Haruki focused his gaze out the window, his senses alert for the tell-tale glint of a sniper scope or the whistle of a bullet screaming across the city.

  Though he had spent time with Tina in person earlier that day—having numerous opportunities to take her down right then—Haruki had chosen to settle this on the field. It wasn't just because he had absolute confidence in his ability to defeat her; he wanted to give her a way out.

  If she was willing to walk away and abandon the contract on the Seitenshi, Haruki was willing to let her go. But if she persisted, then regardless of her being a young girl, he would show her no mercy. He would strike with everything he had.

  "We've arrived, Aizawa-san."

  The motorcade pulled up to an elite restaurant where the meeting with Sōun Ikuma was to take pce. The Seitenshi stepped out, and Haruki followed as her silent, masked shadow.

  The meeting between the two sovereigns stretched on for hours, a grueling exchange of political barbs that ultimately yielded no real results. At one point, Sōun Ikuma had the audacity to ask about the "recent security incidents" involving the Seitenshi.

  The Seitenshi, pying the role of a perfect diplomat, gave a cold, official response. Under Haruki's influence, she had learned to hide her fear, revealing nothing about the man standing behind her.

  Haruki could feel Sōun's mounting irritation. To the ruler of Osaka, the assassination by Tina Sprout should have been a fwless, surgical operation. Seeing the Seitenshi alive and well was a variable he hadn't accounted for, and it drove him mad that his intel couldn't identify the masked man who had thwarted his pn. Because Haruki was officially "dead," Sōun was chasing a ghost.

  As the meeting concluded, the two leaders parted ways with palpable hostility. Once they were safely inside the limousine, the Seitenshi turned to Haruki, her face etched with exhaustion.

  "Will there be another attack tonight?" she whispered.

  "Most likely."

  Haruki remembered the look in Tina's eyes before she vanished. As a mechanized soldier belonging to Professor Rand, she likely cked the autonomy to refuse a direct order, even if she wanted to. Tonight was the inevitable collision.

  "Don't worry," Haruki said, noticing her trembling hands. "After tonight, it'll be over."

  "I believe you."

  She nodded fervently, her trust in him now absolute. She saw him not just as a bodyguard, but as her only true ally in a city filled with politicians like Kikunojo Tendo and failures like Yasuwaki.

  The limousine pulled away, the city lights of Tokyo blurring against the gss. In the heavy silence of the cabin, Haruki suddenly heard it—a faint, high-pitched buzzing, like the rapid beat of an insect's wings.

  His Sense of Fluctuation expanded immediately. Far above the city streets, he detected several mechanical moths—tiny, high-tech drones—pacing the car's speed.

  'Is this one of her abilities?'

  The thought had barely formed when a fsh of light erupted from the roof of a skyscraper half a mile away.

  BANG!

  Haruki reacted before the sound even reached them. He kicked the door open, grabbed the Seitenshi, and threw them both out of the moving vehicle. He tucked her safely behind a concrete barrier and immediately turned his gaze toward the distant tower.

  Unlike the previous attempt, the sniper wasn't running. Tina had been affected by Haruki's words; she had decided to stay and see this through to the end.

  "Come on then!"

  Haruki fred his Highnd Soul, his physical speed reaching a level that made the raindrops around him seem to hang in the air. He sprinted toward the building. He expected a hail of sniper fire, but as he covered the first few blocks, the rifle remained silent.

  Instead, the phone in his pocket chimed. He answered it as he ran, his feet barely touching the pavement.

  "I knew you'd come," Tina's voice echoed through the speaker.

  "I could say the same to you," Haruki replied, his voice level despite the speed. "Do you really think this is right? You know as well as I do that the Seitenshi is the only one actually trying to help the Cursed Children."

  "I'm not a child of Tokyo. I'm just a project Rand-sensei took in... a machine that survived."

  "Are you really that loyal to a man who turned you into a weapon?"

  "..."

  The silence on the other end told Haruki everything. She didn't love Rand; she was simply a tool that knew no other purpose.

  "Walk away, Tina," Haruki said. "Stop now, and I can protect you."

  "No... Haruki-san, you can't." Her voice wavered for a second before hardening into a cold, mechanical mask. "You can't even beat me. You can't fight Rand-sensei."

  "You think I can't defeat you?"

  "I know you can't. I'm not just a Cursed Child. I'm a mechanized soldier. As a human, no matter how strong you are, you aren't in my league."

  "Well," Haruki said, a cold, sharp smile pying on his lips. "I guess I've been underestimated."

  He didn't bother being gentle anymore. He drew Onikiri from his back, the dark Varanium bde humming as he released the full weight of his killing intent.

  "Fall back, Haruki-san! If you don't, you'll die!" Tina gave her final warning.

  "Try me."

  Haruki ended the call and became a streak of light, leaping from the street to the side of a building, running vertically toward the roof.

  BOOM!

  The sniper rifle finally barked. The bullet screamed through the air with terrifying precision, aimed exactly where Haruki's head would be in the next microsecond.

  CLANG!

  Without breaking his stride, Haruki snapped his bde up. He didn't just block it; he parried the round, sending it whistling into the sky.

  "What?!"

  On the roof, Tina's eyes widened. She realized then that his previous feat wasn't a fluke. The man she was facing was a true superhuman.

  "Let's settle this, Tina!"

  Haruki cleared the edge of the roof in a single, massive leap. He nded with a thud, the concrete cracking under his boots.

  Nearby pedestrians and office workers in the surrounding buildings stared in disbelief. They had never seen a human move like that—a masked ghost running up walls and defying gravity.

  But the real show was just beginning.

  As Haruki lunged forward, a suffocating aura of killing intent washed over the roof. Tina didn't panic. She moved with the cold, calcuted grace of a machine. She fired again, a point-bnk shot designed to thread the needle of Haruki's defense.

  CLANG!

  Haruki parried again, but this time his arm felt a jolt of genuine pressure. He frowned. The bullet felt heavier, denser, and far more destructive than the st ones.

  He realized the problem immediately. Tina had changed her loadout.

  After Haruki had cut her previous rounds, she had contacted Professor Rand for tactical support. He had authorized the use of a specialized "Varanium Armor-Piercing" set—bullets forged from a high-density alloy that could punch through a tank's hull.

  If Haruki hadn't been using Onikiri, which was also made of high-grade Varanium, any regur steel sword would have been snapped like a twig by the sheer kinetic force of that round.

  Tina's pupils glowed a fierce, predator red. "I told you... you can't win."

  She dropped the rifle and drew two short katanas. She didn't just have the sight of an owl; she had the combat programming of a master. The Sword Ghost and the Owl Assassin collided in a storm of sparks, the sound of their cshing bdes echoing across the Tokyo night.

  ***********************************************

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