Chapter 35: Reaping the Consequences
Clack, clack, clack...
Q-Taro sprinted toward the stairwell, running for his life.
Yako sighed. "The tables have turned..."
But what surprised Yako was that their "force"—Shiraki Kei—wasn't in a hurry to act.
In fact, Shiraki Kei had found an open space and was doing deep squats, occasionally striking a wrestling pose.
Warming up? But why?
Yako was confused. Madarame Baku, meanwhile, found a chair, sat down, and started messing with the comms unit Q-Taro had left behind.
Shiraki Kei, still warming up, explained, "The 'karma' Q-Taro left behind is far harder to deal with than the man himself."
Was he talking about Rodem?
Yako was even more puzzled. Could Rodem still be alive?
...
...
Q-Taro fled all the way to the fifth-floor stairwell.
He looked back, saw Shiraki Kei hadn't immediately given chase, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Without hesitation, he didn't run down. Instead, he immediately took the stairs up to the sixth floor.
"Hahaha, what a bunch of idiots! I knew they'd want to torture me, but they have no idea..."
Q-Taro already had a plan.
Downstairs was full of traps, a dead end. The only way to survive was up!
On the sixth floor, there was a small, hidden space used to store spare equipment and other junk.
"Haha! Only I know about that place! [Usogui] and the others couldn't possibly be prepared for it!"
"As long as I get the climbing ropes, escaping this place will be easy!"
...
Q-Taro took the stairs two at a time, rushed to the north corner of the sixth floor, kicked in a wooden panel, and pulled a large box out from inside the wall.
He opened the box. Everything was just as he'd expected.
He was about to move when he caught sight of a spare monitor in the corner of the box. A red dot was blinking on the screen.
This screen showed the "tracker" Q-Taro had placed on Rodem, displaying his current floor.
And Q-Taro never expected... the screen showed Rodem's current location was... the fifth floor!
Wasn't Rodem shot and killed on the sixth floor?!
...
Thinking it over, Q-Taro considered a possibility.
Neither Akagi Shigeru nor Madarame Baku were soldiers. They wouldn't necessarily get a kill shot.
It was very likely that after Rodem fell, they got cocky and just left!
And the injured Rodem, after waking up, must have been trying to find him, staggered downstairs, and was now wandering the fifth floor!
Q-Taro turned his comms back on, his voice trembling. "Ro... Rodem?"
{Guh—!}
The familiar growl came from the earpiece.
Q-Taro was overjoyed. "Oh... Oh! Rodem! You're okay? Can you still move?"
Rodem's voice was a rasp. {Can't see... Hurts... But... can move...}
Q-Taro beat his chest, so excited he was moved to tears.
"Fantastic! The advantage is mine!"
Now he had nothing to fear! Everyone in that fifth-floor office was going to die!
His eyes were corroded by acid, but if it was just an indiscriminate slaughter, Rodem didn't need his vision. Instinct was enough!
"Rodem, it doesn't matter that you can't see! Go! Kill everyone on your floor! Slaughter anything that makes a sound!"
{Hoo—!}
Rodem let out a hot breath, followed by heavy footsteps.
"Hahahaha..."
Q-Taro couldn't stop laughing, but his expression suddenly froze. His ears twitched.
Did he hear that wrong?
Why were Rodem's footsteps getting... clearer? As if... they were getting closer?
He spun around and froze. It wasn't an illusion.
At the end of the hall, Rodem was sprinting toward him—toward the only living person on the sixth floor making any noise: Q-Taro himself!
"What... RODEM!!"
Q-Taro's eyes went wide, in total disbelief.
The tracker said he was on the fifth floor!
Did someone... take the tracker? To make me think Rodem was on the fifth, when he was still on the sixth?!
"Ro—"
Facing the charging Rodem, Q-Taro tried to yell, to stop him, but it was too late.
In the blink of an eye, Rodem's fist swung past, grazing Q-Taro's nose, and smashed into the wall.
With a BOOM, a huge chunk of the wall caved in, leaving a savage fist print.
The force was inhuman, like a head-on collision with a motorcycle.
Q-Taro could only roll away, the punch so close it tore out a few of his remaining hairs.
Rodem's next attack was immediate.
Run!
Without hesitation, Q-Taro bolted.
But the sound of his running just drew Rodem, who stuck to him like death itself.
Turning a corner, Q-Taro saw a pile of metal shelves and junk. He kicked it over, creating a temporary barrier.
"Haff—ha! Rodem... Rodem, stop—"
BANG! BANG!
Before he could finish, two bullets shot in from the window.
As Rodem paused at the barrier, the bullets grazed both of his ears, drawing blood.
The muzzle blasts so close deafened Rodem, who couldn't hear Q-Taro's voice. He just kept chasing the man in front of him.
"Eee... EEEEEEEE?!"
Q-Taro was scared out of his mind.
And the one who could seize such an opportunity with such a precise shot... was, of course, the Kure Clan's firearms master, Kure Fusu.
She had heard Q-Taro's story—about slaughtering villagers and experimenting on children—through Kei's earpiece. She was furious.
