Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 61: Japan Branch (9)

Dragon Raja 3

“Cassell College Japan Branch, Execution Bureau Chief, Chisei. This is our first meeting, but also our last. I’m here to announce the Clan’s decision: you will be eliminated. You have no right to defend yourself, as no one will listen.”

“I won’t defend myself. I’ve gotten used to it—whatever I say, no one ever listens. Whatever you write on the assessment form becomes my truth. If you say I’m green, then I’m green. If you say I’m red, then I’m red.”

“I don’t want to say anything sympathetic because my sympathy would be of no use to you.” Chisei said, “You shouldn’t have accepted that gift. That drug is called Molotov Cocktail. Do you know what that means? It originally meant homemade incendiary bombs. The Finns threw them at Soviet tanks in their fury. This drug can only help you release your hatred; it burns your life away in a short instant. There is no safe evolution in this world—humans are humans, they cannot become dragons.”

“But I was happy.” Akira raised his grim and terrifying face, laughing in a twisted sense of satisfaction. “At least in these 15 days of running, I experienced confidence and happiness.”

“Even if you call the torture of women ‘happiness,’ do 15 days of joy make up for a lifetime?”

“You’re an Enforcer; you’ll never understand. I didn’t really give up anything because my life was worth nothing.”

“One last question—why did you let that high school girl go? You didn’t give up any prey along the way.”

“Because she was disgusting,” Akira laughed. “Eating her would spoil my appetite.”

Letting Maru go had been entirely unexpected for the Execution Bureau. The prey was at his fingertips; even if he didn’t hunt her, he could have kept her as a hostage, yet he gave up. According to the Ganryū Research Institute, Akira’s evolution had reached its final stage, with only a small portion of human consciousness remaining. He had turned into a wild beast, with an animal’s keen senses and cruel killing instinct, driven by a desire for blood and an intense craving for women. But this beast had voluntarily abandoned its prey, even after attempting to lure her into his trap. It showed that he had an intense desire for her.

What could cause a beast to abandon what it craved the most? But there was no more time for Chisei to keep questioning. The unpowered carriage continued to slide, slowing down before finally stopping in the middle of the Gorge Bridge. This was the execution ground chosen by the Bureau.

Gorge Bridge was a railway bridge spanning 1,200 meters, with a knife-like gorge below. Waterfalls flowed through the chasm, and the hills above were covered in cherry blossoms—this scenic spot was well known along the route. It was a perfect execution ground with no escape routes. Crow and Yaksha guarded both sides of the railway bridge. Below was a gorge more than a hundred meters deep, and even an S-Class Hybrid wouldn’t survive a fall. If Akira did jump, Crow was ready—he was an exceptional marksman in a family that prided itself on blade combat. Akira would be shot dead by Crow before he even hit the ground.

Time was short—13 minutes remained before the next train passed the Gorge Bridge. Chisei stared at the silver ring on his hand, slowly tightening his grip on the sword hilt. He couldn’t afford to underestimate a rampaging S-Class Hybrid. Though his demeanor appeared relaxed, he had kept Akira under surveillance through the reflection in the silver ring. He knew that, with Akira’s current power, when he made his move, it would be like lightning—decisive, determining life or death in an instant.

“I don’t regret killing those women.” Akira’s voice was unusually clear, devoid of madness. “After all, they were the ones who suffered, not me. Quite the opposite, I felt satisfied. I chose that drug, injecting it into myself one shot at a time. Even if I had to choose again, even with you standing in front of me pointing a sword at me, I’d still inject it. If I hadn’t taken that drug, I’d be nothing. I had nothing in this world, driven to the edge of a cliff by humanity, not knowing when I’d fall. For 15 days, I ran, raped women, and killed them. During those 15 days, I truly lived. They were the only days I lived in my entire life.”

“But many people died because of you. No one has the right to take away someone else’s right to live just for their own sake,” Chisei said.

Akira’s response didn’t surprise Chisei—a fallen one would speak like that. Fallen ones disregard human morality and laws, pursuing only desire and violence. Their words might seem irrational, but they follow the bloody logic of their kind.

“You people wouldn’t understand. A moth that has never seen light its entire life will throw itself into the fire when it sees one. Burning others doesn’t matter, nor does burning itself, or even burning the entire world—it just wants that light…” Akira reached out his hand into the air, as if there were a vivid shadow before him, someone he wanted to hold.

“This is a moth’s hunger for light.”

Chisei suddenly understood—Akira had gone blind. The intense side effect of Molotov Cocktail was destroying his vision. During his final evolution, Akira’s pupils were destroyed by the drug, and his eyes were left empty.

“If a moth in the dark had ever experienced even a little bit of light, it wouldn’t burn the whole world just to make itself warm. Wouldn’t you agree, Chisei?” Akira whispered.

At that moment, cherry blossoms drifted past the window like a snowstorm, their colors in the sunlight as pale as faded purity. Chisei was lost in thought for a moment; there was something strange about what Akira said. The metaphor about the moth and light was too profound, beyond what Akira should be capable of. His linguistic ability was limited—how good could the rhetoric be for someone who learned to speak from TV dramas? But that metaphor had the depth of a haiku or a poem, filled with a frosty sadness. Chisei had a vague feeling that Akira was repeating someone else’s words, someone strangely familiar…

He looked at the reflection in his silver ring again—Akira was gone! In this execution site with no possible escape route, the condemned had vanished like vapor!

Without hesitation, Chisei drew his sword and swung in a circle! As the ancient blade unsheathed, it was as if thunder exploded within the scabbard. The blade’s light appeared an eerie shade of blue; it seemed Chisei wasn’t wielding a mere sword, but a void of coldness.

At the same time, it felt like a golden sun enveloped him. He stood in that dazzling sun circle, resembling an indestructible deity. The arc of his blade seemed like the edge of the sun itself!

A burst of sparks ran along the blade—it was Akira’s claws meeting the ancient sword’s edge. Akira had fallen from the ceiling of the carriage, his deformed claws aimed at Chisei’s head, clearly intending to tear his head from his neck. Within just a few seconds, the dragonified Akira had climbed across the ceiling to reach above Chisei, without making a sound. Chisei’s nearly perfect slash should have severed Akira midair, but Akira caught the blade with his scale-covered claw. Using the sword blade as a pivot, he flipped through the air, striking at Chisei’s throat with his other claw. It was the attack of a beast—each strike intended to kill.

Chisei flung open his coat, drawing a short sword from his back waist. Again, an inexplicable golden sunlight enveloped him as the short blade pierced Akira’s claw. Chisei leapt up, striking Akira in the chest with his knee, sending him flying backward, and used the momentum to pull out his short sword.

Akira crashed through several rows of seats, rolling into the corner. Before Chisei could follow up to finish him, Akira burst out again, his claws tearing through the seats between them, stabbing toward Chisei’s heart. Chisei crossed his swords to block and retreated, but Akira’s attacks were relentless, his claws piercing through seats with ease, targeting Chisei continuously. His deformed claws were sharp enough to cut through metal. Though Chisei had two swords, Akira had the equivalent of ten, and every time those claws spread out, they sliced the air.