My bad, fixing my sleep schedule has been a pain, I pass out when I get back from school and in the end have no time to write.
(This happened every single time)
~~~~
Strong blasts of wind paved our path forward.
It was an unusual sight to see within a battlefield, perhaps never before seen. Chunks of dirt flying in the air and into the no man's land, I even saw a couple of the chunks get blown up by bullets.
Judging from my eyesight, we came around the halfway point, another thirty minutes left and we would be done.
Crackle-
It was a strange sound. One that couldn’t be made by a human but I could tell it must have been one.
‘...Is it the Gold-Rank?’
The wind stopped and my hair which had been flinging back came to a standstill.
“...Everyone, please stay here. I realized that someone is coming here.”
Without another explanation, which would waste precious time, I jumped from the artificially made trench and onto the no man’s land, waiting for the man.
Crackle-
I looked over to the location of the sound, a man with a clean wine-colored suit was calmly walking and simply pushing his fingers out which resulted in incoming bullets to implode, he was the source of the sound.
“Are you the ‘Flower Killer’ by chance?”
He asked, more bullets came but we both had our means to deal with them.
“Who’s asking?”
“Hm… Yes, I suppose introductions are necessary for us. My name is Darius, the Gold-Rank and overlord of Mexico.”
I gave a sly grin, “Aren’t you forgetting your most famous title, ‘Drug Lord’?”
“Why, I just didn’t feel the need to introduce that aspect of myself. After all, the reason no one knows my name… just haven't survived.”
A wave of bloodlust passed through the battlefield, it was intense but there was a lack of… ‘substance’.
‘...What a rusted old man.’
In return I sent a similar level of bloodlust, one roughly the same.
“Oh hoh? What a prodigy I came across today. But that isn’t the reason I came here. Why did you kill my precious assets?”
He stared at me with a certain eeriness, one I was perhaps too accustomed to. It was more intense than the bloodlust he sent me, though, all mad men are somewhat similar in this regard, myself included.
“...’Assets’? Oh, you mean those scum of the Earth who deserved to die?”
I knew that most of them were most likely forced to follow and submit as the older generations did, but I told myself that to justify my ugly actions.
Darius frowned, seemingly upset at my choice of words.
“Scum…? My… all assets are precious as long as they keep the machine working. So you mean to say that you killed them for no particular reason?”
Another bullet turned into scrap in his palm, something even I couldn't do.
“No, there was a reason, I don’t believe in mindless murder.”
Darius looked past me and into the roughly made trench that held all the villagers.
“Is it them? Are those the ones from Combat’s and Doctor’s village?”
I hoped he didn’t notice but something that large would catch a normal person’s eye out of curiosity, a Gold-Rank would have noticed no matter my pleading to non-existent Gods.
“...”
“I see…”
“So I suppose revenge would be the best? An eye for an eye as people say.”
My hands reached for my knives, but Darius had disappeared and my sixth sense told me nothing. I was blind before an instant later my stomach felt as if they caved in.
“Cough-!”
Spit came out of my mouth and I was flung back, closer to the trench.
“What was the saying young people say these days? Ah, you’re still too green behind your ears. You may have the strength of a Gold-Rank but you don’t know how to properly utilize it, a shame.”
‘This… is a first.’
A trick, perhaps a technique that nullified the sixth sense. Of course I could think of something as to how, just don’t think that you are killing them, end them instead. Or… something along those lines.
“Why aren’t you targeting the people? It would be much quicker to end this.”
“...Although I am saddened at the death of my subjects dying, I treasure my own personal pleasure more.” Darius turned and looked out into the barren wasteland. “There isn’t much to see or do in this country.”
‘...All of these people always have a screw loose.’
A phrase I was used to saying. Most people I met in the Spy World always had a screw or two missing. The Yozakura Family too had some screws loose, but I guess for them it’s their ‘normal’.
“Hah… All you older generations should just die peacefully before handing the world over to us.”
‘[Flow]’
My stiff joints relaxed and my body and mind became one. Many things improved over the past few months, most were unnoteworthy but others were improved at a rapid pace. One being my [Flow], now able to mimic the natural feeling and sensation of the Flow state.
Upon entering my concentrated state, I noticed Darius’ hollow eyes yearning for entertainment.
At some point, this became the standard of people I encountered, a skewered one but it was perfect for people within the Spy world. Outliers like ‘good people’ were rare, it was almost hilarious just how opposite the normal world was to the one I was accustomed to.
Crazy people were normal while normal people were strange.
…
I'm rambling again.
This happens almost too often when I enter [Flow], the heightened neural activity caused this. My hands reached into my coat and I shot out throwing knives imbued with bits of Aiki.
Fluidly, Darius dodged them without any problems.
“...I don’t appreciate how you still aim for the soldiers on my side of the battlefield.”
“...If you’re so pressed on such a small matter, then please, do something about it.”
Provoking people seemed to have been picked up, somewhere at someplace over the past few months. It wasn’t the most pleasant attribute to have and only seemed to come out in the midst of fighting.
“You have quite the fighting style, to think you would use poison, deadly enough to even affect me…”
In the past my fighting style was too orthodox, in order to compensate for this, I used my knowledge I had learned from the Nine to fill various gaps.
Chemical warfare was one of many smaller changes.
“Well… I had a good teacher.”
“Is that so?”
Darius flicked a bullet he had caught.
BOOM-!
Ting-!
‘...How tricky…’
The bullet Darius had thrown almost killed me. Darius was leisurely and lax, like he had no sense of danger.
He cared not if I was far or close, it was all the same.
