†††
“ZIGGURAT, you screwed up,” Burhardt said as he looked down at Euphemia sprawled on the floor. “You didn’t notice because of your big car, but you were followed. By two different enemy camps. They’ve already sniffed this location out.”
“So they have. Doesn’t matter either way. They can’t touch me.” Haydn was unconcerned.
“You think so? Those Guardians are Saionji’s elite unit.”
“What are they capable of? They can’t enter these grounds. The most they can do is sniff around the area like dogs. I suppose Saionji has finally determined this property belongs to me. Did you kill them?”
“They were barely breathing last I checked,” Burhardt reported with indifference.
“Who’s the other enemy camp?”
“It’s not a group so much as a lone Beast Blood child.”
“Did you say a Beast Blood youngling? Wonderful! I wonder if we can still torture them and feed them to the Muta.” Haydn glanced over at the latest camera equipment covering the wall.
“I cut the child down and discarded her in the forest. The Guardians succeeded in destroying our sensors and defense system in that time. I thought things seemed odd recently. They must have suspected us for a while. Saionji is no fool. She wouldn’t take this kind of risk without proof of some kind. You have gone too far. You can’t expect your position to protect you forever when you use misuse it to do whatever you please without taking precautions.”
“Well, it’ll be a blow to lose this mansion. I hid it well, but looks like time’s up. I can move to another location anytime. Not even the great Saionji can touch me once I steal the crown from her. Without her position in Gothic City, she’s nothing more than a concerned citizen. Powerless. Just how much money do you think I’ve poured into the police and research institutes? They won’t turn on me,” Haydn bragged, full of confidence.
“That has worked until now. But you can’t buy Beast Bloods. He’s on his way here. Sand Limas are in the air. He might be scaling the walls as we speak.”
“…Kill him. Torment him to death. And be sure to take high quality video of it all,” Haydn ordered, restiveness creeping into his voice.
“I’d do it without you telling me to. I’m content as long as I get to kill him…kill Silvergray,” Burhardt said coldly.
“Zel?” Euphemia stirred awake and lifted her head off the floor. She had lost consciousness after Burhardt showed up. “…Director Burhardt…”
The appearance of her trustworthy boss had filled Euphemia’s emerald eyes with hope, but the words died on her lips before the frigid eyes that stared down at her. He had shown up right before she fainted and given her a look colder than death itself.
“I see you’ve come to, Mia. Yes, it’s me.”
Burhardt looked completely different from her levelheaded boss who always wore a white lab coat. Black leather clothes, dark tinted specs. If it wasn’t for his name, she would’ve never recognized him. His voice, more than his name, was what forced Euphemia to acknowledge it.
“Director… Why? How could you do something so…so horrible?” she accused.
“Director, huh? That identity lasted a long time. I had grown quite fond of it. I can’t go back to it now… Too bad.”
“I’ll give you another identity,” Haydn offered. “In the meantime, hold back those Beast Bloods, Shank. Killing them all will eliminate any solid evidence against me. The rest will work out on its own. I have accumulated that much power and influence over the world.”
“Shank? You’re Shank…Director? I don’t believe it.”
Shock widened Euphemia’s emerald eyes. Her head shook weakly as if fighting to accept it.
Shank was the name that came up from the very beginning as the frightening man leading both Infernum and Vermis. Every day Euphemia went to work alongside that dreadful crime lord.
“No way…” she breathed.
“It’s one of many names I go by, but yes, I am Shank,” Burhardt said without inflection. Did any emotion show in the eyes hidden behind his dark specs?
“Y-You’re the o-one who…f-framed Zel for murder….” she stuttered, emotions getting the better of her.
Burhardt closely assessed Euphemia. His thin lips curled into a merciless sneer. “Indeed, that was my failed attempt. I’ve been so long without a woman, I didn’t account for the lack of sperm.”
“…Coward… I trusted you…” she hissed.
