Once Again
….Finally returning back to the place of the first encounter-
Zousa had gotten out of the wall as quickly as he entered it, returning back to the side of his team.
Almost immediately afterwards, there was the sound of footsteps coming from the alleyway.
Zousa clutched at his stomach, seemingly in pain.
『That attack was strong, but… There was no intent behind it! I couldn't sense anything!』[Zousa]
A prickling feeling began to rise up on Nova's nape.
He subconsciously put his foot back, as if he wanted to run as fast as he could, here and now.
『...This isn't Yudola...』[Nova]
There was no presence, and the only thing that made the presence of the entity known to those there were the footsteps.
「Nova! Get a hold of yourself! Raina will take care of this!」[Reischneid]
Nova realized that he was freezing up, as he always has.
He quickly shook his head and got a grip of himself.
Raina suddenly moved her arm to her side before slowly dragging it in the air.
A purple and orange trail followed her finger before she quickly started to draw an image of a bird in front of her.
『Calling: Flarespark!』[Raina]
The circle ignited into flames and summoned a red and yellow bird that resembled an enormous peacock.
Mune quietly whispered something before summoning Lucifius by his side.
「...Wait, this lack of presence… I've felt it before! Just... once before!」[Nova]
The footsteps got louder and louder until a hand appeared, grasping the wall.
「...No! Why… Why is she here?!」[Nova]
「Nova! Calm down!」[Reischneid]
Asmodasiah seemed a bit tense.
「...This person is… strong. I have no doubt that they would have the ability to kill him in an instant.」[Asmodasiah]
The bird suddenly threw its wings out, screeching in conjunction with Raina's shout.
『Phoenix Roost!』[Raina]
A flurry of orange and white glowing white feathers flew in every direction, with some landing on the person's hand.
Nova's perception of time suddenly went haywire here.
「W..What?! Everything… seems so… slow!」[Nova]
But in the next moment, everything suddenly began to speed up again.
It made a hissing noise as it came into contact with the person's mana shield.
Immediately thereafter, they retracted their hand from the wall, before their hand suddenly retracted and footsteps were heard disappearing deeper into the alleyway.
Raina leaned forward, about to chase after the person.
『Wait, don't ru-!』[Raina]
Before she could finish her sentence, Nova interrupted her.
『Area.』[Nova]
A black hole appeared in front of him, and with that, he vanished.
『Nova…?』[Mune]
….
Nova's body had moved before he even knew what he was going to do.
His mana pumped almost as fast as his heart beat.
After entering the portal, he landed on a building that was right above the alleyway.
The moment he hit the ground, he was already running.
「Nova! What the hell are you doing?!」[Reischneid]
「My… My feet won't stop! I don't want to stop, either!」[Nova]
「...Didn't you hear me? That person could kill you in an instant, and you're still going after them?」[Asmodasiah]
「That person… won't kill me! I know it!」[Nova]
「Damn it, Nova! This is beyond reckless, you know that?!」[Reischneid]
He jumped the gap over a building, his mana enhanced body giving him the power to carry him over a large gap.
「Yeah, I know!」[Nova]
He began to peer down at the alleyway, allowing him a brief look at the figure that was running away from him.
「They're fast!」[Reischneid]
Nova grit his teeth and stopped running.
「Hm. You give up? Good ch-」[Asmodasiah]
He jumped off of the building and braced his legs and mana shield for an impact.
「Yo! That's a damn big fall, Nova! What the hell are you doing?!」[Reischneid]
The building was a decently tall one, about 8 floors high.
He continued to wait, the ground getting closer and closer.
「Hurry up and form an Area, otherwise this one is gonna hurt, kid!」[Reischneid]
As Nova was about 5 seconds from hitting the ground, he suddenly circulated his mana at a super fast rate.
『Wave! Wave! Wave! Wave! WAAAAAAVE!』[Nova]
One after one, magical circles appeared at the bottom of the ground.
Nova instantly broke through the first two layers before landing on the third one.
The moment he went through those, a wave of pain rushed through his body, from his legs up.
『Cheh...!』[Nova]
Not even a second later, he broke through the third one and the fourth one cracked a bit.
He didn't reach the fifth circle before all of the circles sent him flying upwards.
『AREA!』[Nova]
A black hole appeared above Nova, causing him to disappear shortly after.
Shortly after, he found himself flying out of a hole in the sky.
At the angle he was sent out of, he was flying as if he was a superhero, facing toward the ground.
「...Aww, crap. This never gets old!」[Nova]
He started to fall down toward the ground.
「...Thank god I don't have a fear of heights...」[Nova]
He looked around for the clothed figure, only to find them standing still a few thousand feet below him.
『There they are!』[Nova]
He focused on the spot right next to them before he quickly snapped his finger.
『Area!』[Nova]
The black hole appeared, causing Nova to reappear next to the clothed figure…
If he didn't miscalculate his velocity, that is.
Once the black hole appeared, he was sent tens of feet into the air due to his momentum.
『W...WHA...WHAAAAAT?!』[Nova]
He was sent flying up before he finally reached the peak and started to fall.
Once he reached the peak, his body flipped upside down, causing him to see the ground come closer and closer.
He put his arms out, preparing his mana shield to cushion the impact and closing his eyes in anticipation.
『Sh-!』[Nova]
Right at the moment of impact, the feeling of falling disappeared.
Suddenly, he felt his feet touch the floor safely, causing his knees to drop to the floor as well.
Once he felt his feet touch the floor, he opened his eyes to find the clothed figure looking at him.
Upon closer inspection, the person was wearing a pure white mask with no specific markings except a line across where the eyes would be on a human.
『...I see.』[Nova]
He took a breath before standing up.
『...Thank you again, Nian.』[Nova]
The woman with a mask nodded her head without a word.