The cramped space of the laboratory was instantly filled with howling gale winds, whipping up discarded blueprints and metal shavings from the floor with a shrill, clattering scream.
Daido Miki used no flashy techniques. She simply turned her body into the purest weapon, wrapped in the power of the wind, and hurtled straight at the old man standing in the shadows.
Yet faced with this lightning-fast blow, Sonozaki Ryuubei did not even lift his eyes to look at her.
He merely took a Memory from the inner pocket of his suit at an unhurried pace.
The thing was a dull, dark gold all over, like a totem from some ancient civilization.
He raised the Memory before his eyes and gently rubbed its cold surface with his thumb.
"terror."
The next instant, a low, emotionless electronic voice rang out amid the wind, strangely clear.
Then Sonozaki Ryuubei's body seemed to be splashed with thick ink. Dark purple patterns surfaced from beneath his skin and rapidly covered his entire body.
His figure began to lengthen, to twist, until at last he became a monster wearing a blue crown.
It was not a transformation. It was more like the revelation of some true essence, stripping away the human shell called "Sonozaki Ryuubei" completely.
Then he merely lifted his right hand at random and gave a light wave toward the green storm rushing straight at him.
The motion was casual, as if he were shooing away an annoying fly.
Bang.
A dull, heavy crash.
Daido Miki's body flew backward even faster than she had come, slamming hard into the alloy wall on the other side of the laboratory with a teeth-aching screech of twisting metal.
Sonozaki Ryuubei did not pursue, because there was absolutely no need to.
The next moment, with him at the