Chapter 97 Chapter 97 Fortunately, I have finished writing my posthumous...
Elio was very surprised.
Not only because the image of the Vongola that he had always had as a noble character collapsed, but also because a group of familiar faces followed him in. In addition to Gokudera and Rambo, whom he had just met last night, there were also international superstars Yamamoto Takeshi and Sasagawa Ryohei. Even Elio, who didn't pay much attention to the competition, had more or less heard of the names of these two athletes.
For a moment, everyone was talking almost at the same time, speaking in the Japanese that Elio had only learned halfway, and the assassin couldn't understand a word. He could only hear some arguments like "Last time, Tsuna said that whoever fights again will be punished by standing hand in hand in the courtyard for a day", "Which eye of yours saw us fighting", "It will all be deducted from your year-end bonus", "This was obviously the sabotage caused by your dear leader", etc.
Then, another blue-haired woman walked in. Seeing the commotion in the room, she simply smiled quietly. She silently greeted Hibari, and Rokudo Mukuro stopped arguing loudly and smiled at her.
"You're back, Chrom," he said gently.
"I'm back……"
Chrom had barely uttered a word when she was swept into the crowd of the Tenth Generation Vongola. She listened with amusement as they exchanged phrases like "Chrom, you too, have a say" and "Why drag Chrom into this!" Soon, Hibari, who had remained silent, tutted in dissatisfaction, saying, "Shut up!" and walked away. Rokudo Mukuro was still arguing that he had nothing to do with the restaurant's destruction, while Mukuro was rolling up his sleeves, and the Vongola were frantically trying to prevent a fight between them. When Mukuro realized that Hibari and Mukuro weren't really fighting, he was momentarily speechless, then he shouted with full confidence, "If I hadn't been worried about you two fighting, the Tenth Generation wouldn't have gotten into this..."
Wow, Elio thought.
He fully utilized his assassin's strengths, slipping silently aside. Of course, he quickly returned the Sujie Eagle to its case. While they were still arguing, Elio exited through the same exit that Skylark had just left, not forgetting to grab a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice that the waiter had handed him.
But he had just walked a short distance when he found a skylark perched under the shade of a tree on the road. Elio wanted to turn around and leave, but after thinking it over, he still went ahead.
"You," Hibari said as expected, "fight with me after you finish fighting with Sawada Tsunayoshi."
"I won't fight him," Elio said.
"oh?"
"He's going to fight today, but he's going to save my life, not take it away," Elio said. "He's going to be my savior. There's no way I'm going to fight my savior, and besides, I don't think I can beat him."
He took a sip of orange juice and saw a look of understanding on the face of the seemingly belligerent Asian. But just when Elio thought that the challenge could be resolved peacefully, Skylark spoke again.
"After Sawada Tsunayoshi saves your life," he said, "fight me."
"...Okay," Elio said after a moment's silence. "But there's one thing I need to tell you in advance. I'm not good at using fire in combat, and you're probably an expert at it. This will probably make our fight quite unfair."
"so?"
"So either we don't fight with fire," Elio shrugged, "or you wait until I learn how to use fire."
Under the shade of the tree, Skylark looked at him for a while, then suddenly smiled.
"Aren't you going to tell me another thing?" Yun Que raised an eyebrow. "You're not good at frontal combat either?"
Elio frowned, "What?"
"I've seen the footage of you in direct combat in London," Yun Que said, "and also seen your ranking on the High Table's list of assassins. Your true strengths lie in lurking and assassinating. Given enough time and intelligence, you're practically unstoppable. But direct combat is quite disadvantageous to you, so that day you only killed a dozen or so people before you were clearly exhausted and hurriedly left the scene."
Elio pondered the words "only killed a dozen people" and couldn't help laughing.
"As you say," the assassin said, "you are simply bullying the weak by fighting me."
"If you think so," Skylark said, "then there is no need for me to engage in this battle with you."
