A World Just for You (8)
Misaki ran with everything she had through the slowed world. Every step she took sent her head spinning.
On top of that, she had to make sure Yui, cradled in her arms, didn't brush against any walls or other structures. If she accidentally made contact, the point of impact wouldn't be able to withstand the force.
That was why Misaki couldn't freely push her speed.
In the narrow corridor she shortened her stride, and every time a corner appeared she twisted her body in advance. She kept constant tension in both arms so that Yui's head and limbs wouldn't jostle.
Just a little more.
Her breath burned all the way up her throat. Black spots flickered at the edges of her vision. But she gritted her teeth and righted her balance.
She couldn't stop. The moment she collapsed, she and Yui would be left stranded in the middle of the research lab.
And more than anything, she couldn't waste the time Ren had risked his life to create for her.
Just a little more!
An exit door came into view at the end of the corridor. Misaki forced strength back into her staggering legs.
One step. Another step.
The moment she reached for the doorknob, the sensation in her fingertips went blurry. After several failed grasps, she finally managed to seize the handle.
"We're almost there…!"
She burst out of the research lab and raced down the slope.
There was no danger of tripping on rocks. Even if she misstepped, she'd simply float in midair. All she had to do was correct her posture.
Misaki clutched Yui even tighter. Not far away, a black sedan came into view.
Finally arriving at the car, Misaki opened the back door and carefully laid Yui down. She cradled Yui's head with both hands until the very end so it wouldn't hit the doorframe.
The moment Yui's body fully settled onto the seat, she released the acceleration.
Whoooosh.
The world that had been frozen reclaimed its speed all at once. Wind howled, and leaves rustled.
"Hahk…!"
The fatigue that crashed over her like a recoil made Misaki's legs give out.
She clung to the open car door and barely managed to sink to the ground. Every breath felt like it was tearing her chest open, and a fierce ringing filled her head.
Her philtrum burned hot. Blood streamed from her nose, but she didn't even have the strength to wipe it with her sleeve.
"Huuuuhhh…"
Had she ever suffered this much in her life? Her vision blurred as tears welled up.
Even so.
Yui was safe.
Misaki checked on Yui lying in the back seat, then smiled weakly.
"I got her out…"
Now she just needed Ren to come. She climbed into the passenger seat and, with trembling hands, pulled out her phone to check the time.
Please be safe. Please…
She desperately hoped Ren would arrive by the promised six o'clock.
A vibration resonated from deep within my mind.
Assimilation Rate: 41%
As if I'd swallowed a calming pill, the tension in my heart settled, and my pulse returned to calm.
"Different, my ass."
Scar's shoulder moved. The motion looked slow, like slow motion.
I shuddered faintly.
This was it.
The fat woman blocks the escape route, the man with black glasses binds my ankle with shadow, then Scar lands a hit.
The exact same combo as before. But this time was different.
I could see where it started, when it ended, and what would come next.
Right side.
I tilted my upper body to the left before the fist even dropped.
KWAANG!
The stone fist grazed past my face and slammed into the barrier. The translucent membrane rippled hard.
The woman's expression hardened.
"Wait, if you hit it from that side…!"
The barrier, struck by Scar's attack, rippled and thinned.
"You said shadow, right?"
Instead of resisting the shadow binding my ankle, I used that force as an axis to spin my body.
I flicked up the dagger I'd discarded on the floor with my fingertips. The spinning hilt landed in my palm.
Weirdly, it only hides inside shadows. In that case…
Fluorescent light reflected off the dagger and struck the shadow ring.
Sizzle!
Just as I thought.
The shadow melted away in an instant, and my ankle found freedom.
"…Huh?"
The man with black glasses looked up. Before he knew it, the dagger had pierced through the back of his hand.
Assimilation Rate: 45%
"Gyaaah!"
I kicked off the floor. My creed was always to handle the easy things first.
Scar's expression turned urgent.
"Stop him!"
The woman stretched out her hand.
A barrier rose around the researchers once more. But its strength had already been weakened by Scar.
I leaped high into the air and spun my body.
Rotational force. Body weight. Speed.
I drove my heel, loaded with all of it, precisely into the thinned section of the barrier.
KWAANG!
The translucent membrane caved in deeply, then shattered to pieces. The woman's face went deathly pale.
"My barrier that can stop bullets…"
Assimilation Rate: 52%
The researchers who'd been resting easy inside the barrier trembled in terror.
