Editing Kaze no Stigma:Volume4 Chapter 3 (section)

=== Part 3 ===


The game center the trio left was illuminated by the red sunlight of the evening. Feeling relief when released from the noisy environment, Kanon let out a small breath. And then she snuggled up to Ren like it was usual. 

"Which reminds me, Ren-kun was really cool back then."

While clinging to Ren's arm, Kanon recalled the gallant figure of the boy that overwhelmed that failure of an idiot. 

"Wasn't it the first time you acted like that in school?"

Kanon was familiar with Ren's strength. She understood that even a juvenile delinquent that took pride in fights couldn't go against him.

But Ren didn't try to display his own strength. Rather, he was actively trying to avoid that kind of situation. 

Unrelated to his ability, he hated conflict. That's why before it could turn into a fight he tried to express his opinion and while taking the hit he would only counterattack to defend his body. 

Although ''protecting Kanon'' was a just cause, Ren honestly thought it was inconceivable of exerting violence on boys his age.

"Ahh, yeah......."

Ren also thought his behaviour was strange and spontaneously expressed a bitter smile.

"I must definitely apologize to Takamatsu-kun later."

"I don't really care about that idiot but did you change your policy?"

"Policy huh, I didn't have such an exaggerated thing from the beginning. I just hate unreasonable violence, that's all. But when I thought Kanon-san was about to be hurt, I couldn’t control myself - is what you call ''to snap'', right?"

"Ehh....."

At those unanticipated words, Kanon’s cheeks were dyed red. 

"Th- th- that means, I'm important enough for Ren-kun to spontaneously lose his temper for me?"

"Yes."

As if talking about an obvious thing, Ren smoothly agreed.

"You are important. I wish Suzuhara-san were happy. I want you to smile. That's why, I'll protect you - I don't want to lose anything anymore."

"Ren-kun -"

Overcome with emotion, Kanon embraced Ren. But just before she could, a huge hand like a glove covered Kanon’s face. And then, forcefully tore her off.

"What are you doing, you -"

"No, well, Ren said it was for a friend."

Interrupting Kanon who was about to swear, Serisawa praised Ren with an unnaturally bright expression. 

"Of course, if I were in a pinch Ren would help me too, right? Because we're friends."

"Ehh...? Y- Yeah. But I cannot imagine Serisawa-san getting in a tough spot."

"That may be true. But, at that time I will trust in you when the time comes, ''friend''."

Striking Ren's shoulder Serisawa shifted his focus to Kanon. And then, raised his lips extremely enjoyed.

"I'm so glad for you, Kanon. Ren protected you ''as a friend''. You are mutually good friends. I'm sure your friendship will last ''all your life''. We'll ''alwaaaaays'' be friends, right?"

"..........."

Kanon glared at Serisawa with an extremely angry expression. Most likely, she was butchering him inside her head in hundreds of different ways.

She grasped her slender white fingers strongly as if trying to choke something.

"..........Just bring it on!"

"Ke ke ke ke ke ke."

Serisawa responded at the groaning Kanon with a loud laughter. In the space between them, invisible sparks were scattering.

"He- hey, calm down both of you!!" 

Becoming aware they were attracting attention from the surroundings, Ren tried to mediate the duo. But, his gaze went around as if making sure of something.

"- Be quiet, both of you."

Sensing the alteration in Ren's tone, both his friends quickly became silent. At almost the same time, a single man drew closer. 

Wearing an LL sized T-shirt that reached the middle of his tights and loose half pants - the person himself probably thought he was cool but the people who didn't have the same values could only call him untidy.

"Kannagi Ren?" the man asked shortly after, looking down on Ren.

"And you are?"

"It doesn't matter who I am. There's someone who has business with you. Follow me."

"I refuse."

"Aaah!?"

When Ren flatly rejected him the man tried to overpower him from right overhead.

