Nightingale's Perspective
By the time Kid G had slipped into the police station and Iron Fist moved to check the situation inside, he realized the door was no longer a door.
"What the hell is this?! It's clearly a door, so why won't it open! Damn it, that Kid G bastard is pulling his tricks again...!"
KWAANG-!
With raw strength far greater than even Valkyrie's, Iron Fist simply smashed through the station wall, forcing an entrance and charging inside.
Several officers lay sprawled unconscious across the floor.
"That bastard...! He's already inside! Quick, get Jumper— damn it! Comms are still dead!"
With no way to contact Jumper and no operator support available, Iron Fist pressed deeper alone, shaking the downed officers in an attempt to rouse them.
"Hey! Snap out of it! Are you still alive?"
"Uuuugh..."
"Thank god, they're still breathing. Doesn't look like they'll be getting up anytime soon, though..."
Relieved that the officers were unharmed, Iron Fist hurriedly hoisted the unconscious men onto his back and carried them outside one by one.
Even with an extermination order underway, police officers were still civilians—and as a hero who could never ignore civilian safety, securing them took priority over hunting Kid G.
Once every officer was safely outside, Iron Fist watched fog begin to seep and curl from within the station and spat a curse.
"Son of a bitch...! That damn fog again..."
"I'll take it from here."
"Hey, Valkyrie—and you, the Union Leader's daughter! If you pull another stunt, a scolding won't be the end of— hurgh!"
At the sudden female voice cutting in, Iron Fist started to bark, assuming it was Valkyrie or Kim Sejin—then he turned around and nearly fainted on the spot.
A slender beauty with golden hair coiled into a neat military bun.
Even A-class heroes like him rarely ever saw her in person. The S-class hero Nightingale herself had arrived on the scene.
Nightingale hadn't been officially assigned to this operation either, but her rank was far too high for anyone to complain about an unlisted participant showing up.
Faced with a figure he had never imagined would appear, Iron Fist jumped, then immediately snapped to attention and offered a formal salute.
"N-N-Nightingale-nim! You've come! B-but what brings you here...?"
"I was responding to a report that Oblivion had appeared, but it seems the caller was mistaken. On the way back I remembered that this was the station Kid G sent his notice to, so I thought I'd stop by while I was out. It looks like the operation isn't going quite as smoothly as planned?"
"N-no, not at all! We'll find him any moment and execute him immediately—"
"I'm not here to scold anyone. This is the man who escaped even Dimension Walker. Of course he's difficult for anyone to catch. Since I happened to be passing by, I wanted to lend a hand."
"If Nightingale-nim is willing to help, nothing in the world could be more reassuring... but are you truly certain?"
"If someone has to write a report, I'll write it myself."
When Nightingale smiled radiantly, Iron Fist felt as though even his heart had been healed.
He quickly pulled himself together and briefed her on the precautions.
"Nightingale-nim. That Kid G bastard is using some strange trick. He's spreading this fog of unknown origin—doesn't even seem to be his own ability..."
"Yes... I know."
"Pardon?"
"...It's an ability I'm quite familiar with. Don't worry."
With that, Nightingale strode steadily into the police station where the fog was billowing out.
Shit...! How is she this strong...!
I had never imagined Nightingale would be here. Caught completely off guard by her sudden ambush, I twisted and wrenched at the two wrists locked in her grip, but her strength far outclassed mine. I couldn't budge an inch.
Nightingale possessed no physical-enhancement type ability.
Yet as an S-class, even without one, the force with which she clamped my wrists was every bit a match for Valkyrie's—perhaps even greater.
One hand pinned both of my wrists. The other rested squarely over my heart.
At this point, I was already dead.
If Nightingale had simply willed it the moment she seized me, my wrists would have turned as black and lifeless as a corpse's. Without my door-opening ability, escape would have been impossible.
No—before any of that even mattered, a single activation of her power through the hand on my chest would have ended my heart's lifespan right there. Instant death.
For the first time since becoming Kid G, death stood right before my eyes. Cold sweat poured down my face in sheer shock.
"Seeing the great Kid G so startled that his pupils are shaking and he's breaking out in a cold sweat... it seems even you have no way out of this situation."
