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Chapter 65: The Heart of Reflection
🕑 Added 2025-07-06 14:56:21 +0000 UTCSeeing the prize of his trip appear in his enemy's hand, Russell’s focus sharpened. Yoriichi Tsugikuni stepped forward, his blade held ready to protect his master. In truth, the Iron-level Yoriichi was no longer an adequate primary defender, but with Zoro’s identity needing to be concealed, he was the best available solution.
On the field, the battle erupted. Kaneki faced off against the lesser, Iron-level demons, while Luffy squared off against the two bronze-level threats: Silas and his son, Emil.
As Kaneki's writhing, centipede-like kagune surged forward, the members of the Sorrow Clan drew their swords to meet the charge. The scene was a chaotic, ironic tableau. A casual observer, judging by appearances alone, might think they were witnessing an evil, monstrous creature attacking the home of righteous, sword-wielding heroes. Unfortunately for the Sorrow Clan, the opposite was true. At least from Russell's human perspective, it was the exact opposite. As for whether the demons before him were truly good or evil, that had nothing to do with him.
As the writhing tentacles rushed toward them, Emil could no longer hold back. A silver sword light flashed, cleanly severing one of the kagune tails. "Is that all you have?" Emil's disdainful voice rang out. He had expected the cardmaker's creatures to be terrifying, but this one seemed surprisingly vulnerable.
However, Kaneki's RC cells were no longer fueled by cannibalism, but by a direct line to Russell's own vast mental power. And after long, hard meditation, Russell's current reserves were a world apart from when he had first created the card. In the space of a single breath, the severed tentacle had completely regenerated.
Across the field, Silas and his son couldn't help but frown. I don't feel a great deal of threat from this white-haired demon, Silas thought, but his regenerative ability is tricky.
Just as their attention was diverted, several fists with blurring afterimages were already upon them. It was Luffy. He would never let such a golden opportunity slip away.
BOOM!
Silas and Emil crossed their swords just in time, barely blocking Luffy's powerful punch. The sheer force was so great that their feet carved long trenches in the dirt, the impact nearly jarring the swords from their hands.
"Don't get distracted when you're in a fight," Luffy said calmly, his right hand holding his straw hat in place.
Feeling the terrifying pressure coming from the boy in the straw hat, Silas's eyes turned cold. "Emil! We need to end this quickly! Get rid of this one first!"
Even as a thousand thoughts turned in their minds, in reality, only a moment had passed. The next instant, a bright, silver-white sword light suddenly lit up the battlefield, whistling through the air toward Luffy.
But it was useless.
Under the astonished gazes of Silas and Emil, Luffy rotated his legs like a propeller, launching himself into the air like a spinning top and easily avoiding their coordinated attack.
"Gum-Gum… Jet Whip!"
In mid-air, his body turned a faint, steaming red as he entered Gear Second. His right leg extended like a long whip, kicking toward Silas's head with unparalleled force.
BOOM!
Silas was sent flying like a rag doll. He crashed heavily to the ground some twenty feet away and did not move again.
"FATHER!" Emil's eyes turned bloodshot, his face contorting with rage and grief. He couldn't believe his beloved father had been killed in a single exchange.
They are indeed very weak, Russell thought, a wave of relief washing over him. The tension in his shoulders loosened. These two bronze-level demons were pitifully weak compared to Moore, who had endured three hits from Gear Third before finally dying.
Emil roared with impotent fury, his red eyes tearing away from his fallen father to lock onto Russell. Sure enough, Russell noted, even demons understand the principle of capturing the leader first.
Just as he was about to summon the [Mark 3] armor to protect himself, Luffy had already anticipated Emil's intentions.
"Gum-Gum… Jet Bullet!"
Luffy instantly flashed in front of Russell, shielding him. His right fist drew an exaggerated arc through the air before slamming into the charging Emil.
BOOM!
A cloud of scattered smoke and dust obscured Russell's vision. It was not until it gradually dissipated that he could see Emil's miserable state. He was sprawled on the ground, spitting up blood, barely clinging to life.
"Livestock…" he rasped, his voice choked with hatred. "If it weren't for the death of the Sword Sovereign at the hands of the Four Great Fiends, how could we ever allow ourselves to be kept in captivity by you… you human livestock!?"
"In that one…"
But before he could finish his words, Emil's body suddenly and inexplicably exploded into a shower of blood and gore, a gruesome firework painting the ground red.
Russell was baffled by the sudden change. What was that demon saying? What Sword Sovereign? What Four Great Fiends? And "that one"...? He was full of questions. He quickly realized that Emil had revealed some very important information, but it was information he had absolutely no context for.
Burying his doubts deep in his heart, he was about to check on Kaneki's battle when a more urgent realization struck him. Emil's body had been obliterated by some unknown force, which meant he had lost the chance to condense a material! Although he didn't know what quality it would have been, it was at least a bronze-level material. That was money!
Thinking of this, Russell's face darkened. "Destroying a man's payday is a crime beyond measure," he muttered angrily. "I don't know who did that, but you and I are now irreconcilable enemies!"
Kaneki's battle, on the side, had also ended. This was why it was called a welfare realm; the monsters were indeed pitifully weak. However, remembering the Association's regulations, Russell had deliberately instructed Kaneki to leave six demons alive—three male and three female, perfectly in line with the principle of sustainable development.
Seeing their last leader explode into a mist of blood, the six remaining members of the Sorrow Clan couldn't help but tremble. Finally, their instinct for survival overwhelmed whatever inexplicable force had been compelling them to attack. They all dropped to their knees.
"Sir, we really can't tell you!" one of them pleaded, his voice cracking with terror. "If we tell you, we'll end up just like him!" They began to kowtow, their foreheads hitting the dirt in frantic repetition.
But Russell had no intention of asking further questions. He knew that curiosity killed the cat. With his current strength, the more he knew about these high-level secrets, the faster he would likely die. In his opinion, what Emil had said was obviously related to the very reason this secret realm had appeared in the first place. He didn't believe for a second that the Association hadn't obtained this type of information before. They were just keeping it under wraps.
Without responding to the begging demons, he collected the materials from the scene.
Bronze-level [Sword Seeker] (Purple), Bronze-level [Heart of Reflection] (Gold), Iron-level [Sword-Wielding Attendant] (Blue) x5.
These were the materials he had obtained. Excluding the [Heart of Reflection], which was his main goal, the remaining materials could be sold for eighty to ninety thousand credits. It's a pity Emil couldn't keep his mouth shut, Russell thought with a twinge of regret. His self-destruction just cost me a piece of valuable material.
"But," he thought, turning his attention to the large mansion behind the kneeling demons, "I'm sure they have some good things in their home."
Asking Kaneki to stay and watch over the survivors, Russell took Luffy and the others and walked into the Sorrow Clan's mansion.
