Chapter 774: I Seek Peace [2]

Chapter 774: I Seek Peace [2]

I barely managed to step aside before his hand came down.

BANG!

The desk split beneath the impact, sending pieces of wood across the classroom. I stepped back, but he caught my wrist before I could pull away and drove his knee into my stomach.

"Ukh...!"

The air left my lungs as he pushed me backwards. My shoulder struck another desk, overturning it, and I stumbled towards the door while trying to breathe.

"...That... was school property."

He looked at the broken furniture before returning his attention to me.

"Was it?"

"Yes, and I was... also in the middle of forgiving you."

I straightened as my nodes churned. A dark film moved along my hand, but when I swung towards him, he caught my forearm above it and twisted.

Pain shot through my elbow.

"You’re slow."

His fist struck my face before I could respond. I staggered sideways, catching the doorframe while something warm ran down to my chin.

For a moment, I remained there with my head lowered.

’....Oouch...’

I moved my jaw carefully.

Nothing seemed broken, which was rather fortunate considering how little consideration he had shown for my face.

"Good... I can still talk."

That was important.

A few unpleasant thoughts crossed my mind, but I pushed them aside.

I heard a soft chuckle coming from before me. One that seemed to be mocking me.

"You develop one Gate and think you can threaten me?"

He approached without hurrying, his gaze briefly moving towards the corners of the room.

Even now, he was checking his surroundings. He looked rather alert.

I wiped my mouth.

"...You could’ve just... answered my questions. Look at how unpleasant you’re making me."

"And you could have returned what you stole."

His attention lowered towards my hand when the dark film squirmed and elongated again. I could already tell that trying to hit him with it wouldn’t accomplish much.

’Well, I do have that...’

Instead, I reached behind me and pulled the door open.

"Go!"

I pointed at the man as several figures appeared behind me. Each figure was familiar, with several dozen children, and even a copy of me.

Their heads turned together, pale faces lifting towards the light spilling through the doorway.

The one closest to me was exactly my own clone.

I caught its shoulder and pulled it forward, bringing the edge of my other hand against its throat.

"Come closer and I’ll get rid of him first."

The man before me stopped.

His brow raised.

"This is where you were hiding them? No wonder I was having a hard time sensing them."

"...You’re starting to regret your decision?"

From the start, the main reason he had come here was because of the copies. I was certain because I had purposely baited him by leaving one hidden outside of the Gate.

I didn’t know why, but he was here to collect them.

By threatening to destroy one, I was certain he’d stop and peacefully negotiate with me.

His gaze settled on the copy before slowly returning to me.

His lips pulled into a smile.

"So I’ve got a copy of you as well?"

For several seconds, he remained where he was, the smile lingering on his face. Then his expression changed, and a small laugh escaped his mouth.

"That’s really quite amusing. Is that what you were aiming for?"

"....."

"To threaten me with my own work?"

I watched his hands as he took another step.

"Did you not hear what I just—"

The copy caught my wrist, my eyes widening in surprise.

——!

Ah?

Its fingers tightened before I could get any word out, pulling the blade away from its throat.

Behind it, the others began entering the classroom.

I tried to pull free, but it twisted my arm and shoved me towards two of them. Their hands closed around my elbows before I could regain my balance.

"...?!."

"You really are new to this."

The man watched as they forced my arms behind my back while the remaining figures passed between us.

BANG!

My head smacked against the floor.

It... hurt.

"Did you think keeping them inside your Gate made them yours?"

Several of the copies moved their lips with him, although no sound came out.

One pulled my arm further behind my back.

...It really did hurt.

"Heartless bastard. Is this what you do to someone seeking peace?"

He didn’t seem particularly interested in talking some sense with me.

The man stopped several steps away and nudged with his head.

"Get behind me."

The remaining copies obeyed, squeezing past him into the space between the desks. He watched their faces as they passed, occasionally turning one towards the light.

I struggled against the hands holding me.

He glanced up.

"For someone who has been giving quite a few headaches to them, you seem to be rather stupid. Should I say that the news is right about you? Overrated, right?"

"...That’s harsh."

"Truthful."

Finally, the last copy, the one of me, moved behind the man. His gaze lingered on the copy, and he caught its chin, turning its head slightly to examine the mark I had left on its throat.

