"Boss, the emergency response has been completed. Please refrain from strenuous exercise for the time being..."
"Boss, the red lion and that man are coming soon, why don't we first..."
The skeleton head covered his neck and panted heavily.
"Feathers stay, everyone else retreats."
Zushou sat on the chair, seemingly not ready to move at all.
There was a dead silence in the safe house, and the subordinates who had been shouting just now stopped talking. A silent short man walked up to the leader of Death Wings, bowed and said.
"Mr. Huxian, there are only five feathers left for you to fight. I think I should also——"
"Three times the commission is already in your account."
He was breathing heavily, but his words were still strong, not allowing anyone to refuse. Everyone in the room had just seen the leader's miserable state, but no one felt that he was weakened. He was sitting on a chair, his clothes soaked with sweat, and his body was shaking from time to time due to weakness. But the eyes under the skull mask are still fierce, like a lone wolf forced to a dead end.
This man is covered with wings woven from fear and loyalty. No matter how severely injured he is, the black wings will not fall off, but will only be dyed bright red with blood.
Zushou's subordinates nodded silently and followed his orders. He stood up with difficulty and raised his right arm. The mechanical arm was as shiny as new.
"The last one."
·
Caldesia asked casually as she looked out the window.
"Reiichi, when you were treating the wound just now, did you forget everything about today?"
"One day's memory refers to the memory of one day. Compared with one day's memory, the memory of that day is a heavier price, because if the memory of that day is paid as the price, the state of the brain will directly return to yesterday. At the same time. Just looking at the results would put me in an extremely disadvantageous situation."
What specific day is the memory? He thought Caldesia would continue to ask to the end.
In fact, what can be paid as the price of treatment are good memories. Specifically, it was his memory after escaping from Shigure Research Institute and coming to Sky City.
Curse is a technique of harm. As long as you pay pain, you can get the pain of others. But if you want to use this power to heal something or regain something, you must give up what you value. Otherwise, the two ends of the scale cannot be balanced.
"That's it."
But the girl didn't ask any more questions. She put the dry hat on and pointed to the building not far away.
"We're here."
The Red Meteor transformed from a robot back into a car and stopped in front of a dark building.
Perhaps it was realized that there was no point in sending any more subordinates, or perhaps it was because Deathwing's manpower had suffered heavy losses in the battle, and no one stopped him in front of the safe house where the skull was. The door of the building is wide open, like a silent invitation to the two of them.
Shigurei got out of the car first.
"Caldesia, how many people do you think there are left?"
The blonde girl declined the driver's suggestion of treatment and turned half of her body into flames to suppress the injuries. The light spot on her right arm no longer continued to spread, but faded at a speed visible to the naked eye. It seemed that she had finally approached the limit of the "Death Charge" ability.
"The Wings of Death are no longer the size they used to be. I have defeated all the most elite ones, and most of the other fish have been beaten on the way here. I estimate that only... five people can be defeated around Skeleton Head. Six?"
There is at least one psychic who can create large-scale illusions. It should be a high-level spiritual connection, but it won't be a manifestation state. The price cannot be paid.
Reiichi Shigure took off his gloves in advance and tried to persuade him one last time.
"Cardesia——"
The hat girl didn't give him a chance. Her words were decisive and could not be rejected, just like her usual whims.
"I will go with you."
The young man in a suit could only smile bitterly: "Promise me not to get hurt again."
Caldesia nodded excitedly, and he sincerely hoped that the girl would listen to his advice. To be honest, the psychological pressure that Caldesia brought to him was several times greater than that of Skeleton Head and Deathwing combined. He had never been on such a difficult mission before, never...only the morning appointment could compare to this.
It was also a date now, and thinking of this, he felt even more stressed.
Shigure Reiichi took off his gloves in advance. He scratched the palm of his hand with his fingertips and used the scarred back of his hand as a canvas to draw. Complex patterns are quickly formed without any mistakes. The hands are interlaced like butterflies, showing the complete pattern on the back of the hands.
What appeared on the young man's hands were bloody scales.
Shigure Reiichi declared softly.
