Dragon Clan: They're all insane, and you still want me to slay dragons?

Page 135

The alchemical matrix in [White Ivory] was activated, and the pure white muzzle was pressed against Sakurai Nanami's lower abdomen. Under the slightly changed gaze of the fierce young woman, Gao Kui decisively pulled the trigger.

The alchemical bullet, comparable to a high-risk incantation, was fired and exploded upon hitting Sakurai Nanami in the abdomen, which was within arm's reach. The powerful impact sent both of them staggering back several steps, tearing their expensive suits to shreds.

Gao Kui, whose physical defenses were far inferior to those of the young tiger woman, had a large hole blown open in his abdomen and chest, his muscles and internal organs charred black, only his bones remained flawless.

Under Longinus's influence, even the fatal wounds that would bring down any hybrid could be instantly repaired.

Seizing the moment when Gao Kui was knocked back and had lost his footing, Inuyama He gripped his sword with both hands and used the seventh-level technique, shattering the floor as he launched himself towards Gao Kui.

If you focus your momentary burst on sprinting rather than swinging your sword, the final acceleration effect won't be as noticeable. Unlike time zero, a momentary burst doesn't ignore factors like kinetic energy and air resistance.

The more he accelerated, the greater the pressure on Inuyama He's body became. Therefore, even after using the 128x acceleration of the seventh-order instantaneous speed, Inuyama He's sprint speed still did not break the speed of sound.

The blade broke through, but the person was gone.

In an instant, Inuyama He rushed in front of Gao Kui, his body naturally twisting as he swung his sword, or rather, smashed it, at the long sword [Longinus] in Gao Kui's hand.

The Snake Clan has information on the princes of Northern Qi. It's not very detailed, but it's enough. They know that Gao Kui possesses an extremely rare alchemical weapon that can grant its wielder near-immortality.

So, all we need to do is knock Longinus down. Without the sword in hand, the so-called immortality is out of the question.

Gao Kui swung his sword again, and Longinus swung it in a semi-circle to meet the incoming blade. The weapons collided, and the powerful kinetic energy, unable to be released, turned into a reaction force that cracked the tiger's mouth of both of them.

However, the knife did not slip from his hand.

Inuyama He then realized that he had made an empiricist mistake.

Gao Kui was not a samurai in the true sense of the word; his grip and wielding of the sword differed from that of ordinary samurai. True samurai relied on the blade to kill their enemies, so their grip was precise, with neither too much nor too little strength. Such a sword could potentially be knocked away by Inuyama He.

However, Gao Kui did not rely entirely on Longinus's blade. Longinus was merely a talisman for him. Moreover, his strength was greater than that of ordinary hybrids, and even if his grip and swinging posture were not standard, he could still push the speed of his blade to a very high level.

Therefore, Gao Kui gripped the knife more tightly, and his wielding posture was closer to "swinging".

In the next instant, a thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously.

Dozens of sharp airflow channels, like pure white epiphyllum flowers blooming under the moonlight, pierced through Inuyama He's chest from dozens of angles, including his front, back, and ribs.

Each "sword aura" avoided vital organs such as Inuyama He's heart, merely slicing through his nerves, piercing his lungs, and rendering him unable to move.

Gao Kui adhered to the principle of reciprocal retaliation; since Inuyama He had no intention of killing him, he would not kill Inuyama He. Of course, if it was later discovered that Inuyama He was connected to Sakurai Hiroshi, then he would still have to die.

As a thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously, Gao Kui suddenly raised the [White Ivory] in his hand, swung his arm and pulled the trigger. The bullet, comparable to a high-risk incantation, flew past Inuyama He after leaving the barrel, drawing an arc in mid-air comparable to the curved blades of Beckham and Robert Carlos, and once again struck Sakurai Nanami.

Even Sakurai Nanami, who had activated her immortality, was attacked by two high-risk words of power in a very short time. She was blown away, spitting blood, and forced to exit her immortal state, like a Kamen Rider who had suffered a setback after opening his mouth and closing his eyes.

