The phone call was forcibly cut off at the height of emotional agitation, leaving only a rapid busy tone. Kuroba Toichi's last shout of "Wait for me to come back" seemed to still echo in Kuroba Chie's ears, but she could no longer listen.
She looked at the silent satellite phone in her hand, the screen reflecting her eyes which were cold as a blade. Wait? Unite? Plan?
Her son was in a jar.
Every extra second of waiting was a slow execution of her soul.
"Toichi, I'm sorry," she whispered to herself, her voice without ripples, only determination, "This time, I cannot wait."
She threw the phone aside and ignored it. Her husband's logic and foresight were no match for the fire of revenge that had been thoroughly ignited in a mother, burning everything in its path.
The moonlight was like spilled mercury, draping a cold silver veil over the bloody courtyard of the Mansion. Kuroba Chie chose no detours or concealment; she exposed herself completely under this clear light, like a blade that would not return to its sheath once drawn. She changed into a dark, tight-fitting suit suitable for action, with a tactical vest over it. The holsters and tool belts at her waist and thighs were filled with various equipment she and Toichi had meticulously designed and modified over the years—not just magic props, but lethal weapons.
She took one last look at the celadon jar containing Kaito in the living room and the remains of Terui Kizo nearby.
"Soon," she said to the void, and to her son in the jar, "Mom will bring back a 'gift'."
She turned, walked out, and merged into the moonlight.
Her target was clear—the Suzuki Family villa where Kanjuro was, which had now become a den of darkness.
The night streets were silent, but Kuroba Chie's pace was faster and lighter, like a shadow gliding over the ground. She wasn't charging blindly; along the way, with professional and cold methods, she quickly checked and disabled several seemingly ordinary nodes that actually hid surveillance or Warning Formations—methods that blended top-tier thief skills with her recognition of unconventional threats.
The closer she got to the Suzuki villa area, the heavier the invisible sense of ominousness and pressure in the air became. When the building, whose luxury and grand silhouette were hard to hide even in the night, appeared at the end of her vision, Kuroba Chie stopped her pace.
The perimeter of the villa should have been heavily guarded. But now, what met her eyes was an eerie silence, and... the silent bodies of those wearing black suits scattered across the garden and roadside. The blood appeared dark black under the moonlight, soaking the precious flowers and stone paths.
It wasn't her doing.
These people seemed to have had their lives easily harvested moments ago by some power from within the villa.
Kuroba Chie's heart sank slightly, but this did not stop her. Instead, it confirmed the danger and brutality of her target. She stepped over the corpses, her soles touching warm blood, her gaze sharp as a hawk as she scanned the wide-open villa doors—it was brightly lit inside, yet it emitted an aura more heart-palpitating than the field of corpses outside.
It was as if she were being invited in.
Without hesitation, Kuroba Chie drew two guns—one a special pistol left by Toichi, and the other her usual rapid-fire pistol combined with magic mechanisms. She lowered her body like a mother leopard ready to pounce and burst through the doors like lightning!
The scene in the main hall was just as luxurious as her son's home, yet just as permeated with blood and despair. And right in the center of the hall, on that exaggerated throne, Kanjuro seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
He was still leaning back lazily, holding a glass of red wine, showing no surprise at Chie's intrusion, even with a hint of an appreciative smile on his lips. On his sides, Koizumi Akako and Nakamori Aoko stood silently, their eyes dark like exquisite dolls.
"Good evening, Mrs. Kuroba," Kanjuro swirled his wine glass, the crimson liquid looking like blood, "Visiting so urgently, is it for... that unique 'collectible' of your son's?"
Kuroba Chie's muzzle rose instantly, pointing steadily at the center of Kanjuro's forehead. Her voice was colder than the moonlight and sharper than a blade:
"Kanjuro. I've come to take your life."
Kanjuro smiled, a smile that appeared incredibly sinister under the brilliant crystal chandelier.
"Just you... alone?"
He gently set down his wine glass and stood up, an invisible pressure spreading out like a rising tide.
