Chapter 140: A Little Abnormality

　[Yes, composing new music is one of the few things you can do now.]

　　[After the "Eighth Herrscher Incident", "Fire Moth" confirmed that the music you developed to increase the power of other fusion warriors could also be "copied", and the places where you were needed to fight became fewer and fewer.]

　　[Thanks to your "song", many people survived the fusion warrior surgery, so "Fire Moth" has a sufficient number of combatants. Now, coupled with your "song" that can increase strength... Well, now you can probably understand why "Fire Moth" can win every battle against the Honkai, right?]

　　[With your calming "song", the quarantine area doesn't really need you to stay there all the time. After all, all you need to do is play your "song" and give them some medicine, and the patients can wait for recovery. Although this may take a long time... but it is more or less certain that this method is useful.]

　　[For a while, you had nothing to do in "Fire Moth". Apart from composing new songs, you would at most take care of Griseo, or be dragged by Vill-V to watch her new performance, and then modify her performance music list under her "outrageous client" request, or be asked by Elysia to sing... It doesn't matter, you are passionate about it anyway.]

　　[As for the rest of the time, you will wait for Eden and Sakura to return, and accompany them in their activities, such as watching Eden drink one cup after another, and finally get drunk, and dazedly drag you to chat about some random things; for example, go to visit Rin with Sakura, and then take Rin to meet people like Pardofelis and Griseo who might get along with her...]

　　[Everything seems to be fine, right?]

　　[…Yeah, everything is fine.]

　　————————

　　"Hahahaha!!! Come again! That's right! Kevin! Come again! Use your strength! Spread your coldness! Try to freeze my rage!"

　　"Kalpas, this is just sparing."

　　"This is a battle! And a battle is a fight! Kevin! Don't hold back! Come! Try to kill me!!!"

　　"sigh..."

　　Before he even entered the training room, Kalpas's manic voice and Kevin's rare helpless sigh came into his ears on the wind.

　　"Hello~ I'm here again~"

　　Nozomi gently pushed open the door and quietly poked his head into the training room.

　　"Hello, Mr. Nozomi... Are you here to watch the battle?"

　　Su, who was standing at the edge, turned his head and "looked" at Nozomi, then nodded at him.

　　"So you're here too, Su. I didn't sense you before... Have you become more powerful?"

　　Nozomi walked in and asked curiously while paying attention to the two people fighting not far away.

　　"I did explore my own abilities a bit, but what do you mean by sense?"

　　"Ah, you know, my power will produce some byproducts... that is, wind, so I can occasionally sense some information through this. I just couldn't sense you just now."

　　"Is that so... It's a very convenient ability."

　　"Haha, it's nothing... they can't compare to yours."

　　Nozomi shook his head happily, and the ends of his white hair rose and fell.

　　"Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you before... Su, are your eyes affected by a side effect? Or something else?"

　　"This? I just got used to perceiving my surroundings more clearly after I got familiar with the place. Closing my eyes helps me concentrate better... But people often think I'm asleep, which is a bit annoying."

　　Su said with a wry smile.

　　"I see... I was wondering if this was a side effect, could I still help you..."

　　"Help me?"

　　"Well, you know I've been quite free lately, so I've been trying to develop my abilities... like reducing the side effects on you."

　　"Is that so... If this really succeeds, it will surely help a lot of people."

　　"Yes, maybe everyone in the 'Deepest Place' can recover their identities and fight alongside us as comrades~"

　　"...I see. You think a little further."

　　Su was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

　　Originally, he thought that Nozomi wanted to do this in order to solve Sakura's problem. After all, Nozomi and Sakura had a good relationship, and Sakura had always cared about her pair of animal ears... It was understandable that Nozomi wanted to help her solve this problem.

　　At the same time, other fusion warriors who suffer from side effects can also benefit from it, such as his good friend Kevin... So Nozomi's target is actually those who are imprisoned in the "Deepest Place"? He is really kinder than expected...

　　"And I just figured out something, so I wanted to come and see if there's a chance to try it out..."

　　"Oh? Have you achieved any results yet?"

　　"Not really. It can only be considered an extension of the previous usage... I want to try and see if it works."

　　Nozomi picked out a small bunch of hair, twisted it between his fingertips, and gave an embarrassed smile.

