To Be a Power in the Shadows!

Alpha felt no resistance from the sword that she used to cut John Smith.

"—-An afterimage."

Hearing a voice from behind, Alpha lightly turned back.

There John Smith stood, unscathed.

Alpha stared at him with cold eyes, holding her sword up in a stance. There is no sign of her being upset.

He's a man who is skilled enough to take down Delta.

It was expected that he would possess this level of power.

Immediately after that, John Smith's finger moved. Innumerable white lines danced in the darkness.

—-Steel threads.

The ones mentioned in No.664's report.

She calmly observes its movements, while finding the real attack that is hidden in the dancing strings.

And then.

Kin!—-A small sound was heard, and a thin thread was cut off in the air.

"Mixing the real thin string used to attack among decoy strings………..That trick of yours, I've already seen through it."

"Hou……."

"Are you done with your magic trick?"

Alpha moved.

She invaded his Maai within a moment and slashed at John Smith with a jet-black sword.

The slash that was aimed for his neck was done with such timing, that it is normally impossible to dodge.

However.

John Smith tilted his head, and dodged it with the minimum required movement.

"———!"

Alpha stopped moving.

She expected her attack to be avoided, and was about to chase after him with a follow up attack.

Instead, she stopped her movement after noticing John Smith's strings dancing around her.

While observing the movement of the wires, she is simultaneously using her sword to parry and counterattack in between the consecutive strikes.

Speed and sharpness, a battle for supremacy.

This time for sure, she unleashed an unavoidable attack.

"Eh…….?"

Sounds of confusion escaped from Alpha's mouth.

John Smith just showed her how he'd dodge a perfect attack.

He let the sword approach, and just before it hit, he let it slide along his skin. With that move he used to dodge her attack with minimal movement, he was able to move himself out of Alpha's large Maai, and exit the battle itself.

"Don't tell me———- You are.."

Alpha whispered so, and took off her mask. The face of a beautiful elf appeared from underneath.

"———-Shadow?"

Using her eyes to confirm, Alpha was already convinced.

John Smith looked her in the eye for a second, and then removed his mask.

"I have already thrown that name away……"

Sid's face appeared from behind the mask.

She'd already understood the fact, but Alpha's face still colored in surprise.

"No, Why…… What do you mean you have thrown that name away…?"

"I meant exactly what I said. Right now, I am John Smith. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Why have you become John Smith……Th, There's some sort of reason, right?"

Alpha's voice was like she was trying to cling onto something.

"Because it is the best course of action."

"I can't understand with just that, explain properly!"

"I am sorry but, I have no intention to speak further than this."

"And, what about Delta? What happened to her!? Why did you..!!"

"Delta just went far away. I can't speak about it anymore than this."

"That's why I said, I don't understand!!"

Her sorrowful voice resounds in the night sky, as Alpha's sword cut through the darkness.

Her immense magic power causes the atmosphere to shake and generate wind.

"You're always like this!! Why can't you properly explain it so we can understand!! Are we that unreliable? I know that you have something in mind, but we are also desperately trying, you know….."

Alpha's voice gets smaller towards the end.

"Hey, are we, are we not necessary to you, anymore…..?"

Her face was on the verge of tears.

"Sorry, I have something I needed to do alone."

Alpha is looking down, while strongly clasping the sword in her hand.

"……I see. You still don't know how strong I've become, right?"

Raging magic power swirled and converged onto Alpha.

"I will not be a burden to you forever. If you say you will not talk, no matter what, then——— I will just have to use my power and force it out of you."

Suddenly—Alpha's figure disappeared.

John Smith's face is colored in surprise for the first time.

Her raging magic power, her jet-black sword, her body—-Every sign that indicated she was there before, beautifully disappeared.

What was left is only a red mist.

In the next moment, Alpha emerged from the red mist and cut at John Smith from behind.

With that reddish black sword.

John Smith looked back and tried to dodge with minimal movement like before.

Yes, like before.

"——-!?"

There was a thin red line on John Smith's cheek.

The reddish black sword suddenly grew longer.

"This sword is a mixture of my blood and slime that increase my strength and control over it. Its form can be freely changed while maintaining its strength. It is one of the results born from Eta's demon possession research. How is it, surprised?"

John Smith honestly nodded at Alpha's proud statement.

"Indeed I am, the research and its results application is truly great."

"Do you want to have an honest talk now?"

"No, absolutely not."

Alpha's eyes sharpened.

"Then I will come at you with my full power."

Alpha disappeared and a red mist took her place.

And almost at the same time, she reappeared and unleashed an attack on John Smith.

John Smith's suit tore apart.

Blood was smeared onto his white shirt.

When John Smith manipulated the strings to counter attack, Alpha had already disappeared into the red mist.

The next moment, another attack came at him from behind.

The speed at which she emerges from and re-enters the mist is extremely fast.

Ignore the Maai and one-sidedly attack, then unreasonably ignore the law of physics to avoid a counterattack.

Disappear, then reappear.

Appear, then disappear.

Red slashes attack John Smith incessantly from all sides.

John Smith's suit was already torn to shreds.

He intentionally manipulated the strings to ward off fatal blows.

What he could do, is only to predict Alpha's movement, and lay a trap of strings ahead of time.

"————!"

There is another tearing on his suit.

It seems like the red mist also acts as a sensory organ, because Alpha seemed to have completely grasped the location of his strings.

The trap was of no use.

It seemed like there was nothing John Smith could do.

"How about it? You ready to talk yet?"

A voice can be heard from somewhere within the red mist.

"No, absolutely not. It was an interesting trick though."

His voice, somehow, felt like he was having fun.

"Trick…you say?"

"Normally, it would be bothersome to fight against, but if you carefully think about it, its mass is too small for a mist, right? So—"

John Smith took out an excessively long, jet black sword.

Then.

"—-If I just blow it all away, then you can't do anything, right?"

He swings his extra-long sword and caused an intense gust.

"——-!"

Immediately after, the mist dissipated and Alpha's figure reappeared.

"Correct. If you'd remained in the mist, you might've been blown away to the stratosphere."

The clouds above them in the sky were beautifully blown away.

While Alpha tried to form a stance, a merciless blow struck her.

Her reddish black sword was blown away, and a jet-black sword came down at her.

"You've become strong."

A strong pressure assaulted her, and her consciousness was shaken.

"Be relieved, it was just the back of the sword."

Then, she hears his footsteps as he walks away.

She desperately extends her hand, despite her fading consciousness.

"W, Wait….."

But he doesn't stop.

Step by step, he walked away from her.

She's always been chasing after his back.

Finally, she'd thought that she'd finally reached him.

Even so, why………..

"Please… don't leave me behind…"

Her voice did not reach him.