章節 121: Fall of Night Raid.

Oblivious to the motion caused by his actions into the world, Shido woke up at around 11 PM. After returning from the Los Angeles Sports Arena, He slept off the rest of his day to get out of his mental fatigue. He stood up from his bed slowly and went downstairs to put something in his stomach. He couldn't have his lunch because he had a lunch planned with the President, but Phantom 5 ruined it with their attack.

His mood was not so great after waking up. Various reasons were at play, Not having his lunch and dinner, Hunger, Got announced as a Hero unexpectedly, and during his sleep, he still heard those unknown voices and saw unfamiliar faces.

The girl with the twisted head and the woman with a hole in her abdomen, asking him.

-- "Will everything be okay, Reid?"

-- "Dad, Is mom going to be okay?"

And then came the middle-aged man with long white hair and a white beard.

--"Phillips is not your real family name... Your real family name is..."

All of this was making him angrier and angrier. He is now in a situation where he can neither stay awake because of mental fatigue nor sleep because of these weird dreams.

He climbed down the staircase to go to the kitchen and saw all of the teammates sitting in the living room with a can of beer in their hands. Even La Brava, who used to drink Juice in gatherings, now has a can full of beer.

Shido didnt think much of it and tried to go to the kitchen. He was having a bad mood and had no intention of talking to anyone, but Knuckleduster stopped him in his tracks by blocking his path.

"Woah! Woah! Mr. Hero. Where might you be going?~~ To Save the Civilians or Save the President? Oh~ I get it. Night Slash! The World's First Quirkless Hero! on his way to save the world..." Knuckleduster said in a mocking tone and started clapping for Shido, but nobody laughed or clapped as all of them had a grim expression on their faces while drinking from their cans.

"I am not in the mood for a joke, Knuckleduster. So cut it out and move aside..." Shido said in a low voice, but the seriousness was evident.

"Oh~ You are not in the mood for a joke... That's odd... I thought you would like a joke... SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYING A JOKE ON US SINCE THE START!" Knuckleduster threw his beer can and shouted at Shido.

"I don't know what grievance you have, but I think we can talk about it in the morning... Now move aside." Shido asked again politely.

"NO! I want to settle here, right now, and until then, I am not moving a DAMN INCH from here!" Knuckleduster folded his arms.

Shido sighed, "Fine. What is it? What is your grievance?"

When he heard Shido's question, Knuckleduster tilted his head in confusion, "You are asking me what it is? What is MY grievance?... Really, You want to act so ignorantly. Well then... the two can play the game. So listen to what I will tell you, You Dumb Bitch!

What the fuck is going on?! Tell me, What the fuck is happening?! I cannot wrap my head around what is happening... One moment you are on the top of Japan's Wanted List, and now you are a Hero announced by the President of the United States.

Why are you making our lives so miserable? HPSC, AVL, Japan's heroes, Genesis, and now this shit... Why are they all on our asses? Since Day 1 after being aligned with you, Shit is being constantly thrown at us by the world... Tell me, What is happening?!"

"I don't know what is happening... But you don't have to worry; They are all on me. You all can rest easy..."

When he heard that, Knuckleduster had a pitying look on his face, "Don't you ever feel tired after giving the same reason again and again and again and AGAIN!... When HPSC went on our asses, You said, 'Don't worry, they are not on you, they are on me,' Okay, I believed it.

Endeavor fucking announced he is going against you and Night Raid, and then you said, 'Don't worry, He is after me... You guys are safe,'... I said Okay and moved on.

AVL threatened me to use force against the team members because of your High profile record. You said, 'Don't worry... I will handle it all once I reach there... You just co-operate with them till I arrive'... I did as you told me to.

One after another, Our Enemies just are piling up, and we have not solved even one of them.

Now, You are an international phenomenon, a Hero; what are we supposed to do now? Since you are a hero, you cannot act with us anymore since we are the CRIMINALS and you are the HERO!" Knuckleduster shouted and came near to Shido's face.

