival.
He cursed himself bitterly for the past few days. So what if he'd been humiliated?
This had started as a minor loss. Now he was bargaining for his life.
"Forgive you? Sure," Rinku said casually, slipping the ID into his pocket.
He stretched lazily and turned to walk toward the door.
Piers watched in a daze as Rinku walked away, like a man struck by a windfall from the heavens, overwhelmed by joy and disbelief.
But the relief didn't last long.
The moment Rinku stepped out the front door,
Piers's heavy body collapsed to the floor.
A smile still lingered on his face.
If not for the pool of blood spreading beneath him, one might have thought he had simply fallen asleep.
"I said I'd forgive you.
I never said I wouldn't kill you…"
"Next life, learn to see who you're messing with.
Not everyone is yours to provoke."
The night was still and pitch black. The moon had vanished behind thick clouds.
Rinku stepped into the inky darkness, leaving behind only a whisper on the wind.
*********
Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 100, 200, 300 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!