The Fastest Esper (4)

Bullets rattled around and whizzed past him as Takagi rushed off the roads. He robbed the momentum of the bullets that travelled towards him with a single show of a palm. Meanwhile, the Spitfire quickly dropped two men from the front car to the asphalt before dropping another man at the car behind it.

Soon, the other entourage joined the gunfire. Takagi then ran towards the nearest building, which looked like a big-sized office. He let Spitfire spew off some bullets more before he released his finger from the trigger.

He moved his focus towards the office's door, which was shut. He aimed his palm towards the door around ten metres away. In an instant, the rusty metallic door was bent and blown away.

Only darkness could be seen beyond the door's frame. Takagi put the Spitfire's safety back and slotted it back into its holster inside his coat. Its size was compact enough to fit inside, even with all the equipment he brought in.

After Takagi stepped inside the condo, he pulled his knife, the Murakumo S-11, like a magnet to iron. The knife flew for a moment. Its hilt snapped into his palm, and he quickly gripped it–a motion he was already used to for many years.

"Activate."

The white edge of the knife suddenly glowed bright purple. It produced a hum from the vibration of the white metal's molecules. Its intensity was enough to brighten its surroundings.

Takagi kept moving deeper inside the condo's tight corridor with the knife as his guide. His speed was considerably hampered by his lack of vision. His knife was not a great flashlight, as useful as it was. But on the other side, he was under no pressure to hurry.

No average human was sane enough to enter the building against him. They had to do it differently and more safely, which certainly would have given enough time for Takagi to prepare and do his things.

By that time, the gunfire from the Black Scorpions had stopped. He could hear the sound of cars stopping outside, followed by shouts from several people.

Fighting in an open space was a situation Takagi wanted to avoid. Those entourage's arrival was clearly a follow-up from their fellow's incident with Travis. One or more espers might be with them as a countermeasure. Moreover, they were not so stupid enough to fire at Takagi without careful consideration.

The chance of Takagi being mistaken for another person was low. For years, his black attires had made him easy to recognize by those kinds of people.

Travis was still his priority. He did not want to fight the Black Scorpion gangs if he could afford to. Dealing with them here would mean more problems in the future, and he hoped he could get away with things if there was no excessive escalation. He had no business with them.

Still, if there was to be a fight, it had to be in a tighter space to mitigate the Black Scorpion's number advantage, let alone the number of espers amongst them.

Escaping would make things much simpler and easier, but Takagi had another plan.

The office was actually bigger than he had thought. Its look from the outside had deceived him, but it was for the better. It left him a lot of room to hide and manoeuvre. He had passed around six floors and had not yet seen the end of the corridor. However, his knife could not pierce deeper through the darkness, so he was unsure how big the office was.

Some of the rooms were opened as he passed them. There was no furniture or appliances inside–just empty rooms with dusty floors and stained walls. The building seemed to be entirely abandoned years ago.

After passing another two, his hand pulled out one of the electronic jammers from his coat and activated it. His eyes caught an intersection ahead, and he decided to turn left. One of the rooms had its door opened. He ran towards it and crouched. He slid the metallic disk inside through the floor. He left it behind, hoping it could jam the drones and other probing electronic devices sent toward him.

Takagi quickly closed the door. He stood again and went back towards the intersection. This time he turned towards the corridor which led him further from the entrance door. He still had not heard steps from other people, so there was a high chance that they had not entered the building yet. Their shouts had become louder, though.

He threw his knife to his front. It pierced the air like lightning before it stuck deep at the end of the corridor. Using the knife's illumination, his head quickly captured the distance between him and the end of the passage. It was not too far, not more than ten metres. He then pulled his knife back just like he did before entering the condo. The knife flew back quickly, and he promptly grabbed the hilt back.

His other hand then opened its palm towards the end of the corridor. Soon after, a loud crack and boom were heard, followed by rumbling. He picked up more speed as he ran towards the hole he had created.

It was a narrow, back alley–something that he had not expected to exist.

Seeing a quick getaway, Takagi decided to ditch his early plan to stand his ground. He chose to escape from the Black Scorpions.