　　"If possible, maybe I can fight alongside you guys again~"

　　"You don't have to do this, Nozomi. You've already done a lot."

　　"But there's more we need to do, isn't there, Su?"

　　Nozomi sighed... As he saw more and more "fragments" in the rain, he felt more and more clearly that what they were doing at the moment was not enough, far from enough.

　　"Even though my song has been copied and popularized, even though the number of fusion warriors is steadily increasing, the combat troops are constantly winning, and the various plans of "Fire Moth" are proceeding smoothly... but the Honkai seems to have no end, making victory seem far away."

　　"That's why we have to do more so that we can hold victory in our hands... just like you chose to participate in the Fusion Warrior surgery."

　　"...You know this too? Did Kevin tell you?"

　　Su slightly opened his eyes, and there was a rare hint of embarrassment in his words.

　　"That's about right... But I think what you said back then was pretty cool, Su, like [Studying medicine can't eliminate Honkai] or something like that..."

　　"Stop, please, stop..."

　　"Isn't this great? And you didn't give up your duties as a doctor after becoming a fusion warrior, did you? I heard that many girls like to visit you in the infirmary..."

　　"Please, stop talking..."

　　"Okay~"

　　Nozomi responded with a happy voice.

　　"Ah, just in time, they finished..."

　　"Huh?! It's you? Why are you here again?"

　　Kalpas, who had just pulled himself out of the ground, looked at Nozomi who was walking towards him, and growled in a somewhat impatient tone.

　　"If you are not here to fight, get out of here, or... do you want to fight me? Hahaha! I don't mind, okay? When the time comes, I will remind you little by little how to escape, how to fight, and finally..."

　　"Kalpas."

　　Kevin spoke up to stop Kalpas from going crazy, in case he really got the mood and wanted to fight Nozomi... Although they were familiar with each other, and they all understood that Kalpas was only verbally aggressive and would not actually attack Nozomi, but... these dangerous-sounding remarks still made people worried.

"It's okay, Kevin. I'm here to find Kalpas this time."

"Um?"

"Huh? Come to see me? Hehe…hahahahaha!!! Have you finally thought it through?! Have you made up your mind?!"

Kalpas suddenly became a little excited.

"Come on! Come and fight me! As a sign of respect, I will show you everything I have! I will destroy you!!!"

"I just want to ask you to try out the new power I developed..."

"…Tsk."

Kalpas's mood became depressed, and he waved his hand with some disgust.

"Go find someone else for this kind of thing. I won't accompany you."

"I'm looking for a non-fusion fighter..."

"Then go find the soldiers. There are plenty of them here."

"But the kind that is very strong."

"Why do you ask for so much?!"

"Is it not possible?"

Nozomi tilted his head, blinked, and asked curiously.

"In exchange... you can consider this as a sparing with me, okay?"

"Nozomi?"

"......"

Kevin glanced at him with some surprise, while Kalpas fell into silence, staring at Nozomi.

"It's okay, Kevin... Kalpas won't really hurt me, right? And...after all, I'm also a fusion warrior~"

Nozomi smiled and waved his hand, indicating that there would be no problem.

"…This is not a sparing, but a fight."

Kalpas said suddenly, seemingly as a reminder, but also as a dissuade.

"Yes, it's OK~"

However, Nozomi just nodded and agreed with a smile.

"...very good!"

Kalpas stared at Nozomi for a while before squeezing out these two words from between his teeth.

"Kevin, get out of here. Now, this place only belongs to him and me."

"......"

Kevin looked at the two people and then at Su who was standing aside for help. After seeing Su shaking his head, he could only sigh and express to the two people.

"Okay, but if something unexpected happens, Su and I will take action."

"Whatever."

Kalpas's words were unexpectedly brief, and his gaze remained on Nozomi, never moving away.

"Do you need some time to prepare? Singing?"

"That would be great~"

"Hmph... hurry up, I'm tired of hearing that kind of voice of yours!"

"Don't say that. I prepared a song, especially for you~"

Nozomi blinked.

"Like I said before, I want everyone to be able to find a song they like from me... Even you, Kalpas."

"Stop talking nonsense, it makes me sick... Hurry up!"

"Okay, then..."

