I, Kurumi Tokisaki, Am a Wanderer

Descending with an imposing presence, Kurumi surveyed the Seventh District.

Tracking every trace of time's essence, the deliberately vacated hunting ground became unmistakably clear in her vision.

A shadow emerged at the edge of the dilapidated student apartment area. Kurumi extended her hand toward it.

—City of Devouring Time—

She murmured softly. With each step, the black-and-red somber domain spread out from beneath her feet.

In an instant, the sky and earth were shrouded in a suffocating gloom.

At the district's edge, several cleaning robots had entered alert mode. Standing tall on three legs, their red warning lights flashed, signaling that passage ahead was forbidden.

Unaffected by the City of Devouring Time, the robots intercepted Kurumi's path.

"Halt, intruder."

The mechanical voice repeated the command while emitting a piercing alarm.

Kurumi did not stop. She maintained her steady pace, her darkened shadow moving in perfect sync with her.

Black and red shadows gradually wrapped around her body, climbing upward.

As if issuing an invitation, Kurumi raised her right arm, gracefully clutching the shadow in her hand.

And then... as the shadows reached her cheeks, they scattered instantly. The girl, once wearing a long dress, now dressed in a resplendent spiritual outfit.

Her hand glided through the air as if caressing a lover's face, but instead drew forth a nearly crimson blade.

The arc of Stealth Severance encircled the cleaning robots. Their movements froze, and as Kurumi passed, they fell apart with a hum, scattering across the ground.

The cuts were smooth and pristine.

But the time Kurumi had taken was sufficient for the elite operatives of the dark forces to react.

Dressed like a special forces unit, their heavy armored suits covered them entirely, including their heads, and their faces were obscured by thick night-vision visors.

Emerging from behind black armored vans, the heavily armed squad faced Kurumi.

Their equipment resembled that of security officers but was more formidable. Instead of riot shields, their right hands wielded black submachine guns.

The powered exoskeletons of their heavy armor emitted mechanical assist sounds as they advanced arduously through the City of Devouring Time toward Kurumi.

"The Hound Dog..." Kurumi instantly recognized the group.

Recycled death-row inmates turned into executioners, hunters who never left survivors.

No wonder even other dark factions despised them. The gap between factions in the underworld was as vast as the heavens and the earth.

Much like the apathetic Frenda's four-member team that had abandoned this mission entirely.

There was no room for dialogue. The Hound Dog opened fire the moment Kurumi trespassed, her demise seemingly predetermined.

A second team had even prepared acidic purifiers, ready to erase all traces of her body.

Click-click-click—

Even with silencers attached, the staccato sound pierced the oppressive atmosphere.

—Shifting Wave—

Facing the incoming storm of bullets, Kurumi extended her hand.

Brilliant violet starlight seemed to condense in her grasp before spilling like grains of sand. A vortex of annihilation erupted, and purple ripples spread outward, obliterating everything within a dozen meters.

Kurumi moved forward steadily in this hellish wreckage.

Through the monitoring equipment carried by the squad, the scene before them was transmitted to the mastermind's screen.

The overseer buried his face in his hands in frustration. "This woman... why is she here?"

"Proceed as you see fit." He issued his final order to the Hound Dog before severing the connection completely. He had abandoned these scum.

··

The opponent was a high-level ability user, at least a Level 4 or above.

The Hound Dog assessed the situation.

Their leader removed all weapon restrictions, prompting them to retrieve heavy black cases.

—Man-portable anti-tank rocket launchers.

Quickly and precisely, they prepared the launchers, disengaged the safety locks, and hoisted them onto their shoulders. Six in total, with three volleys planned.

The guided missiles could track even spatial ability users and carried enough destructive power to instantly obliterate the target into fragments.

Peering through the side-mounted sights, they took aim briefly before pulling the triggers without hesitation.

Jets of smoke trailed into the sky, leaving elongated contrails in their wake.

In an instant, shockwaves and fiery explosions rippled outward, shaking the ground violently.

The debris scattered across the area from the earlier Shifting Wave detonated with fire, becoming lethal shrapnel.

Black smoke and vivid red flames filled their visors.

