บท 44: 42nd Adversary: Nebulous?
"What's with all the commotion?"
Momo saw the servants moving up and down frantically in the palace. She was currently in the presence of the Clan Elders, who had summoned her to the palace.
"It's nothing really. We just got word that Lady Kimiko might be returning soon."
"The empress is coming back?! Why so soon?"
"Is that obvious? Her grandson became a proxy. Naturally, she would return."
Said one of the elders.
"You're right. Her returning isn't out of the ordinary."
(It's just I hope gramps doesn't do anything to piss her off again. The last time she almost froze the capital in a fit of rage. Aunty Sasha definitely got her temper from her. I'm surprised Miko didn't inherit it as well.)
While she was lost in her thoughts, the elders all gave each other a small nod. Mentioning the empress was indeed the right decision. Now Momo's thoughts would be distracted and she won't be able to figure out what's happening in the city right now.
"To think that Nebulous actually captured Hina and the others. This could be a problem."
Miko mumbled to himself. He was sitting on a piece of rubble. The body of the sniper was laying in front of him. After some beating, he kindly offered Miko some valuable information. For example, their plan today.
"What Nebulous did was dirty, but praiseworthy. For him to actually use me as a hostage, then try to destroy me without them knowing was immaculate. And to make it even worse, he purposely made me turn the people against me when I battled his goons; the same thing the trio didn't want to happen."
He started clapping.
"I'm starting to see why he stands at the top."
"Only a few people would openly praise their enemies rather than curse them."
Regis took her human form.
"It's a sign that you're willing to learn from your enemies, which is a great quality to have in my opinion."
"That was fun. Are we going to attack that Nebulous guy's base?"
Ishma took her human form and asked.
"Attacking his base would be reckless. Not to mention, we don't know where he is."
Miko stepped on the body at his feet.
"The sniper didn't know much about Nebulous himself. In fact, none of those who attacked me today worked directly under Nebulous. They received their orders from their individual bosses, who in return had received orders from Nebulous's confidants.
"So the chain of command is all over the place, huh?"
Said Regis.
"Did you tell mother about this?"
"Tia said I should handle this as I see fit. She said it would serve as a great learning experience."
"As much as it makes me sick, I have to agree with the lizard."
Ishma said.
"Alright. Let's go."
Miko stood.
"If we can't reach the spider's head, then all you have to do is to cut off its legs one by one, and immobile it. After that, you can take your time and squish it."
"I see."
Regis looked like she just realized what Miko meant.
"I don't get it, but as long as I get to kill someone, I'm all for it."
While Ishma looked clueless, yet eager.
At the same time. The trio of Hina, Ace, and Sora were inside a vehicle being transferred to a different location. Because it was where Nebulous was, they were blindfolded along the way. After changing from a variety of vehicles, they finally came to a stop.
"Get out."
They heard the car door open and they got out as instructed. Someone then walked up to them and removed their blindfolds. They looked around and saw that they were at an unfamiliar warehouse, which looked like it was abandoned.
"Get moving."
One of the thugs pushed them. They were all masked and were dressed in red suits and black gloves. They were armed with high-powered weapons.
(Looks like they're Nebulous's personal team.)
Sora thought while looking around. He looked at Ace and Hina and saw that they had nervous expressions. Especially, Hina. Her face was pale, and she looked very weak and fragile.
(It can't be helped. The person she's about to meet is someone who tormented her life and took everything away from her. She must be angry, but most of all, she must be scared. Scared of what she'll become once she meets her enemy.)
Sora clenched his fist. If it came to it, he was prepared to give his all to destroy Nebulous. He looked at Ace and nodded at him.
They were brought inside the warehouse with men in red aiming their weapons at them. Once they were inside, they saw a well-furnished house, with many appliances and electronics all over the place. It wasn't what they expected to see when coming to a Crime God's lair.
"This way."
The men in suits led them towards a stairway that led to the second floor. They climbed the stairs and stopped in front of a door.
"The boss is inside. Wait here until we get permission to enter."
At that moment, one of the men got a notification on his phone. He nodded at his companions.
"Alright, you're free to enter."
After saying that, they all left leaving the trio alone.
"....."
They stood in silence while looking at the door. The one who put their hand on the knob was Hina. She looked at Ace and Sora, who nodded at her. She took a deep breath and then entered. The boys followed closely behind her.
When they entered, they saw a desk with someone sitting behind it. The back of the chair faced them, while the person sitting couldn't be seen.
"Nebulous."
Hina called that name with a tone filled with hatred. As if responding to her, the chair moved and the person turned around and faced them.
"?!"
The trio was instantly shocked when they saw who it was.
"No way…"
"Nebulous…?"
The person in front of them had a slender figure, blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes, red lipstick, and a mole under their lip.
"A woman?"
That's right. The person who sat in front of them was a beautiful woman who gave off an air of maturity.
"Hello, my name is Layla Song. You all know me by my alias."
The woman smiled.
"Nebulous."
The trio was dumbfounded. They never thought that a woman would be the infamous Crime God. This was because nebulous was referred to as a male. However, considering that his identity was a mystery until now, there's nothing to deny that he was actually a she.
Another reason why they were dumbfounded was-
"Who are you?"
