Sakamoto days : The Heinous Flower

Chapter 10

??? POV

I've never in my life thought I will see somone manage to hit him ... but to think he actually landed a hit on the master

" oi kid ... stop spacing , we need to focus "

To my right my colleague wearing a chem suit holding a sniper rifle , he looked a bit scared as he constantly checks on the fight below

" Ah senpai... I was just wondering... why are wearing this dumb suit if we were just going to shoot him from afar ? " I asked him

He shot me a sharp glare through the visor of his chem suit. "Kid, do you really not understand what we're dealing with? This 'dumb suit' is the only thing keeping me from puking my guts out or worse. If you think being here without one is a good idea, you're either brave or stupid."

I blinked, caught off guard by his sudden intensity. "But we're just supposed to take a shot and get out, right? It's not like we're heading down there."

He let out a dry laugh, his grip tightening on the sniper rifle. "You really don't get it. I know this is your first time, but let me break it down for you: the master's body isn't just dangerous—it's a walking hazard. His radiation levels are barely below the elephant's foot."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "The elephant's foot? Like, the Chernobyl nuclear waste?"

"Exactly," he said grimly. "And that's on a bad day. The fact that we're standing here means we're already risking our lives. So stop acting like we're here to pluck daisies."

I glanced down at the scene below, watching the master move with impossible speed and precision. Even from this distance, the oppressive weight of his presence was suffocating. "Still… to see someone actually land a hit on him… I didn't think it was possible."

"Yeah, well, don't get too impressed," he muttered, adjusting his scope. "The moment the master gets serious, it's over. And if that happens, guess who has to clean up the mess? Us. We'll be the ones dragging that poor boy's radioactive corpse out of here."

I swallowed hard, regret pooling in my stomach. "What did I sign up for?"

"Just a tip," he added, his voice low and laced with sarcasm. "When you meet the grand master, try not to act too zesty. He's got… specific tastes, and let's just say he's into muscular guys. You might not like the attention."

My stomach churned, and I suddenly wished I'd stayed home. I forced myself to focus, pushing past the unease. "What's the target's name?" I asked, hoping for something that might ground the situation.

My colleague didn't even look at me, His voice was cold and steady. "A dead man." He turned his head toward the fight below, his gaze sharp. From the looks of it, the battle had reached its conclusion. "Well, it's over now. Get ready, rookie." He pulled out his sniper rifle, adjusting it with practiced precision, and aimed directly at the target's heart.

"Ah!... yes," I stammered, fumbling with my own rifle. I peered through the scope and froze. Down below, the Grand Master stood with his right eye gone, a gory mess where it once was. And in front of him, barely standing, was the target

"No need to feel sorry for him, kid," my colleague said, his tone almost dismissive. "Death will comes for all of us sooner or later."

'He's right,' I thought grimly, steadying my aim as best I could. My crosshairs hovered over his battered form.

"NOW!" my colleague barked, and the thunder of heavy gunfire erupted, reverberating through the factory. The target's body jerked violently as bullets tore through him, riddling him with holes.

"Idiot! What are you waiting for? Shoot him!" my colleague shouted at me, his voice cutting through the chaos.

"Y-yes, sir!" I quickly adjusted my aim, moving the crosshairs toward the target's head. But as I looked through the scope, my breath caught. He was staring directly at me.

Those bloodshot eyes locked onto mine, unwavering, defiant. It felt like he wasn't just looking at me—but through me. My hands trembled, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

I instinctively pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The shot echoed like a final judgment, and I watched through the scope as his head snapped back. His body swayed for a moment, as though defying gravity, before collapsing into a growing pool of blood.

For a few heartbeats, everything was still. My chest felt tight, my hands clammy against the rifle. The world seemed muted, the gravity of what I'd done pressing down on me like a vice.

My colleague exhaled sharply, breaking the silence. "Good. Target's down." He lowered his rifle, his tone indifferent as though we hadn't just ended someone's life. "Well well now is the hard part , good job kid"

I wanted to respond, to say something—anything—but the words wouldn't come. All I could do was stare through the scope, unable to tear my eyes away from Kasumi's lifeless form, half-expecting him to suddenly lunge at me the moment I looked away.

"Stop gawking, rookie. We're going down," my colleague barked, already slinging his rifle over his shoulder and heading for the ladder.

Reluctantly, I followed. But as soon as my boots hit the ground, I froze.

