His Back

JOHN SMITH

Alpha’s blade whipped through the air, but she didn't feel a single thing.

"—An afterimage," I said, making sure to sound as mysterious as possible.

I was standing right behind her, totally unscathed. At the sound of my voice, Alpha turned around with more composure than I expected. She leveled a cold, sharp glare at me and raised her sword. Honestly, she didn't look shaken at all.

Man, she’s good. I guess she’s already figured out I’m the powerhouse who ‘disposed’ of Delta, so she probably came prepared for this level of play.

I gave my fingers a little twitch, sending those invisible Steel Wires dancing through the darkness. It was the same move Number 664 had seen and reported on earlier. Alpha was calm, though. She used Foresight to track the wires, looking for the one real threat hidden among the decoys.

Clang.

A tiny sound echoed as she severed one of the thin wires mid-air.

"Mixing the real attack in with a bunch of decoys... I'm already onto that trick," she said.

"Oh...?" I replied, playing along.

"Is that the end of your parlor tricks?"

Then, Alpha moved.

She closed the distance in a literal blink, swinging her Jet-black Blade at my neck. It was a perfect strike—the kind of timing that makes evasion impossible for ninety-nine percent of the population.

But I’m in that one percent.

I just tilted my head a fraction of an inch, dodging it with the absolute bare minimum of effort.

"—!"

Alpha’s follow-up attack stuttered. She’d clearly planned to keep the pressure on if I dodged, but she just... stopped. Instead, my Steel Wires went back to work. Alpha kept up her Foresight, batting my wires aside and finding a gap in my rhythm to launch a counter.

It was a fast, sharp, top-tier slash. There was no way I should have been able to dodge it.

"Eh...?"

For the first time, a note of genuine confusion leaked into her voice.

I’d just pulled off a perfect dodge again. I’d let the blade get right up to my skin before sliding out of the way with a movement so small it was practically telepathic. It was a transcendent bit of technique, if I do say so myself.

Alpha backed off, putting a massive amount of distance between us and effectively ending the skirmish for a moment.

"No way... could you be...?" she muttered.

Then, she reached up and pulled off her mask. Beneath it was that beautiful elven face I knew so well.

"—Shadow?"

She looked like she’d already made up her mind. I held her gaze for a beat, then sighed and took off my own mask.

"I’ve cast that name aside..." I said.

Cid’s face—my face—was now fully visible. Even though she’d clearly suspected it, she still looked like she’d been hit by a truck.

"No... but why? What do you mean you 'cast aside' your name...?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Right now, I’m John Smith. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Why would you become John Smith? There has to be a reason! Tell me why!"

She sounded like she was desperate for anything to make sense of this.

"Because this was the best way," I told her. It was the truth—mostly because it was the coolest way to handle my secret plan.

"That doesn't explain anything! Tell me the truth!"

"Sorry, but I don't feel like talking anymore."

"Wait, what about Delta?! What happened to her?! Why did you... to her!!"

"Delta had to go somewhere far away. I can’t tell you anything more than that."

"I’m telling you, I don't understand!!" she screamed.

Her voice was full of grief as she swung her sword through the dark. Her Magic Power was absolutely massive, literally shaking the air and kicking up a gale around us.

"You’re always like this! I never know what’s going on because you won't explain it! Are we really that unreliable? I know you have some master plan, but we’re doing our best here, too..." Her voice started to trail off, getting smaller and smaller. "Hey... are we just... not necessary to you anymore?"

She looked like she was about to break down and cry.

"Sorry. I’ve got things I need to do."

Alpha looked down, her knuckles white as she gripped her blade.

"...Fine. I guess you don't know how much stronger I've gotten."

Suddenly, her Magic Power started swirling like a hurricane, all of it converging right onto her.

"I’m not going to be a burden forever. If you won't talk... then I’ll just have to beat the answers out of you."

And just like that—Alpha vanished.

Okay, I’ll admit it. For the first time tonight, I was actually surprised. The Magic Power, her Jet-black Blade, her entire presence—it was all just... gone. Not a trace left.

All that remained was a weird Red Mist.

A second later, Alpha materialized out of the mist behind me and swung. Only this time, she was wielding a Red-black Blade.

I spun around, trying to pull my usual minimal-effort dodge. You know, for style points.

"—!?"

A sting. A single red line appeared on my cheek.

The Red-black Blade had extended without any warning whatsoever.

"I mixed my blood with slime to boost the strength and control of this blade," Alpha said, looking pretty proud of herself. "I can change its shape even more freely than regular slime without losing any durability. It’s a new possibility for those with Possession, thanks to Eta’s research. Surprised?"

I nodded honestly. "Actually, yeah. Possession is pretty wild, huh?"

"Does that mean you're ready to talk?"

"Nah, not really."

Alpha’s eyes went sharp. "Fine. Then I'm going all out."

She vanished again, and the Red Mist grew thicker. Her attacks and her reappearances were happening almost at the exact same time. She shredded my suit. I felt a little bit of blood start to soak into my white shirt.

Every time I tried to counter with my wires, she was already gone, dissolved back into that mist. Then, bam, another slash from behind. She was moving crazy fast, ignoring distance entirely and evading my counter-attacks like she was playing with cheat codes.

Gone. There.

There. Gone.

Red slashes were coming at me from every single direction. My suit was getting turned into ribbons. I was using my Steel Wires to block anything fatal, but honestly, this was a bad matchup. My wires are great for keeping distance, but Alpha was just ignoring the concept of 'distance' altogether.

All I could do was try to predict where she’d show up and set a few traps.

"—!"

Another cut. My suit was looking worse for wear. It felt like the Red Mist was acting as a sensor for her, because she was dodging my traps like she could see them perfectly.

It really looked like John Smith was out of options.

"So? Ready to talk yet?" her voice echoed from somewhere inside the mist.

"Not even a little bit. That was a fun parlor trick, though." I couldn't help but sound a bit amused.

"A parlor trick...?" She sounded genuinely ticked off.

"I mean, if we fought normally, it’d be a huge pain," I explained. "But when you think about it, mist doesn't really have any mass. Which means..."

I pulled out a long—like, ridiculously, comically long—Jet-black Blade.

"—If I just blow it all away, you're basically stuck."

I swung that massive blade in a huge arc, creating a localized hurricane.

"—!"

The mist was instantly deleted, and Alpha went tumbling out into the open.

"Bingo. If you’d stayed in mist form, you might’ve been blown straight into the stratosphere."

I looked up. Even the clouds above us had been cleared away. Alpha tried to take a stance, but I didn't give her the chance. I hit her with a merciless follow-up. Her Red-black Blade was sent flying, and my Jet-black Blade swept right through her.

"You've definitely gotten stronger," I muttered.

The impact was huge. She hit the ground, her consciousness clearly slipping.

"Don't worry. I hit you with the back of the blade."

I started walking away, the sound of my footsteps the only thing left in the silence. In her fading awareness, she reached out a hand toward me.

"W-Wait..."

I didn't stop. Step by step, I walked away from her.

She’d spent all this time chasing my back. She’d thought she’d finally reached me.

So why...?

"Please... don't leave me behind..."

But her voice didn't reach me.