Even within Centipede—a shadowy organisation already halfway into the world of the extraordinary—the truth about that world wasn't common knowledge. One had to be at least mid-ranking to have any real understanding.
At that moment, the squad leader needed his men to grasp how grave the situation was. The fastest way to do that? Compare their target to a super soldier. After all, most of them had already seen a super soldier's combat prowess.
Sure enough, the moment he made the comparison, their alertness spiked.
But in the face of overwhelming strength, how much difference does alertness really make?
"Schlick—"
A sharp slicing sound echoed. One soldier suddenly clutched his neck, eyes bulging wide!
He couldn't scream. In that fleeting instant, his throat had been slashed cleanly. Even with his hands pressed to the wound, he couldn't stop the torrent of blood gushing out.
— "How is this possible? There wasn't even a sound!" the leader cried out, scanning the area.
Ray was nowhere to be seen.
He was like a ghost—silent, deadly, vanishing at will.
Before the leader could even recover, another noise came from the opposite side. He turned to see yet another of his men drop, throat slit just like the first.
Again, no one had seen anything. No footsteps, no shadow, no hint of a presence.
Had they not seen Ray earlier, they might have assumed this was some kind of supernatural curse.
But they knew better.
This wasn't some ghost story—Ray was here, systematically hunting them down. They were nothing but pawns in a morbid game of assassination.
And Ray? Ray was the only player.
— "You bastard, come out and face me!!" the squad leader roared, his voice raw with desperation.
He no longer cared about keeping quiet. At this point, they were all going to die anyway. Maybe, just maybe, drawing attention could buy them a sliver of hope.
Suddenly—
A voice whispered right in his ear. A voice he knew—Ray's.
But more terrifying than the voice itself was its proximity. He was right behind him.
— "Bringing everyone here only forces me to end this sooner. I wanted to play with you a little longer... but oh well."
The leader spun around—but saw no one.
Ray's voice came again, disembodied and calm:
— "Ladle!!"
One second later, the leader and the six remaining men all collapsed where they stood.
Not just them—two nearby trees were also felled in an instant. Even the surrounding walls bore the fresh scars of blades.
This was Kuro's ultimate technique—"The Ladle."
A sweeping, indiscriminate attack unleashed in perfect synchrony with his signature move: Silent Step.
This "Silent Step" rivalled the naval "Soru" technique in speed but outclassed it in stealth. Ideal for assassination.
That's why the group hadn't heard a thing. Ray was simply too fast.
If their eyes couldn't track him, and their ears couldn't hear him, then to them—
Ray didn't exist at all.
— "Still can't control who it hits… that's annoying," muttered Ray—no, Kuro—pressing his hand to his forehead, as if annoyed by a migraine.
— "Hm? Someone's coming."
In a flash, he vanished from sight.
Moments later, David arrived, still in his blue-and-white striped hospital pyjamas. He stumbled upon the aftermath.
— "Oh? Some more bodies?"
He briskly approached the corpses of the C-team, crouching beside them to examine the scene. His eyes scanned the surroundings, processing the scene.
— "Two with slit throats. The others hacked apart… No signs of retaliation. That means it happened instantly. No normal person could pull this off…"
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
— "Interesting… Is there another mutant in this hospital?"
But after a few seconds, he shook his head and let out a breath.
— "Doesn't matter. Has nothing to do with me. Best not to get involved—don't want to put the primary identity at risk."
And with that, he wandered off in another direction, as if taking a stroll.
But then, he abruptly turned his head to glance up at the second floor.
Nothing.
— "An illusion?" he frowned, then shook his head again and continued walking.
What he didn't know was that, on the far side of that second floor, Ray—now back in his primary personality, having deactivated Kuro's gear—was watching him from the shadows.
— "That's definitely not David... but it's not the Shadow King either. Could it be another alter?"
Using Kuro's vision just before withdrawing, Ray had observed the odd version of David and made a quick judgement.
He couldn't tell which alter it was, but one thing was certain: it wasn't the Shadow King.
Had it been, Ray would've been discovered instantly.
Kuro's speed might be fast—but not fast enough to escape the gaze of a level 4 mutant.
In truth, his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He hadn't planned on checking in, but when he sensed someone approaching quickly, he'd used Kuro to take a peek—only to find David.
Noticing something off about him, Ray had felt a flicker of concern.
If David were currently under the Shadow King's control, then hiding would've been useless.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Whoever had taken the wheel inside David didn't seem to notice him at all.
— "Sounds like he ran into some of the other intruders. Must've triggered another alter from the shock..."
Ray quickly pieced together a rough theory.
But it had nothing to do with him. He'd merely been curious, nothing more.
— "Let's see how long it takes for Fury to pick up the signal..." he murmured, deciding to head back to his room.
No need to get caught on scene.
He wasn't about to let this incident tie back to him.
In his culture, one didn't flaunt their strengths.
And for now, Kuro remained his greatest hidden card.
He had no intention of showing that hand too early.