"What the... what the actual fuck?" I muttered, my eyes widening in disbelief.

The destruction that had seemed manageable from our perch above now loomed in colossal proportions. Craters big enough to swallow cars dotted the area, walls were reduced to rubble, and machinery was twisted and mangled as if giants had been brawling here. It was chaos incarnate, like something out of a kaiju movie brought horrifyingly to life.

"Keep moving," my colleague snapped, though his voice betrayed a hint of unease.

I hesitated, my gaze lingering on the scene. "This... this was just two people fighting?"

My colleague gave me a sidelong glance before sighing deeply.

"Goodbye, my beloved," a voice came from my right side

Confused, I turned to my right, and my eyes widened. Standing there was thr grand master wearing an old British army uniform, complete with ornate buttons and a frayed coat.

'Pfft, is he cosplaying Napoleon?' I thought, barely suppressing a laugh.

But my amusement was short-lived.

"Baby," the man spoke, his voice soft but dripping with menace. He turned his remaining left eye to me, his gaze pinning me in place like a dagger. "Are you thinking something rude about me?"

Panic shot through me as a cold sweat broke out across my back. 'Oh crap... I'm screwed.'

Beside me, my colleague groaned, shaking his head in disappointment. "Really, kid? Of all people ..."

The albino's lips curled into a sickly sweet smile, his voice deceptively calm. "If you have a problem with me mourning my love, why don't you come here and say it to my face?"

I froze, every instinct in my body screaming to run, but my legs refused to move.

"Haha… do you blame him?" a voice suddenly broke the tense silence.

It was the man who had been checking the target's corpse. He stood there casually, his tone light, as if the carnage around us was nothing more than a mundane annoyance.

Before we could even turn our heads toward him, his hand moved like a blur, plunging a blade straight into the grandmaster head.

'Eh?!' My mind reeled, struggling to comprehend the speed and brutality of the scene.

The albino staggered slightly, his expression frozen in shock, but before he could react further, the world around me turned upside down.

My vision blurred and all I could make out was the sound of gurgling breaths and sickening thuds. The last image etched into my mind was my colleagues' heads hitting the ground one by one.

'Did I die?!' The thought screamed through my head as darkness swallowed me whole.

____________

Nagumo POV

To think Kasumi managed to survive everything that was thrown at him... is he even human?

I couldn't help but stare at his battered form lying amidst the carnage. Blood pooled beneath his face and the faint bubbles forming in it confirmed he was breathing—barely, but alive.

"B...baby, is that you? Did you come to take your friend's corpse?"

The voice, weak and slurred, came from the midget. Despite the knife lodged deep in his skull

Without even turning his way, I threw another knife, this one aimed straight at his head again.

Thud.

The sound confirmed he was finally done for.

I turned back to Kasumi, crouching beside him. His chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven movements. His body was heavy, like dead weight, but the fact that he was still alive was enough to push me forward.

"C'mon, buddy, let's get you out of here," I muttered, slipping an arm under him and hoisting him up as best I could.

"…Na…Nagu…mu…" Kasumi's lips moved faintly, the words barely audible. "R…ru…n…"

I froze, my gaze locking onto the midget's corpse. It was bloating, grotesquely expanding like a balloon about to burst.

"What the hell…?" I muttered, dread clawing at my chest.

Kasumi's grip on my sleeve tightened weakly. "R-run… now…" he rasped, barely audible.

The corpse's skin began to crack, faint beams of light spilling from within as a deep, ominous hum filled the air. The pressure around us grew unbearable, and my instincts screamed at me to move.

And then— BOOM.

A deafening silence followed the explosion, as if the world had taken a breath and forgotten to exhale.

When I opened my eyes a few seconds later, I found myself standing far from the explosion, in the middle of the street. My mind struggled to comprehend how I'd gotten here And what happened?

I glanced around and saw Rion and Sakamoto, their expressions mirroring my shock. All of us stared at the massive mushroom cloud rising into the sky where the factory had once been.

'What…?' My thoughts were a chaotic mess.

I looked down and saw kasumi who was lying few feets away from me His eyes had turned white, his gaze vacant and unsettling. His legs were a mess—muscles torn open, blood pooling beneath him.

The realization struck me like a hammer. 'Did… he do it?'

His body must have endured unimaginable strain to move us this far in an instant. I could feel the faint remnants of his energy still clinging to the air, but it was fading fast.

"Kasumi…" I whispered, my voice barely audible.