Looking at Kanjuro's face, which was still handsome under the moonlight but now appeared terrifyingly ferocious, all her previous feelings of enchantment turned into a bone-deep chill and disgust.
Faced with Minase Aoi's heart-wrenching accusations, the'solemnity' and 'apology' on Kanjuro's face receded like the tide. He offered no defense, nor did he maintain that hypocritical gentle mask. He simply stood there quietly, looking down at the weeping, seemingly frantic Minase Aoi kneeling on the ground, his eyes calm and unfaltering, perhaps even carrying a detached amusement, like watching prey struggle in its final moments.
Facing Minase Aoi's gaze, which seemed ready to tear him to shreds, the icy calm on Kanjuro's face suddenly softened. He let out a soft sigh, the sound exceptionally clear in the quiet woods, carrying a sense of helplessness as if he had been misunderstood.
"I told you, I didn't lie to you..." His voice once again donned that mask of'sincerity,' and his gaze became 'earnest.' "Classmate Minase... did indeed possess some peculiar Black Magic power that he shouldn't have had. He was bewitched by that power, his mind unbalanced. That night, he truly intended to do something terrible to Imari... I arrived just as he was about to succeed."
He pointed to the gruesome corpse in the pit, his tone heavy: "I stopped him to save Imari. And this tragedy was an uncontrollable accident that occurred while stopping him. I admit that I killed him by mistake, and my heart is tormented by it. But if I had to do it again, I would still choose to stop him from harming an innocent."
"Nonsense! I don't believe you! What Black Magic? Do you think this is a comic book?!" Minase Aoi couldn't listen to any of it. Her brother might have been somewhat introverted and paranoid, but how could he be connected to 'Black Magic' or '347'? This must be an absurd excuse Kanjuro concocted to absolve himself!
Seeing that Minase Aoi completely disbelieved him, Kanjuro shook his head with an air of 'distress.'
"It seems ordinary explanations won't make you understand," he murmured to himself.
Then, he slowly raised his right hand, palm facing up. An extremely faint, yet visibly discernible black arc of electricity danced and coiled around his fingertips, emitting a subtle crackling sound. The air around them seemed to instantly stagnate, even the wind quieted down, and an invisible pressure spread out with Kanjuro at the center.
Minase Aoi's cries stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the phenomenon defying common sense in Kanjuro's hand.
Immediately following, a scene that completely shattered her worldview occurred—
The black electric arc in Kanjuro's palm suddenly expanded, spreading across the open ground between the two of them like spilled ink! Light and shadow twisted, and a blurry yet dynamic scene emerged like a holographic projection!
It was this small grove of trees! In the image, Minase Taki could be clearly seen acting wildly, holding what looked like a book in his hand, shimmering with an ominous pale golden light (interspersed with black threads)? His face was ferocious as he chanted something towards the front (Imari's position was not visible in the projection, but one could imagine it), and Kanjuro rushed out from the side, wrestling with him. During the struggle, a flash of blade light appeared... The image abruptly ended there.
This brief yet clear 'playback,' although soundless, carried a heart-palpitating sense of reality in the image of Minase Taki's madness and that supernatural glow!
"Th-this is... what is this?!" Minase Aoi cried out, her body trembling violently from fear, involuntarily shifting backward as if trying to distance herself from the bizarre projection and Kanjuro himself. "Impossible... how could this be... Is this magic? Supernatural power?"
Her worldview was completely shattered at this moment. Everything happening before her completely exceeded the scope of her knowledge!
The projection faded, and the black arc in Kanjuro's hand quietly vanished. He looked calmly at the pale-faced Minase Aoi slumped on the ground, as if he had just shown a normal video.
"Now, do you understand?" Kanjuro's voice remained gentle, but under the bizarre atmosphere, it sounded incredibly terrifying. "I was not lying. Classmate Minase indeed walked down the wrong path, and I was just unfortunately caught up in the tragedy he initiated, becoming the one who had to end it."
Minase Aoi looked up at Kanjuro's face, still handsome, but now seemingly shrouded in an endless aura of mystery and danger. A fear that reached the depths of her bones seized her. She finally realized that she might not be facing an ordinary high school student, but a... monster!
"Who... who exactly are you..." Her voice trembled uncontrollably. "This is too terrifying..."
