CHAPTER 451: A GREAT BETRAYAL

Serana couldn’t move. Her entire body was screaming in pain, yet her throat closed up so that she couldn’t voice her agony.

She heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to the place where she was impaled.

The prime minister walked past her and kneeled beside Ayuka’s crumpled body.

"Such brutality... to think you would inflict this kind of violence on such a stellar human being."

Serana felt her heart drop.

The prime minister took Ayuka into her arms with a caring, distraught look.

’You gotta be fucking kidding me...’ Serana thought angrily.

The prime minister stood up with an unconscious Ayuka in his arms.

"Put my wife down!!"

A fierce wind was kicked up suddenly, blowing debris and anything not nailed down into the air.

Kenji hovered in the air, his eyes wild and full of malice.

The blistering green winds around him took the shape of a great arrow.

"Put. Her. Down. And step away from my grandchild!"

The prime minister did not abide by Kenji’s demands and continued to hold onto her long after her bones began to reset.

"Kenji Hayashi. I don’t believe we have had an opportunity to be fully acquainted. Though that will happen when you’re trying to steal a man’s country right out from underneath him."

"I will not participate in these foolish games with you. Release my wife right now!"

"A bit slow on the uptick, aren’t we..? Though I must confess, it isn’t as if I didn’t already know that myself." The prime minister looked over his shoulder. "Haruka, dear, would you mind?"

"Sure, Dad!"

Suddenly, the young woman behind the prime minister produced a lighter from within her sports bra.

"I’m almost scared by just how easy this one will be!"

As soon as the lighter sparked a flame, the fire grew into something nigh uncontrollable.

It fed not only on the excess of nitrogen in the air, but on some greater, unseen power that fueled the flames to a nigh unreachable height.

There was an instant explosion.

Shinji, who was surrounded by the dense air, was unable to escape before the blast reached him.

The abandoned buildings on the street were already barely standing. When the blast went off, they blew apart like they were made of playing cards.

The prime minister’s eyes were tightly clenched shut.

After he realized that he had somehow not been incinerated, he slowly opened his eyes and realized he was standing in a dome of fire with a camera phone in his face.

"Lol. You were so scared, your face was hilarious, Dad. You like totally thought you were gonna get roasted."

The prime minister coughed and swatted his daughter’s hand away.

"You perhaps could have given me some sort of warning, Harumi. What if I had gotten injured because of your recklessness?"

"You’re perfectly fine."

Harumi looked up at her father’s hair and gave a singed bit a small pinch.

"Well, now you’re fine."

The Prime Minister looked completely unamused.

"Let’s just go. You’ve certainly drawn enough attention for one night and we need to get this woman some medical attention."

He looked down at the sleeping Ayuka in his arms. "She’s done quite a lot for us. We shouldn’t repay good work with disloyalty."

"The way you’re looking at her is super gross."

"Harumi."

"I like living at home with just us, I don’t want any step-moms!"

"Just take us home!"

"Fine!"

In an instant, the raging storm of fire was dispersed, leaving behind a destroyed street and the thick scent of smoke.

There were two bodies left behind in the wake of the destruction.

One, a charred corpse left impaled on a series of spikes made of concrete.

The other, the badly burned body of Kenji Hayashi.

Over ninety percent of his body was covered in burns and smoking. As a second generation evolved, Kenji’s healing abilities weren’t nearly strong enough to overcome this level of damage.

His time was running out.

As his body descended into shock, he could barely even form a single thought.

Sufficient noise had been made along the empty street that night.

Enough for it to attract the attention of the occupants of Kenji’s base.

Sato was at the head of a small team of evolved who were still in their sleep clothes.

Sato’s eyes scanned the rubble and easily picked out the two bodies. He ran towards the one closest to him, the one that looked like it belonged to a man.

He ran to the closest body with a few men trailing behind. "Hey, we need to get this street cleared quick and maybe try to find out what-"

As soon as Sato locked eyes with the body of the man lying on the ground, he felt his heart stop.

He would recognize those eyes even if they weren’t burned halfway shut.

"Dad.. Dad!!"

Sato flung himself at his father’s side and nearly dove on top of him.

He barely maintained the wherewithal not to touch his father and risk making his condition worse.

"Fuck, fuck..!" Sato turned his head to the men behind him. "What the hell are you idiots waiting for?! Go get our medic team, NOW!"

One of the members dashed back towards their base faster than the eye could see.

Sato turned back to his father and hovered over him with tears beginning to fall from his face.

"You just hang on, you old bastard... You don’t get to die and leave Mom and me behind...!"

"Sir! Over there!"

One of the men pointed towards the other body impaled on cement stalagmites.

However, there was something off about it.

Looking closely at the navel area, there was a small glow that was beginning to take the shape of something grander.

There was a flash of pink light, followed by a wave of power the likes of which Sato couldn’t fathom.

When he looked back once again, he was shocked beyond belief.

There was a young, raven-haired woman lying facedown in the middle of the street.

She was completely nude and looked to be shivering from the cold.

"Somebody get her wrapped up!" Sato ordered.

Two women approached the body and tossed their overcoats over her.

When the girl lifted her head, Sato instantly recognized the glowing pink eyes staring back at him.

"Little niece..?"

Serana smiled at him weakly.

"Do you... have a phone...?" She said hoarsely. "There’s someone I need you to call..."