Chapter 228: Instant Kill

"Excellent."

Hearing Ashikaga Miwa agree, Oko nodded in satisfaction, looking as though everything had gone exactly according to plan.

He then turned and walked up to one of his bodyguards, patting him on the shoulder with a kindly smile. To an outside observer, it looked as though he were offering a few words of encouragement.

What he actually said was:

"If you win, you get one billion yen. And if your fighter kills her in the match, all two billion from this wager will be yours."

The bodyguard, a heavily built man around 1.75 meters tall, revealed a greedy grin and replied in a low voice,

"Understood. Leave it to me."

From the way the man stood and the way he walked, Asagiri could already tell he was not a professional fighter. There was no sign of formal hand to hand training anywhere in his body.

Oko would never send an ordinary bodyguard into a combat match like this.

That left only one possibility.

The opponent was also a Player.

Of course, even among Players, there were levels.

Someone like Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, or Kato Megumi, people already sitting at the top of the food chain at this stage, would never show such obvious greed over a mere two billion yen. In the end, how could true powerhouses among Players be lured into underground combat just for money?

And because his physical abilities had long surpassed normal human limits, Asagiri had naturally heard every word Oko had just whispered to the bodyguard.

Perfect.

He had no intention of holding back anyway.

The best enemy was always a dead one.

"Begin the pre match inspection."

The referee walked up to Asagiri and lightly checked the mask on his face, then started examining the outside of his clothes, his cuffs, ankles, and other areas. This was to ensure there were no concealed weapons, since the rules of combat matches strictly prohibited external aids. If any were found, the fighter would be disqualified immediately.

"Hey, brat."

While the referee was still carrying out the inspection, the bodyguard in the suit seemed unable to wait any longer. He took off his black jacket, and the sleeves of his white shirt stretched tight over his bulging arms.

He stared at Asagiri with naked contempt.

"Got any last words? Better say them now. Once the match starts, I’m going to smash your head open."

"Even your taunts sound like those of a nameless extra. There’s no killing intent in them at all. A pathetic weakling like you shouldn’t be barking here."

The moment the masked fighter spoke for the first time, Oko frowned and immediately started comparing the voice in his mind to Utsunomiya Asagiri’s.

Not the same.

Completely different. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Even when Utsunomiya Asagiri mocked someone, there was always a faint smile hidden in his tone. That was exactly why his insults were so lethal. It was as if he truly saw no one as worthy of standing in his eyes, not even someone like Oko, the chairman himself.

But this masked man was different. His tone was flat and calm. His voice sounded slightly hoarse, carrying only a trace of murderous intent, like someone who had survived countless fights and carried far too many lives on his hands.

As for similarities in the insults themselves, Oko didn’t consider that meaningful evidence. There were only so many ways to curse someone, and he had encountered fighters before who were skilled at rattling their opponents with words during a match.

That alone proved nothing.

Of course, none of that really mattered.

Once the Player he had hired for a fortune killed this man, all he had to do was remove that annoying mask from the corpse, and the answer would be obvious.

Oko did not actually believe this fighter was Utsunomiya Asagiri.

And yet, he very much wanted him to be.

Because if that were true, then today’s humiliation would finally be repaid in full.

After the inspection ended, the referee retreated, leaving the ring completely to Asagiri and the bodyguard. Then he announced,

"The match begins now."

The bodyguard rolled his neck, cracked his knuckles, and stared at Asagiri from ten meters away with vicious anticipation.

"Kid, are you ready? What you’re about to face is hel—"

"Thump. Thump. Thump."

Before he could finish, a sound like a revving engine suddenly echoed through the arena.

The bodyguard froze.

Before he could even identify where that strange sound had come from, Asagiri, who had been standing ten meters away just a moment ago, vanished, leaving behind only a few fading afterimages.

When he reappeared, he was already right in front of him.

"Bang!"

Facing the bodyguard’s widened eyes and terror stricken expression, Asagiri did not hesitate in the slightest. He simply drove a straight punch into the man’s face.

"Dong!"

After taking the blow, the man’s thick, muscular body remained where it stood.

His head did not.

It tore free from his neck and flew backward like a baseball launched by a home run swing, slamming into the wall with a sickening crash and bursting into a spray of red and white.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Looking at the headless corpse collapsed on the floor, and listening to the sound of blood dripping from Asagiri’s gloves, the entire arena fell silent.

