Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Yuria and the Two Psychics (7)
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"H-How..."
How could you point a gun at me?
Ren stared at Raven, her face a mask of disbelief.
Her trembling eyes mirrored the shock of betrayal.
It was a heart-wrenching sight that would stir the emotions of anyone with a softer heart.
But Raven had no intention of lowering his gun, his gaze remaining fixed and impassive.
If she made the slightest suspicious move, he would put a bullet in her.
Perhaps sensing his unwavering, resolute will,
Ren pleaded with him, looking as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
"Do you think I'm a fake? It's me, your real sister, Ren...?"
"..."
"Don't you remember? When we lived together in that little shack, you saved me when those bad guys were bullying me for the bread I brought. But the bread got dirty, and we had to share that one tiny piece... That's why I... I loved you so much for cherishing me...!"
She flinched.
Clutching her chest in anguish as she cried out the memory, Ren's shoulders shuddered violently.
She had taken a step toward him, but Raven’s cold eyes and his finger resting on the trigger stopped her.
No words would work. In fact, the more she brought up their precious memories, the more menacing the atmosphere became.
The gut-wrenching realization felt like a knife twisting in her insides.
I've endured all this just to see you again, brother. Why won't you believe me?
A deep sense of despair tangled her emotions into a dark knot...
Soon, as if her mind had completely broken, Ren spoke with a hollow expression.
"So... you don't believe a word I'm saying, do you? Ha, haha... I see..."
"...It's not a matter of whether I can believe you or not. If you really want me to believe you, stop what you're doing and surrender. We can talk after that."
This firm response was, for him, a perfectly natural judgment.
Raven, the battle-hardened veteran—just as his moniker suggested, he had fought countless enemies on numerous battlefields.
His primary foes were magic-wielding metahumans.
In Earth's low-mana environment, mental magic was far more effective than large-scale spells.
Mages often mimicked others or controlled their bodies to inflict fatal damage.
Magical imitation was so precise it was difficult to discern with the five senses alone.
And controlling someone like a puppet was far more efficient than using drugs or psychological brainwashing.
Trusting a loved one who suddenly appeared in enemy territory was practically taboo.
'Except for her long hair, she looks exactly like the Ren from my memories. It's as if she was plucked straight from that time... which is precisely why I can't trust her.'
And she wasn't an ordinary human, either. She possessed some kind of power, presumably psychic.
No matter how precious his lost sister was to him, his cold reason would not be easily swayed.
Whether she knew of Raven's complex inner turmoil or not,
Ren, who had been breathing heavily in the face of this unbelievable reality, began to mutter with empty eyes.
"Still, I can't do this without you, brother... I need you... What should I do? Ah, right... I'll just take you with me and make you understand...! You love me, after all!"
Rumble...!
The air around Ren, who was clutching her head with one hand and curling into a ball, began to tremble violently.
It was an unnatural tremor, as if space itself were creaking and breaking down.
But Raven realized it was merely a result of her heightened emotions.
She's going to attack.
Just as he came to that conclusion and pulled the trigger several times, firing a volley of bullets,
Ren, who had stepped down from the desk, stood on the floor and thrust her left hand upward, fingers curled like claws.
"Ugh, what power...!"
Krrrrack!
A barrage of formless, sharp blades violently tore through everything in its path.
It was so fast that even Raven, with his quick reflexes, could barely react.
But as if to prove it wasn't just about speed,
Ren's attack grotesquely warped the floor and ceiling, showcasing its terrifying power.
This is absolutely not something I can withstand with my body.
Unfortunately, her powerful and swift attacks weren't the only tricky thing about her.
Like Yuria, she seemed to have a defensive barrier that protected her body without conscious effort.
She casually blocked even the surprise attacks from behind that he created through ricochets.
'Her attacks are strong enough to rip off limbs with a mere graze, and her defense is an omnidirectional barrier similar to Yuria's... A tough opponent.'
Raven, rolling on the floor while keeping his gun trained on Ren, assessed his opponent's level.
Her abilities as a psychic were likely on par with Yuria's...
But since she could unleash immense destructive power simply by releasing her energy, her offensive capabilities were greater than Yuria's.
The omnidirectional barrier, which blocked attacks from all directions, was an especially difficult, impenetrable wall for Raven, who primarily used guns.
"Brother! If you just keep running away, more people will get hurt!"
'She has no qualms about hurting people...!'
Unlike Yuria, was she the type who didn't hesitate to harm others?
The civilians nearby were quickly becoming covered in wounds from the aftershocks of her attacks.
No one was dead or seriously injured yet, but...
He couldn't afford to just wait for Ren to run out of energy.
Even though she had lost her reason, she seemed to have naturally noticed the situation turning in her favor.
Ren shouted at the dodging Raven in a voice laced with madness.
"Come with me! I'll cherish you by my side! It's a request from your only sister!"
"I refuse. And you're wrong. I have two younger sisters now. I don't particularly think of you as one of them, but as an older brother, I can't show favoritism."
"Huh...? What... what are you talking about...?"
Her relentless attacks, which had been pressing forward with great momentum, momentarily ceased.
She couldn't comprehend what she had just heard.
Two younger sisters? But my brother only has me.
With that thought in her mind, Ren set aside the fight and demanded a clear answer.
It was a demand born from her strong conviction that her psychokinetic barrier would never be breached.
But Raven didn't answer her question.
Instead, he took advantage of the pause in her attacks caused by her confusion and aimed his gun at the empty ceiling.
"It's a personal family matter. Is there a need to discuss it?"
"Of course I need to know! The idea that you have another sister is...!"
Bang!
Just as Ren's agitated body leaned forward unconsciously, his gun, aimed at the ceiling, fired.