"The foul music curses the body, and the intention is to control the direct adjoining."
"Disaster appears——"
The most ferocious and evil experimental subject in Shigure Research Institute completely revealed his mind at this moment.
A huge human figure appeared behind the young man. The figure was covered in a gauze-like burqa. There was only a bottomless darkness under the cuffs and hood, and nothing could be seen. Floating in front of the white shadow was a scale as wide as it, half golden and half gray. This was the true form of Shigurei's Immortal Law.
"Dirty Jinri·Curse the balance."
He started the initial transaction.
“The price is not being able to move for ten minutes, and the reward is increased physical fitness for ten minutes.”
The scales tilt slightly toward the golden side.
There is enough time, if necessary, just conduct the same type of transaction again.
Reiichi Shigure pulled out the pistol he carried with him, turned on the safety, and walked towards the building without changing his expression. As he stepped into the safe house, there were soft sounds from the left and right sides, and a bullet was fired into his head through the muzzle of the silencer-equipped gun! Immediately afterwards, a strong man holding a stick came from the front!
The young man in a suit leaned back and stretched out his arms. The Curse Balance transaction brought about an all-round improvement in his physical fitness. The bullets flew past the cuffs of his suit, causing only slight burns.
"The price is to accept other people's injuries." He pulled the trigger, and the bullet shot forward, passing through the third person's shoulder. "The reward is to reproduce my scars."
The white phantom robe fluttered, and the balance tilted to the dark side. There were screams of horror and pain from both sides of the entrance, one person's body was bursting with numerous wounds that were deep enough to see the bones, and one person's flesh was melting like rot! Shigurei stepped forward and punched out with his left fist. The protruding knuckles hit the strong man's throat, completely shattering the protruding Adam's apple. In just one breath, all three men in black fell to the ground!
The fourth ambusher jumped up from behind the sofa, a dark green light ball lighting up in his hand! The young man in a suit ducked sideways and shot the bullet into the side of the man in black. The impact of the bullet caused the man to fall. Shigurei turned around and kicked to the side. His legs were thrown out like a long whip, and his toes hit the man's temple, defeating the enemy with one blow!
The fifth man in black jumped from the second floor and opened fire wildly with his submachine gun. The young man in a suit used the reaction of the kick to retreat while aiming at the wrist of the fifth person. The man in black immediately leaned over to avoid it, but unfortunately, among the countless bullets he had just fired, one "coincidentally" grazed the young man's leg...
“The price is accepting other people’s hurt, and the reward is recreating my scars.”
Young people in suits repeat their old tricks. The fifth man in black was completely charred and fell down without saying a word. There was no one left in the spacious hall, and Caldesia was just catching up from behind.
She glanced at the miserable situation in the hall, nodded and said, "Are you actually the ace agent secretly trained by Zero Island?"
Gongsun also said similar things before.
Your two minds are surprisingly similar in some ways.
"My origins are more... cruel."
While responding, he turned his attention to the passage leading to the second floor. Eight stairs spiral down the hall, and behind each staircase is a closed door.
It doesn't look like a normal building structure. I'm afraid, this is a trap set for him by the spirit magician.
"The price is-"
"Let me tell you, Reiichi." The blonde girl interrupted his declaration, "This staircase with unknown meaning and the hand that reversed the sign before were the work of the same guy, right?"
"I guess so... Caldesia?"
"In other words, it's an illusion. This thing—"
Caldesia gritted her teeth and squatted down, slamming her hands on the floor.
“It’s useless as long as you burn it all!!!”
Eight flame pillars as thick as tree trunks rose up, burning all the stairs to the ground! Eight pillars of flames met on the ceiling and fell like a tide, washing away all the areas outside the second-story door. But after hearing a scream, all the stairs suddenly disappeared, leaving only a short man covered in fire falling from the sky!
Caldesia breathed a tired sigh and clapped her hands, feeling as happy as if she had received revenge.
"Solve it! How do you usually deal with this ability?"
The young man in a suit thought for a moment and replied with a smile.
"I think your method is more efficient."