"Sufficient." Chie Kuroba pulled the trigger.
The gunshot tore through the hypocritical silence within the villa. The prelude to revenge was initiated by this grieving mother in the most direct and violent manner.
As for Kanjuro, facing the oncoming bullet, he merely raised his hand slowly.
Darkness and moonlight were about to engage in the most intense collision within this villa. Gunfire erupted in the luxurious hall, and the scorching bullet tore through the air, aiming straight for Kanjuro's brow and heart. Chie Kuroba's shooting was without hesitation; every shot condensed a mother's ultimate hatred and a top marksman's precision.
However, Kanjuro didn't even move his feet.
He simply raised his left hand casually, palm facing the incoming bullet, fingers slightly spread. A layer of darkness, almost imperceptible to the naked eye and rippling like water, instantly expanded in front of him.
"Puff, puff, puff..."
The rapid-fire bullets hit that layer of dark barrier. Instead of the loud clang of metal, they sounded like pebbles thrown into a deep pool, making a series of dull noises as if being absorbed and swallowed. The moment the bullet heads touched the barrier, they seemed to be frozen and squeezed by an invisible force, then twisted and decomposed, turning into fine dark-gray powder that rustled to the floor.
Chie Kuroba's pupils constricted, but her movements didn't stop for a second. She instantly swapped magazines, her figure moving left like a ghost while firing both guns in succession. The bullets wove into a net, sealing off all possible evasion space for Kanjuro. She knew well that when facing supernatural powers, there could be no pause; she had to find a flaw using a storm-like assault!
A mocking curve hooked at the corner of Kanjuro's mouth.
"Commendable courage, but... futile."
He gave a light wave of his right hand, his movements as elegant as a conductor leading a symphony orchestra.
In an instant, the shadows behind and beside him seemed to come alive! Several tentacles, as thick as bowls and colored a dark purple nearly black, their surfaces covered in a slimy sheen and irregular suckers, shot out without warning from the shadows of the floor, walls, and even the ceiling! They weren't physical entities, yet they carried a nauseating damp, cold aura and an irresistible, immense force!
These tentacles moved with unimaginable speed, accurately intercepting and swatting away all bullets aimed at Kanjuro. Two more tentacles, like predatory pythons, came whipping and coiling toward Chie Kuroba from the left and right with a whistling wind!
Chie Kuroba reacted extremely quickly, performing a swift backflip to narrowly avoid the horizontal sweep of the tentacles. The marble floor where she had stood was smashed into flying debris. Before she even landed, another tentacle had darted toward her waist like a venomous snake, attempting to wrap around her.
At the critical moment, Chie Kuroba forcefully threw a specialized smoke grenade. It wasn't ordinary smoke; it was mixed with metal powder that interfered with energy sensing and a pungent odor. With a muffled "bang," thick grayish-white smoke instantly enveloped the area several meters around her.
The tentacles seemed to hesitate for a moment in the smoke, having lost their clear target.
Taking advantage of this brief distraction, Chie Kuroba glided out from the edge of the smoke like a graceful swallow. In her hands were no longer guns, but several specialized metal playing cards with edges flashing with cold light. Her wrists flicked rapidly; the cards didn't fly in a straight line but carved out eerie arcs, bypassing the tentacles' interception to strike at Kanjuro's eyes, throat, and other vital points from extremely tricky angles—this technique, a fusion of magic tricks and lethal intent, was a masterpiece she and Toichi had created together.
A faint trace of surprise finally flickered in Kanjuro's eyes, as if he hadn't expected the opponent to have such an exquisite counterattack. But he remained composed, merely tilting his head slightly. Simultaneously, a third tentacle, thinner but with a tip as sharp as a spear, darted out from the shadow behind his shoulder like lightning, precisely striking in mid-air to knock down all the spinning cards.
"Good technique, unfortunately..." Kanjuro's voice came through the permeating smoke, carrying a cold playfulness, "you are facing the Abyss itself."
