Chapter 8

Before Utau could even clearly discern the appearance of the intruder, the person charged forward at a speed so rapid it left afterimages behind, aiming directly for Osamu Dazai, who was standing right at Utau’s side.

The black-haired youth, who had always presented himself as harmless before Utau and kept his dangerous nature completely hidden, wore a cold sneer—a "Dazai Osamu" that Utau had never seen before. Although his frame appeared slender to the point of frailty, he showed no signs of panic in the face of this sudden attack. Instead, he dodged to the side with remarkable poise and natural grace, evading it with ease.

Clearly, after years of being partners and constantly sabotaging one another with Chuya Nakahara, while it hadn't turned Dazai into a combat-oriented martial artist, it had been enough for him to max out his evasion stats. Although the end result was usually still him getting pummeled by Chuya, he at least wouldn't suffer the embarrassment of being knocked out the moment a fight began.

It was only after the two had exchanged a few rapid-fire moves that Utau finally reacted, hurriedly calling out, "Wait! This is the backstage area!"

Chuya Nakahara would never give face to Dazai, but beyond that, when not on the job or in a hostile state, he could be defined as a good person by universal standards—perhaps even more moral and principled than most.

Therefore, when Utau spoke up to stop them, Chuya did not continue the attack; the rage that had surged the moment he saw Dazai was clearly beginning to cool.

"Ah, sorry." He adjusted the brim of his hat and said.

Only then did Utau clearly see his appearance—the auburn hair vibrant with immense vitality, the black suit, and the matching hat. From beneath the brim, a pair of cobalt-blue eyes were revealed, though they looked somewhat incongruous compared to the rest of him... because those eyes appeared cold and inorganic, as if they did not belong to a human, but rather to some other dangerous and terrifying creature.

Dazai poked his head out from behind Utau, acting as if he didn't know the meaning of "restraint" or "reading the room," and loudly offered "slander" to Utau: "Chuya is just a shorty who doesn't know how to be polite and has frightening destructive power. He's just like Godzilla—Utau, you have to be careful not to get hurt."

Chuya guessed that a vein must be bulging on his temple right now. Looking at that bastard Dazai’s face, he really wanted to lunge forward and smash that detestable mackerel into the wall.

Ah, he felt like every second Dazai breathed in front of him was a challenge to his patience!

Yet, Dazai seemed entirely unaware that the fact he was still breathing perfectly fine was the result of Chuya’s immense self-restraint. He possessed a spirit of absolute self-destruction, dancing on the edge of Chuya’s dwindling sanity with the kind of insufferable, mischief-making attitude common to boys his age.

"Dazai!" Utau had to raise her voice again.

This was backstage! If they caused too much of a scene, it would at the very least attract unwanted attention, and worse, it might directly impact the music festival itself—something Utau certainly could not allow to happen.

"Alright, alright." Dazai said in his usual soft, careless tone, "For Utau’s sake, I won’t hold it against Chuya!"

Visible cracks began to extend across the floor beneath Chuya’s feet: "I should be the one saying I won't hold it against you!"

But Dazai had already completely ignored him, even intentionally putting on an aloof expression, as if no one existed in the spot where Chuya was standing.

Dazai reached into the inside of his black coat, fumbling for a moment, and then, as if performing a magic trick, pulled out a CD. On the cover, one could see purple butterflies in flight.

"Chuya or whatever is completely unimportant." He said in his usual off-beat tone, "Come on, Utau-chan, sign this for me first?"

He held the record he had brought out toward Utau.

"...You went and bought this." Utau casually took a metallic marker from the side, and while elegantly writing her signature on the record, she said to Dazai, "You could have just asked me for one."

"I wanted to contribute to Utau-chan's record sales, too~" Dazai’s voice was so affected it sounded like it could drip water. "I’m a fan of your career now, you know~"

That syrupy tone made Chuya feel like something in his stomach was churning; he was just a hair’s breadth away from throwing up.

However, before he could say anything, Chuya’s expression suddenly froze, and a massive storm seemed to churn in his cobalt-blue pupils.

Dazai’s eyes also darkened. In the single eye not covered by bandages, a deep and concentrated malice surged, making his russet-colored iris look as if it had completely sunken into black.

He reached out and pulled Utau behind him. Although the youth’s tall frame was slender, it was more than enough to completely shield the girl.

"Dazai?" Utau called the name of the youth blocking her with a hint of confusion, but no explanation was needed; a second later, she understood why Dazai and Chuya were acting with such caution.

