To Tomizawa Yuzo, Kanjuro's calmness looked like utter failure and pathetic embarrassment. He took a step forward triumphantly, pointing at Kanjuro's nose, his face full of a victor's mockery:
"Clown! Do you see? The woman you like doesn't want you anymore! Does a piece of trash like you think you're worthy of competing with me? Get lost already, stop embarrassing yourself here!"
Shiro Suzuki also waved his hand in disgust, his tone carrying an unquestionable expulsion: "Kanjuro, Ayako has already made it very clear! Please leave the Suzuki Family residence immediately; you are not welcome here!"
However, just as their words fell—
"Buzz—"
An indescribable, soul-shuddering low hum rang out without warning. The magnificent crystal chandelier in the living room began to shake violently, the light flickering erratically, and the frames of famous paintings on the walls rattled. A cold, viscous, terrifying pressure, as if from the deepest depths of the Nine Sereneries, erupted like a physical tsunami with Kanjuro at the center, instantly sweeping through the entire space!
The temperature plummeted, and the air became thick with a strange scent of sulfur and decay.
Under the terrified gazes of everyone present, the void behind Kanjuro seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force. Two thick, pitch-black tentacles covered in eerie dark runes, like demonic creatures from the abyss, suddenly lunged out! They were as flexible as if they had lives of their own, carrying a destructive aura. At a speed difficult for the naked eye to track, they instantly coiled around the necks of Tomizawa Yuzo and Shiro Suzuki!
"Ugh-ah!"
"Heh—!"
Tomizawa Yuzo and Shiro Suzuki couldn't even let out a full scream before they were strangled by the cold tentacles. Their feet left the ground as they were hoisted into mid-air! Their faces quickly turned a purplish-red due to oxygen deprivation and extreme terror; their eyes bulged and were bloodshot, their limbs struggling in vain, unable to budge the tentacles in the slightest. Tomizawa Yuzo's crotch instantly became soaked, and a pungent stench filled the air—he had actually pissed himself from pure terror!
This scene, which surpassed human understanding and looked like hell had descended, plunged the living room into a deathly silence, which was then broken by the sound of terrified gasps.
"Ah—!" Suzuki Ayako let out a short scream, her hands clamped tightly over her mouth. Her face was as pale as paper, and her body trembled uncontrollably. Her beautiful eyes were wide, filled with insurmountable shock, fear, and confusion. (What happened? What is... this?! Mr. Kanjuro... what on earth is he?!)
Although Sonoko had long known that Kanjuro possessed extraordinary power, seeing these methods that resembled a demon god's still made her shrink her neck back. However, it was mostly a sense of shared glory and excitement. (Papa Kanjuro is showing his might! So cool!)
Looking at the out-of-control scene, Tomoko Suzuki sighed helplessly and rubbed her brow. Her tone carried a hint of reproach, yet there was not much surprise as she whispered to Kanjuro, "Didn't we agree... to do some things a bit more discreetly?" What she worried about wasn't the killing, but the subsequent trouble that might come from exposing supernatural powers so openly.
Kanjuro completely ignored Tomoko Suzuki's complaint. His deep eyes were now like ten-thousand-year-old ice, coldly pinned on the nearly collapsing Suzuki Ayako. There was no longer the previous heat or expectation in them, only offended majesty and a high-and-mighty, cold disappointment.
"Suzuki Ayako," his voice was no longer gentle, carrying a chill that seemed to come from the Nine Sereneries, every word like an icicle smashing into Ayako's heart. "You don't even know what kind of great power I possess, what kind of transcendent being I am... yet you dare try to reject me with your shallow perception and ridiculous 'kindness'? To protect me? What a... massive joke!"
He manipulated the two black tentacles, hoisting the struggling Shiro Suzuki and Tomizawa Yuzo before Ayako like display pieces, allowing her to clearly see their faces distorted by pain and terror.
"Now, right before your eyes, I will kill these two noisy, stupid ants who dared to offend me." Kanjuro's tone was as flat as if he were deciding what to have for dinner, yet it carried a hair-raising cruelty. "Do you still want to plead for them?"
Looking at her father and her nominal fiancé struggling in agony within those terrifying tentacles and hearing Kanjuro's cold, heartless words, Suzuki Ayako's mind went blank. Her worldview was being completely shattered and reshaped. Her delicate body swayed, nearly fainting; the immense fear and disbelief overwhelmed her, leaving her completely unable to think, let alone speak any words of plea.
"Ugh... ugh..." Shiro Suzuki was being strangled until his eyes rolled back. Using his last bit of strength, he looked at Kanjuro with eyes full of extreme pain, confusion, and terror. (Just... what happened? This Kanjuro... what kind of monster is he?!)
Tomizawa Yuzo had long since lost his wits from fear, leaving only the instinctive twitching of his body and the mess of his incontinence.
