CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 14

Ayano struggled, his body listing painfully to one side, favoring the multiple bruised ribs and the deep, psychosomatic trauma inflicted by Retsu.

The single, secret needle Retsu had inserted into his spine wasn’t in full effect yet, but it was enough to cause intense fatigue and instability, making every step a monumental effort.

The Saint Shinomiya school building loomed ahead, a bastion of privilege and power that currently felt impossibly distant.

Thankfully, the final bell had rung long ago, and the hallways were deserted.

Ayano couldn’t bear the thought of any student—least of all his subordinates—seeing him, one of the Eight Limbs reduced to this pathetic state.

He knew, however, that the inner circle, including their boss, Matsuda Sosuke, still held court in the Principal’s office.

Completely out of breath, and staggering on the brink of collapse, Ayano finally reached the door to the Principal’s office—the effective headquarters of the 24th District Bully Society.

Normally, he would knock, announcing his rank. But this time, he simply pushed the door open violently and stumbled inside.

Inside, their leader, Matsuda Sosuke, a formidable young man with an aura of cold, dominant power, looked up from the paperwork spread across the Principal’s immense desk.

He was instantly surprised and his expression soured, seeing one of his most powerful subordinates looking this broken.

"Ayano?" Sosuke frowned, rising slowly from his expensive executive chair, immediately sensing the chaotic energy and injury radiating off his subordinate.

Naturally, Sosuke had been aware that Ayano left school earlier to confront Kageyama Seijirou over the Risa Street territory breach.

Nothing of significance happened in this school without his knowledge.

But Sosuke had allowed the confrontation, believing a simple show of force would be enough.

Completely restricting his subordinates’ actions, he knew, would only breed unnecessary resentment and stifle their ambition.

But now, looking at the extent of Ayano’s injuries, the severe bruising, the blood, and the palpable exhaustion, a disturbing thought surfaced in his head.

Was he defeated by Kageyama Seijirou? And miserably at that? Could that man be stronger than we initially calculated?

"Boss," Ayano gasped out, leaning heavily against the doorframe, still struggling to breathe. "Kageyama Seijirou has... declared war on us. He said that in one month, he will storm our school and completely demolish the entire hierarchy."

"...How arrogant," Sosuke scoffed, his displeasure evident.

He folded his arms, his massive Karyoku energy subtly pressing down on the room, forcing Ayano to strain even harder just to stand.

Who does that man think he is? Even if be had beaten Ayano, he doesn’t believe he has the strength to execute such a bold claim.

Ayano, Sosuke reminded himself, only ranked fourth in terms of overall combat skill and Karyoku mastery out of all the Eight Limbs.

And Sosuke himself was vastly superior, much stronger than all the Eight Limbs combined.

Sosuke stepped around the desk.

"I will call a doctor for you." He then lifted his phone. "For now, I will gather the other Eight Limbs, and we will move to destroy that Kageyama Seijirou before he can even think of mobilizing his forces."

Ayano’s eyes widened in sudden, absolute terror.

He forced his battered body forward, stumbling, quickly placing his arms in a desperate attempt to block Sosuke’s path as he shook his head violently.

"Boss, you can’t!" he pleaded, his voice cracking with genuine panic. "There is a monster in human skin that is completely subservient to Kageyama Seijirou! If you attack now, that monster will kill you! Boss, I’m not joking! This isn’t some normal gang fight anymore—that monster will really go for the kill! She operates on a level that defies logic!"

Sosuke frowned, growing deeply impatient with his subordinate’s hysteria. "Monster? Ayano, what in the hell are you talking about? Does being defeated by that boy cause you to go mad?"

Before Ayano could articulate his desperate warning, telling him of the the sheer horror of Retsu’s sterile, sadistic approach, his legs suddenly buckled.

The secret needle that Retsu poked in his spine combined with the extreme exhaustion and trauma finally caused his nervous system to revolt.

He collapsed in a heap on the polished floor, much to Sosuke’s shock.

"Boss!" Ayano screamed, his eyes rolling wildly, his face suddenly contorted by absolute, debilitating fear. "I can’t feel my body! I can’t move! That monster! It must be that monster! Boss! Help me! I can’t feel anything! She paralyzed me!"

Ayano, his voice raw with despair, was already openly crying, utterly broken by the combination of physical pain and Retsu’s psychological warfare.

Sosuke, the district’s most feared power broker, simply stood frozen, too stunned by the sheer terror in Ayano’s eyes to react immediately.

*

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*

A heavy silence, thick with exhaustion and lingering fear, had settled over the arcade floor of Seijirou’s new base.

