Chapter: 61. The Black Box
“Because when school ended today, I saw Kanade-kun and Mana-chan always looking like they were hiding something from me…”
On the road.
When Otori asked Nagio why she was dressed when she appeared there just now.
Nagio quickly recited the excuse she had prepared.
“… I pretended to be asleep and when I really heard some noise coming from Mana-chan’s room at midnight, I thought to myself, they are indeed planning something in secret, so I wanted to follow.”
Nagio’s excuse seemed to gain Otori’s trust.
Upon hearing this, Otori appeared to no longer pursue the matter, but instead changed the topic.
“Senior Hoshimiya can deduce their abnormality just from the actions of those two seniors?” Otori said in a feigned tone of admiration.
“Yes, yes, because we’ve been childhood friends since we were little…”
When Otori saw the natural smile on Nagio’s face as she said this, he understood that she was not lying.
Kanade and Mana held an irreplaceable status in her heart.
Realizing this, Otori couldn’t help but click his tongue inwardly.
However, he still maintained that harmless expression on the surface: “Oh, is that so? How enviable.”
“Um, um, what about you, Otori-kun?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, um, although we’ve known each other for so many days, I haven’t heard you talk about yourself…”
“… My past isn’t like Senior Hoshimiya; there’s nothing worth mentioning.” Otori forced a smile.
“Then do you have a childhood friend?”
“Speaking of childhood friends, I don’t even have any friends.” Otori shook his head.
He didn’t know why he suddenly felt like sharing this.
Perhaps it was because the moment the two were alone together, he subconsciously let down his guard?
“F-friends too?”
“Ah…”
Otori recalled the ones from his past, the ones who had been by his side during childhood, and rather than friends, they were more like—comrades.
There had been no exchange of interests or hobbies.
Because they all uttered that name, the same name that persisted in the past and present.
Along with the same chasing dream—“Blood must be paid back in blood.”
Just thinking about this made a hateful emotion surge onto Otori’s face.
“Are you okay, Otori-kun?”
Did the senior behind see the uncontrolled expression on his face?
A guilty look surfaced on her earnest and adorable face.
“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault for making you recall unpleasant memories…”
“…”
—She really is a gentle girl, such a kind-hearted child… If only I could make her the heroine of my life…
“Um, may I become your first friend, Otori-kun?”
—But unfortunately, she already has someone she cares for.
—If that’s the case, I can only…
“And Kanade-kun and Mana-chan would surely also want to be your friends…”
—Kanade, Kanade, Kanade, how annoying.
“No.”
Otori decisively gave his answer as he came to a stop.
Nagio, walking behind him, also halted.
Without realizing it, they had arrived at a secluded location.
Before them was a massive warehouse.
“Rather than have Senior Hoshimiya be my friend, I would rather have Senior Hoshimiya become—”
Otori’s mouth curved up, revealing a sinister smile.
“—my possession.”
“Eh?”
—————–
“Tsukimi-kun? Are you okay?”
Mana looked at Kanade, who suddenly froze in place, and asked with some concern.
“… Ah, sorry, how long was I lost in thought?”
Mana’s words seemed to pull Kanade back, that faint connection also fading away.
“About ten seconds.”
“Yeah… It seems that the flow of time inside is indeed different from outside.” Kanade nodded to himself.
“Inside? Tsukimi-kun, have you gone back to that white space you mentioned before?”
“Yeah, I can finally actively use this power, and—”
As Kanade spoke, he reached into his pocket and soon pulled out a “card.”
There was nothing between his two fingers.
But from Mana’s perspective as an onlooker, it appeared as if Kanade was holding some card that directly interfered with cognition, disregarding physicality.
“What is this…?”
“Something Alice-san lent me.”
【Recollection】
(“Tsukimi-san, take this.”)
In the data room of Kawano City’s Special Ring SEMA branch.
Alice threw a card at him when facing the branch chief, a card that could open the door to the innermost part of the data room.
—If it’s this card.