He had intended to defeat them there and interrogate one of them for some info, but it was a hassle to him anyway.

He turned left and then dashed forward. He threw his knife again, capturing the view as it flew and illuminated its surroundings, looking for possible intersections.

The knife had flown fifty metres ahead. Takagi could not find one, as he had expected. He was sandwiched by the back of buildings on one side, the same on the other.

He decided to retrieve his knife back before it got any further. His ability to keep the knife floating into the air was limited in range. It served its purpose anyway.

"Deactivate."

The light from the white metal faded. Takagi swapped back his knife and brought his Spitfire back. He switched the Spitfire's safety off yet again.

He looked upwards, searching at the tallest possible building he could find, then leapt off the ground. In a single jump, Takagi could cover the height of an entire building.

He then landed on the rooftop and pulled Spitfire's trigger at short notice.

"Tch!"

It was a drone the size of a tennis ball. A short burst blasted it into smithereens. He could see it because of the contrast provided by its white colour. It looked like a scouting probe, but its essential role was to bait attackers.

Takagi was not being foolish. He was just too quick to react.

"HE'S ON THE ROOFTOP OF THAT BUILDING!"

So much of a getaway, Takagi thought.

He decided to scramble off the rooftops. He jumped to another building immediately. However, three steps after that, he could not move forward. He was petrified.

He quickly focused all his senses on his surroundings and exerted pressure on all sides.

"Your power is really something else. I feel like my bone is about to be crushed anytime soon." A voice of an elder appeared from behind. Takagi could not turn his body to see the man's presence, but he knew the man well.

"So, what are you doing here, Mr Phantom? Another sightseeing hobby of yours?" the elder continued.

"You know me well, Mr Nightshade. Although for this… scene, I just stumbled upon it."

"Stumbled, huh?" Nightshade then continued to report his men. "This is me. I have him. Everything is under control. Bring some AE drones up here, but put them a considerable distance. Keep them on standby and wait for my orders. Leave the Phantom to me."

Takagi could hear some drones closing by the sound of its reactor cell. He could not see them directly because he could not turn his head, even for mere centimetres. Seconds later, his entire presence was illuminated by the intense ray of light emitted by the drones. It was almost blinding.

"Those drones are equipped with anti-esper materials and capable of shooting you from afar accurately, just so you know."

Takagi used this chance to talk. "...I did not know the Black Scorpions have a sudden interest in Regra."

"Things have changed, my friend. In the ensuing chaos, every person wants a slice of the pie left by Pavlov," he said. "Poor man. He might have survived if he didn't distrust espers that much."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"I thought you ought to know more than I do, Mr Phantom."

"Unfortunately, I'm in the dark this time, old man. I can provide you with nothing."

"You're a smart person, Mr Phantom, but your deception skills need improvement," Nightshade said. "Information is always one of your strengths… which is why I want to talk to you now. Although, I have to say finding you here is a godsent coincidence."

"What do you want from me?

"Info for your release."

"You know I can easily kill you at this very second."

"You can, but you'll also die."

"Don't tempt me."

"My bindings are strong with this darkness around us. Even if I die, it will take seconds before you can move, and those drones will finish you off," Nightshade replied. "You won't have time to activate your jammer either, and your telekinesis won't be able to stop their bullets."

"You're bluffing."

"You're a smart person."

Things got quiet for a while except for the roaming drones. After a time, Nightshade continued, "... There's no need for us to be hostile. I just want to ask a few questions and be off on my own."

"What question?"

"Questions that you might find…interesting. But first, I promise I won't chase your friend either."

"Friend?"

"Yes, Travis is his name, isn't it? The wind controller that caused a lot of mess towards my men here?"

Nightshade paused himself, but Takagi kept quiet. After a period of silence, the elder continued," Although I came here because of him, your presence has changed my mind. Not to mention, I also have a… more critical matter on the table as well."

"Sounds like you are having a hard time."

"More than you know, son."

"What do you want to ask?"

Nightshade voice changed deeper. "Have you been approached or contacted by Krasinski's envoy?"