The moment those words left Hayashi's mouth, the air in the ruined auction hall shifted.
A faint smile curved Uta's lips—strangely light, strangely empty.
"You want to test me?"
He tilted his head. "You're an interesting one."
Hayashi didn't reply.
His blades were already angled downward, but the killing intent leaking from him was sharp enough to split stone.
A soft chuckle escaped the clown.
"You know…"
"We clowns don't fear death. We chase entertainment. We chase chaos… and we chase monsters."
His eyes narrowed, red pupils gleaming with manic light.
"And you…"
"…might be the most entertaining monster I've met in a long time."
Hayashi exhaled slowly.
"That's good. I'd be disappointed if you were boring."
The stage creaked beneath his feet as he lowered his stance.
Uta twirled the mask in his hand, then let it fall.
It hit the blood-soaked floor with a dull clack.
"Ready?"
Hayashi asked calmly.
"No."
Uta smiled.
"But I don't need to be."
Before the echo of his voice faded, his kagune exploded outward—a wild, grotesque mass of tendrils striking in every direction like a living storm.
Hayashi stepped forward.
One step.
The world seemed to tear.
A line of silver light split the air, impossibly clean.
Uta's eyes widened—delight and madness blending together.
"So fast—!"
He twisted, body bending with unnatural flexibility as the blade skimmed past his cheek.A thin line of blood appeared, but his grin only widened.
"GOOD!"
He roared with laughter.
"GOOD! MORE! SHOW ME MORE!"
His kagune lashed out like a tidal wave.
Hayashi vanished.
The tendrils crashed into the stage, pulverizing it into splinters.
Chunks of wood and metal flew across the hall.
Uta spun in place, twisting his body with serpentine grace as he tracked the impossible presence flashing around him.
Behind him—Above him—To his left—To his right—
Each time he turned, a blade narrowly missed his spine, his throat, or his heart.
Every attack was clean. Precise. Inevitable.
Hayashi wasn't rushing.He wasn't even pushing himself.
He was testing.
"Your reaction speed is good," Hayashi said casually as he appeared behind him.
A blade descended.
Uta barely managed to interpose an arm and the limb was instantly severed at the elbow.
Blood sprayed in a wide arc.
The clown didn't scream.
He didn't flinch.
He only threw his head back and laughed like a lunatic.
"YES! YES! That's it! That's the kind of pain worth living for!"
Hayashi looked almost disappointed.
"That's all?"
Uta's smile froze.
In the next instant—
Hayashi's blade pierced straight through his chest.
The clown's eyes trembled.
He lowered his gaze to the crimson-stained steel buried inside him.
"…you really are a monster."
Hayashi leaned closer.
"And you lasted longer than I expected."
He twisted the blade.
A wet crack echoed.
Uta's kagune wilted.
His body sagged.
But his smile… didn't fade.
"You'll… shake this world," he muttered weakly. "Truly… a perfect monster… no, a perfect god…"
Hayashi pulled his blade free.
"Don't call me that."
Uta's body crumpled, hitting the floor with a soft thud.
Silence returned to the auction hall once more.
Hayashi wiped the blade clean on a torn piece of cloth and sheathed it.
"Alright…"
He exhaled, rolling his shoulders.
"That's one clown dealt with."
His eyes shifted toward the exit Suzuya had taken.
"Time to regroup."
With that, he stepped over the corpse and walked toward the shattered doorway, leaving behind the stench of blood and broken flesh.