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The loud crashing sound of their heavy gates immediately alerted the people inside the Dokuro Group's headquarters. A group of people were sent to aid the establishments that were under attack so the gate had just been closed not too long ago. Did their enemy wait for such an opportunity before they started their attack?
"Go and see what's wrong" the head of the Dokuro group, Dokuro Domon, ordered his subordinates as he wore a frown and crossed his arms while sitting in the meeting room.
Today had been quite a day for their group because not only did they fail a task given to them by one of their most valuable supporters, they also just responded to an attack on their clan's main businesses. Domon couldn't help but think of the saying that when it rained, it definitely poured.
"(Could this be the work of another group?)" he couldn't help but think. He shook the thought off because no other group would have information that he had a secret task that the Muimina family had arranged. This was a secret transaction and they had been careful enough not to attract any attention to their connection.
"AHHH!"
"GRRRAAHH!"
"What the hell GWAAA!!"
Screams coming from outside startled the rest of the people in the room. He quickly signaled all his men to come with him as they rushed towards the gates. What he saw however, immediately made his mouth gape and his eyes open wide.
A short person or someone who was as tall as a kid wearing all black with his face hidden was holding a wooden sword in front of the guards. The limbs of his men that were on the ground were turned to the places they shouldn't have. Some of them tried to raise their legs in pain only to realize that they were still attached to themselves because of their muscles.
"This is quite disappointing" the voice coming from non-other than the attacker entered their ears. "I expected a little more from the men you had in your headquarters" he sighed. "Looks like both the people you sent after my company and the people you keep in your base is of the same quality" he mocked
"(His company? Is this guy really that company's mysterious owner?)" Domon couldn't help but smirk. If that were really true then he didn't have to go through the trouble of attacking the company again when this person can just get whatever they needed for them. "You own Kazuno Technologies?"
"Are you Dokuro Domon?" Kazuya didn't expect the king of this small castle to show himself so quickly. He was expecting to look through their property to find him but this wasn't like the sieges he participated in in Edea after all.
"Capture him!" after seeing the masked person setting his sights on him, Domon quickly ordered his subordinates to attack. He felt a sense of danger as he quickly bolted for the inner parts of his manor.
"AARRGHH!!"
"M-monster!!"
Cold sweat fell down on his back as he nervously pressed the code to his panic room. The screams of his subordinates didn't stop as the noises seem to be coming closer by the second.
*Click click*
The code was accepted and he rushed inside hoping that he would be protected behind the steel doors. He was the only one who knew the code and had access to this room because this was where he kept most of the money that couldn't be placed in banks.
"(Just who in the hell was that?)" he tried to catch his breath as he felt safe inside his panic room. This room was located under the meeting room he was in earlier. He looked at the stacks of money that filled up more than hald of the room. He was glad that he invested in this panic room but was regretful that he didn't invest on installing a surveillance system. This was because he thought that it could be used against him.
The money that was stored in his panic room wasn't gained through proper means so having a surveillance system could work out as a double edged sword for him. He felt that it was safer to use his men because what they see could be controlled but there was no one with him right now.
There was only one screen inside the room. It was for the camera that was located right outside the steel door. Domon turned it on only to make sure that no one was there. He gave a sigh of relief because he was afraid to see the boy in black standing outside of his door when he turned on the camera.
Domon took out his phone to try and call for help but found that his cell phone was endlessly receiving calls from various people that were not in the headquarters at the moment. There were even messages being sent by his people asking for a decision.
The businesses their group own had never received the reinforcements he sent. They said that some of the places have already been taken over and their funds have already been looted. The leaders of the various teams he sent to help were also trying to contact him because they were suddenly ambushed as they were trying to head for their designated areas.
Domon found this inconceivable. Not a single group would dare take them on without showing signs. Every piece of information they sent him made him think that this was something that did not have anything to do with his rivals. The only thing that changed recently was the task they set out to do today and if the attacker was indeed not lying about his identity, Kazuno Technologies had a backer that was not to be trifled with.
Along with Kazuya who was wearing an ensemble that wouldn't let anyone recognize him, the people from the Domyouji and the Akabane adopted the same tactic. They hid their appearances so that no one would be able to recognize them from a glance.
The arrival of Kazuya's reinforcements was stunned when they saw the large gate that looked like it was slashed by a sharp blade. This didn't faze their advance because it was nothing that they hadn't seen before but the sight after they rushed in shocked them. They were some of the toughest bunch in both the Akabane and Domyouji clans and were chosen to support Kazuya because of this but the sheer amount of people who were squirming with broken bones didn't fail to shake them.
"Can you spare me another wooden sword?" a voice reached their ears. They found the boy who had taken the lead standing at the center of the injured people with the wooden sword in his hand looking like it was about to break.
The Domoto group's men left standing were hesitant on attacking Kazuya because anyone that had moved towards Kazuya would end up on the floor after a few seconds. After they heard the boy's voice however, they noticed the arrival of what seemed to be like the attacker's reinforcements.
"Get him! We can hold off those new guys if we catch him!" the only remaining lieutenant shouted. "That guy's weapon is broken! He can't hurt us with that!"
They rushed towards Kazuya with renewed vigor. The lieutenant was right. Now that the reinforcements had outnumbered the people left standing, they would certainly be finished. It was either they capture the short man who looked to be their leader, or they would get annihilated right here.
""Protect him!"" the two leaders from both the Akabane and Domyouji groups ordered their men. They would indeed be in a pickle if Kazuya fell into their hands.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Kazuya couldn't help but shake his head. He knew his current appearance would invoke the arrogance of those older or bigger than him. He couldn't help but sigh because they had apparently forgotten that he had just single-handedly put the men surrounding him on the floor.
