Whoosh.
The booger shot through the air, faint smoke curling from it as if it would explode like a bomb in the very next second.
This was Mr. 5's Bomb-Bomb Fruit ability.
The blood-red light in Kairos' eyes shifted faintly.
Facing the incoming booger bomb, he only flicked his wrist.
The Sandai Kitetsu resting against Mr. 1's neck trembled slightly.
Invisible ripples spread through the air.
It was as if the air in the room had become a still lake, and the blade in Kairos' hand was the stone dropped into it.
Creation Star: Mirror Sword.
A sound like plucked strings rang out.
The booger bomb flying through the air was instantly frozen in place.
Boom!
Within the invisible ripples, the bomb exploded.
But the flames only flickered like a tiny candle before being swallowed and crushed by the unseen field.
"What?"
Mr. 5 widened his eyes and raised his hand, ready to launch another attack.
But at that moment—
he realized something terrifying.
Kairos, who had been standing behind Mr. 1, had vanished.
He had given up the chance to take Mr. 1's life at any moment and disappeared into the darkness again.
At the same time, Mr. 1 felt the chill at his neck vanish.
His body sprang up from the chair like a released spring.
His right hand turned into a blade, flashing with metallic cold light as he slashed straight behind him.
Slash!
His hand tore through the air, leaving a deep cut in the far wall.
But he did not hit Kairos.
"He dodged…"
Having escaped death, Mr. 1 panted heavily.
He touched his neck.
Tiny beads of blood had already seeped from the skin.
Mr. 1 had eaten the Dice-Dice Fruit and could turn parts of his body into steel blades.
But in that previous instant, he had felt something terrifying.
Even if he had turned his throat into steel—
he still would not have stopped Kairos' slash.
That was a warrior's instinct.
"He… disappeared?"
Mr. 3 trembled slightly. White wax flowed over his palm as he looked around the room.
But he could not find Kairos anywhere.
Kairos had vanished just like when he first arrived.
No trace.
No sound.
Nothing.
"He's definitely still nearby. Be careful."
Ms. Valentine, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
Her body floated up as if weightless.
Because of the room's limited height, she could not rise too far, but it was enough to give her a better vantage point.
Even so—
she still could not find Kairos.
It was as if only the eight of them were in the room.
As if the ninth person had never existed.
"We can't drag this out," Mr. 4 said in his slow, heavy voice. "Kairos is too dangerous. Blow up the whole house."
At his feet, the gun that had eaten the Dachshund Fruit—Lassoo—began to move its throat.
It could spit out timed bombs at any moment.
The other agents nodded.
If they couldn't find Kairos, they would destroy the entire building and force him out.
At this point, subtlety no longer mattered.
But just as they were about to act—
"It's been a long time since I used a card…"
The voice drifted through the room.
It was vague.
Featureless.
As if it could have belonged to anyone in the world.
Even its location could not be distinguished.
But there was only one person who could have said it.
Kairos.
"Quick! Blow up the house!"
Mr. 1 shouted without hesitation.
He didn't understand what Kairos' words meant, but they filled him with a chill from deep within.
At his command, all the agents moved.
They planned to rush out of the room as fast as possible, then destroy it from the outside.
But in the next instant—
a series of faint metallic tremors sounded.
All eight agents stopped at the same time.
Even Ms. Valentine, floating in the air, froze.
Drip.
Cold sweat fell to the floor and shattered into droplets.
Every agent present was sweating.
From the darkness of the room, Kairos slowly stepped out.
His eyes were still blood-red.
The Assassin's mental technique was still active.
But now, something was different.
In his hand was a long command sword more than two meters in length.
Kairos raised both hands slightly and drew the blade a fraction from its sheath.
Even in the dim room, the exposed steel shone with a piercing cold light.
Its sharpness was obvious.
If someone skilled in Observation Haki had been present, they would have noticed seven nearly invisible steel wires extending from the sword sheath in Kairos' hand.
Those seven wires stretched into every corner of the room.
They sealed off every agent's movements.
If any of them dared move—
they would be cut into pieces in the next instant.
The sword was called Shichiten Shichitou.
At the same time he spoke those words, Kairos had already used the Kanzaki Kaori card.
Kanzaki Kaori came from A Certain Magical Index.
She was a member of the Anglican Church's special unit, Necessarius, one of the top ten magicians in London, and the former female pope of the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church.
She was also one of fewer than twenty Saints in the world.
And the technique Kairos was now using to seal the eight agents with steel wires was one of Kanzaki Kaori's signature moves—
Nanasen.
"What… what kind of sword technique is this…?"
Mr. 1 did not even dare move his head.
He could only glance from the corner of his eye at the thin wires beside him.
These seven wires could cut off his neck in an instant.
Even if he turned his body into steel blades, it would not matter.
In all his knowledge, he had never heard of a strong swordsman who used steel wires as a weapon.
Kairos…
just how many bizarre abilities did this man have?
Behind all of them, Kairos spoke calmly.
"Do you know where Mr. 0 is?"
His voice echoed softly through the room.
And every person present felt their blood run cold.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios