A year ago, at Trinity.
“Mika, you need to be stronger.”
“What are you talking about, Mom?”
“We’ve decided to discard that worthless trash.”
Mika heard it clearly. That friend of hers—aside from Nagisa, the only friend she really had.
“Mom, where is Haruta?”
“He’s dead.”
That day, Mika’s world collapsed.
He had to be alive. Haruta wasn’t that weak.
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“Found you.”
Back in the present, Mika saw that he was alive, and that he had become a criminal, reflected in the box in her hands.
It felt like her world might collapse all over again, but that didn’t matter. She just had to grab him and talk for a while.
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His vision swayed.
Cold.
Painful.
His head was spinning.
One arm had gone numb.
Something was definitely wrong.
Whether it was his relationships or his body, something was wrong.
Right now, Haruta was being carried downstream, his body left to the river.
“Tch. This is why I told that bastard to use his power properly.”
His barely-held-together consciousness flew apart.
“Huh... where the hell did one of his ears go? One arm’s basically severed, his heart’s about to stop, every rib is shattered, and his kidney’s just been ground to bits... I made him myself, but seriously, why is he still alive?”
There was definitely a voice echoing in his head. Not entirely clear, but something was whispering.
“Hey. Hey. Hey, I know you’re not asleep, so get up.”
“W... what... ugh...”
“No, don’t talk. Just nod.”
-Nod-
“Now, do you know what condition your body is in?”
He gave a gesture that said he didn’t know, then lay there.
“Ah... fine. I’ll get to the point. Give me control of your body.”
“W-What kind of bullshit is that!”
“I said don’t talk.”
“Y-You... think I’m just gonna let you do whatever... with m-my body...?”
“Ha... I’m just saying I’ll save your life.”
“Y-You... expect me to believe that?”
“Believe it or not is up to you. If you don’t get treated now, you’ll die. I’m saying I’ll save you.”
“W... what?”
“Ha... fine. Let’s call it a contract. Like a deal with the devil or something.”
“W-Why would I... agree to that...?”
“Ha... I’ll just tell you the conditions.”
“First, I only heal you. I won’t borrow your body again.”
“Second, I don’t get anything out of it. The only purpose is treatment.”
“Third... this is just a condition I’m putting down, but you won’t make contact with Baal for five years.”
“What? What did you just—”
“Listen to the end.”
Even while practically dying, Haruta heard the voice mention Hina, and forgot the pain as he stared straight ahead.
“Ha... it’s a long story, but right now you can use the power of the Seven Beasts, right? Doesn’t it seem strange that Baal is the only one missing?”
“W... what is it?”
“I just want time to copy Baal’s power. That way, it’s good for both of us.”
“Then... during that time, no matter what happens, don’t lay a hand on Hina. If you do, both of us die.”
“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
“Then that’s the end of it.”
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“Ha... is this really a human body after so long? Well, I did make it.”
He said that and looked at the arm that still wouldn’t move.
“Might as well cut it off.”
He raised his hand, then brought it down in a chop.
Fwoosh!
Thud
“Ha... well, it hurts, but this isn’t even pain, is it?”
Then he brought his hand to the severed arm, and a mouth opened in his palm and swallowed it.
“I should just give this ability to you too.”
Then the severed arm twitched and was completely absorbed into his body.
“Phew... all right, the arm’s done.”
With that, he placed a hand on his body.
“Tch, Metatron! If you’re watching, don’t just stand there and look—help me!”
The sky opened, and a massive angel descended.
“Yes. It has been a long time, my lord.”
“Ha... long time no see. Just save the owner of this body.”
“You don’t even have that much authority?”
“Would I be doing this if I did? I still have enough power left to call you, though.”
“Hmm... very well. I shall obey your command for now.”
A spear appeared in the giant angel’s hand.
Light burst from the spear and enveloped Haruta.
“And next time, don’t use me like this.”
“Hey, give me that spear.”
“Is that really something you should say after telling me you didn’t need something like this?”
“There’s a reason. Just give it here.”
The angel’s spear passed into Haruta’s hand.
“This was a gift from you, right?”
“Then who else would have given it to you?”
At that, he gave a small laugh and immediately split the spear in two.
“All right, that’s enough. Give me the one you were using.”
At those words, the angel fell silent for a moment, then took the spear back without a word.
“I’ll be sending you a bill for this later.”
