Lightning swiftly condensed in the air into a human form. The moment his feet touched the ground, the lightning dispersed, and Aozawa switched to the Earth Element.
He stood on the ground, drawing power from the earth to nourish his body. His stature swiftly expanded to four meters in height in a short time.
His exterior was hard granite, snow-white in color, making him look like a white Giant.
Witnessing such a transformation, the enforcer's mouth gaped open, his eyes bulged, unable to comprehend the situation before him.
Aozawa grasped the enforcer's head with one hand; it felt like grabbing a ping-pong ball.
A squeeze.
POP! Like the faint sound of opening a soda bottle, immense power directly crushed the enforcer's head, splattering blood on the pure white granite.
A headless body fell.
THUD. The body hit the ground. The noise snapped Ayako Soma out of her shock. She shouted, "Who are you?"
"I am Kamisama! You have been swindling in my name, and now I shall give you divine punishment!" Aozawa blurted out.
Ayako Soma didn't believe for a second that he was a god. Others might not know, but how could she, the Sect Hierarch, not know? The god worshipped by the New World Church was completely fabricated by her grandfather; it couldn't possibly exist. But she couldn't say that. Two of the enforcers didn't believe in the existence of a god, but crucially, one of them was a true believer in the god of the New World Church. It was by the power of faith that she could make that person work for her.
"You're lying! We are all devout children of God! God loves us! You are nothing but a fake Demon!" Ayako Soma shouted loudly. "What are you all standing there for? In the name of God, destroy this Demon quickly!"
The two enforcers' legs were soft with fear; they didn't dare fight such a monster.
But Andre Masilo dared.
The fear previously visible on his face was now covered by determination. As the Sect Hierarch said, he was a child of God; how could God possibly want to punish him? The one before him must be a Demon skilled in disguise. Andre was different from the others; he truly believed in the existence of the god of the New World Church. If it wasn't for God's favor, how could the New World Church have brought him from that poor, backward country to live in this prosperous nation? God had changed his fate. So, for the rest of his life, he would fight in the name of God's guard!
"May the Lord bless me," Andre Masilo prayed devoutly.
Ayako Soma shouted, "Andre, you are a warrior of the Lord! The Lord will bless you! Don't be afraid, attack!"
While shouting, she had already kicked off her high heels and turned to run toward the door.
She admitted that Andre was strong; he was unharmed even after jumping from the fourth floor. But against such a monster, it was clear he couldn't win. Ayako Soma only needed Andre to buy her enough time to escape.
Anda Hiroshi was stupefied. He hadn't expected, after living so long, to encounter such worldview-shattering events today. Dragged into complicity by the New World Church, he was now facing scenes that could not be explained by science. What terrible luck had he stumbled upon today?
Despite these thoughts, Anda Hiroshi's running was not a bit slower than Ayako Soma's. The two enforcers couldn't even catch up; their legs had gone too weak with fear to run with any strength.
Only Andre Masilo charged toward Aozawa.
「…」
"So I'm a god if I'm nice to you, and a Demon if I'm not? You truly have double standards," Aozawa scoffed. "Haven't you heard that both Thunder and gentle rain are blessings from God?"
BANG!
Andre Masilo unleashed a ferocious kick to Aozawa's waist. The hard granite cracked like a spider web, and his right foot became embedded within Aozawa's abdomen.
He had been studying Thai Boxing since he was young. This school of Martial Arts emphasized ferocity. Every move was lethal. The only downside was that Thai Boxing was so fierce it tended to create serious health risks for its practitioners. The stronger the Thai Boxing master, the shorter their life tended to be. But Andre didn't care. He was willing to endure any brutal training. As long as he fought for God, even dying in the next second meant nothing to him. In his eyes, death was merely a return to God's side—the ultimate bliss, nothing to fear.
Aozawa raised his hand and slapped downward as casually as if swatting a fly.
Yet, the power was immense.
As the harsh wind scraped across his face, Andre Masilo knew this was bad. He quickly withdrew his leg, nimbly somersaulted, and leaped away like a monkey in the forest.
The next second, Aozawa vanished.
Andre's pupils dilated. He quickly turned around but found no one behind him.
"AH!" Ayako Soma screamed. She had almost reached the door when suddenly a three-meter-tall Rock Giant burst from the ground.
The cracks Andre had created moments before were already repaired by Aozawa.
"Did you really think you could escape?" Aozawa's voice boomed from the Giant.
"No, please don't kill me!" Ayako Soma collapsed, and a pool of liquid instantly spread on the dry ground beneath her.
