Xiao Ran calmly raised his left hand to block the black shadow shooting toward his right eye. His right hand extended seemingly limply, yet accurately pressed down on the head of a figure lunging at him. With a merciless push, a soft sound rang out through the empty warehouse.
Haruto, who had been staring upward the whole time, looked utterly bewildered. He only felt El-Elf, seated beside him, spring out of his chair. The next second, El-Elf was sprawled on the ground, leaving everyone completely unable to understand what had happened.
Saki Maski had not even noticed how El-Elf, who should have been restrained against the chair, had broken free, only to be pinned firmly to the floor by the masked adult's hand, unable to move. Everything that had happened was no more than a vague, dreamlike memory in her mind, too unreal to believe. It had all happened far too quickly for anyone to react.
El-Elf, lying on the ground, had his eyes wide open as well. Usually expressionless, his face now clearly showed a tangled mixture of disbelief, shock, and other emotions. It was safe to say that El-Elf had completely frozen.
After lowering the left hand that had shielded him, Xiao Ran opened it, revealing a screw in his palm. He casually tossed it aside. The crisp sounds it made as it bounced across the floor struck the hearts of the three people present like heavy hammers, making their heartbeats unconsciously pause for an instant.
The entire exchange had taken only a few seconds. The attacked man wore a faint smile, apparently studying Haruto and Saki Maski's expressions with interest through the eyes behind his mask. Meanwhile, the one who had launched the sudden attack lay blankly on the ground, completely unable to resist.
Just as the