"(hot-bloodedness… this sure makes one see how reckless it makes people)" he gave a dry laugh. It reminded him of how he used to be like. He was so excited upon being called a hero that his hot-bloodedness most of time would reach the point of stupidity.
This was what he judged whilst he was watching the memories of his fights before he awoke in his younger body. His immaturity and desire to prove himself to be the hero they praised him to be made him forget the important factors that needed to be considered.
He mocked his old self as there would have been a big difference in casualties on their side if he only had been a little wiser. His friends from the beast race who unfortunately weren't able to join the raid on the demon king's castle suffered most because of how he used to be like.
*SNAP* the wooden sword on Kazuya's hand snapped after hitting the first person that came near him. Though mana was pretty useful in enhancing an item's durability, it wouldn't make it invincible. It was like adding an additional layer to a cake, one would still eventually eat up the cake but it would take longer if the additional layer was added. What's more is that the base item was important, a soft bottom wouldnt be able to handle additional and heavier layers.
The Dokuro group's men rushed in as soon as they saw the wooden sword broke. The very first man that tried to grab Kazuya however was immediately thrown back at the ones who followed after him after getting struck by a fist.
"You thugs underestimate me too much" he backed up and caught a wooden sword that was thrown towards him from behind.
"Let us take care of the rest" the man in charge of the Akabane group stood beside him as the rest of his men continued the assault.
"I still have a bone to pick with Dokuro Domon so I'll go on ahead" Kazuya immediately sprinted and bypassed the guards. He entered the Dokuro group's main house without looking back and tried to sense where Domon was.
"Well this is interesting" It was very subtle but he felt someone who was located below the large meeting room. Kazuya found himself standing before a steel door that had a camera on top of it and realized that this hindered his senses quite a bit.
*BAM!* *THUD* he enhanced his hand with mana and struck the door to test how thick and sturdy it was.
"Go away!" Domon's voice could be heard from the speaker that was just above the small panel where a code was to be entered. He could clearly see Kazuya casually standing outside his panic room so he knew that his men outside had been taken care of.
"Really? You're really telling me to go away like a villain from a B class movie?" Kazuya grabbed the hilt of the wooden sword with both hands and started concentrating a large amount of mana to it. "Would you just go away if you were in my position?" he mocked.
"Whoever you are, give it up! That door is not something a mere wooden sword can break. No one knows the passcode to this room aside from me!" he felt irritated after being rebutted by someone who appeared to be a kid. "The rest of my subordinates already know about your attack and are hea—"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!* Kazuya swung down hard and the room where Domon was in shock and caused him to bite his tongue.
"I see… quite sturdy indeed" Kazuya sighed as he looked at the broken wooden sword in his hand. He turned towards the door and saw that he was only able to leave a gash on it. "Looks like it's still not enough for strong metals huh…" he said with disappointment and went back to the meeting room above.
"W-w-what the hell was that!?" Domon tried to get back up to see Kazuya leaving the sight of the camera outside. He was startled by the force that made his panic room shake. That was not something that a normal person could do, much less someone who that that sort of body.
Contrary to Domon's expectations, Kazuya hadn't retreated. He walked towards the old armor placed behind the meeting room's head seat. There lay a Katana on display and the sheath that was right below it. He picked it up and touched the blade which immediately made a cut on his finger.
"A good sword in a bad place" he laughed and used his mana to close the cut on his finger. He then swung it a few times before nodding to himself in satisfaction. "Did he steal this in some museum?" Kazuya pondered as he went back to the panic room's entrance after picking up the sheath as well.
"PUT THAT BACK!" Domon immediately recognized the katana in Kazuya's hands. He was quite a frugal man but he had spent a lot to acquire that sword. It was placed right behind him in the meeting room so that he could brag about it and show off. It was one of his most prized possessions since it had quite the history.
"Oh?" Kazuya was intrigued. "Looks like you at least have an eye for picking out weapons. That's surprising considering your choice for subordinates" he took a similar stance as earlier and concentrated his mana on the sword this time.
"If you dare break that sword then I will hunt you down and make everyone you know suffer!" he shouted from the inside. "I'll make sure you regret ever taki—"
*SLASH* Kazuya was a bit taken aback because of how smoothly he was able to swing the sword. He used too much strength and caused a large slash mark on the wall.
*DUNN* the metal door made a crashing sound as it fell backwards. Kazuya sheathed the sword and strapped it on his back as he entered the panic room. Domon could be found on the floor shivering in fear but what attracted Kazuya's sight was the money stacked quite nicely along with a few other boxes on the other side of the room.
"W-what in the hell are you!?" Domon backed himself up against the boxes that fell down. They were filled with various papers, pictures and transactions of various people. These were most likely the stuff he had over some people which was why he was able to get to where he was today.
"Birds of the same feather huh…" Kazuya shook his head and ignored the panicked old man who rummaged through the boxes. A bright expression was seen on the old man's face as he found what he had been frantically looking for.
"DIE!" he pulled out a pistol from a chest that seemed to have been full of guns. Kazuya walked slowly towards him as the old man clumsily pointed a gun at him.
*BANG* *BANG* Domon shot at Kazuya. The image of the boy clad in black appeared to have been flickering as he bullets passed through him.
*rip* a few bullets grazed his clothes but that didn't stop Kazuya from his advance. He was a little disappointed that he wasn't able to completely dodge the bullets.
*GRAB* he held the gun's barrel and pointed it at the old man's chest.
"Any last words?"
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