Aghnis's head hit the ground with a wet impact. Brain matter splattered across the dirt as worms crawled out.

  "Arrgh," Ken yawned and turned back to Ryūma, lighting a cigarette off the flames on Ryūma's body. "Guess we're done here," he said lazily.

  "Nah, man," Ryūma replied with a groan as he sat up. "He's not going down that easily."

  "Hehe." A low chuckle drifted through the air.

  "Huh?" Ken spun around and saw Aghnis standing beside his own headless body. His eyes widened slightly.

  "I guess you don't know yet," Aghnis muttered. His lips curled into a dark grin. "But—" His head slid neatly off his neck before he could finish.

  "That should do it," Ken said, turning away again.

  "Idiot!" Aghnis snapped and stepped forward.

  Ken's gaze darkened. "Gosh, what the hell?" He whirled around, brows furrowed. "Why isn't he dying?" he asked Ryūma.

  "Thing is, he won't die no matter how many times you kill him," Ryūma explained. "He can switch bodies among his puppets."

  "Yup, that's right," Aghnis cut in. "Killing me isn't enough to kill me."

  "Tuff," Ken muttered in an indifferent tone. "But now that you've explained," he said and rose up. He fixed a bored stare on Aghnis. "Makes it easier to kill you."

  "What? Are you an airhead?!" Aghnis barked. "I just said there's no way to kill me."

  Ken said nothing. He simply raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

  "Since you can swap bodies between puppets," Ken began. Mid-sentence, a flash of gold tore through the air.

  "Heh?!" Aghnis's heart ceased as understanding hit him.

  Ken continued calmly. "All I need to do is kill the puppets."

  Silence fell. In the next breath, every puppet across the terrain exploded. Heads launched skyward in sprays of blood, brain matter, worms, and gore.

  "Now, let's see how you escape death this time," Ken said, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

  Aghnis's breath caught. "M-my babies! What did you do to them?! You motherfucker! How dare you!" he screamed. His fingers clawed his face and ripped the skin. Hundreds of worms poured from the wounds and spilled onto the ground.

  "He. Hehe." Aghnis's laugh turned manic. "You might have killed my human puppets, but what about my worms?" The worms writhed together, compressing with wet squelching sounds.

  'Jeez, can't he see he's already lost?' Ryūma murmured, shaking his head. 'Every inch between the convenience store and Ken has been marked,' he thought. 'Though he can't see them because they're spiritual.'

  ...

  Flashback to Four Days Ago, during the Marrowfen District Mission (Chapter 16).

  A stone fell onto the surface of the lake with a loud splash, and waves rippled across it. The sky reflected off the water. Another stone landed, disturbing its serenity.

  "It's kinda strange how you're shocked about Hina's past," Van said. He and Ken sat by the riverbank, both drunk to the point of stupor.

  "What do you mean?" Ken demanded, turning a bleary gaze toward him.

  "I mean, you two have similar pasts," Van replied. "You both wiped out your clans."

  Ken tensed and his eyes narrowed.

  "Though yours was more intentional."

  A choking silence filled the air, broken only by the river's flow.

  "Man," Ken finally said. "Tough past."

  "Tough?" Van echoed. "If I had to decide, I'd call it a fun past. Doesn't it feel fun being the notorious mercenary who single-handedly slaughtered five thousand Nefarian soldiers?"

  "What a drag. I'm not the same as I was back then," Ken replied casually. He lit a cigarette, inhaled, and exhaled a snaking trail of smoke.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He took another drag, then passed it to Van, who accepted it and slipped it between his lips, also taking a long drag. "You might have to wake that old self when the time comes," Van said, smoke trailing off with his voice.

  ...

  "This is my final and greatest puppet," Aghnis declared. He gestured at the massive heap of worms before him. The worms twisted into sinews, flesh, and bone, forming a towering humanoid giant that clutched an enormous butchering knife. It was a faceless monstrosity, with worms creeping in and out of it.

  "I call him the Butcher!" Aghnis announced. "Go!!" he commanded. The Butcher raised its foot and took an earth-shaking step forward.

  "Hahaha!" Aghnis laughed. His tongue split as his jaws opened wide.

  "Oi," Ken called from far away, completely unfazed. He turned to Ryūma. "Can you walk?" he asked, slightly concerned.

  Ryūma struggled to rise. "Uh, barely, but yeah," he answered. 'The poison's effect suddenly began to reduce after Ken destroyed the puppets,' he recalled.

  "Then you know what to do," Ken said. His tone grew ominous.

  "Y-yeah." Ryūma nodded and turned to leave. "Run as far from here as I can!" he shouted, then bolted.

  Ken watched Ryūma vanish before facing the approaching Butcher. "Guess I don't need to hold back anymore," he whispered. His eyes darkened. His heart calmed. He slammed his foot into the ground, then exhaled, lips parting.

  "Ryouken Sword Style: Cardinal Markings!" he chanted. A deep red gust of tenzen whipped out of his body, blowing everything surrounding him away.

  A vast black circle appeared on the ground with Ken at its center. Ancient runes lined the ring, stretching wide in every direction. Four lines extended from the center toward the cardinal points.

