"Why! Why! Why!" Norichi said over and over again, tears streaming down her face.
"This always happens! Why! WHY! I always have to go through this!" Norichi cried sadly, more tears streaming down her face.
"What's wrong with this guy?" the others thought.
"Hey, are you okay? I didn't mean to offend you or anything; I didn't know you were sensitive," said Ocho.
"Why! Why! Why won't you leave me alone, witchcraft? Haaaah!" Norichi shouted in frustration, starting to cry.
"What's wrong with him, seriously?" everyone else thought, wondering why he was acting this way now.
But when Sifon heard "witchcraft," he froze in surprise, having never heard that before. "Wait, did you say witchcraft?" asked Sifon.
"Yeah, witchcraft—that's what's wrong with me, hahaha, no, hahaha," said Norichi, getting a little crazier.
Upon confirming this, Sifon was surprised, as it was the first time he'd heard that. "So he really does have witchcraft," Sifon thought to himself, completely taken aback.
"Hey, do you know anything about that, Sifon?" asked Ocho.
"Wow, it seems like the quietest one is the one who knows the most, doesn't it?" said Tsurugi mockingly.
"This isn't a game right now," Sifon said, worried.
"If you don't know, I'll tell you. I've heard and read about this before," Sifon said.
Ocho and Tsurugi listened intently to what Sifon had to say. "As you know, in ancient times, our world—or planet—was like a fantasy story," Sifon said.
"Everything we think of as stories that don't exist is actually true, but there's something else: in ancient times, there were magicians and sorcerers," said Sifon.
Sifon spoke in the voice of a retrospective narrator, as if telling a story. "In those ancient times, magicians were considered saviors, and sorcerers were seen as powerful beings but with problems; they faced consequences because of their powers," said Sifon.
"The difference is that magicians used a book or other tools to learn spells to cast magic, but sorcerers had none of that. They were born with powers—abilities they didn't choose," said Siphon.
"The ability they have with their sorcery is completely random for them, since they only possess it based on who they were at the moment of birth, depending on their mind," said Sifon.
"The only drawback is that many of those abilities caused problems for a lot of people because of how they are—they don't go away—and because of that, many sorcerers were considered to be truly cursed," said Siphon.
"They came to be considered that way because even they themselves couldn't control their abilities, and that's why people say their abilities were cursed," said Siphon.
"As many years passed, it's said that the magic of the magicians was lost and that they no longer exist; that's why there are no magicians anymore, but sorcerers are another matter," said Siphon.
"Wizards, just like magicians, don't exist anymore, but since many of them ended up intermarrying with other people in ancient times, there are people who might have 1% of a wizard's DNA in their bodies," said Sifon.
"But what would happen is that if you had that percentage, there's a chance you'd become a sorcerer, because you reach a point where you can't escape it—since, in the end, you're born a sorcerer without meaning to," said Sifon.
"It all comes down to becoming a sorcerer from the moment you're born, and that's where all the trouble starts—since you're born a sorcerer without knowing what your life will be like from now on, with a power you can't even control," said Sifon.
"I read in a book a long time ago that it's rare for a person to be a sorcerer. When I read it, I didn't believe it, but now that I see this guy, I realize that what was said seems to be true," said Sifon.
Sifon finished that historical monologue and returned to the present. "Now what he knows is that if that guy is a sorcerer, his power must be a curse for him," said Sifon.
"Let me guess: your power is linked to the moment you're going to die, right? That's why you want to die, isn't it?" asked Sifon.
"Finally, someone understands me or knows about this, right?" said Norichi, stopping his crying.
"All this time, the only thing I've wanted to do is die," said Norichi.
"This burden I carry is just a part of my whole life. Ever since I was born, I haven't been able to die. Whenever I'm about to die, my magic activates," said Norichi.
"My magic means I can see 10 seconds into the future to see how I'm going to die, and my body automatically moves on its own," said Norichi.
"I can't help but kill myself. This gift has caused me so many problems—the deaths of my parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, my whole family," said Norichi in frustration.
"My life has been nothing but complete chaos ever since I started seeing the future of every moment when I've been on the verge of death," said Norichi.
"In the end, I just want it to be over. All I want is to rest from this life," said Norichi.
"Hey, you don't need that. Look, you already have everything you need; you're helping civilians just by having this building of yours," said Eight, now getting the picture.
"You can find a life, you can help others. Don't seek your own death—you're a good person. Do something better than just wanting to die," said Eight.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, as if someone like you could understand my suffering, unlike yours and your ideals," said Norichi.
"In the end, no one will understand, and I don't think they'll be able to kill me in the end," said Norichi.
Norichi lunges abruptly at Tsurugi, who activates his technique to counterattack and throws a punch with the full intent to kill, but Norichi's pupils turn green again, and he automatically dodges the punch and knees Tsurugi in the face.
Seeing this, Sifon realizes something. "I see. I just have to do that." Sifon pulls something out from behind his back that he had been hiding—it was a sniper rifle loaded with special bullets.
Sifon fires and hits the floor, but the bullet ricochets upward, bounces off the ceiling, and veers away from where Norichi is standing, confusing him. However, the bullet then ricochets off the side of a piece of glass on the floor.
