Ignoring everything around, consumed by thoughts of slaughter, with single-minded determination, he strode towards Nakahara, intent on killing him.

“Why do you see me as an enemy? Let me tell you the truth, I have never killed an innocent person. Everyone who dies by my hand deserves it,” Nakahara said, his brow furrowed as blood dripped from his arm, reluctant to unleash his true power. Once immersed in a state of corruption, he might not be able to regain clarity.

“Hyakki?” Dazai sensed something amiss.

Nakahara explained, infuriated, “Do you really have to kill me?”

Hyakki stood just a step away from Nakahara, expressionless, wielding his sword, only focused on killing.

No blood splattered.

The corrupt power did not erupt.

Nakahara also looked up in astonishment, only to see Hyakki suddenly change direction, intercepting a bullet aimed at Dazai! Dazai stood still, his expression unchanged, and lamented, “That was close. If Hyakki had only focused on the dwarf, I would have successfully died.”

At the moment when Hyakki was about to kill Nakahara, he deliberately glanced in the direction of the sniper, forcing the sniper to shoot prematurely, hoping to prevent Nakahara from using his trump card.

Success and failure intertwined.

Dazai was saved by Hyakki, and the bloodthirsty Hyakki chose him without hesitation.

Ignoring the cut on his palm, Dazai grasped his sword and looked at the broken blade above… his eyes sank.

“It’s broken.”

The sword that kills shattered to save.

Hyakki had no regrets. The broken sword was connected to his right hand, while his left hand, still attached to Dazai’s fingers, prevented him from grabbing the broken sword.

He said silently, “It’s okay, as long as Dororo is safe.”

Dazai suddenly turned his head and said to the poor Nakahara, “It’s all your fault! Without you, Hyakki wouldn’t have lost his weapon!”

Nakahara felt suffocated and aggrieved, his heart aching. This bastard was twisting the facts!

I’d rather the bullet hit you!

“Last time, the sword he wore when he fought me, I took it to get repaired by someone. It’s the same style, so it should be able to be fitted back on…” Nakahara uttered in a frustrated tone, expressing his intention to reconcile with Dazai. “But the repairman is asking for too much, and I haven’t been able to pay the final installment.”

Dazai responded with a casual “Oh,” typical of a broke person.

Nakahara sighed, feeling exhausted. “Does he have a problem with his ears? I’ve never heard him answer me once.”

Dazai sneered, “You probably have a problem with your eyes.”

Nakahara wanted to get angry, but Dazai simply removed Hyakki’s ears.

“Ears are gone too!”

Nakahara gasped in shock.

Dazai then used two fingers to poke the eyes on Hyakki’s mask, the scene was quite dramatic. “Take a good look, this is a mask.” Nakahara stared hard and finally realized the reason for the strong sense of dissonance he had been feeling.

The black-haired youth’s face was all fake!

With Hyakki, who relied entirely on prosthetics, challenging people’s perceptions of disabled individuals, Nakahara was profoundly shaken, despairingly realizing the reality: Is this the person I’ve been fighting against?

Dazai hinted, “He can’t answer you, but if you ask me, I might know something.”

Nakahara’s arm stopped bleeding under the effect of his gravity manipulation ability. He looked deeply at Dazai, then sighed and left the address of the shop that needed the final payment. With heavy footsteps, he walked away, no longer willing to continue fighting with these two who were deeply embroiled in the underworld turmoil of the port. Next time, he’ll come back to trouble these two again.

Hah, do you think I’d believe your trashy gossip?

“…Tsk, instinctual animals.”

Dazai launched a physical attack against Nakahara, then went to check on Hyakki, only to find him also being scolded.

Unhappily, he grabbed Hyakki’s ponytail, blood mingling with the strands.

Hyakki lowered his head: “Sorry.”

Dazai shoved the ears back into place, picked up the arm, and secured it, making sure the broken sword inside wouldn’t be discovered. With this done, all he needed to do was go to the address provided by the dwarf to get another sword.

Having eaten and exercised, his next move was to go ask Dr. Mori  for some money.

That was Dazai’s original plan, but Hyakki’s actions disrupted his thoughts. Sensing that Dazai intended to leave, Hyakki unexpectedly hugged him, then swiftly charged back into the underworld of the port, displaying a momentum no less than that of an enemy force attacking the underworld.

“???”

