Chapter 2: At the Time of Arrest

April 15. Modu, Dragon Commandery.

Outside Tian Yi's bookshop, Blood Owl tore open the ground with a sweep of his hand, splitting the entire street in two. Paper Hero had to abandon his attack and only managed to dodge the terrifying blow with Tea Immortal's help.

“Hey, aren't you going inside the bookshop? If you keep standing beside me, killing all these people will be far too easy,” Blood Owl said to Tian Yi.

Time was short, and one surprise followed another, but Tian Yi already had a plan. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Just put up some token resistance and enjoy the fight. But when you've had enough fun, let them take you alive. Within two months, I'll send someone to join you in Tidal Prison. I need you to fish someone out of hell for me.” He stepped back a few paces and said in his normal voice, “Until we meet again.”

After several exchanges, everyone who wanted to flee had fled, and everyone who wanted to stay had stayed. In the end, four men remained in the street: Blood Owl, Paper Hero, Tea Immortal, and Mirror Face. Facing three opponents alone, Blood Owl showed no fear. Of course, he could not have shown any; if anything, he looked rather excited.

“Finished talking it over, you scum? Hurry up and come at me together. One at a time is no fun.” Blood Owl taunted them without restraint.

“Keep him occupied for a moment.” Tea Immortal turned and hurried back to the car he had arrived in. The attack had missed it, though its HL driver was already scared witless.

Tea Immortal picked up the radio in the car and contacted the branch personnel. “It's me. Yes, I'm at the scene. The assault team is on its way? Good. Start evacuating the surrounding residents immediately. This is an emergency. Take over television and radio broadcasts in this district at once. Ideally, there should be nobody left within a three-kilometer radius. Don't come too close yourselves. Wait for my word…”

Meanwhile, Mirror Face had already attacked. He had no need to consider matters from Tea Immortal's perspective. He had none of HL's responsibilities and represented only himself, so he had no qualms.

Mirror Face held a sword in each hand, his swift strokes shifting as unpredictably as a phantom. From a distance, he seemed no more than an insubstantial black shadow circling Blood Owl, every move lethal, his attacks leaving no opening.

Blood Owl stood firmly in place, raising a hand only once every three to five seconds to block a sword strike. The rest of Mirror Face's relentless barrage merely left countless tiny cuts and bloody marks on his skin. Before long, even those wounds began to heal.

“You're a little better than a mosquito. Let's call you a bat.” Blood Owl fended off Mirror Face's attacks with ease, mocking him. “Your speed is already at Fierce rank, but how do you expect to break through my protective wall of energy with blows that barely tickle?”

“Is that so?” Mirror Face gave a cold snort in his hoarse voice. “Then I'll let the man behind you have a try.” His figure flickered as he retreated two meters and took a third sword from his sleeve, shorter than the two he already held. Without hesitation, he thrust this short sword straight at his own face. At that moment, his mirror mask reflected Blood Owl's entire body.

The blade entered the mirror, but the mask did not shatter. Ripples spread across its surface like water, and the front half of the short sword seemed to pass into another space. Almost simultaneously, Blood Owl found that he could no longer move.

“Spacetime Guidance, is it? A cheap trick.” Blood Owl looked back toward Paper Hero. He knew the other man's attack had been ready for some time. “Someone's gone to the trouble of making an opening for you. Come at me, Paper Hero.”

“You don't have to tell me.” A straight paper spear hovered above Paper Hero's head. Countless taut white threads were attached to its shaft, winding around it like thread on a spool as it spun at high speed. Together, the threads formed a V, pulling the spear backward like an arrow on a bowstring…

As Blood Owl spoke, the spear began spinning in reverse, and the “paper bowstring” drew tighter and tighter. Once released, the spear would drive straight ahead, smashing everything in its path.

Paper Hero had fought Blood Owl several times and knew perfectly well that ordinary attacks could never defeat him. Only an ultimate killing move that concentrated all his strength into a single strike could deliver enough destructive power to inflict a serious wound.

It took longer to tell than to happen. The string snapped forward and the spear shot out, swift as a meteor chasing the moon, mighty as Pangu holding up the heavens. A sonic blast tore through the air along its path, and the invisible force radiating from it shattered the outer walls of the buildings on both sides of the street.

Blood Owl stood immobilized, yet at the sight of the attack about to pierce him, his face lit with fervor. “Good!” he cried. Then he suddenly moved. Energy like black vapor gathered around his right arm. He drew his clenched right fist back to his waist, gave a furious shout, and punched out to meet the spear.

The moment Blood Owl moved, a crack appeared in Mirror Face's mask. Beneath it, his face was filled with horror. This was the first time he had ever seen anyone break through the restraints of “spacetime” by sheer force.

Paper Hero's spear struck as planned. Its tip did not touch Blood Owl's fist. An invisible barrier lay between them, keeping the two energies apart. Blood Owl feared no one in a direct contest of strength, but this attack was formidable indeed. Even though he met it in earnest, he gradually began to lose ground.

Having unleashed that strike, Paper Hero had no strength left to affect the outcome. He could only remain where he was and wait for his head to clear. Meanwhile, the pressure generated by the two enormous forces drove Mirror Face back step by step, farther and farther from Blood Owl. He could not help cursing inwardly. Who the hell was this man? Where had Tian Yi found a monster like him?

