4 July 2018

  Japan, 15.00. . .

  Yuki and Neo have reached the skies of Japan. They fly on a giant bird made of ice created by Yuki. In the sky, they also saw many other Believers flying with their Faith power far ahead in the distance.

  "Senpai, look. That guy's faith power is to grow feathers on his arms. He has to fly like actual birds. That has to be very exhausting."

  "You’re right! Not to mention at this height! People's Faith power is varied. Oh, look at that other guy! His Faith power is flying by riding on a cloud? That's cool, but at the same time, I don't think that power has any combat capabilities."

  "Believers can always adapt, senpai. I've read on the internet that there are Believers who develop their fighting style by combining their non-combative Faith power with martial arts or weapon mastery. People are clever these days, senpai."

  "That's awesome! Gotta give credits to those creative Believers!"

  "Senpai, I have a fun question. If you can have a choice, what kinda Faith power would you want other than your current one?"

  "Ooohhh, I see. Hmm. . .Let's see. . . Uhhhhh. . ."

  "How about your preferred type first?"

  "Good angle! I wanna try to be an elemental type. Ummm, probably water elemental Faith power!"

  "Oh? Why is that?"

  "So that our powers match and I can support you better that way. At least in terms of firepower and compatibility."

  "Senpai, that's romantic. Are you flirting with me?"

  "I-I didn't. . . Okay, so how about yours?"

  "Me? Hm. . . I wanted to be an Armament type. And I wanted to wield a Yo-yo as my weapon. Yo-yo that can send a thousand volts of electricity to my enemies."

  "Yo-yo? Where did this obsession come from? Come to think of it, I never even see you playing a yo-yo, nor did I ever hear you say that's your hobby?!"

  "Oh, it's not that, senpai. It's just random thoughts I had every now and then. Like if I wasn't a Judge, I wanted to try to be a professional yo-yo player."

  "That's cool! But still, that is random. Usually, people get inspired by something when they have an obsession with something. Were you really not inspired by something or someone?"

  "No, like I said, it was purely random. I just taught yo-yo is cool, that's all."

  "Ah, alright. Speaking of which, we're almost there!"

  "Senpai, where exactly are we going? We're not exactly heading to your house in this direction."

  "We're going to Karin's house."

  *!!!*

  "But senpai. . ."

  "It's okay kouhai! I want to do this!"

  ". . .alright."

  The giant bird descends towards a certain direction diagonally downwards. Down on the ground, there was a 2 story house in a neighboring area. This specific house belongs to Neo's ex-girlfriend. The giant bird descends gently in front of the house. Yuki and Neo hopped off the bird, and Yuki thawed out the giant bird.

  "Are you sure you're ready, senpai?"

  ". . .yes!"

  "Okay."

  Neo pushes the door open.

  "(It wasn't locked?)"

  Neo walks inside with Yuki following after. As Neo enters, he gets a nostalgic scent of the house that which triggers a very precious memory for him. He stops all of a sudden, causing Yuki to bump into him.

  "Senpai?"

  "Ah! I apologize, kouhai! Let's continue!"

  They walk towards the living room, and then again, a precious memory came back into Neo's head. Neo was frozen in place for a few seconds.

  "Senpai?"

  ". . ."

  "Senpai."

  *!*

  Yuki grabs and shakes Neo's sleeve to snap him out of his daydreaming.

  ". . .I'm sorry kouhai. This is really painful. . .But I have to go through this!"

  Yuki grabbed Neo's hand and gripped it firmly and tightly.

  "Remember that I will always be by your side."

  Neo was relieved to see Yuki's smile. They continue to walk towards the kitchen. Neo freezes again, but Yuki immediately shakes him off. They walk upstairs towards Karin's bedroom. In front of Karin's bedroom, Neo prepares himself.

  "*Inhales* *Exhales* Here we go!"

  Neo pushes the door open as he also walks slowly inside, followed by Yuki. And then they have entered the inside of Karin's bedroom.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  ". . . ."

  "Everything is still here. . ."

  "Senpai. . ."

  And then the strongest and most precious memory of Karin came back into Neo's head.

  *THUD*

  Neo suddenly falls to his knees.

  "Senpai?"

