kscans

Chapter 205 - Epilogue, Part 2

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On the day the white and red dragons appeared.

Another incident that had occurred in the heart of Tokyo had also concluded, unknown to the public.

"Huuuh...!"

A man with ragged breaths walked slowly, pressing a hand to his gouged-out chest, his bloody footprints staining the ground.

He made his way through an alley so dark that even in Tokyo, the city that never sleeps, only a sliver of light could reach.

George, a man who had earned a brilliant service record as a former Green Beret, was dying on a narrow path littered with empty cans and cigarette butts.

Even for a high-ranking Awakened Person, only a handful could survive having their heart completely destroyed. He was not among them.

Making his way further and further from anyone, George glanced around once before pulling a palm-sized satellite phone from his pocket.

With practiced hands, he dialed a number and made the call. It connected on the second ring.

"Hello... Mr. President. Sorry... for the delay."

'George! Are you alright!? Where are you now? Is there any chance of being wiretapped?'

President of the United States. Fudge Valentine.

At the sound of his genuinely worried voice, George gave a bitter smile.

"Not exactly... alright. But there's no need to worry 'bout wiretaps. If we can trust the CIA Director, that is..."

'I see. I trust his work as well. But you said you weren't alright. Are you injured? Your breathing sounds a bit strange.'

"Got stabbed in the chest... If I leave it, I'll be dead soon enough..."

'No, George! You can't die!'

"But... if I get treatment right now. If I use the power of magic, maybe..."

His voice was weak, pleading for help.

His expression also shifted to one that would evoke pity, as George begged over the phone.

"Mr. President. I can still be of use to you...! Next time, I swear I'll kill that bastard Akasaka...! So, the American assets stationed in Japan—"

'I'm sorry, George.'

The President's voice was filled with compassion as he spoke.

'I cannot send a rescue team for you. I am sorry, but please... erase as much evidence as you can before you die...!'

As George fell silent, he continued, his voice thick with tears.

'I'm truly sorry...! Damn you, Akasaka! I will, I will avenge you! So please, watch over us from heaven, my friend...!'

"...Mr. President."

The man who had been ordered to die. The man whose outstretched hand for salvation had been mercilessly swatted away.

"You really are a heartless bastard...!"

His mouth was stretched into the widest possible grin, his eyes filled with elation.

'I know I deserve to be called that...! Hate me. Hate me for being so powerless...!'

"No, Mr. President. I'm feelin' damn good right now.... I don't wanna die, I wanna see the world you'll create. But, if you'll live on and keep fighting, then I'm satisfied..."

'George...! Ah! I will, I swear I will live up to your expectations!'

"So, Mr. President.... As my last act... cough...! Let me say this to you, the man who will leave his name in history. I want you to never forget these words...."

'Of course. Your counsel to our great United States... I will carve it into my heart!'

"Mr. President... you're allowed to be 'even crazier,' you know?"

'—'

President Fudge Valentine, who had been listening with tears in his eyes, determined not to miss a single one of George's words.

He fell silent for a few seconds. Of course, George couldn't see his face, but he knew his expression as if it were right in front of him.

'I'm sorry, what do you mean by that...?'

"Don't hide it...! Your, your 'desire'... unleash it upon the world...! Not for new frontiers, or for solving resource and land problems. Act on your true feelings...!"

'Wait, George. I have always spoken my true feelings and acted with all my might. What are you—'

"The answer should already be clear. All you have to do is face it."

His tone was forceful, unbecoming of a dying man.

With every word, the flow of blood from the hole in his chest increased. The madman, who had created a red puddle at his feet, laughed gleefully.

"That's all from me, Mr. President. I was happy to work under you. So long."

'Wai—'

He ended the call and put the satellite phone back in his pocket.

"...Yo. I'd heard the rumors, but you really are alive. Former Ambassador Chris."

"I've been blessed with luck and good friends. Must be my good deeds paying off."

From the other end of the dark alley, a large man appeared without a sound.

He wore a suit like a businessman on his way home from work and black-rimmed glasses with no prescription. However, they couldn't hide his sharp features and toned physique.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Chris Mackenzie. He stood there, aiming a gun at George.

"You look pretty beat up. Who did that to you?"

"Would've been more interesting if I could say 'your friends'... but I got bit by some stray dog I don't know and a crazy cat who willingly put on its own collar."

"I see. That's unfortunate."

"Yeah, probably the price for my bad deeds."

Unable to even stand on his own, George leaned against the cold concrete wall.

With his hand still in his pocket, Chris kept his gun trained on him from about ten meters away, not letting his guard down.

"Got a rare piece there. Must've been expensive, huh?"

"It was. But being able to fire a rifle round from a pistol-sized gun is convenient."

Seeing the break-action, single-shot pistol Chris was holding, George grinned.