And the bullet hits Norichi in the leg. Sifon fires more shots and then reloads his rifle. The four bullets he fired all ricochet, each taking a different trajectory.
They're about to hit Norichi, but his eyes turn green again. He automatically dodges everything with ease, but one bullet does manage to hit him in the leg.
Sifon sees this and realizes something: "I see—if he manages to exceed his time limit, we'll defeat him." As Sifon thinks this, he fires four more ricocheting bullets, each hitting a different spot and bouncing off.
But they start bouncing off one after another, each in a different direction and colliding with one another. They all head toward Norichi, and each one seems to surround him.
Norichi's eyes turn green again, and he dodges everything—but he didn't actually dodge them all, because the bullets that seemed to hit him only struck a residual image. Sifon is confused, realizing he was wrong in his thinking; there was a mistake.
"Something went wrong. Wait, that wasn't it. What I have to do is beat his timing, but also the prediction time," thought Sifon.
"Just as I expected, I need to know which side and where he'll be to figure out how to kill him, right? Wait, don't think about killing him—if you do, the probability of his ability will increase, and he'll dodge more, avoiding death," thought Sifon.
Tsurugi just moved to the same spot as Norichi. He tried to finish him off with an upward kick toward Norichi, but Norichi blocked it since he couldn't let that attack land. However, upon impact, Norichi bled a little from his head, which left Sifon uneasy.
"Idiot, you just increased his probability even more!" Sifon shouted, worried.
On Tsurugi's next strike, Norichi blocked it by grabbing his hand and then landed a series of punches to his face, leaving him dazed. But he didn't stop there; he delivered a knee strike to his face and then pinned him between his legs.
From that position, he delivered several elbows to his face, leaving him severely disoriented by the blows, which left him semi-conscious.
He can't make much progress, but just then Ocho appears and helps him. Since Ocho has no intention of killing him, he can't increase that probability, but he also manages to do something impossible: thanks to his blood ability, he's able to guess where Norichi is going.
With a shot, he manages to hit him right in the chest, but he doesn't kill him—though it does leave Norichi impressed. Seeing this, Sifon realizes something crucial he hadn't thought of before.
"I've never felt death so close. You can kill me, hahaha," said Norichi.
"Hey, I don't plan on killing you. You can stop doing this," said Ocho, grabbing Tsurugi's badly wounded body.
"I see. You're his opposite," said Sifon.
"What happened? What are you talking about?" asked Ocho.
"What I'm saying is that your ability is the opposite of this guy's," said Sifon.
"Your ability is the opposite of Norichi's. You're the only one who can see where he's going. You're his opposite," said Sifon.
"You! You! You can kill me!" Norichi shouted with emotion.
"You can make my dream come true—you can kill me," said Norichi with mixed emotions.
"Hey, wait—I don't want to do that. I have no reason to kill you," said Eight.
"Well, maybe I do—and others too, like the ones you killed—but I don't want to," said Eight.
"Why? Why? Why? Do I need a reason for you to kill me?" Norichi shouted.
"Finally! When will I finally find someone who can kill me?" Norichi shouted in frustration.
"I've made my decision. I'm getting out of here. I don't have to fight," said Eight.
"You already have everything. You help people. Maybe you've done a lot of bad things, but deep down, you're good," said Eight.
"You're just a person trapped in the past who can't let go of what happened and focus on the future," said Eight.
"I can do it, and you must do it. That's the only thing that justifies this fight," said Ocho, shrugging as he held Tsurugi in his arms.
"What?! Hey, come back! Come back here, damn it!" Norichi shouted in desperation.
"Hey, you tell him to come back," said Norichi, looking at Sifon.
"He's already made his decision. Just let him go in peace," said Sifon coldly, walking away with Eight.
"No, damn it! Come back! Come back!" Norichi shouted desperately, but in the end, no one heard him.
A long time has passed since Ocho, Tsurugi, and Sifon left, and Norichi finds himself drinking to drown his sorrows over the loss.
Just then, his secretary Tokikami arrived with what he had requested. "Sir, here is the information you asked for about Ocho," said Tokikami.
"It was difficult, but we finally found information on Ocho," said Tokikami, handing him the report.
"I see, so he has a family too, huh? I think I know what I'll do now," said Norichi.
"What will you do, sir?" asked Tokikami.
"I'll do something, Tokikami. I'll do something," said Norichi.
"Sir, you know very well that I respect you, but I also know how far you can go," said Tokikami.
"Yes, I know, Tokikami," said Norichi.
"I knew that someday you'd try to stop me, but now?" said Norichi.
"I appreciate that you've always been by my side," said Norichi, turning around.
Tokikami had a gun in his hand, pointing it at him. "Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Norichi," said Tokikami sadly.
Only the sound of gunshots could be heard in the background, and when someone finally emerged from the scene, it was Norichi, covered in blood, with a bullet lodged in his side near his liver.
But there was no sign of Tokikami, and as Norichi walked out, he saw only the board with Ocho's information, before losing sight of the fixed path he was following.