The slanting sunlight poured through the roof or windows, casting mottled shadows across the sunroom. One could bask in the warmth of the sun without stepping outside, the clock on the wall with its gilded engravings ticking softly.
If not for the eerie atmosphere of the place, it would truly be a perfect spot for a nap.
This was the sentint of the mbers of the dark organization, School.
A few ters away, Selene, dressed in Tokiwadai’s winter uniform, sat comfortably on the central cushioned chair, allowing the visible Honkai Guardians to prepare her drink.
A few silver-white knights in heavy armor, their light filants seemingly ready to pierce through the roof, and the Honkai Guardians with glowing wings were busy, grinding coffee and preparing the French press. Despite their large size, their fingers were remarkably precise.
Selene adjusted her hair, cradling a steaming cup of red coffee in her palm. With a flick of her finger, she gestured, "Please."
Thud thud!
Watching the imposing Honkai Guardian step forward and place the small tea cup in front of her, Gokusai Kaibi, with her beautiful golden hair and delicate features, received it with a full smile.
But the way her eyes darted nervously toward her team leader, Kakine Teitoku, betrayed her unease. She really didn’t dare act up.
After all, even the Number One is human, right? No matter how strong she is, she’s still just a person.
Though indifferent, School was technically her subordinate organization, part of her own people. Rumor had it that Selene treated her own well, and the treatnt at the Schicksal Research Institute wasn’t bad either.
And, considering she always maintained proper decorum, Gokusai Kaibi, who occasionally did so casual chatting with clients to earn pocket money, had confidence she could handle herself (as she claid, she just talked and flipped through magazines; nothing too inappropriate).
But when Selene stood right in front of her, her crimson gaze slowly sweeping over her, Umi’s mind went blank. All her carefully rehearsed lines and intentions of trying to sound natural, even hoping for a little extra allowance from the dark departnt, vanished.
Her Level 4 psychic ability, which allowed her to asure and regulate ntal distance, felt like it was rendered useless, as if her inner world had been stripped bare.
When reality set in, danger! Danger! Extre danger!! Her instincts honed by years in the shadows of Academy City’s dark side scread in alarm.
The spoon stirred slowly in the coffee cup, and Selene, one leg crossed over the other, her skirt flowing elegantly, rested her chin in her hand. She cast a glance at the brown-haired man sitting across from her, who had remained silent for a while.
"Why so quiet? Did you specifically co here just to introduce your dark departnt mbers to ?"
The light from the giant floor-to-ceiling windows that illuminated the sunroom was blocked by the massive figure of the Honkai Guardian beside Selene, casting a large shadow over Kakine Teitoku.
Selene tilted her head and raised her hand, the dappled light filtering through her delicate fingers and reflecting off Kakine Teitoku, whose head was slightly lowered.
"Boss, if it’s possible, I’d like to end my work in the dark departnt."
Yes, end his work in the dark departnt—but not leave Selene’s service.
Kakine Teitoku wasn’t an idiot. If he said such a thing, it was a clear challenge to Selene’s control over her subordinates, implying that he could co and go as he pleased.
"What?!" ×3
Before Selene could react, Gokusai Kaibi, Yobou Banka, and Yumiya Rakko, all mbers of School, suddenly looked at each other, alard.
No way. The leader of the most famous dark organization in Academy City’s underworld, Kakine Teitoku, wanted to retire from the dark departnt?!
Among Academy City’s eight Level 5 espers, the seventh-ranked Aihana Etsu had never made an appearance—only her voice was heard, never her face. The eighth-ranked "Telekinetic Cannon" Sogiita Gunha, at best, was seen as a passionate youth, but to those who lived on the dark side of the city, he was just a fool.
The fourth-ranked "Railgun" Misaka Mikoto and the sixth-ranked "ntal Out" Shokuhou Misaki were naïve young ladies, though the latter was more pragmatic and perhaps even more difficult to handle in their eyes.
The fifth-ranked "ltdowner" Mugino Shizuri was a different story altogether. Her dark organization, Item, had repeatedly suffered losses at the hands of School, and her ability was entirely countered by their leader, Kakine Teitoku.
Not worth ntioning.
As for the second-ranked esper in the top three, Accelerator, he rarely involved himself with the dark side back in the day, as he was a solitary figure. His presence was enough to deter anyone, but that was the past.
For a while now, the "Level 6 Shift Project" had failed. The second-ranked esper had allegedly bungled the operation and been defeated by an ordinary powerless individual. It was even rumored that he was shot in the head and sent to the hospital.
How laughable... where’s your vector control now?
