Volume 3 Chapter 15 Convergence The Full Moon’s Howl and a Wind User’s Vengeance
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Come on, give up now, won’t you? The Vice President, and the driver I don’t recognize.”
In the chilled confines of the hotel’s underground parking lot, Kurebayashi Nagisa used her Gift, crushing a black luxury car beneath an invisible force. Inside the wreck were Kobayakawa Kouji, Vice President of ‘Treasure Next,’ and his driver, Yakushiji Akira.
”Hey! Do it!” Kobayakawa commanded, his voice tight with panic.
”Yes, sir!” the driver affirmed, peeling off his gloves. He raised his hands high above his head, a malicious grin stretching across his face.
”Melt!”
In the next instant, the tiny beads of sweat clinging to his hands ballooned outwards. As the droplets sprayed, the car’s metal body began to dissolve one section after another. A hissing, corrosive sound—shuuuu—filled the air, and slowly, the two men emerged from the melting wreckage.
”…Is that acid?” Nagisa murmured, her sharp dark eyes narrowing as she observed the terrifying Effect of Yakushiji’s Gift. The liquid was powerful enough to melt a car in a flash; even a slight exposure would be fatal. Yet, Nagisa had her Wind Gift. A focused blast would surely blow the droplets away, protecting her utterly.
Then, Yakushiji reached back into the ruined car, grasping a plastic bottle. He twisted the cap off and scattered the contents into the air before them.
”Acid Curtain!”
The water’s volume expanded exponentially, and a transparent, shimmering wall of liquid acid stretched out between Nagisa and her opponents.
”Go, now!” Yakushiji urged.
”I’m counting on you!” Kobayakawa bellowed, already fleeing alone.
”You won’t!” Nagisa shot back, unleashing a focused blast of wind toward the watery barrier.
But strangely, the wind failed to shatter the curtain, instead being deflected harmlessly away.
”What’s the meaning of that…?” she questioned, stunned.
”Take this!” Yakushiji’s voice rang out, and multiple droplets of acid flew from the Curtain toward Nagisa.
Nagisa instantly countered, creating a wind shield to deflect the corrosive attack. The droplets scattered—
”Wha—what is this…!” she gasped.
”Ha ha ha! Nice look you got there, eh?”
To her horror, a few droplets made it through her shield, striking her dress. Luckily, none touched her skin, but the fabric instantly dissolved and the damage spread. Holes began to bloom across Nagisa’s dress, exposing her skin and undergarments.
”—The kid gloves are off now.”
Her blood was boiling. Even so, she was an S-Rank user. She’d navigated far worse crises than a shredded dress. This wouldn’t shake her.
”Ngh!? GAH!?”
An invisible column of compressed wind, about the size of a baseball bat, shot forward. She unleashed the tiny, cylindrical blast in an instant, directing it straight at the Acid Curtain.
The curtain, which had resisted her previous attack, suddenly tore open. The concentrated wind struck Yakushiji directly, driving him backward and into the remnants of the dissolved car.
The Acid Curtain, now unsupported, dosh! ¹ splashed down onto the concrete, the powerful liquid instantly dissolving the asphalt where it pooled.
It wasn’t that Nagisa’s prior attack was too weak; her full-power strike had simply bypassed the Curtain’s mysterious defenses.
”Scattering Wind (Chirukaze).”
Nagisa held out her right hand. The next thing Yakushiji’s body knew, the clothes he wore were instantly shredded, torn to ribbons. It was almost a direct, proportional retaliation for the holes in her own dress—leaving the driver naked.
But the driver himself felt none of it. He was already unconscious from the impact of hitting the wreckage.
”The rest is up to you,” Nagisa quietly muttered into the empty air.
* * *
”Hah… hah… hah…“
Kobayakawa scrambled desperately up the ramp of the underground garage, seeking the light of the outside world.
”Just one step more… just one step more, and this will all be mine…!”
For his ambition, he had commissioned the Yami Guild (Dark Guild) to eliminate Hourai Midori and had attempted to kill Hourai Takao himself.
Now that everything was exposed, running was pointless. Gifted individuals held far more power than the police.
”—A-gh!”
”Guhak!?”
Halfway up the ramp, a powerful impact from the side sent Kobayakawa sprawling into the wall.
”W-who are you…?” he stammered, pulling himself free of the indented concrete.
”I don’t hold a grudge, but I have to do this,” a small voice replied.
”Hah, hah… A Goat?”
