Chapter 230: The Truth
In the public cemetery of West City, a black-robed young girl stood quietly in place, lost in thought. Beside her was an incredibly eerie, huge, dark coffin. The surrounding area, with its completely destroyed buildings and almost overturned ground, proved that the events that had transpired here were far from the current stillness.
“Did you finish?”
A strange voice suddenly came from the void, breaking the chilling silence that made one’s hair stand on end.
The disturbed earth was pushed up by a strange power, and a giant purple python broke through the ground. The tall, long-haired youth stood leisurely in the mouth of the giant snake, his demeanor as relaxed as if he had just gone to the convenience store next door to buy something.
The black-robed young girl, who had been as still as a painting, suddenly looked up, her gaze finally meeting the incredibly strange, mismatched eyes of the long-haired youth who had appeared from the void.
“One got away.”
The girl nodded, raised her hand, and threw a mass of black shadow to the Kurokawa Iori before her, concisely reporting the situation she had faced. Then, she lowered her head again, continuing to ponder her plan.
“Oh?”
Taking the item thrown by the girl, Kurokawa Iori looked at the somewhat familiar cloth doll in his right hand. The once exquisite doll was no longer in its former state; its anthropomorphic face was filled with the expression of desperate terror, and the huge hole in its chest proved its final outcome.
Casually looking at the spiritual artifact in his hand, which was constantly leaking spiritual energy due to its damage, Kurokawa Iori’s gaze shifted to the black-clothed girl standing upright beside him.
Kurokawa Iori could naturally sense the aura of Mai Shinomiyai’s arrival. Or rather, although he was fighting with Master Ku at the time, a significant portion of his attention was actually focused on Kazumi.
After all, she was a subordinate treasured by his close friend, and he had also requested the help of Kurokawa Iori for this mission. Therefore, he could not let the girl perish here.
However, Kazumi’s performance had truly exceeded his expectations, whether it was her ability to control death aura and corpse crows, the disgusting maggots she summoned later like a tide, or even the headless knight that gave him a slight sense of trouble.
The girl’s abilities, tactics, and on-the-spot reactions were all so perfect that not a single flaw could be found, constantly refreshing Kurokawa Iori’s evaluation of Kazumi in his heart.
“It’s okay, the mission is complete, and you did very well.”
Kurokawa Iori squeezed the doll in his hand, then threw it back into Kazumi’s hands. He replied with a tone of slight praise.
Looking at the girl’s questioning gaze as she took back the doll, Kurokawa Iori smiled slightly and continued.
“I don’t have a habit of snatching the spoils of my subordinates. The materials for this thing are quite good. You can go back and try to repair it with evil energy, and perhaps it can be turned into a cursed item.”
“Okay.”
Kazumi naturally would not be polite. The reason she handed over the doll was that Mai Shinomiyai had used it to evade her fatal attack. Although the selfish girl never had the habit of sharing her gains with others, it could be understood by thinking with her toes that her actions were definitely being observed by Kurokawa Iori. And such a powerful item that could escape death, if she kept it privately without permission under the opponent’s nose, the trouble would likely be much greater than the profit.
Looking at the girl who replied to him with a single, cold word, Kurokawa Iori narrowed his eyes comfortably, a trace of desire slowly brewing in his eye sockets.
This girl’s aptitude was truly excessive, and not just in terms of abilities. Her combat awareness was sharp and sufficiently ruthless, and her way of handling things was concise and efficient. Even Kurokawa Iori, who was accustomed to acting alone, was somewhat tempted to have such a subordinate.
“Coffin.”
“Un, Lord Sakuraba.”
Upon hearing Kurokawa Iori’s sudden call of her name, the girl turned her head in confusion but still bowed slightly with respect, looking at the man before her.
“Are you interested in working for me? Your abilities have a very high compatibility with mine, and I have many ways to use evil energy.”
The girl’s respectful and humble demeanor made Kurokawa Iori’s gaze of admiration increase, and even his usually leisurely tone became much more serious.
“I’m sorry, Lord Sakuraba. I am currently a subordinate of Lord [Shell], so I am very sorry that I cannot answer this question.”
Hearing Kurokawa Iori’s words, a ripple appeared in the girl’s originally calm eyes, but she quickly reacted, hurriedly lowering her head and answering the question with great certainty. Although she didn’t know why the other party was suddenly interested in her, even in dark villain organizations, betrayal was not a quality that was admired. And compared to Kurokawa Iori, who had unknown intentions towards her, her current leader [Shell] made the girl feel more at ease. After all, values follow appearance; it could not be denied that the benefits of appearance were real. Even for Kazumi, who was almost indifferent to emotions, under the same circumstances, she would naturally have more favor towards the incredibly handsome [Shell].
“Ah, indeed. I should have said this to Kurokawa. Oh well, let’s talk about the mission first.”
Rubbing his head with a hint of annoyance, Kurokawa Iori muttered helplessly to himself, looking at the girl before him. Then, he immediately became serious, took out his communicator, glanced at the scheduled time, and clapped his hands. A fat, light purple snake emerged from beside him, its huge mouth opening and spitting out a mass of soil containing something.
His fair right hand transformed into a small snake and reached into the soil before him, accurately picking out a piece of dark fingernail. Kurokawa Iori handed the discovery in his hand to the girl not far away.
“Take a look at this. The situation here seems a bit strange. There are no evil energy rifts, yet it strangely carries a very strong evil energy aura, and it also left some tissue from underworld creatures…”
The small snake in his hand transformed back into a palm, and Kurokawa Iori looked at the black fingernail in his hand with confusion, sharing his discovery with the girl before him. There was definitely something wrong here, otherwise the psychics wouldn’t have protected this place. But with his vision, he couldn’t see many clues. So, he decided to show it to Kazumi, who also had the ability to connect with the underworld, to see if she could discover anything else.
The girl nodded and took the black fingernail piece before her. Then, her previously calm eyes became increasingly strange, and in the end, she touched her chest with a hint of guilt. Because… this thing, it seemed, resembled Little Black’s fingernails!
(PS: I’m a bit troubled; my account is suspended, and I can’t speak, but there is still plot for Shinomiyai later. However, everyone seems to be quite satisfied with her being written to death. Wow, this is difficult. Let’s see what this chapter says, my dear brothers.)
