Taimanin: The Prototype Chapter 14 14: The Doc's Bonus

Novel: Taimanin: The Prototype Author: ShadowFool1 Updated: Jun 16, 2026

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Now reading: Chapter 14 14: The Doc's Bonus from Taimanin: The Prototype, a Action novel by ShadowFool1.

The trio drove toward the docks in a black, reinforced Taimanin car—one of the older models with mana-infused tires and a constantly humming engine. Kurenai sat in the front passenger seat, legs up, relaxed. Aya drove with both hands on the wheel like a responsible adult. Leo was in the back, staring out the window as cityscape slowly replaced forest.

Aya glanced at the two in the mirror. "So you two are related?"

Kurenai nodded casually. "In a sense, yeah."

Leo leaned forward from the back seat, resting an arm on the center console. "The Shinganji Clan is considered a sub-branch of the Fuuma Clan. Historically, anyway. Even though after the Fuuma Clan genocide, the Shinganji ended up with more surviving mbers."

Aya's eyes softened. "I see… that must have been difficult for both sides. Losing so many."

Leo shrugged lightly. "It's more complicated than sad. Tradition mattered a lot back then."

'Plus, in the original tiline, your lore was barely explained, so this version is actually more coherent. Yay for .'

Aya looked at Leo through the mirror again. "What about the other new Fuuma mbers? The ones I've heard joined recently."

Kurenai answered before Leo could. "Less of actual bloodline mbers, more… new additions. The elders wanted to rebuild numbers quickly, so they approved marriages, adoptions, and a bunch of political alliances."

Aya made a face. "That sounds ssy."

Leo nodded. "It was. Grandpa Genzo said it was either that or risk the clan going extinct."

Kurenai chuckled. "They basically speed-ran repopulation."

Aya nearly choked on her own breath at the bluntness. "K-Kurenai!"

Leo smirked.

'Ah yes. The subtle art of trying not to think about how this universe loves breeding taphors.'

Kurenai waved her hand dismissively. "Relax. I an it in a practical sense. A clan needs bodies to maintain duty and presence. Doesn't matter how strong the bloodline is if there's nobody left to carry it."

Aya nodded reluctantly. "When you put it that way… I suppose it makes sense."

Leo leaned back, crossing his arms. "Honestly, I'm more surprised that they treat my… 'Power's' as a Fuuma Demon ability."

Kurenai turned around in her seat to look at him. "You inherited sothing unusual. That's not a bad thing, Leo. Plenty of us in both clans had weird mutations after generations of mixing chakra, taima, and demonic influences."

Aya added, "Your transformation is frightening, but… stable. That alone makes it valuable. Dangerous powers are still powers."

Leo stared out the window again.

'Stable? Only because Alex and Jas are babysitting from the inside. But sure… let's go with that.'

The car slowed as the ocean ca into view—a massive port dock looming under the evening sun.

Kurenai smirked. "Alright, we've arrived. Ti to kick off the mission."

Aya parked and turned off the engine. "Rember, we start with investigation first. No violence unless absolutely necessary."

Kurenai hopped out. "Yeah, yeah. 'Absolutely necessary.' If they start anything, I'm finishing it."

Leo stepped out last, stretching.

'Great. Let's try not to trigger the bad ending for this route.'

Leo looked at the two senior Taimanin as they walked down the pier, the sll of saltwater mixing with engine fus. "So, like… what does House of Greed actually do?"

Aya's expression tightened. She gestured toward the docked cargo ships and the shady-looking workers moving crates. "Drug dealing and human trafficking."

Leo blinked. "As if one of those wasn't bad enough."

Kurenai crossed her arms, her face hardening. "According to our informant, Mr. Yamamoto Nobushige, their main product is the Halleluja Drug."

Leo paused mid-step, brows rising. "Oh, that one. The drug that can—depending on the version—increase stamina, amplify physical abilities, boost sen production—" he shuddered "—or straight-up mutate soone into a Demon."

Aya cringed. "Yes, please don't list every variant."

'Okay, I popped in out of context, what was that?'

Jas' voice cut through Leo's mind like a confused notification bubble.

Leo responded internally. 'I'm on a mission. Will explain later. Please don't freak out.'

'You said sen production. Freaking out has already occurred.' Jas replied dryly.

'Ignore that part!' Leo shot back.

Then Alex's deeper voice joined in. 'This drug. If it mutates humans into demons, it alters biomass. We should acquire a sample.'

Leo ntally scread. 'Absolutely not!'

From the outside, he probably looked like a kid trying not to panic while two siblings argued in his skull.

Kurenai glanced back at him. "…You okay, Leo?"

Leo quickly cleared his throat and nodded. "Yep. Totally fine. Just, uh… processing how ssed up this case is."

