I got closer.
The rain was dying down now, shifting from a downpour to a lazy drizzle that hung in the air like mist. The alley came into view, and I crouched behind a dumpster at the entrance, peering around the corner.
"He's dead."
"Again?"
"Again."
"That's the tenth time we killed him... I'm tired boss."
"Should we just let him on fire or something?"
"I don't know, would that even work?"
What I saw was... something.
Revive was on his knees. One of the thugs had a pistol pressed directly against his forehead, and was pulling the trigger. Over and over and over again.
*POP. POP. POP.*
Each shot blew a chunk of his head off. Skull fragments, brain matter, chunks of flesh--splattering against the wet brick wall behind him in a pattern that looked almost artistic in a morbid kind of way.
And Revive was... smiling.
His half-rebuilt face was twitching as the tissue regenerated in real-time, flesh crawling over exposed bone like something out of a horror movie. But through it all, he had this blissful, contented expression. Like getting his brains blown out was a religious experience.
"What the fuck..." I whispered.
The thug with the gun pulled the trigger again. *POP.* Another chunk of skull flew off. Revive's head snapped back, then slowly tilted forward again, the hole filling in with fresh pink tissue.
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST STAY DEAD?!" the thug screamed.
"Because justice... is eternal..." Revive managed, his voice distorted by the fact that half his jaw was still growing back.
"I've shot you in the head THIRTY-SEVEN TIMES!"
"And yet... I remain... standing..."
He was on his knees. He was not standing.
"...Tsk."
I'd seen enough.
I focused.
Not on one object. Not on one person. On all of them. Every single thug in that alley. I could feel them—five, six, seven bodies, maybe more. Their weights, their masses, the gravity pulling them down toward the earth.
I pushed.
Not hard. Not yet. Just... focused. Like winding up a spring. I could feel the pressure building in my chest, the gravity negation spreading outward like an invisible bubble. It was the biggest thing I'd ever tried—way bigger than a desk or a woman or myself. This was seven people at once, plus their weapons, plus their gear.
My nose started bleeding. I wiped it with the back of my hand and kept focusing.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
*WOOSH.*
It happened all at once.
Every thug in the alley lifted off the ground simultaneously. Rather than gently or slowly... they launched. Ten meters straight up, their bodies rocketing into the air like they'd been yanked by an invisible string. Their guns flew out of their hands, spinning wildly into the darkness. Their shoes, their belts, their wallets—anything loose—separated from their bodies and went flying.
"What the—?!"
"AAAAAAH!"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"HELP! SOMEBODY—"
They were screaming. Flailing. Spinning in the air like drowning swimmers, ten meters above the ground, with absolutely nothing to hold onto. Their faces were twisted in confusion and terror, their eyes wide, their mouths open.
I stepped out from behind the dumpster and looked up at them.
"Hi."
They didn't hear me over their own screaming.
I stood there for a moment, watching them float. And that's when I understood something important about my power.
I wasn't weakening gravity. I wasn't making things "lighter." I was negating it. Completely removing the concept of gravity from a specific zone or object. And when you removed gravity from an object without removing its mass...
The object just... kept going. In whatever direction it had been moving. Forever. In a straight line.
The thugs were still going up. Slowly, steadily, drifting higher and higher into the rainy sky. They weren't accelerating—they were just... moving. In a gravity-free vacuum, with nothing to slow them down or pull them back. Visit NovelPing for the full chapter.
"Stop! STOP! PLEASE!"
"I CAN'T— I CAN'T FEEL THE GROUND!"
"SOMEBODY HELP US!"
They were maybe fifteen meters up now. Twenty. Their screams were getting fainter, their figures smaller against the dark sky.
I watched them go, my head tilted back, rain dripping into my eyes.
"Huh."
So that's what happens when you remove gravity from people who were standing still. They don't float—they just... drift. Slowly upward, because the earth is rotating and they're no longer anchored to it. They're moving in a straight line while the planet curves away beneath them.
Physics is wild.
"Heh... hahaha!"
I started laughing. I couldn't help it. There was something absurdly funny about watching seven armed criminals slowly drift into the sky like balloons at a parade, their screams fading into the distance.
"MARVELOUS!"
"...?"
I looked down. Revive was standing next to me, his head fully healed now, not a scratch on him. He was looking up at the floating thugs with an expression of pure, childlike wonder. His mask was torn and his costume was riddled with bullet holes, but his face was beaming.
"That was a marvelous show of strength, friend!" He clapped me on the shoulder, hard enough to make me stumble. "I did not expect to see a fellow crusader within the darkest of nights! Our meeting here is truly... fate's design!"
"...What?"
"The heavens themselves have aligned to bring two warriors of justice together on this rain-soaked evening! I, Revive, the Immortal Blade of Righteousness, am honored to fight alongside—"
"Okay, hold on." I held up my hand. "What are you even talking about?"
He struck a pose. One hand on his hip, the other pointing dramatically at the sky. His torn cape billowed in the wind despite there being almost no breeze.
"I am Revive! Protector of the innocent! Defender of the weak! I have sworn an oath to rid this city of the criminal scum that plagues its streets like rats upon a sinking ship! And you, friend! Your display of gravity manipulation was nothing short of spectacular! A fellow crusader! A comrade-in-arms!"
He kept talking.
And talking.
And talking.
"The criminals thought they could overpower me with their petty firearms! But they did not account for the indomitable spirit of justice! They did not account for the fact that I, Revive, cannot be killed! For every bullet they put in my body, I returned tenfold in determination! For every—"
I stared at him.
My eyebrow rose higher and higher with each sentence. Then the other eyebrow joined it. Then both eyebrows climbed so high they threatened to merge with my hairline.
