Chapter 37

The ceiling splintered into a shower of rubble, raining down across the entire floor. The organization members scrambled back and forth, only to be pinned beneath the weight. Trapped and unable to move, they were crushed while letting out agonizing screams.

Naturally, a collapse was occurring directly above my head as well. I dodged the falling debris with a series of backsteps. While moving, I made sure to position myself in a safe spot. A collapse like this only lasts for a moment; if you keep a cool head and maneuver properly, there’s little risk of getting hurt. It would be far too pathetic to be taken out by my own scheme. At the very least, this level of precaution was only proper.

Once the ceiling finished falling, the visibility in the room had turned abysmal. Jagged piles of rubble acted as obstacles, blocking lines of sight, while the floor was riddled with holes and spiderwebbing cracks. The incendiary bombs had ignited the furnishings, triggering multiple fires. Thick black smoke drifted through the air, mingled with the tear gas. Added to that was a chorus of groans, shouts, and death rattles. It was quite a gruesome spectacle.

But this was fine.

As long as I was facing dozens of enemies alone, an irregular environment worked to my advantage. The organization’s coordination had crumbled, and I was well-accustomed to fighting in hazardous conditions. Considering the numbers gap, this was a fair handicap. In other words, the time for the counterattack had arrived.

“Dammit, where is he…!”

“He should be close! Find him!”

Voices came from nearby. Looking over, I saw three men armed with rifles. I lurked in the shadows of the rubble to avoid being spotted. Just as I’d planned, the organization’s men had been split up. In this environment, they had no choice but to move in small groups. With high casualties and chaos spreading, it was only natural for them to huddle with whoever was closest.

I circled around a pile of debris and moved behind the men. Lunging out all at once, I took off one of their heads with my machete. I kicked the corpse aside while being showered in a spray of blood.

“Uwah!”

“What’s wrong? Having chest pains?”

I stabbed the second startled man in the chest and yanked the blade sideways. I felt the sensation of carving through several internal organs. The man, his chest ripped open, collapsed quietly and died.

“You… bastard…!”

“Don’t get so worked up. You’ll never get the girls that way.”

I shoved the incoming muzzle aside with one hand and slashed the third man’s throat with the machete. The man fell, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Their reactions were slow, likely due to lingering damage from the ceiling collapse. The psychological shock probably played a part too; even for them, this was a development they hadn’t anticipated.

“There he is! Fire!”

While I was analyzing the situation, four more men appeared from another direction. They were coughing and wiping tears from their eyes with their sleeves. It looked like the tear gas got them. I immediately vanished into the black smoke, dodging the incoming bullets.

“Reminds me of a guerrilla war from a few years back…”

Letting out a chuckle, I ran around in a low, crawling stance. I slipped into the blind spots I discovered and launched ambushes with my machete and knife whenever an opening appeared. After quickly killing a few, I’d dive back into the rubble and smoke to vanish. By repeating this process over and over, I whittled down their forces. The organization members were slaughtered without being able to mount any real resistance. Now that they could no longer lay down a suppressive barrage with their superior numbers, they were nothing more than prey.

‘Now then, where’s Ralph…?’

A few minutes later, I was walking openly through the room. The area was already littered with corpses; no one else was left alive. Everyone had either been crushed by rubble, burned by the fire, or finished off by my blades. However, the big boss was missing. There was no sign that he had fled. For a man skilled enough to deflect bullets by sight, it was unlikely he had died. He had to be hiding somewhere.

As I continued my silent search, I suddenly felt a surge of killing intent behind me. A leg blurred into the edge of my vision, approaching at high speed. It was a move aimed right for my neck.

“……!”

I dodged it by tilting my head and threw a backfist as a counter. The person who had launched the surprise kick—Ralph—kicked off my chest and performed a backflip to evade the strike. Landing in front of me, Ralph maintained a low crouch with both hands and feet on the ground. His shirt and jacket were torn, revealing a hairy, muscular upper body.

His body was well-honed, solid as steel. Coupled with his low stance, he reminded me of a predatory beast—it suited his appearance perfectly.

“A surprise attack? That’s playing dirty. I’m so startled I might cry.”

I tossed out the complaint and fired my rifle. Ralph leaped sideways to avoid it, throwing something at me the moment he touched the ground. It was a spinning knife.

“Nice pass.”

I discarded the rifle and caught the knife. Toying with the blade, I addressed him.

“I’ve slaughtered everyone but you. Ready to surrender? If you do it now, I’ll send you to the other side without making you suffer.”

“Don’t screw with me. I’ll kill you and be the one who survives. I refuse to die.”