Kurenai put a hand on her hip. "It gets worse. House of Greed doesn't just sell Halleluja. They test it on people. Holess. Immigrants. Orphans."

Aya's grip tightened on her weapon case. "That's why we accepted this mission personally. This isn't just law enforcent. It's a rescue."

Leo felt sothing burn under his skin—anger, but also sothing primal.

'Human trafficking. Forced mutations. Child abuse… Yeah, this tiline's not pulling punches.'

He clenched his fists.

"Alright. Let's shut them down."

Kurenai smiled faintly. "That's the spirit. We start at warehouse district C. Nobushige said Kazuma's n move shipnts there every evening."

Aya nodded. "Stay alert. They're not ordinary criminals. So of them are demonized."

Leo exhaled. "Good. I need to test sothing anyway."

'Test what?' Jas asked.

Leo grinned internally. 'If Water Breathing can deflect bullets.'

Jas: 'EXCUSE —'

Aya pulled out her sniper case, snapping it open with the precision of soone who'd done this a thousand tis. The Green-haired Taimanin assembled the rifle in seconds, her movents smooth and practiced.

She pointed toward a nearby rooftop.

"I'll set up there. If anything moves wrong, I'll take the shot."

Leo nodded. "Got it. So I guess you, Kurenai, and I will keep an eye out until they show up."

Kurenai rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, posture relaxed but ready to strike at a mont's notice. "Right. Patrol the periter. Watch the entrances. And don't engage unless we have to."

Leo exhaled, scanning the empty warehouse district. Rusted containers. Cranes. Shadows stretching long across asphalt. The faint hum of the nearby ocean.

'Shouldn't be that hard…' he thought, crossing his arms.

Inside his head, he added with smug confidence:

'In canon, it was just Kazuma Tendo and so knockoff artificial demons. Weak ones. Kurenai almost killed him in the first chapter. I can handle this easily.'

There was a pause.

Jas' voice suddenly cut into his mind.

'You're tempting fate, kid.'

Then Alex chid in with his usual deadpan.

'Statistically speaking, every ti you say "This'll be easy," we end up fighting sothing absurd.'

Leo ignored them both.

Kurenai glared at him suspiciously. "You look way too confident for soone on their first mission."

Leo raised his hands defensively. "What? I can be confident."

Kurenai gave him a flat stare. "Confidence is fine. Cockiness gets people killed."

Leo blinked.

Fair.

'…Okay maybe I am tempting fate,' Leo admitted to himself.

'You ARE,' Jas shot back.

Aya called from the rooftop, "Positions in thirty seconds!"

Leo took a deep breath, adjusting his grip on his sword.

The calm before the storm settled around them.

Then—

A low rumble echoed across the loading docks.

Truck engines. Multiple.

Leo's eyes narrowed.

Kurenai stepped forward, her killing intent sharpening.

"They're here."

Leo's internal monologue died instantly.

'…Oh great. Fate heard .'

The first person to step out of the cargo truck was a tall man — brown hair down to his neck, slick suit, laid-back smile that scread smug bastard CEO energy.

[Insert image of Kazuma Tendo.]

Leo's right arm imdiately snapped into his bio-bow form, tendrils tightening as he aid straight between the man's eyes.

But it wasn't Tendo that made Leo freeze.

It was who followed him.

A tall, dark-skinned woman stepped out, pink hair cascading to her waist like a waterfall of cotton candy death. Her black bodysuit clung like a second skin, and the red cape around her shoulders swayed with each step like it owned the wind.

[Insert image of Ingrid]

Leo's brain shut down.

'THE FUCK—?! Ingrid?! INGRID?! Why is SHE here?!'

Jas tried to comnt, but all Leo heard was static.

Alex simply said:

'I think we've wandered into DLC content.'

And it got worse.

Another figure stepped out — a woman with flowing violet hair, blue eyes that glowed faintly, and an outfit that looked engineered specifically to violate dress codes.

[Insert images of Izumi Suiren.]

A Taimanin who should be missing.

As in, "not showing up until much later because she's captured or corrupted" missing.

Kurenai's jaw dropped.

"A Hell Knight… and Suiren-senpai…?! Why are they here?!"

Aya, from her rooftop perch, whispered over the earpiece, voice trembling:

"That's… impossible. Ingrid never works with humans. And Suiren—she vanished years ago."

Leo, anwhile, had spiritually left his body.

'This is WRONG. This is not canon. This isn't even AU. This is a MODDED playthrough. A fan patch. A crossover event. WHY IS INGRID HERE ON CHAPTER ONE—!?'

Tendo smirked, looking way too calm for a man who brought a literal demon warlord and a corrupted Taimanin as plus-ones.

"Well now… looks like our welcoming committee arrived."

Ingrid glanced lazily at Leo, her golden eyes narrowing… and then a predatory smile ford.

"…Fuuma blood," she purred. "How interesting."