Was this guy... what did people call it...?
An emo...?
No that word would be more accurate for me.
Then maybe...
A chuunibyou?
I mean, what qualifies as a chuunibyou? A grown-ass man in a costume, talking like he was the protagonist of a light novel? Using words like "crusader" and "fate's design" and "indomitable spirit."?
But if chuunibyou was an edgy kid how think he has powers, would it still be applied to someone who really had powers to support their claim?
Wait. Why the fuck was I even thinking about this--
But regardless of my inner monologue, revive was still going.
"—and so, when I heard the damsel's cries echoing through the rain-soaked streets, I knew that destiny had called upon me once more! I descended upon this alley like a bolt of righteous lightning, my heart blazing with the fires of—"
"Hey," I interrupted. "Do you have a no-kill rule?"
He stopped. Blinked. Looked at me.
"A no-kill rule?" He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "No, I do not. Criminals who prey upon the innocent have forfeited their right to exist. I believe in delivering justice swiftly and—"
"Good. Cause I was getting tired."
I looked up at the floating thugs. They were maybe thirty meters up now, still drifting and screaming. Their voices were getting hoarse.
I released the gravity negation.
All at once. Every single one of them.
Gravity reasserted itself.
And seven men fell from thirty meters up.
The first one hit the pavement feet-first. His legs shattered on impact—both tibias snapping backward, the femurs driving up through his pelvis. His body crumpled like an accordion, his torso folding over his destroyed legs, his face hitting the concrete with a wet *crunch*. Blood splattered outward in a perfect circle, mixing with the rainwater.
The second one landed on his back. His spine snapped in three places with sounds like branches breaking. His ribcage caved inward, and I could see the shape of his heart pressing against his chest wall from the inside before it stopped beating. His head bounced off the pavement, his skull cracking open like an egg, spilling gray matter onto the wet ground.
The third hit a dumpster. His body wrapped around the edge of it, his spine bending at a ninety-degree angle it was never meant to achieve. His intestines ruptured, and a dark, foul-smelling liquid poured from his mouth.
The fourth and fifth hit the ground simultaneously, side by side. The fourth's head exploded on impact—literally exploded, like a watermelon dropped from a rooftop. Skull fragments, brain matter, and blood sprayed in a six-foot radius. The fifth landed on his side, his ribs shattering inward, puncturing both lungs. He made a sound like a squealing balloon as the air escaped his chest cavity, then went still.
The sixth landed on a pile of broken glass and metal debris. His body was impaled in at least a dozen places—rebar through his stomach, glass through his face, metal through his thigh. He twitched once, twice, then stopped.
The seventh... the seventh was the luckiest. He hit the ground and somehow survived the initial impact. He lay there, gasping, his legs twisted behind him, blood bubbling from his mouth. He reached out with one shaking hand, fingers clawing at the wet pavement.
Then he stopped moving.
"..."
I looked at the carnage. Seven bodies, scattered across the alley like broken dolls. Blood everywhere, on the walls, on the ground, on the dumpster. The rain was washing it toward the drains in thin red rivers.
I turned to Revive, expecting... something like horror or disgust. The typical hero reaction to watching seven men get turned into paste.
He was silent for a moment.
Then he started laughing.
"BWAHAHAHA! That was INCREDIBLE!" He slapped his knee, doubling over with laughter. "The way they just—*whoosh*—and then—*splat*! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! You dropped them like stones! No, like bags of wet cement! From thirty meters! Incredible!"
He wiped tears from his eyes, still chuckling.
"Your methods are unorthodox, friend, but effective! Most effective! The criminals of this city will speak of this night in hushed whispers! They will fear the name of—wait, I didn't catch your name. What do they call you, fellow crusader?"
I stared at him.
"..."
Is he not just a chuunibyou but also a sociopath?
His eyes were bright, cheerful, completely devoid of any guilt or horror. He was genuinely amused by what had just happened. Like he'd watched a funny video on the internet, not witnessed seven people die brutal deaths.
"Are insane?" I muttered.
Yes, I was the one who killed them so I can't say that but...
"Not at all! I am in perfect mental health, thank you very much!" He straightened up, adjusting his torn cape. "Now then! The area is secure, the damsel has been rescued, and justice has been served! I must hunt for justice elsewhere, for evil never sleeps!"
He turned to leave, and I reached out to grab his hand.
"Wait—"
But he was already moving. Not with super speed or anything cool. Just... running. At normal human speed. Like a guy jogging through the park.
"Farewell, comrade! May the winds of justice guide your path!" he shouted over his shoulder, his cape flapping behind him as he disappeared around the corner.
"I... what?"
I stood there in the alley, surrounded by seven corpses, watching a B-rank immortal superhero jog away at 10 km/h.
"Tsk."
I looked down at my hand. The one I'd been about to shake his hand with.
I only had one Gen 1 parasite left that had enough lifespan to breed again. The other two were running out of time. I couldn't waste it on a guy who ran away at jogging speed and who I might never see again.
"Whatever."
I turned around and started walking toward the street. The rain had stopped completely now, and the city was quiet. The silence was almost peaceful, if you ignored the sound of blood dripping into the drains.
I needed to get home. The Gen 1s were running out of time, and I needed to figure out what to do with them. Breed, maybe. Or find another host.
I started walking. One block. Two blocks. Three.
Then I stopped.
"..."
I feel like I forgot something.
I patted my pockets. Hoodie? Yes. Phone? No, destroyed. Keys? Yes. Wallet? No, stolen. Enigma box? I left it in my room.
What did I forget?
I stood there on the empty street, rain dripping off my hoodie, thinking.
"...Right."
The lady was still on the roof.
"...Shit."
I negated gravity and jumped.