N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

10.6 - The Dark Era

"State your name, leader of Mimic."

"Gide. André Gide. I came to ask you for...a match."

The leader's tone was calm; he didn't appear to be shaken in the least.

"The Mimic leader himself wishes to fight me? What an honor that would be if I actually believed you. Answering questions you haven't been asked only makes you less convincing." Akutagawa shot the man a piercing glare as he spoke. "Leader of Mimic, do you know why I haven't cut your head off yet?"

"Maybe because...you were disciplined not to?"

Akutagawa punched Gide in the face. With both legs tied together, he was unable to dodge, and a drop of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"The reason I haven't cut your head off yet is that I heard Mimic's leader was a skill user."

Akutagawa swiped the old-fashioned gun from Gide's waist, then pointed it at him.

"I can't gain his acceptance no matter how many pea-shooting weaklings I kill. Show me your skill. If it is the real thing, I will give you that match you so desire."

Gide just stared at Akutagawa and the gun.

"So this is your skill... You can control the black overcoat," he groaned, staring at the black straps around his arms and legs. "An extraordinary ability, one with no openings. However...it's lacking. It's not enough to free our souls from original sin... It appears I expected a little too much from you."

Akutagawa's face stiffened as hard as a diamond. His breathing halted, and something in his body snapped. He responded with the flash of his black blade, slashing toward a man who was tied up and unable to move. Without even a hint of nervousness, Gide leaned forward and tilted his head. The blade grazed the side of his face, cutting a few hairs to flutter in the wind. As Gide turned his neck, the tip of his head skimmed the old-fashioned gun Akutagawa had just stolen. As the pistol left Akutagawa's hand, his finger accidentally pulled the trigger.

One of the belts around Gide reacted by enveloping the bullet and stopping it before it could reach Akutagawa. However, this freed Gide's left hand...and he was carrying another pistol in his military uniform. He drew the gun with that hand and shot the mafioso next to him before the target even knew what was going on. The bullet struck him in the shoulder, causing the Mafia member's automatic rifle to fire three bullets, with one shooting right through Akutagawa's arm. The other two hit two mafiosi in the chest. The shots were fatal.

"What—?!"

Taken aback at being shot in the arm, Akutagawa reflexively used his skill to block. He cut through space, blocking Gide's next shot, but in return he ended up undoing the black straps restraining Gide, thus freeing him.

Immediately, Gide picked up his other gun lying on the ground...and that was when the one-sided massacre began.

It wasn't some sort of mysterious, visible power at work. The bullets weren't turning and flying in the opposite direction, nor was lightning or fire falling from the skies. No one was suddenly being frozen in place, either. It was simply a repeat of the earlier gunfight with the exception that everything was taking place at extremely close range—that, and the outcome was different.

Gide rolled over the ground while shooting the pistols in both hands. Each bullet pierced straight and true into a Mafia member's vital organ. Only Akutagawa was able to defend himself—or rather, he was forced to defend would be a more accurate description. You spent most of your energy defending yourself and others, not wanting to lose more soldiers.