DarkMel seemed confused by the question. Naturally, she understood the dictionary definitions of what he was saying, but she had no idea why he was asking her. Katerina was similarly lost.
“I won’t object,” DarkMel replied uncertainly. “I’m not strong enough, and I don’t actually have a problem with any of it.”
“Really? This old man totally thought you were plotting with Luquille or something.”
“With Luquille-san? I’m getting more and more lost...” DarkMel was troubled, and her expression reflected exactly that.
“I am lost as well,” said Katerina. “But I do see that DarkMel-san is troubled by this! You there, barely-not-a-deviant! Stop troubling her at once!”
“Oh come on, what do you mean, ‘troubling’? This old man just wants to ascertain her true intentions. You’ve got to allow at least this much questioning— Hup!”
The next instant, Nito unleashed a knife-hand chop at Katerina faster than she could see. A precise blow struck the back of her neck, causing her to pass out in her chair. To anyone else, it simply looked like she had fallen asleep all of a sudden.
“Hey, what did you do, Uncle Nito?!” DarkMel yelped.
“This old man wanted to end the conversation smartly, you see. Ah, and your friend is just asleep, so don’t worry. More importantly, there’s no need to keep the act up, now is there? I made everyone else in the area pass out, just like her, so there’s no one to watch us.”
“Um...keep up...the act? Everyone?” DarkMel was only getting more confused. But despite that, she looked around and understood the situation she now found herself in. The area was completely empty. Everyone was unconscious. From her friends that had come to buy ice cream with her to the passersby to even those who were laughing it up in the food court.
“Do me a favor and refrain from any boring questions like asking how,” said Nito. “As a former Apostle, it was simple. By the way, the only reason your friends stayed awake so long was because they made a good smoke screen, especially the energetic one with the strong sense of justice. While they were awake, all your attention was on them and the noise they were making, so you didn’t pay any attention to your surroundings, right? In the end, this old man was considering a whole lot of angles. Cool, huh?”
“Ah, urgk...” DarkMel was on the verge of tears.
“Oh, come on, stop with that look like you’re about to cry. That’s just troubling. If this is also part of your act, you’re a real pro.”
Nito’s katana made a noise as he brought a hand to its guard.
“The fallen angels made a move in the shadows during the exhibition match,” he explained. “They tried to recruit you—no, I guess I should say kidnap? Well, anyway, it seemed to be some sort of evil scheme. But for some reason it didn’t go to plan, even though they took students hostage. In this old man’s opinion, your strength stands out compared to the average student in this academy, but even then you don’t compare to the strongest. Your chances would be even lower against fallen angels with hostages. And yet, you’re okay!”
“Well, that’s...because Paul-san and the others came to save me...”
“Ah, you mean those adventurers Kelvin-kun was teaching? Hmm...I wonder about that. Honestly, they’re not much different from you in terms of strength. Well anyway, as for what this old man wants to say... You’ve regained your old memories, haven’t you?”
“Ugh...urghh... I-I have no idea what you’re talking ab—”
“Sorry, you’re already in this old man’s range.”
Faster than those words could reach DarkMel’s ears, Nito swung his blade. He aimed for DarkMel’s thin neck, and even though his katana was still in its scabbard, he was confident he could sever her head. Instantly, his killing intent exploded outward, indicating that he was seriously going to try to take her head. However...
DarkMel sighed. “You would use the weapon—your real body? You shouldn’t throw away your life like that.”
“Seriously? This old man was intending to cut you in two.”
The speed of Nito’s blade was godlike, but it was stopped before ever touching DarkMel’s neck. An unsettling tentacle appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around the blade, stopping it.
“If you were, you’d be a terrible actor. It was obvious to me that you were sending out your killing intent to make it look like you were serious, but you were fully intending on stopping just in time. But every bit of this was terrible. You didn’t intend to kill me from the start, even if I didn’t block.”
“Oho, you sure can talk,” said Nito. “Then why did you even bother guarding this old man’s attack?”
“I didn’t guard. I did this so I would have your life in my hands, Nito.”
“Ah, I see!”
Nito’s Unique Skill, Return From Cold Ashes, was not actually a skill that made him immortal. His real body was the katana, and the skill allowed him to create clones of himself in human form. No matter how many clones were killed, he could create more, but that didn’t go for the katana. If the katana was destroyed, that was it for him.
“Erm...could you not squeeze that hard please?” Nito asked. “Katanas are surprisingly fragile, you know? As fragile as this old man’s heart.”
“Hee hee hee! It’s a strength contest, then!” DarkMel replied in a singsong voice.
Her smile was angelic, and the strength of the tentacle was bottomless as it constricted the katana. Nito could do nothing about it. He decided to simply cut his way through but found himself unable to inflict a single wound on the tentacle. It must have had resistance to slashing attacks. This turned out to be a bit of a shock to him.
“Well, I guess against you, this was always going to happen,” said Nito. “So, I suppose I should say, ‘nice to meet you’? Or were you really putting on an act this whole time?”
“No, both your assumptions are wrong. Put simply, my current state is DarkMel all grown up. My looks haven’t changed, but my flesh and spirit are both at my peak strength. I might also have grown smarter, maybe.”
As if her smile from before had been but an illusion, DarkMel’s expression was now ice cold. There was no joy or hint of playfulness in her voice either. Even Nito, a former Apostle, couldn’t fathom her power. It was as if he were facing off against a god of the highest order—that was how overwhelming the pressure she emitted was. It completely controlled the vicinity.
“Ah, is that so? If that’s a joke, it’s not funny. So why not allow this old man to say something funny instead? This old man surren—”
“Do you really think I’d accept that after all you’ve done?”
“Hey, hey, hey, wait! Wait just a second! Come on, hold up!”
DarkMel put pressure on the perfect spot in the middle of the katana, causing it to creak. Nito really started to think he was about to die. But then...there was a sigh.
“Looks like I should stop this now. Leave it there, DarkMel.”
It took a moment before DarkMel responded. “Bell-san?”
Bell, who should have been chatting with her school friends, had arrived just as the katana that was Nito started to give up the ghost.
“I’m the one who asked that barely-not-a-deviant to do this,” Bell admitted. “So you should be blaming me instead of him. I’d feel too guilty to sleep peacefully if I just let that barely-not-a-deviant die.”
DarkMel replied with silence, which she kept up for a while. In the meantime, Bell held her gaze, meeting her cold eyes.
As for the old man in question: He was reeling from the shock of hearing Bell refer to him as barely-not-a-deviant.