Chapter 131: Ryujin Kazama Reveals The Truth About Label’s Father Death

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Riven nodded, and both of them took a step forward before disappearing from sight. They reappeared right in front of the specter that was desperately stitching himself back together.

Seeing how badly the creature wanted to keep itself alive, Riven realized there had to be some important secret within this being that Ryujin did not want to disclose.

That secret could very well be that the specter was unable to regenerate after true death the same way his Shadow Self could. And... it might also be a core part of Ryujin’s own powers, or perhaps a powerful familiar bound to him!

What was more, when Riven had burned the creature earlier with his blue fire, he could clearly tell that the real Ryujin was screaming in pain through the connection. The blue flames were capable of targeting the man’s soul directly.

"I-I have to... get out of here! To reunite with the main body— I cannot die— AAAHHH!"

But the specter screamed in pure horror as the two of them reached him at the same time, grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, and smashed his head hard into the floor.

CRASH!

"You’re not going anywhere," Riven said coldly.

Noir flashed through the surrounding shadows and appeared directly in front of the bound spirit. He roared as more living shadows erupted from every direction, tightly binding the specter so it could not escape.

"Y-You bastards...! Even if you destroy me, my master will learn everything! He’s already prepared. He already has an army of true Yokai waiting here! Not just humans using the serum, but actual Yokai! You’re all fucking cooked!" the specter laughed wildly, revealing that it was not the real Ryujin but rather a copy that carried only a portion of his memories and mind.

"Really? That’ll make things easier then," Riven replied without concern. "More importantly... Label."

"...?" The specter glared at Label with its glowing red eyes. "You’re...?!"

"So you’re not really him after all? Or... no, I can feel it!" she said, her voice rising with anger. "You’re watching everything right now, aren’t you?! Ryujin Kazama!!!"

"..."

Beyond the eyes of the red-colored, skeleton-like spiritual specter avatar, there was indeed someone watching every moment of the battle.

He sat comfortably inside his great fortress, calmly drinking sake and eating fine food while surrounded by beautiful geisha. Dozens of monstrous Yokai knelt respectfully before him.

"Indeed."

A stronger and far more powerful voice suddenly echoed from the specter’s mouth as the real Ryujin decided to speak through his avatar.

"!!!"

The moment Label and Riven realized it was truly him, Label clenched her teeth so hard they nearly cracked. "You killed my father...! Why?! For a debt?! Why would you kill him only for that?!"

"..."

He remained silent for a long moment.

"Ah, I was having a hard time remembering you properly. You’re the little lassie we kept outside, aren’t you?" the real Ryujin spoke with a much more relaxed and almost casual voice. "Label... something. Oh yeah, that doctor’s daughter. You see, he knew something he should never have learned. And... the higher-ups wanted him dead before he could spread it any further."

"?!" Label gasped, her entire body freezing.

The world around her seemed to twist for a second. Everything fell completely silent.

"...What?"

As she forced out that single question, Ryujin sneered with a malicious smile.

"It wasn’t because he owed us money. That was just a convenient cover, really," the old man shrugged. "If anything, everyone is always in debt to me. That’s how I force them to do whatever I want! Gahahahahah!"

"..."

She fell silent once more before she dared to ask again, her voice trembling.

"W-Why?" Label demanded. "W-What did he find out?! Tell me!!!"

Ryujin continued laughing for a while, deciding to elaborate only because he found the girl’s bravery and guts rather admirable for coming all the way here... just to die.

"Your father was researching a cure for cancer after he failed to heal your mother," he explained. "Right? It was something like that... yeah."

"?!"

"The higher-ups — Claymore, Frostbane, and the rest — they disliked that research very much. They burned his papers and destroyed the samples he offered them so he could get their investment and backing. Then they kicked him out completely."

"...What?"

"They called him a fraud and claimed it was impossible for any potion to cure cancer! Gahahahah! But in the end..."

Silence once again took over the area. Label’s heart was beating faster and faster as she listened with complete attention.

"It worked."

Riven’s eyes widened in shock as Label slowly fell to her knees.

A cure for cancer.

Her father... had actually succeeded.

"It didn’t just cure cancer. It also cured any degenerative illnesses like Alzheimer’s. Hell, it even slowed down aging to a crawl, though you needed to keep drinking it continuously," Ryujin continued with clear amusement. "It was a true Miraculous Elixir!"

"T-Then..." she shook her head in disbelief. "W-Wh... Why would they... do that?! Wouldn’t it be better if something like that was spread everywhere for everyone to use?!"

Riven slowly shook his head. He already knew exactly why the powerful families had decided to kick Doctor Heisenberg out and pretend that what he offered never worked.

It was simply too dangerous for their positions of power and for their hold over the population.

"A miraculous elixir like that would make the entire population stronger. It could cure almost anybody. The big pharmaceutical companies and other major enterprises all opposed it fiercely," Ryujin explained. "Among them were Claymore Enterprises and Frostbane Holdings!"

"...Tsk!" Riven clicked his tongue in pure frustration as he heard those familiar names.

A cure for cancer and every other degenerative illness, along with the ability to slow aging itself.

A revolutionary medicine that could have helped all of humanity grow stronger.

Something that could have saved millions of lives.

"We were ordered to kill him after that and cover everything up. We made certain you never learned the truth about what he created, and we lied to you the entire time," Ryujin continued without a hint of remorse. "And that’s about it. Yeah. We were also told that you had a unique class, one that could grow endlessly. So we had to keep you from getting any funny ideas. Or well... we would have simply killed you instead. We were actually quite merciful with you, girl. A lot worse could have happened to you."

"..."

Label remained completely silent, the weight of the truth crushing down on her.

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