"...I never imagined Nightingale-nim would come. That was my blunder."
"Of course it was. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be here at all."
The gentle, warm smile Nightingale usually wore was gone without a trace. Her expression was blank—and knowing her usual image, that blankness was more terrifying than anything.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Then, from behind Nightingale, came the sound of ragged breathing.
I shifted my gaze slightly and saw Eve, pupils trembling even worse than mine, gasping for air.
Her entire body shook as a severe PTSD reaction took hold. She couldn't even form proper words before blue sparks began crackling across her skin.
She was trying to use Lightning's ability—one of the ability-user cells transplanted into her.
ZZZT-! CRACK!
"Hah... hah... y-you... back then, you... hah..."
"......"
Nightingale turned her head toward Eve as well, regarding her with nothing but a complicated expression.
As Eve's PTSD reaction to Nightingale intensified, far denser fog poured from her body, and blue sparks leapt across her skin.
At the same time, the file folders scattered around the room began to twitch and stir, preparing to separate.
"Hah... M-Master... output limit... hah... release..."
If I left her like this, Eve risked going berserk again.
I shouted in a tone as close to normal as I could manage, trying to calm her.
"Eve! Calm down and look carefully! I'm fine!"
"Hah... hah... she's... she's trying to kill me... hah..."
"Eve! Look at me!"
Even while still pinned by Nightingale, I desperately soothed her.
"See? I'm completely fine, right? Not a scratch on me. She didn't come here to attack us."
"Hah... hah... is... that so?"
"Yeah. If you really can't stand it, you can step out for a bit. Nothing's going to happen to you. Okay? Nothing's going to happen to me either, so can you keep watch outside for a little while? You can leave for now."
"Hah... I-I'll leave... hah... I don't... like that person..."
Once I kept emphasizing that she didn't have to face Nightingale, the fog and blue sparks pouring from Eve's body gradually subsided.
I still had her output restricted for fear she might accidentally kill someone if she lost control, so I couldn't have asked for her help anyway.
If I'd come prepared for a fight against S-classes from the start, I would have lifted the limit—but today wasn't that kind of day...
Still, if I, her current controller, actually died, control would pass to Eve herself. From that point, escaping would be easy enough.
Eve vanished into the fog almost at once. Now, aside from the unconscious police chief, only Nightingale and I remained in the records room.
With the same blank expression, Nightingale simply let Eve flee the room and spoke to me.
"'Nothing will happen,' you say... How can you be so certain? If I simply will it right here, you die. Judging by the reports of your ability, it seems you can teleport to the location of a hidden clone—but with a person attached to you like this, even that would be impossible. Are you trying to claim you still have a way out?"
"No. There's no way out, and no other method either. I'm simply clinging to the small hope that Nightingale-nim, having completely subdued someone under an extermination order, still hasn't killed me on the spot because she wants to talk about something."
"......"
Nightingale was merciful and gentle by nature, but she was no soft touch who went easy on villains.
Against every other villain who had received an extermination order for unspeakable crimes, she had never hesitated for a second—overloading the regenerative cells of their hearts and killing them instantly on the spot.
The fact that she was holding me yet still chatting so leisurely, and that she had come down here alone despite Jumper and Iron Fist being present, told me her goal wasn't simply my execution.
Thinking back on Nightingale's actions in the original story, it was probably...
"...What exactly do you want? I can tell just from your track record that your purpose is different from every other villain I've fought. I've seen conviction-driven criminals before, but when you strip away the mask, even their so-called beliefs always turned out to be based on personal desires—power, or something else."
"And I seemed different to you?"
"Among all those conviction-driven criminals, not one focused so exclusively on the government line. There's nothing to gain and only danger to be found. And not a single one of them ever returned what they had to the citizens."
"I'm grateful you think so highly of me, but I'm still just a man driven by personal desire. It's simply that my desire has nothing to do with wealth or glory."
"Then what is it you want?"
"There are plenty of things I want, but..."
Recalling Nightingale's path in the original story, I gave the answer most likely to shake her.
"The common step required for all of them is to topple this rotten government that's worse than a dog."
In that instant, an earthquake struck Nightingale's pupils.