Kanjuro seemed completely unconcerned by her fear. He took a step forward, squatted down to meet the gaze of the limp Minase Aoi, his tone even carrying a hint of 'tolerance':
"I apologize for letting you encounter this unknown side of the world in this manner. I also apologize for letting you see your brother... in such a wretched state at the end." He paused, his gaze 'candidly' meeting Minase Aoi's fearful eyes. "However, please calm down and think: in this entire incident, what exactly did I do wrong? I saved Imari and stopped a madman controlled by dark power, albeit at a heavy cost. If I hadn't acted, Imari Kurumi might be the one lying there now, and your brother would have become a true murderer."
He perfectly cast himself as the 'reluctant' 'intervener' and 'victim of tragedy.'
Minase Aoi's mind was a complete mess. Her brother's corpse, the supernatural vision, Kanjuro's terrifying abilities, and his 'reasonable' explanation right now... all these things intertwined, causing her original anger and hatred to waver under the pressure of absolute fear and cognitive shock.
She looked at Kanjuro, at his eyes that seemed capable of devouring everything. All her previous firm convictions were crumbling. She didn't know what else to believe. The immense fear and the grief of losing a loved one almost robbed her of the ability to think.
Kanjuro observed Minase Aoi, whose eyes were vacant and dominated by fear and confusion, knowing his objective had been achieved. He didn't need her to fully believe him; he only needed to plant seeds of fear, doubt, and helplessness in her heart, preventing her from being a threat, and perhaps... making her a new 'material'.
He stood up, taking one last look at the corpse in the pit and the distraught Minase Aoi.
"My condolences."
He left these two cold words, turned, and melted back into the shadows of the pitch-black forest, as if he had never been there.
Only Minase Aoi remained, kneeling beside her brother's rotting body, enduring the dual torment of her shattered worldview and the tragic death of her closest relative in the cold night wind, along with the bone-chilling terror of unknown power and boundless darkness.
Kanjuro's figure moved silently through the edge of the forest like a specter, until he was completely far from the area permeated with death and sorrow. He stopped on a relatively open hillside where he could see the city lights in the distance. The night breeze blew through his dark hair, and his expression returned to its usual cold detachment.
"You've been watching long enough, aren't you coming out?" he spoke lightly toward the shadow beside him.
The air rippled slightly, like water waves, and a tall, lithe figure stepped out of the void. Dark light armor outlined her perfect figure, and her silver-white long hair flowed with a cold luster under the moonlight—it was the Dark Servant Jeanne d'Arc Alter. Her scarlet eyes glanced at Kanjuro, and the corner of her mouth curved into a mocking arc.
"You are truly boring, Master." Her voice was clear and carried a husky magnetism, "That woman is attractive, and the scent of a grieving widow certainly makes her pitiful, but if you truly wanted to control her, couldn't you do it anytime? Why waste time playing this melodrama with her?" In her view, directly using power to twist someone's will was the most efficient approach.
Kanjuro chuckled helplessly upon hearing this, as if mocking Jeanne d'Arc Alter's directness, or perhaps mocking himself. "Jeanne d'Arc Alter, you still lack sentiment." He looked towards the distant city lights, his gaze somewhat distant, "Women, like exquisite porcelain, are simple to shatter directly, but that misses the joy of handling them. Only after she experiences enough pain, fear, and struggle, at the absolute bottom of despair, will she truly understand who is the only one capable of controlling her destiny and granting her'salvation.' Only then will her compliance and dependence come from the depths of her soul."
He paused, retracted his gaze, and looked at Jeanne d'Arc Alter: "Although she is now beginning to doubt her previous judgment because of fear and that bit of 'evidence,' perhaps even thinking I might have 'accidentally killed' him, the grief over her brother's death and her resentment towards me are not so easily erased. She cannot truly forgive me, at least not yet."
Jeanne d'Arc Alter crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow with interest: "Oh? So, from what you say, you already have a strategy to make her 'have to' forgive you, and even... throw herself into your arms with tears of gratitude?" She knew her Master's methods of manipulating people too well.
The corner of Kanjuro's mouth curved into a deep arc. He leaned close to Jeanne d'Arc Alter's ear and whispered a few words... In the moonlight, only his thin lips were seen moving, while a flicker of understanding flashed in Jeanne d'Arc Alter's scarlet eyes, which immediately transformed into a cold will to execute.
