A silver scythe glimmered in the glory of death.
However, Dazai didn't avert his eyes. He stared at the falling blade with a quiet expression, as if he knew it wouldn't cut him.
In fact—the blade stopped. Right on the tip of Dazai's nose.
"I'm pissed, you sly bastard." Chuuya said in the air. "This is gonna go exactly as you predicted!"
"Hm?"
The old boss's scythe was caught in something black.
It was Chuuya's rider jacket. His jacket was thrown from the sky by gravity control and hit the base of the scythe.
Keeping it's heavy weight, the jacket knocked the scythe down. The scythe rolled on the ground with a clear sound, while the jacket returned to its original weight and softened.
"Haaaaa!"
Chuuya's fists swung down towards the old boss. Each punch was equivalent to a shining, hot stone. The series of rushing attacks captured, beat, and smashed the old boss.
"Ugh..."
The old boss's body, which wasn't human, was being destroyed.
"Make friends with the ground, old man!"
Chuuya grabbed the old boss's face. Black gravity waves erupted from his face when he touched him. At the same time, the boss's body was taken from mid-air and forced into the ground.
Radial cracks sprouted all over the ground, originating from the center of where the previous boss was.
Even though the previous boss had collapsed to the ground, Chuuya did not ease his gravity. Because Chuuya was releasing the greatest output of gravity, his body sunk into the ground.
"Even though this body isn't human... I've been floored?" The ground had cracked, his whole body halfway down into the ground, but he gave a thin laugh. "How annoying. But this is admirable, boy."
"I've played my card." Chuuya shouted. "Now, Dazai!"
"Don't tell me what to do!"
On the ground, Dazai ran. His brandished fists greeted Randou.
There was no murkiness in his gaze. It was as clear as a cloudless day.
Those eyes weren't something that just anyone could have. They were the glow of a blue sky that only those who have decided to live can have.
"Ahhhh!"
Dazai's fists slammed into Randou.
—But before that.
The world fell.
"Wha—"
A crimson glitter covered the world.
The building disappeared, the ground disappeared, gravity disappeared. Every conceivable thing in the world was stirring, turned into fragments, and floating around aimlessly.
"You must know... I'm a gifted who can control space." A voice said in the air.
In the world of crimson, a human-like figure appeared.
"Being able to manipulate space means being able to manipulate everything inside that space... Dazai-kun, no matter how much you are my natural enemy, the very ground you stand on, your fist and the like cannot reach me by movement alone."
Randou floated in the subspace.
His clothes fluttered while an innumerable amount of debris floated around them.
"Hey... Are you serious?" Chuuya said while looking up at him. "It isn't fair, this scale of ability...."
Dazai looked around them in amazement. "If he can manipulate his space this freely, then entering the mafia's vault room would be a piece of cake..."
"But an ability of this level will also have a huge weakness," you mumbled. "It has to, otherwise he's practically immortal."
The inside of the subspace was no longer like any landscape on Earth. The ground was hollowed out, the buildings were crushed, and everything floated in the crimson atmosphere. Dazai and Chuuya were like little ants standing on a piece of rubble.
"Chuuya-kun, do you remember? You've been in this space before." Randou said while his cloth floated in the air. "Eight years ago on that day... I was infiltrating this place together with my gifted partner on a capture mission. My partner and I believed we had captured this energetic life form, the target of our mission, in a secret military facility... But, something happened at the facility when he woke you and you tried to escape. Something wasn't right. To this day I don't remember what had happened... All I know is, because of that, I was discovered, hunted down by the enemy, and forced to try and take in Arahabaki as my ability."
Debris fluttered around Randou. A faint sound filled the air, and something invisible roared in the space.
"Randou-san." Dazai said. "Arahabaki and Chuuya's body... What are they?"
"I myself don't know. It was one of my duties to bring Chuuya-kun home and figure it out... To be in charge of Chuuya. The isolated facility was destroyed by the explosion along with his record... No one knows the truth now. But if we take Chuuya-kun in, we can reconstruct his memory. Only then can we know everything. At that time, do you know what became of my friend?"
