Glancing around, I noticed multiple passages branching out from the walls in all directions.
“Are those connected to ground-level entrances?”
“Some are. Others lead deeper underground. But一we’re going this way.”
Kushina strode straight toward the central bar.
Trailing behind her, I noticed the surrounding members starting to eye us as we approached.
“……! It’s Lady Setsuna!”
“Wait, Lady Setsuna is here too…?”
Grunt after grunt straightened their posture.
Seems my childhood friend was highly respected.
Heh. As she should be.
Smugly basking in secondhand pride, I missed the way Kushina’s lips twisted.
“That ‘too’ means… that person’s already here.”
Before I could react to her grumbling一
“Hey, the guy behind Lady Setsuna…”
“Didn’t he betray Lady Setsuna to side with Gouki the Brute?”
“Wasn’t that just Gouki spouting nonsense? Still… a man, though.”
“Why would she have a male subordinate…?”
The women’s gazes were dripping with scorn……
Their suspicion was justified一and with Gouki, I’d brought this on myself. But more than that一
“Oi, that guy…”
“Tch.”
The men were glaring at me with outright hostility…!
Probably the same “traitor siding with a woman” mentality Gouki had.
Deflating under the pressure, I barely registered Kushina’s words as she walked ahead.
“Ignore them. You’re with me.”
“Nah, I’m not really bothered.”
“You don’t have to act tough. I get it.”
“You don’t一??”
My childhood friend一usually so sharp, yet occasionally painfully dense.
As we bickered, we reached the makeshift bar at the hideout’s center.
“Master. *The Lower Room (El Kanek).”
Kushina addressed the tall woman behind the counter,
In her hand was a pocket watch she had taken out of her pocket.
The “master” nodded at the proof of permission一
then wordlessly gestured for us to step behind the counter.
The moment we did一the scenery *shifted*.
“Whoa一!?”
“Fufu. Cute reaction.”
Kushina lowered her hood, giggling.
I did the same, scanning our new surroundings.
A colonnade一a hallway lined with towering pillars.
We stood right in the middle of it.
“What the heck… is this…?”
Half-dazed, I muttered the question as Kushina began walking and answered.
“This underground base一the Nest一is built by combining several ‘Lux’ talents. What you just saw was a mix of Mion’s ‘Phantom’ and another Lux.”
“Whoa…”
Still looking around in awe, I kept walking一until a woman in a red kimono appeared right beside me.
“Hey.”
“WHAA一?!?!?”
I leapt back in shock.
“Pfft一HAHAHAHAHA!!”
The woman一Mion of “Purple Smoke” (Shien)一burst into laughter.
“Seriously! You scared the hell out of me!”
“Kuh… kukuku… S-sorry, my bad. *pfft”
Kushina seemed to have noticed her presence too, her lips quirking up in amusement as she watched me.
Embarrassed, I scowled at both of them.
“Heh, don’t sulk. Figured you’d be tense in an unfamiliar place.”
“So you were ‘helping me relax’? Yeah right…”
You just wanted to mess with me.
“Welp, got a great reaction outta you. Let’s go.”
“Right.”
Kushina and Mion cheerfully strode ahead. (…These two are actually pretty close, huh?)
Soon, we reached our destination.
The lower chamber一Elkanek.
At the center of the room stood nothing but a round table.
That was it. A stark, simple space.
“Huh. We’re the first ones here?”
“Obviously. No way they’d show up early.”
“Fair.”
Exchanging words, the two took their seats.
Seven chairs surrounded the table.
“Sorry, Ibuki. Stand behind me.”
“Sitting would make me more nervous anyway. This is fine.”
Like the hall earlier, Elkanek had entrances lining every wall.
Just as I turned toward one of them一
A shadow flickered in the pitch-black darkness, where no light reached.
“一一一”
For a moment, I mistook the abyss for a human figure.
But no.
She was clad head-to-toe in black.
