My Milf System

Akira shrugged, casually tossing his empty magazine onto the concrete. "I simply put her on a short leash. The bitch never loved you to begin with, Alex. She was just using you."

That much, Asher already knew. The realization didn’t sting like it used to, but hearing it laid out so plainly still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Karen’s loyalty was never his. Her heart had belonged to someone else all along.

Around them, the groans of Akira’s downed enforcers were fading into silence. A few who had taken the full brunt of Ifrit’s fists had ’accidentaly’ died.

Akira stepped over a unconscious guard, pacing slowly. "It’s this stupid emotion that makes people do the absolute dumbest things. Love. It’s the root of every disaster in human history. You want to join the Shinigami? You have to sacrifice what’s most precious to you. Zero handed over his own kid because the Founder caught him with the boy on his application day. He wanted money and power to ’provide’ for his family, and that was his price. He might not have known that joining the syndicate would put the lives of those he wanted to protect in danger."

Akira paused, a sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth. "What the syndicate didn’t realize back then was who his wife was. They didn’t care. Broken by the loss of her husband and child, Karen convinced herself she could buy their freedom if she paid back every cent the Shinigami gave Zero. So she hunted for an innocent, naive idiot to bleed dry—enter you, my sweet little brother. All while keeping tabs on the syndicate through me. A crafty fox, wasn’t she?"

Asher stood dead silent, his hands tightening into white-knuckled fists at his sides.

"And then love hijacked your brilliant brain," Akira mocked, taking a slow step toward him. "Made you believe you mattered. Made you believe you were cherished. You even married her, Alex! You gave up everything for a woman who viewed you as an ATM! You were so blind, so naive... utterly destroyed by a fairytale. It’s the very reason you died! You loved her so much that seeing her in your bed with another man literally stopped your pathetic heart."

"Stop," Asher muttered, his voice dropping an octave.

The memory of the cold shock, the sudden chest pain, and the suffocating betrayal of that day clawed it’s way into his mind. He remembered how deeply he had cared for her, how he would have taken a bullet without a second thought.

"And you know the best part?" Akira leaned in, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "She didn’t even pay that garden boy in cash. She fucked him just to keep every cent you slaved away to earn!"

"I said stop!!" Asher’s wind aura flared, cracking the tiles around his boots.

"You led a miserable life with miserable parents, married a miserable wife, and died a miserable death!" Akira screamed back, his composure completely snapping. "Your whole existence was pitch black, Alex and I was the only light in that tunnel!"

He let out a short, unhinged laugh, pacing back and forth. "When I found out what she did, I built an entire company just to drag her through hell! She loved money, right? So I built Sad Matt Co. I made those cute little Labubu dolls, packed them full of drugs, and shipped them overseas. We laundered millions through the books, and guess who had to answer to the police? Who had to sweat blood balancing fake ledgers every time my guys ’stole’ inventory from the warehouse? Karen. Instead of wealth, I buried her in ruin!"

Akira ran a trembling hand through his bald head, grinning wildly. "And I didn’t stop there. I made sure her mutated kid was brought straight to this lab. Watching that boy lose his mind and turn into a monster... my heart thrilled, Alex. I thought, finally, I’ve avenged my brother."

Behind Asher, Rex lowered his head, his dark ears flattening. "Master... this guy’s head isn’t screwed on right. Is he always like this?"

Ifrit chuckled, his sharp fangs glistening in the harsh emergency lighting. "Hah! He’s a mortal, but he speaks like a demon of the third pit. With a mind that rotten, he’d fit right in back home."

Asher took a single step forward. "Why, Akira? Why go through all of that for me?"

Akira stopped pacing, staring at Asher like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "Because I love you! Don’t you get it?! Love is humanity’s ultimate curse! Why do men start wars? Why do they slaughter each other in the dirt? Is it duty? Pride? No! It’s love! They fight to protect what they love—their land, their friends, their blood! Love drives every single atrocity!"

Ifrit folded his arms, nodding slightly. "The lunatic actually has a point. Love is a chain we demons are wise enough to avoid. You love someone, and suddenly their pain becomes yours. Their enemies become yours. And worst of all..." Ifrit’s golden eyes narrowed. "...you live in constant fear of losing them. Humans call that a blessing?"

"EXACTLY!" Akira shouted, pointing a finger at Ifrit before turning back to Asher. "I’m not denying the terrible things I’ve done, but I did every single one of them out of love for you! And because I love you, I won’t let you get chained again! I won’t let you save Mom and Dad! I won’t let your ex-wife escape! You need to be absolute, Alex—devoid of empathy, free from this curse called love! Only then can you truly be safe!"

Asher glared at him, a look of pure disgust hardening his face. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Akira reached into his pockets, pulling out a black detonator with a flip-cover switch. "Karen and Zero haven’t cleared the tunnels yet. This entire floor is wired with demolition charges. I’m taking it all down with me."

Asher’s stomach dropped. He instantly sank into a low stance, his system interface flashing red in his peripheral vision. "Akira, don’t! There are innocent people down here! Mutating ones! The lab doctors? There are other floors all over this place, right?"

Akira didn’t yell this time. He just smiled—a soft, gentle expression that looked terrifyingly like the one he used to give Alex as a kid after coming home covered in bruises.

"I will always love you, little brother. Goodbye."

CLICK.

A bone-rattling hum vibrated through the floorboards, followed an instant later by a blinding flash and a deafening, metallic roar.

BOOOOOOOM!

Tbc