The luxurious and spacious living room had now turned into a bloody slaughterhouse.
A thick, inseparable metallic scent filled the air, mixing with the sulfurous decay left by the dark energy to form a nauseating sweetness. On the floor and walls, splashed blood painted cruel abstract art. The corpses of Tomizawa Yuzo and Shiro Suzuki lay on the ground in distorted poses, eyes wide open, frozen in the fear and disbelief of their final moments. Outside the window, through the distorted Dark Barrier, the figures of guards could be vaguely seen lying all over the ground, without a single sound left.
In the entire Suzuki Conglomerate villa, there were no living beings left except for Kanjuro, Tomoko Suzuki, Suzuki Sonoko, and the slumped, despondent Suzuki Ayako.
Suzuki Ayako stared blankly at the Shura field before her, her body trembling uncontrollably. Her eyes quickly reddened, and the accumulated tears finally burst. She looked up at Kanjuro, who stood in the middle of the pool of blood yet remained untainted, handsome as a god or demon, her voice carrying a broken sob and lack of understanding:
"Wh... why... Kanjuro... why did you do this... why kill so many people..."
Kanjuro paced slowly, his leather shoes making a slight splashing sound in the viscous pool of blood, which was exceptionally clear in the dead environment. He walked up to Ayako and looked down at her, his eyes lacking the violence of slaughter, showing only a deep indifference that seemed to originate from ancient times.
"Why?" he repeated, the corners of his mouth curling into a temperatureless arc. "My initial target was only him—" His gaze swept over Shiro Suzuki's corpse. "This ant who occupied the title of your mother's husband but was actually a useless ornament, and who dared to speak insolently to me."
His gaze returned to Ayako's tearful face, carrying a near-cruel 'honesty':
"But, Ayako, it was you..."
"It was your foolish kindness, your pathetic hesitation, and your... groundless distrust of me that made me change my mind."
He leaned down slightly, his cold breath brushing against Ayako's cheek, his voice low and dangerous:
"You would rather believe his hypocritical rhetoric of power, believe that so-called 'for my own good,' than believe that I could easily crush all these obstacles. You even... tried to bind me with your insignificant morality?"
Kanjuro straightened up and spread his hands as if displaying his 'masterpiece,' his tone carrying a morbid satisfaction:
"So, I proved it to you."
"In the most direct and unquestionable way, I am telling you, and telling everyone who dares to question me—"
"My will is the standard. My power is enough to trample all the rules and... lives you know."
Listening to his distorted logic and looking at the bloody hell behind him, Ayako felt cold all over, as if falling into an ice cellar. So, this massacre was because of her... because of her ridiculous thought of trying to 'protect' him?
Just then, Tomoko Suzuki and Sonoko walked over. Tomoko had a hint of helplessness on her face, but more of a calm resignation. Sonoko looked at Kanjuro excitedly, as if he had just accomplished something great.
Tomoko knelt down and gently supported the teetering Ayako, her voice gentle yet carrying unquestionable strength: "Ayako, now that things have come to this, there are some truths you must know."
Ayako looked at her mother blankly.
Sonoko also leaned in, nodding vigorously: "Yeah, sister! Big Brother Kanjuro... no, it's Daddy Kanjuro! He is our biological father!"
"Wha... what?!" Ayako felt as if struck by lightning. She suddenly looked at Kanjuro, then at her mother and sister. The blood drained from her beautiful face, which was written with disbelief. "How... how is this possible... what nonsense are you talking about?!"
Kanjuro was... her father?! The man she had just felt her heart move for, the man she was even willing to break her engagement for... was actually her... biological father?!
This made her head spin even more than the bloody scene before her; her worldview had completely collapsed!
Tomoko Suzuki looked at her daughter's shocked expression, sighed softly, and reached out to stroke her hair, her tone carrying a strange comfort: "Ayako, how could Mother lie to you? This is the absolute truth. Master Ye Xiao and I... were together many years ago. You and Sonoko are both of his bloodline."
She paused, her gaze turning to Kanjuro with reverence and a trace of undetectable obsession, then looked back at Ayako, her tone becoming soft yet carrying an irresistible meaning:
"So, stop being dazed..."
She smiled slightly, a smile that looked exceptionally eerie against the bloody background.
"Quickly, call him 'Daddy Kanjuro'."
Ayako stood frozen in place, her mind a complete blank. Her mother's confirmation, her sister's matter-of-fact attitude, this powerful, cold man with hands covered in blood... and that blood relationship that overturned human ethics... everything intertwined to form a giant, suffocating net, trapping her firmly.
She looked into Kanjuro's eyes, which were as deep as an abyss and were quietly watching her. She opened her mouth but felt her throat was tightly blocked by something, unable to make any sound.
Call him... Father?