Chapter 163 The Same Underlying Logic

The two family heads, on whom high hopes were placed, were the two strongest hybrids of the Snake Clan, and were instantly defeated.

Inuyama He was bleeding from all seven orifices, and was swaying precariously as he leaned on the ground with one hand holding a knife. He tried to hold on with his steely will, but his injuries were far beyond what an ordinary hybrid could withstand with sheer willpower.

Gao Kui patted the old man on the shoulder: "The chanting of sutras is limited to this one time. The next time you wield the knife, you'll have to perform a ritual to help the dead pass on."

"Cough cough... So strong, so strong it's despair-inducing. No wonder the teacher called him the Messiah..."

Inuyama He coughed up blood and grinned, his once kind face now more hideous than a demon.

Having witnessed the vastness of the ocean, other waters seem insignificant. As a student whom Angers considered a protégé, Inuyama He was once used by Angers as a whetstone to hone his skills.

Naturally, Inuyama He knew how powerful Angers was, and he looked down on the other so-called S-class hybrids and elite hybrids.

But Gao Kui is different. He is too much like that vengeful ghost with gray hair who has lived from the end of the 18th century to the present. He is not just a name. He has a quality that is so strong that it makes people despair.

Perhaps only a true next-generation species, a humanoid dragon king, or an emperor surpassing S-class hybrids can rival him.

Inuyama He collapsed to the ground, along with Sakurai Nanami, no longer able to stop Gao Kui's journey.

The floor slab connecting the 28th and 29th floors was cut open. Ignoring the two patriarchs who were unable to recover, Gao Kui went to the 29th floor of the Genji Heavy Industries Building and officially met with the acting patriarch, Ryoma Genichiro.

The atmosphere on the entire floor grew increasingly oppressive, the air thick and heavy. When the Northern Qi prince finally arrived from downstairs, everyone held their breath, and the busy liaison department fell silent.

Gao Kui glanced at Yabuki Sakura. The heads of the families and Yabuki Sakura were positioned right in the center of the liaison department, making it almost impossible for them to go unnoticed.

"I'm not here to see you, don't block my way."

Of the group, Gao Kui only recognized Yabuki Sakura; he didn't recognize any of the other family heads. In fact, he didn't even recognize Sakurai Hiroshi, whom they were looking for.

But Gao Kui was confident in his judgment that those family heads were not Sakurai Hiroshi. He was also confident that he would recognize Sakurai Hiroshi immediately upon seeing him. There was no reason, no explanation; he was just that confident.

Ignoring Ryoma Genichiro and the others, Gao Kui began searching the 29th floor on his own. The layout of this floor was somewhat similar to that of the floors below. There were no private rooms; everyone sat in the lobby, and each person's workstation was separated into individual cubicles by a one-meter-high partition, making the search quite convenient.

All the members of the liaison department looked at Ryoma Genichiro, who gave them a look that said "Don't worry," signaling them to continue with their work. So, with a mix of trepidation and excitement, they continued doing their jobs.

Ryoma Genichiro knew perfectly well that Gao Kui was now absolutely unstoppable. At least with all their methods, they would have a hard time holding off the Northern Qi prince for more than a few seconds.

Conversely, if the prince of Northern Qi were to go on a killing spree, he could slaughter almost everyone on the entire floor in just a few seconds.

Between delaying for a few seconds and saving the lives of hundreds, Ryoma Genichiro chose the latter, but the cost was too high, so high that Ryoma Genichiro dared not make the decision.

So, is there really no one in the entire Genji Heavy Industries who can control, or at least resist, the prince of Northern Qi?

The answer is yes, the head of the Uesugi family, who lives on the 30th floor of the building, definitely has such power, but the other family heads, such as Ryoma Genichiro, simply cannot command Erii.

If we want Erii to take action, we can only hope that she senses the threat posed by the Northern Qi prince and retaliates out of her self-preservation instinct.

