Chapter 32: The Feeling's Here!
"Nice, nice! What a beautiful dropkick, Rodem!"
Q-Taro couldn't help but clap and laugh, full of praise.
Beside him, Yako narrowed his eyes slightly, sighing to himself: So it's just as I thought.
Rodem's "nature" was different. He wasn't a martial arts master, nor an underground fighter. He was a brutal soldier of the battlefield who, under Q-Taro's command, only wanted to kill.
Facing an opponent who "only wants to kill," just "wanting to win" is nowhere near enough.
Shiraki Kei had misjudged this point, which is why he was now in this predicament.
Perhaps in a purely unarmed fight, he could have stood a chance. But this "battlefield" wasn't giving him that chance. This was a life-or-death slaughter. If your bare hands can't bridge the gap, you use a knife. If you have a gun, you fire it!
...
...
Hoo— Hoo—!
The window was a shattered, empty hole, the icy night wind blowing in.
Rodem faced the window, panting hot air, awaiting Q-Taro's next command.
{Three more to go... hmm?} Q-Taro cackled, then his tone shifted. {I won't get careless. Rodem, slowly... approach the window!}
This made Yako see Q-Taro in a slightly better light. As expected of a former mercenary, his hunting style was cautious. He had to see the prey's body.
"Hehe, there are three possibilities," Q-Taro analyzed patiently. "One, Shiraki Kei has fallen from the sixth floor and is splattered on the ground. Two, he's clinging to the outside of the window, preparing an ambush. Three, he's badly injured and just barely hanging on..."
"As for falling—the gamble is to 'walk out' of this building alive. Even if he's half-dead, it doesn't count as your win! Hahaha!" Q-Taro clapped. "Rodem, move in carefully! We're invincible, you and I!"
"..."
Rodem picked up his dagger and moved forward slowly. He walked into the cold night wind, every step solid, his eyes darting behind the mask, checking every corner of the window.
Just as Rodem reached the window and was about to peek out—
SWISH!
Rodem kicked off the windowsill, launching himself backward into the shadows of the room.
"...?!"
He looked down. There was a fresh gunshot wound on his arm. Because he'd dodged, the bullet had only grazed his upper arm, tearing away a chunk of flesh. Rodem shook his arm, rasping, "Hurt... but... okay..."
{Good, Rodem! Good dodge!} Q-Taro encouraged him over the comms, but his face was dark. "Tch. I was having too much fun with the hunt, I forgot about the 'supporter'!"
On a high-rise to the southwest, Shiraki Kei's supporter—that Kure Clan sniper—was watching the entire Kokonoe Building.
And the window Shiraki Kei fell from... was facing southwest.
"This is a pain. With a sniper watching, Rodem can't even look outside..."
{Pull back, Rodem. Quietly,} Q-Taro commanded. {The sniper can't see you inside. Don't expose yourself. We still have the advantage...}
...
...
At the same time, on the southwest rooftop.
"..."
The smile was gone from Kure Fusu's face. Veins bulged around her eyes. She was at her maximum [Release], her black-and-white eyes glued to the scope.
"He can even sense the killing intent from a long-range snipe? He's a complete monster..."
"Shiraki-chin? How are you? Are you conscious?"
Kure Fusu tilted her scope down slightly.
Outside the shattered window, on the building's outer wall, Shiraki Kei was hanging by his fingertips, his hands gripping the ledge.
He was facing the wall, so she couldn't see his face, but he was definitely bleeding. Drops of red fell from the air.
Q-Taro's guess had been right. Shiraki Kei had taken the dropkick straight to the face. His nose was broken, his brain was rattling in his skull, and he had almost passed out. He was just barely hanging on.
"Still... here. It's fine..."
Shiraki Kei gritted his teeth. Blood was pouring from his nose and mouth—whether from the kick or the after-effects of his mental overdrive, he couldn't tell.
{I forced that monster away from the window. He's not nearby,} Kure Fusu reported. {But... I can't rule out that he's still watching. I have a blind spot; I can't see the whole room.}
"Mmm..." Kei grunted. A wave of nausea rolled over him, a result of his brain sloshing. The dizziness was overwhelming. He was about to lose his grip.
