**Chapter 62 — "Gentleman"**
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**Team 1 – Deep Inside the Third Portal**
Hasegawa raised her fist.
"Stay alert."
The squad moved forward through the dim corridor, rifles up, breaths tight.
They entered a wide chamber.
At the far end, a lone figure stood motionless — back turned, staring at the glowing crystal wall.
Hasegawa shouted.
"Hello! Are you a civilian?!"
Kaito thought from inside his Mecca.
*Is that how you ask? "Hey, are you a civilian?"*
The figure didn't answer.
One soldier stepped closer — cautious.
The moment she reached him —
**SHIIING!**
A long, dark shape punched straight through her stomach.
She spat blood. Eyes wide with shock.
The figure slowly turned.
A gentleman.
Tall. Elegant. Perfectly tailored black suit with intricate swirling patterns that looked almost alive. White shirt. Black tie. Pale skeletal hands with long, sharp claws — not gloves. Above the collar sat a white bird-like skull mask, sharp beak, empty black sockets, and two massive curved black horns. Jagged black organic armor covered his neck and jaw.
Behind him, a single thick, glossy black tail coiled like living shadow. Not tentacles. A tail.
And that same tail was still buried in the soldier's stomach.
Hasegawa's blood turned to ice.
She remembered the drone footage. The strange humanoid shape.
*He is that thing… Not human. But standing like one. Just as Rei said.*
"FIRE!" she roared.
Rifles barked. The chamber exploded with gunfire.
Kaito and Mio froze for a split second.
"Who the hell is he? How did he just—"
Mecca charged forward, swords raised.
Bullets slammed into the Gentleman's chest and face.
He didn't dodge.
They sparked off his skin like nothing.
Kaito swung his sword in a heavy arc.
The Gentleman leaped gracefully.
Hasegawa slashed mid-air.
**CLANG!**
The blade connected.
Nothing happened.
Kaito fired the shoulder cannon.
**BOOM!**
The Gentleman dropped to all fours — moving like a beast — and sprinted on hands and feet, dodging the blast cleanly.
He leaped.
His tail whipped up and grabbed a glowing crystal on the ceiling.
He swung there, looking down at the squad, head tilted… thinking.
Then his empty sockets glanced at the first soldier he killed.
Whatever idea he had, he abandoned it.
He dropped.
Grabbed the nearest soldier and **ripped** her apart with raw strength — two pieces flying in opposite directions.
Another soldier tried to attack.
His tail stabbed through her chest.
The rest kept firing.
He snatched a fallen rifle, pointed it at them, and pulled the trigger.
The recoil was too strong. He couldn't control it.
He threw the gun away in annoyance and resumed killing with his claws and tail.
Hasegawa's mind raced.
*What is happening…? What do I do? What the hell do I do?*
Kaito and Mio attacked again.
The Gentleman grabbed two soldiers and hurled them with terrifying force at Mio's Mecca.
**CRUNCH!**
Bones shattered. The soldiers died instantly.
The impact crumpled the Mecca's leg. It toppled with a metallic screech.
Hasegawa sprinted straight at the monster.
"I don't know what you are… but I know none of us can kill you right now."
She planted herself between the Gentleman and the survivors.
"Everyone listen! A soldier's duty is not just to die — it's to protect! That is my final order! Protect yourselves and run!"
She looked at the two pilots.
"Mio! Kaito! Get out of here!"
The Gentleman lunged. His claws closed around her torso.
Hasegawa smiled grimly, blood on her lips.
"Let's meet in hell, you fucker."
She triggered the self-destruct.
**KABOOM!**
A blinding explosion swallowed them both.
Everyone froze.
"No—!!"
Soldiers screamed.
Kaito's eyes popped wide. He went completely silent.
Mio dropped to her knees, tears pouring down her face.
The remaining soldiers turned and ran.
The smoke slowly cleared.
The Gentleman stood untouched in the crater.
Only two of his clawed fingers were missing — the ones that had been gripping Hasegawa. Black ichor dripped from the stumps.
He tilted his skull head.
Then he pounced.
He tore into the fleeing soldiers with brutal efficiency — claws slashing throats, tail impaling bodies and flinging them against the walls.
Blood painted the floor and shattered crystals.
He stopped for a moment, voice low and rasping, echoing from inside the skull.
"Me….. Kill….. Everyone."
Mio's eyes widened in horror.
She remembered the earlier room — empty, nothing but blood on the walls.
*He… he killed my sister too…*
She screamed and charged at him.
The Gentleman casually slapped her.
**WHAM!**
She flew back and crashed hard onto the floor.
He turned toward Kaito.
Kaito's mind broke.
*What is happening…? What am I even doing here? I was at school… I was going home… I want to go home… but there is no home anymore… Why? Why? Why?*
He looked around.
Everyone was dead.
Hasegawa's soldiers — gone.
Mio lying on the ground.
Tears streamed down his face.
"Why…? I was never supposed to be a superhero… Just give me back my normal life… My family… My friends…"
His expression twisted.
He charged at the Gentleman with a broken roar.
The Gentleman's tail shot forward like lightning.
**SHIIING!**
It stabbed straight through Kaito's chest.
Toxic black liquid pulsed visibly through the translucent segments of the tail.
Kaito gasped, eyes wide.
Smoke filled the chamber. Walls were destroyed. Bodies lay broken everywhere.
The Gentleman began walking forward slowly.
Then he stopped.
He turned his head.
In the swirling smoke and dust…
One glowing blue eye stared back at him.
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*End*