Chapter 16: Confrontation

A few moments earlier...

Minoru sat in his vehicle, patiently waiting as his target, Murdoch Swan, enjoyed his meal inside the restaurant.

His mission? To kill the head of school affairs, Murdoch Swan, as part of his plan.

Let see...

There were countless ways to eliminate this guy, but Minoru wasn't going for the straightforward options like poisoning or sniping.

No, he had something else in mind.

He wanted to make Swan's death look like an accident, something that would blend in seamlessly with the chaos of everyday life.

"Well, sometimes, you gotta give up something to get something," Minoru grumbled about using a truck for this mission instead of his bulletproof 911 with heavy weaponry inside it.

You're damn right! This bastard is using Truck-kun to fuck up his senior colleague!

"Let's roll."

Minoru muttered as he glanced at his phone.

Swan and his guest appeared to be wrapping up their meal, so he turned the key, and the truck-kun roared to life with its diesel engine.

---

Sitting in the passenger seat of an expensive sedan, the villain, the one who usually pops up in those NTR mangas, couldn't help but flash a grin after his meet-up with Luxemburg's representative.

"Heh... With this, I can put the heat on Henderson, especially since the Royal Family seems to have their doubts about that teacher," Swan mused.

He figured he could use Teresa, who had transferred to Shuchi'in, to help oust some of the troublesome teachers, including Minoru.

"Let's see if you can keep that calm expression when I kick you out. And..."

Swan's eyes gleamed with wicked intent.

"Kekek! That new teacher seems like a pushover compared to that strict Chabashira. Hm, let's find out if I can blackmail her..."

Swan was busy hatching his devious plan to corrupt Yor.

Just as he was thinking his wicked ideas, a blinding light suddenly lit up from his left, and a horn's deafening blast fucked his ears.

"WHAAT!!!"

A sudden surge of kinetic energy sent his head bouncing around.

"U-ugh... h-h-help..."

His vision blurred as he looked at the driver, who also happened to be his partner in crime, now lifeless after the crash.

"U-Ugh! B-Bastard—h-huh...?"

Summoning his last ounce of strength, he cast a glance out the car window and froze as he locked eyes with the truck driver.

The man had jet-black hair and an enigmatic mask, but the man's chilling gaze sent shivers down his spine as if he were staring death itself in the face.

Inside the truck, he felt an itch from the jolt of the seat belt, but he was accustomed to this kind of force.

001 peered back at Swan, who was succumbing to a fatal brain injury and he died.

However, it wasn't the time for him to sit idly by.

"Let's move."

He swiftly, flipped a switch to release artificial smoke, making the truck appear damaged. He used the smoke as a cover and placed a lifeless body in the driver's seat to take his place.

He crouched down, examining the small, round steel door in the truck's interior floor, and opened it.

"Ho... yeah, it's cleaner than Paris. Fuck, whatever..."

Meanwhile, Agent Twilight was closing in on the scene.

He saw a crowd on the sidewalk, but none dared to approach the incident.

"Out of the way!!!" He pushed through them, thinking, 'There's no way he survived...' Swan's car was in shambles, and he thought the worst.

Twilight glanced at the smoking truck, unable to locate 001.

'But that mask, there's no mistake.'

He was certain he had seen a man wearing that legendary mask.

And Loid racked his brain, wondering why 001 had vanished.

He grew suspicious of the truck's current location and the thick smoke.

'Under that truck!'

He sprinted toward it.

'Dammit! He escaped!'

A sewer manhole was hidden beneath the truck, but Loid's instincts warned him of danger, and he quickly retreated.

"BOOMMMMM!"

001's truck exploded in a fiery self-destruction.

---

001 walked confidently through the pitch-black space within Tokyo's sprawling sewer system.

As he strolled calmly, he muttered to himself, "Lucky, there's no sewer water down here. Anyway, 3... 2... 1..."

An explosion echoed through the place as he had anticipated.

