Mizuhashi Yuzuki nodded. “Gounon isn’t like the other patients. When the police brought him in, all he would say was that he was the Hero Gounon. He couldn’t provide any other useful information. The police investigated for a long time but couldn’t find any family, or learn his real name. So we just call him Gounon. After all, it’s just a form of address.”
Meaning he was a person of unknown origin?
Regardless, Gounon was just a mental patient they had chanced upon. No one would pay him excessive attention.
Although Izumi Shirayuki, filled with immense curiosity about everything, might want to investigate Gounon’s origins, the moment she heard even the police couldn’t uncover his past, she simply wouldn’t have any leads to pursue.
Next, Mizuhashi Yuzuki, the most familiar with the hospital, led everyone on a tour of the various areas.
Meanwhile.
Hino Kaoru made a phone call. “Matsui, make a trip to the Mizuhashi Private Psychiatric Hospital.”
“Commander, what am I going there to do?” the man called Matsui asked.
“Suzuki’s death is already known to you. So you’re asking me what I’m sending you to that mental hospital to do?” Hino Kaoru’s tone was cold.
Days had passed since Suzuki Juro’s death, and the members of Flame Bird Group had naturally learned of the situation.
Hearing Hino Kaoru’s words, Matsui Yuki fell silent.
Hino Kaoru continued, “I don’t care what method you use. The bottom line is that my subordinate cannot die in vain. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” Matsui Yuki replied. He knew his Commander’s style, so without needing to ask further, he more or less understood what he had to do.
“Good. That’s settled then.” Hino Kaoru hung up the phone.
She herself planned to investigate matters regarding Kiryoki. She already had a certain train of thought on that front.
Gradually, night fell.
The moon was dark and the wind high, a seemingly perfect time for misdeeds.
Matsui Yuki secretly arrived at the mental hospital at this hour. Infiltration posed little difficulty for a Reincarnator.
‘This hospital is this huge? So many people. Looks like I’ll be busy.’
Hidden in the shadow of a tree, Matsui Yuki looked towards the distant buildings, thinking about where exactly to begin.
As he searched, Matsui Yuki’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
He saw someone in one of the wards stealthily climbing out through a window. The windows here were basically all fitted with iron bars, but the bars on that particular ward’s window seemed to have been broken.
Matsui Yuki didn’t know who this person was, but this first person he spotted seemed as good a starting point as any. So, Matsui Yuki crept closer.
As he drew nearer, Matsui Yuki made out a red-haired man. His build was robust, but he was wearing a hospital gown, clearly a patient.
The patient was currently throwing punches and kicks, muttering to himself, “As the Hero, I must train hard and increase my strength to defeat the Devil Lord.”
Hearing this, Matsui Yuki nearly burst out laughing.
‘Exactly what you’d expect from a mental hospital. A psycho on the first encounter, and they’re this ridiculous? To him, I, who am about to deal with him, must seem like the Devil Lord, right?’
Thinking this, Matsui Yuki walked directly towards Gounon.
He didn’t bother hiding his footsteps, for, in his view, his opponent was merely an ordinary person. A mental patient, sure, but still just an ordinary person.
Hearing the footsteps, Gounon hurriedly spun around. Upon seeing Matsui Yuki, Gounon frowned. “Who are you? Could you be a subordinate of the Devil Lord?”
“A subordinate of the Devil Lord? No, no, no. I am the Devil Lord himself,” Matsui Yuki said, amused.
“What? You are the Devil Lord?” Gounon staggered back several steps, looking extremely shocked.
This reaction amused Matsui Yuki even more. “That’s right. I am the Devil Lord, and you are the Hero, correct? Today, I, the Devil Lord, will eliminate you, the Hero. Prepare to die!”
As he spoke, Matsui Yuki suddenly accelerated. He grabbed Gounon’s neck and slammed him to the ground, gradually increasing the force in his grip, causing Gounon to struggle instinctively.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Gounon would soon bid farewell to this world. After all, the strength of a Reincarnator was beyond what an ordinary person could match.
But at that crucial moment, Gounon felt a different sensation. He felt something that had always existed within his body begin to stir, as if stimulated.
‘Is this the sealed power I possess as the Hero? Is this power finally breaking free?’
Gounon immediately circulated this power, letting it flow through his entire body. Instantly, the suffocating grip on his throat no longer pained him. He even felt that Matsui Yuki’s strength… seemed rather small?
Without hesitation, Gounon braced himself and pushed his body up. This sudden movement caught Matsui Yuki off guard, making him stagger.
Before Matsui Yuki could react, Gounon rolled over, slamming Matsui Yuki to the ground. Emulating Matsui Yuki’s previous actions, he clamped his hand around Matsui Yuki’s neck, gradually tightening his grip.
“Ugh… ughh…”
Matsui Yuki’s eyes bulged wide as he struggled desperately, feeling utter disbelief.
This mental patient… wasn’t an ordinary person?
Matsui Yuki couldn’t accept this outcome. He opened his mouth, trying to breathe, but his neck was being squeezed tighter and tighter. No air could get through, causing him immense agony.
“Die, Devil Lord!” Gounon roared, using all his strength.
Accompanied by a sickening crack, Matsui Yuki’s throat was instantly crushed. He died with his eyes wide open, a look of unresolved grievance frozen on his face.
Having finished off Matsui Yuki, Gounon released his hand, sat down on the ground, and smiled. “I have slain the Devil Lord. I, Gounon the Hero, have saved the world.”
Hino Kaoru was currently outside Aragaki Girls’ High School. She had learned that Kiryoki and Adachi Tsukasa’s deaths had occurred here and wanted to investigate.
But just as she was about to sneak into the school grounds, information from the Reincarnation Space echoed in her ear.
Matsui Yuki was dead.
This news made Hino Kaoru’s expression turn extremely grim. She had sent Matsui Yuki to retaliate against the mental hospital, but he went there and died directly?
What in the world had happened?
Hino Kaoru had no way of knowing. Yet the death of yet another member infuriated her immensely.
Her Flame Bird Group only had five members in total. Within this short period, three of them had died in quick succession, and all of them had perished in Reality. How could she possibly accept this?
