Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his face to look at Ikishima Midari.
Her face was splattered with blood; this was the blood that sprayed from Hagen's hand when the revolver backfired earlier.
She was holding a window-breaking hammer, staring blankly at Ayanokoji.
After Ayanokoji pushed her, she instinctively started running, then quickly realized she couldn't just run away and should find a way to help Ayanokoji.
So, she quickly ran to the minivan and found a window-breaking hammer from inside the car to use as a weapon.
However, by the time she returned with the weapon to help, she found that the battle was already over.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was punching the big guy again and again, while Hagen was powerless to resist, too weak to move, allowing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to tie him up with ropes.
What exactly happened...?
Did the flames severely burn Hagen, turning him into a paper tiger that would crumble at a touch?
Or did Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly unleash his inner cosmos and break through his limits?
Everything happened too fast, from the revolver backfiring to Hagen burning and becoming a fire-person, then Ayanokoji pulling her and running, and then her returning with a weapon—all in less than a few minutes.
And Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed to have known this would happen, showing no surprise, making every decision with great resolve.
More than all of this, she was concerned about Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's injuries.
"Kiyotaka, are you hurt? You have so much blood on you…"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's hands and clothes were covered in red liquid, and Ikishima Midari subconsciously thought Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was severely injured.
Ayanokoji looked down and was immediately speechless.
The red liquid stained half his body, making him look as if he were severely wounded.
But in reality, most of it was red wine, with only a small amount of blood, and that blood was Hagen's.
"I'm not hurt; this is all Hagen's blood.
If you don't believe me, check it." Ayanokoji smiled and spread his hands.
"This big guy has been subdued by you?"
"Yes, he became useless after being burned by the fire; he only looks intimidating but has no combat power at all."
"I…"
Hagen seemed to want to speak, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka directly kicked him in the chest, and the oppressive feeling made him instantly gasp for air.
He was already enduring the pain of his entire body being scorched, and now, unable to catch his breath, he directly fainted from the pain.
Seeing that Hagen was truly incapacitated, Ikishima Midari finally dropped the window-breaking hammer and came to Ayanokoji's side, skeptically touching him to confirm he wasn't actually injured before breathing a sigh of relief.
"...Ayanokoji, what exactly happened just now?" Ikishima Midari couldn't help but ask.
She still had some doubts now, wondering if what had just happened was an illusion.
"It's just as you saw.
His revolver must have been old and poorly maintained, and when he fired it, the bullet backfired.
He also happened to have a lighter on him, so he just kept burning and was directly half-crippled by the fire…"
To conceal the "alcohol" he had taken out, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka added a lighter to Hagen's gear when explaining, making it seem like a reasonable item for a killer who handles aftermath.
As a killer who handles other people's affairs, it's reasonable to carry a lighter, right?
Under the intense fire, even if Hagen did carry a lighter, its parts would have long since been burned to ashes, and no one would be able to find evidence that Ayanokoji was lying.
As for Hagen, who would believe his version of events?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not forget to remind Ikishima Midari at this time: "Shishimou, now you know, real guns are very dangerous.
You must never play with guns casually again.
If a gun backfires, Hagen is your lesson…"
Ikishima Midari suddenly interrupted Ayanokoji: "Ayanokoji, did you know beforehand that this gun would backfire?"
"How would I know? I never thought something like this would happen…" Ayanokoji thought Ikishima Midari was doubting him and quickly distanced himself.
"You don't know either, do you…"
Ikishima Midari muttered to herself, then suddenly reached out and slapped Ayanokoji!
Ayanokoji's buffs hadn't worn off yet, so his reaction speed was fast.
He instinctively took a step back, dodging the sudden attack from Ikishima Midari.
"Hey… why are you hitting me?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't understand why Ikishima Midari suddenly wanted to hit him: "Did I do something to make you angry?"
"...You don't know why I'm angry?"
Ikishima Midari grabbed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's collar, her eyes instantly reddening, and angrily shouted, "Since you didn't know this gun would backfire, why did you gamble your life with him?! Did you think you were lucky and winning the gamble would be enough?! Don't you know that people like him would never keep their word, and even if you won, he would still shoot you?!"
Ayanokoji was stunned for a moment.
Ikishima Midari had always been different from ordinary girls; she liked knives and guns, sought thrilling things, and had a free-spirited yet fanatically extreme personality, with a love outlook different from the norm.
When interacting with her, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had never regarded her as an ordinary girl; many times, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka even forgot her feminine side.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka only realized at this moment that she was also just a sixteen-year-old girl, and being kidnapped and held at gunpoint was her first time experiencing such things.
Perhaps she wasn't as calm as she claimed when facing death; she was also very nervous and afraid of leaving this world.
Now that she was safe, her emotions burst out in that instant.
"I know, but that was the only way I could think of at the time.
If I hadn't suggested gambling, he would definitely have killed both of us.
He promised me that at least one of us could leave."
Ayanokoji hadn't yet realized the point of Ikishima Midari's anger, thinking she was just scared because it was her first time experiencing something like this.
He stroked her head and comforted her with a smile: "Alright, don't be scared, don't be scared, isn't the outcome good? Now both of us are fine…"
"That's not what I mean…!" Ikishima Midari originally wanted to explain, but after thinking about it, she chose not to use words but rather actions to express her feelings.
She opened her arms, hugged Ayanokoji, then stood on her tiptoes, voluntarily offered a fragrant kiss, and bit his lips.
This was both to express her intense emotions and to find an outlet to relieve her inner panic.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface at this moment; after all, this was his first time experiencing such a life-and-death situation.
He also returned Ikishima Midari's kiss, and the two intertwined for a long time, not separating.
After a long while, Ikishima Midari lowered her tiptoes, as if expressing her reluctance, and squatted in front of Ayanokoji, unzipping his pants, preparing to go further...
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