This Psychological Trap Isn't Absolute!

Kuroi's side, or Dodai's side—which was the key to victory?

Raijin Maki slowly clenched his fists, his breathing growing heavier and rougher. He looked toward the rear left, then toward the front right. The veins at his temples seemed ready to throb.

"Crack... crackle..."

At that moment, faint sounds of rock breaking rose from beside his feet. The exquisitely crafted stone cage slowly began to crack.

Damn it!

Don't rush! Don't get impatient! Yet this did not draw Raijin Maki's attention. At this very moment, he was doing his utmost to suppress his agitated, nervous emotions. But the more often he looked back and forth between the two directions, the stronger that tangled mix of anger, irritation, tension, and worry became.

A side effect? Just as that mixed emotion rose to a certain point, he finally could not hold himself back and took a step forward, nearly choosing a path at random and following the restlessness in his heart. But the calmness forged by years of missions immediately stopped him. At that moment, he seemed to think of something, and the agitation produced by those mixed emotions eased slightly.

Was it really a side effect? Then a sense of alarm rose in his heart, and that sudden shock swiftly scattered the agitation of those mixed emotions completely.

Was that it?

It was a side effect. Because of the side effect, I became this irritated. Had my body and mind sensed, without me realizing it, that the time was nearly up, and begun warning me? Was this irritation a reminder that time had run out?! At that moment, the veins at Raijin Maki's temples slowly faded. He suddenly took two deep breaths, and even the red mist spreading and thinning around him seemed drawn by those breaths, drifting slightly toward his