He had set the stage for the truck to explode in a semi-natural manner.

After that, he walked toward his exit.

However, there was a loud noise and dim light up ahead. 

"Magic power! Magic power! Magic power!"

What the fuck was that?

"Magic power! Magic po— Huh?"

His steps came to a halt as he stumbled upon an eerie magic-sect ritual.

There, he locked eyes with a teenage boy who stood frozen and naked.

Minoru recognized the boy with black hair, an average face, and a well-toned body.

"Isn't he..."

Minoru knew exactly who this punk was.

It was Kageno Cid, a 17-year-old high school student.

Interestingly, he was Kageno's homeroom teacher.

'What the heck is he doing? And should I even be witnessing this crap? Let's just get the heck out of here...'

For Minoru, this was a truly bizarre scene.

So, he just walked away as if he hadn't seen a thing.

But then came the sound of footsteps and a barrage of shots from behind.

He swiftly drew his Glock 43, dodged the bullets with a skilled sidestep, and returned fire.

"Don't move, 001!"

Minoru, aka 001, trained his gun on the source of the voice.

The shadowy figure became clearer in his sight.

It was Loid, disguised as Robert, pointing his gun at Minoru with a piercing gaze.

'Isn't that the guy who was talking to Swan earlier?'

001 glanced at the man in the dirty suit.

'Ah, it seems he got caught in that explosion.'

Minoru guessed that this man had hurried to the scene without expecting his next move.

"Put the gun down, 001! You're already surrounded by my men."

Loid bluffed, knowing his men were still on their way.

And, he couldn't help but shiver at the sight of 001's mask.

'This is only my second time meeting him, but it's my first time facing him like this.'

But 001 just tilted his head and remained silent, refusing to respond.

Meanwhile, Kageno's chunibyo antics had come to an abrupt halt.

'Why did I walk into this boss fight event? Again...'

Kageno still stood there awkwardly naked, observing the scene that resembled a detective-villain confrontation.

'They probably can't even sense my majestic side character presence!' Kagenou thought to himself.

Yet, he couldn't tear his gaze away from 001's mask design and wanted to copy it.

Kageno contemplated sneaking away from this bizarre situation, but an eerie aura emanating from the two men froze him in his tracks.

'Screw it...'

Kageno took his first step.

"Hold it right there, magician."

A deep, menacing voice emanated from the mouth-shaped opening of 001's mask, his voice altered slightly from his original.

"E-Eh? Y-Yes, sir!"

Kageno raised his hands as 001 pointed his Glock 26 at him.

(A/N: I have an illustration for this moment)

'Wait, there's a civilian here all this time?'

Loid glanced over at Kageno.

'Is that a magic... circle?'

He appeared to be no older than a high schooler.

Loid knew that there always seemed to be some kid like him around.

'The problem was, he's using him as a hostage.'

"I see..."

Loid snapped back to attention as 001 addressed him.

"Judging by how you handled the gun and how quickly you responded to that situation, you're no ordinary Luxemburg representative, are you?"

001 smiled beneath his mask.

"You're not just another Luxemburg bureaucrat, Robert. No, there's something more to you..."

001 stared at him, perplexed by Robert's calm demeanor despite openly revealing his face and attacking him. Loid intentionally started to sweat under the scrutiny of 001's gaze, which felt like it was dissecting him.

"So, you're the famous Agent Twilight who can disguise perfectly," 001 internally envies his skill, "No wonder you're not afraid to show your face and confront me openly."

Twilight's eyes narrowed as he studied the enigmatic man with black hair and a mysterious mask.

'Thankfully, I'm still wearing this disguise.'

Twilight was a master of disguise, the only one capable of creating such lifelike artificial faces to hide his true identity.

'But what's his objective in killing Murdoch Swan? No, I need to focus on that later.'

"I'm curious."

001 interjected, pulling Twilight from his thoughts.