Standing there was a small girl wearing a black goat mask, though her neck down was covered by a dress. Her hands were empty. The Goat-Masked Girl had attacked him bare-handed.
”GUH! GRROOOOOAAAAAAHHHH!!”
In that moment, his suit exploded outward, and his body swelled rapidly, covered by thick, gray fur. His mouth elongated, sharp fangs emerged, and his ears grew into enormous, dog-like appendages—
”—Wolfy-man?” the girl wondered aloud.
”Hah, hah… The Moon… If only I can get to the Moon’s light…!”
Standing before her was Kobayakawa, now over two meters tall. He was a Werewolf, his yellow, glowing eyes fixated on the Goat-Masked Girl.
”Get out of the way!”
Kobayakawa kicked the ground hard enough to leave a crater and shot past the small girl.
”…?”
She didn’t move, just let him pass. Kobayakawa thought it strange, but finally burst outside.
Fortunately, it was a full moon tonight. For Kobayakawa, with his ‘Wolf’ Gift, it was the day his power peaked for the entire month.
Of course. He was the one who had suggested having the corporate appreciation party on this very night.
”AWOOOOOOONNNN!!”
The wolf’s blood inside him surged like a furnace, and his body swelled further. His enormous form now easily exceeded three meters.
Kobayakawa leapt high into the air, landing in the wide, grassy park nearby. He crouched, ready for a fight.
”—Oh, you got bigger.”
Kobayakawa whipped his head around, startled by the girl who had suddenly appeared behind him. The difference in their size was like that of an adult and a newborn.
”I didn’t want to break the parking garage, so outside felt better.”
”I see… But I can’t end things here!” Kobayakawa howled, desperation pouring from his monstrous throat.
He started circling the Goat-Masked Girl, running so fast that a normal person could barely track his movements.
”—NGH!!”
Getting behind her, Kobayakawa raked his sharp claws toward the small girl. A single hit would be a critical, fatal blow, not just a serious injury.
But the Goat-Masked Girl was an unbeatable entity. Even a colossal Werewolf was nothing but an ant to her.
”Guh! GUH-AAAAAHHH!?”
He had attacked her, but in the next instant, all the fingers on his right hand were torn off. Blood gushed from the wound, and Kobayakawa collapsed onto the grass.
”Did you give up?” she simply asked.
”N-not yet!”
He attacked again, this time from the front with his left hand—but the result was the same. His fingers were severed, his claws peeled back, leaving both hands useless.
The Goat-Masked Girl hadn’t done anything. She had simply used her Reflection Gift, returning the attack with double the force.
”What in the nine hells are you!!” he roared in agony.
Even in his suffering, he swung his remaining right leg, aiming for the girl’s head. That scream was Kobayakawa’s last.
The tip of his right foot flew off, scattering blood onto the pristine park lawn.
”…I think a Wolfy-man mask would be nice.”
* * *
”—Kurebayashi-san!!”
”Oh… Takanashi-kun?” Nagisa blinked.
Hirose, a young man, rushed up to Nagisa as she watched over the unconscious Yakushiji, waiting for the police and others to arrive.
”P-please wear this!”
Hirose quickly slipped out of his suit jacket and placed it over Nagisa’s shoulders.
”Thank you… But I’m afraid it will smell,” Nagisa replied, her voice softening.
”You can probably fix the smell with your Gift, right? But even if you can’t, it doesn’t matter. Y-your current state is too much of a distraction for my eyes!”
”…In that case, I will accept it, then.”
Nagisa slipped her arms into the jacket sleeves and fastened the front button. The jacket managed to cover the holes in her dress.
”A-and also… I know it can wait for another day, but… could I take up some of your time?”
”Eh… Are you possibly—?”
Nagisa’s mind raced back to an earlier conversation with Hirose.
”Um, I haven’t gotten the solid proof yet. That’s why I want to use my Gift to get that proof,” Hirose explained, his kind eyes fixed on hers.
”Why would you… do that?”
”Because it looked like Kurebayashi-san was struggling… Would that be a bad reason?”
”But I haven’t done anything for you, or anything like that…”
It was always like this with Hirose and his friends. They fundamentally solved people’s problems without asking for payment. This time was no different. They just wanted to resolve Kurebayashi Nagisa’s worries out of sheer goodwill.
”I’m a big fan of Kurebayashi-san.”
”…Can I let myself have hope?” Nagisa wondered, clutching the hem of the jacket.
