Volume 3 -A Chapter 5 (1/2)
It was ten PM, the border between night and late night
Hong Kong Yard was a bit busy because the second night shi+ft was arriving to replace the first
Akira had started working at six and she had returned from her patrol for some office work
However, she now stood next to Rin's desk in her patrol outfit
Gunmal stood next to her and they both looked to Rin
”I see You want to spend the night shi+ft out on patrol instead of in the office…and you want to go with Gunmal?”
”That's right If she's with et lost”
”That's my line You're the one as lost when I met you yesterday”
”Quiet, both of you …I don't ht find a key to the J-Gun case, so it could help our investigation But…”
”But?”
”Get peret involved in our division too much, Akira”
”But Cleared only lets me clean up the city …And Rin, you can Tune better than anyone else in Cleared, so you should join us”
Rin did not answer and changed the subject
”Anyway, you need to take this up with your actual boss, not me”
”I told the General about it, so it'll probably reach him”
”Probably doesn't cut it …And the General is too easy on you”
…Is he?
Gunht because he spoke up
”The General is that old guy with the tank, right? The one from the Fourth Divine Punishment War”
”Yes, heNormally, he would have a private office and coside the rest of us”
”What a nice old man”
”Gunmal, you couldn't read his Live, could you?”
He gave a small embarrassed smile
”You could tell? I could see his Word Color, though”
”Eh? Eh? You could do that with the General's?”
Akira's eyes opened in surprise because she was not powerful enough to read his Live, but Rin quickly cut in
”Like I was saying, you need to take this seriously”
”C-c' about you”
”I' about you”
”I' about both of you”
Rin sighed and reached for a paper on her desk
”What's that?”
”A e It has to do with you two, so take a look”
Akira did as she was told and saw a drawing of a woman's face
She had a slender face and well-shaped eyes
Akira succinctly expressed her thoughts
”She has me beat”
”Hm? What was that?'
”Nothing Just talking to myself”
Akira looked back at the drawing of the woman and read the Live contained within
The lines and shading expressed a Message containing the thoughts of the drawer, not the depicted person
…Her hair is long and brown
…She is beautiful and her eyes are clear yet sad
…She has a Caucasian facial structure
And…
”Is this person a Nein Engel?”
”Looks like it”
Gunmal and Rin both nodded
”Co in his letter aboutmarried Is this the woman?”
”I don't know that ation has revealed that she visited J-Gun's house quite a few times …Do either of you know her?”
”I…”
…Do I?
”I don't think I everCave”
”My brother never told me the woman's name”
”I see”
Rin nodded again and there was no hue of disappointment in her expression or Live Shein the first place
Frustrated by that, Akira looked down at the drawing again
”What do you think about that long hair?” she muttered
”Eh? I like it,” answered Gunmal
”That's not what I meant …It's possible she's cut her hair”
”Why would she?” asked Rin
Akira looked up at Rin's long braided hair
”You let your hair grow out, but that isn't because you're lazy, is it?”
”Eh? What are you talking about?”
…It's called women's intuition
”It's a mystery”
”Hm”
Gunmal nodded and suddenly looked to the clock on the wall
It was already ten
”Shouldn't we be going?”
”You're right Rin, we'll be leaving, okay? Sorry eren't any help”
”Don't worry about it More importantly, make sure you do what I told you to …Oh, and Gunmal”
”We should finish our investigation of J-Gun's house tonight, so you can visit it tomorrow”
”Okay”
He s
At the sa
…Who is that?
Akira turned around before leaving and she could tell who it was from Rin's tone of voice when she answered
It was Kouga
”She seems busy,” said Gunmal
Akira nodded
There was indeed a lot they had to do
Lights of fishi+ng boats could be seen in the distance
The ocean wind carried the sounds of waves from far below
Repeated splashes could be heard from beloell
While soaking his feet in those sounds, Kouga walked alone through the ht
His voice joined the sounds of the waves and wind
”Yeah, I'hts of Hong Kong Island since I'm up on a mountain”
The wind quickly swept away his voice as he spoke into his cellphone
The wind carried the saltiness of the ocean below
La and its tallest mountain was three hundred fifty meters The powerful ocean wind flew over the forest and raced up the e
Not even the locals approached this place
”But it's strange Why was the blood of Archs RDC's president spilled here? Do you have any idea? …Yeah, I still have to visit Tsing Yi Island and Beaufort Island”
Meanwhile, a sh the darkness
The s
It was a bat
When Kouga casually reached out his right hand, it landed on his white fingertips and vanished
It had combined with him
He gently swung his right hand and brushed it through his pompadour
”I'ation, so I've gotta hang up …Right I'll be careful”
He ended the call and put the phone in his pocket
He continued up the steep slope without getting out of breath and the slope suddenly vanished
A flat space about the size of a small park appeared
This was the peak
Some volcanic rock protruded out of it, but it was relatively level and as flat as a stage Perhaps due to the powerful wind, there were no trees to obstruct one's view
”You could probably land a helicopter here”
Kouga looked around As a vampire and huht was not an obstacle for him It was his ally
”The north and south sides are sheer cliffs I can see why the locals never approach the place”
He looked back to the bottom of the trail he had cliles unique to the tropics
Past the forest were a sandy beach and the dark ocean
The giantIsland and the shts were the other islands
”That er over there, so itfor”
His nose detected the scent of blood his familiar had found
That same scent filled this place
Just as Akira and Guna could see the scent of blood
The scent before his eyes here was thick and high quality
It floated around the area with the density of a light mist
…Why can I s or so?