"I understand," Jeanne d'Arc Alter nodded. "A meticulously planned 'hero saving the beauty,' right? Making her see the only light in a true moment of desperation... even if that light comes from the flames of hell." Her tone carried a hint of sarcasm, yet was utterly loyal.
"Exactly," Kanjuro smiled with satisfaction. He looked at Jeanne d'Arc Alter's figure, which seemed somewhat slender in the night wind, and a rare, almost tender ripple flashed in his eyes. He took off the exquisitely tailored black trench coat he was wearing and gently draped it over Jeanne d'Arc Alter's shoulders, shielding her from the non-existent chill.
The coat still held Kanjuro's body heat and scent, completely enveloping Jeanne d'Arc Alter. The two were extremely close, their eyes locked. Jeanne d'Arc Alter was slightly stunned, feeling the sudden weight and warmth on her shoulders. Looking at Kanjuro's handsome face, so close, gazing at her intently, a faint blush involuntarily rose on her fair cheeks, usually marked by arrogance and murderous intent, like plum blossom petals falling on ice and snow.
"Master?" She was somewhat confused, and also... uncomfortable.
Kanjuro did not immediately pull away. His fingers gently brushed the lapel of the coat, as if adjusting it for her, but his gaze remained locked on her scarlet eyes, mutated by contract and darkness.
"Jeanne d'Arc Alter," he suddenly spoke, his voice deeper and softer than usual, with a probing, peculiar tone, "By the way, actually... there's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time."
"What is it?" Jeanne d'Arc Alter responded instinctively, her heart inexplicably beating a little faster.
"You..." Kanjuro paused, seemingly choosing his words, before finally asking directly, "Are you willing... to have a child for me?"
"—?!" Jeanne d'Arc Alter was completely stunned, her scarlet eyes widening slightly, clearly impacted by this completely unexpected question. Immediately, she let out a light scoff as if she had heard something amusing, but the laughter lacked its usual coldness and carried a few complex emotions: "My Master Kanjuro, have you forgotten? I am a Heroic Spirit, a Servant materialized based on concepts and your magical energy, not a true flesh-and-blood body. Do you expect me to get pregnant in this saint graph body?" This idea seemed far too fantastical.
Kanjuro looked at her rare expression, which he interpreted as slightly reproachful, and couldn't help but laugh out loud, his laughter pleasant and relaxed. "Haha, that's true. I was being foolish." He didn't press the issue; instead, he reached out and very naturally tucked a silver strand of hair blown astray by the wind behind her ear, his fingertip accidentally brushing her slightly warm earlobe.
"I just thought, if you could..." His voice softened, carrying a trace of melancholy so faint he himself might not have clearly perceived it, "If you could stay by my side like this, walking through such long years... perhaps having a child would be a little different?" He spoke vaguely, sounding more like a momentary reflection.
Jeanne d'Arc Alter looked at the rare, almost fragile expression in his eyes, and a certain place in her heart stirred slightly. She turned her head, avoiding his overly focused gaze, and let out a soft sigh, her tone softening somewhat: "Although I cannot do things like bear children... I can satisfy all your other requests, Master, you should be clear about that." Her promise carried the loyalty of steel, yet hinted at something deeper.
"That is true." Kanjuro smiled, this time genuine and relaxed. "For me, being able to stay by my side forever, walking alongside me like this, I also feel... very happy." He said this near-confession with extreme naturalness, as if merely stating the simplest fact.
Jeanne d'Arc Alter's body trembled slightly, and she sharply turned back, meeting Kanjuro's deep, night-like eyes once more. The usual calculation and coldness were gone, replaced only by a clear gentleness reflecting her own image. Her clothes were unknowingly loosening, and the atmosphere silently grew ambiguous and lingering. Moonlight spilled over them, as if draping a hazy curtain over this peculiar pair who transcended Master and Servant, wandering between darkness and warmth.
Some bonds, requiring no explicit words, were already etched into the bone. And some plans, under the guise of tender affection, continued to advance ruthlessly. Below the hillside, the city lights still blazed, unaware that a cruel drama titled'Salvation,' aimed at Minase Aoi, was about to begin.
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