"What are you gonna do to us criminals now, Hero? Arrest us? KILL US?!" He grabbed Shido's suit and shook him. Danjuro - who was sitting till now - stood up and came between Knuckleduster and Shido. He separated the two and took Knuckleduster a bit away from Shido.

"Oguro-san, You are intoxicated right now... It is not the right time to talk" Danjuro tried to stop Knuckleduster, but the Old Vigilante was not showing any signs of retreat.

"Move aside, Danjuro; This bastard needs a beating to get his mind on track!!" Knuckleduster pushed away Danjuro and raised his fist to attack Shido.

Before Knuckleduster's fist could land on Shido, it got stuck in the space between him and Shido. He tried to push further, but it only stretched the invisible elastic Wall between them.

"DANJURO! THIS IS BETWEEN HIM AND ME!" Knuckleduster shouted at Danjuro for creating an elastic wall between the two.

"Sorry, Oguro-san, You are not in the right mind to talk... «Fantastical Box» "

Knuckleduster tried to attack from the other side, but he got pushed back. He then used his Quirk to move behind and attack, but he couldn't move forward. So he tried to attack from other directions, but all of those attempts failed as he couldn't come to walk out of a definite space. Elastic layers of air surrounded him in all orders.

"New Attack?" Shido asked Danjuro, and he replied by nodding in affirmation.

Shido then went inside the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. He came back to the living room with the sandwich in one hand. He sat on the couch and looked at the team members.

"Whatever the old man said... Do you guys feel the same?" He asked and took a bite from the sandwich. He looked at all of them, but none of them uttered a word in response.

He took another bite of the sandwich, after a few brief moments, He said.

"Let me rephrase it then. So... After joining Night Raid, You guys are feeling that you are in constant danger as I am bringing more and more enemies behind us and instead, of solving things, I am complicating them more."

"Yes," * 4, All four of them replied at the same time.

"And after I was announced as a hero, you are not sure what would be my course of action?"

"Yes," *4, All of them again said simultaneously.

Shido sighed when he heard their response. It was evident that he was not a good leader at all. He never asked about their feedbacks on his leadership and continued things as usual. It turns out that the members had grievances, but since nobody was voicing theirs, they never expressed those grievances to Shido.

But holding back these grievances for months turned those grievances into resentment, which now manifested in the Intoxicated Knuckleduster. And the surprising thing is that they are still not voicing it out. If Knuckleduster hadn't said a word now, Shido would've no idea what the team was going through.

Shido sighed, "Since things are in the open now and I am aware of what you guys are going through... Let's talk. Say whatever you wanted to say to me but were holding back for some reason," He then urged them to speak up as he wanted to hear what they had to say. Even if he had a bad mood, it was necessary to deal with this as soon as possible.

Seeing Shido urging them to speak up, Danjuro, Kaina, La Brava, looked at each other. They then collectively looked at Knuckleduster, who was trapped inside the box of elastic air.

Shido understood what they were thinking, and he went to Knuckleduster.

Danjuro's Quirk allows him to bestow the property of elasticity to anything he touches, making it stretchable, bendable, and bouncy. This Quirk can affect anything, from the ground to the air itself. Danjuro cannot cancel the effects himself. Instead, the effect wears off on its own after time has passed.

So it was natural that the teammates were waiting for the box to disappear on its own and have Knuckleduster join the discussion.

After reaching close to Knuckleduster, Shido stretched his palm and touched the invisible box.

Then,

"{Disintegrate}"

Shido's palm started glowing purple, and the purple lines began passing through the Wall of the invisible box as well. And soon, the Wall which kept Knuckleduster behind it shattered. The Purple glow on Shido's palm also died down.

"Now you can come out, Old Man," Shido said and went back to sit on the couch. Knuckleduster sat next to Kaina.

Shido didn't say anything for some time and looked to his side. He saw Genesis sitting next to him, but he didn't overreact. Instead, he acted normal.

"They are asking about your future actions, Hero... Tell them something on the lines of 'Get evil off this planet' or something similar."