So, she gave Q-Taro a gift. Two bullets. Just enough to deafen Rodem.
"Go to hell, you scumbag!"
...
...
Fifth floor. Office.
"It's over..."
Hearing the thundering footsteps above, Yako put his hands behind his back and sighed. "Master Kokonoe will die... killed by the very Rodem he raised."
"...Not necessarily."
Shiraki Kei, still warming up with squats, suddenly spoke.
"You can't lie in front of [Usogui]."
Shiraki Kei nodded toward Baku. "We already said 'goodbye' to 'Rodem.' If Q-Taro had caught on to that... he might have had a chance."
"Hm?" Yako paused.
He had heard them say "goodbye" and "farewell" to Rodem earlier.
But Rodem was still alive.
So... wasn't that just a lie to trick Q-Taro? What did he mean, "not lying"?
As Yako was wondering, a horrific scream echoed from upstairs.
"WAAAA—AAAAAGH!"
The sound was deafening, filled with an extreme rage and violence that struck the heart.
"..."
Yako narrowed his eyes, thinking.
That had to be Rodem, but... something about it was strange.
The sound... it was confused. Even... hurt.
For a second, Yako thought Rodem... was crying.
Rodem? The Abandoned Building Demon... crying? What a joke!
...Wait.
Yako realized. He looked up, understanding he had forgotten someone—the other personality. The body's true master.
The one screaming... was Maruko!
...
...
Sixth floor.
Amidst the wreckage, Maruko had stopped his chase, standing blankly.
"Ah... ah..."
Maruko rubbed his ears, his hearing slowly returning.
He stammered, "F... Father? Who... who am I?"
"Am I... your son? Or... am I Rodem... who kills for you?"
Maruko's mind was a mess.
Earlier, after being temporarily subdued, Baku had put an earpiece on Maruko, one connected to Akagi's side.
Therefore, Maruko had heard everything Q-Taro had said.
About the villages, killing the adults, experimenting on the children... and that he, Maruko, was the only survivor.
The words churned in his head.
He remembered Q-Taro's twisted smile when they first met, and the words he'd said:
—Alright, Maruko, let's go. From today on, I am your father.
"...Ugh. No!"
Maruko cried out, tears streaming, washing away the chemicals that had blinded him.
"I... I'm not Maruko... and I'm not Rodem..."
"AAAGH! You LIAR! WHO AM I! TELL ME!"
Smash! Smash!
Maruko punched the walls, again and again, until they cracked and crumbled.
But no one would ever answer his question.
In the end, Q-Taro never realized "Rodem" was gone.
In his panic, Q-Taro had leaped from the sixth floor and splattered on the pavement below.
"Aaaargh... ugh..."
Staring at the empty space, Maruko bit his lip until it bled, clenched his fists, and just roared.
Because of the experiments, Maruko had superhuman strength, but the mind of a child.
And in his pain, his brain's self-preservation kicked in, driving him to destroy everything around him.
CRASH! BOOM!
Right now, Maruko was just a child abandoned by his parents, throwing a tantrum as the only way he knew to protect himself.
...
...
Listening to the rampage, Baku sighed.
"Q-Taro wasn't killed by Maruko. He was killed by his own 'karma.' He couldn't believe Rodem would spare him, and so he reaped what he sowed."
"Indeed."
Yako nodded. "In any case, Q-Taro is dead. The gamble will now be decided between your party, Master Baku, and yours, Master Akagi."
Yako couldn't help but smile. "Honestly, I am far more excited to see a match between you two."
"Haha, you're in a good mood, Yako-san." Baku chuckled, then looked up. "But... are we just going to let him rampage up there?"
"..."
Just as I thought. Yako knew Baku's goal had been Rodem's "force." He wouldn't give up on it.
And to subdue the out-of-control Maruko, besides Yako himself, there was only one person here who had a chance...
"Heh. We've done all we can do."
Akagi Shigeru, cigarette in his mouth, looked at Shiraki Kei. Kei had finished his warm-up and was walking to the door. "The rest is up to you, Kei-kun. Let me see you fight one more time."
"...Alright!"
Shiraki Kei raised his fist and walked out of sight.
Yako understood [The Man of the Divine Realm]'s motive.
Unlike [Usogui], Akagi's reasons for staying were strange, contrary to his reputation.
But if his goal was to witness the fight between Shiraki Kei and Maruko, it made perfect sense.
Because Yako, the "referee,"... wanted to see it, too.
Setting aside the gamble, the slaughter, the schemes... just Shiraki Kei and Maruko. Who was stronger?
...
...
Sixth floor.
Shiraki Kei came up the stairs, stepped out of the shadows, and into the moonlit hallway, appearing before Maruko.
Maruko's fists were bloody. He was panting, his eyes red and raw. "Who... am I?"
Shiraki Kei took off his shirt, revealing his lean, powerful muscles. He scratched his head.
"Hm. Sorry. I don't know who you are."
He spread his arms wide, taking Zangief's fighting stance. His form was a level above what it had been just minutes before.
Shiraki Kei exhaled. "But... maybe we can figure out... 'how we're supposed to live'."