Soon, Gao Kui finished searching the entire floor, ignoring everyone on the 29th floor as always, and made a big hole in the ceiling above his head, jumping down to the 30th floor.

The atmosphere on the 29th floor was much more relaxed after Gao Kui's departure. The only exception was the small circle of Ryoma Genichiro and others, which was more tense than before.

As they watched the surveillance footage of the Northern Qi prince strolling through the quiet, secluded corridor on the top floor, several family heads and Yabuki Sakura unknowingly broke out in a cold sweat.

The famous writer H.P. Lovecraft once said that the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest fear is the fear of the unknown.

Several core members of the Snake Clan lived in such fear, constantly on edge.

Needless to say, the prince of Northern Qi is a formidable figure who can fight against the humanoid dragon king. Even while maintaining a high degree of restraint, he can still fight his way in and out of the Genji Heavy Industries building seven times. He possesses an alchemical weapon that makes him almost immortal. In a sense, he is absolutely immortal and absolutely invincible.

The head of the Uesugi family, regarded as the ultimate weapon, is also an exceptional individual. His seemingly frail body, which could be easily defeated by illness, actually contains power far surpassing that of Genjiro.

The Word of Power, Judgment, with a serial number of 111, can cut through any matter within its domain with a "slash," ignoring hardness, material, and distance. In terms of "destructive power," it is similar to the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception in anime.

This power of words is not even something that hybrids can possess. The original namer only learned about this power of words based on inference and speculation, and named it "Judgment".

It is like the cross-shaped sword in the hand of Archangel Michael; the will of the one who releases is the will of Heaven, the will of judgment. In this world, nothing can escape the reckoning of the Last Judgment.

Both are masters among masters, with their specialties being exactly opposite. Most importantly, both are quite unpredictable, their personalities, mental states, bloodlines, bloodline imprints... they are filled with all sorts of unexpected factors.

No one can predict the extent of their fight when they clash. It might be a calm and uneventful battle, or it might be a cataclysmic one.

Unlike the previous floors that Gao Kui had searched, the 30th floor of Genji Heavy Industries was entirely in a Japanese style, with solid wood floors, various green plants and screens lining the corridors, and dim lighting. Furthermore, at the end of one of the corridors on this floor, there were still traces of yesterday's bombing and raid.

The entire floor was quiet, except for a few armed guards standing at a few corners of the corridor; the rest of the place was deserted.

The family elders living on this floor were either assigned to various floors to stabilize morale and lead the mixed-race members of the building, or served as advisors to Ryoma Genichiro on the 28th floor.

After a long while, Gao Kui finally arrived at the room at the end of a corridor. Ryoma Genichiro and the others, who were watching from behind the monitor, held their breath, their hearts pounding in their throats.

That was Erii's room.

Most of the time, Erii actually lives in an underground intensive care unit, where she never sees any sunlight. Her bloodline and physical condition have never been stable.

However, Erii's health has been relatively good recently, and at Genjiro's insistence, she was able to return to her bedroom on the 30th floor.

At this very moment, the strongest mixed-race student at the Kassel headquarters and the strongest mixed-race student at the Japanese branch are about to meet, as long as the Northern Qi prince opens that damned heavy alloy door.

As expected, Gao Kui used the Word of Power: Yin Flow as always, cutting through the wall of Erii's bedroom, breaking into the room, and disappearing from the surveillance footage.

Erii's bedroom was naturally outside the surveillance range, a right that Genji had fought hard for for his sister.

The elders of the clan wished they could keep Erii under constant surveillance, 24/7. They believed that Erii was a human weapon, and weapons shouldn't have the right to privacy. Besides, Erii herself didn't seem to have any concept of gender segregation or the right to privacy.

Genji insisted on giving Erii the rights that a normal girl should have, even though Erii herself didn't understand or care about these things.

Is this just Genjiro's self-pity?

Perhaps so. Erii herself doesn't care at all; she's as innocent as a seven or eight-year-old girl. But Genji insists on it.

He loves his younger brother and sister.

