Gloomy, damp, with that unique alleyway atmosphere, made even darker by the groans of beggars huddled along the sides.
There was hardly any sound here. The beggars understood well that any creature bold enough to stride through with such “arrogance” could only be a “mark” of higher status than themselves, a mouse scuttling for food, or at worst, some fellow wretch lost in delusion.
And so, the alley remained deathly still…
Today should have been just as peaceful as any other day. Paired with the rhythmic music of the drifting rain, it ought to have felt even more profoundly silent…
Except—
What was this series of crude, unpleasant noises?
Clearly, the disturbance came from the girls dashing frantically through the nearby shadows.
One appeared to be a ranger, the other a magic user. Regardless of their appearances, both wore excellent expressions.
Had they run into some kind of trouble? Oh… it certainly seemed that way.
With a soft snap, a logbook was casually closed and slipped into the coat of a certain man.
The man wore a top hat, his entire frame dressed in a suit and vest, presenting the perfect image of a gentleman — yet here he was, sitting at the mouth of a filthy alley.
Then, the man stood up. He raised his hands, flexing his fingers as if manipulating a puppet’s strings—
And in the next moment, from the shadows behind him, pair after pair of long-rotten, stinking bare feet appeared…
“Heh heh heh… the hunt begins…”
…..
…
Name: Hazuki Tow
Age: 12
Status: 【Wanted — Obscured】【Wanted — Mission】【Normal】
Form Status: The Wanted / Kid / Caster
——————
Switches: 【Sanction】【Injury Escape】【Scholar’s Brain】【Elemental Fury】【Growth Acceleration · Random】【Boiling Blood】【Spacetime Ability · Mode】【Sage’s Protection】
Mode Enhanced Attributes: 【Perpetual · Transcendent Boundary · One — Serious Mode】【Spatial Will · One — Serious Mode】【Arcane Mystery · Impression Crack · One — Serious Mode】
Inherent Abilities: 【Lock-On · Boundless Vigor】【Time · Forced Regression】【KRYY’s Blood · Omnipotent】【Recovery Treatment · Superpower】【Tea Farmer Eater】【Checks and Balances · Domain at Will】
Weaknesses: 【This attribute cannot be activated in Serious Mode】, 【This attribute cannot be activated in Serious Mode】; 【Mental Resistance LV.0】
——————
[Serious Mode Engaged]
…
I’m not joking. The only things I seem to be good at are fighting, figuring people out, and doubting everything. The latter two are still pretty underdeveloped, honestly.
The one thing I can actually put forward is fighting.
The one thing that landed me here in the first place is also fighting.
When it comes down to it, fighting is the root of all evil.
(—Dad! So cool! Can you teach me?!)
I hate it.
(—Hahaha, Dad, look! I learned it!)
I despise it.
(—Dad, this thing is pretty useful, right?)
Yet in the end, I have no choice but to rely on it.
(—Yeah, I get it now! Dad!)
How annoying.
“Is anyone still trapped inside?”
Just as I was lost in confusion, Yūo’s figure flashed past me, and I heard him call out to the field agents.
“No, we all managed to escape.”
When I heard that answer, I could almost hear the sound of a massive boulder dropping from Yūo’s chest.
Due to this sudden accident, Yūo temporarily put his meeting with Kailan aside and chose to stay and deal with the aftermath.
Still, he had no worries about me. He didn’t seem concerned at all about letting me leave on my own… but to be honest, he barely even registered my existence. At most, he’d only kept an eye on me because Kailan had ordered it.
“Oh. I’m leaving then.”
He didn’t respond. I sighed indifferently, turned, and walked away. The other agents who passed by me didn’t spare me a single glance either, just like Yūo…
In that instant, an idea so childish that it defied imagination surfaced in my heart—
Even if they saw me as the arsonist who started it all, couldn’t someone, anyone, just notice me?
I didn’t know who to vent my frustration at, because there was no one here I knew as a friend.
I didn’t know how to vent it, because I wasn’t in a place I was familiar with.
Even if my next step carried me into certain death, no one would warn me to turn back, to run, to do anything — because I was completely alone.
The urgency of time pushed me to move faster, but I had no idea where to go. A ridiculous fate had long since paved the road for me, yet I stubbornly insisted on carving out my own impossible path.
There was no room left for me to hesitate at all.
“…”
Standing in the cruciform central corridor, I could already see Kailan and Mia waiting by the bulletin board, as they had been for some time. But I didn’t want to go over.
Even if I did, even if I managed to exchange words with them, it would be utterly pointless.
I looked to my left. There stood the gate thrown open wide for everyone but me. In truth, I could walk right out if I wanted to… but even I couldn’t comprehend the jumbled mess of emotions filling my chest—
Ridiculous, grave, furious, joyful, bitter, relieved, painful…
Should I stay here, bound by others, or walk out that gate and once again become a wandering demon?
Right. A demon. I’m a demon who’s done it all.
The rain outside… I took it as the heavens mocking me. I took it as fate’s design for my life.
“Huh? Who—?” Suddenly, some weight settled on the top of my head. After judging the sensation to be a hand, I realized someone was patting my head. Just as I was about to snap in anger, I discovered my surroundings had undergone several dramatic changes.
A moonless night. A hazy, starless sky. A space as open as a plaza. Walls that had vanished into thin air. The only thing that remained unchanged was that hand pressing down on my head—
Hand?