"The fact that you're here means my men are gone, too..."

"Yes. While you were acting as a decoy, I destroyed the data on 'Doctor Tesla' that Yuusuke entrusted to me. A rather bold move. Which is why I have a proposal for you."

With the hand not holding the gun, Chris took out a single contract.

"If you sign this contract with a blood seal, I will take responsibility for saving you. I have a custom-made magic potion. You can survive."

"Hah! That's a tempting offer... Ahh, damn it. Can't even come up with a witty joke... My eyelids are heavy..."

As George sweated profusely, his face deathly pale, Chris asked him flatly.

"I can free you from that suffering. But don't get any funny ideas. If you try to take the potion, I will shoot you without hesitation. This thing is loaded with a special anti-Awakened warhead. In your current state, it's a guaranteed kill."

"That really is an expensive piece of hardware... Man. If you have that kind of money, you should be living it up in Hawaii..."

"Oh? In that case, shall we go to Hawaii together? My treat."

"...No thanks. That's where my shitty old man was born."

Blup.

A part of George's face began to bubble.

"!?"

"Should've made your offer this morning... I've already purchased a one-way ticket."

"No way...!"

George slowly pulled his right hand out of his pocket.

In it was an empty vial.

"Good thing I drank this beforehand...!"

"You bastard...! That man, Fudge, is a monster who defiles the Stars and Stripes! You would offer even your life to someone like that!?"

"Damn right I would. I'd die for the future that man will create...!"

"Kuh...!"

George's skin bubbled, and a green gas began to leak from various parts of his body.

Covering his mouth with his arm to avoid inhaling it, Chris turned and ran with all his might.

Watching his back, George fell weakly to his knees. He crashed face-first into the asphalt, but he was still smiling.

"Not... like me... not... post-facto... a born... 'real deal'...!"

It was by no means a peaceful smile. It was not the face of someone who had accepted or resigned himself to death.

"A real... madman...! Became the President of the United States, the most powerful man in the world...! A chance like this... will never, come again...!"

His body melted into a gooey mess. Not only that, but the clothes he wore and all his belongings lost their shape.

"See you... in hel... From... now on... enj... the... chao... th... wor..."

In a few seconds, the existence known as him had vanished.

The bloodstains on the road had turned into simple black stains on the asphalt, and none of his belongings retained their original form.

The madman who should have died a miserable death had a beast-like smile on his face until the very end.

*

The clock hands return to two days after the incident.

On a cliff top overlooking the sea, dyed red by the setting sun. There, two men stood before a grave.

"Farewell... our beloved daughter..."

A suspicious individual with their face covered by a black hood spoke in a muffled voice.

"To think we laughed, saying, 'Can't fap to this,' after creating you in a drunken stupor."

"And we laughed again after seeing the empty warehouse once we saw what was in the capsule. To think we had used even priceless materials that could never be obtained again..."

The other suspicious individual standing next to him sniffled under his hood.

"Still, we loved you, our creation...!"

"Please, please rest in peace...!"

Placing a bouquet of flowers on the grave, the two turned on their heels.

"We will meet again in heaven...!"

"When we're reunited, we'll have plenty of stories to tell you...!"

"You want me to send you to hell right now? Seriously."

A cat-eared young man stood blocking their path.

It was Yamashita Hiroshi, currently on his third consecutive all-nighter. He glared at the chairman and vice-chairman of the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club with a look one would give to garbage.

"Hmph... I'm not in the mood for jokes right now, Yamashita-kun."

"Would you not also pay your respects at this child's grave...?"

"Are those your last words?"

"Wait, wait, wait."

"Just kidding! We're just kidding!!"

As he partially manifested his Arcane Gear and gripped a mace, the chairman and his companion vigorously shook their heads while holding their hands out in front of them.

Later, they would say, 'That look in his eyes was for real.'

"Now, now, don't say that... The location is just right, after all..."

"Do you have some kind of prejudice against cliff edges!? A cliff doesn't automatically mean it's a suspense drama, you know!?"

"Let's calm down! We can talk this out! We can talk this out!"

The chairman and vice-chairman clung to each other as Yamashita approached them, mace in hand, swaying ominously.

Someone grabbed Yamashita's shoulder as he closed the distance step by step, stopping his advance.

"Now, hold on, Representative Yamashita."

It was Akasaka Yuusuke, Director of the Dungeon Agency.

He wore a gentle smile, but half of his face was obscured by bandages.

Furthermore, the left sleeve of his suit hung limply, revealing that there was nothing inside.

"Akasaka-san..."

"As the vice-chairman said, discussion is important. We must exchange words before resorting to violence."

"Ex-exactly! As expected of Director Akasaka!"

"H-Hooray for the man who will be Prime Minister in ten years!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you. Well then."

