Chapter Thirty-Nine: You will never see it coming~!
Thursday,
9:12 A.M.
"Since when did you realize?"
"When, you ask? Yesterday, of course. Casually strolling around with those kinds of people… I'm heartbroken."
In front of him,
Kurumi pressed a hand to her chest, displaying an expression of pure heartbreak.
Leave it to her to fake sincerity so convincingly.
And just look at her; this same person was the one who was all smiles and acting seductive yesterday.
Oh…
Right.
"Drop the act, we both know you don't really feel that way."
"My, how cruel. Denying a girl her delicate feelings. But seeing as you're not one for theatrics… I suppose it's only natural."
Kurumi let out a smile regardless.
His connection to DEM was too strong.
Too strong.
From what she heard from Maya yesterday, he had origins in England and the States.
While Mana, on the other hand, was accompanying Maya.
That background was simply too convenient.
She fully expected Mana to recognize her, but apparently, her everyday clothes worked well enough as a disguise.
Not that she'd been trying to disguise herself.
That had been her casual attire.
But putting that aside.
Yes…, it she was around yesterday, she began to keep an eye on Morgan from the shadows.
well, her clones did.
Sure enough, she came to the shocking discovery this morning that he was a Wizard.
It made no sense.
Willingly, he let himself be swallowed by a Spacequake, survived it, and was even this strong.
"Anyway. I know you've been after something. Let's make a deal."
"A deal."
Kurumi tapped her chin with her hand tilting her head to the side, processing his words.
It took a moment.
A moment to fully process those words before:
"Kihihihi… you can't be serious."
She took a step back, holding her stomach as laughter spilled out of her as though he'd said something funny.
Presumably, he knew who she was.
Yet, he was willingly making a deal with someone like her.
"There's a limit to how arrogant one can be, my dear Clair~"
"Between the two of us, I honestly can't tell who's truly arrogant."
Morgan slightly shrugged his shoulder, tilting his head to the side with an exasperated sigh.
Well, anyone with the ability to manipulate Time and Shadows would be arrogant, much, no?
Oddly, however, he felt she was implying something else entirely.
If he were to guess, it's regarding 'Nightmare,' isn't it?
The worst spirit, who had slaughtered over ten thousand people.
In another world, she could easily become a Demon Lord.
And then, if he guessed this correctly, color him appalled.
Even this girl who thinks she's irredeemable has no idea how many people are hopelessly down bad for her.
So what if she'd killed ten thousand?
People liked her for all the wrong reasons, and honestly, Morgan couldn't even judge them.
He might be the same.
Besides her, there were plenty of others who had committed atrocities as well.
Yet, it never stopped anyone from loving them.
In short—
"See, I don't give a damn how many people you've killed."
If a situation demanded it, he'd do the same. Morally wrong?
Sure.
But if it had to be done, he'd do it without hesitation.
He had literally launched a potentially fatal attack at his aunt minutes ago.
For someone he cared about, going that far was far from normal.
And even if he injured her, he believed DEM would do something about it.
Something about him, too, was wrong from the very start.
'Wait, if I put it like that, then, that means I'm crazy too…'
"I see, so that's your preference."
Kurumi playfully spread her arms, but Morgan didn't answer.
He simply folded his arms with an unreadable expression, as though in thought.
Then, Beta's figure once more appeared beside Morgan with a flat expression.
«Kurumi Tokisaki is correct. Master is physically and sexually attracted to women who are mentally unstable»
"Beta. Quiet."
Kurumi froze.
Her right hand rose to her forehead, staggering, accompanied by a faint, shaky laugh escaping her lips.
She was pleased that her target of interest seemed interested in her as well.
But being labeled "mentally unstable"—
Her expression darkened.
"Clair dear~ may I ask what that loudmouthed thing is?"
«Hmph. How rude. A creature without control over its own powers calls a perfected digital existence a 'thing,' you—»
Snap!
Wirh a snap of a finger, Morgan disabled Beta's holographic projection.
A deadly silence hung between them.
Kurumi was looking over with a smile thay didn't quite reach her ears, and it was finally then, Morgan understood.
So, this is how it feels.
Thinking that, Morgan gave himself a slight vague nod, changing the subject.
"That aside, I've found the location of
Kurumi's expression didn't change.
No, it changed, simply reverting to her cool-headed expression while adding:
"I see. You're already preparing to be unfaithful, and I'm supposed to help with that?"
"Nngh. I'm not planning to cheat on you, it's—"
Morgan stopped mid-sentence, lifting his head toward her, only to see the sly grin already on her lips.
Just as she expected.
Normal means wouldn't work on him.
Direct ones would.
Right now, even the male seems to have been thrown off balance, rubbing his forehead in distress.
"But if that's not how it is, kihihihihi, I don't mind assisting."
She stepped closer.
Closing the distance on her own initiative, and Morgan didn't push her away.
Still, she halted three meters from him.