The magnificent living room had now turned into a living hell. And Kanjuro was the sole ruler of this purgatory, coldly scrutinizing the beings awestruck by his power, whose fates he held casually in his hands. Suzuki Ayako's so-called "sacrifice" and "protection" appeared so pale, laughable, and even... like a form of desecration before this absolute power. Kanjuro's cold questioning echoed in the dead silent living room like a death knell. He admired Suzuki Ayako's deathly pale face and violently trembling body, as if admiring a piece of art on the verge of shattering.
"I am asking you now," his voice carried a cat-and-mouse playfulness, but his gaze was as sharp as a blade, locking onto Ayako. "Do you want to plead for these two? Hmm? These are two... living lives!" He emphasized the words "living lives" heavily, filled with irony.
"Haha... Hahaha..." Immediately after, he actually couldn't stop himself from laughing wildly. That laughter was filled with extreme contempt for worldly morals and tiny lives, as well as a hair-raising pleasure of controlling everything.
Along with his wild laughter, an even more terrifying scene occurred—with him as the center, a thick, ink-like dark energy surged out like a living thing, spreading rapidly and instantly enveloping the entire luxury villa of the Suzuki Conglomerate! The view outside the windows became blurred and distorted, as if isolated by an ominous black veil. The light dimmed, and the interior of the villa seemed to become a desperate domain ruled by shadows. Any force attempting to break in from the outside was ruthlessly blocked and swallowed by this Dark Barrier.
"What's going on?!"
"Quick! Protect the Master!"
"The door won't open!"
Outside the villa, a large number of bodyguards who had heard the news tried to rush in, only to find themselves hitting an invisible wall, unable to break through that layer of darkness at all. They looked at the darkness-shrouded villa in terror, shouting and shooting in vain, unable to even stir a single ripple.
Shiro Suzuki, strangled in mid-air, saw this scene, and the last spark of hope in his eyes extinguished, leaving only boundless fear and despair. (He... what kind of monster is he?! Is this... the power of gods and demons?!)
Looking at this scene that resembled divine punishment, Tomoko Suzuki shook her head inwardly. Her tone was calm, even carrying a hint of "as expected," as she whispered to herself: "This is the consequence of offending Master Ye Xiao... they should have known long ago." She had long ago submitted to this power that transcended the mundane.
Sonoko's eyes were shining. She hugged her arms tightly, whispering excitedly: "Yeah, why doesn't everyone know how scary Brother Kanjuro is? In my eyes, no matter what happens, I will never stop believing in Papa Kanjuro! He is the strongest!" Her admiration for Kanjuro had already become twisted, reaching into her very marrow.
"Wh... What?! Papa... Kanjuro??" Shiro Suzuki, who was nearly suffocated, acutely caught this earth-shattering address from Sonoko amidst his extreme pain and terror! He suddenly looked at Tomoko Suzuki, then at Sonoko, and then at the demon-god-like Kanjuro. A terrifying truth he had ignored, or rather, hadn't dared to think deeply about, split through his chaotic thoughts like a lightning bolt!
(Papa Kanjuro...)
(Sonoko calls him Papa...)
(Then Ayako... Tomoko...)
(Could it be... could it be that Kanjuro is their real...!)
In an instant, all the clues connected—Tomoko's unusual attitude toward Kanjuro, Sonoko's extraordinary intimacy and admiration for him, and... and himself!
A look of horror and realization even worse than death appeared on Shiro Suzuki's face! He stared fixedly at Tomoko Suzuki, using his last strength to roar hoarsely and incredulously: "So... so that's it! Tomoko! You... your marriage agreement with me... wasn't because of family pressure at all! You... you just wanted a superficial backer, a... a front! Because... because I can't have children at all!! Right?! Sonoko and Ayako... they... they are both... his!!!"
He finally understood that from beginning to end, he was just a tool to be used, a shield to cover up the taboo relationship between Tomoko Suzuki and Kanjuro! The so-called eldest daughters of the Suzuki Family didn't have a single drop of his, Shiro Suzuki's, blood flowing in them! This realization made him feel more humiliated and broken than death itself!
Facing Shiro Suzuki's desperate roar, Tomoko Suzuki only gave him a faint glance. Her gaze was calm and rippleless, as if looking at an insignificant obstacle about to be cleared away, silently admitting everything.
"Only figuring it out now? Pity, it's too late." Kanjuro looked coldly at Shiro Suzuki, whose mind had completely collapsed, as if looking at a pile of irredeemable trash. The black tentacles he controlled began to slowly tighten, the sound of bones unable to bear the weight making a tooth-aching "crack-crack" noise.
"No... don't... spare me..." Tomizawa Yuzo had long ago lost his courage, tears and snot flowing as he begged for mercy incoherently.
Meanwhile, Kanjuro turned his gaze once again toward the swaying Suzuki Ayako, waiting for her final choice under the threat of death to her father (nominal) and "fiancé," and the shock of learning the startling truth.