From my holster, I brought out my hand cannon, now improved and my training with Aiki a bit more fluid, it would most likely deal a significant more amount of damage.
The wind swirled and spun faster within the chamber.
“...You seem like a fun person, Flower Killer. But I’m afraid if we keep fighting not only will your people die from our shockwaves alone. But the American Spy Agency doesn’t like my presence I’m afraid.”
On the other side within the United States borders, Spies of all ranks seemed to flood onto the no man’s land. Though, it seemed like he was more so wary of my upcoming attack.
“I believe this is where we should stop.”
He didn’t seem to care as his eyes simply dulled to its normal hue. My Aiki slowed to a halt and my hand cannon went back into its holster.
“Let us meet again, young Spy. Perhaps next time we fight your fighting style becomes more refined.”
‘...And I hope that time never comes.’
As Darius walked back into his own side, Spies of various ranks came into the no man’s land to confront me.
“We are from the Private Arms Agency, are you affiliated in any way to the Drug Lord?”
The woman who identified herself already had her hand around her weapon.
“...If I was, don't you think I would have followed the man?”
“...I suppose you would, my apologies. That man has been on the F.B.I. most wanted for years and was holed up within Mexico and was only sighted now after a dozen years.”
I heard her murmur under her breath most how a rumor that Darius had died was now proved false.
“...If I may.” The woman looked at me again. “I have a request, could you make those people over there within the trench, citizens of the United States?”
For a moment I questioned if the woman in front of me was even a Spy or a licensed professional as her face was as clear as day to read.
“O-Oh… Yes, I suppose that would be fine…”
…Not only that, but she still hadn’t asked for any form of identification from me… Should I say it was rather careless? Or was it an act? I couldn’t tell, she acted the trope of a ‘clutz’ quite well.
“If I may ask, what is your name?”
“My name?”
Her round eyes turned narrow, sharp like a sword.
“...Although I can’t give you my personal name, you may call me Chamber One. That’s my identification code with my agency.”
‘Chamber One…’
The American Agency went by the standard of ‘gun parts’ as codes. Of course there wasn’t much leeway like the Spy Association as it was both a private military institute and government sponsored.
If I had remembered correctly… ‘Chambers’ were the highest rank.
“...Are you perhaps trying me for a fool?”
“!?”
“This may have worked with other, less perceptive Spies, but I can clearly tell you are merely a Silver- no, a Bronze ranked Spy at the highest.”
“So, the question becomes: ‘Why is she acting like the highest member within her agency…’”
“...I won’t go any further than that to save your dignity, but next time please at least act the part.”
The expression of hers when I finished was something even I couldn’t describe. Guilt, horror… What could have made her invoke such feelings?
After a few moments of checking, I left Mexico with ease and no one saw me leave.
*
*
*
“Spring?”
“...Yes Lady One.”
“...I heard that someone found out that you took my place?”
“...Yes…”
Spring could feel the apathetic gaze of Chamber One. It wasn’t piercing, rather it was simply oppressive to be under.
Her eyes were dull, like they were full of fog and her face was cold, it never had once shown emotion since Spring met her.
“...I guess I’ll have to go out again…”
“N-No! It’s fine, I’ll find an excuse… something…”
Spring’s voice grew quieter at the end.
“...It’s fine, Spring. Without that loud ruffian, it’ll be much easier to rest.”
Spring felt guilty… but it surpassed the feeling of ‘guilt’, it was devastation. She had only one job and she had failed. For her it was more than a task or a job, it was her life.
‘...I failed…’
Both Chamber One and Spring’s appearance was similar, only very little changes and they could be mistaken for twins.
But her act unfolded when news of the Gold-Rank of Mexico had shown and her mask crumbled like paper. The only time she let go of her act and she paid severely for it.
“P-Please… One more chance, I’ll fix it…”
Spring heard Chamber One sigh.
“...You know how much I don’t like repeating myself. No matter if you're a friend to me or not… You should know this the best, Spring, why?”
“Please…”
Spring shivered, whether it was from her unstable mental state or her breaking down, not even Chamber One knew the reason why.
“...How do you intend to fix it? Kill everyone?”
Chamber One said, a hint of amusement in her voice.
“...Is that what you want? Is it? I’ll kill the squad and burn the evidence.”
Spring’s voice trembled. Chamber One could no longer see through Spring, was it trembling because of joy? Or perhaps dread?
‘...People say that I’m a psychotic bitch. But even they were wrong.’
“...Do as you please, I’ll watch for now, you have a month to clean up this mess.”
Chamber One exited the room and behind her, she heard the laughter of a monster.
‘Who knew that you were even more strange then even me, Spring.’
~~~~
Ahem…
So yeah, my sleep schedule was utterly ruined, that was why I couldn’t write or post this past week. And even now I’m actually sleep deprived making this chapter and trying to fix it.
The past week, I passed out as soon as I got back from school. It isn’t hard or anything but some… irresponsible choices led me to my current state.
I was planning on making seven chapters today, but my sleep schedule isn't letting me…
But…
Moving on from that, my opinion on chapter 213. I think I can definitely see much more comedy rather than action and intensive moments in the manga. It’s borderlining to like it was more suited for children, unlike the start of the series where it blended the comedy and emotional moments very well.
Also, Hifumi’s Blooming I can somewhat get and it had a valid reason, don't get me wrong. But for some reason it just felt a bit forced. But maybe that’s just in my mind.
Anyways, I think I’m going to take a ‘break’ for a bit.
It’s time that I fulfill my promise of editing all my unedited chapters and cleaning them up, shouldn’t take more than a week.
(UNEDITED)
