The Deadly Aura Of The Monster

The fire continued to increase as it made its way to the storage room, which was filled with liquor in the basement. The alcohol caught fire, spreading it across the entire storage room. In a flash, the whole basement was set ablaze, fueling the fire to extend further up the building rapidly, as it devoured everything in its path.

A gust of wind blew from the sea, causing the fire to rise to the top of the building effortlessly in seconds.

Akihiro couldn’t stay inside the blazing oven anymore. He couldn’t hide anymore. There was only one choice. His breathing increased rapidly as his heart rate spiked. He could feel the adrenaline surge within his body.

He jumped from the first floor as the building erupted in flames.

-Stage IV-

Richard had expected Akihiro to jump out. The whole ground was filled with thick black smoke from the fire. Akihiro landed in the black smoke, disappearing instantly. Not a single soldier could see where he had landed, since the whole area was veiled by a layer of dense smoke.

“Fire!” Richard yelled. A barrage of bullets rained down through the thick black smoke.

Akihiro jumped out of the smoke, bolting towards Richard at full speed. The bullets grazed his skin in multiple areas, but he kept charging forward. Richard didn’t have any time to react as Akihiro jumped in the air briskly and landed a whirlpool kick on his face.

The sheer intensity of the kick was enough to send Richard flying, causing him to slam his back against the armoured vehicle. Akihiro didn’t give him any time to recover. He lept at him immediately.

Richard rolled to the side, dodging Akihiro’s punch. He stood up and faced Akihiro.

The soldiers had their guns pointed at them.

“Don’t shoot!” A soldier yelled. Akihiro was too close to Richard, putting Richard in the line of the gunfire too.

The smoke from the burning building rose higher up in the air, slowly turning the reddish-orange sky into shades of grey. The sun was going to set in a few hours. Richard glanced at the sky, which was getting hazier as time passed on.

“I was the one responsible for your birth. If I hadn’t taken up the experiment that day, you wouldn’t be suffering like this. If you are gonna blame anyone, blame me! I was the one who brought you into this cruel world. I was the one who caused you to end up like this.” Richard said as he grabbed the gun from his pocket. “And I’ll be the one to save you from your misery.”

The deafening sound of the gunshot tore through the atmosphere, amidst the sounds of the fire in the building.

The bullet pierced through Akihiro’s stomach, missing the vital organs. It didn’t hurt as much as Akihiro expected it to. The adrenaline was numbing the pain, allowing him to continue fighting.

Blood gushed out of the wound as Akihiro charged towards him. Richard tried firing another round, but Akihiro was too close. He kicked the gun out of Richard’s hand and immediately swooped in, landing a low uppercut on Richard’s chin.

Richard stumbled back, slightly dazed. He wasn’t able to keep up with Akihiro’s brute physical strength anymore. Akihiro jumped and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying in the air.

The momentum dragged Richard along the floor as he clutched onto his stomach due to the pain.

Akihiro picked up the gun from the ground and walked up to Richard, who was still groaning in pain. He raised the gun and pointed it at Richard’s head.

Suddenly from the side, he heard a lady scream, “NOOOOO!!!!!!!!”.

Janice fired two rounds, one missing and the other hitting Akihiro’s finger, causing him to drop the gun. Before Janice could aim again, Akihiro charged at her and whacked the gun out of her hand, disarming her within seconds.

Janice punched Akihiro on his wounded gut, but she was no match for Akihiro’s overwhelming brute force. Akihiro landed the same punch on her gut with all his might, shattering all her ribs in one blow.

Janice knew the difference between a normal human and a subject like Richard or Akihiro. But by feeling Akihiro’s punch, she realised how staggering the difference actually was. Janice struggled to breathe as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach.

Akihiro grabbed her neck and lifted her in the air. He had already lost control of himself, ever since he had resorted to choosing the only choice given to him.

His eyes were hellish red, worse than that of the devil.

“FIRE!” a soldier yelled as he began firing.

“DON’T FIR-” Richard’s voice drowned in the gunfire. It was too late. The soldiers had begun firing at Akihiro and Janice already.

Akihiro turned and placed Janice in front of him, using her as a human shield as he ran towards an armoured vehicle. Janice’s body was torn apart by the barrage of bullets. A few bullets hit Akihiro in the leg but he continued running and jumped into the armoured vehicle.

The bullets bounced off the armoured vehicle, protecting Akihiro as he slammed the accelerator, ramming through the line of defence.

The winds from the sea intensified, fuelling the fire in the burning building and spreading it to the nearby buildings.

The fire spread to the petrol pump nearby, causing a huge explosion. It continued spreading rapidly to the other buildings too, as the direction of the winds changed.

The soldiers got into their vehicles and began to pursue Akihiro. Richard stood up and looked at the dismembered body of his wife, completely spattered all over the floor.

‘Janice…’

“Sir, we need to move fast. The subject seems to be heading towards the port.” the soldier reported.

“The port? Does he not plan on escaping?” Richard asked.

“I don’t know, sir. For now, we only need to focus on eliminating him as fast as possible.” the soldier answered.

Mr Kawasaki, Natsume and Ayane were pushed into the back seat of the car by the other soldiers.

Richard ran up to the car and got into the driver seat. Janice was the one who normally drove the car, but now she had left Richard alone in this cruel world. Richard ushered the soldier to get in and slammed the accelerator.

‘If this is your plan, Subject 005, then we’ve already lost the battle…’

Akihiro was being pursued continuously by the armoured vehicles and black cars. The roads were empty as everyone in the area had been evacuated.

The armoured vehicle which Akihiro was driving was slow due to the weight of the armour. The enemy would reach Akihiro in no time. He looked around as he spotted the perfect route.

Akihiro drove the vehicle through the burning petrol pump. The vehicle started to erupt into flames as he continued driving it down the road towards the Port of Tokyo. The black cars turned around, finding an alternate path.

The fire had spread everywhere, engulfing the whole area in flames.

The fire had reached the port as well. Akihiro driving the vehicle on fire aided the spread of the fire even more. The sun had already set, but the light from the fires lit the whole area.

The black car which Richard was driving, finally reached Akihiro’s armoured vehicle which was still on fire. The soldier in the passenger’s seat peeped out of the window and began firing at the blazing armoured vehicle.

Most of the bullets deflected off the armour as Akihiro made it to the area where the large metal shipping containers were kept.

One of the bullets hit the tire of the armoured vehicle, bursting it open. The car swerved and crashed into a metal shipping container, causing a huge explosion.

“Aki-kun!!” Ayane screamed as the whole armoured vehicle was now ablaze from the inside.

The other armoured vehicles had reached the area too and parked in a semi-circle around the explosion, surrounding it. The soldiers got out of the vehicle and pointed their guns at the burning vehicle. This time, they weren’t going to fail.

Mr Kawasaki could feel it. The same feeling he had felt before. The shackles had been broken.

The monster had been unleashed.