Kanade pinched the nonexistent “black card” with his fingers and reached toward the library door.
Click.
The crisp sound of unlocking rang out.
“Indeed, this card is not an ordinary item, but a kind of extraordinary one.” Kanade explained, having verified it: “If I’m not mistaken, this card embodies some concept of ‘unlocking’…”
Kanade recalled that back in the data room of Kawano City, the man from the Special Ring SEMA branch had mentioned: “This is an S-class relic.”
At that time, Kanade thought that the other party meant this card had S-class authority.
But that was a misunderstanding.
What the other meant was that this was the sole S-class relic left behind after the once Savior passed away.
“A special universal key.”
As the library door swung open, the recollection ended, and the card pinched between Kanade’s fingers returned to the void.
In Mana’s vision, she could also sense the strange power fading away from Kanade.
“Unbelievable…”
Mana’s eyes widened, as if she had witnessed something incredible.
“No medium, no magic power, directly ‘replicating’ results… Tsukimi-kun, the ability you possess… it’s like—” cheating. For a moment, Mana couldn’t think of a more fitting term to describe what she saw.
It was as if everything she had learned over the years was about to be overturned.
It seemed like an entity independent of this world.
“Ah, indeed it’s special… but now, let’s focus on what’s in front of us…”
After Kanade finished speaking, he led Mana into the library.
Just like the night when Kitano brought him here.
Click.
That incredibly faint sound.
Exploded in Kanade’s mind.
And the undeniable light once again spilled onto the carpet.
Kanade turned to Mana and asked, “Did you see or sense anything, Mana?”
“No… nothing special; it’s just as it was when I came in before.”
Mana looked at Kanade with doubt and then shook her head.
If it weren’t for Kanade’s serious expression, she would really think he was joking.
“Did only I see it…?”
As Kanade spoke, he walked toward the white light and slowly knelt before the cabinet.
His face pressed against the floor, he reached beneath the cabinet.
At that moment, Kanade was sure that whatever it was was calling out to him.
Yet his eyes couldn’t see what the light source was.
It felt as if an invisible filter covered it.
Only by physically retrieving it could he fully recognize its existence.
Kanade’s hand slowly reached toward the white light.
Not knowing if it was an illusion.
That white light gradually became dazzling, illuminating Kanade’s vision in pure white.
“—I got it.”
Finally, Kanade’s hand touched something hard.
Just as he intended to grasp it and pull it out—
Swish.
A dazzling, multicolored blade was drawn from his waist.
—Huh?
Kanade abruptly wanted to blink, but found his body completely out of his control.
Not only that.
The scene before him underwent a dramatic transformation.
The place he was in was no longer inside, no longer the Noah Library.
Snow.
Flakes drifting through the night sky slowly fell onto the bloodstained ground.
—Where is this?
—Could it be some kind of illusion?
Beneath the pitch-black night sky.
It was a building known as “the Ruins.”
Only the church, with half of its eaves remaining, stood steadily amidst the ruins.
“It ends here.”
A voice that felt extremely familiar sounded.
Kanade took a moment to realize it was his own voice.
“At this point, where do you think you can escape to?”
Following closely was the figure of Mana.
—Mana?
Kanade wanted to turn and look toward the source of the voice, but he found he couldn’t move, only able to glance sideways with limited vision.
It was Mana, clad in a white coat.
He recognized that she was wearing the combat uniform of Special Ring SEMA, and her platinum hair was stained with a blood-like crimson on the inside, fluttering with the mixed snowy breeze.
She seemed to be crouching on the ground, holding someone in her arms.
“Ha ha ha, I didn’t expect you would force me to this point.”
A mad laughter came from the direction facing Kanade.
Kanade’s attention shifted.
A person?
Kanade’s brain first questioned this.
Standing before “him,” without a doubt, was a pitch-black shadow.
But without facing any light source, that figure resembled a stick figure, its skin surface enveloped by a thick layer of shadow.
“But do you really think you’ve won?”
