Chapter 137
Chapter 137
In Kairus’s Case (2)
Suddenly, it felt like his head had been swapped out, and on top of that, Kairus was an outsider. These people also operated like an organization, so adapting wasn’t easy.
“Bait. We've already tried it seven times.”
Using bait really was the easiest way to catch a lunatic who slashes open women’s bellies. Lately, the number of women working at night had decreased because that bastard was running wild.
The standard method was to send bait out and assign watchers, then pursue the suspect.
“I feel like he'll get caught eventually…”
“When is eventually?”
They’d deployed bait and monitored the situation seven times, but not once had they succeeded. There’s a saying about trying eight times after failing seven, but continuing this despite constant failure felt like a waste of time.
“Honestly, I think the guy just has good instincts.”
After cutting open dozens of people, it probably became second nature to sense whether someone was bait or prey. Maybe it was like a cunning beast that lives long and doesn’t easily fall for traps.
“Hey, wait a sec.”
“Anyone you think might be hiding him?”
In response to Kairus’s question, the members of the group shook their heads.
“Doesn't seem like it. Unlike other guys, he goes berserk the moment he sees a woman who fits his criteria.”
Even with Kairus, if he tried to hide the guy, he’d probably come running to cut Irena open. What about people with daughters, wives, or even girlfriends?
He was a freak with an especially twisted obsession. Not someone who could or would even try to hide his insanity.
“What weapon does he use?”
“A sword-type battle gear from Filtrix Steelworks. It’s been modified a bit, but it’s definitely based on that model.”
From what they heard, it wasn’t just a decorative change to the blade or swapping out the tassel on the hilt.
“And…”
“And what else?”
One of the men, after briefly glancing at Kairus, spoke up.
“He uses Swift Blade.”
Kairus had to hold back a groan when he heard that.
“Ah, fuck. Judging by his age, he’s not a junior or a classmate… must be a senior. This is breaking my heart.”
The guy must’ve been normal when he was learning. Something must’ve happened that made him snap—that much was certain. Featherwing wouldn’t just teach Swift Blade to some lunatic.
In any case, Kairus, who’d only been handed a simple list of names and criminal records, was now able to get far more detailed information thanks to these Lovers.
“Swift Blade. So it’s Swift Blade, huh.”
It wasn’t something to be shocked about like “How could he!” Swift Blade was excellent swordsmanship, and anyone with the qualifications could learn it. At this point, having one person out there using it wasn’t exactly surprising.
If anything, it had become easier to track him down because of it.
“Let’s drop the bait. Looks like we won’t need it.”
Within an area of this size, if the target used Swift Blade, it would be noticeable. Kairus could estimate how the wind should naturally flow. If it felt unnatural, he’d know.
Of course, it required concentration—but it was doable.
‘The chance he knows me is…’
Extremely low. Kairus had started learning Swift Blade as a child, but then went off to war and ended up in the labor correctional facility.
The real issue was skill. He’d have to fight to find out, but just in terms of Swift Blade, the enemy might actually be better than Kairus.
‘Given how much time has passed.’
Even just considering the time the man had used Swift Blade while sane, it was already longer than Kairus had. Still, when it came to an actual fight, Kairus was confident he could either gain the upper hand or at least not lose.
From battle gear output and quality to the number of tactics at his disposal, Kairus had the advantage. That’s how fights worked.
“…”
“Kairus?”
One of the Lovers glanced at him and cautiously asked a question, but Kairus didn’t answer.
‘Let’s make the most of this.’
He was confident he could win, but the opponent probably had reached a higher level of mastery in Swift Blade than Kairus had. In other words—
He could stick a straw into the depth of the guy’s Swift Blade and suck it all up.
“For now, you all stay on standby.”
“But—”
“Numbers mean nothing against someone using Swift Blade. With your level, you'd only get in the way.”
Having said what he needed to, Kairus stood up and added,
“Just prep some fireworks. If something happens, I’ll set them off. If you don’t want to come, don’t. But that’ll be on you.”
The group exchanged looks and swallowed nervously.
“Kairus… you’re saying you’ll take responsibility?”
“Up to a point. Obviously, I can’t take responsibility beyond that.”
He would find the guy and send up a signal to call them. If they didn’t show, then that would be their fault, no excuses.
It would be them getting wrecked by those insane siblings, not Kairus.
“By the way, could you guys also be sold as merchandise?”
Lumis & Wesson Transport Company specialized in human trafficking, after all. The group flinched at Kairus’s words.
“So it’s true.”
In conclusion, Kairus had ended up taking on everything alone—but this was better. After all, the only reason he’d taken the top seat was to gather accurate, detailed information more quickly.
Kairus checked the time, then stood up and said,
“Stay on standby.”
While they waited, he just had to go find the crazy senior who used Swift Blade and extract all the experience the guy had accumulated.
It felt like he’d become a beekeeper stealing the honey someone else had worked hard to collect.
“Worse than a beekeeper, really.”
Kairus didn’t even plan to leave any sap behind. The place he was heading for was the clock tower in the Upside.
‘You can see how the wind moves best from a high place.’
There was no guarantee the target would use Swift Blade. This kind of surveillance only worked if the target used it.
But the odds were very high. This was Bennett City, and no matter how much a woman might rely on sex work for a living, she usually carried at least one piece of battle gear.
