Kurosaki Rei had no strength left to complain about this world's methods of carrying out the death penalty.
He thought to himself that, in this regard, they really could learn a thing or two from the Company…
—no, on second thought, better not. The Company's execution methods were just as tasteless and inefficient. And, come to think of it, he'd personally dealt with quite a few of those executioners already.
By now, Kurosaki Rei had fully calmed down.
In fact, he felt that the Terminal Space might actually have given him a pretty decent starting identity.
If he remembered correctly, Shōkubi Prison also held another fighter from the original story—someone who, like him, had survived multiple failed executions.
That man's name was Bando Yohei.
If the timeline he'd entered was close to the opening of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, then someone would soon come to this prison to "recruit talent." At that point, he could directly obtain a slot as a fighter.
The Terminal's intentions seemed good—but they differed somewhat from Kurosaki Rei's own plans before entering this world.
He had loved Kengan Ashura since he was young, and back then he'd fantasized more than once about mastering some of the manga's so-called "superpower" fighting techniques.
Yes—superpowers.
In his eyes, this manga was full of them.
Take Julius Reinhold, the muscle monster who could overpower an F1 car.
Or Wakatsuki Takeshi, whose muscle fiber density was said to be over fifty times that of a normal human.
Then there was the Wu Clan's Removal, and the protagonist Tokita Ohma's Advance.
Pure stat monsters like Julius and Wakatsuki didn't worry Kurosaki Rei too much—his own numbers were already pretty absurd.
But he was extremely interested in the Wu Clan's Removal and Ohma's Advance.
To Kurosaki Rei, these were explosive techniques that forcibly unleashed human potential. If he could master them, they'd be a massive boost to his journey through the Terminal Space.
So compared to obediently entering the tournament, he'd rather first strip this world of its good stuff—its valuable techniques.
Click.
As Kurosaki Rei was thinking, the door opened.
The prison guard outside was drenched in sweat, hands shaking so badly that the lock clattered against the door frame with an ugly rattle.
"4… 404. You—you're coming out."
The guard's voice trembled. Clearly, he was terrified of Kurosaki Rei, the infamous death-row inmate.
Kurosaki Rei stood up. Under the guard's horrified gaze, he flexed his legs and ripped the straitjacket apart, tearing free with ease before calmly walking toward the exit.
Seeing that Kurosaki Rei's hands were still cuffed behind his back, the guard barely managed to calm himself and hurried ahead to lead the way.
Outside lay a small open yard.
On the second-floor railing stood two figures. One was the warden.
The other was a slightly aged middle-aged man in a suit, smiling faintly as he looked down.
In front of Kurosaki Rei, two other prisoners had already been brought out. Unlike him, they wore only handcuffs.
To his left stood a gloomy man wearing a hood.
To his right was a massive, burly prisoner with a fashionable balding hairstyle.
The warden was sweating bullets.
"Letting these people out is insanity! Do you even know who they are!?"
He pointed below, voice shaking.
"Nagashima Ginji, the cult fanatic who slaughtered fifty-six people!
Bando Yohei, the Bloodthirsty Tusk, who killed seventeen yakuza bare-handed!
And Kurosaki Rei, the mad martial artist who killed twenty-eight people—including the snakehead himself!"
Just standing in the same space as these monsters made the warden's spine feel ice-cold.
At that moment, the suited man picked up a loudspeaker and spoke with a smile.
"The rules are simple. No restrictions—life or death doesn't matter.
As long as you defeat the opponent in front of you, you'll be granted temporary freedom."
He paused, eyes glinting.
"And the right to destroy the human body to your heart's content."
Kurosaki Rei kept his hands behind his back and glanced up at the man.
So this is Takada Seisuke, president of Ten Kings Communications.
Annoying.
Everything about him was annoying—his clothes, his manner, his tone, even where he stood.
But what disgusted Kurosaki Rei most was being watched like an animal in a cage.
What do you take fighters for?
What do you take martial arts for?
Crack.
To Kurosaki Rei's left, the cult fanatic casually snapped his handcuffs apart as if they were candy.
In the Kengan Ashura world, common scientific sense rarely applied—just like in Baki.
And now that this world was mutating, the residents' physical abilities were clearly rising even further.
"This is troublesome," Bando Yohei said calmly.
"I'm not a happy killer. But I don't want to die either, so I suppose I'll fight for my rights."
Standing nearly two meters tall and weighing 147 kilograms, Bando looked like a small giant.
Yet his joints were unnaturally flexible—while speaking, he already swung one arm behind his shoulder, coiling it like a whip.
"All heretics must die!"
"Accept my judgment!"
The fanatic struck his stance.
Strangely, these two towering murderers completely ignored Kurosaki Rei, who stood slightly to the side—like a harmless spectator.
Even the warden and Takada subconsciously overlooked him. Compared to two two-meter giants, Kurosaki Rei looked almost insignificant.
They'd heard of his "record," sure—but from appearances alone, he didn't seem threatening.
Boom.
A dull impact echoed.
The fanatic's body collapsed instantly—his head smashed straight into his own torso. Blood splattered everywhere.
Bando Yohei slowly turned around.
Under Takada's excited gaze and the warden's terror, he flicked the blood from his hand and looked at Kurosaki Rei.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll make it quick."
"W-wait—"
A prison guard behind Kurosaki Rei raised a hand, about to say that Kurosaki Rei's cuffs hadn't been unlocked—
—but before he could finish, the handcuffs exploded.
He didn't even see what Kurosaki Rei did.
Unlike the fanatic snapping his cuffs apart, Kurosaki Rei's shackles shattered into fragments, as if struck by an instantaneous explosive force.
Under everyone's stunned gazes, Kurosaki Rei rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck, bones popping.
"Relax," he said calmly.
"If I'm the one carrying out an execution, I don't miss."
The moment his words fell—
Kurosaki Rei vanished.
No one present could follow what happened.
They only saw a blur flash past Bando Yohei's position.
The next instant, Bando's massive body lifted off the ground.
His instincts screamed at him to adjust his posture—but before he could curl up or recover—
BOOM.
Kurosaki Rei's knee struck like a thunderbolt.
Crack.
The sound of bones shattering rang out.
Bando Yohei's throat and cervical spine snapped at once, his head twisting at an impossible angle.
Thud.
His corpse hit the ground, kicking up dust—and blood.
Kurosaki Rei landed lightly, prison uniform spotless, not a drop of blood on him.
Ignoring the stunned crowd, he crouched and leapt—
straight up to the second floor.
"Y-you—don't do anything rash—!"
The warden was nearly paralyzed with fear.
They'd dared to stand up here because this spot was supposed to be safe.
The second-floor walkway was over four meters high.
How could someone jump up here directly!?
"Guards! Fire!" the warden screamed.
But the prison was only equipped with rubber bullets.
And with this killing star already standing in front of him—
even if they somehow subdued Kurosaki Rei later, would he survive?
The guards stood frozen—whether from fear or from being crushed by the man's invisible pressure, none could say.
Kurosaki Rei wasn't as large as the other two killers, yet his presence filled the entire space.
It was as if this place were his domain—
life and death decided within arm's reach.
Takada Seisuke's face briefly showed fear—then twisted into ecstatic delight.
"Excellent! You'll make a perfect hound! With you—yes, with you—I can—"
He never finished.
Like his warped ambition, his words ended there.
Takada collapsed backward, eyes wide in disbelief, the last thing reflected in them being Kurosaki Rei's cold, indifferent gaze.
"Go find a new hunting dog in hell,"
Kurosaki Rei said flatly, brushing past the warden, who was trembling uncontrollably.
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