"Let me tell you something. The other Birdcage isn’t just full of children. I’ve packed it with a hundred of the most formidable fighters I could find—every one of them a notorious outlaw whose name strikes fear into the hearts of men!"
"A hundred?! How did you gather such a force...!"
"I simply provided a roof for those with nowhere else to go. We have the serial assaulter, Gloza of Herculean Strength! Christopher, the 'Vampire' who drains his victims' blood! Then there’s the assassin Jingi and the Celeb Brothers, who hunt humans for sport! Quite the star-studded cast, wouldn’t you say?"
Every name Regen listed belonged to a heinous criminal on the Security Force’s most-wanted list.
The fact that he had brought them under his command was bad enough, but if they were all rioting together, the casualties would be catastrophic.
As Jinba and the others turned pale, imagining the horrors being visited upon the people, Regen shared one more choice piece of information.
"Hehehe... it’s too early to be surprised. Among those hundred is Mad Dog Gabejin himself! And that’s after I gave him the power to transform into a Magic Armor Beast!"
"Gabejin...?! That Gabejin?! Even he is under your thumb...?! Regen! Order your separate unit to stop! You’re the only one who can!"
"Hey now, you’ve got it backwards. I’m the one who gives the orders; you’re the one who follows them!"
The scales had tipped once again. Having revealed the existence of a separate unit rampaging alongside the hostages, Regen wore an evil smirk as he looked at Jinba.
As the morale of his subordinates surged, Regen pulled out a communication device and bellowed his demands at the Security Force.
"Everyone, drop your weapons and surrender! Whether you listen is up to you... but for your reference, I’ll let you hear something interesting."
Regen held up the device to show it off, and countless screams began to pour from the speaker.
Tension rippled through the group as they realized those cries, thick with fear and despair, were the voices of people being attacked by the rampaging unit.
"Hehehe...! This is only the beginning. If you lot resist, I’ll show you a vision of hell."
"Regen, you bastard...!"
"Does it burn, Jinba? I bet it does! In the end, you Security Force hacks are pathetic. I’m several steps ahead of you!"
Regen broke into a vulgar, raucous laugh, and his subordinates joined in the celebration.
Encouraged by their boss’s taunts, the men called out gleefully.
"As expected, Boss! Now these guys can’t do a thing!"
"Let’s torture these Security Force guys to death while we’re at it!"
"Boss! Let’s bring those girls with the pretty faces and nice bodies along with the kids! Or better yet, can I just have them here? I can, right?!"
"Yeah, do whatever you want. Kill! Rape! Go wild! I give you permission for everything!!"
They wanted to inflict pain. They wanted to violate women. They simply wanted to vent their destructive impulses.
Affirming his subordinates’ desires at the top of his lungs, Regen spoke to the Security Force with his riled-up men behind him.
"I’ll say it again: drop your weapons and stay quiet! Otherwise, the hospital will become a scene from a nightmare!"
"...Hm?"
Yugo had been listening to Regen with a face full of tension until a moment ago... but upon hearing one specific word, his expression shifted.
As the thugs prepared to move, looking ready to leap at the Security Force or tear the clothes off Melt and the others, Yugo raised his hand and spoke up.
"Hey, you! ...What did you just say?"
"Huh? Didn’t you hear me? I said drop your weapons and stay—"
"No, not that part. What did you say after that?"
"You... are you mocking me?! I wouldn’t mind killing you first!"
"Just tell me. Where did you say was going to become a scene from a nightmare?"
Regen was visibly irritated by Yugo’s attitude. The boy was asking questions that seemed intended only to derail him.
However, he composed himself, thinking it would be pathetic to lose his cool when he held such an overwhelming advantage. Still, there was a touch of exasperation in his voice as he answered.
"The hospital! The hospital! If you don't want the doctors, patients, and visitors slaughtered, then you’d better do as I say!"
"Hm...? The hospital...?"
"Wait. If it’s the hospital, then...!"
Regen shouted the location of the attack again.
Anhel and Sakura exchanged a look as the realization hit them.
While Yugo’s other comrades also began to recall a certain fact, the person who had asked the question clenched his fist tightly.
"Alright! Lucky!!"
"Wh-What?!"
Yugo struck a grand victory pose, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Ignoring Regen, who was stunned by the unexpected reaction, a flustered Jinba spoke to the cheering Yugo.
"What are you doing, Yugo?! You might have a plan, but don’t provoke him any further!"
"It’s fine, Jinba-san! We don’t have to listen to a word this bastard says! Because he is at that hospital!!"
"He? Who do you mean by... Ah!!"
Jinba’s body jolted as he suddenly remembered.
Regen, watching them, let his irritation reach its breaking point and barked instructions into the communication device.
"Hey, Gimol! I don’t care who it is! Grab someone at random and torture them to death! I’m going to make these idiots realize exactly what’s happening!!"
He clearly intended to re-establish his dominance by having his subordinate murder a hostage... but despite the order from the boss, no one responded.
Regen’s irritation grew as he called out a second and third time. He finally heard a response, but something was wrong.
"B-Boss! Lord Regen!"
"What is it, Gimol? Can you hear me?"
"H-Help! Send reinforcements immediately! Please! Help me!!"
"Hey, what happened?! Report the situation! Don’t tell me the Security Force has already arrived?!"
Regen pressed his confidant for a report.
However, Gimol didn’t answer. Lost in sheer panic, he simply continued to scream.
"It’s a monster! There’s a monster! He’s killing all of us by himself...! H-Help, GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Gimol?! Gimol! Hey, answer me! Gimol! Gimol!"
Regen called out desperately to Gimol, who had gone silent after that final, agonizing shriek.
Yugo, who fully understood the situation, spoke to the man who was now standing aghast.
"A piece of scum will fail no matter what he does... Those aren't the words of a hero, but they're exactly right."
"What...? What’s so funny? We have Mad Dog Gabejin over there!"
"I don't care if he's a mad dog or whatever. There’s someone far scarier at that hospital. Your luck ran out the moment you targeted that place."
"Don't screw with me! What—what kind of monster could be at a hospital?!"
Regen realized that the insurance policy he’d banked on had been effortlessly liquidated.
To the man shouting after losing his composure, Yugo gave his answer with a fearless smile beneath his helmet.
"A watch-dog of hell scarier than any mad dog... no, he's a Watch-Dragon."