An abandoned factory; this was not a rare sight in Mifune City. During the economic boom decades ago, numerous projects ceased operations for various reasons, leaving abandoned warehouses and factories scattered throughout Mifune City.
If it weren't for Naoki being able to summon familiars to help him find his way, coupled with his extraordinary senses, he might not have been able to find Shiki in such a vast abandoned area.
Carrying a bag of groceries for that night's hot pot, Naoki entered the factory and saw Shiki leaning against the second floor.
"You really chose a secluded and mysterious place; this isn't like your style, Shiki."
"Troubling others isn't good either."
Jumping down from the second floor, Shiki looked at the bag Naoki was carrying. "Dinner?"
"Tonight we're having hot pot. Eating hot pot in an air-conditioned room, not bad, right?" Naoki laughed. "So, what business do you have calling me to such a remote place? I heard you say earlier you wanted to settle debts with me... I don't think I've stepped on your landmines lately."
Even so, Naoki really didn't know where Shiki's landmines were. Sometimes he would just speak casually, and the person in front of him would suddenly get angry for no apparent reason.
"You haven't made me angry recently, but long before that, we still have two debts to settle."
Shiki raised two fingers.
"First, when we first met. At that time, I was targeting a group of thugs for pocket money, but you beat me to it. The second was at Ogawa Apartment; you destroyed all my dolls."
"You still remember those two things?"
Naoki couldn't help but feel helpless. These two things, one happened more than half a year ago, the other three months ago; Shiki could actually remember them until now.
"You're really vengeful."
"Say whatever you want; anyway, I just want to settle my debts with you. Leaving with a light heart is good too. Also, so that I won't have trouble sleeping because of resentment after you leave." Shiki rarely smiled in front of Naoki.
For her, who had never shown Naoki a good face and almost always wore a cold expression, this one smile could be said to be the sun rising from the west.
"What a pity."
"What?"
"You just smiled. It's such a rare thing; it's a pity I didn't take a picture." Naoki laughed. "Alright, I understand the situation; the point is you want to settle debts with me—that is, fight. Okay, consider this a warm-up before dinner."
Shiki was very strong.
But that was limited to the human realm after all; her physical abilities did not surpass humans, just an ordinary person with great skill. Even the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, that highest-level power of mystery, was not a threat as long as it couldn't touch Naoki.
Their previous few fights had already proven that.
Shiki also realized this, so this time, she was prepared for a real fight.
"Hah..."
Taking a long breath and drawing her knife, Shiki opened her magic eyes and stared straight ahead, then stepped forward—
*SWOOSH!*
As if teleporting, Shiki, who was almost ten meters away just now, suddenly appeared in front of Naoki! The deadly knife slashed towards his chest with lightning speed!
Immediately jumping back to avoid the attack, Naoki was subconsciously a little surprised. "This speed... were you playing around before?"
"Not really, it's just that I'm a little different now."
The tip of her foot touched the ground again, like a dragonfly touching water, Shiki instantly floated above Naoki's head, her knife held in reverse and stabbing downwards towards his head!
She was really serious!
'This killing aura... she really intends to kill me.'
Thoughts flashed in an instant. Naoki stared sharply at the descending knife, his arm extended as fast as an accurate scalpel, grabbing Shiki's wrist and twisting it forcefully!
That unexpected force instantly made Shiki unable to hold her knife, and catching the falling blade, Naoki immediately thrust it back towards Shiki!
*CLANG!*
Along with a clear clanging sound, half of the knife in Naoki's hand instantly flew away.
Seeing Shiki land not far from him with another knife in her hand.
"Spare."
"You're very skilled at this, so I prepared a few more."
In their few fights, Shiki had roughly assessed Naoki's area of expertise in close combat—defense and counterattack.
Because during his training with Merlin, the first and most frequent training Naoki received was agility training: dodging or defending and then immediately counterattacking. He had developed this style for a long time, and even after gaining power beyond human limits, he couldn't change it.
Throwing away the knife, Naoki laughed, "So, what's with this condition of yours? Although I know you're very agile, that speed just now was almost the same as mine; you couldn't have used doping."
"I told you, I'm a little different now. You could say these are some changes that occurred after killing Araya Souren two years ago."
Shiki didn't remember how she killed Araya. Although she knew that she herself did it, she wasn't clear about the process in between. She only remembered continuously attacking under the urge to kill, and when she regained consciousness, Araya was already dead.
And after that, one day during a duel with a doll, Shiki realized that her body had undergone some changes.
"My current condition is probably similar to what you use with that Reinforcement Magecraft. Although I don't know why my body became like this, as long as I think about it seriously, my body will change into this condition. It feels like releasing a seal."
"A seal, huh... your condition is indeed almost the same (whispering)."
Naoki whispered softly.
'Physical aspect reinforcement... Ryougi Shiki from the Root?'
The Admin really intervened; this is really...
"So, want to continue?"
"Why not? How about fighting until just before dinner? If we count, there's still half an hour."
"Okay, consider this a warm-up before dinner."
Adopting a fighting stance, Naoki waved his hand towards Shiki with a challenging gesture. "Come on. Whatever you want."
'This guy... Seeking death!'
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Half an hour later.
Seeing Naoki and Shiki asleep on his back, Touko and Gray were slightly surprised for a moment.
"Where have you two been?"
"Nowhere, just accompanied her to play for a while. Didn't expect her to play until she was exhausted and fell asleep."
Putting Shiki on the sofa and placing the groceries down, Naoki sat down beside her.
"Then, even though it's a bit late, let's start eating hot pot."
"Shiki's portion?"
"No need."