Chapter: 166. The Divided Battlefield
Kawano City was as sunny as ever.
The morning sunlight spilled onto the streets, and the glass shop windows reflected scattered rays of light. The air was filled with the unique warmth of summer, and the shopping street bustled with voices, with children’s laughter intertwined with the conversations of pedestrians, painting a scene of an ordinary holiday.
However, beneath this peaceful facade lay countless calm and sharp gazes.
From a high vantage point, every corner of Kawano City was under the strict surveillance of the SEMA Special Circle.
Drones hovered slowly above the clouds, their lenses quietly scanning the city streets. Signal detectors captured communication fluctuations, and data streams on special frequencies covered the sky like an invisible web.
SEMA’s supernatural agents, disguised as ordinary citizens, mingled in the crowd, wearing sunglasses and pretending to browse their phones, all the while receiving orders through their earpieces and closely monitoring the movements of their targets.
SEMA Branch of Kawano City.
Adam temporarily held the highest command authority in the SEMA branch of Kawano City; now all the supernatural agents in the city obeyed his orders.
In the control room, a massive screen wall displayed an array of surveillance footage encompassing key streets, parks, stations, and even some hidden corners of Kawano City. Every detail was clearly captured, resembling a gigantic, invisible net that quietly tightened.
At the main control console, intelligence personnel focused intently on the screens, their fingers racing over the keyboard as they continuously retrieved the latest updates on their targets.
“Beep—beep—”
Fluctuations from electronic signals flickered on the screen, and two figures gradually became clear—
Tsukimi Kanade, Hoshimiya Nagi.
“Report—”
A SEMA operative hurriedly entered the meeting room and handed over a document, speaking in a calm and competent tone.
“Mr. Adam, the targets Tsukimi Kanade and Hoshimiya Nagi have been confirmed to enter Kawano City.”
Adam, who had been remotely assisting the research department in deciphering the “Book of Futures” in the meeting room, slowly turned around upon hearing this.
His sharp gaze swept over the report handed to him, his expression deep and cold, with a flicker of excitement visible in the depths of his pupils.
“Indeed, they’ve returned to Kawano City?” he murmured quietly, his tone devoid of any surprise, as if everything was within his expectations.
The SEMA agent standing opposite Adam did not pause, continuing his report: “Although the amusement park plan failed to successfully lead them into our encirclement, the targets are currently still within our surveillance range. However—”
His words trailed off slightly, as if hesitating whether to continue with the next piece of information.
Yet, in that moment of hesitation, Adam’s gaze suddenly turned frigid, like a falcon looking down upon prey that dares to hesitate.
“Complete your task; you don’t need to think too much.”
His low voice was like a cold blade, and an oppressive atmosphere surged.
The sight before him made this SEMA agent from headquarters tense, inwardly reflecting, “Indeed, Mr. Adam becomes incredibly radical when it involves matters related to the End.”
“Y-Yes! Mr. Adam, we have monitored—Tsukimi Kanade and Hoshimiya Nagi have already made contact with Hinata Mana.”
The hesitation in the SEMA personnel was simple to understand.
Even he had heard of the rising star on the Artificial School Island—”Hinata Mana.”
In SEMA’s records, she is considered one of the most promising supernatural agents in over a decade, having repeatedly demonstrated remarkable talent and powerful abilities during her time at Ark Academy.
However, this time in Kawano City, the operation not only aimed to completely eliminate the “End”—”Hoshimiya Nagi”—but also needed to clear all individuals who had come into contact with the “End” and might be infected by it.
Anyone who encountered “End-Hoshimiya Nagi” could be placed on the target list.
Except for Tsukimi Kanade, no one was an exception.
Thus, he hesitated.
Because this report could determine the life and death of “Hinata Mana.”
“The ultimate masterpiece…?”
Adam repeated quietly, his thoughts drifting to the intelligence files he had read. He remembered that Mana was discovered and admitted to Ark Academy under the guise of being the “container of the End.”
If Hoshimiya Nagi were indeed the End, it would not be surprising if her childhood friend was also the “ultimate masterpiece”—
Adam increasingly affirmed within himself that “Hoshimiya Nagi” was the “End.”
If it had been Adam on a normal day, he would have reconsidered other possibilities regarding this hypothesis, but now, he only aimed to target the arrow that had already been shot from his heart.
Within less than half a minute, Adam had already risen from his chair.
“—Let’s begin the action.”
His voice was steady and cold, as if it were merely a routine matter. Yet the burning fury in his eyes indicated that this was not just a mission, but a quest for revenge.