Retsu calmly climbed down from the third floor, where the infirmary and private living quarters were located, her hands now scrubbed clean and her white coat immaculate.

She surveyed the scene below with calm eyes.

Suzune and Rindou were applying crude but careful bandages to Seijirou’s more visible wounds, their faces still etched with worry.

Yukina was sprawled carelessly in a molded plastic arcade chair, staring blankly at the ceiling in a daze, processing the earlier event.

Emi sat on the floor, leaning against a wall, rhythmically playing with her pocket knife, stabbing the tip repeatedly into the ground as she stared at it intently.

Haruka stood silent, arms crossed, leaning on a nearby support pillar.

Touka and Rei were moving anxiously, offering various snacks and drinks, but no one was in the mood for sustenance.

Seeing Retsu descend, Seijirou immediately looked up, his voice rough as he asked, "Retsu, what’s the situation with Renji, Shou, and Sakai? Are they stable?"

Retsu nodded reassuringly. "They are all stabilized and are out of danger, Seijirou-kun. You can rest assured. They are asleep now, a necessary recovery from extreme force trauma. They will likely wake up tomorrow morning, still injured, but fine."

A collective sigh of relief passed through the group.

Haruka, however, immediately cut through the relieved silence, her gaze was sharp and demanding as she stared at Retsu, "Now that everything is okay, Retsu-sensei, as you promised. Tell me about that Karyoku and those supernatural powers from earlier."

Yukina instantly snapped straight up in her chair, her eyes suddenly serious. "Yeah! I want to know too! That thing is completely unfair. We can’t let Seijirou fight something completely beyond normal! We need all the information we need!"

Emi punctuated her agreement by stabbing her knife deeply into the wooden floor, her intense stare fixed on the nurse.

Seijirou added his request, lending weight to the demand. "I actually know about Karyoku before, and I know it’s basically borrowing power from a supernatural entity, but that’s the extent of my knowledge. If you know more, Retsu, I’d appreciate it if you could share it."

Retsu sighed, realizing she had no option but to reveal some of the truth to protect her Seijirou.

With that, she found a stable chair and sat down.

Immediately, everyone—Suzune, Rindou, Haruka, Emi, Yukina, and even the cautious Touka and Rei—leaned in, waiting for her explanation.

"The phenomenon known as Karyoku," Retsu began, her voice calm and pedagogical, "has an origin rooted in the deepest past, in an era we call the Age of Gods. This was a time when mortals were utterly powerless, often preyed upon by monsters and even the capricious whims of their creator. Faced with annihilation, they pleaded with the Gods for assistance."

Retsu leaned forward, lowering her voice slightly for emphasis. "The Gods, either through genuine mercy or, more likely, for their own cosmic amusement, granted a select few mortals a fraction of their power. This ability allowed them to borrow the authority of the Gods themselves."

"Back then," she continued, "these elite users of this divine energy were not called Karyoku users, but Divine Spirits. Of course, they were far stronger, far more powerful, than any modern Karyoku user. The power was purer, and the connection was direct."

She emphasized this gap, she provided a terrifying benchmark, "As an example, if one Divine Spirit from that era were to appear today, the only way to actually defeat them would be by using a supernatural equivalent of a nuclear missile—a counter-force that currently doesn’t exist on this plane of existence."

This made Seijirou and the others realize just how big the difference between the modern Karyoku users and the ancient Divine Spirit really is.

"Then, as the Age of Gods ended and the great deities faded into the background or sealed themselves away, the original, pure method to borrow divine power was lost. The mortals who held this knowledge were forced to modify their practices, learning instead to borrow power from other supernatural entities—demons, spirits, ancient monsters, and minor gods."

"However," Retsu cautioned, her eyes sweeping over the attentive faces, "this modern form of power—what we call Karyoku—comes with a steep price, unlike the unconditional servitude required of the ancient Divine Spirits. A Karyoku user must offer a direct exchange for the power they borrow. The more important the offering, the more precious the user’s sacrifice, the more powerful the ability they can borrow."

"And unlike a Divine Spirit who would gain an energy called Divinity to fuel their borrowed power," Retsu explained, "a modern Karyoku user must rely on their own internal resources to activate it. Specifically, they use their life force to fuel the supernatural abilities."

She concluded, offering a final, sobering warning, "For basic abilities, it isn’t much. They will only suffer extreme fatigue at most, perhaps even bedridden for quite awhile. But if a Karyoku user pushes past their natural limit, if they draw too heavily or too frequently on their borrowed power, then their lifespan will be greatly reduced, perhaps even instantly consumed."

"That is the core of Karyoku. It is the easiest way to gain power, but is also a bargain sealed in blood and years, where every use costs a piece of their remaining time."