Chapter 372: Status Panel |
[Player ID: Tsuchimikado Haruki]
[HP: 13070/13070]
[MP: 12100/12100]
[Inherent Ability/Curse: Sound Curse, Daydream Realization, Calamity Star Festival, Mantra: Battle...]
[Special State: Illusion-Truth: Vermilion Bird, Soul Pact: Shuten-doji, Evil Soul: Ghostification (III)]
[Equipment: Cursed blade: Onimaru Kunitsuna...]
[Comprehensive Tier Evaluation: SS]
"As expected of Tokyo, it really does have... all sorts of monsters and demons."
Near the front door of the music room, within a hidden space created using a Game Item, Carole Ellen Morris wore an inscrutable expression. She glanced at the wicked young man by the back door, shaking her head with a sigh. "To think I would encounter a boss of this level twice in three days..."
Carole spread her hands. "At this level, unless one completely overpowers the other by a whole tier, who can guarantee they won't get hurt when fighting all out?"
Saying that, she leaned her cheek closer to Shirayanagi Ayaha and grinned. "What? Do you want me to save them?"
Shirayanagi Ayaha blinked, then shook her head. "If it means you'll get hurt, then never mind."
Carole's smile widened, but before she could say what was on her mind, she couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly, sighing, "How troublesome."
Before her words even faded, the wicked young man who had been standing amidst the crowd by the back door a second ago—or rather, the third-ranked individual on the dark web Ranking List published a few months ago, Tsuchimikado Haruki—had already appeared at the front door.
Wearing a somewhat manic smile, he actually pulled a very real, frost-silver cursed blade out from the void. As the blade slashed through the air, the concealed space Carole had created instantly shattered like glass struck by a heavy sledgehammer.
Within the space, Carole grabbed Shirayanagi Ayaha and rapidly retreated. As she looked at Tsuchimikado Haruki, she still maintained a cheerful, smiling expression.
The last time she encountered an SS-tier named Asaba Shinichi, she chose to use Teleportation to leave, aiming to avoid being tangled up and eventually surrounded. But here, she had no reservations other than protecting Shirayanagi Ayaha—
[Player ID: Carole Ellen Morris]
[HP: 10900/10900]
[MP: 14876/14883]
[Inherent Ability: Game World, Virtual Reality...]
[Special State: Overclock, Cheater, Evil Soul: Ghostification (II)]
[Equipment: (Data Expunged)]
[Comprehensive Tier Evaluation: SS]
Relying on her extremely unique inherent ability, Carole had truly never feared anyone when facing a Transcendent of the same tier.
Facing Tsuchimikado Haruki's blade, which continued its relentless momentum even after shattering the temporary Subspace, Carole casually tossed a crystal-like object toward Shirayanagi Ayaha.
As the crystal shattered, Shirayanagi Ayaha's figure vanished Without a Trace amidst a burst of light particles. As for Carole herself, she grinned, her smile filled with indescribable Excitement. "Then let us have a boss battle. It has been a while, after all."
She waved her hand, summoning a blue-and-pink cartoon-style pistol from her virtual Inventory. Aiming the muzzle at Tsuchimikado Haruki, she pulled the trigger Without Hesitation—
...
Screech—!
The piercing sound of tires rubbing against the asphalt abruptly rang out on the highway. The Audi R8 driving in front slammed on its brakes, and the Aston Martin following closely behind pulled up and stopped right beside it.
After swapping cars with Hoshino Gen, Asaba Shinichi was now driving the red Audi R8. With practiced coordination, he and Hoshino Gen rolled down their windows simultaneously and locked eyes. A peculiar smile formed on his face behind his Sunglasses. "Did you feel that?"
Hoshino Gen turned his head to look back in the direction of Minato Ward, which they had just left. He spoke in a Calm tone. "What do you think?"
Asaba Shinichi chuckled and rolled his window back up. With a sharp drift, he whipped the car around right where he stood. Accompanied by the angry roar of the engine, he arrogantly sped off in the opposite direction, brazenly driving against traffic.
Hoshino Gen clicked his tongue. He also spun his car around and slammed the gas pedal to the floor.
While navigating to take Sasaki Ayane to the haunted Villa, he had accidentally caught a glimpse of the location of the Abandoned School known as Kamishirogawa Private Academy. Because of this, only one thought occupied his mind at this moment.
'That Idiot is truly unlucky.'
'Though staying near a source of Contamination like myself for so long, it would be abnormal if she wasn't unlucky...'
"Brother?"
Hoshino Rin's confused voice came from the Back Seats. "Did something happen? Why did we suddenly turn around?"
Hoshino Gen kept his eyes on the road and casually replied, "Two high-tier Transcendents started fighting in Minato Ward, and my Employee just so happens to be unluckily caught in their battlefield."
"Employee..." Hoshino Rin was confused for a split second before she realized who he meant. She asked in surprise, "Is it Yu-chan?"
Her eyes went wide. "Will she be okay?"
Hoshino Gen replied calmly, "In a battlefield of this tier, who knows? But whether she is dead or alive, I still have to make a trip there, do I not?"
Yes, he had to go. If she was alive, that was fine; providing safety and security for his employee was only natural.
But if she was already dead... he felt it would be necessary to let the killer understand his spirit of contract. To that end, avenging that unlucky idiot would be perfectly reasonable as well...
Suddenly, Hoshino Gen turned to Sasaki Ayane in the Front Passenger Seat, who had just recovered from her previous Weakness. "Do you know how to drive?"
Sasaki Ayane looked at him quietly and nodded. "A little."
Hoshino Gen reached over and unbuckled both his and Sasaki Ayane's Seatbelts. "Then you take Rin and Kyukyu back."
The moment his words fell, all the passengers in the car realized that the vehicle they were in had directly hovered into the air.
Hoshino Gen pushed the door open and leaped out, and the brief moment the car was suspended in the air provided just enough time for Sasaki Ayane to slide into the driver's seat.
By the time the car touched the ground, Hoshino Gen's figure had already vanished over the horizon.
The serpent's eyes on the Ouroboros Bracelet lit up, and Hoshino Gen's body was instantly enveloped in a long black coat adorned with bone-white patterns. The mournful wail of the air being smashed and compressed relentlessly rang in his ears, yet his expression remained completely Calm.
At the same time, beneath the Audi R8 speeding down the highway, a deep, massive Shadow had somehow enveloped it. As the car drove faster and faster, its chassis gradually submerged into the shadow until it completely vanished from sight...