BWDC:SDDK Chapter 115: Will
...What a pain.
Saguru Hakuba stood up unsteadily from where he had fallen.
A gas mask for filtration was fitted tightly over his face; he had snapped it on the moment the smoke began to spread. However, the hypnotic gas he had inhaled previously had still kept him unconscious until now.
He glanced at Aoko Nakamori, who was fast asleep nearby, then raised his wrist to look at the other handcuff. It was empty.
——Kaito Kuroba had escaped.
As expected, he truly is Kaito Kid.
Hakuba reached a conclusion in his heart and looked up at the sky.
In the next instant, the world before his eyes seemed to shift and misalign. The sky turned from black to red.
The sonic devices installed by Ren Ichimonji were still active.
However, the trace amounts of gas that had wafted into the hall from the ceiling had caused Hakuba to experience a momentary hallucination.
The filter needs to be replaced.
The thought flashed through Hakuba's mind.
He realized that the person currently on the rooftop was likely not Kaito Kid.
Rather, it was the illusionist assassin he had been tracking all this time: Spider.
——There is only one way to break an illusion.
External interference.
Hakuba felt his body was still somewhat weak.
Nevertheless, he ran toward the emergency stairs, grabbed a bucket of water, and began climbing upward as fast as he could, bracing himself against the wall for support.
Spider's target was actually Kaito Kid.
He couldn't let Kaito Kid die; the guy's crimes weren't worthy of a death sentence.
Even if he were to die, it shouldn't be at the hands of an assassin.
Hakuba hurried upstairs.
He intended to save him.
The illusions of this eight-eyed Spider illusionist could not be broken without external force.
Furthermore, the perception of time within the illusion was inconsistent with reality.
Kaito Kuroba used his Card Gun to struggle against Spider.
He rapidly gathered intelligence on Spider in his mind.
——He had severely underestimated the world's number-one illusionist.
However, while Spider's focus was entirely on Ren Ichimonji, a turnaround wasn't impossible.
But against a top-tier killer like this, non-lethal gadgets alone wouldn't be enough to make Spider feel he had to shift his target.
There had to be a way. There had to be a method.
Kaito's gaze fell on the taser the illusionist had dropped on the ground earlier.
If he could force the taser to activate...
Would it make Spider feel a sense of life-threatening danger?
Probably.
A current strong enough to knock someone unconscious instantly was more than enough.
Kaito dodged the illusionist's bullet and pressed forward, a rope suddenly whipping out from his hand.
The rope swept across the taser, dragging it toward him.
However, the illusionist had already seen through his intent.
The eight-eyed illusionist fired a shot, severing Kaito's rope.
Expressionless, he leveled his handgun at Kaito Kuroba.
"How can I fight against supernatural illusions?"
In a dark, profound place.
Ren Ichimonji stood there, looking at the person not far away.
Bats flew out from the depths of the cave, brushing past him.
Yet, Ren remained completely unmoved.
He simply watched the man in the darkness.
He watched Batman.
Ttap, ttap, ttap.
The sound of footsteps echoed.
Ren knew that Batman made no sound when he moved; these were footsteps he was making intentionally.
He watched the man step out of the darkness, one pace at a time.
Finally, his full form was revealed.
It was a man in a Batsuit, his head cowled, leaving only his jaw and eyes visible.
It was another Batman.
Batman finally spoke, his voice low.
"I once studied secret arts for hardening the will in Tibet, a place capable of purifying the soul."
In the next moment, the Batcave vanished, replaced by a range of continuous snow-capped mountains.
This was the mysterious land located southwest of the Great Eastern Country, a place so secret it wasn't even allowed to be mentioned on the network.
In Batman's lore, its status was similar to the Hawaii where Conan learned all his skills.
"Harden your will," Batman said.
The system screen surfaced accordingly.
[Consuming 500 points. Intermediate Combat Specialization training begins.]
A flash of realization crossed Ren's eyes.
——Among the founding members of the Justice League, Batman's will was second only to the greatest Green Lantern.
His will was strong enough to forcibly expel a possessing spirit from within his own body.
Nothing else could counter illusions.
In the absence of external force, one could only rely on their own will.
The training began.
The rooftop of the exhibition hall.
Electrical currents were continuously stimulating the body.
Finally, they stopped.
Spider seemed to sense something.
He turned to look behind him.
The figure that had been frozen began to move once again.
Purely through will.
——Nothing like this had ever happened before.
The opponent had clearly used every possible method to stimulate his body earlier.
Yet he had still been controlled by the illusion.
Why was he suddenly able to break free from the illusion's effect now?
Another powerful stimulant?
Spider wasn't sure.
However, he knew one thing clearly.
——Time to leave, while I still can.
Thump, thump, thump.
Heavy footsteps rang out at the stairwell.
Hakuba looked toward the rooftop.
However, he only saw the figure of the assassin he had been hunting deploy a hang glider and leap from the roof. Immediately following was another figure, spreading wings like a bat, giving chase.
——A bat.
As the only son of the Superintendent General, Saguru Hakuba could find out almost anything he wanted in Tokyo. This included the mystery of the "Bat" that had already begun to spread among the members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
He didn't consider the Bat a target.
But now, he seemed to be the first person in all of Tokyo—aside from Kaito Kid and Spider—to see the terrifying silhouette of the Bat that hunted criminals.
It was merely a view of his back.
Hakuba instinctively splashed the water in his hands onto Kaito Kid, who was stunned by the scene and hadn't moved.
Immediately, Kaito shivered from the shock of the water.
Kaito Kuroba: ?
The situation is urgent right now, I won't lower myself to your level!
He scooped up Akako Koizumi from the ground, leaped out, and similarly deployed his hang glider to fly into the distance, leaving the only person who couldn't fly standing there.
Hakuba watched the scene in silence.
He whistled.
The hawk circling nearby, Watson, spiraled down and landed on his shoulder.
Looking at the hawk, he couldn't help but sigh.
If only he could share Watson's vision and jump from the sky unharmed.
Unfortunately, he could only watch the three of them disappear into the distance.
——Since Kaito Kid is Spider's opponent...
Then there was no need to keep moving against Kaito Kid for now. Exposing Kid's identity in front of an assassin was no different from murder. The next contest would wait until after Spider was dealt with.
He'd let it slide this time.
He needed to think about how he would help cover this up later.
End of Chapter
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