The entire villa was shrouded in darkness, and inside, the final judgment of power, bloodline, betrayal, and absolute strength was being staged. Suzuki Ayako stood at the center of the storm. Every word she spoke would decide the fate of many present, including her own. Kanjuro's cold gaze was like two physical shackles, tightly coiling around the mentally collapsing Suzuki Ayako. In the living room under the Dark Barrier, time seemed to freeze, leaving only the dying gasps from the throats of Tomizawa Yuzo and Shiro Suzuki, and the futile banging and shouting of the bodyguards outside.
"My patience is limited, Ayako." Kanjuro's voice broke the dead silence, carrying an unquestionable majesty, yet strangely calm. "Give me your answer. Now, immediately."
He raised his hand slightly, and the two black tentacles coiled around their necks loosened for a brief moment, allowing the two to inhale a sliver of precious air, though it only brought deeper terror.
"Are you going to beg me to spare these two noisy ants for the sake of that ridiculous mortal kindness in your heart?" His tone was full of sarcasm. "Or... do you not mind if I casually clean up this eyesore of trash?"
Suzuki Ayako looked at her (nominal) father and Tomizawa Yuzo, their faces distorted by fear and lack of oxygen. She saw the extreme longing for life in their eyes, then looked back at Kanjuro's handsome yet cold and ruthless face, like that of a demon god. She felt her head spinning, her worldview completely shattered. She staggered back a few steps until her back hit the cold wall, only then barely managing to stand firm.
"Kanjuro... you... you can't do this..." Her voice was weak and trembling, filled with a sense of powerlessness and a final struggle to salvage something. "This is... murder..."
In the end, she still couldn't escape the moral shackles rooted deep in her heart, unable to watch two lives vanish before her eyes, even if one had just tried to kidnap her with interests and the other was her biological father.
Kanjuro looked at her like this, and the last trace of faint expectation in his eyes was completely extinguished, replaced by a cold disappointment of 'as expected.' He sighed softly, the sound exceptionally clear in the dead silence of the living room... "As I thought... you still chose that superficial rationality, that hypocrisy disciplined by the secular world." His tone carried a judgmental indifference. "So be it. I am disappointed by your choice, but not surprised."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Shiro Suzuki and Tomizawa Yuzo, in whose eyes a glimmer of faint hope had just risen. His look was like he was staring at two corpses.
"However, you must understand," Kanjuro's voice suddenly became bone-chillingly cold, carrying an absolute and unquestionable decisiveness, "your plea—is useless!"
"I want them dead simply because they offended me, and that's it."
The moment his words fell, those two black tentacles suddenly erupted with terrifying, immense force!
"Crack! Crack!"
Two clear and tooth-aching sounds of bone fracturing rang out almost simultaneously!
Tomizawa Yuzo and Shiro Suzuki's eyes instantly widened to the extreme, their pupils dilating, filled with extreme pain and disbelief. Then their heads slumped, all struggle and life force cut off in an instant. Their bodies were like broken dolls, tossed aside onto the floor by the tentacles, making a dull thud.
"No—!!!" Suzuki Ayako let out a shrill scream, her vision going dark as she nearly fainted.
Almost at the same time, the guards blocked outside by the Dark Barrier, who had seen the tragic scene inside through special surveillance, went completely mad! They recklessly raised their firearms and pulled the triggers toward Kanjuro!
"Bang bang bang bang—!"
Dense bullets poured in like a rainstorm, firelight flickering in the dim living room!
However, facing this lethal barrage, Kanjuro didn't even move a step. He merely lifted his eyelids casually.
A translucent Dark Energy Barrier, flowing with countless eerie dark runes, instantly condensed in front of him like the most loyal shield!
The moment all the whistling bullets touched this barrier, they seemed to fall into a viscous swamp, their speed dropping sharply, and then they were reflected back at an even faster speed, along their original paths and even more tricky angles!
"Puff puff puff puff—!"
"Ah!" "Ugh!"
Outside the villa, shrill screams suddenly rang out! Those guards who fired never expected their own bullets to return in this manner, and they fell into pools of blood one after another, hit by their own or their comrades' bullets!
For a moment, inside and outside the villa, death and injury were everywhere. Inside the living room were two gradually cooling corpses; outside the living room were the heavily casualties guards. A thick smell of blood began to spread, mixing with the sulfurous decay of the dark energy, forming a terrifying scene like a scroll from hell.
Kanjuro still stood in place, untainted by a single speck of dust, as if he had just casually brushed away a few specks of dust. He looked coldly at the slumped and despondent Suzuki Ayako, at the complex yet still submissive Tomoko Suzuki, and at the admiring Sonoko.
"Now," his voice rang out calmly, breaking the dead silence of the horror, "who else has an objection to my decision?"
Absolute power brought absolute silence. In this Suzuki Mansion shrouded in darkness, Kanjuro's will became the only law.
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