From somewhere unknown, something like thick, viscous black mud that was constantly churning crawled over the walls and spread across the floor. Finally, with a "thwack," it sealed shut, forming a completely airtight space that trapped them within.

All light was swallowed the moment this special "cage" formed. Total darkness descended, and at this moment, eyes became the most useless of senses.

A sound rang out in her ears—in truth, rather than a sound made by a person or object, it was more like the sound of something tearing through the air at high speed.

Before Utau could react, a hand reached out from the side, grabbed her arm, and yanked her violently in another direction. Following this, there was a heavy, thundering crash of something slamming into the building. In the darkness where nothing could previously be seen, dull red lights flickered, signaling danger and ill omens.

Dazai’s voice came from very close to her, as if he were pressed right against her: "Chuya, you really are a violent little shrimp, aren't you? Were you planning on tearing this place down and crushing us along with it?"

"Wow—what a truly evil thought!"

Chuya, who had already mobilized his ability and was fighting the unseen enemy with his superior physical prowess and combat instincts, really wanted to leave this bastard to his own fate at that moment: "Shut up, Dazai! Hurry up and deal with this trouble!"

Compared to Utau, who was completely bewildered, for the "Double Black" who were famous in the underworld and had experienced countless incidents, a single encounter was enough for them to judge exactly what was happening.

It was the result of someone’s ability. The only thing they couldn't determine yet was whether it was targeted specifically at them, or if they were just unlucky bystanders caught in the crossfire.

"Hey, Dazai, can't you dispel this ability?" Chuya’s voice came from the side, filled with impatience.

After all, even though the pitch-black darkness didn't affect Chuya’s combat power, he certainly didn't enjoy such an environment.

"It’s not your place to teach me how to do my job." Dazai clicked his tongue in disdain; clearly, being ordered around by Chuya irritated him. "I already tried at the start, you know. Nothing happened."

Dazai’s russet eyes shifted slightly, the darkness in their depths even deeper than the surrounding environment: "It’s a rather special product of an ability... If it isn't interrupted at the moment of release, one must follow the opponent's rules to break through it once it’s complete."

"The range isn't just this backstage area... It’s unexpectedly wide, though I’ll need further confirmation to know exactly how far it reaches."

His mind was truly brilliant. Despite having so little information, he had managed to pierce through to the truth and essence of the situation in just a few minutes.

Clearly, because they hadn't anticipated such a situation, even Dazai hadn't been able to realize it and intervene at the moment the ability was activated, causing them to be a step behind.

Within this dark space, something was constantly launching attacks at them. Whether it was what Dazai had pulled Utau away from, or what Chuya had mobilized his ability to fight against, everything was done to avoid harm from these unknown strikes.

However, their stamina and energy would eventually run dry. If they couldn't escape this eerie space quickly, lingering for too long would inevitably work to their disadvantage.

But both the dark environment and the unknown attacks shackled their movements and progress.

"Ah—can't I just tear this whole place down?!" Chuya’s voice sounded extremely furious. "No matter what effect the ability has, if it loses the foundation it relies on, it should collapse on its own, right?!"

Clearly, the Gravity User didn't have that much patience. Rather than peeling back layers to solve a problem, he preferred to use brute force to flatten things at the root.

But this time, before Dazai could speak, Utau stopped Chuya first.

"You can't do that." The girl’s voice sounded uniquely cold in the darkness. "Are you planning to tear this place down? This is a crowded music festival; that would cause panic and accidents."

Chuya clicked his tongue, but—should one be grateful? It was Chuya Nakahara standing here, not any other vicious Mafia member. When not on a mission, he possessed moral standards far exceeding those of ordinary people.

Therefore, after Utau said this, although one could tell how annoyed Chuya was just from the sound of his voice, he still halted his movements.

"Then what do we do?" Chuya asked with some irritation.

"As members of the Mafia, you wouldn't want to cause such a scene at a grand-scale music festival and draw attention to yourselves, would you?" Perhaps she had been frightened by the sudden accident at first, but Utau had already regained her calm and composure. "It’s the product of an ability—right? Then leave it to me to handle."

Compared to the clueless Chuya, Dazai, who knew what kind of ability Utau possessed, had already guessed what she intended to do.

"Utau, Oda-saku and I have both told you that your ability shouldn't be exposed lightly."

Dazai’s voice carried a warning tone.

"I understand," the girl said.

"But you can't deny it, Dazai—I am the best choice."

It didn't matter how wide the ability’s range of influence was.

Because as long as it was extracted—

No matter how powerful the ability, it would inevitably lose its effect.