Chapter 141: ***********************
"THIS IS THE FIRST BLACK NEST TO APPEAR IN FIVE YEARS!" Rodrick shouted, pointing his index finger at Yamamoto’s chest. "HOW DARE YOU LET A TEENAGER IN THERE?!"
Yamamoto, the guild master of Karasu no Uta, had a different smile on his face.
It was more of a yellow smile that hid discomfort than a genuine one.
"Rodori-san, I’m sure you value Burei-san as much as his friends." Yamamoto said, pointing to Evellyn, Nikolai, and Robby behind him. "But still, don’t you think there’s something wrong with the boy that even his friends are less worried than you are?"
Rodrick had a bulging, pulsing vein on his bald head.
But he took a deep breath, and thought for a moment.
"Yeah... You’re right. Maybe I’m wrong about Kurt. But... How the hell couldn’t you hold him?"
Rodrick was at the Hana no nagame guild office, where he had taken refuge when things started to get complicated in the United States, when he received word that a Black Nest had been discovered in the center of Shibuya.
It was not necessary to be an expert on the subject to understand that this meant an incident of catastrophic proportions, if the Beasts that inhabited that Nest spilled over to the outside.
So Rodrick joined the strike team that the guild master, Toshinori Ryuu, was putting together, and headed straight towards the place where the Bubble had appeared.
And what a surprise he had been, and Toshinori’s, upon meeting Yamamoto Ruki, Hana’s sworn enemy in the nagame.
Reluctantly, both the guild master and Rodrick went to talk to him.
And it was there that Rodrick discovered that not only Evellyn and Nikolai, but also Kurt and the other irregulars, had arrived in Japan.
Completely dumbfounded and speechless, he tried to get some information from the young people, but was interrupted by Yamamoto.
"Sorry, Rodori-san. As much as they are known to you from the United States... They are under the care of Karasu no Uta, which means you can’t get close."
"Ah, boy... You think you’re strong, just because there’s a bunch of samurai after you?" Rodrick cracked his neck. "Do you think I need my friends from Hana in nagame to finish off you and your peers?"
Rodrick threw a mischievous smile at Yamamoto, and suddenly, an intense murderous intent seemed to take over that central part of Shibuya.
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Rodori-san." Yamamoto said, regaining his warm and jovial smile. "Don’t forget that your dear irregulars are just young. And I can take them out one by one if you want to escalate this situation..."
"Actually, I was imagining you would say that. That’s why I brought this little toy here." Rodrick replied, taking a small recorder out of his pocket. "I didn’t want to take any chances by turning on my holowatch recorder, so I left this beauty in my pocket, just so I could have it on audio, what a dirty guy you really are." Rodrick breathed in and out, slowly. "I personally have no interest in fighting guys like you. But... I wonder how Kurt Blake will react when he finds out that the person who offered him hospitality is actually threatening his friends behind his back." from him."
Yamamoto’s smile gradually disappeared, as did the light in his eyes.
He wasn’t the type to take insults home, but he was also never the type to let himself fall into such a cheap trap like that.
The frown that formed on his face made his subordinates hold their breath, fearing that a fight would actually break out here, outside a Nest, in a metropolitan area.
With two powerful wielders clashing against each other.
Even Karasu no Uta knew the strength of Rodrick Hawthorne, the toughest tank in the United States.
And none of the guild members were in the mood to watch so closely a clash between the Silent God and the Unstoppable Tank.
But the expression on Yamamoto’s face seemed to make it very clear that this was what was about to happen.
"Let’s calm things down, boys." Evellyn said, interjecting herself between the two. "Kurt will be back soon, so we’ll let him decide what’s going to happen, okay?" She smiled. "I’m sure you agree with that, don’t you professor?"
Yamamoto stomped hard on the sidewalk, and a rather deep crack opened up.
"WHO THE HELL IS THIS KATO BUREI GUY, THAT EVEN THE UNSTOPPABLE TANK LISTENED TO HIM, AFTER ALL?!"
Yamamoto had a sense of who Kurt was, actually.
He had a vague idea of what that teenager was capable of.
But his nationalist pride was too big and strong for him to give up, that this teenager could really be capable of going head to head against adults with twice as much experience in raids as a mere teenager who had barely made it. eighteen years.
"I think you’re too old to be throwing a tantrum, guild master." Toshinori said, calm and measured. "I’m sure that if Rodori-chan trusts this Burei-san that much, it’s not for any reason. Right, Rodori-chan?"
Rodrick smiled, more to himself than to Toshinori, and more to see that Yamamoto had finally decided to calm down.
After a few more exchanges of words, everyone there realized that there was really nothing they could do but wait.
But they didn’t need much more.
A few minutes later, with the center of Shibuya enveloped in an ominous silence, and the sun setting on the horizon, the Bubble that surrounded the entrance to the Black Nest fell apart, and as if the entrance were made of glass, it cracked, falling apart. in space, and disappearing completely.
Yamamoto snorted.
"It seems that, after all, Kato Burei was really powerful, but not enough to make it back alive, after defeating whatever was at the bottom of the Black Nest..." He let out a delighted laugh, realizing the Rodrick’s look.
He looked at the children with a thousand questions in his eyes.
But the unstoppable tank’s silent questions were as clear as if he were asking them out loud.
Hadn’t Evellyn said that Kurt would be back soon?
Wasn’t he so strong that he had the courage to almost collide head on with the Unstoppable Tank himself?
How was it possible that not even an irregular could stand a chance against a Black Nest?
But the answers were crystal clear to him.
Rodrick was just feeling the pain of grief that not even he was able to explain where it came from.
"I... But... How..." Rodrick tried to say, stuttering.
"I guess that means the irregulars are now mine to do as I please with them..." Yamamoto said, a cruel smile appearing on his lips.
But as he looked at Evellyn, Rodrick noticed that the smile she had on her lips had not disappeared.
Quite the opposite.
She still seemed quite confident.
And a few seconds later, when the first shadows of the night began to take over the buildings of Shibuya, a shadow blacker than all the others seemed to loom large on the ground, between Rodrick and Yamamoto.
Yamamoto’s eyes trembled for a moment, when he realized that there was something emerging from that shadow.
And how cold it was that took his heart when he saw Kurt Blake materializing from that mass of darkness.
There was a fury never seen before, burning bright in his eyes.
"My friends are yours for what...?"
