Chapitre 22: Your Manager?

The auctioneer immediately rushed to his severed arm which plopped a couple of feet away. Snarling, he tried to position it on the part where it was cut. With his ability as a hybrid, he was confident that it would reattach itself as long as he left it in that position for a significant amount of time.

Kazuichi wasn't taking any chances though, since he knew that his situation right now bordered on life and death. If he wanted to live, then he'd have to fight for it, that's all there is to it. With a low growl that came from the back of his throat, Kazuichi launched himself toward the auctioneer. There was no way he'd allow the auctioneer to recover.

"Kuzuya," The auctioneer called out. Despite the fact that Kazuichi unleashed every ounce of killing intent that resided in his body, the auctioneer didn't act as alarmed. With an indifferent expression on his face, the auctioneer gave one of the three entities behind him a glare. One of them moved forward.

Grunt.

Before Kazuichi could pummel the auctioneer with his fists, a burly man which was almost a foot taller than him appeared right in his face. He was twice as big as Kazuichi, and his muscles bulged from the undersized white shirt he wore. Kazuichi felt like he hit a wall when he punched the chest of the guy referred to as Kuzuya.

Upon closer inspection, the man was actually not Japanese, but black. He was pretty muscular, and his body bulged even more when he used his innate ability as a hybrid. As Kuzuya's eyes turned bloodshot, he grunted for a second time before delivering a punch straight at Kazuichi's face.

Kazuichi flew to the other end of the room where the two other entities in the shadow steered clear of his trajectory. Hitting the wall with a thud, Kazuichi felt some of his bones crack. When Kazuichi looked at the man who sent him flying, he realized that his head was upside down even though he was standing upright. It was a weird sensation, and somehow nothing hurt at all despite the many broken bones he could locate in his body.

"Egh~ that's grotesque... blegh~" The other entity in the room was actually a girl who had black hair and red phoenix-like eyes. Kazuichi didn't get a good view of her since his head was upside down but he could tell just from a glimpse that the girl was actually more prepossessing than most.

Apparently, the bulky Kuzuya punched Kazuichi in the jaw, snapping his neck in an instant. That's why Kazuichi's head hung in a weird manner. If he were a normal human, he would've died in an instant.

"You all right, dude? Seriously, Kuzuya, you went too far!" The third entity that was hidden had the same body type as Kazuichi. He had light blue hair and a nice cerulean color for eyes. As much as Kazuichi hated to admit it, the guy actually had good looks, perhaps even better-looking than him. But then again, it's not like he could directly compare himself to the guy with his biased perspective.

The guy with blue hair approached Kazuichi with his hands up. "Here, let me help you. We're sorry about that. The auctioneer wanted to test you but this guy went too far. I'm Aoi, you can call me Ao if Aoi's too long for you." With an amicable greeting, the guy then touched Kazuichi by the head and realigned it. He was careful not to sever the little bit of flesh that attached Kazuichi's head to his neck. If that were to get severed, he could tell that Kazuichi might die right then and there.

"I'm sorry about that. I wanted to test you... but you're far stronger than I'd expected. We couldn't just welcome an unknown hybrid to the auction, you know... especially when he's not affiliated with any of the buyers." The auctioneer reasoned out but Kazuichi could tell that he was only saying a half-truth.

Unbeknownst to Kazuichi, they were actually testing him whether he should be sold or not. There were two things required for a hybrid to be able to get inside the auction. One, they should be directly connected to a buyer, either as a bodyguard or as company. Two, if they aren't affiliated with any of the buyers, then they should at least have proof that they are buyers themselves. Without these proofs, the auctioneer would see fit what he'd do with the suspicious hybrid. He could either send him or her in as one of the important 'products' of the Hybrid Auction, or he could kill him on the spot.

The auctioneer opted for the latter, not because he was having a bad day, but because he judged that Kazuichi didn't have any money based on his clothing and the way he acted. Moreover, he was gullible enough to follow the auctioneer alone. This was a clear sign that he was someone poor.

It took Kazuichi a couple of seconds before he regained his composure. While he wanted to snap the neck of the auctioneer and drain the blood out of him, he knew he was just doing his job as part of the security of the Hybrid Auction. But then again, Kazuichi felt unjustifiably attacked, that's why he still felt great fury deep within. "Even though I'm not affiliated with any buyers, you should've welcomed me properly. Where's your manager, I'm going to talk to whomever that guy is."

Before the auctioneer or anyone else in the room could object to what Kazuichi said, Kazuichi reached over into his pockets. That's because just from their gazes alone, Kazuichi could tell that they were judging him by the cover. Their eyes screamed the insult that he was poor, and Kazuichi could determine at a glance that they were totally looking down on him, both physically and financially.

Kazuichi then pulled out a black card from his pocket with gold engravings on it. Only a handful of people own a black card, and most of them are billionaires. "I've got quite a welcome, so I want to talk to your manager."