Mercy And The Start Of A Tragedy
However!
Kazuichi was one step ahead of him. Without hesitation, Kazuichi charged forward in the blink of an eye, and he reappeared in front of Hinokami just before his feet landed on the ground. A grunt was heard, and Kazuichi tightened his core and pounded on Hinokami with both hands.
BAM!
A huge explosion resounded, followed by sand and earth erupting from the ground. It's as if someone stepped on the landmine, or rather, someone purposefully bombed himself.
The gust of wind carried the debris, causing everyone to flinch as they caught dirt in their eyes. They had no idea what just happened, but they were confident that Kazuichi was winning. After all, not only did he easily block Hinokami's full-power attack, but he also managed to push him back with ease.
"Leader!"
"KAZUICHI!"
On Hinokami's side, his subordinates screamed out of concern. Nevertheless, the screams on Kazuichi's side were much more prominent, although they were aware that Kazuichi would've come out of that attack unscathed.
Kamigawa Arisu even had the capacity to smile since she was confident that Kazuichi had just won that fight.
When the dust settled, a crater could be seen stamped on the ground, and in it, Kazuichi stood. A little bit deeper into the crater was Hinokami's body. His head was spurting with blood, and he had a hard time breathing since a couple of his ribs were broken. Fortunately, he didn't suffer any fatal injuries as a Hybrid, such as a broken spine or a broken neck.
With bated breaths, Hinokami wheezed as he stared at Kazuichi who towered over his body. 'This is the end. I'm going to die here, aren't I? I'm going to die and then North Yamanashi Stronghold will die with me. I don't want to die.' Hinokami looked up, seeing Kazuichi's seething rage expressed through his face.
"Ki~ll me ~gahh~ now." Hinokami spat out blood from his mouth. He was suffering, but in no way would he die. As the saying goes, 'tis but a scratch' for a Hybrid like him.
For a moment, Kazuichi actually considered killing him. There was the incident during the auction, and then there was also the incident in this shelter. There were a lot of justifications for him to end his life, yet somehow, Kazuichi felt like he shouldn't.
Call it Hybrid instincts or whatever, but Kazuichi wasn't inclined to kill him at all. Of course, he had a different mindset back when he saw him about to attack the entrance guard. However, right now, he couldn't bring himself to kill him.
Besides, it was clear that Hinokami didn't really intend to kill the entrance guard. A Hybrid could move faster than a human, and he could've easily bit the entrance guard or sliced his head off before Kazuichi could do something about it.
"You lost most of your subordinates and humiliated yourself a couple of times in the process." Kazuichi heaved a sigh. "Because of your conceit, your men lost their lives, and your stronghold might fall due to lack of personnel. Let that sink in, Hinokami, and let this be both a punishment and a reminder for you." Kazuichi continued.
Before Hinokami could retort, he fainted, and his subordinates rushed towards him as urgently as they could.
As for Kazuichi, he walked back to the shelter and asked the entrance guard if he was all right. After that confirmation, he walked a little bit forward and grabbed the edge of the fence which Hinokami toppled over when he charged at the shelter.
Grunting, Kazuichi exerted so much force that his veins almost popped. Thanks to that, he managed to lift the entire front fence and propped it up, returning it to how it once was so the shelter residents wouldn't feel unsafe from a broken fence. As for the gaping hole by the entrance, the entrance guard said that it would be an easy fix so Kazuichi didn't bother going out of his way to fix it himself.
In a way, Kazuichi actually blamed himself since it was his presence that brought Hinokami to the shelter. But now that everything was over, he knew that Hinokami wouldn't return. His army and his will were destroyed, there was nothing else he could do but tuck and tail and run back to his stronghold.
Granted mercy, Hinokami was grabbed by his subordinates as they did an embarrassing retreat. With this, the threat of the North Yamanashi Stronghold wouldn't affect the shelter anymore. And Kazuichi will see to it that today's incident won't happen again in the future.
"Thank you," Once again, the entrance guard thanked Kazuichi for what he did.
The other residents who saw his pure display of power thought twice about thanking him since he was a Hybrid and most of them were against welcoming a Hybrid in their shelter. But after what he did, throwing himself on the Hybrid that threatened their shelter, the residents just had to concede and thank him.
What happened a moment ago changed their mindset for good. Instead of looking at Hybrids as monsters, they now saw them in another light. Of course, they weren't that foolish to just welcome any Hybrids on sight, but welcoming Hybrids in their midst was not out of the question anymore.
From the distance, they watched as Hinokami's group vanished into the city. They were just glad that nothing happened to their shelter and it was all thanks to Kazuichi who was there to save the day.
"I guess that's our cue." Kazuichi let out an exhale as he turned around, bowing towards Shig who was still there with them. "We'll be going now, We still have to cross the Yamanashi Prefecture so we can get home."
"Once my sister's all recovered, we'll try to visit. Please take care of yourselves out there." Shig said as he too bowed his head towards Kazuichi.
With their due farewell done, Kazuichi and his group (now with the addition of Ayaka) exited the shelter and headed home. One more prefecture and Kazuichi could finally return to his lifestyle as a shut-in.
Little did they know... that the attack on Shig's shelter was just a prelude of what's about to come. The stronghold wars was imminent, and it was going to happen right in front of them.