Matte black heels, a dress adorned with black roses that draped to her feet.
Black gloves covering her arms, a veiled cap (capeline) resting atop her head.
She looked like a noblewoman’s shadow given life.
Kushina acknowledged her with a smile.
“Good evening一Zenna.”
The Second Seat of the Six Apostles: “Despair” (Zetsubou), Zenna Ranunculus.
Ten years ago, she had destroyed Shinjuku一a major city一in a single night.
♢♢♢♢♢
“The Silent Nightmare”
It began at midnight, a decade ago, in the heart of Tokyo’s bustling Shinjuku district.
Some claimed it started with burst water pipes. Others, survivors of that night, swore it was a car explosion.
The truth remained unclear.
Only one fact was certain: at the center of it all stood a single girl.
She wandered Shinjuku, appearing at random.
Wherever she went, the city crumbled.
Pipes ruptured. Cars ignited. The nightmare spread一splitting asphalt, detonating shops, and finally, toppling skyscrapers.
A true disaster.
By dawn, the skyline of the once-proud sub-metropolis was gone.
Only ruins remained.
The sole mercy? More survivors than expected.
And among them, a few glimpsed the girl atop the wreckage, backlit by the rising sun.
一Her hollow, black eyes stared down at the ruined world.
♢♢♢♢♢
A single person annihilating a major city.
The nature of her Lux? Unknown.
An inescapable nightmare.
Hence一Despair.
“Good evening, Zenna.”
At Kushina’s greeting, the shadowy noblewoman paused.
Her head had been slightly bowed, but now the brim of her cap lifted slightly.
“…Good evening, Kushina.”
Her voice was soft, clear.
Then一though hidden behind her veil一she seemed to look my way.
“…And this is?”
“────”
My body locked up, tense enough to snap.
“My subordinate. ‘Separation’ (Kairi).”
“…Oh? Is that so.”
She gave a perfunctory nod, showing little interest,
and took the seat closest to the entrance she’d come from一directly across from Kushina and Mion.
Only then did the tension leave my body.
“…!”
Even in the original story (The Dream I Saw), the Second Seat “Despair” never appeared directly.
This was my first time seeing her.
She was considered the most dangerous individual in the world.
Facing her like this一yeah, no wonder I froze.
“No need to be so tense,”
Kushina whispered.
“Though keeping your distance is wise.”
“…?”
The moment I wondered why一
BOOM.
“Wha一?!”
Smoke billowed from one of the entrances.
“Ugh… loud…”
Mion winced, rubbing her temple.
“Coulda made a quieter entrance, Tsukumo.”
A cackling reply echoed back.
“Kuhahaha! My bad, ‘Purple Smoke’!”
As the smoke cleared, a young girl stepped forward.
She looked elementary-aged.
Her messy black hair was haphazardly tied back,
She let the hem of her black robe hang loosely, resting both hands on her hips.
……It was painfully obvious she felt no remorse whatsoever.
“What else was I supposed to do?! As the Fifth Seat of the [Six Apostles], ‘Toymaker Gangya,’ how could I let the stage remain silent when Toki Tsukumo herself was about to descend? That would be far too dull!”
The Fifth Seat of the [Six Apostles]一‘Toymaker Gangya.’
One of the six core executives, alongside the First and Sixth Seats, whose existence was largely unknown to the world.
In the original story, only her epithet had been mentioned.
Apparently, she was the one responsible for creating most of the [Nega-Messiah: Covenant of Salvation]’s equipment一
including, most notably, our perception-blocking robes.
She was a pivotal figure in the organization一no, calling her essential wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
……And yet, who would’ve thought she’d be… this much of a child?
And more than that, what was with this… vibe she gave off?
“Sigh……”
As I struggled to find the right words, Kushina let out an exasperated breath. The little girl’s face brightened the moment she noticed her.
“Oho! Long time no see, !”
“Yeah……”
“You’re not skipping out on一… Hm?”
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