As for the first-ranked Selene, she wasn’t even part of the dark side. She had already beco one of the rule-makers of the ga. No matter where she stood, her status was entirely different from the other Level 5s. The dark side was rely one of the tools she could wield, her black gloves.
If conditions allowed, Selene could essentially command the majority of Academy City’s resources, although she hadn’t needed to do so yet.
In short, in today’s Academy City, unless Selene is out of the picture, Kakine Teitoku is the undisputed leader of all espers. In the dark side, he’s invincible, truly unrivaled. He could dominate the field, rake in the cash, and live like royalty.
To withdraw now? That’s like being stuck in the outdated traditions of 1905 or castrating oneself in 1911.
No wonder you called us all to et the first-ranked esper—seems like you’re preparing for a farewell party.
"So, this is the reason..."
Selene tapped her chin thoughtfully and spoke briefly.
"At the beginning of September, I obtained specific information about the ’Dark May Project,’ which aid to replicate Accelerator’s thought patterns in order to significantly optimize the superpowers of experintal subjects."
"Intrigued by Accelerator’s computational patterns, I rescued a forr test subject of the project from a group of thugs..."
Kakine Teitoku didn’t pause as he outlined his actions for Selene. He seed to have pondered it for so ti and made a firm decision.
"...Because the self-destruct program implanted in her was activated, she was on the brink of death in front of ... I decided to save her, injecting her with the Honkai antidote you assigned to ."
At this point, Kakine Teitoku clenched his fists, his joints creaking. His voice had changed, becoming strained as he closed his eyes in anguish.
At this mont, Kakine Teitoku recalled the day the self-destruct program activated, and the fragile girl’s final words to him:
’Kakine... please, rember . Everyone else has forgotten the na of Tomoka. I rember. I killed her, so I rember. So, I want you to rember too. Rember Ryuugou Tomoka’s . Kakine... please... rember .’
’Kakine... your wings are beautiful.’
Kakine Teitoku had experienced a similar scene in his past. He grew up in a research facility, and his childhood friend died right before his eyes. This beca one of the greatest pains of his life.
Not being able to save his childhood friend was one of the main reasons Kakine Teitoku fell into the dark side of Academy City.
Back then, a young girl was about to die right before Kakine Teitoku. Her words and her attachnt to him made him see his childhood friend in the girl before him.
Thus, Kakine Teitoku made his decision: to save her.
This version of Kakine Teitoku had descended into darkness far less than before. He had been physically disciplined by Selene multiple tis and was pushed down to third place, no longer admired or appreciated. He was even mocked as a substitute. However, this had not twisted his mind or filled him with a thirst for revenge.
"I’ve beco Selene’s dog... and you say none of this will break my defense? Look at Accelerator, that annoying guy. He walks around like he’s the boss, but even he’s been brought down. Not only is he losing battles, but now he can’t even match up in terms of research value."
Ah, yes, Selene is the ’Gemstone’. If you want to research so feasible principles from her, that’s just absurd. But the byproducts she creates—the Honkai Energy—now that’s sothing useful.
Extrely valuable for research!!
As the amount of Honkai Energy Selene produces grows, major research institutes have set up dedicated research projects around it, and even smaller ones are scrambling to obtain Honkai Crystals.
What can you do? It’s the "universal solution." Not only can it enhance the human body and prolong life, but it can also fortify tals, and be converted into pure energy like electricity, fire, or light radiation...
Life sciences, dicine, material science, chemical engineering, energy... its applications are vast.
Especially in the first two areas—everyone knows that powers are tied to computation. Strengthening the human body and developing the brain is essentially improving ntal capacity. With increased computational power, one’s ability naturally improves.
This is why the research institutes devoted to superpower developnt are so eager to study Honkai Energy.
Since Selene arrived in Academy City, Accelerator beca a constant reminder of his own limitations. With a fellow ’patient’ by his side, Kakine Teitoku felt a lot better compared to before.
At least now, it wasn’t just suffering.
Sotis, having soone to compete with and share the sa ’misfortune’ can make a world of difference.
After a mont, Kakine Teitoku spoke again, not hiding his past thoughts. "She reminds of my past... she is my past, Boss... Heh, Miss Habsburg, not everyone is as naturally..."
Selene interrupted Kakine Teitoku, moving her coffee cup aside. Her fingers lightly tapped on the table as she finished his sentence. "Yuzuriha Ringo, right?" The phrasing was in the form of a question, but her tone was certain.
"I see. You’ve found redemption," she added with a smile that remained poised and elegant. Her voice was calm, like still water.
In her crimson eyes, a flash of cerulean data streams passed by.
"I am willing to pay..."
Slap!