To Skylark, he was simply stating the facts. He only fought and challenged the strong. If Elio considered himself "weak," then of course, Skylark would give up the challenge. But after hearing this, Elio stopped smiling. The assassin narrowed his eyes and looked at Skylark with an unpredictable expression.
"Please wait," Elio said. "I'm looking forward to our showdown just as much as you are. Good day."
He walked away after saying this. Behind him, Skylark smiled contentedly. Overhead, he heard the soft rustling of leaves brushing aside. There, half-lying, half-sitting, a young man emerged. He wore a full, tailored suit like a young gentleman, his sideburns curled in round curls. A green lizard rested on the brim of his black hat, looking just as dashing and adorable as his owner.
But when he spoke, his tone was incredibly calm, even like that of an old man from the last century, "Is he angry?"
Hibari didn't answer, merely chuckled. Reborn in the tree also laughed, and with a leisurely demeanor that belied his title of "World's Greatest Assassin," he pushed back the leaves that blocked his path and fell silent. But Hibari wasn't about to let him go, leaning lazily against the tree trunk. "It's said that Sawada Tsunayoshi is interested in recruiting him into the Vongola family."
"It's not rumored," said Reborn.
Skylark was interested. "Oh?"
"But he rejected Tsuna," Reborn said, "and more than once."
"for what?"
"His reasons are different every time," Reborn said, "but from what I've observed, he's just too wary and doesn't dare to believe the conditions Tsuna offered."
Skylark turned his head and looked in the direction Elio had left. The assassin's steps were steady and slow, gradually disappearing into the summer tree-lined path. In the shadows, he looked like a quiet and inconspicuous black cat.
"He's been through some dark times," said Skylark, who had already thoroughly investigated the assassin. "I'm not surprised he's skeptical of the terms offered by that idiot."
"Anyone who's been through that will be like this," Reborn said flatly. "They're full of doubts, they can't trust, and what's worse, they can become very frightened."
"But he didn't."
"So he's still alive," Reborn said. "He possesses an inconspicuous but powerful mental strength that allowed him to regain his composure after everything he went through, and even to enjoy life with ease. Compared to his outstanding assassination skills and combat talent, this is his real saving grace." At this point, he seemed to have thought of something funny and suddenly laughed. Under Hibari's questioning gaze, Reborn raised the brim of his hat. "Rokudo Mukuro used an illusion on him. Although he didn't take it very seriously, guess how long it took Elliot Smith to break free from his illusion?"
Skylark conservatively guessed, "Ten minutes?"
Reborn smiled but said nothing.
"Five minutes?" Skylark frowned.
"Five seconds." Reborn announced the answer.
Yun Que's brows furrowed even more tightly.
"Don't compare your younger self to him," Reborn said. "You know, it's different."
Hibari knew, of course. He'd been a junior high student when he'd been defeated by Mukurokudo. He'd never seen the Mafia, or the power of illusions, or the poisonous mosquitoes that gave him "Sakura Vertigo." But Elio wasn't much older than he was then. Of the tenth generation Vongola, the only one who could be considered Elio's "same age" was probably Rambo, who had just turned twenty last year.
Of course, there's no comparison between Rambo and Elio. After all, Rambo grew up surrounded by everyone's love and affection, and he's only just "becoming a bit sensible," according to Tsunayoshi Sawada, Rambo's most beloved son during the tenth generation of the Vongola family. "He's still a long way off," says Hayato Gokudera, Rambo's seemingly strict but second-most beloved son. In a normal family, a twenty-something would likely be just a young man entering society.
So of course Elio is not comparable to them at all.
As for the person they were talking about, they were naturally oblivious to the conversation. Elio simply drank his glass of freshly squeezed juice carefully and put it away where the staff would collect it. At this point, he no longer thought about anything other than the magic card set.
After all, he was just calm, not really not afraid of death.
