In that moment, Yamori realized he had provoked someone he should never have crossed.
But his realization came far too late.
Agony seared through every nerve in his body, yet without a tongue, his screams were reduced to pitiful, incoherent whimpers.
In the end, he perished.
Not from a beheading by Raikou, but from the sheer torment of bleeding out.
With Yamori's death, victory naturally fell to Raikou. Her piercing gaze swept over the Team Aogiri.
Eto Yoshimura instinctively averted her eyes from Raikou's stare.
Tatara took a deep breath and said slowly, "Who's up next?"
As he spoke, his gaze settled on Rize Kamishiro.
Rize shook her head emphatically. "Are you kidding? Who'd want to fight a monster like that? I don't have enough lives to spare. I'm withdrawing from this Dark Tournament."
Before entering the Dark Tournament, Rize had considered herself formidable, a cut above the rest.
But after witnessing the battles, she felt like a mere speck in the grand scheme—hardly a standout.
This world was crawling with far too many freaks of nature.
Where had these outrageously powerful monsters even come from?
Yamori's strength had been comparable to hers. Even she would have needed to fight seriously to defeat him.
Yet against that woman, Yamori was as helpless as an infant.
Utterly powerless.
No matter how reckless she might be, Rize wasn't foolish enough to challenge such a creature. It was a death sentence.
Yamori's fate was proof enough.
Tatara and Eto exchanged a glance, both seeing the same resignation in each other's eyes.
The Dark Tournament was teeming with monsters—far too many. Winning and achieving their ambitions was an impossible dream.
In the end, the Team Aogiri conceded defeat, and the Team Heroics advanced to the top thirty-two.
By nightfall, all sixty-four teams had completed their matches.
The thirty-two strongest teams were decided.
Wearing his mask, Toguro stepped onto the stage and announced that the next day would mark the start of the top thirty-two battles.
No one in the audience objected.
The tournament's schedule was set.
That evening, the organizers hosted a grand banquet to celebrate the emergence of the top thirty-two.
Morpheus had no interest in festivities and retired to his lodgings to rest for the night.
Awaiting the dawn of the next day.
Yet, to his surprise, before the new day arrived, Morpheus received an urgent plea from one of his followers.
The plea came from none other than Sonoko.
It was eleven o'clock at night.
Morpheus had been sleeping when Sonoko's desperate prayers reached him. "Lord Morpheus, are you there? Lord Morpheus, please save me! Lord Morpheus, help me!"
Roused from slumber, Morpheus heard the urgency in Sonoko's voice. He left a clone behind to maintain appearances and slipped into the Light Dimension.
From there, he pinpointed Sonoko's location and returned to Earth.
Tokyo, Beika Town.
Morpheus materialized beside Sonoko and asked, "What's happened?"
As he spoke, he scanned their surroundings.
Sonoko was at Shinichi's house, accompanied by two others.
One was Ran, the other Yukiko Kudo.
Upon seeing Morpheus, Sonoko rushed toward him. "It's an emergency, Lord Morpheus! Shinichi and Yusaku-san are gone!"
"Gone? What do you mean? Kidnapped again?" Morpheus asked instinctively. Given that the pair had crossed Trinity, a kidnapping seemed plausible.
Sonoko shook her head. "I'm not sure, but they've definitely vanished."
Yukiko Kudo spoke up. "Let me explain."
Sonoko nodded, and Yukiko addressed Morpheus. "Yesterday morning, Yusaku and Shinichi were still here. After breakfast, they discussed something and left."
Morpheus asked, "Where did they go?"
Yukiko replied, "They went to find a way to deal with Trinity."
Morpheus gave a small nod, refraining from mocking the Kudus' ambition. Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone Yusaku and Shinichi.
Trinity's existence posed a grave threat to their family.
It was only natural for them to seek a means to counter it.
And with the intellect of the Kudo father and son, they might actually uncover a way to confront Trinity.
Morpheus pressed further. "Where did they go?"
Yukiko shook her head. "I don't know. After they left, it was as if they vanished into thin air. They never returned."
"From yesterday to today, not a single call came through. No matter how many times I tried to reach them, no one answered."
"It's like they evaporated."
Sonoko chimed in, "I even used a tracking spell, but it was useless."
To prove her point, Sonoko retrieved one of Shinichi's shirts and cast the tracking spell in front of Morpheus.
The spell conjured a small bird that circled aimlessly within the room, refusing to fly outward.
This confirmed Sonoko's claim: the tracking spell couldn't locate the Kudo father and son.
Their disappearance wasn't a simple matter.
If it were a mere vanishing, the tracking spell would have found them.
But its failure suggested someone—or something—had interfered with their information.
Could they have fallen into Trinity's hands? Had Trinity used some esoteric method to shield their presence?
Morpheus couldn't help but consider the possibility.
Though, it seemed unlikely.
More likely, the two had stumbled into another kind of trouble—one probably tied to the supernatural.
Morpheus turned to Yukiko. "You mentioned they were searching for a way to counter Trinity. Did they find anything?"
Yukiko replied, "I don't know much about it. Yusaku kept me in the dark."
"But I overheard Shinichi once say that to stand against Trinity, they'd need extraordinary power."
"So, lately, they've been chasing leads related to the supernatural."
Extraordinary power?
At those words, Morpheus pieced together a theory.
Yusaku and Shinichi were no fools. On the contrary, they were brilliant, top-tier detectives.
For most, sifting through a sea of information to uncover clues about supernatural forces would be like scaling a mountain.
But for this father-son duo, it was well within their grasp.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (removespace)