Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 283: A Friend of Justice (19)

Dragon Raja 3

Caesar gritted his teeth and prepared to pull the trigger. Chisei was right—if he shot now, they might still be able to save the elevator. The brake system could stop them in mid-air. If he didn’t shoot, they were all dead. In a situation like this, mercy would be nothing short of foolish.

But his finger trembled. In front of him was a living, breathing human being. The consequences of shooting through a human neck were obvious. In this moment of life or death, he suddenly recalled that rainy night when they left the manga shop, walking through the endless rain. He had flicked his lighter, and Chisei had leaned in, lighting his cigar from the flame. There had been a moment, back then, when Caesar had felt the excitement of making a new friend in Japan.

You can rationalize that sacrificing one person to save everyone is worth it, but when you look into their eyes, could you really kill them with your own hands?

“Never leave a friend behind—that’s my justice. I live for it, and I’ll die for it!”

Caesar was the type who just couldn’t do it. What he had always lacked was cold, rational logic. That’s why he was willing to risk rushing into the fire to save Chu Zihang or even die alongside him—at least that way, he’d preserve his noble pride.

Suddenly, Chisei smiled. He rarely smiled, but when he did, it was unexpectedly beautiful.

“Gattuso… I thought about being… a friend of justice too,” Chisei said, letting go.

As he fell into the abyss alongside the Death Servitor, he drew Tōnō-giri Anzuna from his waist and plunged it into his own abdomen. The long blade sliced through his body and into the Death Servitor’s throat, severing its spine. Chisei twisted the hilt, shredding his own internal organs while crushing the creature’s bones. As he plummeted into the endless darkness, Caesar and Chu Zihang rushed to the torn opening and shouted after him, but he could hear nothing.

“Chime… who would’ve thought my end would be just like yours,” he said softly.

A scene from years ago flashed before his eyes—her pale, delicate face falling into an endless well, tears suspended in the air, leaving behind a trail of shimmering droplets.

A faintly moist breeze brushed his face, and Chisei slowly opened his eyes. Everything around him was pitch black. His abdominal wound still throbbed with pain, but his body didn’t feel as weak as before. He tried to move, but he couldn’t. It felt as though he were a cocooned caterpillar, tightly bound in darkness.

Where was this? Hell? Or was it that deep, dark well from years ago? He had no religious beliefs and didn’t believe in heaven or hell, but in this pitch-black place that felt like a deep well, he couldn’t help but think he was truly dead.

He had dreamed of this before—of dying and falling into a bottomless well, where the bones of the ghosts he had killed lay.

A flicker of light illuminated his pupils, and a cigarette was placed in his mouth. The person holding the flame lit it for him.

“Emperors are truly extraordinary. A wound from seppuku heals in just an hour. I’d love to have a body like that,” Caesar said, moving the lighter closer to his face so that Chisei could see him.

Chu Zihang was applying antiseptic to his wound, though they didn’t know if an emperor’s body could even be infected by bacteria. It didn’t hurt to try. Chu Zihang was good at bandaging wounds, having frequently patched up his own.

Chisei realized he hadn’t died from the fall. He couldn’t quite process it. He knew his healing abilities far exceeded those of normal people, but a wound from seppuku wasn’t necessarily fatal. Still, falling from hundreds of meters should have displaced all his internal organs. He had deactivated his dragon form and was certain he would die. He tried to move his limbs and realized he was suspended in mid-air. He remembered now—before getting in the elevator, Caesar had tied him up with that thick purple rope. He had only freed his arms, but he had passed out before fully escaping. He was still hanging in the elevator shaft, while Caesar and Chu Zihang sat on a beam above him.

“Aren’t you going to let me down?” Chisei chuckled. “Smoking’s a bit inconvenient like this.”

“Not a chance. Given your trustworthiness, I still don’t believe you. If I let you down, you’ll call for reinforcements to capture us,” Caesar said, puffing on his cigar. “I think chatting like this is just fine.”

“Is this the renowned honor of the Gattuso family?” Chisei exhaled a puff of smoke.

“This is dishonor? If you think this is dishonor, you haven’t met my stallion of a father,” Caesar shrugged.

“Sorry,” Caesar said after a few seconds of silence.

“No need to apologize. I really did plan to abandon your friend and escape. I’m no hero. I’ve done a lot of bad things. I’ve killed people.”

“Ghosts?” Chu Zihang asked.

“We call them ghosts, but they’re really just like us—Hybrids. They just turn into Death Servitors more easily,” Chisei said quietly. “In some ways, we’re all ghosts.”

“The mural’s destroyed, but we took photos. I know you don’t like it, but we’re taking those photos with us. The College and the Yamata no Orochi are enemies now, and with the Death Servitors wiped out, our cooperation is over. We’re back to being enemies,” Caesar said, puffing smoke into the air.

“Then you’d better leave quickly. At the rate I heal, once the effects of the Frigg anesthetic wear off, this rope won’t hold me any longer,” Chisei smiled.

“Don’t try to fool me. This rope could hold down an elephant, and I tied a sailor’s knot that only gets tighter the more you struggle. Your body isn’t as strong as we imagined. Even as a ‘super Hybrid,’ you’re only marginally stronger than us. Your bones and muscles can’t compare to a real dragon, and not even to some Death Servitors. When you release that Yanling, you’re left defenseless afterward. So, you’re strong, but not invincible,” Caesar sneered.

“Alright, alright, you’ve seen through me. So, what do you plan to do with me?”

“Taking you with us would be too difficult, so we’ve decided to leave you here. Your men are combing the building for you, but they haven’t thought to look for you dangling in the middle of an elevator shaft yet. Honestly, I think that assistant of yours, Sakura, really likes you, don’t you think?” Caesar waved his cigar.

“I don’t plan on finding a girlfriend as long as I’m staying in Japan. Plus, asking a female assassin to give up her life to follow me to France and sell sunscreen seems a bit much, doesn’t it?”

“Are you really thinking about leaving your patriarch status behind and running to France?”

“I’ve done a lot of evil things. My hands are stained with the blood of many ghosts. If I can settle down in France, that would already be good enough. I’m not going to France; I’m running away,” Chisei said, his tone soft.

“You said… you also wanted to be a ‘friend of justice?’” Caesar raised an eyebrow.