Falling to the ground, Mizuki summoned a shield just in time to avoid Ryujin's punch. But her fist shattered the shield, prompting Mizuki to roll away and summoned a crossbow and fired an arrow at Ryujin.
The arrow duplicated itself into three and Ryujin responded by destroying them with her left demonic hand. Mizuki narrowed her eyes and looked at the hand, analyzing it carefully.
'Irene gave a bit of her energy to Ryujin… Is that possible? Moreover, the energy is depleted very quickly. All I need to do is to make herself tired and when the time comes, I will end her life!'
Mizuki conjured a large hammer and struck the ground, causing the entire place to shake violently. Ryujin sensed incoming danger from the ground and jumped into the air. The large hammer shifted into a spear and Mizuki hurled it at Ryujin.
Ryujin responded by firing a demonic energy sphere at the spear. She then landed on the ground and grabbed a giant rock, throwing it at Mizuki. As she expected, Mizuki cut down the rock with a sword, allowing Ryujin to sprint towards her and punched the head clan of Genji in the abdomen with a force that caused her to cough up blood and flew into the bunker.
Everyone in the bunker became panic when they saw both Mizuki and Mikayla were unconscious. What made the situation worse was Ryujin walking towards them with her people.
"Kill everyone inside here except those three."
Before any of her people could do that, they sensed a very powerful presence that was getting closer to them.
A few minutes earlier
Arriving at the Genji Clan's Household, Mikhail noticed a barrier that prevented him from entering. He raised his fist that was engulfed in dark blue flame and destroyed the barrier with a single punch.
He took a step forward and saw the destruction and chaos of several dead people. Clenching his fist tightly, Mikhail had a minor flashback.
Seven years ago
Gently laying down the injured female student, Mikhail stood up and slowly turned around. He ignored the shock expression from everyone and analyzed the hostages. Among them are his friends and teachers, their faces etched with fear despite showing a glimpse of hope in their eyes.
Mikhail then stared at a blonde-haired man who stood in the middle of the assembly hall. The man had a sinister smirk on his face, his eyes filled with arrogance and malice as his gaze locked onto the injured Mikhail.
The flashback ended there as Mikhail took a deep breath and sprinted towards his family's location after sensing their energy rapidly dropping. One by one enemies were coming at him only for them to die due to his punches that reinforced with Repulsive Force, causing their bodies to explode immediately upon contact.
Arriving at the location, Mikhail's blood boiled when he saw the unconscious Mikayla and Mizuki with a badly injured Ammar and the panicked women and children. For the first time after the death of Amaris, Mikhail unleashed a very loud scream of anger.
Ryujin was completely shocked when she felt Mikhail's volume of Mystic Energy that she could only describe as creepy and ominous. Far more terrible than Irene's demonic energy. She snapped back to reality when Mikhail ran at her with incredible speed.
"Damn you!"
Ryujin jumped away and fired multiple tiny bubbles at Mikhail who grabbed one of her men that was decapitated by his bare hand. Mikhail then threw the headless body to the bubbles, causing a massive explosion, allowing Ryujin to escape.
The remaining Ryujin's people were afraid, their weapons were dropped, their legs were shaking when Mikhail slowly turned around and gave a soul-piercing gaze to them. One of them was about to beg for mercy but Mikhail grabbed her by her head and ripped it away.
"None of you are getting the chance to live for another day."
Mikhail brutally killed all of them, a sight that everyone in the bunker described as a massacre. When the rest of the enemies retreated and the survivors rushed to the bunker with Shizuka, Yukiko, Nishiki, and Renji, they were horrified.
Mikhail stood among the mutilated corpses. He was bathed in enemies' blood, and he stood there without moving, deep in his thoughts. It was Shizuka who snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Mika…"
Mikhail slowly stared at Shizuka and looked away.
"Don't… Don't come close to me… I am a monster, a murderer…"
Shizuka widened her eyes and then looked at the survivors inside the bunker. Every single one of them stared at Mikhail with fear, thinking of him as a monster.
