"What the hell? Things are already starting to quiet down...!"
The man stood on the upper floor of a building located a short distance away from the hospital where the Magic Armor Beast had appeared. He watched the commotion from his vantage point, his expression twisting with bitterness as the panic reached a resolution far sooner than he had anticipated.
He’d wanted to see people fleeing in terror, paralyzed by Fear, not knowing what was happening... yet now, guided by the Security Force, the area around the hospital—the very heart of the disaster—seemed to have regained its composure.
Watching the situation drift in a direction entirely contrary to his vision, he clicked his tongue and spat a venomous curse.
"Give me a break! A massive, New Species of Magic Armor Beast just appeared out of nowhere! You should be terrified! You should be crying and screaming!"
The sudden appearance of the colossal Magic Armor Beast should have seized the hospital and left the populace trembling and frozen. Any attempt to break the stalemate against such an unknown entity should have triggered the internal Bombs, creating even more casualties. Without any data on the creature, the Security Force and the public alike should have been thrown into a frenzy. And while they were losing their minds, the Bombs should have detonated in a massive chain reaction... the collapse of the hospital bringing their terror to a fever pitch.
For the man who had dreamed of such a development, the current reality was dull and irritating.
From his position, he could see the Security Force holding back, clearly waiting for something instead of recklessly attacking those flowers. As they methodically prepared their operation, gauging the perfect timing, the man’s frustration continued to boil.
Damn it, what now? What should I do? This wasn’t part of the plan.
Though he wanted to push the situation toward a more chaotic outcome, he possessed no means of interfering. He’d wanted this incident to happen, but his actual contribution had been limited to the final touches. All he’d done was place the Explose on the hospital roof and administer the provided Chemical to it. That was it.
He’d been told how things would unfold and had looked forward to the show, but at the end of the day, he was nothing more than an errand boy. He lacked the power and the technical expertise to create a New Species of Magic Armor Beast himself. No matter how much he loathed the current situation, he was powerless to change it.
He could do nothing but watch from the sidelines, twiddling his thumbs—until an even greater misfortune befell him.
"Huh? What the—!?"
A slash appeared in the nearby wall, and in the next instant, the wall was smashed open. Intruders burst into the room. Before he could process what was happening, the man was tackled to the floor and pinned. He cried out in a half-panic.
"Wh-who the hell are you?! How did you find this—eek!"
"...Don't ask me questions."
"Hmph. Normally, I would find such bluntness appalling, but this time I find myself in agreement. Understand this: you aren't the one asking questions here. We are."
The man struggled to resist, but the moment a Katana was thrust before his eyes, accompanied by that low, menacing growl, his mouth snapped shut.
Marcos kept the man pinned, a faint, wry smile on his face at Ryuga’s usual intensity.
"Good grief, you two... an Entry Operation is supposed to be handled with a bit more caution!" Jinba called out as he entered the room a moment later, followed by several Security Force members.
Marcos brushed him off with a light shrug. "My apologies, but please, save the lecture for later. Our priority is extracting information from this man."
Jinba sighed at the response but turned his attention to the restrained culprit. "You underestimated the Security Force. We simply looked for a building that provided a clear view of the situation while remaining in a safety zone far enough away to be safe from the blast. It didn't take much to find your Hiding Place."
"D-damn it! What are you going to do to me? You think I’m just going to start blabbing?"
Despite being caught so easily, the man tried to muster a shred of defiance as a final bit of pride. However, his bravado vanished the moment the Katana was driven into the floorboards right in front of his face. He went pale and fell silent.
"...Weren't you listening? Don't ask me questions. You will simply answer what you are asked. Is that clear?"
"Hmph. You’d be wise not to provoke him," Marcos added, utilizing Ryuga’s palpable killing intent to his advantage. "As you can see, his nerves are on edge. If you try any nonsense... your head and shoulders might decide to part ways."
"Hi-hieeeeee!"
The man’s will to fight evaporated completely under Ryuga’s lethal aura and Marcos’s cold warning. He wailed and broke down in tears. With the perpetrator of the incident easily captured, the Interrogation began, and the facts behind the chaos were brought into the light.