Before his voice finished, more tentacles emerged from all directions! They no longer just defended or attacked but began to weave a massive net covering the entire hall. As the tentacles danced, they brought bursts of fishy wind, sealing off all evasion space and beginning to compress Chie Kuroba's range of movement.
Chie Kuroba dashed left and right, pushing the movement and thief techniques she had learned throughout her life to their limits, weaving through the gaps between tentacles. Occasionally, she used short blades charged with high-voltage electricity to cut the tentacles (though the effect was minimal, only causing them to spasm slightly), and at other times, she used flashbangs and sonic grenades to try and disrupt Kanjuro's perception. She was like a small boat in a storm—seemingly in extreme peril, yet never truly caught.
But her range of movement grew smaller and smaller, and her stamina and equipment were being rapidly depleted. The tentacles were endless, while her counterattacks could hardly pose a substantial threat to Kanjuro.
Finally, after an extreme dodge, her back hit the cold wall—her path of retreat was cut off!
Several tentacles took the opportunity to close in like giant pythons, seemingly about to completely bind her.
At that instant, a fierce light flashed in Chie Kuroba's eyes. Seemingly having made a certain decision, she suddenly reached for a hidden device at her waist—perhaps a final means of mutual destruction.
However, Kanjuro's voice pierced directly into her mind like an icicle:
"The struggle ends here."
dark bible: Mind Weaving
It wasn't a sound, but a cold vibration acting directly on the depths of her soul. Chie Kuroba's movements suddenly froze, her hand reaching for her waist stopping mid-air. She felt an indescribable, viscous, and cold power arrogantly invade her consciousness... the scene before her eyes began to distort and spin.
She seemed to see that celadon jar again, and Kaito's hollow eyes inside it.
The muffled groan of Terui Kizo's dying breath rang in her ears.
Immediately following were countless chaotic whispers and distorted illusions—images of Kuroba Toichi meeting with misfortune, her own feelings of powerlessness and self-blame, the despairing realization of Kanjuro's power, and even... a trace of a forcibly implanted, morbidly attractive delusion of darkness and submission... These negative emotions, fears, and despairs were invisibly amplified and woven together like the toughest spiderweb, entangling her will. It made her feel difficult to breathe, her whole body cold, and her arms holding weapons as heavy as mountains.
"Ugh—!" Chie Kuroba let out a low groan of pain, using all her will to fight against this mental erosion. Veins bulged on her forehead, and cold sweat instantly soaked her clothes. Although her body was temporarily not bound by tentacles, her spirit had fallen into an even more terrifying cage.
Kanjuro walked slowly through the forest of stagnant tentacles, coming to a halt before Chie Kuroba, who was almost unable to move. He reached out his finger and gently lifted her chin, which was trembling slightly from pain and resistance.
"Hatred drives you, but it also imprisons you." Kanjuro's voice carried a demonic whisper, continuing to penetrate her mental defenses. "Look at yourself now, Chie Kuroba. Anger, despair, powerlessness... what beautiful and fragile emotions."
Chie Kuroba glared fixedly at Kanjuro, her eyes bloodshot, but the mental erosion made it difficult for her to form any effective thoughts of resistance.
"You are very special, more resilient than your son, and... of more 'collection' value." Kanjuro scrutinized her as if admiring a newly arrived piece of art. "I won't kill you. I will let you stay 'intact,' watching everything, feeling everything. Until your hatred is worn down, or... transformed into something more interesting."
He withdrew his hand and gestured to Akako and Aoko nearby:
"Take her down. Take good 'care' of your... new sister."
Koizumi Akako and Nakamori Aoko stepped forward expressionlessly, supporting Chie Kuroba, who was mentally devastated and nearly exhausted, from both sides.
Kanjuro took one last look at this unyielding mother and turned toward his throne.
"Kuroba Toichi... I look forward to your arrival. Your family might add quite a bit of color to this boring eternity of mine."
The battle ended in an overwhelming fashion. Chie Kuroba's fire of revenge, in the face of Kanjuro's unfathomable dark bible power, failed to burn for long before being forcibly extinguished, becoming another 'collection' destined for ruin in the dark gallery.
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