"Why are you chasing me? While I haven't done anything to harm the people of Luxemburg."

001 asked calmly, but he was cursing inside.

'That bitch, Eileen! I knew she'd pull some shit like this just for fun, dammit!'

"It has nothing to do with criminals like you," Loid said, while Minoru simply hummed.

"Agent Twilight, how about you back off and call it a day? Ticktock... It's almost midnight. I'm not sure if your magic will wear off or not," Minoru still aiming his gun at Kageno, "Maybe I can kill this magician to make it happen."

While Loid maintained his composure, unfazed even in the face of his Cinderella mockery. Still, this was a bad situation.

'This is my chance!!!!!!!' Kageno realized his role in this moment.

"P-P-P-Please, Sir! Please don't kill me! I'm just a regular high school boy who watches too much anime! I still wa-want to live! Hick! Sniff, sniff!"

Kageno activated his skill: the cry of the helpless mob!

However, both Minoru and Loid knew that this chuuni just acting.

And, how the heck could he pull this shit off in such a situation?

Yet, Loid wasn't certain if 001 would spare the boy, as he had sounded serious, there was no way a hitman like him would joke about this.

"I understand... I'll back off so you can—"

"Sigh, just kidding..."

001 interrupted, leaving Loid wide-eyed.

"Hey, magician."

Kageno flinched as his gaze met those chilling red eyes, and he felt genuine fear.

"Y-Yes?"

"Put your clothes on and go back home. Your mom must be worried about you."

"T-Thank you, sir!"

Kageno hastily grabbed his clothes and made his exit, leaving Loid stunned.

'I see... he was just bluffing about wanting to kill him. That means those rumors about him sparing innocent lives were true,' Loid thought.

"Well then..."

001 said before swiftly pulling the trigger.

Loid narrowly avoided the bullets by hiding behind one of the large sewer pillars.

"Damn, that was close... Ugh!"

Loid clutched his shoulder in pain, feeling another wound from the explosion caused by 001's truck.

"Huff... huff..."

As he panted, a sound to his left caught his attention, but he found nothing.

"Shit!"

He ducked just in time to evade a knife flying from his right, which stabbed into the concrete.

However, before he could react any further, 001 delivered a devastating roundhouse kick, making Loid grunt as he was sent flying. He landed in a kneeling position with a screeching sound.

'My right arm,' Loid realized, feeling the fracture.

Again, 001's knee was already in front of him, and he felt the sharp pain as his nose cracked.

Taking advantage of his position, 001 used his martial arts skills to force Twilight to release his gun.

"Agent Twilight, you seem to be in a hurry," 001 commented before delivering a punch to Twilight's face, "You should learn to be patient and carefully observe your target's next move."

001 knew that this man had followed him into Tokyo's sewer manhole, but Twilight hadn't anticipated the truck exploding afterward.

"Any last words?"

Loid could see that 001 had his gun aimed at him.

He could feel 001's gaze, telling him that this was his last moment.

'I should've never taken this mission in the first place...'

As he regrets it, he lets out a chuckle.

However, his smile faded as he remembered that Anya was sleeping alone.

"My daughter..."

He said with a voice filled with regret.

001 just waited for him to continue.

"Can you please take care of her for me?"

Watching him release the chuuni kid, Loid found himself unexpectedly placing trust in this grim reaper of death to take care of his daughter.

"I see..." Minoru wondered, "What's her name?"

Loid smiled, no longer caring about his job, and shedding his perfect disguise as Mr. Robert.

He wanted to die as himself, not as a spy.

"Anya Forger..."

001's emotionless eyes widened as he looked at Twilight's real face.

[This is Team Eagle. We've reached Agent Twilight's position. Over.]

'I hope you'll grow up fine without me.'

Loid could hear his team's voices, but it was too late, the death stood before him.

His last image was a sewer's wet floor, his vision blurred, and then it turned completely dark.

---

Stones?