“Tch, stingy.”
Then the sky opened again, and the giant angel departed.
“Now then, this spear...”
Then a mouth opened in his hand again and ate the spear.
“Now I should be able to pull it out whenever I want.”
“Then, what now? Time to go back.”
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허억!
Haruta sat up and looked at his hands.
“What? Was that a dream?”
His entire body was completely fine.
He felt confused for a moment, but if it was good, then it was good.
“Phew... first, where am I?”
Bright light flooded Haruta’s eyes, and the glaring sun overhead assaulted his vision.
“Ugh.”
Judging by the river, this clearly wasn’t Abydos or Gehenna.
“I definitely remember diving into the D.U. River.”
After checking whether his clothes were intact, he confirmed that his surprisingly fine hoodie, wings, and horns were all still there.
“Ha... if this is Trinity, those horn freaks would try to kill me.”
Haruta got to his feet and looked around.
“Ha... first off, I can’t tell where I am, and my phone’s completely dead.”
He let out a sigh, then checked whether his gun was still there.
“Huh? Wait, my gun!”
Seeing that it was gone, he thought for a moment, then opened the space of his subconscious on a hunch.
“Huh? Why is it here?”
Seeing his gun inside the space of his subconscious, Haruta felt relieved.
“At least my weapons are all intact. There’s nothing I really need to reassemble.”
For now, he got up and decided to find out where he was.
“First, I can’t see any buildings.”
After slowly narrowing it down by academy district, he reached a conclusion.
“Trinity?”
He had clearly escaped Gehenna and fled along the river.
That ruled out Gehenna. Abydos didn’t have a river like this either, so that was out too.
Red Winter was always covered in snow, and its rivers were frozen.
Shanhaijing was completely cut off from the outside.
And in Hyakkiyako, the first thing you’d see after waking up would be cherry blossom trees.
Then? That left only Trinity.
“Wow... shit, I’m back home?”
As Haruta slowly moved his body, he soon spotted a building in the style of Britain.
“Huh... I really didn’t think I’d come back here, but this...”
He remembered clearly. Those tin cans from two years ago, the ones who had tried to bury him alive.
“Mika’s probably in middle school by now, huh?”
After thinking that far, Haruta headed for the bank.
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“Lemme see...”
At the bank, he fiddled with his account and withdrew some money.
Three hundred thousand yen, about three million won. It was a lot, sure, but Haruta had nearly fifty million yen, so it wasn’t really that much.
“Should I just run off somewhere and live there?”
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
“Tch. If I’ve been reincarnated, I might as well enjoy everything I can.”
Then he clenched his fist and headed for the largest department store in Trinity.
“I need new clothes... and I should eat too.”
As he muttered and walked, Haruta found a clothing store.
“Oh, nice. This is pretty damn good.”
The robot inside the store glanced at Haruta’s face, then picked up a phone.
“This is Trinity district. We’ve spotted a wanted criminal. Requesting police backup.”
“Ah, right. I’m a crimi—”
“Justice Task Force! Hands up!”
“Ah, seriously, what the f—”
The Justice Task Force immediately moved in and surrounded Haruta.
“Ha... should I just beat them all up with brute force?”
But if he did that, he might end up in the Public Safety Bureau and become a real prisoner, so he held back.
He grabbed a smoke grenade, pulled the pins from five grenades, and threw them together with the smoke grenade.
Boom!
The air tore open with a sharp sound. The ground split, and he smashed through the back of the store with his fist, then jumped from the fifth floor of the department store.
“Yoo-hoo!”
The moment he landed, he leaped again, kicked off the ground, and shot back into the air.
“Wings? Gehenna!”
One of the Justice Task Force members shouted when he saw Haruta.
“Oh, right. I’m a demon, aren’t I?”
As Haruta fled through a storm of flashing bullets, he glided on his wings and soared up again.
“Wow... this feels amazing.”
He might have been hit by a bullet, but that didn’t matter.
After landing, he grabbed the clothes he had marked while escaping the store and flashed a grin.
“I got clothes without spending money, so I guess that works.”
The Trinity Justice Task Force had attacked him, but at least he’d gotten clothes for free.
“So, what now? Should I go back?”
Then one thought flashed through his mind.
“Huh? Should I go see Mika?”
Haruta was still thinking about Mika, so he decided to meet her.
“All right, let’s go.”
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