Chapter 18 – Alive
Main Story 1, Chapter 7, Part 3
Novel Title: 獣はかくして囚われる (The Beasts are Ensnared 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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Through Renjou’s molten stare, laced with murderous intent, Kagura felt his mind seared.
Though Toono and Renjou likely hadn’t been briefed on the night’s purpose, the phrase “last supper” would have been enough for them to grasp the situation.
Toono radiated an electrifying aura, as though he might pounce with the knife in his hand at any moment.
The horizontal threads strung across the long table were stretched taut, ready to snap, while the vertical threads drooped in stark contrast, almost mockingly convivial.
“The flaw of capitalism lies in the unequal distribution of fortune. The merit of socialism is the equal distribution of misfortune,” Li Azhar observed.
Kiriyama, holding a glass of wine, responded: “That would be Winston Churchill. Neither pure socialism nor communism has succeeded, and even capitalism is nearing its breaking point.”
“As long as humans remain human, even utopias become mere fodder for massive enterprises, reduced to yet another profit-driven cycle. And, inevitably, we return to familiar structures of conflict,” Li Azhar remarked, tracing a spiral in the air with his finger.
“Conflict, however grim, brings about change and new balance. But when the power gap between conflicting parties is too vast, the energy for change is stifled, leading to stagnation.”
“Stagnation inevitably invites corruption.”
“Indeed. I’ve been pondering the lid that prevents the world from rising further.”
The exchange lacked liveliness, teetering between superficiality and hidden depths. The interplay of vertical and horizontal threads at the table was so disjointed that the room seemed to resonate with discordant notes.
As the course meal was mechanically consumed, Kagura Jinya sharpened his awareness. He needed to ensure that there was no movement from Toono, Renjou, or Zero went unnoticed.
Renjou rested one elbow on the table, glaring at Kagura as he ran his tongue along the edge of a knife.
In that moment, the tension in the room wavered. Zero judged that this was the chance to strike Toono, as Renjou’s attention was fixed on Kagura.
From the corner of his eye, Kagura caught Zero’s right hand moving.
“Ah…” Feigning a clumsy slip, Kagura dropped his fork, using the opportunity to seize Zero’s right wrist under the table.
Zero’s reproachful gaze met Kagura’s determined one.
―――I’ll shoot. I won’t let you fire that gun.
But Zero averted his gaze and shook off Kagura’s grip.
A server swiftly replaced the fallen fork on the table.
“Well, now…”
Still holding the knife, Renjou stood from his chair and moved behind Toono.
“Renjou wants to kill you both.”
He pointed the knife at Zero.
“You tried to kill Renjou in that container.”
Then, turning the blade toward Kagura: “You’re itching to kill Toono.”
Renjou shifted his gaze to Li Azhar, an imploring yet sensual look in his eyes.
“Can Renjou kill them?”
Li Azhar replied in Japanese, “If that’s your wish.”
“Yay! Yay! Yay!”
Renjou’s voice rose with excitement as he leaped onto the table. The candelabra was kicked into the air, striking the chandelier above.
The room’s light flickered wildly, as if aboard a ship in a stormy sea.
Kagura reached for the gun beneath his thigh, stood up, and aimed at Toono. His mind was eerily calm, his aim perfectly steady.
―――I can do it.
Just as he began to squeeze the trigger, his body was flung sideways. The gun slipped from his hand, the bullet veering into the ceiling.
For a moment, Kagura thought Renjou had interfered, but the weight on top of him belonged to Zero.
“No, Jinya,” Zero whispered in a suppressed voice.
Then, Zero rose swiftly and drove his left fist into Renjou’s abdomen mid-leap. At the same time, he raised his right hand, holding a gun, toward Toono.
Seeing this, Kagura acted on instinct and grabbed Zero’s arm.
Renjou laughed uproariously as he charged at them.
Zero momentarily aimed his gun at Renjou but abruptly let it fall to the floor.
Against an unrestrained Renjou, the two worked together to fend him off. Even so, they were forced into defense, with Kagura repeatedly slammed into the table.
Renjou’s anger toward Kagura, who sought to kill Toono, far outweighed his grudge against Zero. He began focusing his attacks on Kagura.
―――If that’s how it is, I’ll draw him in.
Kagura signaled to Zero with his gaze to stay out of it. He then abandoned counterattacks, instead focusing on minimizing the damage as he absorbed Renjou’s blows.
Reading Renjou’s movements, Kagura adjusted his body. When a fist came from the left, he moved right. When an open palm struck his chest, he leaned back in advance.
This left Renjou with little satisfaction from his strikes, forcing him to exert himself even more. Gradually, his movements slowed.
Zero, understanding Kagura’s strategy, timed his move perfectly. He delivered a flying kick from behind, causing Renjou to collapse face-first onto the floor. Zero then pinned him down, tightening an arm around his neck.