If everyone’s walking around unarmed, it’s fine to carry chili powder for self-defense. But if everyone’s got a blade on them, then I need to carry a blade too, just for protection.
‘It’s a strong possibility.’
With that confidence, Kairus climbed to the very top of the clock tower and swept his gaze across the city while taking out a paper cup.
“From far away, it really is a beautiful view.”
Looking down from above, countless lights shimmered in the darkness of the city as night fell.
Down below, if you walked the streets, there would be nothing but vile, disgusting human scum. But from up here, even that looked beautiful.
“Did the founder of Featherwing want to rise into the sky?”
Or maybe he just wanted to see this kind of view from above. As those pointless thoughts drifted through his mind, Kairus sipped the coffee he’d brought—then suddenly flung it away.
Break time was over. It was time to run through the filthy back alleys again.
‘Hopefully they can hold out a little longer.’
If the victim was still alive when Kairus arrived, he could succeed in preserving her internal organs.
“Since it’s come to this, it’s better if she’s alive rather than dead.”
With a boom, a crack spread across the rooftop of the clock tower as Kairus launched himself forward.
Aided by the wind created through Swift Blade, it pushed against Kairus’s back and added to his speed. Since it wasn’t flight but gliding, his altitude would inevitably drop, even as his speed increased.
“There he is.”
While chasing the faint but unmistakably artificial current of air, Kairus spotted it.
“Lucky girl.”
A man was swinging his sword from a distance, sending a bladed gust of wind toward a woman. In just a few seconds, that wind would slice both her ankles.
“Hiayayayayayaya!”
She wasn’t screaming from being attacked—she screamed because Kairus suddenly spoke to her. He expected that reaction, so he wasn’t surprised.
Instead, he dismantled the gust of wind flying toward her mid-air.
“…This is making me tear up, thinking about the correctional facility.”
The attacker, Marlon, was wearing a filthy, tattered prison uniform. The color was different, but the design was familiar.
Catching a faint whiff of stench, Kairus clicked his tongue. The guy had probably been hiding underground.
Well, considering he was being hunted with no one to shelter him, there was no better place in this city than the underground.
“Young man. Why do you obstruct me?”
Marlon, gripping his sword with a dazed expression, looked at Kairus and finally spoke. Kairus didn’t bother replying—he simply raised his sword.
The blade trembled steadily yet swiftly, producing a faint hum. In that instant, Kairus’s figure blurred.
The clash of two blades erupted into a shockwave.
“Crazy bastard’s got a calm voice, at least.”
But Kairus had no interest in chatting with a lunatic. Talking with someone insane just wore down the sanity of anyone who wasn’t.
After pulling back slightly from the clash, Kairus frowned when he saw the opponent’s sword.
Eight compressed clusters of air orbited around it.
“This bastard does all kinds of shit with Swift Blade, huh.”
The ability to gather and hold compressed air was impressive. At least in that aspect, Kairus had to admit the opponent was better than him.
One of the orbiting air clusters vanished, and dozens of wind blades rained down toward Kairus. Taking that hit head-on would leave him in hundreds of pieces.
“Fuck me. What is this, pulling wind out like arrows from a quiver?”
Compressing and storing air, then pulling it out as needed—it even made Kairus pause in surprise.
“So you’re my junior, huh. It’s rude to interfere with your senior’s work, you know.”
The man slowly raised his sword as he spoke. Kairus didn’t respond.
“I’m looking for my daughter. Someday, you’ll fall in love and have children too. Couldn’t you try to understand a father’s heart, even a little?”
Kairus snorted.
He could guess what kind of tragedy the man had gone through. Probably lost his pregnant wife or something. Judging by how he went insane after her death, he must have truly loved her.
His wife had died in the middle of the night, when no one was around. So now he sliced open the bellies of any woman roaming around at that hour.
“The woman you cut open—”
“She was my wife! My... wife, I tell you!”
The moment Kairus finally opened his mouth, the man screamed like he was having a seizure and lunged forward, swinging his sword.
Two orbs vanished, and a wild gust exploded forth like a reflection of Marlon’s madness.
Bracing his body, Kairus pushed back the charge, then swung his sword into the air. The raging wind quickly calmed.
“Well, lots of men dream dreams like yours.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if every woman in her twenties were your wife?
“Step aside. I won’t hold back anymore. If you get in the way of my reunion with my daughter... I won’t care that you’re my junior.”
But Kairus’s eyes were fixed only on the wind orbs orbiting Marlon’s sword. Truthfully, if he pushed a bit harder now, he could easily overpower the man and cut his throat.
He hadn’t even used his hip flask yet, and he was only using Swift Blade to suppress the opponent’s attacks. He’d also stopped using the vibration blade powered by Nimbus.
Kairus intended to fight longer—not because he sympathized with why Marlon went insane.
In a battle where killing the enemy was the goal from the start, empathizing with their story was something only fools did.
“Whatever your sob story is, I don’t care. Go on, use up more of those orbs.”
That was all Kairus was interested in. How they were used, whether there was a unique technique to them, how this guy interpreted and applied Swift Blade.
That was the only reason Marlon was still standing. And the moment Kairus finished analyzing those wind orbs, Marlon would be captured.