"Who the fuck asked for your opinions!? Shut up and follow me or I'll kill you, damn brat!"

"I have no intention of obeying the likes of you, no matter what you say. Let's go."

Replying in a resolute manner, Ren urged Kanon and Serisawa on and started walking.

"...You bastard......."

Treated trivially by a middle school kid with feminine features, the man was quickly enraged. Drawing near the trio he seized Kanon’s neck. 

"Don't underestimate me, damn brats! What happens to this woman- !?"

Unable to finish his speech, the man fainted in agony. The fist trusted into the pit of his stomach made him unconscious and he crumbled down before understanding what happened and who did this to him.

"Are you OK?" asked Ren pulling out the fist that was buried up to the wrist.

Kanon nodded without showing any disturbance.

"Yes. But, who is this guy?"

"Well, I don't know. But I don't remember becoming enemy to this kind of people -"

Closing his eyes partly Ren searched for presence in the surroundings. 

They were surrounded.

Their clothes were different but they were approximately the same age and above all the boys had in common a wild presence while surrounding them.

They thought they weren’t yet detected so they slowly reduced the encircling net. 

Ren informed Kanon in a small voice. 

"For now we had better escape. Can you run?"

"Yeah.  I'll do my best," Kanon nodded. 

Next he made an eye signal at Serisawa, synchronizing their timing.

Just before the men moved, forestalling their movement by a second, Ren grabbed Kanon and started running.

"Move!  Move! Move! "

Serisawa sent the men standing still, and taken by surprise, flying spendidly. Ren and Kannon nimbly ran through the hole that opened in the net.

"Shit! Don't let them escape!"

While being chased by harsh voices and more than ten footsteps the trio started running at high speed. 

"Shit! Just how many are there?" cursed Serisawa while moving his legs determinedly.

From that point on, the trio weren't able to run from the men's pursuit for more than ten minutes. 

They didn't understand why such a group of people were pursuing Ren, but it seemed there were more of them than those who surrounded Ren's group the first time. 

The number of the men who ambushed them at their destination was already reaching thirty.

"Suzuhara-san, keep at it a bit longer," Ren murmured as if cheering up the girl who was short of breath.

Kanon was almost at her limit. By nature, her stamina was quite like that of a normal girl. When chased after by men with full grown bodies she couldn't possibly get away.

''"This is bad.........."'' thought Ren, when he remembered the distance so far.

They were being herded. He didn't know the final destination but the men were clearly leading them somewhere.

But, even if he knew that, there was nothing he could do about it. Even though the opponent is an amateur, their numbers were too large. He didn't have the confidence he could defeat all of them while defending Kanon and Serisawa without using En-jutsu.

Gradually they were being cornered to a desolate place with a bad atmosphere. While thinking he should start preparing himself they reached the corner.

As expected, they were ambushed. 

In the space ten men were lying in wait, Ren's group naturally plunged into it. From behind several other people were approaching. 

They were completely driven to the wall. 

"Ren-kun......"

"It's OK."

Grasping the hand of the girl who leaned close to him uneasily, Ren smiled.

"If I have too, I'll use my power. I won't let them even touch both of you. Don't worry."

It was strictly prohibited using Jutsu when dealing with an ordinary person. But he didn't feel like complying with such regulations if his body and the bodies of his friends were in danger. 

Ren was determined that more than hurting others, he couldn't tolerate if he himself were to get hurt. 

"Ku ku ku ku ku."

Unnatural chuckles drifted in the air and the crowd of people in Ren's front parted left and right. From inside it, a boy with a pompous attitude stepped forward. 

"Ku ku ku ku ku ku ku - ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

The supressed laugh gradually raised its tension and turned into a laughing scream. 

It was a face they recognized. 

The face they parted from only a few hours earlier laughed, arrogant and proud.

"You can't run anymore, Kannagi!" ''he'' declared with an already triumphant air.

