"There!? That's pretty far from where I am. Don't let him escape from your sight."
"I know." Indifferent as Hoga's voice was, his focused gaze was contradicting his tone.
He observed everything that was happening as if he was watching a show.
The black figure dragged the unconscious little boy into a darker place but he did not evade from the eyes of Hoga.
The screen would change the scenery from time to time because he hopped from one surveillance camera to another to get a better view.
It was really hard to follow as he secluded well into the darkness. It was like he knew where the surveillance cameras were.
Hoga instantly realized that he or she was really cautious as the black figure excelled in getting away unnoticed until Hoga's falcon eyes befell on the figure.
He saw the black figure taking the lifeless boy into a grey car. Its license plate was removed. Hoga also noticed that the black figure wore a black leather glove when he put his or her hand on the steering wheel.
The grey car drove off and blended in with other cars as he entered on a not so busy road.
He took off and updated the car's location to Yemon. From now on, it was a simple mission of just following the car.
The criminal drove casually, arousing not even a speck of suspicion. To that, Hoga let out a small snicker.
....
"Shit, I hope I'm not too late." Yemon negatively thought.
He stopped at a red light. He would have not stopped but the police car behind him would be compelled to do otherwise.
Needless companies are annoying.
Especially when Yemon is in a tight situation. He kept tapping his index finger on the steering wheel nervously. He did not know that waiting for the green light would be so time-consuming.
After what seems to be a long moment for Yemon, the green light appeared and he put his foot on the pedal.
He looked in his rear mirror and saw that police car turning into a different direction.
"Good riddance!"
Then he accelerated as much as possible to reach his destination.
The sun is already about to set as the darkness slowly bestowed on Japan. The lights alongside the road lit up and Yemon was getting restless.
"Still there?"
"Yup. It has been quite some time. You better hurry before he or she finishes."
"Shit!"
Right now, he did not care about any red lights or any policemen. He gritted his teeth with helplessness but he still clung onto that small hope of not missing his target.
'Not this time!'.
Yemon arrived at many warehouses just near the sea. It was used for boats and sea sharks. Yemon parked his car at a safe spot because he did not want to spook the target.
He wore his usual fox mask and concealed his identity.
Hoga guided him into a specific warehouse. Yemon gulped as he carefully examined the entrance and stealthily entered.
Hoga's job was done here so he went back to playing his game. It was now up to Yemon solely.
There were 2 large boats displaced perfectly and there was nothing out of the ordinary at first glance.
Obviously, no one would think nothing is wrong but Yemon delves deeper into the darkness. As he was about to, he found a small light creeping to his feet.
He assumed that he was closer to the target.
He was behind the boat so he cautiously leaned and peaked at the source of the light.
As his pupils adjusted to the bright light, the face of Yemon contorted into that of shock and fear.
"-!!!!"
Through the hole of his fox mask, Yemon's frightened eyes could be seen.
The scene was too horrifying for him to watch.
There was a little boy, ageing from 12 to 15 that was lifelessly tied to a steel chair by a rope. The chair also was tied to a pole as a support so that the boy would not topple over when he struggled.
And the boy was.... beyond dead.
One of his eyes was gouged out completely while the other was left hanging by a thin muscle.
Tears mixed in with the blood streamed down his pale cheeks. It was so saddening to watch.
One of his ears was cut crudely. It was on the floor and the organ stained it with its red liquid.
His mouth was disfigured. It was like it melted alongside its chin, revealing his set of teeth.
The exposed teeth did not escape from suffering. A few were taken out and Yemon obviously knew that it wasn't pleasant for the victim.
The expression of the boy was clearly plastered as it indulged in extreme despair and terror.
His naked upper body did not have any noticeable injuries but his right arm was bent in the wrong way.
Also, on one of his hand, all of his fingers were roughly ripped off, not cut. Yemon guessed that it was done with a wrench.
The little boy was not completely undressed as his pants were still on to cover his private part. But that did not spell good news for him.
The pants were rolled up to his knees, unveiling his bare legs and feet. The nail on his big toe was ripped off
The other feet was twisted all the way around, resembling a defective corkscrew.
Every time Yemon looked at the dead boy, he wanted to vomit. But he kept it in and endured the strenuous mental pain.
He recollected himself, which took him some precious time and observed the situation.
Beside the corpse, there were 2 small tables. All types of bloodied tools were perfectly placed. If there were no blood, the image of an engineer's and a doctor's equipment was mixed in.
Just in front of the dead body, there was another steel chair and there sat the one responsible for taking that innocent's life.
The black figure that Hoga saw, was sitting silently with its eyes closed.
Yemon thought that it was just another dead body. At first glance, people would think that someone was sleeping. But no. Yemon's first thought was entirely different.
So lifeless...
It is as if its soul was not in his body, only just hovering over him. The criminal exuded nothingness.
Emptiness shrouded the black figure.
Yemon thought and decided. There was no other choice for him. He had to recruit this criminal,.....this torturer into the team.
He absolutely had to.
Yemon stepped out of clandestine and entered the light that was burning with the dead boy's scream of desperation.
The arrogance and confidence invaded his mind. Not rushing to do anything, he slowly approached the two bodies.
Upon reaching closer, he saw that his target was not wearing his black spectacle that Hoga described.
He opened his mouth as he gazed at his opponent.
"In Greek mythology..."
That caught the black figure with surprise as he stood up. The first thing that he did was rushed to one of the tables and grabbed a small bloodied sickle.
