Chapter 319: Chapter 317: You Can’t Break My Shield_1
Aozawa didn’t specify which Yakuza Organization.
He believed that, with Emily’s Ability, she’d be able to easily find a vile Yakuza Organization and annihilate it.
Those Yakuza Organizations could swagger around before ordinary people. But for someone like Katerina, a human flesh tank, they were nothing more than trinkets in a hundred-yen shop, easily dealt with.
He still needed to secretly create a bit of trouble to test the strength of the Defense Barrier.
"Don’t disappoint me."
Using his Schrödinger’s Cat ability, Aozawa’s body entered a semi-translucent state, becoming a ’Ghost’ invisible to them.
With a thought, he quickly moved outside.
The sky over Tokyo was clouded, with rain, heavy and light, falling across the Tokyo 23 District.
Aozawa stood at the very tip of Tokyo Tower, looking at Tokyo through the curtain of rain. From this angle, it was picturesque; no wonder ancient poets often praised the beauty of rain.
As long as one didn’t descend to the mortal realm and instead viewed the rain from on high, it was indeed beautiful.
He spread his arms, extending the Defense Barrier outward. It spread rapidly from one meter around him to the surrounding area. In less than a second, the entire Tokyo 23 District was covered by the Defense Barrier, and then the Tokyo Metropolis followed.
It spread forward hastily, and in two seconds, the whole of Honshu Island was enveloped within its range; only then did he feel the Defense Barrier reaching its limit.
After testing the exact distance, he quickly retracted it to his side, attempting to change the shape of the Defense Barrier from a circle to a palm, then rapidly to a triangle, hexagon, and star shape.
All these alterations went without a hitch.
In his mind, he knew how to use it for attack and was curious about the consequences of a person’s attack hitting the Defense Barrier.
Aozawa vanished swiftly from Tokyo Tower and appeared on the streets of Shinjuku, ready to begin his search and pick a lucky person to test the strength of his Defense Barrier.
「...」
Shinjuku, Kabukicho.
The time was 1:10 PM.
In a privately rented room, a stand for live streaming held up a smartphone.
Soma Yuko was tied to a chair. The black cloth that had covered her eyes had been torn off and now lay on the ground.
The gag in her mouth and the ropes on her limbs were still in place.
She didn’t need to look down; the coolness of the air on her skin told her everything about her current state.
Apart from the gag, she was bereft of even a shred of fabric.
Having been in this line of work for five years, Soma Yuko had heard that some perverts specifically targeted women like her, but she never imagined that she would one day become an unfortunate case study.
Why was her luck so rotten to encounter such a psycho? And a foreigner at that!
The man fiddling with the live stream equipment in front of her was over two meters tall. He looked as if he’d been burned to charcoal, absolutely capable of frightening any onlookers into fleeing.
He had messy, shoulder-length dreadlocks and wore only knee-length board shorts. This revealed his extremely muscular upper body, and his back muscles faintly formed the outline of a Christmas tree.
Thinking of the prowess such a man would possess, Soma Yuko felt a tearless sorrow, only hoping he wouldn’t be too harsh and would at least leave her with her life.
"Hello~ dear audience members, I’m your old pal Pavao~"
He waved at the camera. The live stream had thousands of fake followers and only a few real ones. These few weren’t there for the brutality of the Dark Web broadcast, but simply to see if he would encounter Dio.
Monday, Shinjuku, around 1:00 PM, crime—these four key elements combined greatly increased the chances of running into Dio.
This was Ponte’s bait plan, naturally executed by one of the four feral hounds at his side.
Pavao was the eager feral hound who had snatched the task.
He never thought being a feral hound was bad; as long as there was money, women, and a life of feasting, he had no problem doing anything.
Conscience was the cheapest thing in the slums.
He differed from Armaniyaz. Pavao believed there was no redemption for a feral hound; once a feral hound, always a feral hound. Instead of pondering issues of morality and human nature, he preferred to live each day as if it were his last, making every moment spectacular and satisfying.
So when Ponte proposed this bait plan, Pavao had eagerly agreed.
He loved the feeling of flouting the law and freely brutalizing others. He was also curious about what Superpower Users were like.
Pavao had killed plenty of people for Ponte in his life but had never fought a Superpower User.
If he could bite off a Superpower User’s ear or finger and retreat injured, that would be a very impressive achievement.
In his mind, fighting ranked above fine wine and women.
Pavao’s greatest wish in life was to die gloriously in battle.
「...」
"Please take a look at our guest today, this service lady here, Soma Yuko.
"Her figure, as you can all see, boasts a very rare F-cup.
"There’s a little fat around her waist, but it doesn’t make her look plump; rather, it’s just the right amount.
"You can tell she takes good care of herself.
"Shaving is a sign of a good service attitude. Its color is a bit dark, but that doesn’t matter.
"For a woman who’s been in this line of work for a long time to still maintain such a color, she can be considered quite good."
