…Uh?

“Would you rather be killed after immense suffering, or just kill yourself now? Pick one.”

[…………]

The pack leader stared intently at the man who had appeared out of nowhere.

He stood up and stretched, utterly indifferent to the creature’s oppressive aura.

He seemed lazy and nonchalant, exuding no intimidating presence of his own.

His clothes and appearance were unremarkable.

How could someone like this have evaded its senses and gotten so close?

[Who… who… are… you…?]

“Who am I? Well…”

The man cracked his neck as if the question were a nuisance, then sauntered toward the beast, completely devoid of caution.

“I’m Karakura Town’s number one badass, a trifecta of Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy bloodlines, destined to defy the heavens from birth.”

[…Huh?]

“I’m Foosha Village’s golden child. My dad’s a titan of the criminal underworld, my grandpa’s a titan of the lawful world, and the whole planet is paving my way to becoming the Pirate King.”

[………Huh?]

“I’m Konoha’s top political scion. My dead parents and ancestors never forget to send me power-ups from beyond the grave, so becoming the village chief is a foregone conclusion.”

[…………Huh?]

“I just find it strange. Why do all those shonen manga preach ‘success through hard work and perseverance’ while saddling their protagonists with such ridiculously overpowered backgrounds? Even Kenshiro had an incredible uncle. What’s a guy with normal parents like me supposed to think?”

[……………………]

It didn’t understand.

The pack leader had no idea what this man was muttering about.

It was all just bizarre… and instilled a sense of indescribable unease.

“But you wouldn’t get any of that, would you… Sorry, I can’t seem to kick this bad habit of talking to myself. It’s rare to be in the Abyss with no one around, so I couldn’t help but overshare… Anyway…”

Whoosh!

The man’s entire aura shifted.

The laziness, the nonchalance, the aversion to trouble—it all vanished.

That was just a facade, the surface-level dross.

His smile faded, his posture corrected, and his eyes focused for the first time.

What now emerged was the man’s true self.

This one was completely, utterly, entirely, and absolutely different from those human grunts from before.

He was different on a fundamental level.

He clenched his hand in the empty air, and countless chains writhed, coiled, and compressed in his grasp—then changed shape.

What was once a “string of interconnected iron rings” became a “short cudgel, half a meter long.”

It was a dull, dark color with a faint metallic sheen, devoid of any adornment.

Despite its small size, it radiated an unnatural sense of weight.

It looked like a club a s*ave driver might use to punish the enslaved, or a baton a prison guard might wield to discipline inmates.

“The ‘Rod of Chastisement.’ A word of warning, this is nothing like the ‘Threads of Contract’ or the ‘Chains of Domination’… It’s quite crude.”

He twirled the cudgel, offering the pack leader an awkward yet polite smile.

[Sh—ut up!]

The pack leader roared, and surging darkness instantly flooded the space.

The corrosive energy made the cave floor and walls crumble like tofu.

In a mere moment, it could have reduced any creature engulfed by it to ash.

“Useless.”

But the darkness dissipated a meter away from the man.

Not only did it dissipate, but it also broke free from the pack leader’s control and gathered by the man’s side on its own.

The pack leader was dumbfounded.

“No need to be so surprised. The priority of dominion is quite high… Look.”

The man flicked his finger, and the dark energy compressed into a bowl-sized beam of black light.

It shot toward the creature with enough force to pierce through anything, its power amplified countless times over from when the beast had controlled it.

The creature immediately extended all its tentacles, marshaling every ounce of its strength and focus, just to defend against this single blow.

“Too slow.”

[!?]

But the man was already behind it.

He had moved faster than he had attacked.

“This might sting a little… Brace yourself.”

The Rod of Chastisement landed, gently, so very gently, on its back.

Thud.

The force was so light it probably couldn’t have killed a mosquito.

[Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?]

But an unprecedented shriek erupted from the beast—a scream of pure agony!

The body beneath its black robes disintegrated from that single light tap.

Literally, it disintegrated completely.

The black robe turned to elementary particles, its bluish-black flesh splattered like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, and the flexible bones beneath turned to fine sand.

Only its bald head remained, tumbling to the ground and rolling several times before coming to a stop.

[Ugh… ugh… ughhheeeeeeee…]

Reduced to a single head, the pack leader could not understand.

It could not comprehend it at all.

How could such overwhelming power exist?

Why was such a being here?

Flee.

Flee.

Flee.

Flee flee flee flee flee flee flee flee flee flee flee—if I don’t run now—

[Hiss—ROOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!]

Was it pointless pride?

Or perhaps a warlike, bestial nature?

In a split second, the pack leader, instead of fleeing, burned the last of its remaining life force.

The scattered darkness reconverged below its neck, forming a temporary body.

It struggled to its feet and used its octopus-like right arm to absorb a massive amount of abyssal energy.

All its power was now condensed in that single limb.

“…Oh?”

The man was surprised for a moment, then nodded.

“Not bad… I hate working, I hate overtime, I hate being a corporate s*ave, but…”

He casually tossed aside the Rod of Chastisement and took a stance with his bare hands, facing the pack leader’s all-or-nothing gamble.

“…I don’t hate people with conviction. Come on, I’ll see you off.”

[Take… THIS!]

They dashed toward each other simultaneously, launching their attacks at the same time.

One wagered its life for its pride, the other offered its praise in return.

Of course, the outcome would not change, conviction or not.

The battle was decided in an instant.

Countless chains embedded themselves in the pack leader’s body.

Then, every one of its joints was bent backward.

Before the swirling darkness could even begin to mend its body, the man seized control of it, turning it into innumerable blades that shredded the creature further.

