Chapter 36: The Offer and the Descent
Observing the deep concern between Kingpin and his confidant, Valmont's lips curled into a faint smirk. "Don't worry, Tohru is very measured in his actions! If he can't withstand even this minor assault, then his demise is his own fault."
Just as Valmont finished speaking, Kingpin, who had been nearly unconscious from the relentless head blows, suddenly snapped his eyes open. With Wesley's assistance, he slowly pushed himself up from the floor.
Kingpin leaned heavily on Wesley, his breathing ragged as he fixed Valmont with a reluctant gaze. "What is your purpose? Is it merely to flaunt your power and humiliate me?" Kingpin conceded their superior strength, but it didn't justify such blatant disrespect towards the king of the underworld.
"Humiliation?! Do you truly believe that?" Valmont waved his hand dismissively, his eyes sweeping over Kingpin's resentful and doubtful expression. "You overestimate yourself. Do you honestly think you warrant my humiliation?"
Despite his words, Valmont acknowledged Kingpin's formidable fighting prowess, unmatched in Hell's Kitchen. Even Spider-Man struggled to defeat him without resorting to lethal force. Hence, Valmont had deployed the trained, stronger, and more powerful Tohru. This ensured Kingpin's attacks couldn't breach the defense, while Tohru's blows could penetrate and strike vital points.
Kingpin snorted, unconvinced by Valmont's taunt, but offered no rebuttal, recognizing the truth in the other man's words. "However," he thought, "there must be a way to overcome someone physically stronger." Kingpin subtly glanced at his cane resting beside the desk, his mind racing for a strategy to defeat Tohru.
Before he could formulate a plan, Valmont's voice cut through his thoughts. "Kingpin, would you desire strength and physique to match or even surpass Tohru's?!"
The enticing question caught Kingpin off guard. Still preoccupied with finding a way to defeat Tohru, he instinctively blurted out, "What do you mean?!"
Valmont, feigning ignorance of Kingpin's internal struggle, clapped perfunctorily. "It means nothing much. I'm simply here to congratulate you on successfully passing the test! We had no intention of killing you, merely assessing your potential to join our organization. And now..." Valmont trailed off, giving Kingpin a knowing look.
Kingpin, who had clawed his way to the top, readily understood the unspoken implication. "Of course, I am willing! It would be my honor!" he quickly agreed.
"Excellent! Come then!" Valmont responded casually, gesturing for several shadow ninjas to surround Kingpin.
"What... what do you intend to do?" Before Kingpin could voice his question, Wesley spoke, his voice trembling, the image of the impaled Bullseye fresh in his mind. He was terrified of these bizarre ninjas.
"I'm sending him for his initiation. This is a necessary step for him to join our organization!" As Valmont spoke, the darkness beneath the feet of the surrounding shadow ninjas began to writhe like liquid. Soon, the spreading shadow engulfed both the ninjas and Kingpin.
Wesley and the prone Bullseye watched the strange scene with wide eyes, a mixture of worry for Kingpin's safety and envy for his potential power swirling within them.
Valmont, oblivious to their emotions, addressed the increasingly nervous Kingpin. "Kingpin, they will take you to my Shadow Kingdom, where you will witness the 'Heritage of God' you are about to touch! Gain its recognition, activate it, and harness it! If you fail, you will become part of my kingdom."
Valmont's cold words sent a shiver down Kingpin's spine. "Then... what should I do?" he stammered, but before he could finish the question, he was completely submerged in the shadows, descending into the Shadow Kingdom guided by the ninjas.
"Boss... Wilson will be alright, won't he?" Wesley and the still-prone Bullseye stared at the spot where Kingpin had vanished, their eyes filled with apprehension.
Kingpin sank into the darkness, and after a disorienting moment, found himself in an empty square. Apart from a slight chill, his body felt normal. He looked around, realizing the layout of the streets and buildings mirrored Hell's Kitchen, but everything was cast in shades of gray, exuding an aura of desolation, decay, and turbidity.
"Valmont must have been able to deliver the letter to me quietly through this place," Kingpin mused, quickly grasping the nature of Valmont's abilities. "Truly amazing! Such a mysterious power."
Before he could elaborate on his thoughts, black shadow ninjas carried out an enormous Chinese drum.
"What is this...?" Kingpin questioned.
The ninjas ignored him, placing the large drum directly in front of him before silently retreating.
"This... is the 'Heritage of God'? It looks like a drum?" Kingpin stared, bewildered. "But... what am I supposed to do?"
As he pondered his next move, the bass drum began to vibrate, and deep roars echoed from within.
"Boom, boom…"
With each beat, an incredibly dense black gas emanated from the drum. After nine drumbeats, the diffuse black mist enveloped the entire square.
Suddenly, all the black air in the atmosphere converged rapidly towards the center, almost instantly solidifying into a black sphere. The next second, the black sphere shattered into fragments that rained down. In its place, a double-sided drum phantom, wrapped in black energy, materialized in the air.
"I... what am I supposed to do? Shout at it?" Kingpin felt a surge of panic and excitement at the utterly unscientific spectacle before him.
Before he could act, the double-sided drum image in the air seemed to lock onto him, hurtling towards him like lightning. He had no time to react before the shadowy form entered his body.
The next moment, Kingpin's body surged with immense power, expanding rapidly like a balloon. Violent energy fluctuations radiated from him, creating gusts of wind in the desolate shadow world.
Sensing the chaotic energy within the shadow world, Valmont immediately expelled Kingpin. The shadow world itself was rejecting the transforming Kingpin, ejecting him the instant it received the command.