A black chain bracelet identical to the one I'd broken myself earlier, Ellie put on right on my left wrist.

Actually... I've said sorry several times already, but my heart still feels very guilty of this girl. So, maybe this’ll be the last, or at least I really hope so.

“Ellie… Sorry… I'm a little carried away by the…”

“I told you it's okay! Why are you so stubborn just to apologize?! I do know this is very likely to happen though. That's why I always have a spare for that bracelet.”

“But…”

This girl actually laughed after seeing my expression.

“But in exchange, You're the one who'll be talking to our upper man, okay?”

“Ah! Okay, deal!”

It's easy for me to agree with Ellie's offer just now. Yet...

I already explained all the fake excuses that I had previously assembled right while slashing at the body that already looked like a masterpiece in my own opinion… Yet, it looks like that's still not enough to convince this fat Superior we're currently facing to report on the progress of the mission.

It took several reprimands until a sentence was finally given by the man. “Well… Looks like there's really nothing we can do if you guys don't do this to a suspect with a strength above five, right?”

“Yes sir!” Three answers simultaneously from us.

“Okay. Alright... Whatever happens, let it happen. You guys can go back and rest for now.”

“Yes sir!”

“So… Doesn't this mean that we have completed the high-level type one, for our own first task?” Sion is right... Though actually I'm the only one who finished everything by myself.

“Yeah… Thanks, you two… Niel… Sion…”

Thanks, me…

“Well then, I still have a bit of work to do. You both get a lot of rest, okay?” Ellie vanished without even waiting for our reply.

“She told both of us to rest, Daniel… So it's not just you, you hear me?!”

“Yes, Sion… Yes… I'm tired, so I’ll go first, okay?” At the crossroads of the corridor, I parted with him. Walking without heeding the screams from behind, I locked the dorm room door from the inside.

It's still four in the afternoon, but I feel really tired already… Looks like I still have to keep running every morning, as I admit that it has shown so many changes for myself.

Fuck…

I'm not relieved at all…

~~~~~

“Wake up!”

“Huh?”

A girl shakes my shoulder while I'm currently still lying on the bed with fatigue that hasn't diminished as much as I expected…

Ellie? “How the hell did you get in here?!”

“Edward's calling for you... An emergency mission.”

“Oh shit. Okay… Wait. I... Maybe I’ll need some coffee. Can I?”

Ellie didn’t answer. So I walked through her, looking for something in the simple kitchen that this room had. “Oh. Have you gathered the rest of our team? You don’t have to wait for me… I just want to take a sip of this. One minute. No... Thirty seconds!”

“You don't have to come on this mission.” Lowering her shoulders, Ellie again made a tired face after much thought to herself.

“Eh?”

What the fuck, Ellie?

Is she mad?

“Or... Or I think it would even be much better if you and-”

“So am I not allowed to... Have some coffee? Is that it?”

“Niel! It is not that!”

“So what is it? Are you mad at me because of something else?!”

“Why do you even think that I'm angry right now? It's about Edward. Looks like he's up to something. Niel, just listen to me first…”

“He's always up to something. Just leave it alone... Now take me to the location.”

Ellie seemed to be getting angrier at what I just said, immediately teleporting us both straight to a city in a country I didn't know about.

A country with a time zone at night, an empty city filled with some kind of red smoke that soars high into the air. I asked Ellie what it really was, then she answered. “Detection device, another magical innovation belonging to Edward and his team.”

“Very… Unexpected and disappointing. What kind of joke is this?”

“I don't know. But they say, this makes it easier for us to know the movement of a single person in an empty place… And this is no ordinary light either. This light will penetrate all solid inanimate objects other than living things.”

I see… So the combination of light and water vapor that was dyed red, might not be very effective, but the movement of the shadows of everyone in it, could be seen from a distance on the surface of the red glowing smoke high in the air.

In other words, given the situation in this place, the person in the higher position would gain the upper hand over the one at the bottom.

Still sounds stupid for me, but to find just a single target in an empty space such as this city? I admit it might be much more helpful than not using it at all.

Here, a number of Sins Takers including Ellie and I, standing on many high roofs of buildings, looking down to each intersection. Sensitizing our own eyes to observe if there is any shadow bouncing straight in the many red smoke lights that had spread across the streets, around the city with its many skyscrapers.

“Under that church!”

Someone shouted from a place, I think it’s much higher than ourselves... Advising us to look in the direction that his index finger is pointing at.

Where many streaks of shadow from below, moved constantly as if someone had covered the source of the red light with his own body, the sign that the tool happened to be working properly.

After that, my eyes only focused on these Sins Takers who jumped here and there, moving as if their bodies were as light as a soccer ball... Even some of these people who came from behind, jumped high above me without the slightest bit of courtesy... Stuck to one wall, plunged and grabbed the floor barrier of another building.

“Oh, yes… So before maneuvering in this such a place, remember to remove your strength restraint bracelet first. Keep it in a place that won't come into contact with your own skin, then follow me… They had been doing something like this for over two months before. So this is just a matter of getting used to it.” Ellie gave me some insight before then she also moved in the direction the other was moving.

“The whole city is emptied out… And this many personnel are sent down just only to catch one crazy carrier?”

“It is not that…”

“Then what?”

I looked at Ellie, as to how this girl didn't actually answer my question. It seems she's still angry for reasons that I don't know yet. But as my attention was distracted, I realized something… There weren't any 13-7 squad members around us…

I can’t find neither Novita nor Frans, Just me and Ellie, with no one other than these foreign personnels.

“This is not actually an emergency mission. This is a planned stage… A stage made just for you. Remember about that one?” Ellie seemed to be able to read my mind, and draw one conclusion from all the odd things I had just noticed.

“So this is what you mean by Edward's plan?”

“No! I mean this is one of those, but… Ugh, whatever. You've pissed me off back there!”

Hmm… Was it that earlier before teleporting here, this girl really meant to advise me against this mission?