Pavao continued his introduction. His task was to draw out Dio, but he couldn’t let Dio detect anything unusual. Therefore, he had to feign ignorance while torturing this woman with the most vicious methods.
He had a uniquely keen interest in tormenting people.
The sight of blood, the anguished cries of women, and the gradual bruising of tender skin under his hands, even to the point of losing all color—all of it excited him.
As a feral hound, when hungry, it was only natural to thoroughly tear into any prey before him.
"WHIMPER!"
Soma Yuko shook her head in terror, trying to stir a hint of mercy in her captor.
She was a woman, after all.
"First, let’s test this lady’s basic skills. We’ll apply oil to a wooden club studded with iron nails.
"Don’t worry, the sharp ends are all embedded in the wood."
The smile on Pavao’s face was more terrifying than a Demon’s. Soma Yuko hadn’t expected this guy to be so twisted, starting with such a lethal instrument right away.
He didn’t intend for her to leave this place alive.
"WHIMPER."
She shook her head desperately.
As the menacing weapon approached, Soma Yuko cried, so frightened that she wet herself.
Seeing the trickle of urine running down the chair leg, Pavao laughed loudly, "HAHA, I haven’t even used any force, and you’re already this scared."
At this point, Pavao removed the gag from her mouth and sneered, "Go ahead and scream. It’s more fun that way."
"No, please, don’t do this! I’ll die! Save me!"
"HAHA, no one’s going to come save you," Pavao mocked her loudly.
"Oh? I don’t think so."
A deeply magnetic voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Pavao’s pupils dilated. The doors and windows were locked. There was only one person who could enter the room without making a sound!
He whirled around to see a tall figure on the other side of the stand—blonde, with fair skin and features that Pavao found utterly loathsome. He wished he could tear Dio’s limbs off and drench them in blood.
"Who are you?"
"Dio."
Aozawa uttered the name, expanding his Defense Barrier in a circular motion. It encased the phone and stand about half a meter away, and then he contracted the Defense Barrier inward.
CRACK!
In Pavao’s eyes, the stand and phone suddenly crumbled to dust as if crushed by a hydraulic press.
This was Aozawa’s offensive application of the Defense Barrier: envelop an object, then contract the Defense Barrier inward to crush it. The effect is even better than I anticipated.
"This power..."
Pavao drew in a sharp breath, shock resonating in his tone. Knowing Superpowers existed was one thing, but witnessing one firsthand was entirely another.
Aozawa, observing the expression on his face, said lazily, "You don’t seem surprised by my arrival."
The Hypnotic power in his voice made Pavao answer truthfully, "Of course. I’m here to lure you out."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Pavao’s pupils constricted. He had actually spoken the truth.
This is another Superpower! One that makes people obey his commands!
Pavao suddenly clapped his hands over his ears, rupturing his eardrums. Blood flowed from them.
The silent world did not panic him.
Pavao let out a fierce roar. Tensing the top of his foot, he stomped, and the floorboards beneath him shattered, even shaking the chair Soma Yuko was on.
He abandoned the nail-studded club and lunged forward, his hands like hawk talons, ready to tear.
Ponte gathered those with innate gifts from the slums, brought them to his base, and relentlessly taught them killing techniques, forcing them to fight each other in a brutal, survival-of-the-fittest environment.
Ultimately, out of five hundred people, Pavao had emerged victorious, relying on this very Hawk Claw Technique.
Flesh and steel were as soft as mud beneath his claws.
Aozawa crossed his arms, swiftly transforming his Defense Barrier into a wall in front of him.
BANG!
A surge of colorful, diamond-shaped brilliance emerged. Pavao felt as though his hands had struck a ground covered in iron spikes. The horrifying recoil caused his fingers to bend unnaturally, and his forearms recoiled to strike his own face.
Several teeth flew from his mouth.
"AAH!"
Pavao screamed in agony.
So, when the Defense Barrier is attacked, it forms a colorful, diamond-shaped shield. Looks pretty cool, Aozawa pondered.
He raised his hand. The wall-like Defense Barrier suddenly sprouted several hand-shaped extensions, which lifted Pavao from the ground and then slammed his arms against the main barrier.
"AAH!" Pavao screamed again, pain spreading from his fingertips to his brain.
But the rebound he experienced this time wasn’t as terrifying as before.
The force of the recoil must depend on the attacker’s strength, Aozawa surmised.
"Goodbye."
His open right hand clenched into a fist, and the Defense Barrier squeezed inward.
BANG! Pavao burst into a mist of blood.
Aozawa didn’t inquire who had sent Pavao. From Phoenix Academy Maggie’s account this morning, I can guess this must be one of Ponte’s four feral hounds.
He glanced at Soma Yuko. She had wet herself again.
... Aozawa thought, not wanting to approach. He used hands formed from the Defense Barrier to untie the ropes binding the woman, then disappeared from the room.