'Will you shut up?!' Shido - who was in a bad mood - didn't even bother to talk to Genesis as he knew it was the phantom of Genesis, which is now in his mind. The phantom made a zipper gesture on his face, indicating that he wouldn't speak up directly and then the phantom disappeared.

Shido breathed and then looked at his teammates. Danjuro, Manami (La Brava), Kaina, and Old Man Iwao. They all had solemn expressions on their faces and were looking forward to Shido's answers to their grievance.

"What happened today was not something that I knew would happen. I in no way knew Valdis would announce me as a hero. I went to Valdis for lunch as told to me by Old Man Iwao. After meeting him at the AVL Base, we hopped into his helicopter for Los Angeles Sports Arena.

During the travel, he asked some weird questions, and then he asked why I became a Vigilante instead of a Hero. After that, everything was normal, but I was a bit suspicious when he wanted me to be just behind the stage, and I was just caught by surprise when the curtains opened. You know the deal what happened after that," Shido gave them a brief rundown of what happened before the announcement, and the Teammates listened intently.

"And what was your answer to Valdis' question?" Kaina asked.

"The thing that you heard in his speech. I wanted to kill the villains who were not punished enough by the Judiciary. But Valdis manipulated the whole narrative and made me look like the good guy and the Judiciary as the bad guy. After defeating the Phantom 5, I wanted to ask what he is up to, but he suffered an injury and is now admitted in someplace that I don't know."

"You didn't defeat the Phantom 5. You only defeated Jetstream, El Macho, and Breeze. I and NRG are still left... You know..." The Phantom of Genesis appeared again beside Shido and interrupted him.

"SHUT UP!" Shido turned and shouted at him.

To Shido, it was just shouting at Genesis, but it looked like he was yelling at thin air for the teammates. They looked at each other briefly and then acted as if nothing had happened.

Shido turned around and continued, "Yeah... So, Everything that happened is not something I even speculated. About your concerns about me taking action against you guys, I am not a Hero. Even if Valdis announced me as a hero, I didn't consent for it, and I am not a Hero by any chance. So I won't be taking action against you. We are still a team... How can I attack my teammates?

And I don't think things are too big to be handled anymore. We can just lay low, and everybody will forget about us. It will be the same as we did after fighting Shie Hassaikai," Shido suggested to the teammates, but the response was not that appreciative.

The reactions they had on their face was of denial. Knuckleduster looked at Kaina. She shook her head, so he turned to Danjuro with a questioning gaze, and Danjuro shook his head as well. Danjuro then nudged La Brava and made a 'go-ahead' gesture with his head to La Brava.

La Brava took out her laptop and opened it. She typed something on it and gave the laptop to Shido.

Oblivious to their actions, Shido picked the laptop offered by La Brava. He looked at his teammates to find what they were talking about, and then his gaze fell on the laptop screen. And what he saw on the screen made his eyes widen.

⇱ =======================

⁜ ‖ Global Hero Popularity Ranking ‖ ⁜

#1. Night Slash «NEW»

#2. Star and Stripes «1↓»

#3. All Might «1↓»

#4. Captain Celebrity «2↓»

#5. Big Red Dot « = »

#6. Salaam «1↓»

#7. Metro Man «2↑»

#8. Boltage «2↓»

#9. Abracadabra «1↓»

#10. Shui Dao «1↓»

======================= ⇲

"It is not something you can deal by hiding, Night Slash," Knuckleduster said. "While you were asleep, things spread throughout the world like a wildfire. Now you are an international phenomenon... whether you like it or not. Anything associated with you is currently selling like crazy," Knuckleduster came to Shido's side and scrolled through the laptop.

"Articles, News, Pictures, T-Shirts, Mugs, and the list goes on and on... Everything is out of stock. You are a famous guy now. Do you think hiding for a week will dissipate the noise that you've created?" He then went back to his seat.

"But... How?" Confused by what was happening, Shido asked.

Danjuro stepped up to explain to Shido, "Chief, While you were asleep, the videos of your fight with the Phantom 5 got viral on the Internet. You saved the President first and then fought the Phantom 5, and you also saved the mother and daughter from the rubble.