Compared with the method of cracking, Caldesia's power reserves were even more beyond his expectations. After going through a chaos of that scale, he was still able to attack with great power, what a lot of physical strength.
After noticing the probing gaze of her companion, the blonde girl flipped her hair triumphantly.
"I'm an energy release type user, how can I survive if the power goes out at this level!"
He obviously doesn't like fighting, but he still uses the term "huddle"...
He didn't say this out loud. The top priority now was to resolve the battle. After the flames swept away, all the traps set by the spirit magicians were violently broken. No matter what arrangement the corpse had originally made, there is only a charred staircase and a closed iron door left in the building. The door is closed.
Skeletor never used his powers again. At first glance, it looks like the leader of the organization has given up resistance, but in fact it is a wise decision: Shigure Reiichi's two attacks have proven that he has the power to counter the "Death Wings", and it is impossible for Kushou to destroy his life gate. delivered to the enemy again. There were only two ways left before him: either fight to the end, or take the opportunity to retreat.
Which path will the skeleton head choose? The answer is self-evident. The organization's combat power is almost exhausted, and the leader of Deathwing has no choice at this moment. If the skull chooses to escape, he will no longer have a foothold. The leader of a violent organization would rather die than choose such a tragic end.
He grasped the handle of the iron door and tried to twist it.
The door is unlocked.
"Cardesia, stand aside first."
The blonde girl did as she was told, and the young man held the gun in both hands and opened the door sideways!
"Ah ah ah ah ah--!"
A hoarse roar and the sound of the iron door hitting the wall sounded at the same moment. The man in the skull mask protected his mechanical arm in front of him and crashed in like a mad bull! The pistol bullet flew towards the head, causing sparks on the skull's mask and flicking aside. Seeing that he was about to be hit by Kushou, Shiyurei rolled to the side, his pistol was close to the ground and fired, pointing directly at Kushou's ankles!
clang! The warheads were huddled together in the tough bulletproof special equipment, unable to move even an inch. It was meaningless to use conventional weapons to deal with this armed man!
"Useless!"
Reiichi Shigure missed the opportunity again, and Sushou roared and punched! The silver-white mechanical arm rubbed the corner of the young man's clothes and smashed down, smashing the floor on the second floor to pieces. The two of them fell into the lobby on the first floor together!
Reiichi Shigure aimed at the enemy's eyes in the air and fired two shots. The bullets were all bounced away by the skull's mechanical arm. The two landed at the same time, only a short distance away from each other. The young man in a suit reached out first, without attacking, but put his index finger on the mechanical arm of the skull!
"The price is a minute of stinging."
He chuckled and blinked, and the half-gold and half-grey scale behind him was about to tilt. Sushou suddenly remembered all the strange attacks before, and felt something bad in his heart! He decisively gave up this perfect opportunity to attack and threw away the young man's touch——
But at this moment, the young man in a suit burst out at a speed far beyond his expectation! Shigurei kicked the ground with one foot, and his slender body jumped up like a cheetah. He deliberately chose to attack with a pistol, showing only slightly superhuman skills, just to make the skull head miscalculate. And the wrong impression derived from the fighting method determines the victory at this moment!
Shigure Reito walked in front of the masked man. He covered the skull's face with his left hand, and with a strong force, crushed the skull mask into pieces in his palm!
The conditions are met again and the unfinished transaction continues!
"The payoff is transferring the scars on my torso within a minute."
Not a recurrence, but a transfer. What was reproduced was only a few inconspicuous scars among the countless scars, while all the scars on the torso were transferred.
The scale tilted toward the dark side, and Shigure Reiichi's countless scars hidden under his suit disappeared in an instant. At the same time, the skeleton let out a scream that was not like a human voice! His strong body convulsed wildly, rolling on the ground like a madman. Pierced, chopped, burned, corroded... all the injuries that humans can imagine have appeared on the skull at this moment. His face was distorted like a demon, and his body was so miserable that it was no longer humanoid!
Shigure Reiichi looked down at the man with no emotion in his eyes.
Curses are techniques created out of malice. They are the means of the unfortunate, the filthy, and the hated. They are vicious rituals that inflict pain on others.
