Editing City Series:Volume3b Chapter 8 (section)

===Part 4===

Akira ran through the darkness.

The only light was the portable fluorescent one hanging from her shoulder.

She was running down a passageway in the catacombs under Kowloon Walled City. She had passed through a sealed barrier with Gunmal and had remained with him until quite recently.

As soon as the slope of the passageway had gotten steeper, he had come to a sudden stop.

“Someone up above wants to be my dance partner.”

“Eh?”

“Your partner…is probably even deeper down here. I can feel a tremor in the air.”

“You…won’t go with me?”

“I’ll dance with you later. You’ve gotta save the best for last, after all.”

“I might not win.”

“Weren’t you the one that said you had to stop your brother and draw out the Tune Emblem?”

“It’s true that my brother…needs my blood for his ritual.”

“You could always run away before Hong Kong is returned to China.”

She had shaken her head at that.

“That won’t answer any of my questions.”

“Is losing, getting killed, and allowing Hong Kong to be destroyed one of the possible answers?”

“You’re the one that said to protect and to hate are two sides of the same coin.”

“…You’re a stubborn one.”

He had rubbed her hair and she had felt an indescribably pale, warm-colored Live from his hand.

So she had simply nodded and resumed running.

She was still running now.

Her watch said it was eleven till midnight.

She ran and felt like the darkness was pressing in on her, but she was not afraid.

She was confident Gunmal and the others were behind her and she held Wild Königin even if she could not use it.

She ran until she was out of breath.

The downward-sloping passageway seemed to sap the strength from her legs with each step.

Even so, she kept herself moving forward.

A sudden change occurred.

The weight of the darkness filling the passageway vanished.

“!?”

The wind had changed.

Even if she could not sense a change in the color of the darkness, she could tell she had left the passageway and entered a large space.

She had reached Hong Kong Cave.

…''It’s chilly.

With that silent comment, she picked up her pace that had slowed a little.

The fluorescent light fell from her shoulder and rolled along the ground, but she still ran. Several changes reached her with each step.

She felt a slight breeze.

Her surroundings grew a little brighter.

She found herself in a residential area.

The concrete floor became stone pavement.

She smelled water.

She smelled moss.

A large space appeared before her eyes.

The stone monument and spring she had seen long ago were still there.

And she saw someone on the water’s surface.

“…Brother.”

It was a six-winged Nein Engel.

Double Lee stood on the water.

He was facing Akira as if awaiting her arrival.

His small frown was not much different from the look of a young man accusing his lover of being late.

“…”

Akira fell silent and Double Lee remained silent as well.

Akira stopped running and Double Lee remained entirely motionless in midair.

The only sound was Akira trying to catch her breath.

Soon, the blade of Double Lee’s short sword Device glowed with a dark inner light.

Her eyes drawn by the light, Akira’s gaze stopped on the Device.

“?”

The damply glowing blade reflected the darkness in its smooth surface.

The darkness flowed along the blade, slid down the tip, and gathered there.

Finally, the gathered darkness fell as a droplet.

It was a drop of darkness.

When it touched the water below his feet, it burst.

A quiet splashing sound reached Akira.

And with that sound, Double Lee moved his stopped body.

He raised the short sword and pointed the blade tip directly toward Akira’s eyes.

Akira reacted by using both hands to raise her Device that looked too large for her.

There was strength in her gaze but no raw hostility for her brother.

Their gazes met in the air between them.

Akira’s gaze was painfully powerful and Double Lee’s was cold and emotionless. Instead of repelling each other or clashing with each other, those gazes simply crossed paths.

Neither one looked away from the other.

Akira opened her mouth to say something.

“…”

But no words came out.

Double Lee simply gave a small nod.

He then gathered strength in the hand holding the short sword and inhaled some air.

A moment later, he made his move to settle everything.