The Hound Dog had neutralized countless rogue research facilities and ability users before, including grotesque monstrosities.

They knew well that while many of Academy City's ability users possessed devastating powers, their physical bodies were often fragile.

"With it blown up like this, there won't even be anything to clean up," they joked among themselves. "Probably not even a speck left."

The scorching wind swept past as flames roared at the explosion's epicenter, revealing ground that had been reduced to utter chaos.

And then...

The girl emerged from the inferno, walking with the exact same unhurried stride as before.

Her resplendent, bewitching attire remained pristine, not even a single strand of her hair singed. Her long and short black twin-tails danced in the searing heat waves.

Impossible!

A monster... It was the only word they could use to describe her.

The inverted golden clock in her eye gazed at the Hound Dog.

"Fufu…" Kurumi smiled. "My, my, it seems you all have quite a fondness for heavy weaponry."

Before their bewildered eyes, shadows formed in Kurumi's wake.

Identical girls, all wearing the same spiritual attire, emerged lazily from the shadows, stretching as though waking from a nap.

Jiggle, jiggle.

Their elegant figures exaggerated breathtaking curves as they moved.

The original Kurumi, who had been pressing on the Hound Dog's nerves step by step, finally stopped.

Then, in unison, the Kurumis lifted their skirts and pulled out black monstrosities almost as tall as a person.

Thick rotary barrels and gaping muzzles pointed directly at the Hound Dog.

—M137 Gatling Guns.

"Goodbye," Kurumi said with a smile.

In an instant, a deafening roar far louder than the earlier rocket launchers filled the air. A terrifying torrent of metal spewed forth.

The Hound Dog scrambled to retreat, trying to hide behind the nearby armored vans.

The transport vehicles had 26mm custom metal armor plates, capable of withstanding armor-piercing rounds.

But... it was useless.

In the deluge of bullets, everything was shredded.

Stepping on the discarded rocket launcher, the air was heavy with the metallic tang of blood.

The sounds of fire crackling echoed all around.

Charred remains of armored vans lay scattered, scorched black by the flames of the explosions.

Kurumi walked through the carnage, her steps unfazed by the blood pooling around severed limbs and the grotesque remains scattered in every direction.

Black and red shadows writhed and stretched, spreading across the entire sealed-off area.

Throughout the alleyways of the student apartment complex, there were still others prowling, searching for something.

Their face masks were bulkier, fitted with olfactory sensors.

When hunting someone like Uiharu Kazari, such devices proved far more effective than infrared detection. This was precisely why they were called the Hound Dog.

A strange, oppressive force began to weigh on the remaining members of the Hound Dog.

A chilling sensation, as though encountering something beyond human comprehension, crept up their spines. The terror was like a living nightmare, clawing into their very souls.

They stared, wide-eyed, as the shadows twisted and lunged toward them, faintly interspersed with glimpses of a slender, pale forearm.

"My, my, thank you for the treat."

With a light and almost playful step, the writhing shadows returned to Kurumi's feet. She delicately licked her fingertips, a look of pure bliss on her face, like a girl savoring her first love.

Click—

She stopped abruptly.

Kurumi could clearly sense that her City of Devouring Time had been torn open.

"Oh my?" she murmured with feigned confusion, gazing into the distance with amused curiosity before quickening her pace.

Moments later, she spotted him—the last member of the Hound Dog, holding Uiharu Kazari like a lifeless rag doll in his arms.

Kurumi's expression turned cold in an instant.

Her blood-red eyes locked onto the man, pinning him in place with an icy glare.

An overwhelming chill surged up from the soles of his feet, as though a predator had its fangs at his throat. He reflexively raised his submachine gun and squeezed the trigger.

With the assistance of his spring-coil apparatus, his aim was unnervingly steady, virtually recoil-free.

But he seemed to forget one critical detail: due to earlier orders to capture the target alive, his gun was loaded entirely with rubber bullets.

Golden light fractured; flames erupted.

The bullets hurtled toward Kurumi but abruptly halted midair, spinning rapidly as though striking an invisible wall. In moments, they melted away, black rubber dripping onto the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Kamijou Touma rolled forward and delivered a powerful punch to the Hound Dog soldier, knocking him out cold.

