Kaito stood in the middle of one of the city's streets, staring at the darkness before him. No—he was staring at what lay within that black darkness, trying to focus on the danger visible in front of him. Blood dripped from his right fist until it reached the curb beside his foot.
Behind him, beside a shattered coffee vending machine in the corner of a building, poor Emma was struggling to catch her breath inside a transparent box she had created with her ability.
Both of her hands were trembling violently. She could no longer control them because of the overwhelming tension.
She had seen many monsters before—large ones, powerful ones—simply because of her work as a Hunter... but never anything like this.
For the first time in many years, Emma felt genuine regret that she had entered this battle.
Then—
That terrifying sound tore through their ears once again, spreading fear into the hearts of the frightened.
Krrrrrrrrrk...
The sound of razor-sharp legs scraping against the asphalt.
Emma turned her head repeatedly in every direction.
"Where is it now? I can't see it anymore! Kaito, we have to run and wait for reinforcements..."
"Run... heh."
Kaito's eyes narrowed slightly.
Suddenly—
The ground beneath him exploded.
It burst out directly from underneath him, smashing through the asphalt, wires, and pipes, opening its enormous mouth for a hearty meal.
BOOOOM!!
Its body slammed into Kaito and carried him through the entire front of a store.
Glass shattered.
Shelves exploded apart.
The two of them tumbled inside the ruined building.
But before the monster could stand—
Kaito grabbed one of its long claws.
Then he twisted its body violently.
CRAAACK!!
The arm broke completely.
The monster screamed.
That scream made Emma cover her ears, and the expression on her face showed that she was in pain.
"Hah... you hurt me too, just like her..."
"You're just like my mother too."
Then it opened its mouth as wide as it could.
A flood of cockroaches erupted.
Thousands... tens of thousands of tiny cockroaches surged toward them like a wave of disgusting insects.
They made the ground look as though it were moving beneath them. Some flew, while others crawled toward him at terrifying speed.
Emma screamed,
"Kaito!!!"
But Kaito did not retreat.
Nor did he let go of it.
He pulled the broken arm with even greater force—
Then tore it off completely.
Black blood splattered across the walls.
He slowly raised his hand.
"Chapter One—Erase."
Every cockroach that approached him suddenly disappeared, as though it had never existed in the first place.
"Annoying."
He said it as he threw the severed limb aside.
The monster roared in rage and charged at him.
Its legs transformed into long, razor-sharp blades (Harvest Legs) and slashed through the air toward Kaito.
Kaito spun his body with astonishing speed and struck the monster's side with a powerful roundhouse kick.
BAM!!
The wall behind the monster exploded from the force of the impact.
Before the monster could regain its balance,
Kaito grabbed its head with both hands and drove his knee into its deformed face with all his strength.
CRAAAAACK!!
Its black teeth shattered inside its mouth, while black saliva and blood splattered onto the ground... and onto Kaito as well.
But the monster did not fall.
Molting Shell.
The black shell cracked.
Then it completely peeled away from its body like the skin of an insect emerging from its old shell.
Beneath it appeared a dark crimson body.
Faster.
Larger.
More terrifying.
Kaito's smile widened.
"Finally... you're starting to look better."
The monster disappeared.
It appeared directly above the rooftop.
It let out a sharp scream—
Swarm Scream.
The entire air shook.
In a neighboring city...
All the dogs and cats hid.
A cup of tea fell from an old woman's hand.
A child raised his head.
"Grandma..."
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes. Go to sleep, my grandson. The high-speed train just passed through Nakano."
"But Nakano... is an abandoned city!!"
"Don't worry about it. Just go to sleep. You have to wake up early for school."
"Sleep, my dear... We're safe, at least here."
In the heart of Nakano—
Kaito felt blood flowing from his ear.
His vision blurred for a moment.
At that very moment—
The monster charged toward him with six black blades.
Shhhhhh!!
Kaito's abdomen was torn open.
One of the blades pierced his side.
The monster struck him violently and sent him crashing through two entire floors.
BOOOOM!!
Kaito fell into a ruined underground parking garage.
Blood covered his body.
His left arm trembled.
He laughed.
That laugh had never left Kaito since the beginning of the battle!
"This is the feeling..."
"The feeling I was searching for."
Emma was astonished as she whispered to herself,
"Am I watching a man fighting a monster... or a monster enjoying the fight?"
"Is he drunk...?"
Emma wondered after seeing a side of Kaito she had never expected to exist.
The true horror standing before her...
Was no longer the Cockroach Monster.
The way he smiled beneath the rain of black blood sent chills down her spine.
Emma suddenly realized something terrifying.
Kaito had never been cornered.
He was enjoying it.
The monster descended from above, as if it were a demon cast out of heaven.
But before it could collide—
Kaito disappeared.
