Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: A Man (4)
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“……”
Koshiro lay prostrate, his body trembling, unable to lift his head from where it was pressed against the floor.
‘He… slaughtered people indiscriminately?’
Even as he heard the shocking news that felt like his mind was being bleached white, the thought of defying Sosuke never crossed his mind.
The moment he gave in to the surging emotions, the one he held precious would vanish forever.
“Koshiro.”
*Flinch.*
Koshiro’s shoulders trembled where he lay on the floor.
Sakaki's voice, which sounded almost indifferent, cut into his chest like a sharp knife.
‘Oyabun.’
A memory surfaced.
The memory of when he first met Sakaki.
Before he had even been chosen by a Constellation, he had voluntarily joined the vigilante corps to protect his younger sister.
He had been rejected several times, told that a non-Awakened person couldn't join, but he didn't give up.
He had been kneeling in front of the vigilante base for days on end.
-Why do you want to join the vigilantes so badly?
A man appeared before him as he was on the verge of collapse.
A man with a short buzz cut, armed with muscles so solid it felt as if a mere brush against them could shatter every bone in one's body.
Sakaki Ryo.
The very leader in charge of the vigilantes had come out to see him personally.
-I want... to protect my family.
He had answered with great difficulty, moving lips that would barely part.
Sakaki stood there for a long moment without a word, then burst into hearty laughter and slapped him on the shoulder.
-Hahaha! Yes! A true man ought to protect his own people! Protect his family! And protect his country!
Sakaki pulled the weakly collapsed Koshiro to his feet with a bright smile.
-Good! I'll make a true man out of you!
And so, Koshiro became the first non-Awakened person to join the vigilante corps.
At first, he was tasked with trivial chores and errands, but it wasn't long before he awakened the Stigma of the Shield Constellation, allowing him to fight on the front lines alongside Sakaki.
“……”
Every day brought grueling battles that made him want to vomit.
But Koshiro enjoyed every day he spent with Sakaki.
Watching him sweep away the beasts like an angry bull, he thought he wanted to be just like Sakaki.
After grueling effort, he obtained eight strokes, just like Sakaki.
He thought he could finally stand proudly by his side.
He thought he could become a magnificent man, just like him.
‘But in the end, this is what I've become.’
Koshiro let out a self-deprecating laugh, his forehead still pressed to the ground.
He had no more tears to shed; even his eyes were dry now.
It was pathetic.
The fact that he, who couldn't even protect his own family, had wished to become a magnificent man like Sakaki.
Self-loathing churned in his stomach, making him want to retch.
‘I…’
I was never meant to be like Sakaki in the first place.
“Get up, Koshiro.”
“…Oyabun.”
“You said you wanted to protect your sister, didn't you?”
Sakaki clenched his fists and took a stance.
“Then stand up and fight like a man.”
“I'm… nothing like a man.”
Koshiro's voice trembled.
“I'm not like you, Oyabun… I'm a pathetic failure who couldn't even protect his own sister.”
He pressed his forehead to the ground, his shoulders shaking.
“…Please kill me, Oyabun.”
Would death bring peace?
Would he no longer have to feel this nauseating misery?
He couldn't know, but it had to be better than being alive.
“Get up.”
Sakaki's deep, sunken eyes were fixed on Koshiro.
A suffocating sensation.
Sakaki's cold, echoing voice made him feel as though he would burst into tears.
“Oyabun.”
*Stagger, stagger.*
Koshiro pushed himself up.
He planted his arms on the ground and stood firm on his two legs.
“Here I come, Koshiro.”
Sakaki raised his fist.
“If you want to save your sister—then try and stop me.”
*BOOM!*
The earth shook.
The ground caved in as if a bomb had exploded, sending gravel flying.
“Urk!”
Koshiro hurriedly crossed his arms.
A blue shield materialized before him.
‘Not enough!’
This wouldn't be enough to block Sakaki's monstrous strength.
“Hup!”
Three layers of blue shields formed.
Sakaki's fist crashed into the overlapping shields.
-CRRRRAAASSSHHH!!
A deafening roar threatened to burst his eardrums.
An impact like a sledgehammer blow struck his crossed forearms, and Koshiro's body was sent flying.
“You can't even withstand a single blow?!!”
Sakaki roared, pulling his elbow back.
He lowered his waist and bent his knees slightly.
Springing up, he threw a full-force uppercut at Koshiro, who was still airborne.
-CRASSSHHH!
In mid-air, Koshiro quickly created a shield to block Sakaki's fist.
An agonizing pain, as if his bones were breaking, shot through both his arms.
Koshiro, who had been flying in an arc, managed to break his fall and land on the ground.
“Why…”
Koshiro spoke, his voice trembling.
“Why aren't you angry?”
No matter if he had been threatened.
He had still betrayed the organization and tried to stab Sakaki in the back.
He had repaid the kindness he received with treachery.
And yet.
Why.
“Why…! Why won't you say anything?!!”
If only he had raged like fire.
If only he had admonished and criticized him.