“Ha! Good answer.”

I flipped the knife into a reverse grip and took a fighting stance. My smile deepened as I locked eyes with Ralph.

“Come then. I’ll start your training with ‘give me your paw.’”

“Graaaah!”

With a short roar, Ralph lunged, his natural claws swiping at me. I leaned my upper body back to evade. As the claws passed before my eyes, I unleashed a counter-hook.

“Gruuu…”

Ralph sensed it instantly and leaped back. He straightened up, showing a bit of composure. His breathing wasn’t labored, and he didn’t seem shaken. His reaction speed and combat experience were on a completely different level compared to the others.

“Surprised? I’ve mastered a vast number of combat skills. I’m also using body-strengthening magic. You’re formidable, certainly, but you likely possess almost no combat skills. It’s impossible for you to defeat me without system corrections.”

Speaking with contempt, Ralph kicked a fragment of rubble at me. It flew with the speed of buckshot, and I used my arm to guard against it. In that opening, Ralph pounced. This time, he intended to rip my throat open with his claws.

‘He’s good at hit-and-run tactics.’

I tried to grab Ralph’s arm, but he pulled back a split second faster, evading me. Mid-air, he twisted his body and shifted his attack into a heel drop.

“Quite the variety!”

I blocked the heel drop with my forearm and lunged with the knife in my other hand, aiming for Ralph’s torso. Ralph placed a hand on my shoulder to pivot his body, letting the tip of the knife pass by a hair’s breadth. Furthermore, he timed a jump with my rising kick to retreat onto a pile of rubble.

Seeing that sequence of movements, I gave him a round of applause.

“Impressive. Are you aiming to be a circus performer?”

“These are the physical capabilities of a beastman. I was an orphan; I never even knew my parents’ faces. I rose to the top with nothing but this body. In Eurea, power is everything. Race and origin don’t matter. As the ruler of this city, I am the very symbol of power.”

Ralph, his face twisted with ferocity, charged again. A kick utilizing his entire body’s springiness surged toward me. I leaped lightly to dodge and hurled the knife.

“Kwah!”

Ralph parried it with his claws and immediately retaliated with a sweeping claw strike. The claws traced an exquisite arc, grazing my combat gear.

“I know you possess immense strength! But I will never lose! Even if my organization falls, I’ll just rise up again from zero! As long as I have power, I can start over as many times as it takes…!”

Shouting his resolve, Ralph unleashed a relentless flurry of attacks. I focused entirely on defending and evading as I backed away. If I let my guard down even for a moment, I’d be hit with a heavy blow. His fighting ability was remarkable; even in my original world, I rarely saw someone of this caliber.

After dozens of exchanges, I felt something hard against my back. I’d been backed against the wall. Rubble piled on both sides made it difficult to move. Seeing this as his golden opportunity, Ralph stepped in deep and threw a spear-hand strike. His fingertips and claws glowed faintly, blessed by magic.

The strike aimed at my heart closed in as if sucked toward its target—only to stop dead an inch away.

“Wha…!?”

Ralph stared at his own hand. I had caught his claws in my palm, halting them.

“I-Impossible! My Magic Claw is active! How can you touch it with your bare hand…!”

Ralph tried to pull his hand back, but it wouldn’t budge. There was an unbridgeable gap in raw physical strength between us. No matter how hard he struggled, he wasn’t getting free.

“You animal…!”

Giving up on the claw, Ralph began peppering me with a rapid succession of kicks. He focused his assault on my flank and thighs, but the pain was negligible. Naturally, my grip on his hand didn’t loosen.

Watching Ralph’s desperate resistance, I finally spoke.

“You said you rose up with nothing but your own body?”

“What about it!?” Ralph roared.

Instead of answering verbally, I clenched my free hand into a fist.

“What a coincidence,” I told him. “Me too.”

In the same breath, I unleashed an uppercut that sent Ralph’s face—and the rest of him—flying. Taking the direct hit, Ralph sailed through the air and crashed into the rubble.

“Gu… ah… gah…”

Ralph rolled across the floor, convulsing as he vomited blood. However, he wasn’t dead yet. I had held back when I punched him. Otherwise, he would have been turned into mincemeat.

I dragged the near-death Ralph out of the room. I needed him to cooperate for the grand finale. It was a measure to completely sever any lingering bad blood. This would likely prevent most future troubles. If it didn’t work, well, that was fine too. Half of this was just for my own amusement anyway. I looked at it as a “lucky if it works” kind of thing.

“This is a special service. I’m going to blow you away in style.”

Whistling a tune, I began to head down the stairs in a very good mood.