Chapter 14 - The Path to War

The air inside the abandoned warehouse was thick with tension. The dim glow of a single flickering bulb cast shadows against the cracked concrete walls. A handful of survivors from Kaito's now-defunct gang sat in silence, their faces bruised and their clothes stained with blood. Some nursed bullet wounds, others stared blankly, still processing the slaughter they had barely escaped.

Taro sat on a rusted metal crate, his hoodie damp with sweat and smeared with blood—some his own, some from the men he had killed. His fingers tightened into fists, his knuckles raw and bruised. Ken was dead. Kenji Sato was gone. The people he had fought beside were either buried or barely clinging to life.

Mia knelt beside him, wrapping a bandage around a deep gash on his arm. Her touch was gentle, but her hands trembled slightly. She could see it—Taro had changed. The warmth in his eyes had dimmed, replaced by a silent, unrelenting fury. He had always been determined, but now? Now, he was something else.

"Taro…" Mia finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

He didn't respond. He just sat there, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

"We can't stay here forever," she continued. "The Vipers won't stop until they've killed us all."

Still, silence.

Then, in a slow, deliberate movement, Taro stood up. His voice, when it came, was cold and sharp.

"I'm going to kill them."

The room fell dead silent. The others looked up at him, some in shock, some in fear, but none of them doubted the truth in his words.

Mia swallowed. "Taro… the Viper Gang is too big. They have police in their pockets, politicians protecting them, an entire network. This isn't just about some street gang anymore. This is suicide."

Taro turned his gaze toward her, his dark eyes unreadable. "Then I'll take them all down. Every single one of them."

Mia's breath hitched. She had seen determination before, but this? This was war.

That night, while the others rested, Taro sat in the corner of the warehouse, sharpening his knife. The rhythmic scrape of the blade against the whetstone was the only sound in the silent room.

Mia sat across from him, watching. She hesitated before finally speaking.

"There's something I need to tell you."

Taro didn't look up. "Then say it."

She took a shaky breath. "Years ago… when I was younger, I witnessed something. Something horrible."

Taro's sharpening stopped, but he remained silent.

Mia clenched her fists. "I saw a woman… a woman and her husband… They were being hunted. A politician—one of the Viper Gang's biggest backers—he… he…" She hesitated, her voice breaking. "He had them killed."

Taro's fingers tightened around the knife handle. "Why are you telling me this?"

Mia's heart pounded. "Because… I think that woman was your mother."

The knife slipped from Taro's hand, clattering onto the ground. The air in the room grew suffocating.

For the first time since she had met him, Taro looked completely lost.

"…What?" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

Mia nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "I saw her face… she was crying, begging. And the man—the politician—he just smiled. He shot her. And then… he shot her husband too."

Taro didn't move. His breathing was slow, controlled, but his hands were trembling.

Mia reached out hesitantly. "Taro, I—"

"Get out."

Mia flinched. "Taro—"

"I said, GET OUT." His voice was like a blade, sharp and filled with something terrifying.

Mia hesitated but eventually stepped back. She had just lit a fire inside him that would never go out.

Taro no longer felt pain. He no longer felt exhaustion. He only felt rage.

That night, he hunted.

A man named Hiro Masuda—a businessman tied to the Viper Gang. He was filthy rich, corrupt, and weak. He financed the gang's drug operations in exchange for protection.

Taro found him alone in his office, his bodyguards downstairs, unaware of the monster creeping toward their boss.

Hiro barely had time to scream before Taro slammed his head against his desk, shattering his nose with a sickening crunch.

The businessman howled in pain, blood gushing down his face. "W-Who the fuck—?!"

Taro grabbed him by the hair and slammed his face into the desk again. This time, teeth scattered across the wooden surface.

"No, no, please—" Hiro begged, his voice muffled by his own blood.

Taro grabbed a letter opener from the desk and plunged it into the man's hand, pinning him to the desk.

Hiro screamed.

"You do business with the Vipers," Taro said, his voice eerily calm.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Hiro sobbed, his body shaking.

Taro didn't respond. Instead, he picked up a nearby stapler and, without hesitation, slammed it onto Hiro's fingers—once, twice, three times—until blood and bone crunched together.

Hiro's screams filled the room.

"You finance them," Taro continued, ripping the letter opener out of the man's hand, tearing flesh as Hiro shrieked in agony.

"I-I can give you money! Anything you want!" Hiro pleaded.

Taro smiled. A cold, dead smile.

"I don't want your money."

Then, he grabbed a bottle of ink from the desk and smashed it against Hiro's face, blinding him with black liquid.

Hiro coughed, choking, barely able to breathe.

Taro leaned in, whispering into his ear.

"I want your life."

And then, he sliced Hiro's throat open, watching as the man choked on his own blood.

Taro stood there, staring at the corpse, his hands drenched in red.

It wasn't enough.

He wanted more.

The next morning, the Viper Gang found Hiro Masuda's lifeless body hanging outside their main hideout.

A note was carved into his chest:

"I'm coming for you."

The message was received.

And in return, the Viper Gang sent assassins.

That night, they attacked the warehouse.

Gunfire erupted. Windows shattered. Bullets tore through the walls.

Taro and Mia fought desperately. Close combat. Brutal kills. Knives flashing. Blood spilling.

By the time it ended, the assassins lay dead.

Taro, panting, his face splattered with blood, looked at Mia.

"They know now," she whispered.

Taro's lips curled into a dark smirk. "Good."