Not a detective

Page 122

Asakawa Riku sneered, his eyes narrowing as he locked onto the direction from which the harpoon had just been thrown.

He believed he had found the mastermind hidden among the crowd. The other party finally lost patience and tried to assassinate him in the chaos, but failed.

So he tried to push through the crowd and rush over to grab the guy.

But as soon as I started to sprint, I felt something was wrong.

It was like he had run into a wall.

Asakawa Riku's proud violence had no effect. Two angry villagers approached from both sides, grabbed his hands, and he immediately lost his balance and fell forward.

With his hands restrained, he was pushed forward and fell hard to the ground, landing face-first in the mud, looking extremely disheveled.

What happened?!

But Asakawa Riku did not lose his fighting spirit due to his momentary loss of composure. Instead, he unexpectedly swung his tail like a scorpion, flipped himself up from the ground, twisted his waist, and pinned the two men down.

With terrifying force, his muscles tore through his clothes, slamming the two classmates to the ground and cracking the earth's surface, returning their humiliation to their former glory.

Asakawa Riku began to sense that something was wrong.

Although he gained the upper hand in that instant, the two villagers under his command did not faint immediately after the violent blow, but continued to struggle.

Even the force of his resistance and twisting made Asakawa Riku feel strained, forcing him to exert all his strength to suppress it.

If a normal person were attacked like that, their jawbone would at least be shattered; it would be impossible for them to withstand the attack and still be able to move.

Could it be that... there's more than one mastermind behind this, and more than just the one who threw the harpoon?

But he had no time to think carefully before the harpoon was thrown again, landing right in front of Asakawa Riku, kicking up a cloud of dust and embedding itself halfway into the ground.

Asakawa Riku had no choice but to release the hostages and retreat. The moment he left, the two villagers who had been pinned down actually stood up again.

You can see that they do have serious injuries on their chins, but they seem completely oblivious to the pain, still shouting angrily as they charge forward.

"Could it be that……"

Asakawa Riku had a bad feeling.

He saw all the villagers around him with red eyes, their footsteps pounding the floor with deafening roars and immense power.

The harpoon, which resembled a cannonball, was thrown from different people, indicating that each of them possessed this level of offensive power.

—In Red Stingray Village, every brainwashed villager has become a terrifying enemy!

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Sixteen - Siege

Asakawa Riku swept across the battlefield like a storm.

Using his speed advantage, he kept circling behind the villagers, knocking them unconscious with precise and powerful jabs, rendering them unable to fight.

But things didn't go as smoothly as I'd imagined.

The fanatical villagers, who felt no pain and possessed immense strength, were like zombies from a horror movie. They were not easy to defeat and instead caused him considerable suffering.

If they were ordinary zombies, it would be easier to deal with them, but Asakawa Riku estimated that these villagers' current fighting power was roughly equivalent to "half of a Nekomata".

They are just not as fast, but their damage is no less. In particular, they can even fight in groups. Some of them come up to suppress Asakawa Riku with their bare hands, while others throw harpoons and spears from a distance. When they come up in large numbers, it will cause a qualitative change. Every time Asakawa Riku subdues one, he is forced to face a continuous stream of monsters that are replenished, which is very troublesome.

Ten minutes later, he had only managed to take down a dozen or so fanatical villagers, and his body was covered in wounds and bruises.

That's not the worst part; his current self-healing ability can cure it. But the most fatal thing is the intense physical exertion. He's not sure how long he can maintain this high intensity.

"Huh...huh..."

Asakawa Riku was breathing heavily, his hair was soaked with sweat and blood, blurring his vision.

Moreover, he didn't know when it was over, or whether he should get rid of all the fanatical villagers.

Asakawa Riku even attempted a "decapitation strike," where he bypassed the crowd and took down the village chief, Kato Mio, and several elders on the platform. However, this operation was ineffective, as the village chief and elders were not priests who buffed them. Even if they were eliminated, it would be of no use, as the villagers still possessed terrifying power.

They aren't as terrifying as Shuten-dōji, but there are many of them. As long as Asakawa Riku is constantly worn down, he won't be able to escape unscathed.

What exactly is going on? Are his classmates all hidden superhumans with flesh-based abilities?

That's impossible. Could brainwashing really give someone a powerful boost? And the condition that triggers all of this is that bizarre "Crimson Stingray Festival" ritual?

Asakawa Riku thought this explanation was more reasonable.

He observed the frenzied villagers, their eyes reddening, muttering incomprehensible chants as if from a recent ritual, displaying manic aggression and a bloodlust.

Asakawa Riku, in particular, is like an "outsider" who has stumbled into the night of the Yharnam hunt, and truly becomes the target of everyone's ire.

...But that's way too exaggerated.

As Asakawa Riku forcefully kicked away the fanatical villagers who were getting close to him, he thought to himself.

With such a terrifying zombie team, nearly two hundred people, it feels like they could take over Tokyo. Even the Ministry of Inspection might not be able to handle it.

It is estimated that only by using machine guns to sweep around and fire, or by launching incendiary bombs or missiles, could they be eliminated.

Can brainwashing really achieve this level of superpower?

Or is it the monster's side? These villagers are in a state of being "possessed," just like the baby who was possessed by the cat demon and also possessed terrifying destructive power.

Asakawa Riku couldn't tell the difference. If he had known this would happen, he should have forced Chizuko-senpai to come along too; she might have been able to understand.

"Wake up!"

He roared, slammed the heads of two classmates together, and then threw them aside.

His efforts seemed too pale and powerless, completely ineffective, unable to awaken these corrupted villagers who only wanted to kill Asakawa Riku.