Hina asked.
None of the three of them recognized the woman or her name. Which was odd considering that Nebulous had picked on them for years. They logically assumed that it was someone that they had met before. Yet, they didn't recall ever meeting this person.
"Well, it's natural that you don't know who I am, because we've never met."
Layla wore a charming smile.
"We've never met?"
Hina clenched her teeth.
"If we've never met, why did you make it your duty to make my life a living hell?!"
She shouted.
"You took everything away from me. My home, my family, everything!"
"Hina, calm down."
Sora tried to calm her down, but she shrugged him off.
"I'm going to kill you! Right here, right now!"
She drew a paper from her sleeve. It was a sketch of a gun. The paper lit up. Hina manifested the gun and pointed it at Layla.
"Oh? So that's Manifestation."
Layla wasn't scared and instead had a greedy look in her eyes.
"Die!"
Hina fired the gun, expecting the bullet to hit Layla. Suddenly a light flashed and the bullet was vaporized in an instant.
"Wha?!"
Hina started firing at her at quick successions. However, the light flashed again and erased the bullets before they could reach their target.
"Tsk!"
She threw away the gun and pulled out a knife.
"Stop, Hina."
That's when Ace held her and prevented her from attacking Nebulous.
"Let me go! I'm gonna skin that bitch alive!"
Hina roared while struggling to free herself.
"Lullaby."
Sora put his hand over Hina's face. A low pitched sound entered her ears and robbed her consciousness. Ace held her limped body to prevent her from falling.
"Why did you stop her? She was about to have her revenge."
From start to finish, Layla had a smile on her face as if everything was under control.
"And risk her throwing her life away? It won't go as you planned."
Sora glared at Layla.
"I don't know what that light is, but I can tell that it's dangerous. If Hina wasn't drowning in her own rage, she would've realized the fact that you're being protected from the shadows. And by someone incredibly powerful as well."
"You're unusually calm considering that your grandfather's murderer is right in front of you."
Layla spoke with a mocking tone.
"Unfortunately, it's my job to be the calm one. I'm the oldest after all."
"My, what impressive sense of duty. I find that attractive in a man."
Sora felt disgusted when he heard her flirtatious tone.
"Tell me, Nebulous. Why are you so fixated on us, if we don't know each other?"
"Saying that we don't know each other isn't all that correct. While we've never met, I know a lot about the three of you. Especially your powers."
"You were after our powers from the beginning? Is that why you killed Klick, just to get closer to us?"
"Well, you can say that. But there were many other reasons."
"Like?"
"That's a secret."
Layla placed her finger on her lips This only angered the two boys.
"But it's a bit different with Hina. She's special."
"Special?"
"Don't play dumb. You think that someone of my status wouldn't know about what happened all those years ago?"
Layla smirked.
"I'm talking about the White Devil Incident. An incident that led to the deaths of thousands of people in Gael. The one who caused that was none other than Hina right there. Or should I call her the White-Haired Devil?"
"What happened wasn't Hina's fault."
Said Ace.
"Of course. I know that much. Her powers just went berserk that's all. Yet, she was able to cause such an incident, and she wasn't even a teenager then. To me, she's a precious toy that I must acquire."
"My little sister isn't a toy."
Sora's eyes were bloodshot as he tried his hardest to hold himself back.
"My apologies. Tool is much better."
A shockwave spread through the room and caused the wooden floors and desks to have cracks in them.
"Sora."
Ace called out to the enraged Sora.
"I know."
Sora took a deep breath to calm down. Layla smiled when she saw that.
"My apologies if I angered you, but don't you think it's a waste? She has so much potential, yet she refuses to use it."
Layla started listing them off her finger.
"Manifestation, Creation, Fantasy Maker, and Genome Shift. A single one of these abilities would make anyone green with greed, but Hina has all four together. She must be destined for greatness. It's such a waste."
"Whether it's a waste or not, that's for Hina to decide."
"Hmm…..I guess you're right."
Layla looked at the unconscious Hina.
"Say, did she ever tell you about her grandmother Nami?"
Ace and Sora didn't answer. Even so, Layla continued.
"Nami was a really beautiful woman. Hina resembles her a lot you know. It's too bad that she was too stubborn…..She had to leave the stage because of that."
"You're gloating about killing her Grandmother? You're really a piece of shit, you know."
"I'm not gloating at all. I'm actually sad about what happened to Nami, you know. We were friends after all."
"What?"
"You don't believe me?"
Layla laughed when she saw the boys' reaction.
"While I hadn't met Hina before, I was pretty close to Nami before she died. Even now I consider her one of my closest friends."
"?!"
Ace and Sora's eyes widened as they looked at Layla. Tears were flowing from her eyes while she spoke.
"I really wish that she had just listened to me back then."
She mumbled.
(What's with this woman? Is this an act to make us let our guards down? I can't tell.)
Sora's mind was in chaos as he tried to make sense of what he was witnessing. Layla wiped the tears from her eyes and showed a smile again, but this one wasn't as bright as before.
"Oh? I just received some interesting news."
She suddenly said.
"It looks like Miko is running wild in my world in an attempt to reach me."
The boys were surprised to hear that.
"I just hope he doesn't go too deep that he won't be able to come back."
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