“What are you going to do with this woman?” Burhardt asked Haydn, leaving Euphemia unanswered.
“I’ll play with her until she becomes an obedient doll. There are plenty of ways to break a person.”
“Your perversion never ceases to amaze. Well, it’s no concern of mine. Do what you wish with her.” Burhardt—Shank—slowly looked around the room. “This is not a good place to fight. I’ll pick a good spot and wait for him to come to me.”
A slight smile touched Shank’s lips as he turned his back on Euphemia. That was no longer the back of the kindhearted researcher she knew. It was the broad back of a man going to fight—much like she had often seen in Zelaide.
“Wait! Don’t go yet, Director Burhardt!”
“…What is it?” Shank turned around and watched with amusement as Euphemia pushed herself off the ground and managed to stand on swaying legs.
The large monitors behind her cast a shadow on her face, but Shank easily saw her desperation. On the monitors, the footage of Euphemia being attacked replayed for the thousandth time.
Shank pulled a short steel spike from the leather holder on his chest and threw it at Euphemia.
She ducked with a small cry as the black spike whooshed passed her ear. The stagnant room was shaken by shattering glass.
The strangely shaped steel spike stuck out of the largest monitor directly behind Euphemia.
“What did you do?!” Haydn roared.
“They will be here soon. You can’t let yourself be distracted by that,” Shank said flatly.
Boots pounded the floor outside the door. The door should have been locked, but three armed guards rushed into the room after using the emergency release code. They were Haydn’s private bodyguards.
“President! Are you safe?!” shouted the leader pointing a gun at Shank. The other two guards positioned themselves in front of Haydn. “We only allowed this man inside because you permitted it.”
“Nothing’s wrong. We just had a slight disagreement.”
“You should send this man away. He’s dangerous.”
Shank let the leader’s threatening gaze wash over him like a spring breeze.
“Take your men and intercept the Beast Bloods heading here,” Haydn ordered.
“Beast Bloods?”
“Beast Bloods are headed here?”
The bodyguards panicked.
“They are. This man told me that Beast Bloods with a grudge against me are on their way. I’m going to evacuate into the inner area with this girl. Two of you come with me. The rest are to work with Shank to eliminate every single Beast Blood foolish enough to come into my domain. You can kill them. Actually, do kill them. I’ll be filming the whole thing so we will have evidence that it was legitimate self-defense.”
Nervous tension ran through the guards, but they filed out of the room at their leader’s command. They were headed to give orders to the rest of the guard team.
“What are you people thinking? Murder is wrong! You won’t get away with any of this!” Euphemia yelled at their backs.
“Get away with it? This is an act of self-defense,” Haydn demurred. “I didn’t think you had much energy left to shout. Guess that should be expected of your stubbornness, huh? I can’t have you throwing a fit on me. I’ll make you nice and quiet…with the highest quality Nightz.”
“Nightz?!”
“Yes, Nightz. Allow me to show you a supreme dream.”
“S-So you were the main source behind Gothic City’s Nightz problem!”
“No, no. I’m not so arrogant as to take credit for that. The main problem lies in weak humans who rely on narcotics. I merely gave them the option. I will become the king of this world after I burn away all the trash that readily relied on narcotics. Becoming mayor of Gothic City is just a step in that direction.”
“Pretending to be the savior of the problem you caused? Devil!”
“Aah! Those eyes! I have been longing to see those eyes burning with anger. Clouding them over with drugs will be such a waste. But it must be done. You will be out of it until I can drag Saionji down by announcing her biological sister is a Nightz addict. It won’t take long. Then I can see those eyes again. Come along then. Time for your injection.”
“NO! Let go! Zel! Zel!”
Shank silently watched Haydn drag Euphemia out of the room.
“I don’t make a habit of fighting alongside humans, but…the situation calls for it…” He removed his tinted specs and tossed them aside. His right eye glowed like a cold, blue flame. “Come, Silvergray… Death awaits.”