The shadowy stick figure lifted a spherical object in its hand.
“Run…!” A weak voice came from Mana’s direction.
“Daddy, please… don’t say anymore…”
“Mana, take uncle and leave first.”
Kanade felt “himself” take a step forward, tightly grasping the dazzling blade.
“… Kanade, you have—”
“It’s fine, Mana, I will definitely come back.”
Golden light sprinkled onto the dim ruins, illuminating the dark shadows.
“… Yes, I will wait for you to return, so you must win!”
Kanade heard the sound of Mana leaving behind him.
“This is a nauseating act… then let me witness the strength of a true protagonist of this era, unlike that of a false artifact!” Accompanied by the roaring cry of the black stick figure as if it were burning its life away.
The white light shot from the sphere in its hand.
The next moment.
The scenery before him was swallowed by darkness—
No, not really; it was a pitch-black light, completely opposite of pure white.
“GAAaaaaa—!!!”
The earth-shattering roar prompted the ruins before him to collapse a second time.
It was a roar deep enough to penetrate one’s very soul.
In that darkness, wings capable of spanning the entire night sky unfolded.
Just that simple movement raised a storm, and the entire land felt as if it were a precarious tower in the sky, bearing the majesty of this strongest species.
“Devour everything! Supreme Black King!”
“Ah, as expected, I shouldn’t have been overambitious. In the final moments of my life, I wish I could see Mana’s smile once again…”
Kanade felt “himself” holding the multicolored blade as he took a solitary step into the darkness ahead.
“Here it comes, the final ▍▍—”
The golden radiance pierced through the boundless darkness.
……
……
“Tsukimi-kun!”
Mana’s voice came from beside him, causing Kanade’s body to tremble violently and fall backward onto the carpet.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Seeing this, Mana hurriedly crouched down beside Kanade, asking with concern.
At this moment, Kanade finally realized he was back.
Before him was that dim library.
And the Mana crouching beside him wasn’t wearing the SEMA uniform, but the student uniform of the Ark Academy, her platinum hair shining under the moonlight.
“I-I am in…..” Kanade muttered, while his peripheral vision suddenly caught the object in his hand.
It was a black sphere.
Covered in hexagonal scales, the gaps between the scales were emitting a white glow.
Kanade recognized the object he was holding.
Without a doubt.
It was the black sphere that the black stick figure last held.
“Is this what you’re talking about, Tsukimi-kun? This special item?”
“Eh? You can see it too, Mana?” Kanade was surprised and turned to look at Mana.
“Yeah, as soon as you picked it up, I suddenly saw it, and there’s a feeling—like it had been there all along…” Mana nodded, then repeated her previous question: “But what about you, Tsukimi-kun? You seemed lost in thought as soon as you took it out; I tried calling you a few times, but you didn’t respond.”
“What on earth happened?”
“I-I was…”
At that moment, Kanade became aware he was soaking in sweat.
“… I don’t know what exactly it was…”
Kanade was also unclear about what he had just experienced; it felt like a dream, but the scenes in the dream were so real, like some kind of memory that didn’t belong to him.
“… I just saw, me and you—” Kanade was about to explain to Mana what he had just seen.
Suddenly.
His phone in his pocket vibrated.
Mana and Kanade exchanged looks of realization.
Kanade decided to take out the phone first.
It displayed a call from “Kitano-sensei.”
With a sense of unease, Kanade answered the phone.
“Tsukimi-kun, it seems you successfully obtained that box.” Kitano’s voice came from the other end.
“Y-You mean…?” Kanade feigned ignorance.
But the next second, he was interrupted.
“Before you respond, I have something I want Tsukimi-kun to listen to. This way, perhaps you’ll think carefully about whether to waste everyone’s time next—”
【Kanade-kun, don’t mind me, it’s a trap—absolutely don’t come over—ah!】
“Nagisa—!?”
Kanade and Mana’s faces suddenly changed.
“What’s wrong? Have you thought carefully about how to respond?”
