Epilogue: Yet to Begin

December 14, eight p.m., Hokkaido.

The street was out of the way and usually saw few pedestrians.

Yesterday afternoon's explosions and gunfire had left the local residents jumping at shadows. Even the handful of shops had stayed closed.

Several police cars stood beside an empty lot.

Only yesterday, a bookshop had stood on this small patch of ground. Now there was nothing.

Perhaps the building had flown away.

Seen from above, a huge black cross marked the ground. The bookshop seemed to have acted like a stamp, leaving its impression behind after it was removed.

A blue-haired young man stood silently beside the empty lot for a long time before addressing the middle-aged man at his side. “Mr. Shimaki.”

Shimaki answered, “Yes, sir!”

“Have someone come and wash this mark away later, along with the bloodstains in the street. None of it is of any use now.”

“Understood, sir!”

The blue-haired young man continued, “Oh, and there's the sole survivor. His name is… Ikeda Nozomi, correct?”

“Yes. He's currently in a psychiatric hospital. I've posted men to keep him under guard. We can bring him to see you at any time, if required.”

“By the way, does he have an inverted cross on his face?”

Shimaki thought for a moment, then replied, “No.”

“I see…” the blue-haired young man said thoughtfully.

“Sir, no inverted crosses were found on the bodies of Officer Jingniao, Second Lieutenant Kuwabara, or… well… those members of C Squad whose faces were still intact. Might that be of any help to the investigation?” Shimaki offered.

“Ah…” The blue-haired young man sighed. “The distinction he makes is actually quite simple. Only those who die through ‘sin’ are left with that cursed cross. People he kills with his own hands generally don't have the mark. As for the living… I'd have to take a look.” He raised his eyes to the sky, where a hazy moon hid behind dark banks of cloud. “Tian Yi has his own rules of the game, different from anyone else's in this world. As though he were some higher order of being who thought it only natural to treat the species currently ruling this planet with contempt and toy with them.”

Shimaki asked tentatively, “Sir… you seem to know this suspect very well?”

“No, I've never even met him. That's what infuriates me most…” As he spoke, he swept his sleeve, and the dark clouds overhead actually swirled apart and dispersed. The moonlight instantly shone clear.

Shimaki shuddered inwardly. Though he possessed Strong-rank abilities, the young man's casual feat was far beyond his reach. HL's upper ranks truly were as unfathomable as the rumors claimed.

“He's as unreachable as that moon, standing above all things, now visible, now hidden. You know he's there, always there, seeming to mock everything you do, every second.” The blue-haired young man turned and walked toward a police car. “This man is too dangerous. He hasn't done anything that directly threatens the Empire yet, but if one day he does, it will be a catastrophe.

“He'll break and rewrite every rule of this age, bringing chaos to the entire world. Countless all-powerful figures, interest groups, even…” He left the word unspoken. “At any rate, they'll go mad, raving like shrews, and in the end, I'm afraid it'll still be ordinary people who suffer.”

Shimaki had moved ahead and to the young man's left, and respectfully opened the car door for him.

“Thank you,” the young man said to Shimaki. “All right, let's go and see just what use this survivor might be.”