"Your friend...?" Looking up at the crimson world, Chuuya muttered.
"Yes. The fellow spy who infiltrated with me was also my best friend. His name was Paul Verlaine, a friend who was gifted and overcame many crises. Where did he disappear to? Did he die in the explosion, or does he live on somewhere? I can't remember that alone. That's why I need your memory, Chuuya-kun," Randou insisted. "But if I take you in alive, it'll be a repeat of eight years ago. Therefore, you have to die this time. Then, I'll make your corpse my ability and grasp onto the memory of my friend's existence. To fill the eight years that were lost. To save him."
"I see... All for the sake of your friend?" Dazai said weakly. "The betrayal of the mafia, the resurrection of the previous boss, this battle... It's all a bit hard to believe."
"What don't you understand, you bastard?" Chuuya said, looking up at Randou. "I'd throw away everything for my friends. It's a very respectable thing to bet my life on... I don't leave any mercy for my opponents."
"You would?" You sputtered. "I wouldn't, unless my life depends on them."
Chuuya glared at you, and concentrated his ability on both of his hands. The mass of his fists increased as the surrounding atmosphere began to quake.
"Hey, master. Want me to tell you why I don't use my hands while fighting?" Chuuya said while walking over to the enemy. Under his feet, countless pebbles trembled then rose. "I didn't lose in a fight. I didn't even think it was dangerous... Naturally, it's because I'm not human. My personality is what you called a safety device. It's a huge lump of power, like a blast furnace, and it feels like it's stuck at the edge. So... Do you know what that feels like?"
Chuuya stepped forward in the air on nothing.
The faint dust in the air was caught, and Chuuya's feet stepped into the empty air. He stepped into the next empty space of air. In that way, Chuuya walked towards Randou as if on an invisible staircase.
"So I've sealed my hands. If I did that, someday I might lose. When that time comes, I'd have to frantically defend myself instead of just enjoying the fight... And then I thought, I could form an attachment. I'm not in a state, I'm not the host of this body, I'm a human."
Chuuya kicked the air and jumped.
Chuuya flew like a bird of prey tearing through the crimson night.
Right in front of him, a surging sea of spatial waves were blocking his way. Chuuya rushed towards the spatial waves that could easily break the buildings like candy.
"What—?"
"Haaaaa!!"
Chuuya broke through the waves with an echoing sound of clothes and flesh. There were lacerations all over his body and he was bleeding from countless cuts, but he did not slow down.
"Did you increase the density of your clothes and body as you received the shock...?"
Blood trailed behind him like a tail, and all over his body his bones shrieked, but Chuuya had a bloody smile across his lips.
Chuuya sped up towards Randou with his horizontal gravity and turned into a live cannonball. There was no wall that could stop the murderous Chuuya. The wall of spatial waves was not enough. The old boss's substitute was not enough.
Chuuya's fist pierced deep into Randou's abdomen.
Randou's body bent into a U-shape.
Chuuya sped up even further until he was part of a living storm. A right punch tore through the atmosphere. Using the recoil, he gave a left roundhouse kick. He then used an axe kick like thunder with his right leg swinging around. With his heel held by gravity, he hit Randou with a right knee kick to his jaw.
Punch, kick, punch, punch, punch, kick, punch. Continuous attacks swooped in infinitely from every direction, almost like a heavy machine gun. Moreover, all the punches and kicks were meticulously hitting Randou's vital spots. A storm of fists and kicks that rained down indefinitely. That blow was a preparation for the next blow, and that attack accelerated the next attack. Nobody could stop it.
The next kick pierced his chest—Chuuya made a vertical rotation using the impact. He unleashed a whole body kick while drawing his afterimage in the sky like a wheel. The shock spread through the space and shook the whole area.