At this moment, the hatred towards the End had blinded this man.
“R-Right now? But the target has not fully entered our encirclement—”
“—Are we to wait for the End to actively infect the entire city before we come to clean up?” Adam interrupted directly.
His voice was not loud, but it carried an unarguable intimidation.
“Order all combat personnel to prepare and set the threat level for this operation to 11.”
“Using supernatural abilities to attack in public view is permitted; I will take on all consequences.”
—————–
In a small park in Kawano City.
Kanade explained to Mana and Renji why they were here and the danger they were currently facing.
“So… the SEMA organization mentioned by Gikou will kill Nagi-chan because of this reason?” Mana felt as if the confusion was finally being resolved: “Because they mistakenly believe Nagi-chan is the End?”
“Yeah, that’s very likely,” Kanade nodded.
“However, I believe SEMA will quickly clear up this misunderstanding… but before that, I need your help, Mana…” Kanade knew that his request sounded abrupt, as there was no basis for his words.
But he couldn’t explain to Mana the truth about “world line regression,” and he couldn’t fabricate a convincing reason in a short time.
So at this moment, he could only try to persuade his childhood friend with sincere feelings.
Meanwhile, off to the side.
Renji, unable to interject on the topic, was watching his long-lost sister with a scrutinizing gaze, displaying a look of confusion on his face.
Feeling uneasy under her brother’s gaze, Nagi couldn’t help but ask, “O-Oniichan? How do I look?”
Although Nagi wanted to step back a bit before asking this question, based on her understanding of her brother, if she truly took a half step back, it would cause her excessively possessive brother tangible harm, so she held back.
However, Renji’s next sentence caught Nagi slightly off guard.
“Nagi, did you… get smaller?”
“?!”
Nagi was indeed still under the influence of “Hydra’s” power, but she had already returned to a state very close to that of a second-year high school student in terms of height, appearance, and figure.
Yet she hadn’t expected that upon their first meeting, Renji would notice this, considering they hadn’t seen each other for nearly a semester.
Nagi’s understanding of her brother’s possessiveness surged once again.
At the same time, she felt sorry for having raised such a possessive brother.
However, it was Mana who first responded to Renji’s observation.
She also appeared quite surprised.
“Renji-oniichan… you can tell?”
As Mana spoke, she approached Nagi, and for her, even upon a close inspection, she couldn’t find any differences between Nagi now and her second-year high school self. This made her admire Renji’s observational skills.
“Yeah, it feels like you’ve shrunk by about a year?” Renji said, continuing to gaze into Nagi’s eyes.
Nagi feigned a shy expression, scratching her head with a smile on her face.
However, internally, she couldn’t help but complain, “Can you really sense how many times I’ve shrunk back to my original form?! Just how deeply possessive are you!?”
But before Nagi could explain to Renji what was happening to her, a sudden hostility made the three of them freeze momentarily.
The first to react was Mana, closest to the attacker.
Her eyes suddenly flashed with a magical red light, and a black shadow under her feet protected Nagi as she dodged to the side.
At the same time, Kanade, who stood closer to Renji, quickly grabbed him and jumped back.
In the next moment.
A massive rift suddenly appeared between them, separating the four.
The entire Kawano City shook violently, as if it had experienced a severe earthquake—
Kanade’s beastly instincts told him that SEMA had begun their operation.
“Renji-oniichan, are you okay?” Although Renji was an ordinary person without supernatural powers, he did not panic in the sudden attack; instead, he calmly nodded in response.
After confirming that Renji was unharmed, Kanade quickly turned to look in the direction where Nagi and Mana had just dodged.
“Little Nagi, Little Mana—! Are you alright?”
Just as Kanade was about to join them, a figure with astonishing momentum descended from the sky, blocking his path.
It was Adam.
“I’m sorry, but this is as far as you go,” Adam coldly announced.
In the next moment, an invisible field unfolded, attempting to envelop Kanade and the others within it.
Because Adam had prepared in advance, even Kanade’s beastly instincts did not have time to react.
However.
Nagi, who had been prepared since the very beginning, caught a fleeting opportunity—
She grabbed hold of Mana’s clothes and pretended to fall backward.
In a critical moment, she successfully avoided the field’s capture with Mana.
Seeing this scene, Kanade shouted toward Mana:
“Run away with Little Nagi! We absolutely cannot let her fall into—”
The field enveloped Kanade, and his words were cut off.
Outside the field.
Adam fixed his gaze on Nagi, held in Mana’s arms.
“This day has finally come—”
