The Raven Dark Hero 88

Chapter 88 : The Shocking Truth

TL:SummerPeanut

The test site. It's about the size of a basketball court. The inner portion is similar to that of a stand. The walls are sturdy, and once the iron gates are closed, it will be difficult to get out. With blood stains all over the floor and walls of the room, it was easy to imagine what kind of place it is for.

Inside the room, there was Kouki and five soldiers who were pointing guns at him.

Then, at the top of the stand, there were observer seats protected with tempered glass, and inside stood a man in a white coat sporting a crew cut.

“The scientific power of the Core ISSSSSSー……WORLD NUMBER ONEEEEE!!”

Kouki couldn't help but cover his ears when he heard a loud voice coming from the speakers.

(TskTsk…… this guy, Does he even know what a speaker is!?)

“Welcome to my laboratory! I am Dr. Reuter Strohm, the chief of this institute!”

Takahiko was translating from the earring in his ear, so Kouki could hear him clearly.

“……I see what you mean. I mean, you don't have to raise your voice so high. I can hear you.”

“Hoh, Japanese huh. KuhKuhKuh, it’s no problem for me……You seem to be a man with a considerable gift. You've got the ability of Stealth, right? If you can disappear so perfectly, you must have a gift rank of at least A or above. I wonder if it's Silent Stealth?”

Strohm realized that Kouki was Japanese and spoke back in Japanese.

“You can speak Japanese? As expected of a Doctor. As for the gift, I'll leave that to your imagination.”

“FuhFuhFuh…… A high-ranking gift ability is something I really want. Come out, Exideth!”

Following Strohm's voice, the gate on the other side of Kouki opened, and a muscular man emerged from it.

“Come on, Japanese boy! Fight! If you can survive a fight with my masterpiece, the Exideth, I'll let you out of this lab alive!”

Killing intent was pouring out of Exideth. Kouki too took on a fighting stance. The soldier moved to the side of the wall so as not to interfere with the fight between the two.

(Well then… It would be easy to defeat this macho bastard right here and now but…… I'll take a wait-and-see approach with Silent Stealth first. Above all, that loud guy said he wanted a high-ranked gift. That’s really bothering me……)

“Here I come, JAPANESE!”

Exideth rushed towards Kouki. Kouki dodged it and activate his Silent Stealth. Then Exideth completely lost sight of Kouki.

(He knows he could see through the Silent Stealth if he wears the same goggles as the soldiers, but is there a reason he’s not?)

“NUuu~, where are you, Japanese! Come on out!”

The soldiers watching the battle showed no sign of handing over the goggles to Exideth. Takahiko, on the other side of the piercing, was also feeling uncomfortable.

『I'm pretty sure he's up to something....... Let's hurt him enough but not to the point of killing him.』

“Copy that. It's been a long time since I've entered combat without using a gift.”

A bitter memory came back to Kouki's mind. However, since then, Kouki had thoroughly sharpened his body techniques.

He deactivated his Silent Stealth and revealed himself. Then, Strohm reacted.

“Hmm? You deactivated your own powers……. You are being underestimated, Exideth!”

“Heh! You're gonna regret this! Activate Bear Nagle!”

Exideth attacked Kouki with his sharp claws. He looked and sounded like a small fish but his movements showed that he was definitely no small fish.

Even so, Kouki side-stepped and eluded his attacks, and countered with a liver blow from his blind spot.

“Guh…… It's not gonna work, Japanese!”

Kouki's fist accurately caught Exideth' liver but giving no concern to it, Exideth continued his attack.

(He's tough. He's physically strong, and although his gift ability is just long, sharp claws, it's not a bad match for him. Still, this level is a bit of a letdown for me right now…….)

He continued to return counters while avoiding the onslaught of claws. Soon Kouki was already thinking about finishing him off.

“Exideth!”

Strohm gave some kind of signal to Exideth. Then Exideth nodded with a grin and stopped attacking.

“What’s the matter? Finished already?”

When Exideth suddenly stopped, Kouki wondered if Strome had given up but the next moment, Exideth' arm seemed to melt and formed a whip.

“Sulfates Pais!”[1]

The whip that he wielded swept the ground beneath Kouki's feet. The ground made a sizzling sound as if it was scorched. Sulfates pais…… is a sulfuric acid whip.

The sulfuric acid whip was being wielded violently. Knowing that it would be extremely difficult to dodge all of them while not using any gifts, Kouki took a big step backward to open the distance. However it was indoors, they gradually closed the distance between each other.

