Chapter 785 - 785 - The Storm Breaks

The moment the security guards rushed Kazuma, the shadow beneath his feet twisted violently. Gengar released its Elite Four-tier pressure without warning, sending an invisible shock through the banquet hall that hurled the approaching guards and their Pokémon backward.

Three flashes of light followed immediately.

Gyarados emerged first, its massive body taking up a large section of the hall. Swampert landed beside it, while Magnezone hovered overhead with electricity flickering between its magnets. The three Pokémon quickly formed around Kazuma, boxing him safely into the center.

The sudden display froze the entire room. Guests who had been celebrating only seconds earlier stared at the three Pokémon in horror, and those closest to Gengar's pressure fared even worse. Several guards had already lost consciousness, while some guests collapsed where they stood, a few even wetting themselves from fear.

Kazuma hadn't even opened the three Poké Balls himself. Gengar had done it from his shadow while he stood there staring blankly at the blood on his hands.

He had just killed the man he hated.

Ten years of anger had ended with a few thrusts of a knife, and now that it was over, Kazuma seemed unable to process how quickly it had happened.

Gyarados, Swampert, and Magnezone had no intention of waiting for him to recover. Gyarados raised its head and blasted a stream of fire into the ceiling, shattering one of the crystal chandeliers and scattering sparks across the hall. Swampert drove a fist into the floor hard enough to crack the tiles and throw tables and dishes from their places, while Magnezone discharged electricity through the room and knocked out the lights.

That finally broke the guests out of their stupor.

Poké Balls appeared everywhere as people released their Pokémon and shouted hurried instructions. Some fled toward the main entrance, where the crowd immediately jammed together, while others smashed windows and climbed through them rather than wait for the doorway to clear.

Within moments, the elegant birthday party had dissolved into complete chaos.

The guards closest to Kazuma were already unconscious, so the remaining security staff abandoned any attempt to capture him and surrounded their employer's parents and young son instead. Their client was already dying. Protecting the rest of the family had become the priority.

Kazuma finally snapped out of his daze when he saw them heading for the rear exit.

"Gyarados, don't let them escape! Hyper Beam!"

Gyarados flicked its tail irritably and ignored him.

A hand emerged from Kazuma's shadow and pinched the end of its tail.

Gyarados jerked in pain, glared down at Gengar, then reluctantly opened its mouth. A brilliant sphere of energy swelled between its jaws before erupting toward the fleeing group.

"Hyper Beam!" the security captain shouted. "Get them out of here. I'll hold it back!"

He released three Pokémon of his own and ordered them into formation. All three used Protect together, their barriers overlapping just as Hyper Beam struck.

The collision flooded the darkened hall with white light.

The combined barrier held, but the impact tore apart what remained of the ceiling and shattered windows throughout the banquet hall. The villa itself was sturdy enough to remain standing despite the damage.

The security captain was only barely at quasi-Elite Four tier, but he had three Pokémon at roughly that level. Gyarados was also only quasi-Elite Four tier, so even a powerful Hyper Beam could be stopped when several opponents combined their strength against it.

Kazuma immediately pointed toward the other two Pokémon.

"Swampert, Magnezone, help Gyarados!"

The captain's expression tightened. Keeping three quasi-Elite Four-tier Pokémon occupied already demanded everything he had, leaving him no spare Pokémon to stop Kazuma himself.

Kazuma broke into a run.

He crossed the ruined hall toward the rear exit, weaving around overturned tables, broken glass, and scattered dishes. Smoke and the smell of scorched material hung in the air as he pushed through the wreckage.

By the time he reached the backyard, the fleeing family had already reached four waiting cars.

Kazuma looked down at his shadow.

"Gengar, sir, please. Stop them for me."

The word "sir" immediately earned him a grin.

Gengar slipped through the ground as a black shadow and spread toward the four vehicles. It reached the drivers one after another, tugging lightly at their trouser legs until they looked down.

The moment they did, Gengar used Hypnosis.