  "Zero-dimensional inversion summoning: Gosei Haki-ken," Ken declared as smaller circles appeared within the previous one.

  "Center: Shuryūken."

  A sword materialized in his grip. The blade was long, narrow, and black, etched with purple runes. Its wide crossguard curved downward like demonic horns studded with small red gems. The grip was wrapped in dark material.

  "Been a while," he muttered, glancing from the sword to the monster.

  Then he continued.

  "North: Gen'enken!"

  A second sword appeared far behind Aghnis, buried in a puppet's skull inside the ruined store. Its long, straight, double-edged blade gleamed dark metallic blue. The crossguard curved like dragon wings.

  "East: Seihaken."

  The third sword materialized on the eastern edge of the circle. Its long black blade narrowed to a lethal point, one edge lined with triangular spikes. The angular hilt had small, jagged guards.

  "West: Hakusōken!"

  A slender, polished dark-silver blade with a wide, bat-wing guard and a long black-leather grip.

  "South: Shuraiken!"

  A long, curved blade with flowing engravings, a bone-textured hilt, and a glowing green color along the edges.

  These were the Gosei Haki-ken: Five legendary tyrant swords of the Ryouken Clan.

  Ken exhaled a gust of smoke.

  "RAAAWWW!!" The Butcher roared as it reached him. It swung the massive knife overhead and brought it down with air-splitting force.

  "Die!" Aghnis screamed as the blade fell.

  Sparks exploded. A catastrophic shockwave caused the ground to bulge inward. Dust clouded Aghnis's vision. "Hehe. So much for your big talk," he laughed and attempted to turn, but a sudden chill raced down his spine.

  "This strange sensation!" His eyes blew wide. "What kind of power is this?!"

  Footsteps sounded. "You should be glad..." a cold voice echoed.

  Aghnis's lips vibrated as the dust cleared. Ken stood casually, Shuryūken resting lightly against the Butcher's knife. The Butcher strained, pressing down with all its weight, but the sword never budged.

  Ken's icy gaze shifted to Aghnis. "...I'm giving you a proper death that most demons only pray for."

  "What?" Aghnis gasped. "N-no one has ever survived a strike from the Butcher," he muttered in disbelief.

  "I see," Ken replied. He tilted his sword, letting the massive knife slide harmlessly aside. "Then I'll be the first."

  He swung lazily. The slash carved the Butcher from crown to groin. Blood and worms sprayed outward.

  "How?!" Aghnis whispered. "He barely put any strength into it."

  The giant collapsed, kicking up a storm of dust.

  "Let's put an end to this," Ken whispered. Each syllable sent a chill through the air. He pointed Shuryūken at Aghnis and slashed. A dark brown crescent arced through the air as crimson aura flared from Ken and his sword.

  The aura spread out, striking the Gen'enken first. The blade shimmered with a red glow and rose. The light moved on and struck the Hakusōken and Seihaken.

  Meanwhile, Ryūma sprinted down the street, lungs burning with heavy breaths. "Arrgh, arrgh, arrgh," he panted and glanced ahead.

  "Shit!" His heart raced. The Shuraiken stood a few meters away, sticking into the ground. 'It's coming,' he realized. The crimson light raced across the rooftops toward the sword.

  "Almost there!"

  The light overtook him, but just before it reached Shuraiken... "No, you don't!" Ryūma yelled, stepping one foot outside the circle.

  The light connected and Shuraiken rose into the air.

  Ken's lips parted and he declared, "Infinite Echoes."

  For a millisecond, everything froze. Ryūma hung mid-step, one foot inside the circle, Aghnis halted with his mouth wide open, time itself halted. However, Ken was the only one who moved within the space. He bit hard on the cigarette, as the outer part cut off from the rest.

  The stick fell, but before it struck the ground, it reduced to dust.

  Countless slashes flashed into existence, reproducing and regenerating until they became infinite within the boundary.

  The disintegration process began gradually. Everything within the four-sword boundary—the ground, the Butcher, Aghnis, the buildings, the air, even Ryūma's shoe—was shredded to nothing in an instant.

  The entire area detonated. Matter reduced to dust, and dust to nothing.

  Ryūma landed outside the circle, gasping for breath. "Arrgh, I barely made it," he whispered, staring at the cataclysm. The once-crowded street was now a flat, empty crater.

  "Ah." Ryūma's pupils dilated. 'I could've been a goner there,' he thought.

  ...

  Ken stood in the middle of the scathed land, a lazy expression plastered on his face. His gaze flicked downward and fell on Aghnis's remains, which consisted of only half a head.

  "Wh-what are you?" Aghnis rasped.

  "Me?" Ken replied as the swords dissolved into smoke and the cardinal markings disappeared. He took a step forward and launched his foot, kicking Aghnis's head away. It smashed into a pole. Then he turned and walked away, smoke trailing from his body. "I'm simply a runaway mercenary. I'm simply Ken."

  "Work's done. Let's go home," Ken said, yawning, as his form reduced to a silhouette.