Li Azhar, who had been calmly observing from his seat, finally stood.
With measured steps, he approached and picked up the gun Zero had dropped. One bullet remained.
The barrel of the gun pointed at Zero.
Panting on one knee, Kagura instinctively threw himself between Zero and Li Azhar.
Their eyes met, and Kagura felt a jolt in his mind as if sparks had erupted.
Beneath Li Azhar’s gentle demeanor lay something unfathomable. It was this hidden depth that had allowed him to tame the world’s elite and become a true monster.
Li Azhar raised his right hand and pulled the trigger.
The chandelier shattered, plunging the room into darkness. The candles had already been extinguished, leaving only the garish neon colors of the cityscape casting an eerie glow.
With the city’s energy as his backdrop, Li Azhar declared in a calm voice: “Time is up. Thank you for attending this dinner.”
***
“We’ll head straight to the parking lot. Go directly to where you’re supposed to be,” Kiriyama instructed Kagura and Zero as they entered the private elevator.
“Can we… just leave?”
Despite having incurred a 1.6-billion-yen debt to buy Kagura, Kiriyama’s words were unexpected.
Zero furrowed his brows in doubt.
“Why do we need his permission? After all, we didn’t lose the game—not entirely.”
They hadn’t lost their lives, but they had missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. …No, they had been forced to let it slip away.
As Kagura’s body trembled with frustration, Zero grasped his hand tightly. Zero’s fingers were warm.
―――He’s alive… Zero is alive. And so am I.
That realization sank deeply into Kagura, and he squeezed Zero’s hand back just as firmly.
Even though he knew Kiriyama was observing them in the elevator’s mirrored walls, Kagura couldn’t bring himself to let go.
In Li Azhar’s private parking lot, a row of limousines stood waiting.
Kagura and Zero were directed into separate cars, with Kiriyama joining Kagura in his.
Kagura’s body felt as if it were sinking into mud after the intense fight with Renjou, and the burn scars on his back flared with pain.
Yet his mind remained unnaturally sharp, kept in an overstimulated state.
Sitting apart on the long seat, Kiriyama broke the silence.
“You understand now, don’t you?”
“…Understand what?”
Their gazes met from the corners of their eyes.
“You and Zero shouldn’t stay together.”
“…”
“You’re ensnared by him, and he’s ensnared by you. As long as you remain together, you’ll both grow weaker and more restricted.”
If only one of them had been at the dinner that night, could they have succeeded in eliminating Toono from this world?
―――We restrained each other and crushed our potential.
The undeniable truth struck Kagura, and his face twisted in discomfort.
“In a place of darkness, when a single point of light appears, I find myself irresistibly ensnared by it,” Zero had once said.
Perhaps Zero had known from the beginning that this attraction would bind them in chains.
―――I… didn’t know.
At the very least, Kagura hadn’t expected to be so deeply captivated by Zero.
Kiriyama’s voice remained calm as he spoke.
“Teaming up with me was the right choice. I won’t be ensnared by you, and you won’t be ensnared by me.”
It was true—there was no risk of being drawn to Kiriyama in the same way Kagura was to Zero.
The car came to a stop. They had arrived in front of Kagura’s hotel.
The driver opened the door.
“To accomplish difficult things, what you need is madness and cold precision,” Kiriyama said as Kagura stepped out of the car. The words weighed heavily on his back.
***
It was past 1 a.m. when Kagura rang the bell to his hotel room, but the door opened immediately.
Sanae’s face turned bright red as he wordlessly clung to Kagura, his glasses fogging up as tears and snot streaked his face. Kagura held his distraught colleague and guided him inside.
He sat Sanae on the bed and placed a tissue box on his lap. Sanae blew his nose, removed his glasses, and wiped his face. But fresh tears spilled out faster than he could clear them away.
Kagura sat on the opposite bed, facing him.
“I-I should’ve done anything to stop you from going, Kagura-san,” Sanae choked out.
“If I never saw you again, I would’ve regretted it for the rest of my life…”
Sanae trailed off, his expression changing drastically. He slid from the bed, dropping to his knees on the floor, and gripped Kagura’s slacks tightly with both hands.
“You’re not going anywhere again, right? You’re coming back to Japan with me today, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I’ll return as planned.”
Tears streamed from Sanae’s eyes once more.
Kagura felt guilty for dragging Sanae into his plans and pushing him to the brink.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’d better be.”
“Thanks.”
Kagura rested his hand on Sanae’s soft hair, but Sanae looked up at him with a resentful glare.
“Don’t think you can brush this off. You owe me big time, and I’ll make sure you pay me back properly.”
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*Translator’s Note: Why is Li Azhar so keen on protecting Renjou? It’s been bothering me. -K
Next update: 2025.12.04
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