~~~~~

“Daniel?”

The flat voice of an old man in the uniform of a Sins Taker came with his own jumps and steps approaching me and Ellie. After arriving at the closest place to the target, this man told us to stop moving in favor of eye-to-eye talk.

He said, “He's there... And he seems confused about where to run to, but first... Listen to me, Daniel… It's up to you whether you want to get out of here, leaving that monster free to roam for too long until it manages to escape, or get down there and put an end to this mess. But I’m gonna be honest to you, son... I've heard stories about how cowardly you are, yet you have to know that this is how the world is today. And now I’m asking you... Do you want to sacrifice to save this world or not?!”

So Edward didn't even care to explain to this person anything about my own counter-curse after all… So you guys really want to play like this, huh?

“How much power does that man have?”

The old man said, “Thirty-five…”

Hmm… I used to be a little sure just now…

But edward? You son of a bitch!?

Don’t you think that this is actually kinda too much, dude!?

~~~~~

“Let's just run away…”

~~~~~

“Hah?!” I was taken aback by what Ellie just whispered to me.

Then suddenly my attention was replaced again by someone else's words, he said… “Now prove whether your power is worth the price we have to pay you, or not!”

Can you just shut up, old man? But wait… He continues his offer… “And you know we're not talking about money.”

What do you mean by that?! “Are you guys threatening me?”

“Kid! This is all so that you become aware of your own role in the world! You have no idea about how much longer all the peace you have in your own home will be able to last! You may be able to escape from our main leader, but I will not let you go from what I have told you just now!”

You know I've been too tired all day just to wake up to what you just said to me, old man?!

Fuck…

Then that meant something was being watched by Edward as a guarantee that I wouldn't run away from this one. Damn…

I really should play it safe now... Moreover, what this guy just said actually had some truth in it, although I hate to admit it.

“I can take you away from all of this, So… Niel… Just listen to me...”

“No, Ellie… You have no idea how constrained I really am at this point. I really can't run anymore if I don't want to lose the rest of them... The people that I care about the most.”

“There's no point in protecting them if you're the one who died!”

“Are you underestimating me right now? I can still defeat this one enemy! Probably…”

“Not on this mission, Niel... But Edward is actually trying to kill you!”

“Huh? For what?”

“I can't say it here, so please just come and run away with me!”

“And leaving my family behind?”

“Maybe I can try to take them too… Look. I'll think of a way, so I'm begging you…”

So that means she still has no plans for it…

After all, why did Ellie suddenly want to run away?

Of all the things that are still possible to do, why should we choose to run away?

Ellie's personality suddenly became ridiculous… Weird…

“At least can you two use the same language as us? I don't understand what you guys are arguing about with that language of yours, but that guy is about to run away! Ellie! I'm going to report your behavior, interfering with the current mission to Edward. You hear me!?”

Ignoring the threats that came out of the old man's mouth again and again, I then decided to myself, that it was Ellie herself who felt more suspicious…

“I don't know what Edward said to you, Ellie, but… Even if whatever your guess was right and we managed to protect those who are my family... Deo and Fanya, they will still live in terror just to follow us to escape forever from the hands of The Sins Taker who has started to be supported by the whole world, Ellie… After all, why do we want to be the enemies of The Sins Takers in the first place? I also don't like Edward because the god status that we and he have, have always been enemies... But I think you hate him a little too much, young lady. We can talk about this later, but for now I have to go... Sorry Ellie…”

“Again… You reject me… Right?”

When I jump from a height, as I allow myself to be attracted by gravity itself, Ellie said a few words I didn't understand. But it was too late to ask what the short word meant, while I was deep into the arms of the fiery red smoke.

Once again for today, a battle begins with a pang in my heart…

~~~~~

The sound of heavy objects falling and crushing empty streets echoed at every intersection. From the middle of the dust and red smoke, I walked slowly following the directions that Elis gave about the current position of the enemy.

I intercepted him right from the front. Where the man then stopped, giving up on running away. He pulled out his sword with a hilt trembling with fear.

Man in shabby clothes, curly hair and beard never cleaned, wait... Can't he be a homeless man? And he looked too frightened for a man who had already killed over thirty people.

“I have no choice! They are forcing me to fight!” He said.

“The Sins Taker?” I asked with very little hope of a yes, due to the influence of Ellie's words a few minutes ago…

Damn you, Ellie…

“Wha? No! People in white! Arab? Is it? I think the faces they have are similar to those of Arabs. So please help me. I don’t know what to do anymore!”

Okay, if I have to be honest, I'm actually a bit disappointed with this guy's answer, but…

First, it seemed like Ellie had completely misunderstood whatever Edward was saying.

For the second…

A stage, eh? Is this another test? Clearly Edward's only desire for me to be here was to kill, but this guy… I have to kill this kind human? Really?

I just have to kill him, right?

Easy…

But really?

Let me just take out my sword first…

“Oh god… Not again… You're the same, aren't you? I've been forced to kill a lot, so please just go away, sir! This is for your own safety!”

So this man didn't lose his humanity yet, even with the number of souls he has?

So I’m not that special after all?

“I don't wanna die... I remind you of that. But if you also don't want to die, please just let me go! Please!”

I didn't care what he said. I'm still slowly approaching.

“I don't care about my own death... But I have people that I don't want to sacrifice to keep that away from myself.” That’s what I said to this human.

“Okay then... I've always felt like it's useless talking to people who have tried to kill me... And you are just the same... you all are crazy! But I don't want to die either... I don't wanna die! Do you hear!?” He charges forward.

~~~~~