NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15 - Behind the Scenes
“… He’s been taken out.”
A man murmured as he watched the ash carried away by the wind. He stood on the rooftop of a nearby building where Mikoyuki and Kyousaki had fought.
“Kyousaki… You did well.”
The man, dressed in a black coat with black hair and black eyes, had a shadowy, chaotic look in his eyes. The hidden red in his eyes seemed to reflect his danger. He caught the ash carried by the wind with his right hand.
“How long do you plan to stay there?”
A girl standing a step behind him, with a cold voice, asked the man who was looking down at the retreating Mikoyuki. To her, the lives and deaths of people didn’t matter at all, as her tone implied.
“Kamishiro Mikoyuki… He doesn’t seem that threatening. Indeed, if we fought head-on, there’s a slim chance of winning, but he’s too careless, revealing his abilities like that.”
“No, he’s terrifyingly cautious. After all, he noticed my presence.”
“What…?”
The girl, puzzled, responded to the man’s statement.
“Yes, he completely noticed. That was a provocation.”
It was indeed a provocation.
A provocation implying, ‘Are you still going to do it?’ Mikoyuki had realized what they were trying to do at that moment.
“He’s pretty good for his age… It’s no wonder he’s called the world’s strongest… Ah, I should have gone instead. But then, handling him would be troublesome.”
“Your abilities aren’t something you show off to others, are they?”
“Haha, that’s true. But only a few, including you, know my abilities. Even if people know, it’s okay. After all, it’s impossible to counter them.”
Laughing, but his eyes didn’t smile at all. While talking, he was still thinking about how to kill or retire that boy.
“You never change, do you?”
The girl sighed at his attitude.
“And you, Gabriel, are as indifferent as ever.”
The girl’s light blue eyes glinted momentarily at those words. But then, the light was overshadowed. The silver-haired girl spoke.
“Gabriel Edelhart… That’s my real name…”
She repeated it over and over. That name must have held meaning. She thought of the two faceless adults.
‘Gabriel!’
“……”
Every time, she heard a voice. A sad, sorrowful voice, but one filled with undeniable love. If she clung to that voice, would her memory return…?
“Ridiculous.”
A cold wind blew around. The icy breath invaded the rooftop, threatening to freeze everything it touched. The ice, which sapped the life from anything it touched, crept towards the man.
“What could his ability be… It’s not enhancement, or emission. Creation or materialization… it’s not that either.”
Lost in thought, the man didn’t notice the icy fangs.
“Oh, he’s like me, a ‘Special Type’.”
Standing up, the man nodded in agreement with himself. He finally noticed what was happening around him.
“Gabriel.”
Stepping on the ice, he slowly approached the girl. The ice that drained life didn’t affect him.
“D-don’t come closer…! Even you can’t…!”
But he didn’t stop. Finally, he was close enough to touch her. The girl’s breath was ragged, her white breath shimmering in the summer sun.
The man activated his ability.
Instantly, the ice flowers around shattered, scattered by the summer wind.
“I told you, no matter how sad your memories, I’m here with you.”
“……”
“Besides, you have nothing to apologize for… You’re not at fault. The world is.”
He said this while looking down at the city from the rooftop.
(I’m going to change this trash of a world… That’s the promise I made with that child.)
“Don’t worry—we’ll definitely make you happy… That’s why I became the boss of Collad Bomb. The clown will smile and defeat evil.”
The man spoke with a determined expression.