Before he came out, it was possible that Ren's group was scared. Maybe they had a vision of asking for forgiveness with a menial attitude. But that completely backfired. 

A strange unknown ''something'' sometimes intimidates the human heart much more than a tangible, physical threat could. 

For Kanon and Serisawa, who were not used to being involved in serious fights, the strange men that chased them without pretext were very scary.

But the moment ''he'' showed himself the trio understood everything. The enemy's true character, his purpose and the conclusion.

"Aaa - aahhhh, my hair is so messy -"

Completely disregarding ''his'' existence Kanon started arranging her dishevelled hair. And then, the moment ''he'' tried opening his mouth a second time irritated, she beat him to it.

"The peeing boy, huh? Did you change your soiled pants?"

"Wha - wha - ....!"

He - Takamatsu Takashi, while trying to say something to make him look better, his face was dyed bright red with anger and opened and shut his mouth to no purpose.  

Serisawa sunk the boot in him even more.

"Which means, these guys are your brother's henchmen? I didn't really think you would call your Aniki. You’re such a loser, it's kind of cool."

"Sh - shut up! It's too late to apologize now! For the likes of you, in one shot, Aniki will -"

"Ahh - yes, yes. Just call your brother already - Where are you, Onii-chan with super powers?"

"Mo - mother fucker....." Takashi began losing it at the speech looking down on him from the bottom of the heart.

"That's enough, Takashi. Leave the rest to me."

"A - Aniki."

Hearing the voice that reached from the back, Takashi regained his confidence. 

"I trust you, Aniki! Turn them all to ash in one go!"

"All right"

Replying with a reassuring nod, one man appeared. That silhouette stared at the trio - a pitiless stare.

He was most likely in the latter half of his teens. His hair was bright orange and was standing up. He was wearing black leather pants and a deep crimson leather coat.

Coupled together with the orange hair, his appearance was really standing out. So much that you couldn't mistake him for another even at a distance of a hundred meters.

Sneakily, Serisawa and Kanon started speaking but in such a way that the opponent could clearly hear.

"Hey, what kind of cosplay do you think that is?"

"I don't know but I saw that pose, when facing the camera, appear at O-Bon and the last year International Exhibition Hall. He doesn't seem embarrassed, huh?"

".....Hey, damn brats," the man growled, deviating from the plan, his temple veins showing.

After all, since he was Takashi's brother, his capacity wasn't all that great.

Seeing through that, the duo got carried away even more.

"Hey, orange head Onii-chan, who do you cosplay? A game character? Or maybe anime?"

"Is that bad taste coat your casual wear? Are you really walking around dressed like that? No way - I can't believe it!"

Serisawa laughed like a horse while Kanon covered her sneer with her hand. For a man with a pretty low boiling point that was more than enough stimulation. 

"You sons of bitches! I won't forgive you!"

Raising an angry roar, the man released his ''power''. The flame spirits drawn to him with brute force screamed in agony. 

But as if not hearing that, the man kneaded the spirits being scrapped together.

In the man's surroundings, the air started flickering like a heat haze - and then, a deep crimson flame appeared.

"Se - seriously?" Serisawa murmured with a nervous face. Almost at the same time, as if trying to drown down his voice, from every direction cheers erupted.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"~

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Roast them! Colour them black! Turn them to ash!"

"Show us something flashy today too!"

Responding to the shouts of joy intoxicated in bloodlust, the man yelled.

"Yeaah, leave it to me!"

As if acting in concert with that scream, the fire gathered in both his palms. That curling flame raised its density, adjusted its shape and turned to high speed rotation fire bullets. 

"Eat them, ''Fiiiiiiire Buuuuuleeeet''!"

The man spread his arms on a grand scale and threw the two softball-sized fireballs with a sidearm pitch. 

The moment they were separated from his hand, the bullets accelerated as if repelled. The fireballs that left a flight afterimage headed to Kanon and Serisawa with a speed impossible to evade.