The ferocity of its spread would make anyone experienced realize that the woman was wearing only a dress. Any obstacle would have prevented the liquid from dispersing so violently.
Anda Hiroshi nearly had a heart attack. He hastily patted his chest and stammered, "Kamisama, they are the ones who deceive! I am innocent!"
The two thugs dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy. "This has nothing to do with us! All the orders came from Ayako Soma! We were just following commands!"
Ayako Soma cursed inwardly and wanted to argue.
Aozawa raised his right hand and pounded down.
BOOM! The punch landed squarely, turning Ayako Soma into a meat patty. Blood and bone fragments splattered to both sides, half of it landing on Anda Hiroshi beside her.
"AAAHHH!" Anda Hiroshi screamed in agony, falling to the ground. He frantically scrambled backward, his pants wet.
"Sect Hierarch!" Andre Masilo roared from a distance. His legs suddenly powered up, and he launched himself forward like a cheetah pouncing from the tall grass, fierce and menacing.
Aozawa grabbed the two thugs and crushed them into a ball in his palm.
CRACKLE! SNAP! Bones and organs shattered, and blood gushed out. Then Aozawa hurled the ball of flesh forward.
BOOM! A violent explosion erupted. Andre Masilo leaped toward a nearby shelf, skillfully avoiding the gruesome projectile.
Without giving him a moment to breathe, Aozawa once again dove into the ground, then instantly erupted from beneath the shelf, upending it and appearing at Andre's flank.
The bloodstains on Aozawa vanished as he reformed into the pure white granite Giant, his right fist blasting out fiercely.
Andre couldn't dodge in time. He raised his arms to block, but the mere touch sent a shock of severe pain through him, as if he'd been hit by a heavy truck.
"I can give you this chance," Aozawa's voice replied.
"Thank you! I will definitely accept the judgment of the law!" Shimakawa Masao nodded, making a promise.
Aozawa said nothing. With a gentle flick of his finger, the ropes binding Shimakawa were sliced. Then, his massive form quickly vanished, transforming into the Wind Element.
As long as he didn't deactivate his Element Replacement ability, Aozawa could freely switch between different elements. It was unclear how long it could last, but at least one whole night posed no problem.
Watching the severed ropes fall, Shimakawa Masao stood up from the chair, his gaze fixed on Anda Hiroshi, who was cowering near the doorway.
"Old man, you're dead!" Shimakawa Masao growled, charging forward. He didn't want to use any tools; he would beat that beast in human clothing to death with his bare fists.
Anda Hiroshi's mind plunged into panic. He desperately wanted to run, but the earlier shock had left his limbs weak and unresponsive.
He had just managed to struggle to his feet when Shimakawa Masao reached him, landing a heavy punch squarely on his face.
"Stop! It's not like that! Listen to me explain! About Ryoko... I regret what happened with Ryoko too!" Anda Hiroshi desperately tried to defend himself. Even though his speech was slurred and air whistled through his broken teeth, he still wanted to explain.
"Go to hell!" Shimakawa Masao straddled Anda Hiroshi's chest, raising his fists and hammering down fiercely.
Punch after punch.
He didn't bother with any technique to make Anda Hiroshi lower his guarding arms; he just kept pounding, determined to vent all the hatred consuming his heart.
Even when Anda Hiroshi could no longer block, when no pleas for mercy could escape his lips, Shimakawa Masao didn't stop. He continued to pound madly.
After he was done, Shimakawa Masao looked at his own blood-soaked hands, then at the mangled form beneath him that was no longer recognizable as Anda Hiroshi.
"HAHAHA!" He let out a wild, cathartic laugh. Then, as his laughter subsided, he covered his face and began to sob uncontrollably.
When he finally stopped crying, Shimakawa Masao remembered the promise he had made to that monster.
He took out his phone and calmly called the Metropolitan Police Department.
"My name is Shimakawa Masao. I've killed someone. I'm in a warehouse. Get here quickly."
After hanging up, he tilted his head back, feeling utterly lost.
He had always pushed Ryoko to study, wanting her to use her diploma to climb into high society, to become a cultured person, so different from him. He wanted her to escape the world of the Yakuza, to escape that rotten environment.
But in the end, that "higher" world was just as rotten.
If he had known, he might as well have let Ryoko stay with him in the Yakuza. At least there, he could have protected his sister.
No, that wasn't right either. He should have noticed sooner that something was wrong with Ryoko. His sister, who used to love calling him, always chatting about school, had suddenly stopped all contact.
And he hadn't even cared. Instead, he'd been busy collecting high-interest loans from gambling addicts, even forcing their wives into prostitution to pay off debts.
Dammit.