  *sobs* *sobs*

  Neo starts crying. He grips his face as he sheds tears and howls. It was an ugly and desperate cry; he looked like he was longing for something that could never happen again.

  *sobs sobs*

  Seeing Neo's current state, Yuki also shed her tears, but still with her flat expression. Yuki crouches down and strokes Neo's back gently.

  "Senpai, I'm here for you. . ."

  *sobs sobs*

  Hearing Yuki's words, Neo's intense crying gradually became calmer and calmer until eventually he stopped crying completely.

  "Thank you kouhai!"

  Yuki taps Neo's back in response.

  "I got you, senpai."

  "OH? So that guy's Neo?!"

  *!!!!*

  All of a sudden, there's a third voice coming from behind the two of them. They immediately turned their heads around and saw that there was someone standing on the open door, resting their back on the door trim.

  In reflex, Neo and Yuki let go of their hug and jumped back further into the room. They have landed near the wall on the other side of the room.

  They saw a 22-year-old woman. The woman has bright red hair styled into a low side ponytail with a length that reaches her back. Her bang is shorter on her left side and gradually gets longer towards her right side, but not long enough to cover her face. She wears a pink string ribbon on her neck as a collar necklace. She wears a sleeveless red dress with yellow trims on the top with a yellow belt around her waist, and a red skirt with a yellow frill on the edge of the skirt. She wears long red and yellow arm sleeves that cover her entire arm except for her shoulder, leaving it bare. She also wears a pair of long red socks with yellow trims on the top part, as well as a pair of dark gold strappy wrap shoes. She has a pair of salmon-pink eyes. She is 51kg and 167cm tall.

  "You! Blue-haired girl! Who are you? State your name!"

  "How about you introduce yourself first, you intruder."

  "Intruder? I'm sorry? This is my house! You two are the ones entering without permission!"

  *!?*

  Neo was confused. He is 100% sure that this house belongs to Karin and her family, but this woman came out of nowhere and claimed that it's hers. However, he can conclude that there are three different possibilities. One, this is a family member of Karin's that Neo never met, which would make sense as to why she recognized him somehow. Two, this is someone who just bought this house legally after the incident. Three, she is just your everyday average burglar.

  "Why do you know Senpai's name?"

  "Senpai? You're his underclassmen? Or are you his new girlfriend, seeing how intimate you two were?!"

  "Both. . .sort of. . ."

  "I see, I see. . . How poor! You've chosen a lousy man as your partner! Your taste in men sucks!"

  *!!!*

  And then all of a sudden, the entire room was frozen solid. There was an explosive cold air coming from Yuki that instantly freezes anything in its path in all directions. But of course, Neo was unaffected. The woman was also frozen solid in mere milliseconds.

  "Kouhai. . ."

  "She was badmouthing you, senpai. I lost my composure. I apologize, I'll thaw out the house in a---!!!"

  *!*

  But the ice that freezes the woman melts out of nowhere. And in just a matter of seconds. . .

  "YOU BITCH!! YOU ATTACKED FIRST! SO, YOU'RE ASKING FOR A FIGHT THEN?!"

  "H-How did she?"

  "She melts my ice in an instant. Although, to be fair, I wasn't using my coldest ice on her. So, she's a Believer, then?"

  "STATE YOUR NAME, BLUE HAIRED GIRL!!"

  "Very well, as compensation for that preemptive attack, I'll introduce myself. My name's Miage Yuki. I am a Judge. The Judge of Envy. I am part of the Seven Layers of Judgment. Now state your name as well."

  "Judge? Envy? Seven layers? What the fuck are you talking about?"

  "This is my Support who helps me in my role as a Judge, Fukiba---!!"

  "Drop it! I know who that loser is perfectly well! No need to introduce that filthy excuse of a human being!!"

  Suddenly, ice spikes sprouted from in front of Yuki's feet, and they travel almost instantly towards the woman. It freezes the woman once again, the moment the ice spikes come into contact.

  *SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH*

  But for a second time, the woman was able to break free from Yuki's ice with relative ease on her own. From the woman's various body parts, piping hot lava starts pouring out, melting every bit of ice left near her vicinity.

