Chapter 7: When an Admirer meets a Rival

“Can’t you remember all those times we got bullied?”

Kuroshi’s voice was soft. Almost nostalgic.

“It wasn’t always together… but I was there. Watching. Experiencing it with you.”

He smiled faintly.

“And admiring you.”

Astra frowned. “Man… what are you even talking about?”

“I watched how much pain you could take without breaking,” Kuroshi continued.

“How you endured life without screaming. Without lashing out.”

“You were… steadfast.”

“That doesn’t make me strong,” Astra snapped. “Not then. Not now.”

Kuroshi chuckled.

“Things changed after the Flash.”

He adjusted his glasses.

“I wasn’t weak anymore.”

His eyes gleamed.

“I was given the power of torture.”

Astra took a good look at him then.

Messy black hair. Dark circles under his eyes. Thin frame. Piercing stare behind cracked lenses.

He looked unstable. Obsessive. Dangerous in a quiet way.

Astra swallowed.

So… you saved me. Now what?

Kuroshi’s attention drifted back to Katerina.

He knelt beside her broken body and gently took her hand, pressing his cheek against hers.

“I know you’re ready,” he whispered.

“I know you like this.”

“So let’s give Astra a proper introduction.”

Katerina trembled—fear, anticipation, excitement mixing together.

“Watch closely,” Kuroshi said to Astra.

“This is what the essence of torture looks like.”

He angled her hand upward and flicked her finger with his blade.

The skin peeled clean off.

She screamed—rolling, sobbing, laughing all at once.

“Anything that can be interpreted as torture becomes reality for me,” Kuroshi explained calmly.

“It amplifies. It deepens.”

“And I hope she’s enjoying herself.”

Katerina writhed—caught between agony and pleasure.

Kuroshi stared straight at Astra.

“Is this good?”

“Exhilarating?”

“Can you taste her fear?”

“I’m doing this for you,” he said softly.

“You better appreciate it.”

He began prying at her fingernails.

Astra couldn’t speak.

Then—

“Yo. What the hell did you do here?”

A new voice cut through the air.

Ren stood a few steps away, hands in his pockets, wearing a crooked grin.

“Is this guy bothering you?” he asked Astra casually.

Astra blinked. “Who… are you?”

Ren shrugged. “A friend. Maybe.”

He glanced around.

“Looks like things got a little chaotic.”

He nodded toward Kuroshi.

“You want me to get rid of this weirdo?”

Kuroshi slowly turned.

“What did you just say?”

His smile twitched.

“You have no idea who I am.”

Ren laughed. “Yeah. I don’t care.”

“I watched your fight earlier.”

Then he looked at Astra.

“And I decided—this guy’s mine.”

“My rival.”

“So you?” Ren said, pointing at Kuroshi.

“You’re in the way.”

Astra stood frozen.

One man obsessed with him.

Another fixated on fighting him.

Both unhinged.

Blood trickled down his side.

His head spun.

The tension was suffocating.

Kuroshi sneered.

“Oh? You think you’re tough?”

Ren’s grin vanished.

“You think your little torture trick means shit to me?”

“You’re wrong.”

Laughter exploded between them.

“If it’s a fight you want,” Kuroshi said softly, rising,

“I’d be delighted to educate you.”

They locked eyes.

Ren vanished.

In an instant, he reappeared mid-air—his foot already swinging toward Kuroshi’s head.

Kuroshi blocked it with one hand and slashed with his knife.

The blade met resistance.

Ren’s body flared with a dark, shimmering aura.

He twisted away from the cut, spun, and crashed down with an axe kick.

Kuroshi staggered.

No reaction.

No amplified pain.

Astra noticed it immediately.

Why isn’t it working?

Ren glanced back at him, smirking.

“Wondering why he can’t hurt me?”

“It’s simple.”

“My essence is grandiosity.”

Kuroshi growled.

And the clash between torturer and psychopath—

admirer and rival—

erupted in full.