Their eyes went unfocused as they started the engines. Two cars carrying security personnel drove away from the villa, while the other two rolled slowly toward Kazuma instead.

Something suddenly dropped into Kazuma's hand.

A Poké Ball.

He recognized it immediately as one of his own. Gengar must have recovered it and slipped it to him during the confusion.

Kazuma pressed the button and released Sharpedo.

Two vehicles now sat in front of him. One carried his ex-wife's husband's parents and the seven-year-old boy whose birthday they had been celebrating. The other held members of his ex-wife's family, including the father-in-law who had once helped force her away from him.

Kazuma stared at the first vehicle and forced himself to speak.

"Sharpedo. Crunch them."

Sharpedo launched itself forward on a powerful burst of water. Dark energy gathered around its jaws as it closed on the car and bit down with Crunch.

One of the men inside managed only a frightened shout before Sharpedo's jaws tore through the vehicle. Metal folded beneath the attack, and the car was crushed along with everyone still trapped inside.

The occupants of the second vehicle stared in stunned silence. A child inside began screaming, while Kazuma's former father-in-law went pale and promptly lost consciousness.

Kazuma made no move against them.

Gengar took that as its cue to release the second driver from Hypnosis. The man came to, saw the wreckage in front of him, and immediately slammed his foot on the accelerator. The car shot away from the mansion before Kazuma could change his mind.

"Gengar, go recall Gyarados and the others. We're leaving."

Reiji had appeared behind Kazuma without him noticing.

He glanced across the destroyed vehicle and the bloodied remains around it, and even he found the scene difficult to look at for long. Kazuma had certainly gotten his revenge, although he had taken it far beyond simply killing the man responsible.

Gengar gave a short cry before disappearing back toward the banquet hall to retrieve Gyarados, Swampert, and Magnezone.

With the danger finally over and the rush of adrenaline fading, Kazuma's legs gave out beneath him. He dropped among the scattered metal and debris, his body suddenly too exhausted to support him.

"Reiji... I..."

Kazuma's lips moved, but nothing else came out. He hadn't eaten since the previous day, had been beaten badly at the gate, and had just killed one man with his own hands before ordering Sharpedo to kill the man's family.

Now that his head was clearing, doubt began creeping in.

Had he gone too far?

Reiji pulled out two cigarettes, lit both, and tossed one down to him.

"Stop calling me 'sir.' From now on, call me Boss. And quit thinking yourself in circles. You did fine."

Kazuma caught the cigarette without answering.

"I took a look around the villa while you were busy," Reiji continued. "Didn't find much worth stealing, but I did find something more interesting. This family was doing business with the Black Ship. They were one of its distributors."

Kazuma's expression changed immediately.

The Black Ship was no small connection, and Reiji knew exactly which branch operated around Trovitopolis. It was the same network tied to Riku's brother and his people.

That discovery also gave Reiji a convenient answer for whatever guilt Kazuma was feeling. The family had already buried itself in serious criminal dealings, and sooner or later the League would have come after them anyway.

Kazuma drew on the cigarette and gave a weak, humorless laugh.

He knew Reiji was trying to make him feel better, but that wasn't what bothered him most. The man he had killed meant nothing to him now.

The seven-year-old boy was different.

He was his ex-wife's son.

Kazuma had no idea how he was supposed to look her in the eye after killing him.

Reiji followed his gaze toward the wreckage.

"There's one good thing, I guess. That bastard slept around constantly and apparently has plenty of other kids. His family line isn't ending here."

Kazuma said nothing.

"The bad news is that the League isn't going to ignore this. They'll paint you as a murderer who wiped out a family and put out the highest-priority warrant they can. From here on, you're probably living under another name and staying out of sight."

"I understand."

Kazuma lowered his head, still far more concerned about facing his ex-wife than whatever the League might do to him.

By the time he had recovered enough strength to stand, Gengar returned. Three Poké Balls floated out of Reiji's shadow and stopped in front of him.