Eventhough it seemed as if Randou could no longer do much, he used some of the rubble to crush you just as you headed towards Chuuya, ensuring that you couldn't do much more. No more shields, no more small weapons. A huge advantage of any team was having someone who could slightly manipulate the surroundings to benefit them. Now, Chuuya and Dazai would have to deal with the unpredictable nature of Randou's subspace, with virtually no help from you.
Randou crashed into the ground after passively taking it. A cloud of dust rose.
"...Amazing..." Dazai muttered, staring at the ground where Randou was, dumbfounded. Then his eyes fell on you, bloody and bruised, causing Dazai's eyes to widen in horror.
Chuuya landed in the cloud of smoke. Immediately after, he fell to his knees. He had fired a continuous series of lightning strikes at full power, and was quite out of breath. His hands supported his weight on the ground.
The dust clouds cleared up.
Chuuya, after raising his head, had frozen.
"Wonderful." Randou stood behind the cloud of dust. After eating such an attack, his body looked unhurt and his expression bore no pain. "Chuuya-kun, you have already acquired a different kind of strength and skill to Arahabaki. You are not a god, but a human being."
"Well... thanks..." Chuuya said while breathing heavily. "But after you took all that, you're still unhurt... As you can expect, I'm feeling a little down."
"Nothing I say will help. In here is my space." Randou put up his hands so his skin could be seen. "There is a thin film of severance in my subspace that acts as a cover for my skin. Any physical impact cannot go through this film."
"Ha... Everyone's an ant to a European ability user..."
A black shadow cast over Chuuya as he took another rough breath. Above him was a black robe. The old boss's corpse appeared.
A silver light swung down towards his head.
"Tch."
Chuuya couldn't stand up quick enough. He had used too much power. He raised his arm in defense, preparing his gravity for the moment the blade came down at him—but, the subspace tore through the gravitational field itself, making a rift.
In the breach, the tip of the scythe pierced precisely.
"Gah...!"
Chuuya's left hand, right underneath his wrist, was cut through. On the opposite side, the sharp blade was stuck in the ground. Chuuya was sewn down to the ground with the scythe, similar to a lab animal before dissection.
"That wound should stop your quick movements." Randou said, looking down at Chuuya. "Therefore, it'll be impossible to avoid the next shock wave."
From the sky, a shock wave violently hit Chuuya like a huge rock.
"Chuuya!"
Dazai was too far away to help him. It would take 10 seconds to run over the floating debris to the next scaffold.
"Another."
More shock waves. Cracks ran along the surrounding ground and lumps of earth flew in the air.
"Another."
More shock waves. This time, the shock wave hit from under the ground. The earth exploded and shattered in the air.
"The next one is going to be continuous."
Knocked down. Thrust up. Countless shock waves continuously attacked Chuuya from multiple directions. He couldn't even avoid them, much less take up a defensive position. It was like being hit by a high speed car from all directions. The attacks were seamless and never ending.
The crimson shockwaves finally came to a stop. His whole body was smashed to pieces, and he fell down face first. He was completely still.
A rusted tin can that was rolling next to Chuuya collapsed into a thin plate in the aftermath of the attack.
"Even a tank would become flat if it took this kind of beating." Randou said quietly. "Your broken bones and internal organs will be regenerated later as my ability."
Randou reached his hand out solemnly towards Chuuya. The light of an ability was on his fingertips.
He was trying to take Chuuya as his ability.
"Don't worry. Your soul and personality will be superficial information because of my ability, but... right now, it'd probably stay the same."
Chuuya's entire body was wrapped in the light of Randou's ability.
"N...o," you choked out, struggling to keep your ability going much longer.
But.
"Thanks."
Chuuya quickly stood up—and pierced the scythe deep into Randou's chest.
"Wh...at...?"
Chuuya was alive. He had numerous bruises and cuts, and several bones were broken. But, he was not dead.
Chuuya pushed the scythe in his arm further. The blade went through Randou's chest, and blood squirted out.
