Dictator

21. Dragon Head Conflict

No other days in Yokohama underground society produced as many casualties as those 88 days did. Many organizations were involved in that bloodbath.

Six years ago.

"So this is the place?" Scattered glass shards crackled under the man's feet as he stepped into the jeweler's. Not a single showcase left unravaged. Even the display lights have been stolen. "I know they wanted me to search for the culprit, but to find the place in such a disastrous state..." What's more, this wasn't just any jewelry store. It also doubled as a depository for the Gerhardt Security Services, also known as the GSS, which was a powerful criminal organization. Any assets gained from its various underworld dealings were stored here as an attempt to hide the money's seedy origins.

Until tonight.

"Now... Who would do this, and how did they manage to attack a place protected by such a fearsome group?" The man — Oda Sakunosuke — muttered to himself as he carefully observed his surroundings, holding a hand to his chin.

"And who do we have here...?" A mysterious voice suddenly called. "Oh? A robber late to the scene, perhaps? You're not going to find a single coin here."

Now on high alert, Oda fixed his stance and glared at the mysterious young man in white. "Who are you? And why are you here?"

The man's expression was very still, half-lidded eyes and a wry smile. He looked a little too bored out of his mind. He was a tall man with extremely pale skin and vacant red eyes. He had waist-length, snow-white hair that was wavy to the point of almost unruly. Small segments of his hair were tied into braids on the side of his head with a tubular black hair accessory. His bangs were the neatest part of his hair, split in the middle, with the right side curving with a larger portion of his bangs. His attire consisted of a white, low-cut shirt with loose sleeves over a black turtleneck. On top, he wore an unfastened cape that can be secured by a gold button. The turtleneck's sleeves secured around his middle fingers. Below, he wore trousers and what appeared to be dress shoes. He also wore black nail polish. He spoke slowly, and with an unsettling tone. "Pretty bold demands for such a lax thief. Something wrong with investigating the scene of the crime?"

"The police, huh...?" Oda replied, "I'm just an orderly sent to survey the damage. Do you know anything about what happened?"

The white-haired man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "No, I'm done for the day. Feel free to look around all you like. We're understaffed though, so you'll have to excuse the bodies."

Oda's raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Bodies...?"

"Yeah, try not to puke when you see them."

"What the...?" As the mysterious man finished his sentence, Oda frantically turned around to get a better look inside the store, although it was dark, when he finally saw it, his eyes widened in horror. Hoards of corpses were scattered across the tiles with their blood pooling underneath them. They were all murdered in the most brutal way possible. It was a gut-wrenching scene to behold. "What's going on here... How does someone pull off a massacre like this? The one up against the wall is an infamous killer from the next town over. The body splattered along the aisle over there belongs to an accomplished mercenary, active during war. And the man plastered against the ceiling was the leader of a particularly violent group within GSS. I recognize others... Everyone here had powerful supernatural abilities perfect for combat. They were probably hired as security for this shop, and killed by the thief. But who would be strong enough to take down such strong supernatural Ability users?"