He appeared directly behind the monster.
Then—
He grabbed its head with both hands.
And drove his knee into it.
BAAAAAAM!!
Its lower jaw shattered completely.
Before the monster could fall—
Kaito spun around it with incredible speed.
A massive roundhouse kick slammed into its side.
The remaining nearby cars exploded from the violent shockwave.
It sent the monster crashing through the concrete pillars.
But—
Using its legs and razor-sharp claws, it managed to anchor itself to the wall.
Then it opened its back.
The crimson shell cracked apart.
From inside, hundreds of black eggs emerged.
They fell to the ground.
Then exploded.
Tiny humanoid cockroaches crawled out of them.
Their faces resembled that of a crying little girl.
They ran toward Kaito while screaming in childish voices.
"Hungry..."
"Don't kill me again..."
"Why... does it hurt this much...?"
"Is it... my mother...?"
They tried to burrow into his skin.
His smile stopped for a moment.
"...Disgusting."
He raised his hand.
"Chapter Two."
Silence fell.
A circle expanded around him.
The moment the creatures entered its boundaries—
They were crushed by the overwhelming pressure.
Everyone felt as though the surrounding area had become like an empty bottle with all its air removed.
But this time—
Blood began to flow from his mouth and nose.
Then from his eyes.
He felt his body being pulled toward the abyss.
He struggled to breathe.
For a few brief seconds, Kaito forgot where he was.
And what he was doing there.
As though something inside him were slowly disappearing.
"Damn it... this isn't the right time to collapse..."
Above—
The monster was watching him.
It stopped attacking for a moment.
Its many eyes fixed on the blood streaming down Kaito's face.
It had noticed.
The ability was harming him.
Then it laughed at him!
Or at least, something resembling a human laugh.
It knew this was the perfect opportunity to kill him.
Suddenly—
It vanished.
But—
Instead of charging at Kaito again,
The monster suddenly turned toward Emma.
"I found her..."
"This... is your weakness."
It appeared directly in front of her.
Her transparent box shattered with a single strike.
Emma froze.
The claw was only centimeters away from her face—
But—
The monster's arm suddenly stopped.
Kaito was standing behind it.
Holding its head with one hand.
His eyes...
Were no longer the same as before.
Only darkness moved within them.
"I never gave you permission to touch her."
He tightened his grip.
The monster's head began to be crushed slowly.
First the right eye.
Then the jaw.
The monster began struggling frantically.
It struck Kaito dozens of times.
It smashed walls.
It tore his body apart.
"No..."
"I..."
"I don't want to die... please don't do this..."
"My mother... she's the reason... she's the one who should die."
"He... said... the pain would stop..."
But Kaito did not move.
"Oh... so that's it!"
He continued squeezing.
Until his own wounds also began to bleed heavily from the relentless attacks.
Emma screamed in terror,
"Kaito! Stop! You'll die too if you keep this up..."
But he simply ignored her.
He paid no attention to her words at all.
He had already made up his mind to kill this creature, even if he died with it.
He whispered to the monster,
"In the end..."
"Fear always devours its owner."
"But here..."
"...I will be the one to devour you."
He tightened his grip even more.
He crushed the monster's head completely.
While its body was still trembling.
It collapsed onto the ground.
The remaining cockroaches scattered in every direction, as though they were fleeing from an even greater predator.
Silence fell.
Kaito stood alone amid the rubble, the blood, the torn flesh, and the sweat.
As though he were the last one left alive inside a prison of monsters.
The blood mixed together and dripped down...
No one moved.
No one dared to approach him.
Then he coughed up blood.
His legs could no longer support him.
He dropped to one knee.
"Emma... I'm... fine."
She stared at him in silence.
For the first time...
She was truly afraid of him.
He had saved her life.
And yet—
He seemed even more terrifying than before.
"Is he... the same person?"
At last, he collapsed from exhaustion.
She ran toward him as fast as she could and caught him before he fell onto his back.
She raised her eyes toward him with genuine concern.
Emma realized something terrifying.
Kaito became more dangerous every time he killed a new monster.
"You're crazy..."
He laughed in a broken voice as he slowly closed his eyes.
"I know."
Then he lost consciousness.
But—
Before he completely blacked out—
He heard Emma whisper in a trembling voice,
"What kind of monster..."
"...was sent into our world?"
She gently touched his face as she looked at him.
"This man..."
"...may one day become a disaster worse than any monster we've ever faced."
"Can you hear me, Lilith?!"
A brief silence followed.
Then—
Lilith's calm voice came through the communicator.
"Yes."
"I know that."
Lilith looked at a screen.
A report appeared:
Threat Evaluation
Kaito Soren
Current Risk:
UNKNOWN
Potential Risk:
∞
Then she closed the screen before anyone could see it.