It was over.

Just as I expected, this pack leader wasn’t much of a threat.

The only thing to be careful about with these Tainted species is that you have to destroy their bodies completely, leaving not even a single speck behind.

“…Easy peasy.”

This one was thoroughly dead, and it didn’t seem like there were any other leaders around.

I heaved a sigh of relief and gave a big stretch.

Work~~~~~~~ done!

Yes!

Yes!!

Yes!!!

With this, the Abyssal beast tide will collapse on its own!

The mercenaries and the army won’t have to waste their time!

“Um…”

The Mercenary Guild won’t have to force its employees to work overtime!

I can go back to my divine nine-to-five, five-days-a-week schedule!

Hooray! Hooray!!!

“Um, excuse me, sir…”

And I was super careful this time, too.

I always knocked those dumb mercenaries out before making my move, and I even deliberately mashed the Abyssal beast corpses into pulp so they couldn’t figure out my attack methods!

Cautious and careful!

Utterly foolproof!

I’m a genius!

“Sir… excuse me… are you…”

“What’s up? I’m in a great mood right now. Want some soy milk? My treat!”

“I prefer charcoal-grilled yogurt to soy milk, but that’s not the point…”

“Then never mind, see ya la—…huh?”

Like a broken clockwork doll, I turned my head—click, clack—stiffly, slowly.

At the edge of the cave, in a spot once concealed by collapsed rubble, stood a young woman.

She looked like she had just crawled out from behind the debris.

Her hair was a mess, her face was smudged with dirt, and her short windbreaker and leggings were tattered.

Even so, none of it could hide her delicate beauty.

But that wasn’t the point.

Right now, she was staring straight at me, her expression like Columbus discovering the New World, like Trump when he won the presidency four years ago, like Daigo Umehara perfectly parrying all of Chun-Li’s super arts before pulling off a magnificent counter.

Her lips trembled, and the finger she pointed at me shook uncontrollably.

Her face was pale, but that pallor was quickly suffused with a blush.

In her other hand, she held a phone with a cute case.

Its triple-camera system was aimed right at me, clicking away, a constant stream of dings announcing that files had been successfully uploaded.

“…”

“…”

“…………”

“…………”

“………………”

“………………”

“……………………”

“……………………”

“…………………………”

“…………………………”

Time passed in a delicate silence.

I could practically see the rows of ellipses on the page.

“Finally, I’ve found you…”

After a long moment, she finally wove words together with a trembling tongue and lips.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, her face flushed, and every word she spoke was laden with an overwhelming weight of emotion.

“You are the Ninth—”

“Wait! Stop, stop right there!”

No.

Wait, wait, wait.

Although the Ninth Apostle is famous, the general public doesn’t actually know the details of my abilities.

That’s all top-secret information.

Even the Martial Arts Tournament of the Gods broadcast worldwide was heavily edited.

In other words—there might still be a way to bluff my way out of this.

‘Ninth… what ninth? You must have the wrong person,’—that’s all I have to say.

She’s just some civilian girl; she has no proof to identify me!

Unless she’s a special investigator from an official organization!

“Ah, my apologies! I was so excited I forgot to introduce myself… U-um!”

She frantically fished a small booklet from her clothes—a standard-issue human identification document.

“My name is Aimira Milala, identification number IVS372850… I’m currently a special investigator for the Ninth Apostle Investigation Committee.”

Ah, crap.

“Also… this is a bit embarrassing to say… but I’ve always been your biggest fan…”

Ah, double crap…

…

…

…

…This might be a bit sudden, but allow me to briefly explain my ‘Forced Contract’ ability.

Simply put, it allows me to form temporary contracts with all sorts of things—including living beings, inanimate objects, and even elements like metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, light, and darkness.

Through this, I can forcibly dominate anything of a lower rank than myself.

This ability is incredibly difficult to use.

One careless mistake, and I could end up dominating myself and going insane.

It’s also very easy for the contracted entity to retaliate.

But once fully mastered, its potential is extremely high, making it a virtually all-powerful, versatile ability.

However, it has one unavoidable weakness.

I cannot control the will of the dominated.

I can control their body, forcing them to do all sorts of things.

Even if I ordered them to commit suicide or kill their own parents, they would have to obey.

I can even directly command their heart to stop beating.

But none of this has anything to do with their will.

I can’t command someone to obey me from the bottom of their heart.

I can’t make them fall in love with me.

I can’t manipulate their personality.

And, of course, ‘memories’ are also beyond my reach.

Since that girl has ‘already seen me’ and ‘recognized me,’ and now possesses this ‘memory,’ I cannot ‘order her to forget what she saw.’

I don’t have the means to directly delete memories.

Of course, I still have the option of threatening her, or even killing her.

But I’m a former Apostle, after all.

I can’t bring myself to do something so wicked.

“…………Tch!”

Can’t erase her memory, can’t kill her, and can’t use gangster-style threats.

In that case, there’s only one answer left—

“I will pledge my loy—the hell I will! I’m just a passing-through Kamen Rider, you got that? On second thought, it’s better if you don’t remember me! Bye!”

With that, I turned to make a run for it.

“Are you really going to leave a non-combat administrative staff member alone on the fifth floor of the Abyss…?”

Her words pinned me to the spot.

“And are you going to abandon these unconscious mercenaries as well…?”

She twisted the knife.

Ah, crap.

Crap.

Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap!

Goddammit!

What a persistent woman—

Fine, if that’s how it’s going to be—

I spun around to face her, a ferocious glint returning to my eyes for the first time in a long while.

As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

You saw something you shouldn’t have, so don’t blame me for what happens next—