All this was the pain he had suffered.
The tragedy in the hall was as horrifying as hell on earth, and no one would think that this was "just" revenge. Compared to the masterpieces of Shigure Research Institute, even Skeleton Capital looks like an upright warrior.
He tried his best not to think about the girl who was watching. He raised his gun, ready to fire the last bullet.
"Stop, Reiichi."
Shigure Reiichi did not put down his pistol.
"I've killed many people, Caldesia."
"That's it."
The girl grabbed his wrist and refused to give in.
Shigurei sighed silently and put down his pistol. The white shadow behind him disappeared together with the balance, and no new scars appeared on the body of the skeleton. Those terrible injuries returned to the body of the impermanent lawmaker.
The skeleton's mask had been crushed just now, and his lineup was revealed under the pale fragments. There was not a single piece of flesh on this man's face, and his ferocious appearance was enough to make a child cry.
He kept his eyes open and refused to close them. He ignored the young man who knocked him down and stared at the blonde beside him.
"I didn't lose to you..."
The skull's voice was extremely weak. After suffering such tragic injuries, it was a miracle that he could speak at all.
"I didn't...lose to you...Red Lion!"
Caldesia took off her hat and looked down at the dying man.
"Yes, the Red Lion lost to you."
Then.
She hugged the silent young man beside her, and smiled refreshingly under the equally astonished gazes of the two men.
"But Caldesia doesn't care about this little thing!"
The girl put on her top hat and no longer paid any attention to the skull.
"Let's go, Reiichi!"
"Huh? Wait, Caldesia..."
She grabbed the young man's collar and dragged him out of the dark building.
The afternoon passed in the melee, and it was almost dusk. The sun, which was about to set soon, showered the two with light that was no longer so dazzling.
Caldesia dragged the young man in a suit to the sports car. She put her hands on her hips and asked with all her face, "Can you tell me?"
Shigurei lowered his gaze.
"I am……"
He softly recounted his past.
About the research institution in the remote island country, about the inhumane experiments conducted there, and about a certain child who was selected as an experimental subject.
About the scars on his body, about his capacity for spite, and about the blood stained on his hands.
It took longer than he thought to confess the past, and even the compensatory time for being unable to move had passed.
Caldesia didn't interrupt, and kept listening intently.
"...This is the real Shigure Reiichi."
After he finished speaking, he stared at his feet. He didn't dare to look up at the girl's expression.
"Then what? Keep talking."
Shigurei looked up in surprise. The blond girl stood there with her arms folded, her face showing no special intention, as if she was just urging him to continue what he had not finished.
"That's all."
Caldesia's expression finally changed. It didn't look like disgust, nor did it look like fear.
She looked angry.
"You haven't finished speaking yet!" Her roar made the young man dizzy, as if a lion was roaring viciously, "Why did you say it was a joke at the end this morning!!!"
"..."
The young man in a suit opened his mouth but was speechless. He had imagined countless responses, but this question was not one of them. Shigure Reiichi was unprepared and answered hastily as in the morning: "I thought...I...I felt I was not qualified...I was worried that you would..."
Caldesia moved her wrists and squeezed out a few words through her teeth.
"Bite your teeth."
He did it subconsciously. There was a dull thud, a burning pain came from my chin, and stars really popped up in my head. Caldesia throws an uppercut!
"——Who would hate you for something like this, idiot!!"
He was so confused that he finally opened his eyes. The beautiful face of the blonde girl was getting closer and closer in his eyes. She hugged the young man's body tightly and kissed his lips gently.
Shigurei raised his hand tremblingly and put the ugly back of his hand on the girl's back.
He had never been so confused, and he had never been so happy.
He carefully built an invisible bridge to connect the two hearts.
They hugged each other and were no longer separated.
·
In the distance, a blue-haired woman in hunting attire lowered her binoculars.
She twisted the corners of her mouth sarcastically, wanting to say something mean as usual. But somehow, the words came to my lips, but I couldn't say them out.
Shigurei turned around and disappeared in the shadows, leaving only a plain word that drifted away in the wind.
"I wish you happiness."