Kurumi noticed Touma's right hand and instantly understood who had torn through her City of Devouring Time.

Snap—

Standing before Touma, Kurumi snapped her fingers.

In an instant, the black-and-red domain that had blanketed the world dissipated. With Uiharu Kazari found and the Hound Dog neutralized, there was no need to maintain the field.

Touma, in turn, realized whose hands had conjured the vast, sky-darkening domain.

Still... he couldn't help but question in his heart.

Could such a feat, akin to magic itself, truly be explained through the science of ability development?

Uiharu Kazari lay crumpled on the ground, trembling faintly. Her long eyelashes quivered, glistening as though damp with tears. The signature flower headband on her head was nowhere to be seen.

Her right shoulder, bent unnaturally, was streaked with blood that ran down her smooth skin, pooling at her fingertips before staining the ground below.

Yet, the gentle rise and fall of her small chest reassured them—at least, she was still alive.

Kamijou Touma glanced at Kurumi, then immediately threw himself down next to Uiharu Kazari. He carefully listened to her breathing. However, his posture—sprawled on the ground with some unknown sticky substance smeared across his shirt and pants—made him look suspiciously like a pervert.

If Kurumi hadn't known his true nature, she might have immediately aimed at him and fired off a few rounds of "hole, hole, hole."

"She's not dead... she's not dead..." Kamijou muttered, trembling with relief. He was the type of person who could genuinely feel joy from someone else's good fortune.

"Alright, then~" Kurumi spread her arms wide.

To the shock of Kamijou and the unseen observers watching the scene unfold, Kurumi called out loudly, "Come forth—Zafkiel!"

In an instant, a black-and-red sun appeared behind her, followed by an enormous clock.

The clock was more than twice Kurumi's height, with a massive golden face.

At its center were exquisitely crafted old-fashioned flintlock pistols and short-barreled guns acting as the clock's hour and minute hands.

...

"That's... her true form."

A voice laden with static and a mix of emotions—anger, joy, sorrow, and fear—spoke, trembling with an almost manic tone.

An unexplainable smile crept across Aleister's lips as he quietly observed the unfolding miracle.

"Her shadows? Those are merely her veil."

...

The golden clock in Kurumi's eye rotated clockwise, its markings shifting. Kamijou, kneeling on the ground, could only stare in awe.

Kurumi smiled and reached out to take the short-barreled gun from the enormous clock face.

"'Dalet—Fourth Bullet!"

Everyone watching mulled over the incantation. If there was a Fourth Bullet, surely there must be a First, Second, Third... and perhaps more.

As Kurumi finished her chant, she gripped the short-barreled gun with her left hand and pointed it at the numeral IV on the clock. Black-and-red shadows surged from the clock and flowed into the gun's muzzle.

Standing before the two others, Kurumi aimed the gun directly at Uiharu Kazari's head.

"Hey!" Kamijou shouted, rushing to block her. "What are you doing!?"

He silently cursed, lamenting, Dammit, aren't we supposed to be on the same side?

"Huh!?" Kurumi placed a finger to her lips.

"Move aside, unless you want her to be in even more trouble."

"I won't—" Kamijou started to protest, then froze mid-sentence. "Wait, what?"

"I said, move." Kurumi kicked Kamijou aside with a swift motion, then smiled and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang—

The gunshot echoed, and Uiharu's head tilted slightly backward.

In the next moment, a miracle of time reversal occurred.

Droplets of blood that had spilled onto the ground floated back upward as though a film were rewinding. They flowed into her wounds, her dislocated shoulder realigned, the injuries vanished, and the pained expression faded from her face.

Finally, a flower crown wobbled out from the alleyway and gently landed on Uiharu's head.

"Is this... magic?" Kamijou murmured.

Uiharu's eyelids fluttered, and she slowly regained consciousness as if waking from a long, terrible nightmare.

"Kurumi-senpai..." she whimpered softly before throwing herself into Kurumi's arms.

As the battlefield quieted down, only one voice of despair remained—Kamijou clutching his bag of crushed eggs, wailing in agony.

"Such... misfortune!!!"

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