I liked this fear.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
Dozens of people fled all at once. They shoved each other to claim the exit, trampled fallen colleagues, and even threw away the charts they'd been holding.
I watched calmly. I didn't bother chasing them. I let them think they could escape.
Then I lifted a chunk of concrete with my toe. Caught it in my hand. And threw it at the one running at the very front.
Whooosh!
The concrete shard cut through the crowd. It slammed hard into the red button beside the door.
An emergency alarm blared as red light flooded the hall. Iron bars sealed every door on all sides.
"Uh…?"
The fleeing people stopped. In front of the blocked exits, they slowly turned around.
I cracked my neck left and right.
Crack.
"Who said you could leave?"
Assimilation Rate: 65%
The color drained from their faces.
I had a pistol on me, but I didn't particularly want to use a ranged weapon that wouldn't let me feel the satisfaction of a hit.
Click.
At that moment, a shadow ring locked around my leg again.
"Dogo! Hurry…!"
Before the man could finish speaking to Scar, I threw the dagger.
The dagger, flying at near-sonic speed, pierced through the man's brow.
His scrawny body slumped to the floor.
There was no death cry.
"…!"
Scar and the woman stared at me with frozen faces.
I smirked and took a step forward.
Neither of them could say a word.
Dogo Ryuji. When he transformed into a stone statue, he'd believed he had no equal.
Granted, there were drawbacks—his sense of touch nearly vanished, and even his hearing and vision dulled—but his destructive power and durability were second to none.
But combat wasn't decided by destructive power alone. A fist that couldn't land, no matter how strong, was meaningless.
And now that even that glasses guy was dead, there was no chance of beating this bastard.
Can a person change this much? Is he some kind of dual personality?
When the crow mask took a step toward the researchers, dozens recoiled at once. Like a herd of livestock cornered by a single predator.
The mask spread both hands holding daggers wide left and right. He bent his body to an eerie degree, then charged straight forward.
"…!"
He wasn't even visible.
Wherever the mask passed, researchers toppled one after another. Screams erupted all at once, then died out in a single breath.
Ryuji stared blankly at the scene.
Even as the mask slaughtered the researchers without hesitation, he showed no sign of even catching his breath.
This guy was a complete monster!
He examined his own arms. Fine cracks were forming all over the rock-transformed skin.
The maximum duration of his ability was thirty minutes a day. If he maintained the petrification any longer, his body wouldn't hold.
If he dragged this out, he'd die to that bastard. If he released the ability, he'd die. He couldn't run either.
To open the exit, you had to hold the button for five seconds, and there was no way the mask would wait that long.
Ryuji gritted his teeth.
Then the woman beside him spoke in a trembling voice.
"D-Dogo. I'll put up the barrier again, so just buy me a little time…"
Ryuji turned his head. Even with a barrier, nothing would change.
His gaze sank coldly.
"Sorry."
"What?"
KWAANG!
Before she could even raise a barrier, she was crushed head-on by a stone fist. Her body, pulverized beyond recognition in an instant, twitched intermittently.
The research wing fell silent in a heartbeat. Even the fleeing researchers stopped in their tracks.
The crow mask stopped moving too. His head slowly turned toward Ryuji.
"…"
Ryuji swallowed dryly.
He couldn't see the expression behind the mask. And yet he could tell the man was smiling.
"Why did you do that?"
The crow mask asked in an intrigued voice. Ryuji hastily released his ability.
Crack-crack.
The rock covering his body fell away. His massive frame shrank, and his skin returned to normal.
Strength drained from his entire body.
Even so, because he was still much larger than the crow mask, Ryuji dropped both knees to the floor.
"Please spare me."
The researchers' faces hardened. The man who'd been trying to protect them just moments ago was bowing his head.
But Ryuji paid no mind to their stares. They were all going to die soon anyway.
He bent his waist until his forehead nearly touched the ground.
"If there's anything you want to know about this research lab, I'll tell you everything."
The crow mask approached slowly. The sound of his dress shoes striking the floor rang out unusually loud.
Clack. Clack.
The footsteps stopped in front of Ryuji.
"And why should I believe that?"
Ryuji closed his mouth for a moment. Then he pointed at the woman who'd been reduced to pulp on the floor.
"I killed that woman."
"So?"
"I eliminated my own ally with my own hands. There's nowhere left for me to go back to."
The mask smirked and pointed to a corner of the research wing. Thirteen researchers who weren't dead yet were trembling there.
"Then do it one more time."
Ryuji's pupils trembled faintly. Then he finally nodded.
"…Understood."