Reiji caught them and checked the Pokémon inside. Gyarados, Swampert, and Magnezone were all fine, so he returned the balls to his belt and started toward a black car parked nearby.

"Can you drive?"

"Yeah."

Kazuma picked up Sharpedo's Poké Ball and hurried after him.

"Boss, Sharpedo's Poké Ball..."

"It's yours. Keep it."

Reiji had no interest in taking it. Sharpedo's potential wasn't even enough to reach Elite Four tier, which was hardly unusual for a Trainer like Kazuma who had spent most of his life without money or powerful backing.

Kazuma quietly put the Poké Ball away and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Where to?"

"Back to the front gate. Pick up your daughter and the others, then we'll find some no-questions-asked place in the city and sleep. Everything else can wait until tomorrow."

The engine started, and the car pulled away from the ruined mansion.

Toxicroak, Uncle, Pelipper, Yuzuki, and Kazuma's ex-wife were waiting near the front gate, hidden behind the rockwork and shrubs beside the entrance.

When the car approached, they cautiously stepped out.

Kazuma's ex-wife still looked shaken. Her expensive party dress was wrinkled and stained with dirt, her hair had come loose, and the fear from the backyard had yet to leave her face.

Yuzuki rested in her arms, watching the unfamiliar car with nervous anticipation.

Reiji recalled Golbat and Toxicroak as soon as everyone was clear.

Uncle immediately looked toward the driver's seat. Seeing Kazuma alive and conscious eased some of the tension from his face, although whatever he wanted to say could wait.

Yuzuki had no such restraint.

"Dad!"

Her entire face lit up as she ran toward the car.

Kazuma's ex-wife remained where she was, tears slipping down her cheeks as she watched him. Her hands tightened around the fabric of her dress, but she didn't say anything.

Nobody needed to be told that this wasn't the place for a reunion.

They climbed into the back seats as quickly as possible. Kazuma looked at his family through the rearview mirror, took a long breath, and swallowed everything he wanted to say.

The car headed toward Trovitopolis.

Before they had gone far, the roar of a motorcycle approached from the opposite direction, followed by several police cars with their sirens running and lights flashing.

Officer Jenny led the convoy toward the mansion.

None of them gave the black car a second glance.

"Keep going," Reiji said.

He watched the police disappear behind them and looked toward the brightly lit center of Trovitopolis ahead. Skyscrapers and neon signs made the city look prosperous from a distance, which only made everything hidden beneath that surface seem more ridiculous.

The people responsible for the massacre weren't fleeing into the wilderness.

They were driving straight into the city in a stolen car.

Sometimes the best hiding place really was right under everyone's nose.

Kazuma drove into the older part of Trovitopolis, where they found a shabby motel that didn't ask for identification. The rooms were dim, the walls were peeling, and nobody behind the counter seemed interested in who they were.

The moment they were inside, Kazuma, Yuzuki, and his ex-wife clung to one another and refused to let go for a long time.

Afterward, everyone followed Reiji's instructions. They showered thoroughly, scrubbed away the smell of blood and anything else that could tie them to the villa, burned the clothes they had been wearing, then used alcohol to remove lingering odors from the room.

Around midnight, Reiji moved them again.

They left the motel carefully and checked into a legitimate hotel under their real identities. Anyone who couldn't safely walk through the lobby entered through a window instead, while Reiji bought enough food for everyone.

Only then did the tension finally begin to ease.

Several of them had barely eaten in two days, and exhaustion had caught up with all of them. After a late meal, they collapsed into bed with no energy left for anything else.

By then, the investigation at the mansion was already well underway.

A Squirtle firefighting team had finally extinguished the blaze inside the villa, leaving black smoke drifting above the property while Officer Jenny and the other investigators worked through the wreckage.

The investigation continued until morning.

By dawn, officers had gathered back inside what remained of the banquet hall, surrounded by overturned furniture, broken glass, food, dried blood, and scorch marks.

One officer approached Officer Jenny with a thick report.