But "falling" wasn't a good option. He came here to "win," not to "escape." Clever tricks wouldn't cut it. He had to win.
In his daze, Kei could see Zangief's phantom, leaning out the window, clapping furiously.
Compared to the subtle, silent Ryu, Zangief's teaching style was much more... passionate.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
With each clap, the rattling in Kei's brain finally stopped. His mind became hyper-focused, his thoughts running at light speed.
The feeling—it was here!
Every moment of the fight with Rodem settled in his mind, accumulated, and finally caused a "qualitative change"—feeding back into his brain and body.
SWISH!
Shiraki Kei's arms tensed. He hauled himself up over the ledge, vaulting back into the room.
{Shiraki-chin, how are you feeling?} Fusu asked, worried.
"Good..."
Kei rotated his neck and shoulders. The exhaustion was gone, and the adrenaline surging in his brain drowned out the pain in his face.
But his breathing was off. Kei pinched his nose. It was crooked, blocking his sinuses.
"..."
He looked up. Rodem was standing just a few meters away, perfectly positioned in Fusu's blind spot. He had been waiting.
"Good. This is awesome," Kei said again.
He grabbed his nose, and with a violent CRUNCH, he snapped it back into place.
He blocked one nostril, blew out the congealed blood, then did the other. He could breathe.
He looked up at Rodem and lightly tapped his own head.
"—But... I still need a little more time. To get the 'feeling' for Zangief."
"..."
Rodem didn't move.
Q-Taro was confused. {Rodem, what's wrong?}
Rodem rasped, "He... is becoming dangerous. Must be... careful. Can't let him... prepare..."
{What's wrong? Rodem, what are you afraid of?} Q-Taro was still confused, but he suddenly shouted: {Rodem! Behind you! MOVE!}
BANG!
The word had barely left his mouth. Rodem leaped, dodging the bullet. He landed, turning to see Akagi Shigeru at the far end of the hall, holding the pistol. Beside him were Madarame Baku and Kaji Takaomi.
At the same time, Q-Taro was staring at the blinking tracker in his hand, unsurprised by their appearance.
"What a weird thing for Rodem to say, 'becoming dangerous'? But still... Ha... haha! This is hilarious!"
"You three... you didn't go down, you went back to the fifth floor... and now you're on the sixth!" Q-Taro was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "If you'd just run, or come to the fifth to take me hostage, you might have won. But you chased him to the sixth!"
"What is this, 'protecting your friend'? How stupid! [Usogui] and [The Man of the Divine Realm] are so overrated..."
At this point, Q-Taro was sure he'd won. He couldn't stop slapping his thigh.
"A mere pistol can't stop Rodem! You have nowhere left to run!"
Q-Taro ground his teeth and gave the order.
{That Shiraki Kei is finished, but it'll take time. Prioritize the prey with the gun!}
{Go, Rodem! Kill those three!}
"..."
Seeing Rodem stalk toward them, Kaji Takaomi was terrified. "Hey... hey! Weren't we going to the fifth floor to take the old man hostage?! Why are we here?!"
But Baku just slung an arm around Kaji's shoulder and grinned. "Kei-kun isn't warmed up yet! He needs time to adjust. We're just providing a little cover!"
Kaji Takaomi's scalp tingled. A monster that even Kei couldn't beat... and they were going to provide cover?!
Baku then started teasing Akagi. "Y'know, Gramps, your aim is pretty bad. All those shots, and you haven't hit him once."
"Oh—no—we're—all—" Baku said in a dramatic monotone, "—going—to—die—because—of—you!"
"...Heh. Dying doesn't really matter, does it?"
Akagi chuckled, unconcerned. "After all, life is just a gamble you can't win. In the end, everyone loses the right to keep playing..."
Akagi looked up, his gaze passing over Rodem to Shiraki Kei behind him.
"The key is... how you play this gamble called 'life'."
"The key... is the process."