Battle Of Gods

Chapter 25 : Behind The Evil Mask

Falcon's body laid lifeless in Leonard's arms, his blood soaking through the ground beneath him. The weight of the moment was crushing, grief seeping into the bones of every man standing. Leonard, his hands trembling, stared down at Falcon's still face, feeling the weight of loss and failure. The battle around him faded for a moment as he tried to process what had just happened.

The Professor, who had just regained consciousness, stirred and groggily raised his head, only to see Falcon lying motionless. His heart sank, realizing that the mighty S-class hero had fallen.

Kenji, however, couldn't bear the sight of his friend's death. Falcon's sacrifice, his last stand to protect them, was a wound that cut deeper than any blade. His heart burned with fury, and his vision blurred with rage. He looked at the Ashes boss, standing tall with his sword, seemingly untouched by the loss they all felt. Something inside Kenji snapped.

"You'll pay for this!" Kenji roared, his voice filled with anguish and fury. He tightened his grip on his twin katanas, his knuckles white, and charged at the boss with terrifying speed.

The boss, with his massive sword, prepared for the incoming assault, but even with his future-seeing abilities, he wasn't prepared for the pure, unfiltered rage driving Kenji. His movements were like lightning, each swing faster than the last. His twin blades slashed through the air, creating a blur of steel. The sound of metal clashing echoed through the air as Kenji's relentless assault began.

"Falcon was like a brother to me!"

Kenji shouted as his swords clashed with the boss's massive blade, the sheer force sending shockwaves through the ground. "You have no idea what you've taken from me!"

The boss, while able to predict Kenji's moves with his future vision, struggled to keep up with the sheer speed and ferocity of the attack. Kenji was relentless, his anger propelling him faster and faster. With every swing, he seemed to move quicker, his strikes becoming more difficult to block. The boss's sword began to crack under the pressure of Kenji's repeated blows.

"You think you can just kill people and walk away?!"

Kenji bellowed, his voice raw with emotion. "I'll make sure you never hurt anyone again!"

With a mighty swing of his right katana, Kenji sliced through the boss's sword, shattering it in two. The Ashes boss stumbled backward, momentarily stunned by the sudden destruction of his weapon. But Kenji didn't stop there. He followed through with his left sword, aiming straight for the boss's stomach, ready to end him right then and there.

The Ashes boss, sensing the deadly attack, used his future vision to anticipate Kenji's strike. He saw the blow coming and tried to glide back to save his torso, but Kenji's rage had pushed him to a level of speed that even the boss's foresight couldn't fully counter. Kenji's left sword was already coming at him, too fast to fully avoid.

At the same time, Kenji swung his right sword toward the boss's neck, a clean strike aimed to end it all. The Ashes boss bent his neck backward, trying to save himself, but he was just a fraction too slow.

Kenji's blade slashed through the boss's mask, tearing it apart.

The broken pieces of the wolf mask fell to the ground, and for the first time, the Ashes boss's face was revealed. Kenji froze, his swords trembling in his hands. His eyes widened in shock, disbelief flooding through his body as he took in the sight before him.

Leonard, still holding Falcon's body, looked up from the ground, his mouth falling open. Even the Professor, bloodied and bruised, could only stare in stunned silence.

The face behind the mask was none other than 'Carson Ingram', the vice president of Bellostria.

For a moment, no one moved. The realization hit them all at once, like a tidal wave crashing down on their already weakened spirits.

Kenji's swords fell to his sides, his breath caught in his throat. "It can't be..." he muttered, disbelief coloring his words. 

"How...?"

Leonard and the Professor shared the same stunned expression, unable to comprehend how one of the highest-ranking officials in their country was the leader of the criminal organization that had terrorized them for so long.

Carson Ingram's face was calm, though blood trickled from a cut across his cheek where Kenji's blade had grazed him. He stared at them all, eyes filled with a cold, unrelenting fury, but also something else — a sense of control, as if even now, even after being unmasked, he was still the one pulling the strings.

Kenji stood frozen, his mind reeling with confusion and disbelief.

"How... how did you manage this?" 

Kenji asked, his voice barely above a whisper, struggling to comprehend how Carson had pulled off such a massive deception.  "How did no one ever catch you?"

Carson chuckled, his eyes gleaming with sinister amusement. "You want to know my story? Fine. Let me tell you, because I will kill you today anyways" he said, his voice dripping with arrogance. He paced slowly, deliberately, savoring every moment of his twisted tale.

"I was never the good guy everyone thinks I am. I always wanted to rule over the world. I wished for world domination. But I could never turn my dreams into reality. But 9 years ago everything changed,"

He began,

"The Ashes organization was thriving, led by a man whose vision aligned with mine. But then, a group of GHA heroes got too close to discovering our operations. They tracked down the original boss of Ashes, and for a brief moment, it seemed like they might expose everything. But that's when I intervened."

Kenji's heart pounded in his chest as he listened, hanging on Carson's every word.

"I was a rising star in the political world at the time," Carson continued, his tone darkening. "No one suspected me. I was clean, or so they thought. But that day, I made my move. I personally led the charge and killed every single one of those GHA heroes. Their blood was the key to my rise. With them out of the way, I took out the original Ashes boss myself. He never saw it coming."

Kenji's eyes widened in shock. Carson had not only betrayed and killed GHA heroes but had also murdered  Ashes' original leader to take control.

"The remaining members of Ashes were too weak to resist,"

Carson said with a smug grin.

"They had no choice but to follow me. I was the new leader, the new king in the shadows. And for the past 9 years, I've run this organization without a single soul suspecting a thing."

Kenji felt sick to his stomach. This man had manipulated an entire country, an entire system, and no one had ever caught on.

Carson's laugh echoed through the air, dark and full of malice. 

"Am I not the smartest man in the world? See how I've made a fool out of everyone in this country. In just a few more years, I'll become the president of Bellostria. And then, I'll disband the GHA and rule over the entire planet."

The evil glow in Carson's eyes sent a chill down Kenji's spine.

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To Be Continued...!!!