"Astarte, kill him!!" – Rudolf commanded as he exerted all his strength to suppress his injuries. Just a single strike from Kojou had thrown his internal organs into chaos, leaving him with severe wounds that would take months to heal.
"Accept, execution Rhododactylos," Astarte responded in a mechanical tone as she leapt toward Kojou, surrounded by her familiar—a humanoid beast overlaid with white skin and streaked with violet markings all over its body.
Boom!
The ground exploded, a crater formed instantly, and dust and debris shot up, veiling the surroundings in a dense cloud that obscured everyone's vision for a moment.
Astarte's familiar stood at around 2.5 meters tall, crashing down on Kojou like a giant crushing an ant.
Seeing this, Rudolf smiled in satisfaction. No matter how strong Kojou was, he should have been gravely injured from that assault.
"And you too…" – at that moment, a voice rang out clearly through the dust. It was Kojou's voice, laced with fury, as he emerged—gripping Astarte's attack with one hand while the other clenched into a fist, swinging toward her.
"…don't follow every order without question!!"
Boom!
With monstrous force, Kojou sent Astarte flying several meters away. She crashed into a wall and was pinned there, unable to move a single muscle from the sheer brute force of the strike.
"And now, I hope you're ready to pay the price for dragging my woman into your foolish revenge... old man," Kojou said coldly, as his fiery purple hair reverted to silver, his black skin returned to its natural color, and the horn on his forehead vanished.
Gulp.
Even though Kojou had undone his transformation, Rudolf could only swallow hard in fear. The sense of danger he felt from Kojou hadn't lessened—on the contrary, it had become even more overwhelming.
Crack.
Crack.
Kojou cracked his knuckles as he approached Rudolf with a cold smile that promised nothing but pain for the old man before him.
—
"Looks like you're all set," Kojou remarked flatly as he gazed at the representatives of the Manmade Island Management Corporation, who had brought a new Keystone prepared in place of the severed arm—after Kojou had sent Rudolf and the arm flying toward the mainland.
"We sincerely apologize for the incident, Fourth Primogenitor," said a handsome young man with black hair and eyes, dressed in a formal suit as he bowed deeply toward Kojou.
"The Manmade Island Management Corporation is prepared to offer any compensation—to you and the Priestess of Cain."
"Priestess of Cain… you mean Asagi?" Kojou asked with a furrowed brow. He knew who Cain was, but had no idea why the man was referring to Asagi as the Priestess of Cain.
"That's correct," the handsome man nodded, then quickly added, "Apologies for the delay in introducing myself. My name is Yaze Kazuma, elder brother of Motoki."
"So you're trying to use my connection to Yaze to pressure me?" Kojou asked, half amused and half annoyed. He didn't appreciate Kazuma trying to leverage personal relationships—especially since his bond with Motoki wasn't exactly deep.
"I wouldn't dare do something like that," Kazuma replied hastily. Provoking an angry Kojou was the last thing anyone sane would consider.
"Alright then," Kojou nodded indifferently before smirking,
"You said you're willing to compensate me and Asagi as much as possible, didn't you?"
Though Kazuma was prepared, he couldn't help but smile bitterly upon seeing Kojou's grin. He knew all too well—they were about to lose a great deal because of their own stupidity.
"In that case, I want 10 billion yen within a week," Kojou said flatly.
"And… you'll assist me in hiding anything that could expose my identity as the Fourth Primogenitor. Also, you'll be responsible for covering the damages from my future battles, pay any imposed compensations, and provide any intel I need—without complaint. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to dismantle the political structure of this island and rebuild it from scratch."
Though Kojou's demands seemed simple, they would help him avoid a lot of future hassle. As for the intel—this was just a safeguard. With Asagi's help, he could already access plenty of information, but given how others were aware of her capabilities, it wasn't strange to revert to primitive methods like letters and messengers.
"I will do everything in my power to fulfill your requests," Kazuma exhaled with relief. Kojou's demands were far more reasonable than they had feared.
"As for compensating Asagi, we'll leave that for later—once she wakes up," Kojou added, placing his hand on Kazuma's shoulder and squeezing slightly as he spoke coldly,
"Make sure to warn those old geezers that I won't forgive them if they ever try something like this again. I'll make sure their lives are worse than death."
"I'll be sure to pass on the message," Kazuma replied, his body drenched in cold sweat. He couldn't even bring himself to look Kojou in the eyes—every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run from the monster before him.
"Good."
Kojou turned and walked toward Astarte, picking her up gently in his arms before heading for the exit. But then he paused, turning to glance at Touka.
"Let's go."
Hearing his voice snapped Touka out of her daze. She quickly stored her spear back in her bag and hurried after Kojou.
And just like that, the plans of the Manmade Island Management Corporation and the Lion King Organization fell apart—for now. Kojou chose mercy this time…
But if they dared cross him again, he wouldn't hesitate to destroy them completely.
He was no longer the naive boy he once was.
...
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