Breakout

Somewhere in the logistics park, the Ninth Guardian controlled by Shiraishi Wataru slowly emerged.

To avoid Nakai Hayato's death as much as possible, he had even granted him the ability Regeneration. Hayato was quite the talent, too; he could adapt to every ability Shiraishi Wataru had developed so far. He had originally meant to use him as a pawn, but now he was a little reluctant to let him meet his end so soon.

As he crept closer through the darkness, he gradually began to hear people screaming.

A quick check gave him the answer: Nakai Hayato was using Super Strength to hurl burning objects at the firepower line, causing chaos.

This was a good opportunity.

He drew two "purchased" samurai swords.

The abilities granted through symbiosis with parasites came with a loss of about twenty to thirty percent. On top of that, symbionts couldn't master their abilities right away, so they could bring out even less of their potential. But a body directly controlled through parasitism had no such drawbacks and could unleash the full power of its abilities.

Even so, faced with such an absurdly powerful line of fire, Shiraishi Wataru didn't think charging in foolishly would end any differently for him than it had for those two Society members earlier.

His best option was to strike like lightning from an angle where their defenses were weak, break into the crowd, and force them to hold back for fear of hitting their own people.

As for any snipers who might be hiding nearby, he couldn't find them. But he had spotted one of their commanders, and he had a plan.

"Come on! Let's fight to our hearts' content!"

Like a fierce tiger leaping down the mountain, a figure sprang from a rooftop toward the crowd. Before most of them could react, he spun his samurai sword in a circle, wounding or killing several people around him.

"Enemy attack!"

A panicked police officer opened fire, but hit even more of his own people. The Ninth Guardian never stayed in one place. He spun and leaped, eyes wide open, cutting down whoever was in the thick of the crowd. It didn't take long for the front-line officers, unable to hit this monster and suffering heavy friendly fire, to finally break. Their morale collapsed.

"Snipers, don't worry about hitting our people. Trust your instincts and fire. Notify the Self-Defense Force and have them move in." Kuroki Niizumi displayed the Iron Lady's resolve as she calmly issued her orders.

While the Ninth Guardian drew the fire, Nakai Hayato arrived to join him, carrying two iron bars.

"Seaside."

The two of them ran in the direction of Tokyo Bay.

"Tokyo Bay? So they're taking that route after all." Kuroki Niizumi continued organizing the interception.

But in the blink of an eye, the two changed direction, concentrated their strength, and fought their way through a unit before breaking into a warehouse. Not long afterward, bad news came in.

Major William had been taken hostage.

Even if Noguchi Yuji had been taken hostage, she would have attacked without hesitation. But the hostage was Major William.

She had no choice but to compromise.

The Ninth Guardian's demand was simple: clear the defenses along the route to Tokyo.

Kuroki Niizumi said she needed to report it and seek approval.

The Ninth Guardian gave her five minutes.

"I'm genuinely curious. Is the power you have really yours? Could it be some kind of method that pushes you past your limits, squeezing your life force for a short time to give you these unbelievable abilities?" Inside the warehouse, even tied to a chair, Major William didn't seem particularly flustered.

For now, the Ninth Guardian had no interest in William. His eyes were fixed entirely on Nakai Hayato, to the point that Hayato was starting to feel uneasy.

"Guardian? I am one. What's wrong?" Nakai Hayato asked nervously. Though the Holy Infant Lord had told him not to worry about him, he had still abandoned the Holy Infant Lord's Advent Body and escaped. He didn't know whether the Ninth Guardian would punish him for it.

"Your heart has passed the Holy Infant Lord's test. He has bestowed upon you power of a higher order," the Ninth Guardian said slowly.

After taking several sniper rounds, this guy had actually undergone a transformation.

And it wasn't an ordinary transformation, either.

[Super Strength Lv2] + [Steel Body Lv2] = [Offense-Defense Integration Lv1]

That was more or less the formula.

Shiraishi Wataru wasn't even sure whether abilities could actually gain levels, but the Offense-Defense Integration that Nakai Hayato had developed through transformation and fusion greatly enhanced both Super Strength and Steel Body. It could certainly be called an upgrade.

As for Nakai Hayato himself, perhaps Regeneration had consumed too much energy, because he didn't seem to notice much difference in his upgraded abilities.

"Is that so? That's wonderful." Nakai Hayato smiled.

William silently memorized their entire conversation. Seeing that no one was paying him any attention, he continued, "Don't you want to know how you were tracked down?"

"And? Are you going to tell us?" Nakai Hayato stared at him, carefully sizing up every inch of his body as though he were planning to cut him apart later.

"You may have heard of tracking pheromones. They show up in movies all the time." William said it outright, catching Nakai Hayato by surprise.

Nakai Hayato frowned. He had heard of them, but knew very little—and even less about how to get rid of them.

"The solution is simple. Take a dip in the sea. The higher the salt content, the faster they break down," William continued.

The Ninth Guardian was a little curious. "What do you want? By telling us this, you're causing trouble for the investigation team."

"I want answers." William's smile faded. "Real answers. What exactly is the Holy Infant Society? What does your arrival mean? Why are you giving people Holy Son Pills?"

The Ninth Guardian shook his head. "That information isn't worth answers to those questions. But I can give you a ticket to learn about them."

He took out a Holy Son Pill. "Swallow it. In time, you might qualify to learn the truth behind all this."

William thought it over for a few seconds. "I see. Ordinary people taking Holy Son Pills benefits you—or that Holy Infant, doesn't it? Are you running experiments, or recruiting talent? Fine. I'll take it."

The Ninth Guardian shoved the pill into his mouth, feeling a little weighed down. As expected, there was no shortage of clever people in this world.

But as long as no supernatural organization was hiding beneath the ordinary world, he was still confident he could deceive the world.

With all the commotion this time, if there really was some mysterious organization, they should have shown themselves by now.

There had been no response at all since the subway incident. This time, he might as well turn things up a notch.

The symbiosis was complete. This William could adapt to all of his abilities, too.

Shiraishi Wataru thought for a moment, then granted him Steel Body.

"So this is what it feels like." William let out a long breath, seemingly trying to sense something. The questions in his mind hadn't dwindled; there were even more of them now.

"Let's go. That was just a warm-up. No need to wait for them to clear the defenses. We'll charge straight through." After using Offense-Defense Integration in this body, Shiraishi Wataru felt a level of power unlike anything he'd experienced before.

Now, even if a tank appeared right in front of him, he was confident he could blow it apart with one punch.