"...there was a demoness that terrorized the women and children."
The criminal amateurishly took a fighting stance with the dangerous weapon. Yemon instantly knew that he or she had no experience in fighting so his confidence increased.
He continued speaking.
"In the Byzantine Period, that demoness made the mothers of many children indulge in endless agony."
Yemon stopped in his tracks as the black figure and himself observe each other.
"Countless infants were killed, even when they were in the belly of happy mothers. That demoness murdered them through creating miscarriages and infertility."
The razor-sharp glint got to Yemon's eyes but he was not bothered. He calmly resumed talking to the criminal.
"That demoness was known as Gello."
The all-black outfit criminal twitched his eyebrow upon hearing the word 'Gello'.
"The infant killer which was despised, loathed and hated by not only mothers but the whole world."
Even though it was quite dark, Yemon could discern the colour of his target's green eyes.
"And for the past 8 years, there is one demoness that exists in this modern era, tearing the world of families into pieces."
Yemon pointed toward the criminal.
"You. You are even worse than Gello."
Accusing his target and coming in hard, 'Gello' stared at Yemon silently. He did not deny all that Yemon said. How could he?
After all, Gello knew that Yemon is someone who has almost all the information about himself.
Gello did not panic, as shown by the calmness surfacing his green eyes. The sickle in its hand was placed exactly where he picked it up.
"Who exactly are you?" The gloomy voice aimed at Yemon.
"Thank you for asking. You can call me Yemon and I am not from the police or the SMF."
"I can tell that much by your mask." Gello's tone then mutated with a suppressed hatred as he asked," Are you a Hero?"
Yemon flinched by the deathly aura Gello sent but he composed himself instantaneously.
"I am not. I am the opposite of a Hero."
".....What business do you have with me?"
"I have a lot of business but let's just start off with the main one."
Gello listened to Yemon attentively.
"I'm currently creating a team of villains here so my reason for being in front of you means that I am recruiting you."
Gello was indifferent after having heard Yemon's content.
"So, would you like to join us?"
"I refuse."
"Of course, there are some benefits for you."
"I refuse."
"Eeeeeh~ You did not hear the benefits."
The lifeless eyes of Gello were not that focused on Yemon. He completely lost interest in the strange person called Yemon.
"Leave me be."
As if tired, Gello got on the chair that he previously sat on. He did not turn his head towards Yemon but his eyes were not closed.
Even if they are not closed, Gello still seemed like a corpse.
"Hah.....You know, we can get you the one who you want to kill the most."
Gello did not react to it surprisingly but replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I know..... I mean someone knows that you are doing all of these atrocities all for someone special. But you can't just get to that certain someone, right?"
Gello did not rebuke him. Instead, he stayed silent. Yemon got him, nevertheless, he put on a 'i don't know' attitude.
"Well, that is one of the feasible theories that there are about the reasons behind your killing spree."
Yemon coughed.
"But, since all the hints that you have been throwing for the past 8 years, we more or less got a clue of why you are doing this."
"...."
"All the lives you took, satisfied the certain requirement."
"Can you come straight to the point. You are wasting time by talking in a roundabout way."
Gello cut him off and directly attacked him.
Yemon paused and murmured, "Another impatient bastard." Which only himself heard.
"Okay sure. What I am trying to say is that we can get the target you absolutely desired without much difficulty."
Gello's eyebrows twitched.
"You can see from how we find the terrifying killer Gello, surely we can kidnap some innocent people who live in an open area."
"....The one I want is difficult to get."
"We can make arrangements. Lots of them."
This part of the conversation just shows that Gello was definitely getting ensnared by Yemon.
Well, wouldn't it be? For Gello, this was a really good thing.
"...I need time."
"Agreed. You can take your time. How about a month. If even after a month I don't see you at the location that I am about to tell you, then I'll consider that you have not accepted my recruitment."
Gello silently and indifferently looked at Yemon, which meant that he or she pretty much was in accord with Yemon.
"Still..."
Yemon swept a glance at the 'real' corpse that was tortured in every way possible.
"I feel sorry for that certain someone who is going to suffer the same fate as this kid."
From that instant, Yemon felt a chill down his spine. He could not help shiver as he stared at Gello.
The ominous feeling that densely lingered around his body, it was too much to handle for a normal person. As for Yemon, he waited for his mental fortitude to adapt to this overwhelming deathly aura.
"Same fate? As if I'll let that happen."
The anger, although it was not violently showing, was attached to his not so indifferent tone.
"I'm going to make him suffer more and more, that even the most terrifying demons of Hell would not think about."
Gello's determination was surreal but Yemon felt like it was possible. Yemon did not want to envision the horrible outcome.
Yemon added, "He might just die before you could completely do anything that you are thinking of."
Gello rested his cheek on his hand and fixated his petrifying gaze on the corpse.
"Don't worry, this volunteer here met my expectations. Kids this age can endure some things if done properly."
'What volunteer!!?!?' Yemon retorted Gello in his mind. He was disgusted at the way this torturer talked but, what did he expect.
He is twisted in the head.
In fact, all of the 'targets' are.
Yemon disgustingly glanced at the corpse.
Gello leaned forward to the boy's dead body, while still sitting on the steel chair. Then, a pair of black leather gloves met with the damaged hand of the corpse.
"You did well. You were pretty resilient."
'Praising the corpse...huh...' Yemon continued staring at Gello.
Words of gratitude flowed out of the torturer's mouth.
"For the first and last time, thank you very much, Miyauchi-kun."