"Everything of yours is mine. I don’t care what you give," she waved her hand dismissively. A swirl of purple light gathered at her fingertips, and in the next mont, a stack of docunts was thrown onto the table.
"This is..."
Kakine Teitoku took the docunts, quickly flipping through them. He scanned through the thick pile with impressive speed.
As expected, Selene had the ability to monitor Academy City, or perhaps had access to so kind of surveillance system. The docunts before Kakine Teitoku contained everything about his life, including the confidential summaries of the dark departnt tasks he had executed for Academy City. Every step he took was ticulously recorded.
The further into the docunts he went, the more detailed the records beca, covering the dirty work done for the Board of Directors.
Not only were his battles against rival dark organizations in various missions thoroughly analyzed, but the rescue of Yuzuriha Ringo was also docunted in full. Every word she had spoken, her final calls to him, were written down.
"Why didn’t you escape? If you had run away with her, fled outside Academy City, to the Arican District’s Gakuen City, I might not have been able to do anything. You could have escaped my exploitation, maybe."
Selene half-jokingly remarked.
"Because it’s impossible to escape. The value of ’Dark Matter’ is such that no matter how much it’s squeezed, Academy City will never give it up."
He pressed his chest, where Selene had once pierced with her Subspace Lance and injected him with Honkai Energy. "And Miss Selene, you couldn’t have failed to leave behind a backup plan. Though I don’t have direct proof, those with a strong desire for power are usually quite paranoid."
"If I’m not mistaken, Miss Selene, you should be able to control the Honkai Energy that rged with , or perhaps it’s already infiltrated my Dark Matter, right?"
Selene chuckled softly, "Heh, spring has arrived. It’s different when you start caring about soone. All the little details matter."
"Ah, that’s right, you made the right choice."
"If you had just disappeared without a word, I would have caught you, crushed you into a pulp, and then put you in the ’freezer,’ turning you into nothing but a pure body for generating Dark Matter. And her... she would die as well."
Rip~
Selene tore open a rift in space, through which Kakine Teitoku could see a small girl peacefully sleeping in a modest room resembling a safe house. Her face was calm, with a smile of reassurance, though her black hair, shoulder-length and frail limbs, and pale skin spoke of malnutrition. She wore a loose green tracksuit.
Kakine Teitoku’s eyes widened. On the other side of the rift, the black-haired girl was unmistakably Yuzuriha Ringo, the one he had hidden away in a safe place.
"The highest-tier spatial ability, no matter how many tis I see it... it’s truly unfair," he muttered bitterly.
"Miss, what exactly do I need to do, or how many tasks do I need to complete to finish my duties in the dark departnt?" Kakine Teitoku quickly regained his composure and asked seriously.
No matter what Selene thought, he had no choice but to take this seriously. After nearly half a month of internal struggle, he had made his decision to withdraw from the dark side. He wanted to return to a normal life, to be with Yuzuriha Ringo, and to find the life he had lost.
Although he acted arrogantly, claid to be evil, and could kill without rcy, it didn’t an he wasn’t grateful to Selene.
If it weren’t for Selene’s life-saving Honkai antidote, he would have once again faced that heartbreaking sense of helplessness.
Of course, it was possible that Kakine Teitoku felt he could never escape the debt he owed her, always seeing her kindness.
Upon receiving the docunts from Selene, Kakine Teitoku was even more certain that his work in the dark departnt might not be as important to her as he had imagined.
"Oh? I haven’t approved it yet. So quick to change your mind? Trying to be like Sebas, wanting to move into a clerical role for the organization, or maybe an experintal assistant at a research institute?"
Indeed, Kakine Teitoku’s dark departnt work was trivial to Selene. If he wanted to do it, fine. What mattered to her was his Dark Matter. Perhaps there was a bit of vanity too—seeing a Level 5 serve another Level 5.
But to Selene, after her main consciousness returned, Kakine Teitoku’s value seed uncertain—sotis important, sotis not. Still, it seed he had his uses.
After all, the more you see, the less you value the things you once held dear.
It all ca down to attitude. Kakine Teitoku’s attitude pleased Selene, and as long as he wasn’t wasting her ti, she had no issue with him switching roles. She wasn’t a demon, after all. Changing positions to shine in a new light wasn’t a big deal.
Really, Kakine Teitoku’s hesitation in contacting her made Selene wonder if he had been ssing around with Accelerator, Kamijou Touma, or Aleister. But no, it turned out he was just switching jobs and taking care of a kid.
I, Selene, am understanding.
"Then, the dark departnt School is officially disbanded."
Selene turned to the three mbers standing quietly to the side, "What about you? Will you go your own way, or are you looking to join one of my other departnts?"
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