One-way traffic

And that's how it turned out.

"Ha ha…"

Haidou was standing in his front yard.

A group of servants surrounded him, and the mansion's butler was also there.

"Young...Young Master...?!"

"..."

Haidou was extremely exhausted at this point.

He felt both mentally and physically exhausted, and at the same time, his right hand, which was holding the military knife named Xueqing, was twitching as if being stung.

Because of excessive force?

No.

In fact, all the force that Haidou had just released against Accelerator was returned to him without any change.

Even the icy aura emanating from Xue Qing was the same.

"Now you should be satisfied, right?"

However, the person being tested seemed completely unconcerned.

Despite Haidou's hard work and excellent use of various sword techniques and abilities, as well as his high speed and physical fitness, the divine possession he was in did indeed possess considerable strength.

But it makes absolutely no sense to Accelerator.

There's no need to understand anything; just subconsciousness, the bare minimum of reflexes, is enough to completely cover it all up.

Haidou's attack was completely reflected back.

Of course, Accelerator had the power to control everything, keeping everything to a minimum, which meant that Kaito didn't suffer a complete backlash.

But he seemed unwilling to give up and stubbornly continued fighting for nearly fifteen minutes.

During this period, Accelerator remained unchanged.

"in the end…"

Only at this moment did Haidou completely put Xue Qing away.

And stared at the first person in front of him with a very shocked look.

"How on earth is it done?"

That's why I said it.

Accelerator curled his lip in boredom, having already anticipated this response.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand at all. See? Even if I told you what abilities I have, you wouldn't even understand the most superficial aspects. Wouldn't that be a waste of breath?"

Although it sounds infuriating, Kaito can still understand what Accelerator means.

And now I understand why Accelerator didn't intend to give a detailed explanation beforehand.

An invisible force, capable of deflecting any attack.

and.

According to Lian, when the opponent dealt with Yingping, he killed him instantly with one strike, during which he did swing his arm.

But Accelerator hasn't even taken out a single finger yet.

Does this mean that my attack wasn't even strong enough to make the opponent lift a single finger?

"You don't need to overthink it."

It seems that it saw through my own thoughts.

A white-haired, red-eyed man slowly approached, and the surrounding servants retreated in fear.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with whether you are strong or weak. The reason you have this result is simply because of the characteristics of my ability."

"What... ability is it...?"

"I don't want to explain further, because it's too complicated, so all you need to know is that you can't beat me right now."

Haito gritted his teeth; this was the first time in his life he had been spoken to in such a way.

"...But I still can't understand why, given that you possess such power, you have never appeared in the Empire's army even once."

"When did I ever say that I was one of your soldiers?"

"…What?"

Thinking about this, Haidou's thoughts became even more confused.

After all, in his mind, only divine possessions could counter the existence of shadow possessions. Even other soldiers in the army couldn't do it; it had to be a divine possession. So, no matter which divine possession it was, he basically knew all the relevant information about it as long as it was within the army.

Now that Accelerator has said something like that, it means one thing.

"You are not... a divine being."

"What's with all this talk about gods and gods? Don't always think that what you believe in is everything in this world. As a so-called soldier, you should know this better than anyone else, right?"

However, it's not their fault. Accelerator murmured to himself.

"I'm too lazy to argue anymore. You can't win anyway, so let's get some drinks and food and rest for a bit."

He said this to the servants around him, and they nodded unconsciously, seemingly unaware of it themselves.

Haito took a few breaths, but couldn't help falling into silence.

A powerful entity that does not exist within the Imperial Army.

Having never had any reputation until now, he suddenly appeared and immediately demonstrated a terrifying ability that could instantly kill even a shadow puppet, easily overwhelm him, and whose true nature and effects were unclear.

In a sense, such people are the most dangerous.

but--

With this power, he might not even need a moment to kill Kaito and the others.

'Then there's no need for him to pretend to be close to them in the future.'

This doesn't make sense, because if the other party were truly a top-tier expert, they wouldn't need to resort to such a third-rate method as infiltrating her house to threaten Hatsune Miku; taking direct action would have been much easier.

Of course, it's also possible that the other person's mental state cannot be measured by the worldview of ordinary people.

No matter when, Haidou could sense a certain aura emanating from this person named Accelerator.

Eerie, insane, deathly silence.

These seemingly unrelated qualities were all gathered onto the other person, and just by standing still, they could bring an overwhelming aura to the surroundings.

Why haven't we heard a single word about this person until now?

However, Accelerator had no interest in paying attention to Kaito's thoughts.

"The power he's using is a bit too extraordinary... Shouldn't he tone it down a bit?"

He walked into the living room, lost in thought.

Indeed, he had become the strongest in all the worlds, and from the perspective of countless worldviews, it was impossible for anyone to defeat him.

But is that really enough?

He is powerful, but that's all he has to do. There's still a lot for Accelerator to improve.

For example, knowledge about the realm of magic.

For example, knowledge about physical techniques related to the body.

For example, regarding close-combat weapons like swordsmanship, and the proficiency in using various weapons, while Accelerator does possess some knowledge about these things, it is only partial and far less than that of masters.

Simply acknowledging one's current status and remaining stagnant will not make one truly "the strongest."

The so-called strongest should refer to maintaining a confident and ambitious attitude at all times, and making use of everything that can be learned.

He had secretly made this decision.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting... Ah, Lord Kaito!"

The servants had prepared a variety of refreshments, and at that moment, Haito walked in.

After Accelerator sat down on the sofa, he sat down opposite him.

"Do you need me to treat your injuries from earlier?"

"Need not."

He twisted his wrist, his face expressionless.

"It's nothing serious. Our divine bodies can heal themselves. If your wrist is injured, it's not even as bad as a mosquito bite."

"Ha, so that means it can't be broken no matter how much you hit it?"

The first person picked up the teacup poured by the maid and took a sip of the scalding liquid.

"...Tsk."

"Hmm? Did you burn yourself drinking it too fast?"

Kaito, who was also drinking black tea, asked him, but with the reflection, Accelerator naturally wouldn't get burned.

He frowned for other reasons.

“…I said.”

After taking another sip of the black tea, he couldn't help but give up.

Do you have canned coffee here?

"Coffee...canned?"

Upon hearing such words, it was Haidou's turn to be surprised.

What is canned coffee?

--------------------------------

"Uh…"

In the dark tunnel.

He walked slowly toward the interior, away from the light.

The figure murmured, and a huge gap appeared in his chest, from which countless maggot-like creatures wriggled.

It seemed to be gnawing at his wounds.

The man did not stop, but walked step by step to the deepest part of the tunnel. He looked very weak.

"grown ups…"

"...You failed."

He turned his head slightly, and a figure in the darkness looked at him.

"I sent you to assassinate someone who came from another era, and how did things end up like this?"

"It was...my fault, but—that person!"

Once you recall the scene...

Even he, as a shadow puppet, couldn't help but tremble.

"I see. If it weren't for the immortality of the Shadow, you would probably have turned into dust long ago. But even so, you wouldn't be alive now."

"I know...I know my body better than anyone else..."

The damage caused by the wound has exceeded the upper limit of the recovery rate.

The shadow is immortal, yet the scene before them made the figure in the darkness take notice.

"Who hurt you?"

“A guy whose gender is indistinguishable.”

He knelt on the ground and quickly recounted all the information.

"He saved that person who came from another era... and defeated me with a single blow. If it weren't for my immortality, I probably would already be..."

"No, your immortality has been destroyed. You are now completely unable to heal your injuries, not even by a millimeter."