Your picture with the girl you saved is getting viral. You smiling in that picture showed that even after going through so many things, you were capable of smiling. You were seen as a Hero and not a Pro-Hero but a hero who came from a comic book—prioritizing others before himself.

That's the reason why you are getting famous, but in my opinion, the reason why you are spreading too fast is the mystery that you carry around yourself. Your Identity, Your Powers, Your Motivation, everything is a mystery.

In this day and age of information where every information is at the tip of their finger, you being the mystery is not giving a good taste to people and they are considering this as a challenge to find the truth about you. Speculations, Theories, Lies... All are being constructed just so they could find the mystery behind Night Slash," Danjuro explained, and it was really a good explanation why Shido was getting more famous than some heroes who were recognized internationally.

Shido then turned to his teammates. Not knowing what to say now, He just looked at them. Life again put him in a situation where he regretted being a Vigilante. He was contemplating the moment he thought it would be good to become a Vigilante.

While Shido was pondering his thoughts, Knuckleduster came up with an idea.

"I think we should leave America as soon as possible, and you should stop being a Vigilante..." Knuckleduster suggested in a low voice.

Shido raised his head and looked at Knuckleduster. Knuckleduster continued, "Your identity is well hidden. If you stopped being a Vigilante, all the problems you are going through right now would cease. Endeavor won't be running behind you like a crazy dog, HPSC's animosity to you will stop, Genesis wouldn't be showing up doing crazy acts... I am suggesting you this because this is the most viable option in my opinion."

Danjuro stood up and took La Brava's hand in his. They both looked at each other and nodded.

"Chief," Danjuro spoke. Shido looked at Danjuro and La Brava.

"Chief, We had something to tell you... We were thinking of retiring as Vigilantes after this mission."

Shido didn't say anything. Seeing Shido being silent, Danjuro tried to explain the reason behind this decision, "After watching your fight with the Phantom 5 and the popularity you gained in 6 hours, I realized something... I realized that this popularity... this fame... that I was running after all along... I think it is not worth it anymore. It's so fickle... Even if I might gather all the fame that I wanted but would it last long... No. It would fade away in a week or two.

That's why I want to stop running behind something so fickle. My videos of heroic Vigilantism recently hit 15 Million Views... That's more than I've ever expected and I think I can stop being a Vigilante by taking those 15 Million Views I gained in 2 Months as my achievement and start a normal life with La Brava."

Shido calmly listened to Danjuro's thoughts. After he stopped, Shido spoke, "What do you wish to do after retiring?"

This time La Brava replied, "We wish to leave Hosu City and start a new life. We were thinking of opening a café as our livelihood. The two-month salary that you gave us is enough for us to settle in a new city and open a café."

Shido just sat there silently. He was distraught and didn't know what to say or how to react anymore. Life was throwing bombs at him one after the other.

---⋉ 96% ⋊---

---⋉ 97% ⋊---

---⋉ 98% ⋊---

Knuckleduster stood up as well, "I think I should also retire for good... I have a daughter in college and she has only me as a family now. Ignoring her for my own selfishness is not good. The money you gave me as a salary is enough for me to spend my entire retirement in ease and pay for Tamao's wedding. So I think this will be my last mission with you guys."

Shido didn't reply to Knuckleduster but he turned to Kaina, "You want to say anything?"

"...I don't have anything in particular to say but it seems the team is dying. And since it is a dying team, I would like to withdraw myself from the team as well. My motivation to join the team was to kill Villains for redemption and destroy HPSC but the team doesn't look capable to do anything at this point. So sorry, Night Slash but I think this is it, Night Raid is no more." Kaina said and stood up.

---⋉ 99% ⋊---

Only Shido sat on the couch while everyone was standing. They were watching what Shido was going to say after all of them withdrew from the team.

"I-I wish you luck in your future endeavors and all the best..." Shido stood up and was about to go to his room but he stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of clapping.

"You all made a good choice!" Genesis was standing beside Shido and clapping.

"Fuck off..." Shido said to Genesis.