Sensing something amiss, I raised my arm to swat the person away and then dodged forward in a flash, putting distance between us.
This place… if my memory served me correctly, it was definitely the same type of barrier that Big Sister Nas possessed. A perfect tool to set up a duel arena—
“If you’re looking to pick a fight, you’ve got the wrong person.”
Of course. Just by outward appearances, I was nothing more than a harmless little girl. Even if they’d seen my wanted poster, they wouldn’t have noticed that the target was right here inside this Inspection Center.
Nor would anyone casually lay their hands on a girl they’d never met. Unless—
“Unless I… no, we met you yesterday.”
The gaunt man before me suddenly spoke, jolting me with surprise. It wasn’t his terrifying, ancient-sounding voice that did it — it was the shocking words themselves.
Could he read my thoughts?
A mind reader? — I deliberately threw out a thought as bait. I wanted to confirm whether he was like that bastard Lawston, able to read people’s hearts.
As if purposely confirming my suspicion with a hint of arrogance, the man laughed scornfully, then nodded.
This was a bit troublesome. If it were just a straightforward fight, I’d be fine… but if I had to keep a mental guard up while concentrating on attacking him at the same time, who could possibly pull that off?
In that case, I’ll just launch an attack that can’t be defended against, even if he sees it coming.
“So, you’re the monsters from last night. I didn’t get to finish what I was saying back then—”
“We told you, didn’t we? We’ll be taking it back.”
It seemed the other party had no intention of negotiating with me. And this barrier could only be undone by the one who laid it down.
So I’m left with no choice but battle again? Well… as long as I put in the effort, maybe negotiating or compromising…
Of course, reality slapped me across the face in close quarters once again.
The space before me suddenly twisted into a vortex, and a hand shot out to strike me hard across the face. Without my strength properly braced, I lost my balance and toppled backward onto the ground.
I got slapped in the face? No, the more important thing was — space was distorted?
“Not just a mind reader, but space manipulation too? Ugh—!”
Before I could scramble back to my feet, someone kicked me in the abdomen, easily flipping my body over. I coughed violently from the impact, practically choking on it.
“I don’t particularly enjoy beating up little girls. But sadly, I’ve got no choice.”
‘Hello. We meet again.’
Immediately after, a rain-like barrage of attacks descended upon me… and precisely because it was like rain, I didn’t take much damage at all.
There were quite a few of them. It looked like he had brought his entire kin of ghostly monsters along.
“Indeed. Here I am, with my adorable kin.” — Ah, I forgot. He can read minds.
But honestly, who can maintain a stable mental defense while their body is getting hit and their nerves are firing off pain signals? If such a person exists, I’d definitely like to witness how they manage to split their focus like that.
Seeing that the onslaught showed no sign of stopping, I fiercely clenched my teeth—
[Time Freeze]
That all-too-familiar gloomy aesthetic. The sound of gears grinding to a halt echoed in my ears. In the space between moments, I kipped up to my feet and, once upright, immediately snapped my fingers.
Countless orange-yellow particles, too numerous to tally, materialized in the surrounding air, spreading around the bodies of those ghostly monsters everywhere.
There. Let’s see you all get blown to bits, space and everything else included.
After all, when it comes to battle, I haven’t lost yet.
Once I’d set everything up, I calmly lay back down in my original position. Then—
[Time Resume]
A bizarre chorus of sounds surged from all directions, but what dominated was a wave of confused voices.
The ghostly monsters seemed utterly astounded. Upon discovering these suspicious objects that had suddenly appeared before their eyes, they all halted their attacks.
“What a bunch of idiots.”
Along with those words, there was one additional snap of my fingers…
The explosive blast wave washed over me but inflicted no harm. On the contrary, the monsters suffered far worse from the detonations.
That was why, even after the residual swirling gales from the explosions had faded, I could still climb to my feet completely unharmed and drop a single line without a scratch on me.
“Is that the best you’ve got?”
Looking around at the monsters whose forms were no longer intact and whose surrounding space had indeed been twisted and mangled, I let out a dismissive laugh, ignored them, and began walking toward the man standing before me.
Seeing me stroll leisurely in his direction, the man showed neither surprise nor fear. I couldn’t see through his true intentions. If his goal was to snatch this jewel, now was the time to act.
With a flick of my hand, magical energy like the breath of flames drifted ethereally through the air, coalescing into three fireballs before hurtling straight at the man.
“Boring.”
The man covered his face. With his other hand extended, he tapped a single point in the air before him. As I had anticipated, an enormous, distorted spatial vortex instantly appeared and swallowed the three fireballs whole.
“Right back at you.”
At those utterly baffling words, the man tapped the air once more. The same spatial vortex materialized again, but this time… those three fireballs suddenly burst out of it at blistering speed.
I froze for a split second, then it hit me — this was deliberate payback for my earlier bombardment. If I reached out toward the fireballs, maybe…
I stretched out my hand. According to my speculation, I believed I could reabsorb the fireballs’ magical energy back into my body — if those fireballs still remembered who their “master” was, and if that space had simply reversed the fireballs’ trajectory.
However, reality once again dealt me a ruthless slap across the face.
Accompanied by the detonation of the fireballs, having taken a direct hit from them, I was violently blasted away…