"It's dangerous!"

But, Ren reacted instantly and thrust both of them away, removing them from the fireball trajectory. Ren evaded them by slipping through the space between the fireballs and survived without problems.

"Hooo, aren't you good! Being able to dodge the <<Fire bullet>>!"

"What the heck are you thinking!!"

Ren scowled with an intense expression the man who raised his voice in compliment. 

"Openly using Jutsu in public - and even attacking children! If you're also a Practitioner, understand how moderation works!"

"Ahhh? What's a Practitioner?"

At the unexpected retort, Ren unintentionally became speechless.

Laughing scornfully at the petrified Ren, the man introduced himself loudly.

"I am <<The Fire Leader>>! The supreme monarch that controls fire! You have no right to complain, no matter who I burn! Because there's no one in this world who can order the King!"

Looking dumbfounded at <<The Fire Leader>> laughing loudly, Ren was voluntarily greatly perplexed.

"Waaaah, he's the worst.........this man is ''dokkaku''...."

Dokkaku is a term derived from Buddhism and represents the people that made ascetic practices and reached Enlightment without the guidance of a teacher.

Of course, the truth that they barely managed to reach through that kind of process doesn't go beyond the impression of selfishness. 

The same way, in the world of magic, the people who reached the manifestation of their power without any kind of instruction are also called this.

These kind of people, because they don't have anyone around them to compare to, have a tendency to think about their power as the greatest thing ever.

And then, they start a new religion by calling themselves ''The son of God'' and intend to exterminate mankind while under the impression they are ''the pioneers of progress''' and tend heavily to behave like a tyrant.

The man that stood before him was a stereotypical example of that.

"Well, are you ready?"

Punctuating the moment with a wild laugh, the man lifts his power a second time.

"Thanks for tormenting my little brother! I'll burn all three of you! Eat this, ''Phoenix Wing''!!"

<<The Fire Leader>> raised his hands to the sky. The fire spirits that were gathered beyond that point, embodied a bird in flames.

It was big. Its wing length exceeds three meters.

The phoenix moulded with delicate details like a living thing - and the heat loaded inside - Ren immediately saw through the fact that it was capable of perfectly burning three people to nothing.

"Get down!"

Covering up for Kanon and Serisawa, Ren confronted the fire bird. A huge quantity of heat that approached flapping its large wings. If a normal human were to take a direct hit from it would be turned to cinders. But -

"Disappear!"

At Ren's one command the fire bird scattered and vanished

"Whaaaat!?"

"Please don't get carried away. That sort of bluff jutsu doesn't even pass as the real Enjutsu."

"E - Enjutsu, you say..."

With a backward glance at <<The Fire Leader>> who murmured so with shock, Ren seized the broken fragments of the fire bird.

A slight pain travelled in his palm. ''Something'' mixed with the flame burned his skin.

Ren knew that feeling first-hand. A counterfeit pain that burned a regular human, the white hot sensation that polluted even the soul.

''"Youki !? What is happening?"''

Youki, the essence given by demonic beings - that is, the <<Ki>> of nonhuman life. It was something fundamentally different from simple evil concept like hatred, grudge and such.

It alternated the body of those with piles of experience, but different from the case of a black Jutsushi in the process of shedding his humanity, an amateur Jutsushi that only barely woken his powers was not supposed to be clad in it.

"- Let's go."

Finding it difficult to wait and see, Ren started a light attack. More than ten fireballs manifested instantly, leaving an afterimage.

The Jutsu composition and the shooting speed were both in a different league from <<The Fire Leader>>. 

Unable to even recognise the fireballs, the man stood rock still simply dumbfounded. 

"Waah!?"

But in spite of the fact that he clearly had not noticed it, from the body of <<The Fire Leader>>, a great number of flames were generated and intercepted Ren's Jutsu with unmatched accuracy.