”I don’t know. But… I would be happy if I could give you hope.”
”Then I will trust you, Takanashi-kun… Please help me.”
The two exchanged contact information. It was decided that on a later date, with the addition of Hibiki, they would confirm if Hirose could truly solve Nagisa’s problem.
Meanwhile, ‘Treasure Next’ Vice President Kobayakawa Kouji and his driver Yakushiji Akira were arrested as the principal culprits in the conspiracy. Since ‘Treasure Next’ was a major company known throughout the Adventurer industry, the event sent shockwaves through the entire sector.
Hourai Takao, the President, was quickly detoxified by a high-ranking Healer and made a swift return. Though saddened by Kobayakawa’s betrayal, he resolutely reformed the organization to fill the hole left by the former Vice President.
His daughter, Hourai Midori, later expressed her profound gratitude to Hirose and his friends. However, she would remain blissfully unaware of the fact that her life had been in danger.
Thus, the attempted assassination of the ‘Treasure Next’ President at the appreciation party came to a close, and the day for Kurebayashi Nagisa and Takanashi Hirose to meet again was soon to arrive—
—
Summary:
The underground parking lot turned into an urban fantasy battleground as S-Rank Kurebayashi Nagisa used her powerful Wind Gift for a swift, tactical victory against the acid-wielding driver. Nagisa’s victory was immediately followed by the bloody, desperate transformation of the corporate Vice President into a terrifying Werewolf. However, the sheer force of the moonlit beast was nothing against the terrifying, passive power of the Goat-Masked Girl and her Reflection Gift, bringing the confrontation to a brutal and decisive end. The chapter closes on a quieter, more vulnerable note, as Nagisa finds tentative hope in the genuine concern and offer of help from Takanashi Hirose.
—
Character Insight:
Kurebayashi Nagisa is revealed to be more than just a formidable S-Rank Gift user; she is deeply vindictive when personally slighted—as evidenced by her targeted retaliation for her ruined dress—but also possesses a profound emotional vulnerability. Her desperate willingness to accept Takanashi Hirose’s help, a fan she barely knows, suggests that her internal struggle is severe and that she is desperately searching for a solution to her unspoken, core problem. This highlights her complexity as a protagonist caught between power and personal distress.
—
Behind the Scene:
The fight with the Vice President was a crucial part of the corporate thriller and action-fantasy plot, showing that the criminal element in the Gifted world is as ruthless and well-connected as the heroes. The immediate, violent dispatch of the Werewolf by the enigmatic Goat-Masked Girl serves to establish an extremely high power ceiling for the heroes’ associates, ensuring the stakes remain high and the threats are handled with terrifying efficiency. The conclusion sets the stage for a new emotional arc between Nagisa and Hirose, shifting the focus from physical danger to personal healing and Gift-based problem-solving.
—
T/L:
1 Dosh (ドシャ) is an onomatopoeia for the sound of something heavy splashing or collapsing, like a sack of liquid hitting the ground. Here, it emphasizes the sudden and heavy fall of the acid curtain. ↩
Notes:
• Kurebayashi Nagisa – One of the few S-Rank Adventurers in Japan, possessing a wind-type Gift. She is stunningly beautiful with long dark blonde hair, sharp and a model physique. Despite her fame, she keeps her distance from everyone, and a mystery surrounds her behavior. She just accidentally collided with Hirose.
• Kobayakawa Kouji – The ambitious Vice President of ‘Treasure Next.’ He is a mature man who hides a dangerous secret: he possesses the ‘Wolf’ Gift, allowing him to transform into a powerful, monstrous werewolf, especially under a full moon. His desperation is visible in his frantic movements and beast-like appearance upon transformation, with graying hair and feral yellow eyes. His suit is ripped away as he expands into a colossal form. He is a primary antagonist driven by greed.
• Yakushiji Akira – Kobayakawa Kouji’s driver and a Gift user with a corrosive, acid-based ability, primarily stemming from his sweat. He is an adult man, likely wearing a driver’s uniform. His role is to protect the VP. He is a minor antagonist who is quickly dispatched by Nagisa’s superior S-Rank power.
• Hourai Midori – 17-year-old classmate, daughter of a famous manager, target of assassination attempt. Have Pale Green Hair (Long).
• Hourai Takao – The President of ‘Treasure Next.’ He is a flashy man, dressed in lavish clothes and numerous accessories, giving off a ‘new money’ vibe. He collapses suddenly during his speech at the reception.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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