(This guy, earlier it was a claw ability, right? Now it's the whip, which means he has multiple gifts. I can't let my guard down. So much for goofing around. Time to kill him.)

He was cornered against the wall. Kouki then activated his Silent Stealth once again. He ducked through the scattered attacks of the Exideth, who had now lost sight of his prey. He took his six shortly and sliced off the Exideth' head with a single blow with his arm that had been turned into a blade by Lonsdaleite.

Perhaps surprised by the sudden resolution, the soldiers once again thrust their muzzle at Kouki. But Kouki didn't care and turned his provocative gaze to Strohm.

“Now, I reckon that he’s your masterpiece. But I don't understand…… Do you want to test me? Then, you can't even measure me using someone like this.”

“Mmm-fufufu…… Excellent! I knew those stealth abilities were quite capable! I'd love to have it! You guys, hurt him enough not to kill him!”

The soldiers pulled the trigger in unison. The bullets shot were of the .22 caliber bullet, not powerful enough to kill a person with enhanced physical abilities. In the first place, the current Kouki is capable of getting through the net of bullets without using his Flash gift.

“The first one.”

One by one, he made sure to slit their throats.

“Second…… third…… fourth…… well then, now all that's left is you.”

“You bastard…… don’t you fuck with me!”

The last one left was the soldier who had been acting coercively towards Kouki. It was the captain who was also in charge of the soldiers holding the security of this laboratory in check.

The captain threw down his gun and pointed his palm at Kouki.

“Death Eraser!”

A laser beam shot out from his palm. Kouki barely dodged it, and the laser beam crashed into the wall.

“So, you’re also a gifted. Well, since you were the soldiers in charge of guarding this lab, I'm sure the others had abilities of some kind as well. If that's the case, why didn't you guys just come at me with your gift instead of relying on your guns?”

As he said this, Kouki deliberately turned his gaze to the soldiers who had already broken up. It was a blatant act of provocation.

“You bastard…… How dare you hurt my men! DIEE!”

The captain fired a laser beam at Kouki. As he was trying to avoid the laser beam, Kouki felt a sudden presence behind him and retreated from his position.

“Wha-.....You!?”

There, the dead man, Exideth, was standing.

“HAhHAhHA! Surprised? You see, Exideth is…… the user of a new unknown gift I've discovered, he is the wielder of the RE・VI・VED・・・HUN・TER・ー・!”

“…………What did you say?”

Just now, Strohm did indeed say Revived Hunter…….

(It couldn’t be…… there’s someone else with Revived Hunter beside me? But, the fact that Exideth is back like this, even though he was definitely dead when his head was chopped off……)

On the other side of the piercing, Takahiko could not hide his surprise.

『Hey, Kouki, just now, he mentioned Revived Hunter……』

“Looks like it. Unless our ears are messed up somehow.”

He must have learned Kouki’s gift. Exideth smirks.

“Amazing…… I thought he had the ability to disappear but I didn't expect he even had this gift!”

With that, Exideth turned his fist into a for-profit blade. It was indeed a blade created with Lonsdaleite.

(He got that from me? Then, this guy really is a Revived Hunter holder…)

Kouki himself still does not fully grasp the full extent of Revive Hunter. The information he received from Kiryu and the information from his first-hand experience, the conditions for activation, and the conditions for acquiring the ability, were only hypotheses.

(That researcher definitely has more information about the Revived Hunters than I do. I'd like to get that information somehow……)

Kouki's thoughts fell into the mystery of the Revived Hunter. Forgetting that there were enemies in front of him and behind him as well…….

『Hey Kouki! What are you doing! Now is not the time to think!』

“…………Eh?”

Takahiko's announcement brought Kouki's consciousness back to reality.

(……Wait a minute. That's rather convenient.)

The attack struck Kouki's body from front to back, killing him instantly.

“Tsk……That hurts……”

“You’re dead…… AGIIH!?”

“……AAH!?”

A laser beam pierced through his back, and Kouki collapsed as his chest was sliced open by the blade of Lonsdaleite.

Just when Exideth thought he had killed Kouki, he was unlucky enough to be pierced in the chest by the laser beam that pierced Kouki, killing him instantly.

And the captain that had even killed Exideth with his Death Eraser shouted anxiously…….

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Anyone got better name than Exideth? My brain died.

TL’s note:

1. I’m not sure if it’s another language or something. Sulfuric pais, sulfuric whip?