Chapter 34 – The Match
Chapter 12, Part 6
Novel Title: 獣はかくしてまぐわう (The Beasts Copulate This Way)
Author：風結子 沙野 (Fuyuko Sano)
Illustrator：小山田 あみ (Oyamada Ami)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 鹿倉 陣也 (Kagura Jinya -MC) & ゼロ (Zero -ML)
*Please read at freenovels.net, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Though Kagura couldn’t make out the words, their meaning came through loud and clear. He sank from kneeling to sitting, his voice softening.
“…I see. You were scared.”
It was just like that girl.
Grateful to those who saved him, yet terrified of being harmed, Ao had no choice but to obey Toono.
Ao’s tongue had been cut, his legs broken. His parents, too, were likely murdered under the guise of suicide. Perhaps they had even sold him to the Eastern Alliance themselves.
For a child to endure such despair and fear without succumbing to control was an impossible demand. The primal human instinct to protect oneself from further harm was undeniable.
Toono had deliberately allowed Enwu to rescue Ao, grooming him as a mole.
How thankful—and how tormented—Ao must have felt, being given a place in Enwu. He must have been overwhelmed countless times by the urge to tell the truth but could never overcome his fear of Toono.
As Ao sobbed, his body wracked with convulsions, Kagura inched closer despite his bound limbs. Unable to place a hand on Ao’s shoulder, he pressed his knee gently against Aou’s.
“It must’ve been so hard for you.” He spoke softly.
Ao, his face crumpling like a child’s, pressed his forehead against Kagura’s shoulder.
Kagura accepted this gesture, his expression hardening.
―――If Enwu had kept Ao, they might’ve continued using him to gather intel. Instead, they had taken him away. That likely meant Toono had deemed Ao expendable and now intended to dispose of him for good.
Toono had said he’d feed Kagura to Renjou.
Being placed in the same container likely meant that Ao, too, would be tortured to death in the same way.
It was around the time when Ao’s sobs had begun to subside.
The container door was opened. Renjou entered, wearing a down coat draped over his shoulder without putting his arms through the sleeves. His body leaned to the left, probably due to a gunshot wound to his right side, still visible through the restraint bag. The injury had likely been treated, but in his condition, he should have been resting.
“What’s the point of you two—discarded things—getting all buddy-buddy with each other?”
Looking at Renjou’s face, Kagura was reminded that he had once been a beautiful man. It was the result of a one-track obsession that had transformed his expression into the harsh and fierce one that he now wore.
“How much more will you make Toshimi Hasumi suffer before you’re satisfied?”
Kagura growled the words, and Renjou tilted his head slightly in response.
“How much? There’s no limit to suffering when it comes to pain, you know?”
“…Ah, so you and Toono have no sense of conscience, do you?”
Kagura spat the words out, and Renjou shuddered, as if overcome by a chill.
“Conscience? What use is that?”
Renjou advanced toward Kagura, stomping his boots on the container floor with a heavy thud before grabbing Kagura’s bangs, yanking him back to force his face upward.
“Will conscience protect Renjou?”
Renjou’s beautiful yet terrifying face loomed closer.
“Renjou didn’t have a conscience, so Renjou has to suffer endlessly? If Renjou had one, would Renjou have avoided horrible things done to Renjou? If Renjou had a conscience, would Renjou’s parents have never abandoned Renjou, leaving Renjou nameless? Is it Renjou’s fault that Renjou doesn’t have a conscience?”
After rapidly firing off his questions like a machine gun, Renjou looked at Kagura with cold, detached eyes.
Then, as if shifting gears, Renjou’s tone softened, and he asked slowly with sweet, syrupy words.
“Since you have a conscience, can you protect Renjou from that demon, then?”
“…”
Kagura’s head froze, as though a knife had been pressed to his neck, and his thoughts turned numb with cold.
Renjou released Kagura’s hair and pulled a folding knife from his coat pocket. With a swift motion, he extended the blade.
His long, narrow eyes twisted into a grin.
With his wrists and ankles bound, Kagura couldn’t even attempt to escape the blade. Cold sweat dripped from the back of his neck down his spine.
When Kagura tried to kick Renjou off, Renjou kicked his leg in return, knocking him onto his stomach. As Renjou sat on the back of his thighs, Kagura desperately struggled. Then, unexpectedly, his legs were freed. Shortly after, his hands were released too.
Renjou forced the knife handle into Kagura’s right hand.
“If he dies, it’s game over. But either way, Renjou will win.”
As Kagura sprang to his feet, Renjou leapt backward in response.
From the view through the door, it seemed the container was located in a warehouse. Furthermore, outside the container, there were men who appeared to be members of the Eastern Alliance.
With no choice but to stay inside the narrow container and focus on defence, Kagura shouted toward Ao behind him.
“Get as far back as you can!”
Kagura gripped the knife tightly.
Renjou threw his down coat outside, likely to give himself more freedom to fight. Underneath, he wore a rubber suit similar to what was used in underground arenas.
“The match begins.”
Renjou lowered his body as if preparing to gather strength, then leapt into action. As Renjou darted toward Ao, Kagura lunged at him. Renjou grabbed Kagura’s arm and twisted it. Trying to avoid having his arm broken, Kagura instinctively rolled his body onto the floor, only for Renjou’s boot to slam into his stomach.
The pain was so intense that nausea rose in his throat, but Kagura gritted his teeth and twisted Renjou’s leg.
Normally, Renjou would have easily dodged Kagura’s attack, but it seemed the injury had weakened him. Renjou collapsed, his temple slamming into the side of the container wall.
Immediately, a loud, explosive laugh erupted from his mouth.
The aggression in Renjou intensified. He grabbed Kagura’s head with both hands and slammed the back of his skull into the floor repeatedly with brutal force. The impact felt as if his brain was being crushed. Through the haze of pain, Kagura plunged the knife into Renjou’s hand.
Renjou’s laughter grew even more manic.
Despite the laughter, there was something almost like a death cry hidden within it.
While still straddling Kagura, Renjou licked the back of his left hand like a beast. The corners of his mouth stained red with blood.
It was a horrifyingly beautiful scene.
“Why didn’t you stab Renjou in the neck? You hurt Renjou’s lizard the other day. Is it because you don’t have the resolve to kill?”
If asked whether he had the resolve to kill, Kagura would say he didn’t, at least not when it came to Renjou.
Unless a hatred so explosive that it shatters the balance of good and evil within him existed, he couldn’t carry out such an act.
Kagura muttered in a hoarse voice.
“If I could kill someone… it would only be… Toono.”
Renjou’s eyes widened, his entire body shaking with anger.
“Huh? You want to kill Toono?”
A punch landed squarely on his cheek, causing his vision to blur. The knife was thrown deep into the container.
“Anyone who tries to kill Toono… Renjou will kill them. Renjou’ll kill and kill and kill them.”
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*Translator’s Note: Renjou would have been more interesting if it’s not Toono he’s obsessed with. I mean, I don’t see why people become so fanatical about Toono. He looks like a normal thug to me. What’s so special about him? -K
*GLOSSARY:
- I used ‘that demon’. Renjou actually used ‘Kijou’ which means a female demon in Japanese folklore.
Next update: 2025.11.13
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