Morgan's Territory was still active, which meant he hadn't fully acquiesced to her yet.
"Then I guess I'll earn your trust the hard way~"
He heard her, but he didn't respond. A screen had appeared before him.
Multiple security camera feeds were displayed.
They must have already broadcasted 'safety' to all shelters since Princess had been marked [Lost].
Now that he remembered…
He tossed his phone away, didn't he?
"Beta, send a message through an anonymous line to Auntie: I won't be home until evening."
«Understood»
Saying that, he then finally turned to Kurumi.
With that, he finally turned to Kurumi.
"Try to keep up."
And with those words, his body lifted from the ground, disappearing into the sky.
She watched him for a brief moment, smiling faintly, before following right after.
Neryl Island
That was its name.
20 years ago, Neryl Island was an ordinary uninhabited location at the Pacific.
Then DEM, its UK corporation, purchased it for their own purposes.
Perhaps it was careless of them to leave official records of it behind, since Beta indeed found ledgers and transactions.
Regardless, was only one of many islands they had acquired.
In actuality.
Neryl Island was a huge laboratory built underground to conduct various experiments.
It's a no-brainer that the entire location was classified.
Right now, two objects, however, were approaching the uninhabited island at supersonic speeds.
Command Center - Neryl Island
Inside the dimly lit room.
Exposed by only the light coming out from the monitor, most especially, the wide grid map on their paranomic screen.
"Permission granted."
At this moment, the staffs continued their routine work.
With a staff of about fifty people who worked in the facility further below ground.
And about another fifty acting as security, ranging from Wizards to operators.
Once a week, cargo arrived directly from the UK, always after prior communication.
It was one of the many measures keeping the location concealed.
"Fyuuu… finally. I hope that delivery goes through. It's taken long enough."
A male operator let out a yawn.
Leaning back in his chair with a bored expression, prompting the coworker beside him to glance over.
"Man, I keep telling you, we are in the middle of work."
"Come on, you say that every time. There's no way anything happens here. Besides, this place has more security protocols than we could ever need."
The laid-back operator sounded completely convinced of that.
As though to add to that, he waved his right hand casually with a sheepish grin.
"Now that the cargo's here, it's the same routine as always. Honestly, what's the point?"
He crossed one leg over the other, placing it on his workstation.
On the other hand, his partner simply shook his head.
"Well, don't come crying to me when the commander chews you out."
"Tch, seriously? Like I said, nothing's going to happen…"
Despite the friendly warning from his coworker, the laid-back operator only took it mildly seriously.
But in fairness, he wasn't entirely wrong.
At least, on a normal day, that is.
For twenty years, not a single hostile presence had ever made it here.
That was alone to make him believe so.
With that in mind.
Once again, he glanced at his screen with a dismissive smile, when—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Hm?"
He lifted his head toward his monitor. Then slowly, he looked up at the massive, holographic grid.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Two red markers were streaking toward their base at unbelievable speed.
Judging from their radius, they were still several hundred kilometers out, but…
"Hah!?"
Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
The emergency alarm erupted the moment the unidentified objects crossed the safe perimeter.
—tssshhh!
The hydraulic door leading to the operation room slid open.
Following that, a blonde woman in military uniform strode inside with firm, commanding steps.
"What is going on? Report!"
"Ma'am! Two unidentified objects, maintaining consistent supersonic speed, are approaching!"
"What?"
Her eyes widened briefly before she took her position with her arms crossed and expression hardened with a deep scowl.
"Connect to the satellite! Put the footage onscreen!"
Darting her hand to the side, she immediately gave that order.
"Tsk… and here I was about to celebrate."
Despite the looming threat closing in on them, she didn't show the slightest hint of fear.
After all, she had just received a report moments earlier.
More of good news to her than a report.
'Wizard X'.
There was no official designation for him besides the name Ratatoskr had originally assigned:
'Ogre'.
But it seemed like 'Ogre' was just one part of him.
In a way, one could say that was not even his final form.
Yet even that wasn't what made her day.
It was the fact that this X had humiliated her. Her nemesis: Kumiyo Kyo.
'Hahahaha! Serves you right Kumiyo Kyo.'
The thought alone put a viciously satisfied smile on her lips.
But it was also when—
Vrrrr~!
"Hn?"
What is it now?
Her frown deepened as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her device.
It was one used exclusively by higher-ranking DEM agents.
Capable of various forms of communication and access.
Be it sharing confidential files across their secret channels or other things.
However, the moment she checked it, her expression tightened even further.
It was none other than her nemesis.
"Kyo? Ha! Finally realized who the true superior is."
With that scoff, she tapped the accept button, and Kyo's voice immediately filtered through.
It was Kyo's lazy voice that came from it.
"What?"
"You—!?"
The call ended before she could answer.
Jennifer Bryce remained there, gripping the railing hard enough to bend it.
A look of revulsion twisted her features.
"So what? Anti-Wizard or not, I'll stop him cold and show him I'm the one on top!"