Nozomi placed his hand lightly on his chest, took a deep breath, adjusted his voice and breath, and then... let the soft singing voice come out, letting the golden light flow, outlining the shape of the instrument around him, giving form to the music.

"Ah~ Has it already started? I'm almost late~?"

"…Elysia?"

Kevin was a little surprised when he saw Elysia coming to his side.

"...Do you and Nozomi have any plans?"

After looking at the recorder that Elysia deliberately brought in, Kevin and Su had some vague guesses.

"Not really. It's just that I asked Nozomi to do me a small favor."

Elysia spoke in a brisk tone while adjusting the recorder in her hand and pointing it at the two people who were preparing for battle.

"So...are you planning to use this recorder to record the fight between the two of them?"

"Yes~?"

"But can't you just use the video here?"

"......"

"Elysia, you haven't forgotten, have you?"

"No! I just wanted to record it separately!"

Elysia puffed up her cheeks and spoke with a hint of defense, then quickly waved her hand and changed the subject.

"Alright, alright~ Stop paying attention to me~ Although I'm cute, the protagonist this time is Kalpas~?"

"......"

Kevin and Su didn't know what to say about this, so they could only turn their attention back to Kalpas and Nozomi.

"…Hey, are you okay?"

Hmm~

The only response to Kalpas was the soft singing and the golden notes that kept floating and dancing around.

"I'll assume you're ready."

Hmm~

"So..."

He could hear Kalpas's excited tone. He took a slight stance, then dodged and rushed in front of Nozomi, swinging his fist and hitting him!

Bang!

There was a dull sound coming from the place where Kalpas's attack hit, but... he failed to hit Nozomi directly. Instead, during Kalpas's attack, the golden notes surrounding Nozomi suddenly flowed and gathered like water and wind, blocking Kalpas's attack.

It felt like a "defense circle" appeared around Nozomi.

"Interesting…"

Kalpas's tone became more excited. He began to increase his strength and speed up his attack, constantly trying to break through Nozomi's "defense".

Hmmm——

However, as Nozomi's singing reached the climax of the music, Kalpas's attacks became more and more violent but gave people an increasingly decadent feeling... It could be felt that Kalpas was increasing his strength, but the effect of his attacks was becoming weaker and weaker.

"Hahahaha!!! Very good! Very good! Is this your new research?! A turtle shell?! Very good! I like it very much! I think it would feel great to be used as a sandbag! Hahahaha!!!"

Hmmm~

However, Nozomi, who was surrounded by golden notes, shook his head gently, raised the corners of his mouth slightly with a smile, and then closed his mouth, stopped singing, and closed his eyes, letting the light flow like a stream, outlining an instrument in his hands, slowly pulling the bow, making the music jump.

The music changed from its original gentle tone to a frenzy, filled with the solemn atmosphere of war. A sense of danger was overwhelming and mixed in with some sharp sounds like screams, which made people feel pierced.

But about this...

"Oh? Hehe...hahahaha!!! That's interesting!!!"

Kalpas looked at the musical notes that were gradually approaching him, feeling the "power" surrounding him, and smiled quite wantonly.

"Although your song is still not that good... I still accepted it reluctantly! Feel honored! Hahahaha!!!"

With a leap, he rushed in front of Nozomi at a much faster speed, and clenched his fist, and the golden musical notes surrounding his body seemed to be stained with fire. They turned red and finally changed into the shape of flames, entwined around Kalpas's hands, and then... hit Nozomi in the face.

BANG!!!

The "flame" rushed and roared, enveloping Nozomi's figure, but the music continued, and the golden notes were still flowing and jumping in the air... Obviously, this attack did not do anything to Nozomi.

"Hahahaha!!! Very good! Do it again!"

Kalpas laughed wildly. At this moment, he no longer resisted Nozomi's music. He even liked it quite a lot... Fire! Flames! This kind of thing suits him perfectly! This is simply amazing!!!

But... as time passed, Kalpas's laughter gradually became duller, and finally... he became impatient.

"You bastard...you bastard!!!"

BANG!!!

A punch hit Nozomi's "defense circle," and Kalpas spoke with gritted teeth in a tone of disappointment.

"Fight back! You bastard! Fight back!!!"

"You can obviously do it! Just like this fire! Like this power!!! You can obviously do it! Why don't you fight back?!"

