[Unavoidable direct damage effect]

[Ability [Death Predictor (B)] conditions (78% accuracy) met…]

[Activating…]

…

"What the fuck are you talking about!"

"You, and me, and Jessica, and Odell, we did this together, we killed him!"

Sebastian looked with one only eyeball at the blue sky, no limit on its horizon.

Those two voices were not responsible for waking him up, but they were the first thing he could distinct with clarity.

That… didn't kill me?

He looked around, confused and trying to make sense of it.

I see…

[Death Predictor (B)] saved me…

Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Miserable bastard!

I'm gonna kill him!

Barely had the skin on his face regenerated, his brow furrowed.

Gradually, the jaw that was wide open eating dust, because of the destroyed muscles, regained its strength to clench those teeth tightly.

The vision of the second eye came back later.

Everything while the conversation between Tedd and Willie continued without interruption.

Sebastian touched his face, possible because the beam had destroyed part of the ropes.

That unfortunate blast had destroyed half of his head, assuming from the wounds. To fix such irreversible damage, [Death Predictor (B)]'s activation consumed 1/3 of his mana, not the current amount, but of the total. Even [Remorse Marionette (A)] uses only about 1/10.

The regeneration… no, more like a reconstruction like a puzzle, allowed him to come back to life. Sebastian had his head cold now, maybe because there's nothing more disturbing than death. He knew he was not in the condition of fighting.

Especially because the wounds that did not come from the last attack were not healed.

Another huge difference between the before mentioned abilities.

But Sebastian did notice something.

At the corner of his vision, there was this nearly imperceptible icon of a knife stabbing a hearth. Putting his focus in it, [Unavoidable direct damage effect] was revealed.

The second part of [Death Predictor (B)]?

Sebastian recalled what he read a few days ago.

Yet, he was not tempted to counterattack just because of such a vague opportunity. Besides, How much damage would it cause? Will he successfully hit the target as the minimum demand? And in the best-case scenario, he takes down one, that son of bitch of Tedd, what step follows from that?

There's no future… no positive ones at least.

Tedd thinks he is dead, then keep it this way. Odell wants him alive, so let's just wait for him to come back. Luckily with MDW agents, this way Tedd cannot harm him, right?

Right?

His reasoning says yes.

His dry mana pool tells him to do the obvious.

His wounds beg him to do no more crazy things

But he… In that resentful corner of his heart, he doesn't want to just endure things like this. How many times did they hit him with their abilities? Aiming at the parts of the body he would never have anticipated, his ability could have been a mere decoration and himself, dead for real.

Was this fair? Did he even make them bleed a little? The answer was no.

Anger, when you're weak, has no value.

His rational side tells him that this was all a misunderstanding, violence will bring more violence, the true resolution only arrives when one party gives ground to another.

But…

Why it has to be me!

…who has to endure the consequences after some idiots assumed things.

Aggrievement grew inside of Sebastian like a monster.

Why couldn't they just listen? Why should I be the one going through this shit? I'm telling the truth!

Playing dead and expecting them to make a good decision for me, as if I was a stupid dog or cat?

No!

Fuck them!

I'm telling the truth, shut up and listen!

His body began to tremble with rage.

He wanted to yell so badly.

[Your [Sentimental (S)] ability detects an accumulation of strong emotions…]

[Initiating process of extraction…]

[Please ensure enough mana supply, or the class of the ability may result affected.]

Sebastian suddenly entered a trance state.

His eyes blinked and read letter by letter.

"Perfect." He murmured.

…

"Besides, he sure stands up again like before."

"That was an illusion, you idiot!."

Willie wanted to slap his friend one more time, the only reason holding him back was that he didn't know how much of what was said was intentional and how much genuine.

"Well, who knows, maybe…" Suddenly, the words got stuck on Tedd's tongue, his defensive attitude became a glad grin. "Oh, what did I tell you? There he is… alive and well."

"You're not tricking me again this time."

"No, for real, he's behind you."

Willie looked at him dead in the eye. The smile on his face did not seem to be one of mockery, but of holding a fact.

"Huh-holy shit!"

"Surprising, isn't it? That was what I felt when I-"

"I'm pretty sure could I touch him! the corpse was real, not an illu…"

But Sebastian was not there to be the spectacle for the two men.

"Viper's pit…" He pronounced in a low voice

"Huh? What are you whispering?" Tedd stepped closer with no fear.

Suddenly, a thick layer of black smoke burst out with Sebastian's standing figure at its center.

The only ability that I haven't used.

Sebastian responded in his mind.

…

Jessica was on her way back from parking the car when she suddenly sensed that the four mana marks on her radar became three.

'Oh no, what did they do!'

She swiftly moved her feet to walk faster, because she knew that that "dot" that disappeared was "Sebastian". And by experience, it only happens when a living being dies.

But then, in no time, the mark appeared again, the same one, its mana feeling the same.

That confused Jessica even more, as it was the first time something like this had happened since she awakened this ability.

"Odell, something is wrong." She encountered and interrupted Odell who was on the phone.

"My companion is calling me, something unexpected just happened, please come as quick as possible. Thank you so much." He hung the phone, then he faced Jessica with a face asking 'What?'

"I perceived the fake Sebastian dying, but then his mana appeared again, come on, Willie and Tedd might be in danger!"

Seeing this was serious, Odell unflinchingly ran after her.

"What is that!"

The two Manifesters were forced to stop, their way was blocked, the smoke that suddenly appeared formed a huge black dome.

…

Everything happened too fast, the two men had little time to react. Without noticing, they had already breathed from the chemical cloud.

Thum!

Instantly, both fell to the ground in pain.

What they were experiencing, even if Sebastian didn't know, was just as if a hand had slipped into a person's chest and had squeezed their heart.

That provoked immediate cough, and when they shake the air out of their lungs, the more poisonous air they breathed. Creating a vicious cycle.

Sebastian was of course immune, despite the changes in the ability. For him, it was like if he was breathing normal air.

While taking little to no importance to the two men dragging their bodies toward a possible exit, Sebastian contemplated his surroundings.