Gao Kui looked around the room with curiosity.

Before breaking down the door, Gao Kui wondered what kind of creature lived or was imprisoned in the room, and what the room was like. After all, the heavy alloy door was terrifying, and even the walls were inlaid with steel plates more than ten centimeters thick. The whole room was like a cage.

The plain white walls were sparsely decorated, with only three statues hanging on them: Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo, the three noble children. Just as paintings related to Christian theology are popular in the Western world, paintings related to Japanese mythology are also very popular in Japan.

In the center of the room was a low square table, which the Japanese call a kotatsu, and on it was a basket full of game coins. On one side of the wall was a cabinet and a bookshelf, in which hung more than a dozen identical shrine maiden outfits.

The bookshelves and the small bed next to the French windows are filled with all kinds of plush toys. Each toy has a label with "Eri's XXX" written in Japanese, which shows that Erii is a girl with a strong sense of possessiveness.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing was the arcade machine in the corner of the room. Gao Kui recognized this model of arcade machine. It was the "Idolmaster" arcade machine developed under license from Namco. Similar arcade machines were everywhere in Nakano Broadway and Akihabara. Under the management of that fat guy Akimoto Yasushi, the female idol groups showed signs of a resurgence and new heights.

It would seem odd for such an arcade machine to appear in a private room, but given the identity of the room's owner, it's not surprising.

Gao Kui quickly deduced the identity of the room's owner based on the room's layout.

Genji once said that he had a younger sister. Judging from Genji's words, he doted on this sister a million times more than he loved Kazama Ruri.

The girl named Erii, who lives on the 30th floor of the Genji Heavy Industries Building, is most likely Genji Chisei's younger sister.

Combining past information with the current room layout, Gao Kui, possessing extraordinary wisdom, even managed to analyze the personality of the girl named Erii.

Being cherished by Genjiro and showered with love, and being a yakuza heiress, this girl named Erii is probably quite self-centered, that is, she has the temperament of a rich girl, and perhaps she is also a bit willful and cunning.

Just like Nuonuo, who was the only "young lady" Gao Kui knew, it was only natural that Gao Kui would use Nuonuo as a template when he was conceiving the personality and image of a young lady.

Gao Kui shook his head and walked to the arcade machine. He then noticed that there were several handheld fans hanging behind the machine, with the fan blades blowing towards the air vents at the back of the machine, seemingly cooling it down.

Gao Kui raised his hand and touched the area where the small fan was pointing. It was hot. This was probably where the motherboard was placed inside the arcade machine.

In that instant, Gao Kui understood why the room's owner had placed several small fans there, and his preconceived notions about the personality of the girl named Erii were overturned at that moment.

When they were little, many children would secretly turn on the TV or computer after their parents left home, and then turn it off before their parents returned. They would wipe the back cover with a damp towel and then keep blowing on the TV with a fan to help it cool down, creating the illusion that they hadn't been watching TV at all and had been studying.

When parents come home, they will also touch the back cover of the TV and computer, just like Gao Kui. If it doesn't feel hot, they will nod and give their child a gratified look.

Gao Kui had no such experience, but he had heard such stories. A girl who would do such a thing could not be too bad-natured, and she certainly couldn't be too old, probably only around ten years old.

Erii, wrapped in a pure white bath towel and drying her dark red hair, happily stepped out of the bathroom. Although the sound of the door opening was a little off, the clever Erii knew that it must be her brother coming to say goodnight to her.

Every night at this time, her brother would come to say goodnight to her, whether here or in the underground intensive care unit, rain or shine, and the time would never be too far off.

Erii wanted her brother to know something: she had already mastered the Idolmaster arcade machine that Yasha had brought back, and had quickly become a producer and trained a national idol.

Although her luck with the rolls plummeted in the following rounds, Erii believed that that one round alone was enough to prove her strength as an idol producer.

The girl with crimson hair cheerfully raised her head, her dark red eyes quickly locking onto an unfamiliar figure. Hey?