Takahara stepped back while raising his hand at eye level. "W-what do you mean? I wasn’t lying." He defended himself. "Please you’ve got to help me out. I... I don’t know when my wife will die at this rate."

While Amaya and Tris remained tight-lipped, Kazuichi stepped forward with a suspicious gaze. He had played many mystery novels in his shut-in life so he was somehow confident with his ability to tell whether someone was lying or not...

... or so that’s what he thought.

In reality, it was much harder to read someone’s persona compared to in-game. For a moment back there, Kazuichi wanted to scream ’where are the subtitles??!’ but he didn’t do it since it was a misplaced comment.

"He’s lying," Kazuichi agreed. He had no idea why Arisu stated that he was lying but he decided to jump on the bandwagon to lead Amaya and Tris into believing that Takahara was really lying.

Surprised, Arisu looked back, only to see that Kazuichi willingly trusted her even without proof. Then again, her gut instincts told her that Takahara was lying. She didn’t have any prerequisites when she believed her guts.

"I’m not lying, please!" Takahara continued to hopelessly plead his case but the group already believed otherwise.

Kazuichi tapped into his innate ability as a Hybrid, and Arisu also prepared to attack Takahara as well.

Poor guy, he just wanted to save his wife.

"..."

"..."

Suddenly, the air around them seemed to have shifted, and the vibe around Takahara got heavier, or at least the air did. A hint of bloodthirst seemed to seep out of him as he also put his guard up.

"Look guys, please," He motioned with his hands, trying to convince them that he really wasn’t lying. "You’re a Hound, right? Then you should’ve smelled that I’m not lying."

But at this point, there was no turning back. And Arisu finally got the last bit of information she needed.

Before she could speak though, Kazuichi pointed a finger at Takahara. "That’s where your lies end, mister." He called out. "You see, not all Hounds could smell lies. The fact that you know she could do it is suspicious in and of itself."

Kazuichi didn’t stop there, he then pointed at Takahara’s feet. "And the reason why you were so out of breath back then was not because you were panicking... but you’ve been observing us from afar, right? As your next targets?"

No one knows how Kazuichi did all those mental gymnastics but they were impressed with his deductive reasoning. There was a small chance that everything he said might not be true, but his conclusions were somewhat explainable to everyone.

"And not only that. Since you knew that she could detect lies, and you said yourself that you weren’t lying... then that means you’ve been speaking half-truths. Your wife is down there, right? And it’s not because she needed help, but because she was going to die if you didn’t feed her." Kazuichi continued.

Right now, Kazuichi was playing a crazy game of mystery and he was enjoying himself. And yet, oddly enough, he was able to get everything right. He might have been pretending to know everything, but somehow all his assumptions hit the mark, and it completely changed Takahara.

"H-how did you know all that?!" Takahara finally snapped. "Are you targeting my wife? You’re not going to kill my wife!" He growled.

"I... knew it!" Kazuichi forced a smile on his face just when Takahara bared his teeth at him.

He started shredding his shirt before rushing at Kazuichi on all fours. The moment he was within arm’s reach, he swiped at his throat, trying to end Kazuichi in one move.

Although Takahara’s moves were erratic and speedy, Kazuichi felt like he was moving in slow motion thanks to his honed perception. He had absorbed multiple meteorite ores and it enhanced his abilities as a Hybrid. This was the best time to put his new power to the test so he stretched his arms and gestured at Arisu to protect Amaya and Tris.

Understanding what Kazuichi meant, Arisu immediately stood beside the two sisters, trying to keep them out of harm’s way while Kazuichi dealt with the Bulwark.

To Kazuichi’s surprise, Takahara could actually move pretty well for a Bulwark. Known for their defensive capabilities, Bulwark Hybrids were known to be immovable fortresses. However, Takahara was nothing like that. He was fast and tanky at the same time.

"How could a Bulwark move like that?" Arisu muttered to herself.

"Really? Is he really a Bulwark?" Tris asked, surprised. When they first met Takahara, Arisu, and Kazuichi mentioned that he was a Bulwark, but she didn’t believe it since he could move so fast.

"Yes, based on his smell he is a Bulwark... there’s a hint of Merc in his smell, however, but for the most part he smells like a Bulwark."

Kazuichi also concluded the same thing too, but now that he fought with him, he could tell that he wasn’t a Bulwark at all.

He was built like a Bulwark, sure, but his movements resembled a Hound or a Merc... or something else entirely in between.

Fortunately, Kazuichi could keep up with him. Otherwise, he’d have been dead long before he knew what had hit him.

Since Kazuichi was dodging a bit too perfectly, Takahara started losing his patience. He then aimed for a low kick, trying to knock Kazuichi off his feet before he pounced him. In response, Kazuichi jumped and he hung in the air for a split second.

That single opening was more than enough for Takahara. In a split second, he too brought his feet back and kicked Kazuichi in the guts, sending him flying.

Kazuichi felt all the air knocked out of his lungs. From a couple of meters, he hit a three with his back.

Just before he could get up and brace himself for Takahara’s second attack, Takahara was already on his face, grabbing him by the neck and wringing the life out of him as if he was a wet towel.

"Urk~!’ Kazuichi gritted his teeth as he flailed helplessly in the air.