Just like 15 years ago when his father was…
Shizuka placed her hand on his face and said, "You are not a monster. Let's go… Come on."
The young Katagiri grabbed Genji's hand and pulled him to her, heading to an unknown destination. Yukiko, Nishiki, and Renji looked at the two of them and then watched Mizuki, Mikayla, and Ammar being carried by the medical team.
"I'm worry…"
Yukiko looked at Nishiki with a surprised expression since she knew him as someone who never expressed his feelings. Even in a dire situation, Nishiki remains calm.
"We all heard the story of how his father died and that day everyone looked at him as a monster. Now, Genji experienced the same thing again only that this time he killed the enemies to save his people."
Renji asked, "What can we do for him?"
"Honestly, we can't. Only Shizuka can help him," Nishiki placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it up. "For now, let's help the Genji Clan."
Half an hour later
"Genji?"
Mikhail looked at Shizuka with a blank expression, making Shizuka frown and sat next to him on the bed. She then said, "Hey, you are not a monster. You were just trying to save your people. It's a good thing you know?"
"But… I… they saw me as a monster," Mikhail said with a somber tone. "It's just like 15 years-"
"It wasn't your fault, Genji. It was an accident. You were just a kid at that time. You didn't mean it to happen." Shizuka interrupted Mikhail, placing her arm around his neck.
Mikhail's voice trembled as he spoke, "A kid who just awakened his power and lost control of it, costing not only his father's life but also nine innocent people."
Just as Shizuka was about to offer more comfort words, a knock on the door caused them to look at it. The door was opened, revealing a young woman in a white tattered kimono stained with blood and bandages wrapped around her forehead. She bowed to them and introduced herself.
"Forgive me for the intrusion, Mikazuki-sama, Katagiri-sama" the woman said, making Mikhail raise his eyebrow. "My name is Akira, and I am your sister's personal assistant. She has regained consciousness and urgently requested your presence."
Mikhail gestured to Shizuka to follow him and together they went to Mizuki with Akira leading them. Arriving at the room, Mikhail went to Mizuki's side and looked at her with sadness, surprising the head clan.
"Mika-"
"Stop, just stop talking," Mikhail knelt and looked at his sister. "I'm sorry that I wasn't here when it happens…"
"At least you came," Mizuki said before coughing up a bit of blood, making the doctor rush to her. She grabbed Mikhail's shoulder and said with a weak voice, "Listen… I am too injured now. I want you to lead the clan while I am recovering. Please…"
Before Mikhail could give his answer, Mizuki began to cough more blood and passed out. The young Mikazuki stood up and gave some space to the doctors while Shizuka comforted him via rubbing his back.
Mikhail went to the unconscious Mikayla's side and clenched his fist tightly. He knelt and gently grabbed her hand, whispering something that Shizuka couldn't hear. Even though he couldn't forgive her for what she did to him 15 years ago, he didn't wish her to die.
No matter how much he hates her, Genji Mikayla is still his mother. The one who carried her for nine months. The one who fought for her life to give birth to him.
Mikhail then stood up and noticed the brutally injured Ammar not too far from them.
"Ammar…"
Mikhail touched his forehead and released a sigh of relief. A doctor came to him and gave a report about Ammar's injuries which Mikhail passed to Shizuka, telling her that he will check on it later.
After making sure everything was fine, Mikhail turned his attention to Shizuka and grabbed her hands. He then looked her in the eyes and said, "Please watch over them for a while, I have something to do."
Before Shizuka could say something, Mikazuki teleported away, leaving a puzzled Katagiri. She snapped when she heard footsteps. Turning around, Shizuka was greeted by Nishiki who demanded Mikhail's location.
"I don't know. He just told me he has something to do."
Nishiki widened his eyes and whispered, "Oh no…"
"What's wrong?" Shizuka asked.
"Something bad is going to happen tonight." Nishiki replied to Shizuka.