Leo internally scread.

'Nope. Nope. Nope. I am NOT dealing with a Hell Knight on my first mission—!'

Kurenai pulled out her weapon, ready for battle.

"Leo, Aya — get ready! This mission just turned into a disaster!"

Leo whispered the only appropriate response:

"Yeah. No shit."

'Kid, I think this is what is called a Butterfly Effect,' Jas said, sounding way too calm for the situation.

Leo ntally sighed.

'Yeah, that makes sense. existing should change the plot… but THIS MUCH?! Ingrid shouldn't show up until, like, endga. This is DLC-on-Chapter-1 nonsense.'

They dropped down from the rooftop area — Leo landing with a tendril-assisted flip while Kurenai and Aya moved into Taimanin formation.

Imdiately, Ingrid's and Suiren's eyes landed on Leo.

And both won… patted their lips.

Just a light, teasing drag of their fingertips over their mouths — the kind of gesture that in any normal universe would an "you're cute" or "I could eat you".

Here, it ant both.

Leo felt Alex inside his head quietly mutter:

'I do not like how they're looking at you.'

Jas added:

'Correction — they want to drain your soul. And probably other things.'

Leo tried very hard not to blush.

Then Tendo stepped forward, hands in his pockets, smirking like he practiced villain monologues in the mirror.

He looked Leo up and down.

"Oh? You're… exotic," he said with confidence no one asked for. "I wasn't planning to kill you, but I'm sure so of my female clients would pay very well for soone with your… mixed-blood look."

Everyone froze.

Leo blinked twice.

"…Did you just call exotic because my mom is Japanese and my dad is Black?"

Tendo: "Yes."

Leo: "Fuck you, man."

Kurenai snorted so hard she had to turn away.

Aya's sniper grip actually slipped.

Even Ingrid raised an eyebrow.

Tendo looked mildly offended.

Kurenai was dying inside trying not to laugh.

Aya's voice cracked in the earpiece:

"Pff—Leo—focus—!"

Even Suiren, corrupted as she was, let out a small "hmm" like she found the banter amusing.

Leo readied his sword, aura flaring.

"Alright, asshole. I ca here prepared to fight thugs and weird demon experints. I was NOT prepared for racism and a Hell Knight combo pack."

Ingrid smiled wickedly.

"Oh, little Fuuma… you are far from prepared."

Leo sighed internally.

'Yeah. Great. Just what I needed. DLC boss fight.'

Aya went back on the Rooftop. As Leo noded as Leo and Kurenai got ready.

Leo spoke in his head.

'Alex.'

Alex didn't hesitate.

'With your Water Breathing, your seven years of training, your Taima Arts, the Blacklight Virus, and all the weapons you can manifest… I'd say you've got maybe a 60% chance of winning.'

Jas chid in dryly.

'Optimistic. Very optimistic.'

Leo launched forward anyway.

His blade—half steel, half biological mass hardened to obsidian—ca down on Ingrid.

She caught it with her sword, boots grinding into the docks as Leo's strength actually pushed her back.

Ingrid's eyes widened a fraction.

Then her mouth curled into a grin that was NOT appropriate for a battlefield.

"Well well… looks like you do take a fancy to , little boy."

Leo pushed harder.

"I'm fifteen, stop making this weird!"

anwhile

Kurenai blitzed toward Tendo, blade flashing, going straight for the capture—if he got away, more people would suffer.

But Suiren dropped between them, claws forming with a sickening chi of corrupted Taima tal.

"You're not laying a finger on my employer."

The clash shook the pavent.

Kurenai gritted her teeth.

"You're still a Taimanin, Suiren! Snap out of—"

Suiren's tail lashed, almost slicing Kurenai's cheek.

"No," she said flatly. "I'm not."

Above, on the rooftop

Aya exhaled, lined up her shot, reticle dead on Tendo's forehead—

BANG

The bullet never reached him.

Sothing rose out of the pavent like at forced through a blender.

A creature—human-shaped only in the most insulting sense—blocked the shot with its body.

Aya pulled back in horror.

"What the—!? Flesh… Dolls?!"

More of them crawled up from sewer grates, splitting their torsos open like grotesque blooming flowers, tentacles whipping and slapping across concrete.

They were blind.

But they heard her breathing.

"Oh hell—"

Aya swapped to close-range mode and started firing as they climbed the building.

Back with Leo and Ingrid

Ingrid pushed Leo's blade away and took a step back, her aura igniting with violet fla.

"You're strong… too strong for soone your age.

Mm… this is going to be fun."

Leo spun his sword, water gathering, spiral forming.

"If by 'fun' you an ' kicking your demonic ass,' then sure!"

Alex's voice rose in his head like a warning alarm.

'Leo—her guard dropped for exactly 0.2 seconds. Take it!'