The squelching noise was the first thing the older brother noticed when he approached the group. And then. The next thing he witnessed was his younger brother's face being wrung. The gap between his younger brother's eyes shortened as his head was vertically flattened. Blood, brains, and his crushed-out skull oozed out from Kazuichi's hand.
Indeed it was a grotesque scene and pretty traumatizing to look at.
"Whoa~!" Kazuichi felt the squishiness of the Hybrid leader's head, which made him inadvertently unhand the squeezed head. With a resounding disgusting plop, the head fell like a useless pile of rotten flesh and meat.
As the blood coagulated on the ground, transitioning into a deep crimson color, the group irresistibly stared at the severed and crushed head, appalled.
"BROTHER!" The burly man increased his pace before kneeling on the ground. Regret filled his eyes, and he helplessly stared at his dead younger brother.
"Leader," The group members muttered to themselves while their eyes turned moist with tears. They were crestfallen at the sight of their leader, who had unfairly died at the hands of another Hybrid. There were plenty of chances when they could've swooped in to get him out of his hand, but they couldn't. Their innate instincts told them that Kazuichi was more troublesome than expected— to top it all off, he smelled weird even though he was a Hybrid.
All these underlying factors forced them to freeze in place, even more so when they saw how he squeezed the life out of their leader's head. No matter how strong a Hybrid is, there's no way they could squeeze someone's head that easily. It would've taken some significant effort to accomplish what he did. However, as mentioned before, he pressed it like he was squeezing an overripe tomato.
"YOU!" The older brother looked up at Kazuichi before he tried to grab him by the neck.
Kazuichi was a step faster, though, and he slipped through the group into one of the narrow alleyways that connected the two adjacent streets.
"Come on!" Kazuichi huffed as he grabbed Tris by the waist and slung her on his shoulder. It was time for them to dip while the group of Hybrids was still disoriented.
"Ah— eh?!" Tris let out in surprise. She didn't struggle, though, since this was the most reasonable option for escape. Her ankle had not fully healed yet, and there was no way she could run at the pace Kazuichi was going.
Before the group realized that Kazuichi intended to escape, he and Tris were already several streets away from the group. Even if they were to give chase, there was no way they could catch up to him. What had transpired shocked them greatly, and they stood there around their leader's decapitated body while mourning silently.
"Find him... find that son of— who killed my brother. He needs to die." The older brother clenched his teeth so much so that they chattered. He was fueled with rage, but he didn't let it consume him then. After all, he had automatically replaced his younger brother as the group's leader. It was an automatic bestowal since his brother had died in the field.
As for the group, they were so engrossed with their leader's death that they forgot about their initial goal. They could've given chase to the uninfected people, but they forgot about it. Even though the uninfected's lingering scent was still in the air, it flew right past their mind.
Then there was Kazuichi, who wasn't pressing any breaks. Sprinting through the alleyways and hopping past walls, he didn't think about stopping. It didn't even occur to him that they had already reached the next city over, and now it was too late for him to go back to the Aberrants' nest to destroy it.
"Not like I could help it. If it weren't for that sudden showdown, I'd still be there, welcomed by the Hybrids. But now that I put a target above my head, there's no way I'm going to risk returning to get rid of a nest." Kazuichi muttered to himself.
Sceneries blew past him, like a panoramic view of a film being fast-forwarded. He was one with the wind, and the wind carried his back in return. His system had no shred of exhaustion even though he had been carrying Tris all this time.
Right now, Tris didn't even dare speak to Kazuichi since he was in his sensitive state. He was, after all, a Hybrid, and she didn't want to jeopardize herself by disturbing him.
'Let's wait. He's going to slow down soon enough. And then we can talk. Yeah, let's do that.' Tris said to himself, stealing glances at Kazuichi from time to time.
But Kazuichi didn't slow down, not until they reached the center of the next city. From what Tris could remember, this city has a really formidable stronghold. There were just rumors about a particular stronghold that had never suffered an infected attack since the outbreak's first wave. Then again, those were just rumors, and there was no way a stronghold was that strong unless—
"I don't know where we are, but I guess we're in the right direction." Kazuichi rummaged through his bag and grabbed a map, spreading it on the ground.
"Where are we going?" Tris asked. Initially, she wanted to bring Kazuichi to her hideout, but now that they're a distance away from the other city, she decided not to instead.
"Scarlet Blood Stronghold," Kazuichi muttered. "Just before your younger sister and I got separated, I told her to go to this stronghold. Don't worry. She was with my fri— acquaintances. I'm sure they made it back."
Kazuichi swallowed his saliva as he spoke. He only said that to assure Tris, but even now, he was still determining whether they had made it back safely or not.
Somehow, Tris was well aware of Kazuichi's intention. Of course, she wasn't expecting her sister to be in that stronghold. Regardless, she nodded, and the two began walking side by side, as if taking a stroll on the night streets of the city.
"So... how did you and my younger sister meet?" She asked out of the blue.