Chapter 653: Thoughts on the [Dark] Organization
It was night.
The moonlight outside the window was swallowed by thick clouds, leaving only a few scattered, pale glimmers of light piercing through the glass.
They fell upon the notebook lying on the tabletop. Kazumi’s fingertips gently caressed the edges of the paper, which were slightly curled from repeated flipping.
The girl sat at the small table by the bed, frowning as she wrote and drew, seemingly stuck in her thoughts.
Kazumi loosened her grip on her right hand, put down the pen, and propped her arms under her chin, lost in thought.
The final battle with Kurokawa Iori hadn’t happened. Just as Kazumi had said at the time, given the size of the composite dragon beast she had summoned, Kurokawa Iori’s flesh-and-blood space ability definitely wouldn’t be able to contain it if they had truly fought.
If a fight had caused any commotion within the academy, in the heart of Kyoto, both of them would have faced more than ten Professional Heroes, including the current top-ranked heroes in the Heroes Association, Kyoto’s guardian hero, the [Great Sage] Kirishima Yujin, and…
The number one hero, [Thundery] Hamano Tsukasa, who still possessed terrifying combat power even when seated.
Leaving aside the immediate danger, the more important consequence would be the exposure of their identities. This was something neither Kurokawa Iori, who had meticulously planned and successfully infiltrated the officer academy, nor Kazumi, who was enjoying this outwardly peaceful life, were willing to see.
Thus, this test ended with Kurokawa Iori’s satisfied nod. After all, he had simply wanted to test Kazumi’s abilities. From their previous exchange, he had already understood some aspects. And later, the terrifyingly powerful giant monster the girl summoned, with its sheer size alone, was enough to prove it possessed combat power on par with an executive.
Kazumi, on her part, didn’t take this so-called test too seriously. The combat power she displayed barely reached half of her true strength. She hadn’t unleashed the Death Corps led by Morian or Lise’s spider army, let alone her trump cards like [Ghost Gate] or pulling people into her domain for a righteous group assault. The abilities she showed in front of Kurokawa Iori were merely Little Black, [Ghost Gate], and the newly acquired composite dragon beast.
This led Kazumi into deep thought. Was it possible that the information she received from Kurokawa Iori tonight was simply too overwhelming?
“As expected, an organization full of madmen like the [Dark] Organization? It seems even the leader who founded the organization has gone insane…”
Kazumi wasn’t entirely surprised by Kurokawa Iori’s description of the [Dark] Organization’s leader, Kuromon’s, decision. Before the [White Bone] mission, she had already heard Kurokawa Iori say some things about this leader. But it was understandable. Even the so-called “righteous” Professional Heroes in the Heroes Association had to undergo professional psychological counseling and training courses to overcome the influence of their abilities on their personalities.
Kazumi never believed that the members of the [Dark] Organization, who possessed more extreme dark abilities, could be law-abiding good citizens.
However, through her brief interactions with the leader, Kuromon, Kazumi had a relatively normal impression of the outwardly normal and imposing uncle. It was understandable for someone with the power to create the [Dark] Organization as its leader to have occasional emotional fluctuations.
What Kazumi hadn’t expected was that this leader, Kuromon, who appeared so normal, could descend into such madness.
After all, in all the time Kazumi had been with the organization, her superior, [Beam], and the executive [Spike], with whom she had interacted before, had both received favors from the leader, Kuromon, and were completely loyal members. Others, like Masashi Sakuraba, were simply drawn in by the organization’s scale and sought to gain more benefits for themselves.
Under such circumstances, Kurokawa Iori and Andre, both members of the leader’s faction, had begun to have dissenting thoughts about his orders. This clearly indicated how outrageous the target chosen by the [Dark] Organization’s leader this time was.
Kurokawa Iori had briefly explained the cause and effect of the incident to Kazumi. From the girl’s perspective, the matter was indeed a bit absurd, but in a way, it was also the kind of decision these hidden lunatics would make.
“However, I didn’t expect that Hamano Tsukasa’s injured retirement was also their doing. Although it sounds like leader Kuromon also suffered considerable injuries, to achieve this level of success is quite impressive.”
Recalling Kurokawa Iori’s previous description, Kazumi couldn’t help but offer a few words of admiration.
After the battle with [White Bone], Kazumi had completely understood the unparalleled power of the number one hero who ushered in an era of peace. Even [White Bone], who had put her in a tough fight, was merely a discarded fragment from the opponent’s peak, who could have crushed them with a casual sweep of his foot, and he didn’t even get to use his ultimate move. Instead, bits of it were used on herself.
The powerful individuals encountered in battles within organizations like [White Bone] had almost all been defeated and sealed by the peak strength of Hamano Tsukasa. It could be said that the now flourishing [Dark] Organization had been driven underground by this man.
It was no wonder Kurokawa Iori had been so excited when he spoke of how they had managed to injure and retire Hamano Tsukasa through their calculations.
Who wouldn’t have a surge of adrenaline in such a situation? After finally finding a way to retire their invincible opponent, the organization went underground to resist him. If they could just lie low for a while longer, waiting for Hamano Tsukasa to age out of his fighting prime, the organization could naturally emerge. Given the current state of the Heroes Association, even a slight resistance wouldn’t be impossible.
Originally, everything was proceeding according to Kurokawa Iori’s plan.
But now, their leader had somehow gone off the rails, rescuing a few stray dogs that the original Hamano Tsukasa could have easily kicked to death, and then feeling the urge to declare that they could only die by his hand, wanting to use a new round of total war to prove he could defeat the opponent.
“Damn it, who is the villain here? Such a righteous thought process seems a bit out of character!”
Thinking this, Kazumi could somewhat understand Kurokawa Iori’s thoughts. The girl now felt difficulty comprehending it herself. If she had such a superior, her negative emotions wouldn’t be much better than Kurokawa Iori’s.
“Sigh, but this should also be considered his charisma, right? If he were truly a sinister person, he wouldn’t have been able to rally such a large organization and have so many powerful individuals willingly serve him.”
Kazumi shook her head helplessly, sighed, and picked up the water-based pen beside her, heavily writing the words “Leader Kuromon” on a blank page of her notebook.