“Why a prince carry?!”

“I know you want to save me, but I only hurt my hand, not my foot!”

Dazai waved his hands vigorously, protesting strongly.

The most pitiful thing in the world isn’t that I’m invisible in your eyes, but that as a normal person, I’m being treated as disabled by you. Who’s the severely disabled one here?!

Passersby outside silently confirmed: “So pitiful, these two youths are all wrapped in bandages.”

Two disabled individuals.

At the headquarters of the port mafia, Dr. Mori  acted as the doctor for the two, kindly examining them before shooing the annoying Hyakki away and individually bandaging Dazai’s wounds.

“Are there injuries elsewhere?”

“No.”

Dazai frowned, discontentedly saying, “I only needed bandages, there was no need for you to come.”

Dr. Mori  replied with a smile, “As a doctor and the soon-to-be leader, it’s only natural for me to show concern for a witness who was shot at while out. Otherwise, everyone might think I wanted to kill you.”

Dazai said, “Just kill me, it would be so much better.”

Dr. Mori changed the subject, “Dzai, what do you think of the King of Sheep?”

“I have no opinion.” Dazai couldn’t be bothered to analyze further and swiftly stole Dr. Mori ‘s wallet in the blink of an eye. Although Dr. Mori  sensed the weight of his wallet disappearing and his eyelid twitched, he didn’t delve further.

It’s easier to handle people with demands than those without.

Dr. Mori  left with a smile, giving the room to a shrewd little guy with strong martial arts skills.

Dazai opened the wallet, using his bandaged hand to search for cash and credit cards.

“I wonder if there’s enough money…”

Not well-versed in the cold weapons industry, he pondered the possibility of coercion and bribery, while Hyakki, after Dr. Mori  left, sat across from Dazai, feeling disheartened to realize he just couldn’t kill a demon.

Their thoughts weren’t aligned, yet strangely, they created a harmonious atmosphere.

This was probably what they call “telepathy.”

“Hyakki?” Dazai waved his hand in front of Hyakki’s face several times before snapping the absent-minded person back to reality. Hyakki’s head moved slightly, symbolically expressing his confusion.

Dazai hopped off his seat, brought over the medical kit Dr. Mori had brought, and placed it beside Hyakki.

“Dr. Mori… well, let’s call him Mr. Dr. Mori. He brought quite a few medical supplies for us, perhaps worried that I might take you to the afterlife at any moment. If I really intended to do so, all these medicines would be useless.”

He took out numerous medical bandages from inside, his eyes filled with affection for them.

“The cloth strips on your body are turning gray, they should be changed.”

“Eh?”

Taking off his outer clothes, Hyakki, who thought there wouldn’t be any problem, sensed “Dororo” untying the fabric wrapped around him and immediately stopped him from doing such a terrifying act.

“Dororo” is a girl, and I’m a boy!

“Are you shy?”

Dazai smirked wickedly, retaliating for being pulled back by the other.

With a few swift movements, Hyakki, devoid of both hands and feet, lay on the bed. His body, disassembled, resembled a broken puzzle, with a beautiful face adding a cold and twisted beauty to his deformed figure.

Dazai wrapped clean bandages around him, layer by layer.

The white cloth strips brought from the pre-time-slip era to the post-time-slip era… no, the gray cloth strips were successfully thrown into the trash.

Having finished, Dazai poked the hunched figure of Hyakki, who was rarely curled up with his back turned to him, and sighed in relief, “Don’t worry, I didn’t take any pictures of you or pull down your pants.”

Thinking of his peculiar body without skin, Dazai clicked his tongue.

“It looks better with the bandages on.”

You see.

A monster like you, wrapped in bandages, can disguise the past and blend into the crowd normally, right?

On the bed, the black-haired youth’s hair became disheveled as he struggled, his curled-up body robe opened, and layers of white and delicate bandages wound around him, replacing his skin. As long as it could conceal, he always exuded a toughness different from Dazai’s, more like a wandering swordsman from ancient times, down and out but not weak.

“Dororo… Aren’t you afraid of me like this?”

Hyakki had no idea how attractive his current appearance would be to someone with an exceptionally aberrant aesthetic sense.

He tried hard to stay calm.

Once again, his determination to kill demons and regain his organs was strengthened.

In the future… he would surely be able to see Dororo’s face and hear her recounting the past.