"Well, that's rude... I just came here," Genesis said and took a seat on the couch. Caos stood behind him. Shido turned to his teammates and saw that they all were standing vigilantly with shock in their eyes. Shido turned back to Genesis thought why the teammates were vigilant of a phantom.

"Don't worry... I am the real one. It seems my phantom has caused you a lot of trouble. But let's put that aside and let's talk. I wanted to talk to you guys for a long time. Dr. Genesis will act as your teacher today and teach you guys some good things!" Genesis said in excitement.

Knuckleduster directly attacked with a knife in his hand and used his quirk to move fast enough to be invisible for normal eyes. But before the knife could stab into Genesis' chest, it was stopped by a blue barrier surrounding Genesis.

"Look, I came in goodwill. So DON'T disrespect it by attacking me!" Genesis made a swipe gesture with his hands and Knuckleduster was thrown to the couch.

"Now, Sit down everyone," Genesis made a down gesture with his hands and everyone felt something pulling them from their backs to the couch. They fell and sat on the couch.

He then patted the couch, inviting Shido to sit next to him. Shido walked and sat next to Kaina. The seating arrangement was Knuckleduster, Kaina, Shido, La Brava, Danjuro on one big couch and Genesis on the single couch in front of them.

Genesis sighed but then he continued.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Hero, for passing Phase I of the game with flying colors. Heck! You did more than I expected. Second of all, I would like to say that you guys made the right choice by leaving his side.

Now you may be wondering why would I say such a thing right? Well, the answer is simple. Mortals shouldn't stay too close to Gods."

When they heard what Genesis said, their heads turned towards Shido.

"A-Are you a-a God, Chief?" La Brava asked out of curiosity.

"I am not..." Shido declined in a low tone.

"Hahaha!" Genesis laughed looking at the interaction, "How long are you gonna live in denial, Shido? One day... One day you would have to accept that you are a god no matter what."

This again shocked the teammates when they heard Genesis referring to their team leader by Shido. This meant Genesis knew his real identity before them. But the most shocked was Kaina. She turned to look at Shido.

"S-S-Shido?" She said in a stutter but her voice was not heard by anyone as everyone was focused on Genesis.

"Oh~ It seems you didn't even tell them about your identity. Do you know why your team is breaking today? Because they don't have any trust in you. The reason why they dragged till this point is that they trust each other but they don't trust you... I mean, why would they? They don't even know what you look like or what your real name is. So let's see... Would you show your face to them Shido or would you still like to play the Secretive Vigilante act that you are playing since Day 1?"

All eyes were now on Shido. All of them were filled with curiosity except one and it looked at Shido with expectations.

"We can do this when he is gone..."

"Oh, Shido! Feeling Shy... But I have already seen your face last night. We wrestled a lot on your bed but at the end, I was able to see your face."

"Do the talking, Genesis. Why are you here?" Shido took command of the conversation and asked Genesis.

"Hmm... Yes Yes. I should stick to the talk. Well, I was here to explain a few things to your team but when I arrived everyone was giving their resignations so I waited for a minute or two to let things settle down. So for the talk, Yes... you guys did the right thing because a God doesn't need Mortal's company."

"So you are saying, Night Slash is a God?" Knuckleduster asked Genesis.

"Absolutely. Have you never questioned him how he can do so many things? Have you never asked him what is the source of his powers?

Well, Forget about that, I am here to tell you about one source of his powers. The source which makes him a God, the LAWS. Have you ever heard about the Laws?"

The teammates shook their heads. "Very well. I will start explaining things. Caos, Bring a Whiteboard and a Marker," Caos disappeared and appeared back with the things Genesis asked for.

Genesis took the marker and then started drawing and writing on the board.

"Laws are like the domain of divinities of Gods... It looks something like this," he then turned towards the crowd and started gathering electricity all around him. The lights of the room started to flicker and Genesis started to glow blue due to the accumulated electricity but he then stopped this. The accumulated electricity dissipated and everything went back to normal.