Faced with the point blank explosion, the man finally noticed he was being attacked. For a little while his line of sight loitered around, not understanding what happened but abruptly he declared triumphantly, throwing out his chest.

"How naïve! Did you think that degree of offensive could knock down ''Me''?"

The convenient explanation that his power was invocated by an unconscious defensive instinct seemed self-sufficient.

"........."

Ren ignored the man's words and reflected on the phenomenon that just happened. 

That power was obviously invoked without the intent of the person itself. A Youki coiling around. There was only one deduction he could make.

''"He's possessed by a Youma?"''

The man who called himself <<The Fire Leader>> seemed only to borrow the power of the Youma that lived off him like a parasite. But as he was proudly boasting of ''his own power'' he clearly didn't realise that.

"That's nasty..."

It was not something that was possible to occur by chance. Without a doubt, someone deceived this man and turned him into the object the Youma occupies, ready to be eaten in the near future.

He couldn't let that be. 

He was bothered by the fact he let his power rampage but this man was unmistakeably a victim.

But, in front of Ren who decided to save him no matter what -

"Still, you're pretty good. It's been a long time since I met someone who could defend against my power."

The man got excited by himself. Expressing a smile that was supposed to be daring, he spoke dramatic words.

"Your power has the same attribute as mine - <<Fire>> - but you're also a senior class? Enjutsu-shi, you said?"

"- Senior class?"

"Isn't that right? That Vesalius mother fucker hid the fact there were other classes. What about you? Were you selected? Is <<Enjutsushi>> a higher class than <<The Fire Leader>>?"

''"Vesalius"''

Ren bore in mind that name. It seems he was the one who made this man be possessed by a Youma and the name of the man he absolutely had to bring down.

"Just what kind of person he is........that man?"

"Are you playing dumb? Whatever. I'll make you talk soon enough. Don't get cocky just because you're a senior class like me! It had nothing to do with class and level - because I, '''I''' am the most powerful!"

"No, I don't care about that, about that person named Vesalius......it's impossible?"

Observing the man endlessly excited, Ren understood persuasion was meaningless. Reluctantly, he took a posture preparing for offensive.

<<The Fire Leader>> shouted.

"Gooo! The ultimate secret, ''Flame Vortex''!!"

A crimson flame, coiling in swirls attacked Ren. Without shaming its mane, the ultimate mystery, its caloric value was fairly high - meaning, compared to the ones until now.

[[File:Kaze no Stigma vol 04 181.jpg|thumb|]]

"- Really"

While letting out a sigh, Ren stopped the ''Flame Vortex'' with one hand.

"Wh - Whaaaaaaaaat!?"

In front of the flame pushed back at him, <<The Fire Leader>> opened his eyes wide in surprise. As Ren's own power was added to it, that seemed to change into a golden helix.

"Wa - waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

At the fire torrent that filled his vision, <<The Flame Leader>> prepared himself to death. 

Piercing even through his tightly closed eyes, the golden flame burned his retina. The feeling of scorching heat pierced through something in his body. 

But the pain he expected to come didn't hurt him in the end. Timidly, he half opened his eyes and the golden flame was already gone without trace.

"Wh -wha - ahh."

Confused for a short while, he realised the unsightly shape of his body, curled down like a turtle, and stood up.

"You - you son of a bitch! Don't make fun of me! You speak so proudly, but your technique is nothing more but a bluff."

"This wasn't a bluff."

Intended to cool down the indignant man or maybe to provoke him even more, Ren replied with a serene expression.

"It played out just as it supposed to. Because from the start, I didn't intend to be your opponent."

"Whaat?"

"More important, answer my questions. What kind of person is Vesalius? From the process used to give you power, to the features of his appearance, tell me in detail -"

"....Mother fucker......." squeezed the man out through the gap between his teeth. 

Finally he reached the conclusion that until now he was the only one excited and recognised that Ren didn't even consider him a worthy opponent.