At the appointed time, Elio was led to the specially arranged venue by the technology department. Guardians were scattered around the room. A Vongola, dressed as usual, seemed to be talking to a red-haired technician nearby. When she saw him coming, she smiled at him.
"You're here on time." Vongola said gracefully.
Elliot was nervous, and couldn't help but think of the Vongola's scream of collapse this morning. He managed to suppress his laughter, pursing his lips. "How could I be late at a time like this?"
The Vongola gave him a questioning look, "You seem to be in a good mood."
"Anyone who's about to be free would smile like that," Elio said.
"I don't think you're laughing about this," the Vongola said, puzzled. "But at this hour, let's talk about this magic card you brought."
Elio's laughter immediately stopped. "What's wrong with it?"
"No, no, no," the Vongola said quickly, "It's fine. I just wanted to confirm with you."
Elio breathed a sigh of relief. They reconfirmed what Elio wanted the Vongola to do, which was to set it on fire. Elio should have noticed that the Vongola was worried about whether this would work, but he was so nervous that he didn't notice the slight frown on the Vongola's brow.
"John," Elio said, turning his back to Constantine, "we're going to burn it down."
The black magician, knowing he had found the Vongola, took a moment to react, "Well, come on?"
Elio hesitated. Constantine, who happened to be busy with nothing else, got up from the sofa and flipped through the ancient magic book. "Are you nervous?"
“A little.”
At the Vongola's signal, Elio stepped back a bit, but the assassin watched the process intently. A bright orange flame emerged from the Asian's palm, gently licking the glittering golden magic card.
"If I find anything on my side," Constantine said patiently, "I'll tell you. Don't worry, child. Isn't this the best solution you can find?"
The card in the flames remained unchanged. Without Vongoledo's warning, Elio immediately took another large step back, making room for him. He concentrated intently on the card that had caused him so much trouble, even brought him to the brink of death, and finally, with immense joy, he noticed that one corner of it had succumbed to the flames and was now scorched.
On the other side, Constantine was groping for a line of text covered by stains on the magic book. He suddenly turned it over and shone the light on it.
"Only the 'strongest and fiercest flame' can destroy this set of cards imbued with black magic..." Constantine fumbled and identified, "burning this evil magic completely..."
Isn't this wonderful, Constantine thought.
But at that moment, the Vongola's face suddenly changed. He looked in astonishment at Elio, who was still unaware of what was happening to him. As if completely oblivious to the pain of the burning, he stared intently at the flames in the Vongola's hand. The Vongola immediately realized what was happening and swiftly changed its burning method, freezing the cards in his hand. The icy ice instantly blossomed into a gorgeous flower in his palm.
"…and those 'players' who have used this evil magic and found even a modicum of pleasure in it."
Constantine's face also changed drastically. He dropped the centuries-old magic book and repeatedly shouted Elio's name. The Vongola carefully held the piece of ice formed by the card, and the guardians waiting nearby also rushed towards Elio...
But what they don't know is that once the magic starts, it cannot be stopped.
Elio finally noticed something was amiss from the panicked reactions around him, but it was too late. The phone he held slipped lightly into the raging flames, and he stared fixedly at the ice cube in the Vongola's hand. In the center, the card, seemingly still burning, curled and blackened unwaveringly, eventually disintegrating into a handful of ash.
This is exactly the fate that Elio is about to face.
Elio's heart was filled with a sense of calm, like a lake. 'Luckily, I've already written my suicide note,' he thought.
Finally, when everyone rushed to Elio with different expressions, trying to save him and prevent him from his fate, they only had time to see a flash of golden light like lightning and a flame. The flame burned out instantly, leaving no one in the place, not even a trace of ashes left.
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The author has something to say: Player Who: Congratulations on completing the "Romance" achievement, join me in the fgo luxury card drawing package!
Oreo: Huh?
270: Huh?
Me: (I want to laugh when I think about what I’m going to write next…) (But not fgo)
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