Asakawa Rikuya had no choice but to fight desperately, trying to carve out a bloody path for himself.

His experience told him that if he continued fighting, he would not be able to defeat all 180-plus fanatical villagers; he would eventually become exhausted.

The most reasonable course of action is to retreat first. Regardless of whether this crazy "Crimson Stingray Festival" will gradually subside over time, he also needs some time to rest.

Even though the island is surrounded by the sea and there is nowhere to escape, once they get into the jungle, Asakawa Riku is confident that he can fight a guerrilla war and be invincible.

However, the current situation did not give him the opportunity to realize his strategy.

When the ceremony began, he was unfortunately located in the center of the village, intending to observe the ceremony up close, but unexpectedly he caused his own death.

At this moment, Asakawa Riku was firmly surrounded by all the villagers, making it impossible for him to break through or escape.

This is not a metaphor. When he is at full strength, he can jump with both legs to achieve a gliding jump height and distance, but if he jumps rashly at this time, he will definitely become a sitting duck.

Unable to dodge in mid-air, he would be pierced by countless harpoons and spears in an instant, which was not an escape route.

Almost exhausted, Asakawa Riku simply grabbed the foot of a fanatical villager and used his entire body as a weapon to swing it around, sweeping down a group of enemies.

But he knew that this was only the last gasp of his strength.

He usually foresaw the prophet during battle, and at this moment, he had already foreseen his own end.

I should accept it, but I'm still not resigned to it.

As a martial artist, dying in battle was a realization that Asakawa Riku had long been prepared for.

He didn't want to die of old age and exhaustion in his hospital bed. He wanted to burn himself out while he was still able to move, fighting to the last moment against respectable and equally matched opponents. That was true romance.

But it's definitely not the kind of place where you fight to the last moment with your former classmates, those brainwashed classmates, on such a bizarre desert island. That would be too tragic.

He died with resentment before he could even find out who was behind it all. His intense resentment drove him to continue the hopeless battle.

"Continue...continue...!"

He had lost consciousness and was only relying on his body and memory to instinctively defeat one fanatical villager after another.

He had forgotten how many classmates he had defeated, but he could only feel that the attacks from the outside world were still continuing, with more and more enemies constantly joining in.

As if it were endless, on the edge of time and life, he fell into an inescapable hell, forced to repeat the act of fighting.

What exactly is the Red Stingray Festival...?

Who is the mastermind behind all this...?

How do you break free from brainwashing...?

How can we escape from this island...!

How can we save everyone...!

Each roar transformed into a punch thrown outwards. Asakawa Riku's mind was filled with anger and resentment. If only there could be a next time, if only he could start over!

He will definitely solve all the problems and save everyone...!

Finally, at a certain moment, his physical strength could no longer support the completely liberated posture, and he experienced a moment of confusion and sluggishness.

"Evil outsider! You scourge to the gods! You've killed so many of our people, die!!"

Seizing that moment, a harpoon pierced his body from behind, tearing his chest open.

Intense pain and blood splattered all over the ground. Before Asakawa Riku could utter a sound, he lost consciousness.

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Seventeen - Reincarnation

Asakawa Riku opened his eyes.

He was clearly stunned for a moment, not knowing what state he was in.

Is it the underworld, the netherworld, heaven, or hell?

It is said that the Valkyries would bring the spirits of brave warriors to Valhalla after their deaths. In the Valhalla Palace, a grand feast was held to reward the fallen warriors. The feast included delicious wild boar meat and fragrant mead. When the warriors had eaten and drunk their fill, they would rise up and fight each other, continuously practicing their fighting skills in preparation for the final battle in Ragnarok.

If that is the afterlife, it's not bad for Asakawa Riku, as his pursuit of martial arts was never completely extinguished until the very end.

Instead, he thought that if he were stronger and trained more perfectly, would he be able to break through the dead end of the "Crimson Ray Festival"?

"...Red Stingray Festival."

Thinking of this, he murmured unconsciously.

"What happened to the Red Stingray Festival?"

Suddenly, someone picked up where he left off.

Asakawa Riku was speechless. He slowly turned his head and was surprised to find the girl beside him. Her blonde hair and high nose bridge looked exactly like the Valkyrie he had imagined.

But the white dress she was wearing also revealed a softer side; her delicate and pretty smile, and the way she reached out to pat his face.

"What are you daydreaming about, Asakawa-kun?"

It's Hoshimi Kohane!

Asakawa Riku suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Gravity and reality rushed into his mind, and the sound of waves crashing in his ears pulled him back to reality.

He finally saw the world around him clearly. He was standing on the deck of a cruise ship, next to the railing. Below him were surging black waves, and above him was the starry night sky.

I was still wearing those clothes, there was no blood, no wounds, and I felt no pain, as if none of it had happened...

Island... Village... Festival... Frenzy... Slaughter...

But the memory was exceptionally vivid. Asakawa Riku closed his eyes, he could still see that crimson flag and blood fluttering everywhere.

"Did you save me, Xingyu?"

His memories and present situation were intertwined, leaving him somewhat confused. He grasped the girl's hand and hurriedly asked her what was going on.

"...If I say that taking you out of your room to go sightseeing was a way of saving you, then yes, it was."

Xingyu did not resist the intimate contact; she simply tilted her head.

She seemed unaware of why Asakawa Riku's expression suddenly turned so terrified, as if she had just experienced a nightmare.

Hearing her words, Asakawa Riku felt even more uneasy. He let go of her hand and took out his phone from his pocket—

Yes, the phone was not lost in the shipwreck; in fact, it remains intact.

【2025年6月13日·周五· 19：25】