"I am the holder of [Law of Electromagnetism] which means I have full authority and control over the electromagnetism around me. Laws are everywhere around us, Electromagnetism, Gravitation, Matter, Time, Space, Life, Death, etc. Powerful Quirks such as Magnet control only one aspect, i.e magnetism.

But when you get a Law under your control, you can control every aspect of it and every phenomenon the Laws are associated with, and then you are called a Law Holder. Law Holders are basically gods who are above this mortal populace who thinks Quirks are the pinnacle of power.

I laugh at their ignorance but I think they are the lucky ones because Ignorance is bliss. Knowing about the Laws just makes our lives miserable... Because 'He' doesn't like when people know about things that they aren't supposed to know and he will do anything to wipe off people who know more than they are supposed to know."

"Then what laws Chief holds?" Danjuro asked without asking who 'He' is, which Genesis mentioned.

"Umm... Shido's case is a bit special. In a normal scenario, a Law Holder holds a single Law under them but two exceptions were there. I and that guy, I won't say his name. We were the only ones who held two laws under us but then Shido came into the picture. He holds around two and a half Law under him currently.

[Law of Matter], [Law of Time] and the half of [Law of Chaos] that I gave him last night... I thought Shido would die by having another law but to my surprise, he took the Law, and his soul handled it pretty well without being destroyed or damaged in the process," Genesis explained to the teammates with patience.

'Law of Time...'

When the teammates heard about the [Law of Time], things started clicking in their heads, and the questions they had till now were being answered by themselves. They always were doubtful about how Shido knew about the things which happened in the past or things which may happen in the future and Shido possessing [Law of Time] answered it all.

"Then... Chief is the God of Matter, Time and a Demi-God of Chaos?"

"Well yes, but actually no. Technically, He is the things that you said but he is new to using Laws thus his control is shit. To become a "God", you need to have a Law under your control, master that Law, and have to pass through a bullshit ritual. He has completed only one requisite so He can be called an Intern God.

I analyzed his fight with my teammates and found that he barely used any Laws. He just used it to enhance his attacks which are from an unknown source that even I don't know about but I will find about it sooner. When I will find about it, I will tell you guys too."

Genesis then wrote something on the board.

Day 1 - Phase I. «DONE»

Day 2 - Phase II. «In Progress»

Day 3 - Phase III. «In Progress»

Genesis then walked in front of Shido and leaned in front.

"Well enough chit-chat about the laws. Now let's talk about my plans for Shido. Shido, how is your day going with my phantom? You are seeing me around you every waking hour. Listening to my voice whenever you are trying to forget about me... How is it?" Genesis leaned towards Shido. Their faces were just a few centimeters away.

"I don't know what you have done, but I don't like it... Reid," Shido said.

Genesis jumped back when he heard the name. He pointed at Shido.

"H-h-how do y-you know that name?"

"What happened? Now how does it feel like to have someone know your real identity, Reid Phillips? I was having those weird dreams after I met you last night. It was obvious the name that was most frequent in the dream would be you, Genesis," Shido stood up and walked towards Genesis.

"Internet is really a useful thing. A simple search and I have a rough idea about your history. Reid Phillips, A quirkless worker in NGC Pharmaceutical. Born in 2065, Died in 2097 along with his Wife and Daughter in a hospital fire. I wonder what a deadman is doing here 260 years after his death.

Well whatever, Nice to meet you, Reid. I am Shido Kanzaki, A Quirkless Noodle Shop Owner." Saying that he opened his helmet and extended his hand to Genesis for a handshake.

"AAAAAA!!!!" Genesis started screaming in anger when he heard about his family. A similar thing happened with his phantom when Shido asked about who 'He' is that Genesis regularly mentions. Lights in the room started flickering and metals started floating around Genesis as his control over his Law started going haywire.

Shido raised his fist and punched Genesis down onto the ground.

"My mood was already bad because of your shenanigans and you have the audacity to come here when I am having a serious discussion and ruin it with your goofy actions!" Shido said and punched Genesis's chest. He raised his fist for another punch but Genesis disappeared before he could land the punch.

