Dragon Raja

26 - The Russian Man

The earthquake had finally come to a stop.

It was well within his power to capture the Ace Team and keep them contained for further inspection, possibly torture, but there was a debt that needed to be owed. It was the least he could do for the people that had just saved his life, despite him having left them for dead only a few days ago.

"Young Chief!" Sakura made her way through the rubble of the building to her boss, concern spread across her face like wildfire. "I just saw Gattuso and the other two Aces headed for the front doors, do you want me to engage?"

Chisei sighed upon the mere mention of their names. "Let them go," he said heavily.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked one more time.

There was a lingering feeling in his chest, one that he could not pinpoint. Regret, denial, and pure, utter confusion. Because those death servitors that were released into the mural room were previously locked up and secure.

Just as he told the Ace Team, the only person who had access to all the codes to exits and entrances; was Masamuna Tachibana.

"Sakura," Chisei said hoarsely, "get in contact with my father. Tell him to meet me at the meeting hall,"

He could only hope that his suspicions were wrong.

-

Chisei gazed out the cracked window into the city of Tokyo below him. His chest fell and rose with every anxious breath he took. So when the door to the meeting hall finally opened and closed shut, he felt his palms had begun to sweat.

"Do you have something you need to explain to me?" Chisei asked, right to the point without faltering. He no longer had time to deal with mind games and secrets.

But when he turned to face his father, he was met with someone completely different.

And by that point, Chisei Gen had no idea who the man in front of him was.

Dressed in an old uniform that seemed completely foreign from that of a Japanese military uniform. Chisei realized that the man in front of him was not his father.

He was nothing but a liar.

"You've always been suspicious of me, haven't you?" Masamune questioned, though he already knew the answer. At that point, Chisei could hear the faint accent of a man of Russian descent.

Masamune Tachibana was dressed head to toe in his forest green, Russian military gear. Medals and all. With a Japanese sword in one hand, he threw it to Chisei with a pitiful look on his elderly face.

Chisei scoffed as he watched the man he called his father kneel on the ground before him. "You want me to execute you?"

"If I have to die to atone for the sins of my past, I would rather be slain by your hands," he admitted. Chisei could only scowl at the man on his knees and clenched the handle of the sword even tighter.

But Chisei knelt in front of Masamune, willing to listen to his story. "Explain everything to me, and then I'll decide your fate,"

The older man sighed, his hands clenched on his thighs as he reminisced on his past. "My real name is Bondarev. 20 years ago, I sank the Lenin ship with the dragon embryo in the Japanese trench,"

"Go on," Chisei said, fully invested with the blade in his lap, eyes trained on Masamune—Bondarev.

"Back then, The Imperial Academy of Sciences was researching genetic technology. They brought together some of the best scientists and analysts in the world to study different races in regard to their compatibility with dragon blood. Everything they did seemed to fail. That is, until a man named Jung Von Herzog appeared," even while explaining, Chisei could tell that the mention of this man sent shivers down Bondarev's spine.