"Im...possible..."
"I'm pissed, too." Chuuya said, distorting his face full of wounds. "All the way to the end, it went according to that crafty bastard's plan."
Dazai stood in a spot across the room.
"Sorry, Randou-san."
In his left hand, Dazai was holding a cloth.
It was a long drape from when Dazai was decorating the room to deceive Chuuya.
The drape was stretched across the ground, cleverly hidden beneath the rubble that had risen to the surface. And the tip had disappeared into Chuuya's clothes.
"When Randou-san collapsed the surrounding building, I instructed Chuuya to pick up this drape." Dazai had the smile of a young boy plastered on his face.
"I had that cloth tied to me because of my ability." Said Chuuya, who was still stabbed with the scythe. "I wrapped it around my body and hid it under my clothes."
"And at the other end, I touched it." Dazai held up his own cloth. "What happens then?"
"You touch the cloth... and my ability is nullified." Randou said, sounding like he was in pain. "In other words... it functioned as 'armor' that severed the subspace's shock waves...?"
"Exactly."
"But... the girl?" Randou asked.
"She used her ability to create a shield around Chuuya-kun, just in case you were more powerful than we expected," Dazai grinned.
Chuuya pulled out the scythe.
An overwhelming amount of blood flew from the wound. The debris and rubble that had been floating lost its power and fell to the ground with a clatter.
"What... terrible children..."
Blood invaded Randou's respiratory tracts and overflowed from his mouth. He fell face first towards his own pool of blood with a wet noise.
Obviously—it was fatal.
"You're too good of an actor, even made me concerned for a second there," Chuuya glared, watching you get up.
"It wasn't all an act, I could only protect myself enough to not seem suspicious," you muttered. "There's a reason I had to be close to you, otherwise a shield that thin would never have worked."
The subspace began to disappear and the original blue sky spread out.
In the abandoned shipyard, where the ceiling was smashed to pieces, Randou lay collapsed with no strength left.
"I see... Paul, I see... You..."
"Do you have anything left to say, Randou-san?" Dazai said in a quiet tone. "If you have any regrets, we can—"
"No... There's none..." Randou said with weak eyes. Their shine was about to fade. "Just now... When I received Chuuya's ability... I remembered my best friend... the end of Paul."
Unable to support his weight with both hands, he sunk into the pool of blood he created.
"He betrayed me... at the last minute..." As he blinked, the light seemed to fade from his eyes. "During the escape, he... betrayed me and his homeland. And from behind, tried to kill me... Paul and I, who ran away, fought me, and I... to my best friend, with these hands..."
"I see." Dazai said in a whisper that fell right to his feet. "If two gifted spies fight each other, their surroundings wouldn't be safe. It would create an uproar. Is it because the military already sensed it and surrounded you with troops? That's why, as a last resort, you tried to take Arahabaki..."
Randou rolled on his back, sinking in the blood, and looked at Chuuya with clear eyes.
"Chuuya-kun... Can I say... one thing...?"
"What?"
"Live." Randou whispered. "There's no way to know... who you are or where you came from." He said in a voice close to a wheeze. "But even though... you are just a figure on the surface... you are you. Nothing is constant... all humans, all life... the brain and the body, they are all just figures of the material world that contains them... just beautiful figures..."
Both Dazai and Chuuya silently listened to the words. They were both understanding something heavy from the words, something that should never be let go.
"It's strange... I'm not cold... " Randou had a small smile. "The world should have been so cold... You too, Paul... this warm feeling... at the end......"
Randou's hand fell in the blood.
The blood drops splattered and made a noise, then soon became quiet again.
The crimson subspace was quietly leaving and the blue sky was spreading overhead.
But there were things that did not return. The body of a man who no longer felt the cold. And the hearts of the two boys, who stood staring at the body.
A gust of wind blew, watching their souls as it passed.
A/N: I'm probably gonna need to renumber the chapters so that 15 ends right at ch. 16 </33