MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin
Chapter 370 CH 355: HANEKAWA

[Thursday — 5th December 2030 — 00:30 am]

Stepping along a long stairway, in the wee hours of the night, a green-haired woman was walking with her hands tucked in the pockets of her pristine white lab coat.

The hall seemed to go on without end and for every few steps she took, the air seemed to change drastically— as if the air itself was changing to that of another world, different from the normal world that people were aware of.

It didn't take long for her to know that they had finally entered the bounded field that was protecting the house or rather— the field that was protecting the exterior world from the things that roamed in this house.

"Allow us to accompany you."

Out of nowhere, surrounding her from all sides, four men appeared and started to walk in a square formation, making sure to keep her always in the center of their formation.

They were wearing red and white traditional priest clothes and had their faces covered with what looked like a giant yellow talisman with the word 'Forbidden' written on top of it in Kanji characters.

She knew that they were the death–sworn of the Hanekawa family, a group of crazy fanatics who worshiped the members of this family and saw them as the emissaries of the gods on earth.

The fact that they technically weren't wrong irked Medusa to no end.

"I forgot how uncomfortable this place could make me. This is why I don't like coming to Los Angeles."

Not all places in America had clear order and powerful families where humans really thrived.

In fact, one could say that in the vast majority of states, humans were not as proactive and the earthly supernatural creatures thrived instead. The best example was Las Vegas where werewolves were the leaders of the city or a place like Florida where absolute anarchy reigned and even the high and lofty Directors refused to be stationed.

"So. How does it feel like to work for that family of crazy bastards?"

The four continued to ignore her and walked while perfectly synching with her steps and keeping her always in the center of their square formation.

"Your four-yang barrier can't really stop me, don't you know? To block my Yin energy you would need many, many more of you guys and even then it wouldn't be enough."

To her provocation, one of the men answered in an impassive tone,

"We do not need to stop you. We simply need to slow you down and make you lose even 1% of your strength. That is all we need to do and that is the sole purpose of our existence— weakening the enemy. Our sacrifice will help the Miko fight you should you pause a danger."

"Tsk… Fucking crazy bastards."

She clicked her tongue and lost all interest in further discussion with the group of maniacs. Fanatic bastards like them were the most irksome to deal with as there was absolutely no limit to what they were willing to do and how far they were willing to go.

Though they knew that they stood no chance against her, they would slit their own throat with a smile if it was necessary for them to even block her for a fraction of a second.

'In the end, this is no different from a cult.'

She closed her eyes to calm herself down and continued walking with measured steps.

Medusa loved heroes.

Some heroes were extremely selfish while some were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

But at their core, all heroes moved to satisfy their own desire while being free from coercion.

—The people here were definitely not heroes.

Just a bunch of sheep that were used and could be discarded at any moment by a family that did not care for them for a single bit. They were serving a cause that had no depth whatsoever.

"How unpleasant."

Being here was suffocating and made her wish to simply take off her glasses and transform everyone into stone right here and now.

But she had a clear goal in coming here.

Ding~!

At the corner of her eyes, she could see a message icon,

'Huh?'

With a thought, she opened the incoming message, and her expression which initially looked as though she had eaten something that had rotted for way too long, lifted up immediately.

[Sender: Adam

I finally have enough money to buy a pack of smoke. Still far from paying my debt to you though.]

She had to fight herself to keep her lips from stretching further. This message couldn't have arrived at a better time as it allowed her to uplift her mood.

Both she and Adam knew that the debt was made more in jest than anything else.

While some people may still care about money, Medusa could be said to have truly reached the level where money was just a string of numbers for her.

Any random invention from her could garner hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars like it was nothing.

Be it the leaders of America, Asia, the African Union, or even the lofty Russia, there was basically no power who wouldn't bleed raw just for her to owe them a single favor.

Her personal power may be limited but her influence was nearly unmatched in the world.

"Miss Piaget, we have arrived."

The smile that had been forming on her face immediately vanished as she was pulled out of her pleasant reverie. The four personnel immediately kneeled with their foreheads completely placed against the ground in a fanatical bow.

She looked ahead of her and grimaced in distaste but still advanced nonetheless. It was a beautiful garden with a patio that was constructed in the very middle of a small artificial river.

The river was seemingly made out of pure and clean water that was nearly transparent and allowed to see the black and white Koi fishes swimming peacefully along the gentle stream.

The sound of a hollow bamboo cane hitting a rock, repeating at constant intervals, added to the overall atmosphere of the place.

But what truly completed the picture was the woman sitting on the patio.

Saying that she was beautiful was the understatement of the century and in fact, would simply be an insult to the grace she was emanating from her body at nearly all times.

She was simply… bewitching.

Extremely so. To a degree that was so otherworldly that it was basically undefinable in words alone.

Sitting on the patio, clad in a loosely tied red kimono, a body with explosive curves that fully accentuated her mature charms, and a small pipe in her mouth showing a trail of smoke leaking out of it at a gentle pace.

Her long blond hair danced with the wind and she had a small mischievous smile planted on her ravishing face.

No matter how one looked at her, she was not someone of this world. She gave the impression that all her surroundings were in fact a beautiful painting and she was the most beautiful ever drawn.

Gazing at her, Medusa smirked before starting to recite a poem in Japanese,

"In scarlet silk, a geisha glides,

A crimson phoenix, her spirit rides,

In the elegance of a red kimono,

She weaves her tale, a dance in flow.

Her painted lips, a cherry hue,

With grace, she charms, her gaze so true,

In geisha's art, a world apart,

A masterpiece, a living work of art.

A Geisha of grace, an enchanting spell,

A masterful art, her secrets she'll tell,

With every fan flutter, and delicate hand,

A symphony of beauty, she'll command.

With every step, a tale unfolds,

A Geisha's Story, the night beholds,

In crimson silk, her essence bright,

A woman's soul, a guiding light…"

It was truly a beautiful poem at first, full of grace and savor. But the more the poem continued the more strained the expression on the woman facing her became.

Truly, sometimes words were far worse than knives.

———

(AN: First time doing something like writing a poem. The one with Jabberwock doesn't count since I didn't write. I wonder what you guys think? It won't be something that happens regularly. But it can be training before the Japan Visit arc. Welp.)