Chapter—4
The next day, Ekai walked through the city like an ordinary man, his bloodstained past hidden beneath calm steps. He decided to meet a few old acquaintances—people who still lived in the shadows, just like him.
Two minutes later, someone stepped into his path.
Tall, composed, and radiating quiet danger.
"Akaio."
The man's presence alone made the air feel heavier. He was known across the underworld as the second strongest assassin in the world—a ghost who never failed a contract.
Akaio's sharp eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Ekai.
"So," he said, his voice steady, "now we finally meet like this."
Ekai Yuronagi smiled faintly.
"You already know my name," he said. "Then you know why I'm here."
Akaio crossed his arms. "I heard the rumors. A new gang. A throne taken by force."
He paused, then asked, "You want me to join you?"
"Yes," Ekai replied without hesitation. "Join my new gang."
Akaio let out a small laugh. "And why should I?"
Ekai stepped closer, his voice low and confident.
"Because this world doesn't need another assassin," he said. "It needs rulers. And I'm building something that will never fall."
Silence stretched between them.
Akaio closed his eyes for a moment, memories flashing through his mind—mountains of corpses, shattered gangs, gods bleeding like men.
Then he opened them and smiled.
"…Alright," Akaio said. "I'll join."
Ekai turned away, already walking forward.
"Good," he replied. "You're my first."
And just like that,
the strongest gang in the world
took its first breath.
Not long after agreeing to join Ekai, Akaio felt it.
The shift in the air.
The pressure of killing intent closing in from every direction.
They surrounded him silently—contract killers, dozens of them, hidden across rooftops, alleyways, and broken stairwells. The gangs already knew. Word had spread fast that the second strongest assassin in the world had chosen Ekai's side.
Akaio stopped walking.
He looked around once, then laughed.
"So they sent you?" he said calmly.
The killers moved.
Akaio reached behind his back and lifted his weapon—a 1,000-kilogram hammer, its surface scarred and darkened by old blood. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he swung it effortlessly.
The first impact erased a man.
The hammer came down, crushing a killer's head into the pavement with a sound like shattering stone. Akaio didn't slow. He spun, the massive weapon tearing through the air, smashing bodies apart, turning bones to dust.
Screams echoed. Blood sprayed across walls.
Five minutes passed.
When the noise finally stopped, Akaio stood in the center of the wreckage, laughing. Bodies were scattered everywhere, twisted and broken beyond recognition. He casually kicked a severed head across the ground, watching it roll before coming to a stop.
"Too weak," he muttered, still smiling.
He rested the hammer on his shoulder and began walking again, unbothered, unharmed.
After all—
If they wanted to touch Ekai,
they would have to go through monsters first.
Elsewhere, Ekai was already moving.
Ten figures stood before him—SSS-rank assassins, monsters among killers. Each one alone could wipe out a city block. Together, they were supposed to be unstoppable.
Before any of them could speak—
Ekai vanished.
A thunderous impact shattered the air as he appeared in front of one assassin and kicked him straight through a wall. Concrete exploded outward, debris raining down as the body disappeared into the building beyond.
Before the others could even react, Ekai was already behind him.
His hand came down.
The assassin's head was crushed in a single motion, bone and blood splattering across the ruins.
Silence.
The remaining nine assassins froze, eyes wide with disbelief. Fear—pure, instinctive fear—gripped them. One by one, they turned to run.
Too late.
Ekai raised his head slightly and spoke calmly.
"Black Servant."
The world seemed to sink.
A suffocating presence filled the space, heavy and absolute, as shadows twisted and gathered behind him. The Black Servant emerged, its gaze alone draining the will to fight.
The assassins didn't even scream.
Shadows pierced through them, snapping spines, tearing bodies apart, erasing their existence as if they had never been there.
In seconds, it was over.
Ekai stood alone among the ruins, expression unchanged, blood dripping from his knuckles. He turned away without another glance.
SSS-rank or not—
they were nothing.