The scent of blood was strongest two or three steps ahead
In the very center of the se amount of blood
The traces seea's eyes
”It's filled with the power of Yang There's noit now”
This blood belonged to Huang Daquan, an Archs
As he approached, the bloodstains became evident
”But that Nein Engel committed suicide in his home, so why is his blood here? …Ah!”
He immediately found his answer
He saw countless gloords written there
The words formed emblems
Many different eether into a circle on the volcanic rock ground
It was six or seven a would have been able to see it
”A Tune Ee one at that …Is this one of the Death Technos lost during the Fifth Divine Punishment War?”
A Tune Emblem was like sheet
It was arranged in a circle, it was activated by striking a point in the center called the Baton, and it would Tune the surrounding space according to ritten in it
”If it's Death Techno, the General would probably knohat it does at first glance”
Kouga spotted the Baton in the center and noticed it had already been struck
This emblem had already been activated
He pulled a Discord Bomb from his pocket and looked at it A close inspection of the pencil-sized bomb showed it had an emblem drawn on it too
That small Discord Bomb would destroy the Lives within five meters when it detonated, but the Tune Eer
”When you … Well, the effective Octave of a Tune Emblem is equal to ten thousand tiht? This thing has a radius of about six meters, so…”
…Four to the sixth times ten thousand is an Octave of…40,960,000!?
That was a massive Octave
Akira was the a knew and even she could only control an Octave of 1,280,000 Rin was called a genius for her 320,000 and a normal person did well to control 80,000
What could be created or destroyed fro an Octave in the tens of millions?
Kouga wanted to call it insane, but he recalled a certain fact
”There aren't others like this on Beaufort Island and Tsing Yi Island, are there?”
”Well done The ADs Device has already reached the depths of the ley line”
Kouga turned toward the sudden voice just as his right arm vanished at the shoulder
”What!?”
The attack had been too intense to feel any pain Losing his arm threw off his balance and he fell to his knee He held his right shoulder and found his hand was touching bone
The ocean wind blew across the peak and onto his exposed bone It felt hard, but even more…
…It feels cold
As soon as he thought that, blood spewed from his shoulder It was too much to contain with his left hand
A nora's eyes relasses
Two men stood before him
One was a six-winged Seraph wearing a white combat coat He held a Device-like sword, so he had likely been the one to sever Kouga's arm
The other wore a black combat outfit over a Custohtly around the neck and shoulders
…He had a lot of alterations done around the neck and back? Does that mean…?
Kouga had his thoughts cut off
”Yes, only a winged-race would need to modify that area That is what happens when you res”
The Seraph had read his thoughts
Before he could ask how, the Seraph smiled and spoke
”It would be best not to think I can read your Live quite easily”
That told him who this was, but if this Seraph could read his Live…
”Ha! So you know Akira I see, so the Yard has alreadyDaquan's death, have they?”
The Seraph read Kouga's thoughts again and stepped forward
Kouga shuddered at his unhesitating movement
He held his right shoulder, stood up, and backed away, but the Seraph only smiled
”I can't have you viewingaround with Tuning Lives into small animals”
The Seraph stopped and lightly raised his Device toward the night sky
”The ht,” he whispered
He gave a short and si an Over Up
”Word Accel! Oh, you Lives of 160,000 Octaves”
The wind immediately produced a shape It was a leopard colored the blue of the wind
”That was fast!”
Nor took some time
To transforet object's Live, have the Live hear you, and fuse it with your own Message
Kouga re five or six seconds for Akira to create a dog or a cat
But this Seraph had created a leopard in under a second
…This isn't good
Kouga let go of his shoulder and let it bleed as he dug through his pocket
He pulled out his handgun: a Webley & Scott 6-round revolver
While backing away, he pressed down the hammer
He heard theinto place
At the sa the wind in midair
Its roar sounded just like the roar of the wind
He stopped and held up his Webley & Scott in one hand He stiffened his entire body to brace against the recoil of the 45 caliber round
He fired and the blast cut through the wind
The recoil hit hirip because his arm fleards and the Webley & Scott slipped from his hand
But the shot had been accurate
The bullet flew straight and light wrapped around it in midair
Just like the Discord Bomb, it had an emblem drawn on it
The light trailed behind it like a comet and transformed into a spear
This was a German anti-demon round
The Seraph gave a gasp of surprise
The leopard stopped, but it could not evade The spear hit it right in the face
The weapon stabbed in up to the base
The leopard rolled along a nonexistent round and roared
However, that cry ended it
The floating leopard quickly expanded and burst
It made a ”sh” sound as it did so
Only the spear of light remained and it fell When it reached the volcanic rock, it stabbed in with a white sound
Kouga stared forhile shaking the fingers he had hurt when the gun had slipped frorasp
The Seraph still held his Device in the same place as before
”I see I suppose you are part of the Yard that protects Hong Kong That was quite the strange bullet”
”But unlike the ones used by our forces, it had not been refined”
There was no inflection to the cyborg Galgallin's voice Hehis body
Kouga sighed and realized the blood flowing froht his hand back to it
”What are Nein Engels doing here?”
