Chapter 125: Postponement

"Alright, alright. I'll leave now…"

Aleph paused his words as he took one last look at Satoru.

"...but not without dealing with the troublemakers above."

"...You don't shy away from work."

Satoru could not help but say these words.

"Heh. I'm not like you. I don't slack off." He soon began walking. "Then, I'll get going."

Nobody knew there was someone who could make Satoru Gojo speechless.

*****

"Hup. This guy's the last one."

With Aleph's physical body, he easily leaped from one rooftop to another. Just now, he jumped off from a fifteen-storey building into a five-storey one.

Crack-!

The floor beneath his feet cracked, yet it didn't break in the end. A small cloud of dust rose up.

Swoosh-!

Aleph scaled through several more rooftops before he arrived in an intersection.

Bam-!

Rumble-!

A huge shikigami crashed straight into a building which created a huge hole in it. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to kill its intended target.

"Woo! That was very close!"

"Huff… Huff…"

A black-haired boy was facing an eccentric blonde-haired man. The latter was seen inhaling several deep breaths.

"You almost got me!"

"Damn it."

Frustration began appearing in the black-haired boy. Despite the advantages provided to him since the earlier interruption to their fight, he could not bring down his opponent.

The boy, Megumi, did notice that the mark underneath his enemy's eyes lessened.

However, it was as if some kind of trick was played to him. He could not totally kill off the blonde-haired man, Shigemo.

'They're all gone. This is my chance..!'

Before Megumi could make a move, he saw a thin silver line passing by Shigemo's neck. The next thing Megumi saw was Shigemo's head falling into the ground.

Shiing-!

Click-!

The sound of a blade being unsheathed rang not far away from him.

"That's the last one. It's finally over."

A man with a black overcoat came out of nowhere. An unknown logo could be seen on his right shoulder. Its letters were somewhat similar to English but also different at the same time.

Megumi was startled and readied his hands to another hand gesture.

"Not so fast. I'm not an enemy."

Hearing Aleph's words, Megumi did not completely relax his vigilance.

"I presume you know Satoru-san personally. You're one of his students, right?"

"Y-yes?"

"Do tell him to give everything I should've gotten to Nanami-san. I'm not particularly interested in money."

"Alright..?"

For some reason, Megumi saw a shadow of his teacher in Aleph's manner of speaking. He was oblivious to Aleph's deeds in Shibuya, but if he knew about them, he wouldn't be as confused as now.

"I'm leaving, then. It's for real this time." He paused as if he recalled something. "Do try not to waste your potential. You'll definitely regret it when it happens."

One blink.

That was all it took for Aleph's figure to disappear in Megumi's sight. He pushed aside his bafflement and looked around. When Megumi didn't find him, he was left dumbfounded.

'Just who is he..?'

*****

"Fu..!"

The familiar sensation of being underwater appeared when Aleph returned. It prompted him to take a deep breath.

Numerous prompts presented themselves to his eyes.

[Achievement Unlocked: Throwing the Board]

[Throwing the Board: Completely rewrite the destiny of an entire world.]

[Achievement Unlocked: Nameless Hero]

[Nameless Hero: Save thousands of people without leaving your name.]

[Instance Complete.]

[Rating: EX]

[Basic Rewards: Embryonic Power System Evolution, Random Pass, Perfect Energy…]

[Additional Rewards: Random Pass, Perfect Energy Box (2)…]

Just from their sheer numbers, Aleph knew he was in for a huge treat. 

However, he did not touch any of them for now. He noticed there was someone sitting on a chair opposite him.

Kurumi placed her chin on the back of her hands. Her elbows were supported by the arms of the chair. Her head was tilted slightly as she looked directly at him.

"So, how was it~?"

A familiar playful tone could be heard at the end of her question.

"It's not a bad experience. At least, there wasn't anyone like your world's First Spirit."

"Hum."

Aleph soon noticed why Kurumi was seemingly in a daze. He felt several protrusions on his skin. 

'This is…'

His arms up to his neck were filled with black scales. His originally dark purple eyes turned bright golden. His irises turned akin to a dragon's.

It wasn't only that.

Aleph's right hand went to his head.

Surprisingly, he found out that his shoulder-length hair was cut. 

Kurumi woke up from her daze. 

'They're… beautiful.'

Even though it wasn't her first time seeing Aleph's transformation, his eyes still made her heart beat faster.

"Did you cut my hair?"

Aleph asked as he reverted to normal. He temporarily reigned the aftereffects of the strengthening of his ICHOR.

"Hum. I did it." She replied with a smile. "You told me about it before. How was it?"

"It's good."

Aleph wasn't answering perfunctorily. Be it the layering done to his hair or its style, it was something only a professional could do.

Most importantly…

'I need a mirror to make sure, but… I look like him now.'

A certain hat guy from Teyvat popped up in his mind. It wasn't a complete resemblance, but seventy percent of it was there. Save for Aleph's height, he did resemble him.

"How long did I stay here?" Aleph asked.

"Mn, eight and a half hours."

"That long..?"

He recalled how he spent less than an hour in Shibuya.

'So it's like this… There are time differences between worlds.'

Aleph did not linger much on it. He stood up from his seat and headed towards the exit. Kurumi followed suit before she sank into his shadows.

"I'm already late…"

"Don't worry much. I talked with Mei while you were asleep."

Aleph was slightly surprised when he heard that.

"They should be waiting in the lounge." Kurumi stated. "One of my clones is staying there."

"You already introduced yourself?"

"Yes. Fufu, you might have to deal with little troubles later, Ain."

Kurumi's words only meant one thing: she told several important people of her identity… as well as her current relationship with Aleph.

It wasn't only hers; even his current relationship with Mei and Mobius was opened up.

Though, she knew that some things must be kept private, and as such, she ended it at that. At best, it was a declaration to the outside world that "Aleph was theirs". The other two acquiesced with her plan.

A day had passed since the entire romantic fiasco he caused. Aleph confessed to them that he did the same thing to Mobius. Hiding it feels extremely wrong, more so when he finally decided to tread this path.

"...I'm readying myself for it."