"Did you think I was out and over!? Don't fuck with me! I am <<The Fire Leader>>! Don't put me together with some small fish!"

His body trembling in anger as his inflated pride took a critical hit, the man released his power.

"''Shining Toooooooooorrent'' - ahh?"

But, the white light tornado that was supposed to come out couldn’t be even glimpsed.

"Wh - what? I don't have enough MP? Then, ''Fire Bullet''!"

It had the same result. The flame couldn't be brought forth. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't feel the response of collected power.

"It's useless," Ren informed the confused man.

"You have already lost your ability to manipulate fire. I got rid of it"

The essence of the Kannagi's power is the secret capacity of purifying and destroying all evil. 

The flame Ren released before didn't affect <<The Fire Leader>> at all and only burned to nothing the demonic presence. Of course, the ability to manipulate the flame didn't remain.

"Im - Impossible! How on earth.......a seal? Or you neutralised it?"

"It makes no sense to play around with game terminology. It's time you face reality."

Those cold words were the sentence that ended the dream. 

The letters <<Game Over>> flickered in his brain and the virtual character called <<The Flame leader>> vanished.

After that, only the human, Takamatsu Kyoshi, was left behind. 

Ordinary and powerlessness, he was nothing but one of those many faces in the crowd. 

"No......it's impossible......"

As Kyoshi trembled with the shock of loss, Ren slowly approached. Around him a golden flame flickered playfully. 

"Hi....hiii...!"

Before the vibrant clarity, there was the sudden change of composition. Degraded to powerlessness spoils Kyoshi let out a wretched voice and looked up at Ren.

Ren was what he yesterday was. If he felt inclined to kill, he could easily kill him. Like trampling on an ant, just like he did before, very easily -

He looked around him. All the gathered underlings have fled, already disappearing without a trace. Nearby there was the silhouette of his brother, fallen on his back but it was clear he was useless.

"Do - Don't kill me........"

Without shame or honour, Kyoshi got down on his hands and knees, begging for forgiveness. For him, the man who lost all his power, there was no other way to survive.

"Anything.......I'll do anything..........so please........"

"Ah - Well......."

Confused by Kyoshi's sudden change of attitude, Ren unintentionally stepped back. Turning his way a gaze as if looking at an unstable man, he said.

"You have no power anymore, so I don't intend to hurt you further."

"Re - Really?" Kyoshi suddenly raised his face and shouted in a voice overflowing delight.

"Ye - Yeah. But I have some questions for you and I would be glad if you could answer them honestly."

"Ask me anything!!" nodded Kyoshi bracing himself. 

Although the bizarre atmosphere increased a notch, Ren fired his question.

"Then, first of all about that Vesalius person. He's the one who gave you this power, right? Tell me everything about that."

".....Why, ask such a thing?"

When he heard Ren's question, Kyoshi asked back in wonder.

"Aren't you the same ～ Didn't Vesalius gave you your power at Pandemonium? And then you class changed after increasing your level?"

"Aah - I'm the one asking questions ～ "

Ren expressed an unsuitable ''cynical smile'' and gave a clumsy warning.

It was clear from his attitude that he wasn't used to this kind of interrogation but to Kyoshi who regarded him like his previous self, the effect was tremendous.

"Hiii - I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Inside Ren he (involuntary) labelled Kyoshi's menial apology as foul play.

".........So, what is ''Pandemonium''?"

"Pa - Pandemonium is......an internet site.......sir."

"No need for honorifics - Internet?" 

"Y - Yes.......I found it by chance. And then I was asked: ''Do you want power?'' I answered with YES. I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a peculiar formality. And then an odd pattern appeared on the screen and when I looked at it I fell asleep. And then when I woke up I had this power. It's true. It's not a lie, believe me..."

"........."

Ignoring the tedious talk that seemed to continue forever, Ren looked at the man's facial expression. He did not seem to lie. 

