Deep inside the third basement floor, the air was significantly colder. Thick, bomb-proof metal walls and massive doors covered in warning signs lined the corridor. From a distance, muffled groans and screams echoed.
Lilith spoke calmly as she walked ahead of him. "We are going to test you in a simple way. Kill the monster, then come out alive."
Kaito didn't comment. He was observing everything. The atmosphere here was entirely different from the upper floors.
"A foul stench."
"What do you feed the monsters here? Human corpses?"
They stopped at door number 037.
The cell inside was vast and dark. The only visible feature was a pair of glowing red eyes right in the center.
Kaito stood there, keeping his hands inside his pockets.
He began whispering to himself, analyzing the creature.
"A slender monster, about two meters tall. Pale gray skin clinging to its bones, black horns protruding from its head."
"A beautiful animal." Kaito looked at it with a smirk. "Maybe I'll keep it... after I break it a little."
Lilith said in a calm voice, "That is the Dark Monster, and you want to take it as a pet. It transformed just four days ago. He was a university student. He stayed alone in his dark room for weeks... until anxiety turned into this."
"Poor thing... all he needed was a small lamp?" Kaito smiled mockingly. "Humans always fail at the simplest things."
She answered him, "This poor thing is capable of killing you if you lower your guard."
"Lower my guard? Only a fool repeats a mistake twice." He looked at her coldly. "Do you think I am a fool, woman?"
"Show me..."
"Oh, really? It seems I am forced to do it again... bloodshed."
Kaito threw his coat to Lilith and walked toward the monster. With a signal from her, all the locks and massive chains restraining this dark horror unlocked.
Lilith continued, "It is dangerous, you need to—"
Kaito cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Shh... I don't need advice."
The surveillance cameras captured the battle, broadcasting it throughout the entire building.
Some people even started placing bets on who would die first—the arrogant stranger or the monster.
"I think we're about to see a human get devoured before our eyes... If the human wins, I'll pay the café bill for everyone here."
A girl interrupted him.
"He will win... I know it... He is strong."
Suddenly, the Dark Monster lunged.
Its movement was unnatural.
It vanished.
Then it appeared directly in front of Kaito, its long black claws ripping through the air toward his neck with insane speed.
But—
Kaito leaned back at the last split second, feeling the tip of the claw pass right over his skin. The wall behind him exploded violently, scattering fragments of metal in all directions.
"Fast..."
Kaito smiled.
But the monster gave him no time.
A "Black Mist" erupted from its body like living smoke, spreading inside the room with terrifying speed. Within seconds, the walls, the floor, and even the white light of the lamp vanished.
Everything became black.
Silence.
Then—
The monster appeared inside the mist directly above Kaito, kicking his chest with all its strength.
The floor exploded beneath Kaito's feet, and his body was thrown through several metal walls before coming to a halt.
The entire building shook.
Red alarms flared.
In the surveillance room, the employees' eyes widened.
"He shattered three layers of steel with a single strike... What on earth is Lady Lilith aiming for?"
Kaito stood amidst the debris, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Then he laughed.
A short... slightly crazed laugh.
"Excellent."
The monster appeared behind him instantly.
This time, a black claw pierced his shoulder, violently tearing the flesh until blood splattered onto the walls.
But—
Kaito grabbed the monster's arm with his bare hand.
The moment he touched its skin—
The "Separation Domain" activated.
A red circle appeared beneath their feet.
Then—
Matter separated.
The monster's arm suddenly split into dozens of small pieces without a sound, as if the world itself decided its existence was no longer necessary.
The monster shrieked for the first time.
However, the black blood dripping from its body turned into a "living mist," reshaping the arm within seconds.
Kaito's grin widened even more.
"Regeneration? Then I can go all out."
The monster vanished again into the darkness.
Then—
The floor exploded beneath Kaito.
Dozens of black arms erupted from the shadow and gripped his body, slowly crushing his bones.
His arm cracked.
Part of his ribs shattered.
Blood covered his black vest.
But that was only what everyone thought.
He raised his head slowly.
"Matter Separation."
In a single instant—
All the black arms split into small cubes, falling to the ground like rain.
Kaito lunged forward with blinding speed.
A punch.
The monster's face exploded.
A side kick.
Half of its body smashed into the wall.
An elbow strike to the neck—
The monster's head twisted backward at an impossible angle.
Yet, the monster did not die.
The black mist began gathering again, and dozens of red eyes started opening within the darkness surrounding the room.
"It's merging its body with the shadows...!" one of the researchers shouted in fear.
The monster's aura surged suddenly.
The windows rattled.
The darkness erupted toward Kaito like a raging black hurricane.
In that moment—
Kaito's playful expression vanished.
His eyes became completely hollow.
"Soul and Body Separation."
An absolute silence fell.
The mist stopped.
The movement stopped.
Even the air itself seemed to separate from the world.
Thin black cracks appeared in the space around Kaito, as if reality itself was tearing apart.
Then—
The monster's feet slammed into the metal floor with such force that it cracked, while dozens of black arms rose from its back, pushing against the void that was tearing its existence apart piece by piece.
Its body was splitting...
Then returning.
Separating...
Then forcing itself to bind together again.
Black blood flew in every direction, and the torn flesh moved like a living organism trying to escape Kaito's authority.
Even the air began to vibrate violently.
The sirens blared back to life.
The white lights exploded one after another.
And for the first time since the start of the fight—
Kaito took half a step back.
Not out of fear...
But out of surprise.
Then—
He smiled.
A smile wider than before.
"Huh..."
He raised his eyes toward the monster that was fighting frantically to stay alive.
"So you actually have a will."
He pointed his finger toward the monster.
"Separate."
The monster's body split completely.
Not just into pieces—
The shadows separated from the body.
The flesh separated from the bone.
The blood separated from the flesh.
The sound separated from the scream.
For a moment... everyone in the surveillance room felt as if their voices had vanished too. One of the researchers opened his mouth in terror... but couldn't even hear himself.
The monster turned into thousands of black pieces suspended in the air... before collapsing like rain over the destroyed floor.
Kaito raised his hands as the black blood rained down on him.
Silence reigned inside the entire building.
Everyone was watching.
Employees.
Researchers.
Soldiers.
And no one dared to speak.
As for Lilith—
She stood watching the wreckage, her golden eyes gleaming with a dangerous calmness.
Her smile widened slightly. It was as if she had finally found the weapon she had been searching for for years.
"A monster..."
Her whisper was barely audible.
"...But he is not from our world.... Are you watching this, Grand Chairman...?"