To this man who had just coldly taken many lives before her eyes, including her nominal father?
To this biological father who made her heart flutter yet terrified her to the bone?
Suzuki Ayako stood in place, completely lost in the double vortex of the bloodbath and kinship. Ayako's silence and withdrawal made Tomoko Suzuki frown slightly, a flash of displeasure crossing her face. In her view, Master Ye Xiao had already shown supreme power and 'tolerance,' and Ayako's hesitation was simply ungrateful.
"Ayako!" Tomoko's voice took on a bit of sternness. "Why haven't you called him? Daddy Kanjuro has done so much for you, even forgiving your foolishness and distrust just now. What else are you hesitating for?"
Sonoko also stood by with her hands on her hips, her small face full of confusion and complaint: "Exactly, sister! For your sake, Daddy Kanjuro even dealt with that annoying Tomizawa Yuzo and... (she glanced at Shiro Suzuki's corpse and shrank her neck)... everything! He is so strong, so amazing, and now he's willing to acknowledge us. Why are you still acting like this? Hurry up and call him Father!"
Listening to her mother and sister, one after another, their words showed no fear of the blood-soaked ground and the lost lives, only blind adoration for Mr. Kanjuro and accusations of her 'not knowing her place'. Ayako felt a chill spread from her heart to her limbs. She looked at them incredulously, as if seeing these two closest people for the first time.
(Mom... Sonoko... how did you two become like this?)
(This hellish scene before us, can't you both see it?)
(Why... why can you accept all of this so naturally?)
She subconsciously took another two steps back, her body trembling slightly, her eyes filled with fear and estrangement.
Seeing her resistant expression, Tomoko Suzuki's eyes flashed with a sharp glint, and she actually raised her hand, poised to slap her, wanting to use pain to awaken this'senseless' daughter!
"Tomoko."
Kanjuro's faint voice rang out, not loud, but carrying an unquestionable authority.
Tomoko's hand froze in mid-air. She looked at Kanjuro, and her gaze immediately became submissive.
Kanjuro gently shook his head at her, his gaze calm and unruffled: "It's alright." He stepped forward, standing between Ayako and Tomoko, his tone carrying a composure that seemed to control everything, "It's only natural for a daughter to be unable to accept this for a while. After all, the world she has known for the past eighteen years was completely overturned tonight."
His words sounded like understanding and tolerance, but hidden beneath that calm tone was an absolute confidence in his own power, and a certainty that Ayako would ultimately submit.
"However," Kanjuro turned around, facing Ayako, whose eyes were vacant and body stiff, and slowly extended his hand, "she will accept it eventually."
His movements were gentle, without coercion, merely opening his arms as if waiting for a lost child to return home.
Ayako stared at him blankly. At this moment, Kanjuro had reined in the demonic coldness and killing intent from earlier, and his face even held a gentle, faint smile. His handsome features, under the dim, bloody light, still possessed a heart-stopping charm. His tenderness formed an incredibly jarring and bizarre contrast with the blood flowing at his feet and the corpses sprawled behind him.
This strange yet familiar tenderness was like a dull knife, repeatedly cutting at Ayako's chaotic nerves. She couldn't understand how someone could commit such heinous crimes and still display such a calm, even gentle, expression.
Just as she was in a daze, Kanjuro had taken a step forward and gently embraced her trembling body. His embrace was warm and firm, carrying a strange, alluring scent that made one want to succumb, completely unlike the ruthless person he had just shown himself to be.
Ayako didn't struggle, or rather, she had lost the strength and will to struggle. She leaned against him like a puppet, the clean scent of him lingering in her nostrils, yet she also seemed to smell the strong scent of blood.
Kanjuro held Ayako, his gaze sweeping over Tomoko and Sonoko nearby, and he naturally instructed, as if merely engaging in an ordinary family activity:
"Let's go, to the room."
His words carried an unquestionable meaning, temporarily bringing an end to this bloody farce, yet also foreshadowing the beginning of a new, unknown control.
Tomoko Suzuki immediately nodded obediently, while Sonoko excitedly followed.
And Ayako, held in Kanjuro's embrace, could only stare up blankly at his profile, so close to her. Gentle contours, numb and indifferent actions... these two extreme qualities intertwined within him, leaving her feeling utterly bewildered and terrified.
This unfamiliar Kanjuro, this man who was both the object of her affection and her biological father, was dragging her into a dark abyss from which there was no return, with his twisted gentleness and absolute power. And she, it seemed, even the thought of resistance, was shattered amidst that warm embrace and bloody backdrop.
Night faded, and dawn faintly broke.
Kanjuro, accompanied by the three Suzuki Family women with their varied expressions, returned to his hidden Mansion within the Yukinoshita Family. This residence seemed isolated from the world, ancient and serene, carrying a mysterious aura steeped in time.