Meaning, if that was the truth -

''"The Youma was converted to digital data and summoned through the internet?"''

It seemed to resemble more and more a game, so maybe it was like that. That must be the truth.

In a word, this man wasn't used as a Youma sacrifice but summoned the Youma from his own volition and contracted with it. It appears that was the form it took.

'''Do you want power?'''

The moment he answered that question with '''Yes''' Kyoshi made the pact to hand over his soul. 

Of course, it was a defective contract. Using this coercive method, even the soul of a normal person without any kind of protection from the spirits cannot be taken immediately. 

But that applies only once.

The allurement continues. 

Even if a person is not influenced by the devilishness, a human being that owns a convenient power desires even more power. 

Without deeply thinking what sort of compensation will be taken from them. 

Until the time everything will be taken from them, they will continue requesting power.

"I see......that was done skilfully."

Ren let out a murmur of admiration.

A trap set at random on the network. Kyoshi can't be the only victim.

Just how many people have offered their soul for an hour of pleasure -

"Wh - what........"

Suddenly calming down, finding fault with his ears, Kyoshi looked up with an uneasy gaze at Ren. 

"Ahh, that's no concern of yours. Don't worry about it."

Ren casually waved his hand, obstructing the investigation.

"So, let's go back to the story. Let me see........first, tell me the address of this Pandemonium."

"I don't know it."

"........."

Ren stared very long at Takamatsu, who answered immediately. Overpowered by his glance, Takamatsu talked on and on, losing his head.

"I - I really don't know! While I was unconscious back then the connection was cut and when I looked at the history log there was nothing........everyone says the same, it's true!"

"Everyone?"

"There's an information exchange bulletin board for those like me, who received power from Pandemonium. That's what I heard there. There's no one who accessed Pandemonium a second time. We arrived at it by chance."

"What you say is that that site has no direct connection with Pandemonium?"

"Yes. The admin is the same as us."

Although experiencing some discomfort when hearing the word ''us'' as if it was said they were the same kind of thing, Ren asked again:

"The address?"

"It's in my phone."

"Give it to me."

After one glance at the phone presented to him, Ren tossed it into the pocket of his high school uniform. 

"I'll keep this. I think that's all I wanted to ask but -"

Inaudible, Kyoshi let out a breath.

"As you wish."

"By the way, what else is on that bulletin board?"

"Nothing really important. After all, it's a gathering of guys like me who don't know much. So, stuff like reasoning about this power's true colours, boasts about level or ability, battle appointments and -"

"Battle? Do you fight between yourselves?"

"Yeah, because it has a lot of XP."

"XP?", Ren asked in return.

"We receive e-mails about how to use our power. Like ''You received X experience points''"

"The sender?"

"It's Pandemonium. Of course there's no mail address."

"..........."

"So, when we collect enough experience points, we level up. When we level up enough, we class change."

"........Are you one of the senior classes?"

"Yes. I changed class from the basic <<Ignition Man>> to the <<Fire Leader>>. It was very hard accumulating so many experience points."

"..........Is that so?"

At the excessively game-like setting, Ren was unintentionally perplexed. But, although the setting was clichéd, that's not an usual way a Jutsushi is represented in reality.

''"But - What purpose does this -"'' 

Ren can't guess the objective of this Jutsushi called Vesalius. What meaning does it have to mass-produce people with special power in those like Kyoshi, people without discernment?

Is he just a criminal who takes pleasure in people's reaction to his crimes?

Although he knew it was meaningless, Ren asked his only source of information.

"What sort of person is Vesalius? Tell me everything you know."

"Uh huh."

As if sorting his memory, Kyoshi cast his eyes down in silence. Patiently Ren waited until the man opened his mouth. 

""He was a imposing son of a bitch. All his speech and gestures were theatrical."

And then Kyoshi started narrating. In more detail than Ren expected.