At that moment, a figure flashed into view beside Blood Owl. With a light wave of his hand, he introduced a third force into the deadlock, deflecting the two massive opposing forces diagonally into the sky. A transparent shock wave as broad as an undersea tunnel shot upward in a visible blur, tore through the clouds, and vanished into the distance.

“Modu is one of the world's major commercial cities. If you keep this up, even a three-kilometer cordon won't be enough,” Tea Immortal said. “Rebuilding is much harder than destroying. Consider your surroundings and the civilians when you fight.”

Paper Hero panted. “Hah… Mind your own business… Hh… That would've at least wounded him.”

Standing beside Blood Owl, Tea Immortal addressed Paper Hero, his manner still composed. “Officer Nice, I order you to stop fighting. I'll take over from here.”

“What did you say?!” Paper Hero demanded.

“Let me remind you. First, you're a police officer from Venice, with only limited law-enforcement authority in the Dragon Commandery. This fugitive is a Level Four wanted criminal under HL's jurisdiction. I invited you here to assist the investigation. If you wish to help me apprehend him, I have no objection, but you're clearly acting on a personal grudge.” Tea Immortal's expression grew cold, his voice carrying unmistakable authority. “I don't want to see you acting like a loser again. Think carefully about what you're fighting for. Now step aside and watch.”

Paper Hero had no answer. The man before him had always worn a kindly, gentle, even somewhat boyish expression. Yet at this moment Tea Immortal seemed an insurmountable mountain, more frightening than Blood Owl, far more frightening than anyone Paper Hero had ever met. This strength lay in his character rather than his fighting ability.

Tea Immortal turned to Blood Owl. “Chev Kirios, I'm already extremely annoyed. But knowing you, you won't be considerate enough to surrender quietly. You'll only provoke me further, so we'll have to fight.”

“Heh heh…” Blood Owl grinned savagely. Violence was the language he knew best and loved most, so he used it as his opening remark. He slashed out with the edge of his hand. A building behind Tea Immortal split diagonally, its upper section sliding off and collapsing…

“That fellow took Molecular Influence, an ability category focused on defense, and turned it into something extremely offensive and aggressive. He even managed to achieve Fierce-rank attack power. Unfortunately, his foundations are too weak. He has no systematic understanding of his ability and has never studied it properly. All he can do is rely on combat experience and instinct, charging like a mad dog, pointlessly exhausting what pitifully little strength he has.” Blood Owl turned as he spoke, knowing exactly where Tea Immortal stood after evading the attack. “You're different. You're a true expert.”

Tea Immortal raised his arm and pointed his index finger at Blood Owl's left shoulder. “An accurate assessment, but I don't think you're complimenting me.”

Just as he was about to act, Blood Owl suddenly said, “I surrender.”

Tea Immortal froze. Could he be trying a trick? Impossible. But this made no sense…

While he was still thinking, Blood Owl held out both hands. “Arrest me. I don't feel like fighting you today.”

…………

Blood Owl woke from a dream. He had not, of course, been startled awake. He could experience only other people's negative emotions, with none of his own, so a dream was merely a chance to watch scraps of memory and mental junk pass before him.

Everyone in Tidal Prison had a cell to himself. There was usually nothing to do in these cells except lie on the bed staring into space or use the toilet. Each day, a random number of prisoners were selected and transferred to other holding sections. They had no possessions apart from the clothes they wore. Even if they did, those things would be lost when they changed cells.

Recreation began every morning at ten and lasted until seven in the evening, with two meals served during that time. Prisoners could talk freely throughout. After all, the people you spoke to today might no longer be held in your section tomorrow. Besides, none of the people locked up here were normal. Someone who greeted you with a friendly smile might very well bite through your neck the moment you turned your back. Establishing trust was therefore extremely difficult.

Blood Owl had arrived in mid-April. On the island's surface, he had felt stronger than ever before. Though still nowhere near the absurd power he had when standing before Tian Yi, it was astonishing all the same. But once inside the island, he found his ability gradually weakening until it had almost vanished. By the second day, he could sense “evil” only within roughly five meters. It felt absolutely wonderful.

For Blood Owl, living in a city was like having tens of millions of nauseating images playing simultaneously in his mind every waking moment. In Tidal Prison, only a handful remained, sometimes none at all. He remembered spending a few years in a deserted wilderness just to enjoy that privilege.

He knew there had to be something inside this island. Perhaps a device, perhaps the building materials, or perhaps some element in the air that suppressed people's abilities. Of course, this did little to help “cure” his condition. If all Blood Owl wanted was to stop sensing human “evil,” he could simply live in seclusion. What he wanted was to experience emotions of his own. He wanted to know what an ordinary person felt, why they feared, why they coveted, and what the hell guilt was. So he still had to work with Tian Yi. Besides, the conditions here really were rather poor.

Clang, clang, clang. Someone tapped the iron bars of his cell door. A guard stood outside. “Kirios, come out.”

Blood Owl knew recreation had not started yet, and the man certainly wasn't inviting him to breakfast. He looked up at the guard. “That EAS kid again?”

“Cut the crap. Come out and follow me,” the guard said.

..