"We've confirmed the victims from witness statements and the scene. The body found in the banquet hall belongs to the owner of the mansion. We also dismantled the wreckage near the rear entrance and recovered four bodies."

Officer Jenny continued reading while he spoke.

"One was the driver. Two were the owner's parents. The fourth was his seven-year-old son. Yesterday was the boy's birthday."

He paused before continuing.

"One security guard also died after being caught in the fighting. Everyone else on the security team survived and has been taken to the hospital, including the seriously injured. Most of the guests only suffered minor injuries during the panic and stampede."

"So the killer knew exactly who he was after," Officer Jenny said. "Revenge, or robbery?"

"Our initial conclusion is revenge. The victim and the killer were involved with the same woman."

The officer handed her another section of the report.

"We've identified the suspect as Kazuma, thirty-eight years old. His parents died in the line of duty when he was young, and he grew up in an orphanage. He was an excellent student, received financial support from a wealthy sponsor, and earned admission to Celadon University."

He hesitated.

"Someone else took his admission slot."

Officer Jenny looked up sharply.

"His parents died in the line of duty, and this is how their son was treated?"

"That happened twenty years ago," the officer said awkwardly. "Most of the people in charge back then are probably retired by now."

"I don't care. Send it up to the League. Review the last twenty years."

She stopped herself.

"No. Forty."

The young officer wisely said nothing.

Another investigator hurried down from the upper floor carrying several notebooks.

"Officer Jenny, we found something else."

He handed one of them over.

"These were inside a safe. They look like account ledgers, and everything happened so suddenly that nobody had time to destroy them."

Officer Jenny opened the first book.

Her expression changed almost immediately.

The ledgers contained years of transactions involving contraband and other illegal goods. There were enough records to trace the operation back more than twenty years, including dealings conducted by the dead man's parents.

"This isn't the only one," the officer said. "There are plenty more upstairs."

The investigators exchanged tired looks.

The murder case had just become much larger.

"Unbelievable," Officer Jenny muttered as she turned another page. "They almost deserved what happened to them."

One of the officers coughed.

"Officer Jenny. Maybe don't say that out loud."

She glared at him, then returned to the ledgers.

He wasn't wrong.

No matter how serious the family's crimes were, the League's laws didn't permit someone to slaughter them in revenge. At worst, the responsible adults would have faced life imprisonment and the seizure of their illegal assets.

The seven-year-old child wouldn't have been punished at all.

Officer Jenny closed the ledger.

"We have enough on the murder. Issue a warrant for Kazuma and freeze the mansion owner's assets. I also want the assets of his mother's family and the collateral branches frozen pending investigation."

She pointed toward the stack of books.

"Anyone named in these ledgers, family or individual, gets brought in for questioning. Nobody gets advance warning."

The officers straightened.

"And request reinforcements. This is too big for one station."

The ledgers implicated several major families in Trovitopolis and countless smaller ones. Under normal circumstances, obtaining legal access to their private records would have been almost impossible.

Now the evidence was sitting in front of them.

The League had been looking for a reason to move against criminal interests throughout the Orange Archipelago, and this gave them one. Starting with Mandarin Island South, the largest island in the region, would send a very clear message.

"Understood!"

The officers hurried away to carry out her orders.

Officer Jenny remained behind in the ruined banquet hall and looked up at the blackened ceiling.

The reports contained one more piece that had caught her attention. The dead man already had a documented history of domestic violence, and officers had found a photograph upstairs showing the woman who lived here together with Kazuma.

Nobody knew where she had gone.

Officer Jenny decided she wasn't particularly interested in finding out.

Perhaps disappearing from this place was the best thing that could have happened to her.

As far as the murder itself was concerned, there was little left to investigate. The suspect had been identified, the motive was obvious, witnesses were everywhere, and the villa was covered in blood, fingerprints, and other evidence.

From an investigative standpoint, the case was already solved.

Kazuma simply hadn't been caught yet.

[End of chapter]

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