Would he not have felt so utterly wretched?
“So much chatter.”
Sakaki swung his fist as if striking the air.
An invisible shockwave rolled toward Koshiro like a tide.
“Shields!!”
Koshiro's Stigma flared with light.
Six shields unfolded like petals, blocking his path.
If it was just the shockwave from the punch, not the mana-condensed fist itself…
“Deflect!”
*THWUUUM!*
The shockwave, repelled by the shields, shot back toward Sakaki.
A dull thud echoed, like a hammer striking a thick iron plate.
“Grrgh!”
Sakaki’s eyes narrowed.
The shields created by an Awakened of the Shield Constellation had the power to amplify the force of a deflected attack by adding mana to it.
The amplified shockwave slammed into his body, sending a jolt through him as if his organs were being scrambled.
“Hahaha! Whose attack was that? What thrilling power!”
Sakaki let out a hearty laugh and wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“You've grown quite a bit while I wasn't looking, Koshiro!”
He grinned, clenching his fists.
“But!”
*RUMMMBLE!!*
The Stigma of Taurus erupted in a fierce light, and the surrounding earth shook as if in an earthquake.
“This won't be enough to stop me!!”
Like a charging bull.
Sakaki lowered his waist and sprinted toward Koshiro.
A powerful shockwave swept the surrounding land and converged on Sakaki's body.
“…Oyabun.”
Koshiro bit his lip and crossed his arms in an X.
The six shields that had spread out like petals now enveloped him like a protective guard.
“Hah.”
He exhaled a short breath, drawing up all the mana in his body.
The six shields surrounding him multiplied to twelve.
The twelve shields multiplied to twenty-four.
The twenty-four shields multiplied to forty-eight.
“Let the shield that guards the stars encompass all eight directions, a flawless fortress with not a single gap to be found.”
With the low chant.
The forty-eight shields interlocked like gears.
A single shield was formed.
No, it was less a ‘shield’ and more of a fortress.
“Koshiroooooooo!!!”
Towards the impenetrable fortress, a lone bull charged.
With each step, the earth trembled, leaving clear footprints in its wake.
The condensed shockwave swirled around him like a storm.
Twenty meters, ten meters, five meters.
The distance between Koshiro and Sakaki closed in an instant.
━━━━━━━━━━!
An impact that swallowed all sound.
The ground for dozens of meters around the two combatants cracked and split.
Rocks several meters high jutted into the air, and the ground sank as if a sinkhole had opened.
Unthinkable destruction from the clash of two humans.
A thick cloud of dust settled like fog.
“Cough, keuk!”
From within the thick dust came the sound of Sakaki coughing.
His two fists were horribly mangled, like a child's clay toys, and the blood he coughed up had soaked the front of his broad chest.
“……”
Sakaki turned his head with a hardened expression.
The forty-eight shields were shattered to pieces.
He could see Koshiro, standing precariously and gasping for breath.
“Oya…bun…”
*Stagger, stagger.*
Koshiro's body swayed as if it would collapse at any moment.
Koshiro leaned his back against a rock that had jutted up from the warped ground.
“Ha, haha.”
A hollow laugh echoed.
“So… stupid, aren't I?”
His vision blurred.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, forming droplets at the tip of his chin.
“I wanted to be a magnificent man like you, Oyabun…”
At first, he had thought Sakaki was a childish person.
He had scoffed, wondering who still went on about being a ‘man’ in this day and age.
But.
-Hahaha! See that, Koshiro! This is what it means to be a man!
When a tsunami of beasts overwhelmed the city.
He remembered the sight of him, laughing heartily and charging forward while everyone else was paralyzed with fear, desperate to flee.
He was childish, reckless, and foolish.
But the sight of his back as he charged toward the beasts was more magnificent than anyone else in the world.
He wanted to be like him.
He wanted to be a man who could protect those precious to him.
“But…”
The strength left his waist.
“Forget the country… I couldn't protect my family, my own people, not a single one.”
In the end.
He could never be like Sakaki.
All the time he had spent striving and struggling…
It was all just a meaningless struggle.
“I'm sorry… Oya…bun.”
His consciousness faded.
His waist gave way, and his body bent forward.
Losing his balance, his body began to crumple.
-Thud.
Sakaki caught Koshiro's falling body.
He grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the rock.
“……”
Is he going to finish it now?
Koshiro closed his eyes tightly.
He never expected to live after betraying the organization.
‘I'm sorry.’
He pictured his sister's face, poisoned.
Trapped somewhere, waiting desperately for him.
How scared must she be?
How terrified?
The guilt of not being able to protect her to the end pierced his heart like a sharp blade.
‘I'm sorry… for being such a worthless brother.’
For not protecting you.
For not saving you.
I’m… sor…
“How many times do I have to tell you, Koshiro.”
Sakaki placed a hand on Koshiro's head.
“A man—does not stoop so easily.”
Leaving Koshiro leaning against the rock, Sakaki walked past him.
Towards Oh-jin, who was fighting Sosuke alone.