"I told you! This is a fight! Now, show me your attitude!!!"

Hmm~

However, the only thing that responded to him was Nozomi's smile and Nozomi's music... He still had his eyes closed, as if he didn't hear Kalpas's question, and seemed completely immersed in his own performance.

"Are you making fun of me?!"

BANG!!!!!!!

"Kalpas?!"

Accompanied by a huge bombardment sound, the golden notes surrounding Nozomi seemed unable to withstand such a huge force. They shattered and scattered under the impact of the "flame"... The "defense" formed by them naturally disappeared.

This scene made Kevin and Su nervous... it would not be fun if Kalpas couldn't stop himself.

However, Elysia seemed quite confident; she just kept smiling and didn't move.

"Huh? I knew it."

As the music stopped, the golden light surrounding it quietly dissipated, and Nozomi slowly opened his eyes, looked at the fist in front of him, smiled happily, tilted his head, and looked at Kalpas.

"Look, Kalpas, you are very good at controlling your own strength."

"......"

Kalpas did not respond.

"Well, then, we can use it to negotiate with the Fire Moth. Kalpas, please behave well then. Then, we can continue to assign you combat missions."

Elysia also said this happily and put away the recorder.

"…Is that so?"

Kevin and Su now understand.

Now that the number of fusion warriors is increasing, Kalpas, this dangerous and manic powerful fighter, naturally becomes less important. After all, Kalpas's personality is too violent, which gives the "Fire Moth" quite a headache.

In the past, due to the lack of decisive high-end combat power, "Fire Moth" could still tolerate Kalpas's personality and combat style, but now... Kalpas can already be "eliminated."

That's why we have been seeing Kalpas in the base recently because the "Fire Moth" has no intention of assigning any combat missions to Kalpas... This guy fights so violently, and it looks like he can't control his strength, even the rescue team's "Search and Rescue Pioneer" and "Lucky Cat" - Pardofelis was scared and had psychological trauma.

In addition, during daily training, Kalpas often beat people into the infirmary, sometimes seriously injuring them, and he would talk about "fighting" from time to time... It was difficult for "Fire Moth" not to resist him going to the battlefield.

And now... at least it can be proved that Kalpas can actually control his own power, and he is not really that crazy a person... Although it is very weak and the evidence seems thin, but at least there is an excuse for negotiation, isn't it?

"This is too dangerous, Elysia."

Su reminded helplessly.

"It's okay~ Kalpas won't hurt Nozomi~ And... Kalpas is essentially a very gentle person~ Even though he's a little tongue-tied~?"

"No, Elysia, he is different when he is in battle..."

"Are they the same~?"

Elysia blinked and said with a smile.

"Kalpas has always been the same, just as gentle, everyone can feel it, right?"

"...sigh."

Su held his forehead and sighed helplessly.

"...Hey, you."

"Hmm?"

Kalpas, who had been silent for a long time, slowly retracted his fist, stared at Nozomi, and finally spoke.

"Let's continue next time?"

"Sure~"

"...Say it again?"

Kalpas's tone suddenly became low and dangerous, and he even took a step forward and stood in front of Nozomi.

"Sure~"

"......"

"Kalpas?"

"You have a problem."

"Hmm?"

"You bastard... I knew it! I shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place!"

Kalpas grabbed Nozomi by the collar and lifted him up.

"I wouldn't have agreed to this! You bastard! Why didn't you say anything?! Why didn't you guys notice?!"

"Kalpas? What are you talking about..."

"Shut up! Elysia!"

For the first time, Kalpas responded to Elysia in such an angry tone, and his eyes were still fixed on Nozomi, as if he was confirming something.

"You said you wouldn't fight us... and yet you! Are standing in front of me now!!"

"I found something new that can help you..."

"...lie."

Kalpas's tone suddenly became dangerous and terrifying.

"...snort."

Turning his head to glance at Elysia, Kalpas snorted lightly, and rushed directly to the door of the training room. He kicked the door open, and then burst out with unimaginable speed and quickly ran away.

"......"

Kevin and the others looked at each other, and then quickly chased after Kalpas... They also realized that Kalpas must have discovered some problem with Nozomi.

At the same time, they also instantly realized a possibility—the fatal blow that the "Eighth Herrscher" left on Nozomi.