"Something like platinum blonde? He had long silver hair practically colourless and a red mask on his face. Because he was disguised I couldn’t see his face."

"That's very specific. You didn't meet him personally, right?"

"No, I met him."

"Where?"

"At Pandemonium."

".........."

From the story until now Pandemonium was supposed to be an internet site.

"Please don't tell me your spirit navigated in the Internet world ～"

Normally he would laugh at this but in the present Shinjuku the common sense of the game world is overlooked. He couldn't affirm that it wasn't true.

But Kyoshi shook his head at that question. 

"It's not like that. For a class change we had no choice but to go to Pandemonium. That's where I met him."

"................."

Ren stared very long at the man who concealed such an important piece of information until now. Pressed by that eloquent gaze, Kyoshi waved his hand in confusion. 

"Ahh, I didn't particularly want to hide it. The order of the story, its logic, we still haven't -"

"Excuses don't matter. In other words, Pandemonium doesn't exist only on the Internet but also in reality, right?"

"Aaah. But I don't know where it is."

" - You still say that?" Ren groaned with a fed-up voice.

He imagined this would happen but still felt considerably depressed unable to track this down.

"N - No, hear me out! It couldn't be helped, you know?"

Turning a flattering gaze to him, Kyoshi defended himself desperately.

"I walked around instructed by mail, and before I knew I was lost and then I realised a residence with a Pandemonium written sign was in front of my eyes."

".........."

Letting out his irritation together with an exhalation, Ren regained his calm.

He understood getting angry right now was pointless. This clearly went exactly as Vesalius wanted it to. 

Kyoshi's perception and cognisance, or possibly the space itself was warped so he wouldn't find out Pandemonium's real location.

It was impossible for an amateur like Kyoshi to go against such a practitioner who could exercise such large scale magic tricks.

"Have you seen something around Pandemonium? Or better, have you seen the outside scenery from inside Pandemonium?"

"..........."

With a face that seemed to have some clue, Kyoshi shut his mouth. With a smile Ren said:

"Keeping secrets won't help you."

"..............It's not a lie."

After a few more seconds of silence passed, Kyoshi spoke in a sulky voice. At that ''he won't believe me either way '' tone, Ren returned a bitter smile.

"The story until now is plenty absurd already. At this point I don't worry about common sense anymore so please tell me what you saw exactly."

"......After leaving Pandemonium's terrace, I saw the outside scenery."

While still hesitating, Kyoshi started speaking slowly.

"It was Shinjuku, I think. But it was extremely high. I looked from the terrace of the second floor but I could see the rooftop of all building standing in a row."

"....So it was on the rooftop of some skyscraper."

"That's impossible. I don't remember using stairs or an elevator, besides -"

"Yes?"

"On both sides of the mansion, identical towers were built."

"Towers?"

Hearing such unexpected words, Ren asked back starring in puzzlement.

"Yeah. Those buildings were slender, towers of twenty stores at most. With entirely the same shape, left and right, they were erected as if to hold Pandemonium in between"

"Hmmmm......."

Without saying anything, Ren gave a half-hearted answer. Was there in Shinjuku such a building, one from where one could see the rooftops of the other buildings?

"H - hey....."

Absorbed for a short while in meditation, Kyoshi called out to him in a flattering voice. 

"It's fine, right? I told you everything I know. Please let me go."

Looking down at the pitiful man with sober eyes, Ren quickly made his decision.

He asked him everything he wanted. He could be identified through his brother, so letting him go now wasn't a big problem. Besides -

"That's right. I'm sorry for taking your time. You can go now."

With a smiling face that didn't reveal his true intentions, Ren permitted his departure.

At that moment, Kyoshi ran away at high speed. Without hesitation he abandoned his brother and didn't turn around even for a second, that sort of commendable escape.

"Wa - wait for me, Aniki!"

After a few seconds, Takashi calmed down and ran after his brother. Of course, nobody was actually chasing them.