"Kill him! Butcher that arrogant brat!"
"Uoooooooooh!"
At Gimol’s signal, the thugs let out a collective war cry and lunged at Ryuga.
Leading the charge was the man Ryuga had kicked away earlier. Refusing to let such a humiliation stand, he rushed forward, his face twisted in a mask of pure rage.
"I, the great Gloza of Herculean Strength, am going to beat you—gah!?"
Just as he raised his log-thick arms to crush Ryuga, Gloza realized his world had turned upside down.
Without even glancing back at the man as he collapsed, Ryuga muttered to himself.
"That’s three. Ninety-seven to go... no, make that ninety left."
With a single opening strike, Ryuga had cut through three men, including Gloza. Now, he brandished Ryuo-ga, the blade wreathed in water magic.
As compressed water blades shredded and blew the villains back, he let out a short breath and spoke with a chilling calm.
"...Are you planning to hide forever? I know you're there."
"Kikiki! If you know that, then you must know this too! The moment you let Assassin Jingi take your back, your death was carved in stone!"
An assassin, previously camouflaged like a chameleon, flickered into view as he lunged at Ryuga.
Jingi intended to sink his jagged claws into Ryuga’s unprotected back, but his own flesh was shredded before he could even blink.
"G-Gyaaaaaaaaaah!?"
"Storm Dragon Swordsmanship, Wind Style: Wind Blade Barrier... Did you really think I’d leave myself open knowing an enemy was behind me?"
"Ack...!"
Ryuga had set a trap exactly where the enemy was likely to strike. Now, he delivered a crushing roundhouse kick to the reeling Jingi.
The assassin went down in a broken heap. Ryuga didn’t pause; he dived into the heart of the mob, his katana a blur of motion.
"Five, three, five... then four more. Including that man, that’s eighteen. I’m starting to lose count."
With a weary sigh, Ryuga cut down several more thugs with a wide horizontal slash.
He moved through the chaos, slashing, thrusting, and kicking aside anyone who drew near. Suddenly, he noticed three men surrounding him, magic circles forming at their fingertips.
"I’m the one who’s going to win this hunt!"
"No way, my magic’s going to be the one to finish him!"
"Loser has to buy the winner a round of drinks later!"
Flame, water, and lightning. The three men, each wielding a different attribute, chatted with a casual arrogance that suggested they didn't take the fight seriously.
Ryuga’s eyes narrowed at their banter—specifically the word "hunt." They unleashed their spells in unison.
"Die! Die already!"
The three-pronged magical assault tore through the air, swallowing up the other thugs standing in its path.
Ryuga didn't flinch. He caught the incoming spells on the edge of his blade, condensing them into a single mass before deflecting the combined energy back at one of the casters.
"Wait, what? Uggyaaaaah!?"
"No way—urk!?"
The second mage was stunned by the sudden reversal, only for a fist to slam into his face before he could react.
As one man rolled on the ground charred black and the other collapsed with a shattered nose, the leader of the trio recoiled. He began to scream hysterically, his bravado replaced by sheer panic.
"Th-this can't be...!? Why is this happening to us!?"
"You've spent your lives preying on the defenseless," Ryuga said, his voice cold. "I suppose it’s time you learned how it feels to be the prey."
"Eek! Hiiiiie!"
Overwhelmed by Ryuga’s sheer presence, the man’s legs gave out. A heavy kick slammed into his face, silencing his pathetic whimpering.
Ryuga had no desire to stain the blade entrusted to him by his father with the blood of such scum—those who treated murder like a game. Choosing to use his feet instead, he proceeded to systematically dismantle the remaining thugs.
"Uwah!? No, stay back!"
"W-what is this guy!? Guheoh!"
"Out of the way! I’ll take—ugyaaah!"
The screams of the criminals echoed through the hospital grounds as they fell one by one.
Gimol, who had been smugly confident in his superior numbers, began to sweat as half his men were incapacitated. By the time only a tenth of his forces remained, he was visibly trembling.
"C-Christopher! Kill that brat! Show him why they call you 'The Vampire'!"
"As you wish! Hehehe... You’ve fought well, boy, but you must be nearing your limit. I shall run you through with this rapier, and then I will savor every drop of your darling little girlfriend's blood!"
The man licked the tip of his rapier with a flourish. Christopher, known as The Vampire, seemed to have already chosen Raiha as his next victim based on his twisted aesthetic preferences.
"Now, perish! I’ll give you a magnificent end!"
"...I’ll tell you two things," Ryuga said. "First, I’m nowhere near my limit. I’ve only just finished warming up. And second—"
Ryuga ducked beneath the rapier's thrust, parrying the blade upward with a sharp, rising strike.
Christopher gasped, stunned by the boy's effortless composure. Ryuga leaned in, his voice thick with cold irritation.
"—She and I are not lovers. Don't make such a pathetic assumption."
"Gieeeh!"
The following slash was delivered with more raw power than any other strike in the battle. Christopher let out a shrill cry as he collapsed into the dirt.
Without losing momentum, Ryuga swung Ryuo-ga in a massive arc. The resulting shockwave blew back the last of the standing thugs, leaving them scattered across the ground like autumn leaves.
"That makes ninety-eight. Only a few left—"
"H-Hieee! Gabejin! Gabejin!"
"I know, I can hear you..." a voice rumbled from the back. "I only stayed out of it because I didn't want anyone interrupting my fun...!"
Responding to Gimol’s desperate plea, a man who had been lurking in the rear stepped forward.
Clad in a pitch-black carapace bristling with glistening, razor-sharp needles, the man known as the Mad Dog, Gabejin, revealed his monstrous, inhuman form.
"You're a lively one. I'll be your final opponent! You're facing the Great Lord Gabejin, the Mad Dog...!"
"...Mad Dog?" Ryuga tilted his head. "You look more like a Sea Urchin Man to me."