Without losing his smile, Akasaka turned to the two suspicious individuals.

"Let us have a nice, long chat. Chief Superintendent Honda."

"Wha—"

"And, Supreme Court Justice, Juumonji-san."

"..."

At Director Akasaka's words, the two who had been clinging to each other slowly separated.

"...It seems deception will not work."

"Indeed. I have been investigating for some time, but this recent incident finally led me to you."

"I see. I'd like to praise you as 'Akasaka, the man madly devoted to his country.' But."

Zzzt.

From the robes of the chairman and vice-chairman, several inorganic arms extended.

"You know too much."

"Curiosity killed the cat. It's a common saying, is it not?"

The scissor-like fingers at the ends of those arms opened and closed with a hard, metallic sound.

"What, we won't kill you."

"Instead, we will now begin a 24-hour proselytization of our kinks...! You, too, shall become our comrades...!"

"That sounds horrifying."

Yamashita recoiled with a deadpan expression, while Akasaka, still smiling, was internally having a cosmic-level brain freeze.

The chairman and his cohort slowly closed in on them.

"Fufufu. Come, you too shall become beings who can only get excited by Bully! Get ready to get on your hands and knees and beg your wives for forgiveness!"

"Yamashita-kun... For you, who has kemono elements, to become a true kemonomimi fan. Isn't it a wonderful story? You shall become the new kemo of a new era...!"

"These guys are the worst..."

Yamashita broke into a cold sweat at the sight of these utterly depraved perverts.

But without running away, he pointed behind the two.

"Uh, you two perverts there. Behind you, behind you."

"What is this, a trick as classic as 'Hey, a UFO!'?"

"But very well. For now, we are temporarily on par with 'C-Rank Adventurers.' We shall play along."

With an air of complete confidence, the chairman and his cohort turned around.

"Ah, hello there."

" "

They came face to face with four girls riding on the back of a giant, jet-black bird that seemed to be made of shadow.

"Well now, what a coincidence! Meeting you here!"

"Forcing your kinks on others isn't nice, you know?"

"Is that the main problem here? Well, not that I'm interested."

"Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill."

A girl with twintails raised a hand with a lively smile.

A grey-haired girl with sleepy eyes, and an elf-eared girl with an exasperated look.

And, Director Akasaka's daughter, who was clearly not hiding her murderous intent.

"...Hmph."

The chairman and his cohort retracted the mechanical arms back under their robes with a clatter, then turned to face Yamashita and his group.

"Please spare us...! We have wives and children...!"

"My grandchild's! My grandchild's wedding is next month!!"

It was a truly beautiful dogeza.

"Now, now. Please raise your heads, you two. It may have been a consequence of your actions, but thanks to that Golem...-like being, our lives were saved."

"Indeed! This is what they call a win-win situation!"

"Precisely! We are friends! Best friends! Soul brothers! There are no secrets or debts between us, are there!!"

"Well, it was that spear user who took out my left eye, but it was your Golem that tore off my left arm. It also crushed several of my internal organs. I can no longer eat solid food."

"Kill."

"WE ARE SO VERY SORRYYYYY!!"

"Just our lives! Please spare our physical and social lives!"

Another dogeza. The old man and the even older man, clad in black hoods and robes, trembled.

Watching them, the elf-eared girl whispered to the grey-haired girl next to her.

"He could have had me heal him at any time, but he stayed like that just for this moment, didn't he..."

"Their brand of crazy may be different, but like father, like daughter, I suppose..."

"Kiiiillll...!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

The twintailed girl clung to Akasaka Yuune, who had lost most of her human vocabulary, to hold her back.

"However, I'm glad I heard that."

Director Akasaka walked over to the chairman and his cohort and knelt down, not minding getting his knees dirty.

Then, with a full-blown smile that betrayed no stress whatsoever.

"We are best friends, with no secrets or debts. Yes. That is truly the relationship we have, isn't it? Gentlemen."

"Y-yessir! That's right, it is!"

"W-would you like us to lick your boots, sir...?"

"They're groveling like bandits..."

Ignoring the utterly repulsed Yamashita, Director Akasaka extended his right hand to the groveling chairman and vice-chairman.

"Then, let's let bygones be bygones. I'll take care of all the paperwork. Also. I will forgive you, but I must ask you to see to the treatment of and apologize to my subordinates, yes?"

"O-of course, yessir!"

"Naturally, yessir!"

"What's with the suffix?"

"Hahaha. Please, don't be so servile. Right? Because we are..."

Akasaka embraced the chairman and vice-chairman as they raised their faces. His left arm was gone from the elbow down, but he put his hand on their shoulders regardless.

"...best friends, aren't we?"

Seeing the expressions on the faces of the trio and Yuune, who got a direct look at that face.

It goes without saying that Yamashita was even more repulsed than before.