  "The name's Claudia Clay. I am a member of the Ten Commandments of God. I am the 9th Strongest Believer on the planet. Claudia Clay, the Queen of Magma. Nice to meet you, Icy bitch!!"

  *!!!*

  "(The 9th Strongest Believer in the world? What on earth is going on here?)" Neo wonders to himself.

  "LET'S GET ON TO IT RIGHT AWAY THEN, FREEZING WHORE!!"

  "Though this is not my duty, I can't stand it when my beloveds are mocked and insulted right before my very eyes. I'll have to teach you some manners and proper vocabulary."

  Yuki points her palm forwards and half of her body spouts ice, while Claudia points her fist forwards and half of her body oozes lava.

  "WAIT NO!! LET'S DO THIS SOMEWHERE ELSE!!"

  Neo screams his lungs out towards both of them.

  *!!*

  Both of them stop and withdraw their Faith power.

  "I won't run, so please heed my senpai's request."

  “Are you making a request with a dead flat facial expression and monotonous tone like that?"

  "This is just the way I am. And no, I'm not trying to joke around or anything, this is just my face and voice."

  "The hell? Alright, where are we going?"

  "How about in the middle of the ocean? We won't bother anyone there."

  "Interesting! Lead the way then!"

  .

  .

  .

  3 July 2018

  On the other side of the world, America. . .

  "Hn hn hn hn. . .~"

  Rena is currently on the sidewalk, just walking aimlessly to explore the city while humming a melody that has no reference to any existing song whatsoever.

  "Hn hn hn~ Hn hn hn!!"

  Rena is currently in a major city in America. The sidewalk was full of people, and it was quite crowded. She looks to her right and left and sees buildings with bright lights all over. All of the lights have different colors, and it makes the city look very lively and attractive to the human eye.

  "Let's see. . . Bars, Clubs, Discotheque, Billiards, Casinos. Wow, all of these adult activities that I am so anti towards. There are this many of them in one place."

  Rena kept walking forward, and then 30 seconds later.

  "Oh? A burger sign? Fast food restaurant, my beloved!!"

  Rena walks towards a fast-food restaurant so quickly. She has been enticed by the thought of having a burger for dinner. It's been quite a while since she last ate one. As Rena was looking inside the restaurant, she was approached by three random passersby.

  "Hey, miss, you alone?"

  "Wanna hang out with us?"

  "Don't worry, we're all chill dudes!"

  "Huh?"

  Three men in their mid-20s ask Rena to hang out with them. Anyone on the street seeing this would be bothered by their intention. But the three of them have quite tall and muscular bodies that intimidate anyone around them.

  "Sorry, I don't know you!"

  Rena proceeds to ignore them and tries to enter the fast-food restaurant. But then her hand was grabbed by one of the three tall men.

  "Aw, c'mon! Come with us real quick!"

  *!!*

  Almost everyone in the street was startled and shocked by how bold their actions were.

  "HEY! WHAT ARE WE DOING, GUYS? LET'S STOP THOSE CREEPS! THEY WERE GRABBING A LITTLE GIRL'S HAND!!"

  One woman amongst everyone in the street starts to speak loudly to encourage others to stop them.

  "Y-YEAH!! HEY YOU THREE! LEAVE THAT GIRL ALONE!"

  "YEAH LEAVE HER ALONE!!"

  "QUICK SOMEBODY CALL 911!!"

  "IS ANYONE A BELIEVER HERE? PLEASE HELP THAT KID OUT!!!"

  And then a crowd gathers and cries out a protest. The three men started to notice their outcry against their action.

  "Oi, they're starting to annoy me! Go smack their asses!!"

  "Aight man!"

  One of the three men turns around towards the crowd. He lifts his right arm with his fingers curled up into a fist high up towards the sky. Suddenly, the man's hand grows bigger so that it matches the size of a sedan car.

  "Anyone still wanna talk?"

  The crowd was suddenly silent. Seeing the size of the man's right arm, they were all terrified because from the way they surrounded the three men, if the man with the big arm were to drop his arm, it would crush almost all of them in the vicinity. Not one person says anything anymore.

  But then all of their silence was broken by an agonizing scream.

  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKHHHH!!!"

  *!?*