As they stepped into the entrance hall, a woman with a cool demeanor and exquisite beauty—Yukinoshita Yukino—emerged upon hearing them. She was one of Kanjuro's earlier 'collections,' long since integrated into his dark world. When she saw Tomoko Suzuki, Ayako, and Sonoko following behind Kanjuro, a flicker of undeniable shock passed through her cool eyes.
Especially upon seeing Tomoko Suzuki, Seiga's pupils constricted slightly. She recalled the vague news report that had interrupted late-night broadcasts yesterday, about a 'major vicious incident' at the Suzuki Conglomerate's villa, where the patriarch Shiro Suzuki and the Tomizawa Family's young master, among others, tragically perished. Combining this with Kanjuro appearing with the Suzuki Family women now, she instantly understood the truth behind the bloody case that had shaken Tokyo's high society last night.
However, this shock was fleeting, quickly turning into understanding and a hint of... almost twisted acceptance. She was already a chess piece on Kanjuro's board, body and soul devoted to him as her master; for the new'sisters' he brought, there was only submission and welcome.
"Master, you've returned." Seiga bowed slightly, her tone respectful, then offered a faint but not distant smile to Tomoko Suzuki and the others, "Welcome, all three of you."
Tomoko Suzuki, having weathered major storms, quickly composed herself and nodded to Seiga. Her greater concern now was practical matters. She looked at Kanjuro, a hint of subtle worry in her brows:
"Master Kanjuro, next... if the police investigate deeply, I'm afraid..."
Kanjuro casually sat in the main seat in the living room, his posture languid, as if last night he had merely attended a boring party. He picked up the clear tea Seiga had timely offered, took a sip, his tone so relaxed it hardly seemed like he was discussing a horrific massacre:
"No need to worry." He put down the teacup, his gaze sweeping over the three, "All three of you left for a short trip early yesterday morning and were not in Tokyo. There are complete travel records and 'witnesses'."
A calculating curve played on his lips as he looked at Tomoko Suzuki, "Moreover, you have to consider, three women—especially 'fragile' women like yourselves—in the perception of the police and the public, how could they possibly have the ability to wipe out an entire family and deal with so many well-trained bodyguards? It's logically inconsistent."
He was exploiting the world's habitual stereotypes and gender biases.
Upon hearing this, Tomoko Suzuki's doubts vanished, and she smiled delightedly: "Master, you are very thoughtful." She completely relaxed, having blind faith in Kanjuro's methods.
And Ayako Suzuki, at this moment, stood silently to the side. After the mind-shattering impact of last night, and then Kanjuro's strangely 'comforting' and 'pitying' yet coercive gestures, her emotional defenses seemed to have been completely shattered. A twisted sense of dependence and identification quietly sprouted from the ruins of her fear. She looked at Kanjuro, her gaze complex, but no longer showing the intense resistance of yesterday; instead, it held a bewildered compliance. She spoke softly, her tone even carrying a subtle hint of reliance:
"Kanjuro... Papa 0.5," the address still felt a bit difficult to utter, but she finally said it, "Then... will Sonoko, Mom, and I live here from now on?"
Kanjuro looked at her, seemingly pleased by her calling him "Papa," and his gaze softened slightly, though the deep-seated desire for control remained undiminished.
"Stay for now." He said faintly, "After the storm surrounding the Suzuki Conglomerate case passes, public opinion subsides, and the relevant investigations come to nothing..." He paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, "You can choose to return to the Suzuki Family. After all, such a large enterprise always needs someone to 'inherit' and manage it."
He changed the subject, his tone turning chilling:
"I recall there's a collateral elder in the Suzuki Family named Suzuki Jirokichi, isn't there? He seems to be a minor nuisance."
He looked at Tomoko Suzuki, a cold smile playing on his lips:
"At that time, I'll trouble you, Tomoko, to 'cooperate' with me well and also clear away the last obstacle of the Suzuki Family. Let the Suzuki Conglomerate completely become ours."
Tomoko Suzuki understood immediately and bowed: "Yes, Master, I know what to do." For the future of her and her daughters, and to be completely tied to Kanjuro's powerful dark leviathan, she didn't mind her hands being stained with more blood.
Sonoko nodded excitedly. In her opinion, everything Papa Kanjuro did was right and a manifestation of his power.
Ayako silently watched all of this, listening to them calmly discuss further conspiracies and killings. Her last bit of attachment to the old world seemed to be dissipating. She felt as if she were trapped in a vast, invisible net, and the weaver of that net was her gentle yet cruel 'father.' She didn't know what the future held, but it seemed... there was no turning back.
The morning light filtered through the windowpanes, illuminating the varied expressions on everyone's faces in the Mansion, and also illuminating this road of no return leading to deeper darkness and control.
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