Ceiling, wall, and then floor. After three ricochets, the bullet reached the floor near Ren.
Around her were explosives that Raven had rolled into place while dodging her attacks.
The spark from the bullet scraping the floor acted as a detonator for the small explosives, triggering a blast that shook the entire room.
"Ugh, with something like this...!"
Of course, for Ren, protected by her psychokinesis, the explosion was a meaningless attack.
Thus, even in that moment, she was still enraged by the existence of this unknown sister.
But the floor she stood on was different. It was made of ordinary tiles that would crack and break under impact.
The structure was such that if the internal supports collapsed from the shock of the explosion, a hole would inevitably form.
Moreover, since Raven had aimed his gun at the ceiling, her gaze had been directed upward.
Caught completely off guard, Ren stumbled a step forward as the floor beneath her suddenly gave way...
And that created a decisive opening in the perfect defense of her psychokinetic barrier.
"Ugh, kyaaah?!"
Bzzzt!
Where Ren had stepped was a spherical landmine.
To be precise, a taser mine that shot out electrified needles to incapacitate its target.
No matter how strong her psychokinesis, perhaps it was because her physical body was that of an ordinary girl.
The pain from the taser mine made her scream and collapse on the spot.
And psychokinesis required nothing more than intense concentration.
Knowing this, Raven approached the incapacitated Ren and aimed a gun loaded with a tranquilizer dart at her.
This girl who called herself his sister would surely become a tremendous obstacle for humanity in the future.
But capturing her here was better than killing her. It was a perfectly rational decision.
The only thing he hadn't anticipated was that in the brief moment he let his guard down, seeing her incapacitated,
something sharp came flying at him from behind.
"You damned commoner!"
"Tch...!"
Swoosh!
Reacting instinctively to the sound, Raven kicked off the floor and rolled forcefully to the side.
But perhaps because the ambush was so unexpected, the blow dug deep into his shoulder.
It seemed to have been aimed at my neck, though. Lucky it wasn't a fatal wound.
As Raven scrambled to right himself, a man who had appeared from nowhere rushed over to the fallen Ren.
He was a handsome man, though somewhat greasy-looking.
From his demeanor, it was easy to infer he knew her.
'So she did have an accomplice.'
Raven eyed the newcomer warily, checking his shoulder, which was now bleeding profusely.
He attacked with something sharp, so he's likely a psychic as well.
If so, can I take on both of them alone with an injured shoulder?
He watched the man's movements carefully, his expression growing serious.
But the handsome man seemed to have no time for Raven, hastily helping Ren up and fussing over her condition.
"M-My lady, are you alright?!"
"Ngh, ugh, hnn..."
It seemed the taser was only meant for temporary incapacitation.
Ren quickly regained consciousness and composed herself.
It was a chance to completely neutralize her... What a shame.
Now that she knows how I bypassed her barrier, it won't work a second time.
Raven, disappointed at the lost opportunity, wondered if a shot would work now, but...
since Ren had already recovered from the taser's shock, he decided to observe the situation for a moment.
"I-I'm fine... Where's my brother?"
"Over there... My lady, more importantly, the time..."
"...Is that so? You came to tell me that. I understand."
Grrr.
The handsome man who called Ren "My lady" contorted his face in clear disdain for Raven.
If not for Ren, who was desperately looking for her brother, his killing intent would have been palpable.
But even after the harsh experience with the taser mine, Ren's love for her brother seemed unchanged.
Staggering to her feet, she clutched her still-trembling shoulders and looked back at Raven.
Had the intense pain she'd felt broken her spirit a little?
Or did the sudden appearance of the handsome man signify something?
After a moment of silent thought, Ren placed a hand on her chest and spoke.
"I learned something from our fight just now. That was a truly unexpected blow... but without a trick like that, you have no way of hurting me, do you?"
"..."
"In other words, I'm stronger than you right now. And if I fight alongside my servant, I'll win for sure."
She wasn't wrong.
He didn't know how skilled the man beside Ren was yet.
But even if the man was only half as skilled as her, Raven's chances of victory were low now that he'd missed his decisive opportunity.
His primary fighting style wasn't about overpowering his foes, but about ruthlessly exploiting their weaknesses to secure victory.
Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to leverage that strength against a psychic, about whom he had little information.
So, as Raven stood there silently, tacitly acknowledging her point,
Ren spoke as if making a generous offer he couldn't possibly refuse.
"Brother, a lot of people are about to die. But you're a hero, aren't you? So if you come to me willingly... I'll call the whole thing off."
"M-My lady?!"
"I'll definitely get in a lot of trouble and be punished, but that's okay. As long as you're by my side, brother... that's all that matters."
The handsome man looked startled by Ren's declaration, which he had clearly not been consulted on.
His eyes widened as if to ask what kind of nonsense she was spouting.
But in truth, the man's reaction wasn't strange at all.
Today's plan was a stratagem devised by the leader of the Invaders himself.
It was a deadly blade meant to make the enemy bleed from within before the war even began.
So he was understandably shocked to hear a single executive declare she would cancel it on her own authority.
For Ren, then, it was an offer she was staking everything on...
But after hearing her out, Raven looked at her and gave a resolute answer.
"I refuse. I don't negotiate with terrorists. That's my motto as a Fixer."
"...Ah, I see."
Then I guess I'll have to kill everyone.
At Raven's cold rejection of her goodwill, Ren bit her lip.
Then, as if she had no other choice, she muttered in the most emotionless voice she could manage.
No sooner had she finished speaking than all the monitors in the control room began to distort inexplicably.
At the same time, a bizarre, creaking sound echoed from the speakers.
It was a horrifying noise... like a dirge guiding the dead.