”We detected so our ceremony, so we stopped by to…eliminate them”
”Your ceremony?”
That would be the Tune Eround here
…That big an emblem is a ceremony?
He suddenly re
”The General mentioned rumors of an Earth Serpent out at sea”
”An Earth Serpent?” asked the Seraph
Kouga frowned and the Seraph continued
”People thought that was an Earth Serpent? A cereain, I a even at that level”
The other Nein Engel tapped the Seraph on the shoulder
He see more
”I know, Fei,” answered the Seraph
Kouga reacted to that name
”Fei!? You allin!?”
That was thefor
The lowed red behind his ht
Kouga instinctually put up his guard just as Fei charged in
He was fast He immediately covered the ten step distance
Kouga immediately made a counterattack
”Headbutt!”
He did exactly as his shout suggested
…It hit!
With that realization, a great shock reached him
His body was bloay and his bones cried out Instead of si, they were smashed to pieces
For just an instant, he saw Fei standing next to hiht ahead
Only then did Kouga realize he had been kicked
He saw the sky and the ht sky
The only thing he felt was his body falling He fell from top to bottom and from back to stomach
To his left was a rising cliff face, so he had apparently fallen from the cliff
For a few seconds, he felt like he was floating, but he soon completed the nearly one hundred round
The ground beloas the bare volcanic rock of the mountainside
His body burst like a melon and his vision went dark
Even Hong Kong grew a little quieter by two in the
Even with plenty of nocturnal Glossolalians, the majority of the population was still human
But one place was reaching its peak business as the final challenge for the day
The Bird Garden was a fa Kok Station
The squawking of birds created a great din Many birds, both large and sether
The eaves of the shops on either side of the narrow road were close enough to bu fro andether into a vague heat
The coht yellow
The people walking down the road were nocturnal Glossolalians as well as Hong Kong residents and tourists who did not want to waste the night sleeping A closer look revealed that there were children there as well as adults Most of the children were locals ere used to being up at this tin of weariness
The entire ht and lively Lives
But there was a single gap in that Live performance
In that one place, the Lives did not advertise their presence The birds, people, and other things that entered that gap were all focused on the individual at the center
It was a fes
It was Genius
Everyone's eyes were focused on her wings
They ings that no one could ever create and no bird could ever gain
They ings that could only exist in one's iination
The birds and people were all focused on those wings
But Genius did notand looked up at her, she would look thee or smile
She was taking a walk through the city for the first ti J-Gun
”His younger brother is using the Urban Name of Gunmal, too?”
She smiled bitterly
…J-Gun had me call him that e first met
The two of theh this area back then
Even while working at Archs RDC, she had al She would leave Hong Kong Cave using a dedicated transportation vehicle and she had been able to spend the night in her office
Also, the idea that Nein Engels were hated by the people of Hong Kong was a fact, not a persecution complex
That was evident even now
There was a strange look in the eyes of the people she passed by They saw her as so that should not be here
She could sense it all thealone like this
”How can Double Lee's sister e to live here?”
Genius had never er sister ent by the Urban Na heard the rumors
She was a Seraph, but she had only tings due to the deforels
She was a tuner just like her brother
Three years before, she had suddenly left Hong Kong Cave
And Double Lee had not forgotten her
”He must have a reason”
Genius touched a nearby cage A white dove stared at her froe
She stared back for a while, but finally ree
”Sorry,” she said before resu her walk
That hen she heard a strange sound
It was a loud and intense, but it was only a single sound
It ca out into the road
The sound caain
It was the chirping of birds, but it was too coordinated It sounded like they were beginning to sing on sonal Someone could possibly teach a myna to do that, but this included the voices of much smaller birds
Curious, Genius walked forward
Athe birds and local children inside the shop, and he held a yueqin
The birds and children inside the shop were all looking to the
”Listen Basically, the birds just have to ht? This is the same You let the birds hear your Live”
The man's voice sounded a lot like J-Gun's
He played a note on the yueqin and the birds sang the same note
”See? Neat, isn't it?”
The children nodded and expressed their surprise or amazement
”Froht you like this, didn't she?”
The children voiced their affirmation
”Then continuing like that would probably be best At the very least, you won't beco kind of Busters or Tuners that your parents would think of So when you get ho it because it's fun Ask her what's wrong with that”
He laughed and answered someone's question
”Me? I' stupid stuff together a bit ago”
He handed the yueqin to a nearby child
He seemed to have borrowed it
When the children saw he had returned the yueqin, they grew excited