Several seconds passed before the referee finally came back to himself. Trembling, he pointed at Asagiri and announced in a shaking voice,

"T The match is over. The winner is... Ashikaga Busha!"

Oko Shinomiya was completely dumbstruck. He even rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he had just seen. The influential figures seated in the distance were no better. Every one of them wore an expression of stunned disbelief.

This was too absurd.

The match had ended less than five seconds after it began.

And it had ended in a manner so bloody, so violent, and so overwhelmingly one sided that it bordered on insanity.

To punch a man’s head clean off and send it flying like that... was this even human?

Ashikaga Miwa slowly walked over to Asagiri’s side. Without even glancing at the gruesome corpse, she looked at Oko’s blank face and said lightly,

"I’ll have someone contact you later regarding the transfer of the two billion yen."

After saying that, Ashikaga Miwa left the building with Asagiri, leaving behind only the horrifying scene and Oko, who still could not accept what had just happened.

...

Later that night, back at Asagiri’s home.

Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko were all sitting on the sofa, each wearing anxious expressions. Even Kato Megumi, who normally spent every free moment looking down at her phone, was just resting her chin on one hand and staring blankly ahead, completely unable to focus.

Click.

The moment they heard the key slide into the lock, all three girls lit up at once.

At Yuuki Asuna’s signal, Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko immediately stood as well, and the three of them rushed together toward the entrance.

When the door opened, they looked at Asagiri and said in gentle unison,

"Welcome home."

"Whoa, what’s this?"

Seeing Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko all waiting for him at the door, Asagiri paused for a moment before breaking into a laugh.

"Where did I come back to? Is this still Shibuya, Tokyo? Judging from the atmosphere, are we entering that exciting entrance hall scene where the God of War Utsunomiya Asagiri has to 1v3?"

"No being improper."

Yuuki Asuna stepped up and lightly patted him, speaking with a trace of annoyance. But then relief immediately filled her face, and she smiled.

"But since you can still joke like this, it means you probably weren’t seriously hurt, right? Was the fight difficult?"

"It was alright."

Asagiri changed his shoes, walked into the living room, and sat down on the sofa. Looking at the three girls, all clearly full of curiosity, he said with a smile,

"It took about 3.2 seconds. Then the other guy died. He was really fragile."

"3.2 seconds? That’s way too fast, isn’t it?"

Iwanaga Kotoko couldn’t help blurting that out.

"Don’t tell me we overestimated Oko and he just sent in some random guy off the street?"

"That’s not it."

Asagiri shook his head and placed his right hand on the coffee table.

Only then did they notice it.

The joints of his right hand were swollen and red, as though they had been badly burned.

"The fighter Oko sent was also a Player, and he had some kind of passive ability similar to damage reflection. As long as you touched him, even through clothing, you would take fire damage in return. My guess is that the longer the contact, the stronger the reflected fire damage became."

He glanced at his hand.

"That’s why I was able to kill him instantly. In a normal match, that ability would be disgustingly overpowered. If someone got dragged into a close fight with him, they’d just keep taking fire damage while he sat there and defended."

After saying that, Asagiri looked up.

And found that Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko were not really listening to his explanation at all.

Yuuki Asuna’s brows were slightly furrowed, and her eyes were full of heartache. She sat down beside him, her voice trembling faintly.

"Does it hurt a lot...?"

Iwanaga Kotoko took his hand in both of hers and gently blew on the burned joints.

Kato Megumi turned and walked toward the drawer of the TV cabinet, searching through it as she spoke.

"Do we have any ointment for burns...? Honestly, knowing your personality, I doubt you’d keep anything like that at home. I’ll go buy some right now."

"No... do you really need to be this dramatic?"

Asagiri smiled wryly and shook his head.

"With my constitution, this will probably heal within two hours. Why are you acting like I’ve been burned into a charcoal stick? Really, there’s no need."

Then, as if nothing had happened, he casually changed the subject and said with a grin,

"Of course, if you really feel sorry for me, I don’t mind if you put on something sexy to comfort me. Oh, right..."

He leaned back slightly.

"I want to see black stockings tonight."

.....

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