He noticed that he was in Caos's arms. He tried to walk towards them but he found that he couldn't walk forward, he understood that it was Caos' work.

"Greetings Law Holder, I am Caos, a homunculus, the Half-Holder of [Law of Space] and the servant of [Law of Chaos] holder. Since you have Half of [Law of Chaos], therefore from now on, I shall greet you as my Master. I, Caos, won't be giving you any reason to complain, Master." Caos introduced herself to Shido.

"If you are such a good servant then give Genesis--"

She interrupted Shido and spoke, "That I cannot do, Master. Since the [Law of Chaos] is divided between you two, I cannot do something which explicitly harms the other Holder. You can fight Master Genesis in Phase III that is the day after tomorrow and I won't be interfering in that fight. You can settle your grievances then," She explained to Shido.

"Heh~ You caught me off guard, Shido. Well, It was my fault that I came too close to my enemy. Since things are now pretty serious now, I will come to the main point.

The reason why you are seeing my Phantoms everywhere is that Laws contains a fragment of the consciousness of the Previous Holder. So by sending half of [Law of Chaos], I imparted a part of my conscious inside you." Genesis stood up from Caos' support.

---⋉ 100% ⋊---

"And congratulations, Phase I is now officially completed!" Genesis exclaimed.

"What are you even talking about?" Knuckleduster asked.

"As I said, I imparted a part of my consciousness inside Shido. The Fragment will slowly grow inside him and take over his body." Genesis said nonchalantly.

'Heh!!' Everyone had the same reaction in their minds.

"Yeah... So look on the board here. Phase I, The Part will grow inside you and make itself accustomed with your soul. It should've taken a day to complete but it was completed 6 hours early because of the emotional instability you have been going throughout your day. That instability accelerated the growth of the fragment.

During Phase II, The Fragment will make a connection with me, the owner of the Fragment, enabling me to see what you see, let me feel what you feel, and let me see your memories as I please. In a way, your mind would become a garden for me to walk and leave as I please.

Phase III is the best part. The part of consciousness would be big enough that it would start fighting your consciousness for dominance over the body, and soon it would win. Your body would be in my control. Both of these bodies would be at my disposal. I already have plans ready... Your body would become my main body and my current body would become a backup. Then I would be able to have 4 Laws under my control. Then even 'He' won't be able to defeat me.

So how is it, Shido? You said my family died, right? Then how about I take yours? Fuyumi will be my wife; Eri and Himiko will be my daughters... Phase I is already complete, Shido. 2 More Days... Just 2 Days... and I will be taking whatever you have. Your body, Your Family, Your Friends, Your Everything... will be Mine."

Shido was enraged but he couldn't move forward. It was because of Caos' spatial manipulation which made the space around him act as binding to hold him back.

"You are struggling to have everything you want while the world tries to make you choose. You run away every time it gave you an opportunity to choose whether to live a normal life or be the savior, but you wanted both and live life without consequences. But you've run enough Shido, and the World is tired of you having both so now it sent me to make you face the consequences. Now you cannot run anymore, Shido.

Caos, let's go... Our Hero needs some time to rest before Phase II starts."

Saying this, Genesis and Caos disappeared from the room.

After looking at the place where they disappeared from, Shido first calmed himself down. There was no reason for him to let this anger take over him. Genesis said the emotional instability accelerated the growth of the Fragment inside him.

After calming himself down, he turned to his teammates. He had an awkward smile on his face when he faced them.

"Well, Forget about what just happened... Since you guys want to leave, I won't force you to stay. You guys made your decision and I respect it. After we leave America, We will be on our separate ways. I think this arrangement is okay?" He said to his teammates. He saw everyone's expression. Everyone was a bit sad but the expression on Kaina's face was extreme. Tears were flowing from her eyes and her face was completely red.

She slowly walked towards Shido and stopped in front of him. She looked at his face for a long time and more tears fell down her eyes as she looked at him. She then slowly leaned on his chest and embraced him within her arms.

"No... I won't... I won't leave you again, Shido-Nii..."