"...It’s not that I absolutely needed to get them, but since you’ve caused quite a mess, I had no choice but to come back here to hide the sight of them."

His thumb brushed over the shallow cut.

"Still, it’s good that you made me come here since I now have several new assets that I can use for my next upcoming project."

My arms were starting to go numb.

’Really, is this how he felt when I was talking a lot?’

Fuck me...

I made sure to note to myself not to talk so much.

I shifted my weight, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

Then, I suddenly smiled.

"...Oh, right."

He looked back at me, and my smile widened slightly.

"I almost forgot. I did do add some changes to the clones."

"What?"

The man’s expression changed, but it was too late.

Puchi!

A black point emerged through the insides of my clone, shooting right for the man, impaling his shoulder directly as blood spurted in all directions and his body jerked.

The Voidwalker.

The man’s free hand snapped upwards, trying to free himself from the sudden attack but they moved past the Voidewalker’s arm as it twisted its arm deeper into the man’s shoulder.

"Ukh...!"

His nodes stirred.

But a soft laugh escaped from above, momentarily rending his nodes null.

The Voidwalker’s figure became clearer as its body fully emerged from the clone, and stood behind him, locking him in place as his eyes widened.

I stared at the scene from the floor.

"G-go."

The clones around it immediately moved towards the Voidwalker, but the blade was already pressed against its throat, forcing them all to stop as I pushed myself back to my feet, dusted off my hands, and rubbed my aching back.

"...That was really painful, you know?"

I stood up slowly and moved past the clones, not even paying attention to them before settling my gaze onto the man and staring at him right in the eye.

...I patted him on the cheek.

"You know, all of this could’ve been resolved peacefully if you hadn’t moved first. All I wanted to know was what happened to Elon. That’s not so hard, is it?"

This entire situation was a little obvious to me.

I mean, since he had made the clones, it was only natural that he could control them. All I had to do was plant the Voidwalker inside of one of them, and just waited for him to use them to threaten me.

"Come, let’s have a nice talk."

I sat down on the ground and crossed my legs.

I wanted to have a nice chat with him when he suddenly laughed.

"Hahahaha."

"....."

His laugh echoed across the classroom.

For a moment, I let him laugh.

Then⎯

"Hahahahaha."

I started laughing with him.

"....."

That somehow stopped him, the smile wiping off his face.

"...You’re a crazy bastard."

Those were the first words he said to me after he finally stopped laughing.

A little rude, considering which of us had started this.

"But... I suppose you have to be. That’s the only way you survive this game."

Game?

He looked at me again, his eyes even more bloodshot than before. Whatever he saw in my expression brought a faint smile back to his face.

"Don’t pretend you don’t understand. I know you’re aware of it too."

He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice as though we were sharing something rather amusing.

"This world is nothing more than one big game between us holders."

The smile left my face.

"Gates, anomalies... people spend their entire lives trying to survive the things we put into this world. They lose their homes, their families, everything, and they don’t even know who to blame."

His gaze remained fixed on mine.

"But we do, don’t we?"

I said nothing as his lips curled further upward.

"And the funniest part is that none of us even knows why. We know what happens to those people. We know who’s responsible, and we still go ahead and do it again."

He let out another laugh, shaking his head.

"But it’s fun, isn’t it? What can I say? It’s—"

Puchi!

Blood struck my face before his head hit the floor.

It bounced once and rolled towards me, stopping against my shoe with his mouth still open. I stared down at it while blood dripped from my chin.

I hadn’t given the instruction.

Slowly, I lifted my head.

The Voidwalker stood where he’d been sitting. Behind it, other figures were emerging, their attention settling on what remained of him.

Mirelle, Mr. Jingles, the Conductor...

My gaze moved between them before returning to the head at my feet. I’d still been listening, still deciding what to ask next.

Apparently, they hadn’t needed to hear any more.

"Ha."

The laugh slipped out as I raised a hand and wiped the blood from my face. It did little more than spread it across my cheek.

"...This is a rather interesting situation, isn’t it?"

Couldn’t really blame them.

After all, I’d react the same if I learned their suffering was nothing but the result of a game played by a bunch of people.