Here it comes, here it comes—Shadow ★ Shine's classic line: creeping through the shadows! Squirm, squirm.
Unfortunately, Kosma was not from Shenzhou.
When heroes from Shenzhou made their entrance, they often spouted strange, incomprehensible lines like Shenzhou Translation or "infantry don't ride horses."
Although Kosma's lines and movements seemed a bit childish and all-ages, it was clear he had seriously put thought and practice into them.
Clap clap clap!
Seeing how seriously Kosma performed such an extremely chuunibyou pose, Vill-V couldn't help but applaud happily. "Wow, amazing, amazing! So cool!"
Every boy harbors the urge to act out chuunibyou poses, and Vill-V was no exception.
Men remain boys until the day they die. Even if they turn into a two-dimensional cute girl—they're still a boy at heart!
"Um... this 'creeping through the shadows'—how exactly do you position your hands at the start? Like this?"
Vill-V tried to imitate Kosma's movements, shifting her left hand from her chest down to her waist.
But she awkwardly realized that what should have been a smooth downward motion was blocked by her ample chest, turning it into something that looked like she was... caressing herself.
When she flipped her left palm upward and lifted it slightly, it ended up looking like she was supporting her chest in a rather alluring way.
What was originally a cool pose would have suited Hua perfectly—but when performed by the well-endowed Vill-V, it immediately took on a suggestive tone.
Well now. Designing something this... provocative on the fly? Kosma, you brat... you're actually a genius!
If you've got the talent, design more of this stuff. If it doesn't work, you can always ask Elysia to tweak it later.
Hehe... that gives me an excuse to observe Elysia demonstrating the movements.
And if anything goes wrong... I'll just pin it all on Kosma.
It was him! Every move was designed by Kosma! What does it have to do with me, the pure and adorable Vill-V? I'm a girl—how could I possibly come up with something so indecent?
Just as Vill-V was thinking this, Kosma's response was a flash of steel.
Snap!
A metal claw shot out from his wrist guard and, in an instant, rested against the girl's neck.
Vill-V quickly raised both hands in surrender. "Wah—wait, wait! Don't shoot! I'm on your side! Even if I can't do the pose perfectly, I really am one of the good guys!"
Could it be that Kosma believed a righteous person would definitely be able to perform the pose correctly, and only someone with evil intentions would fail to do it right?
Or had her inner thoughts about throwing him under the bus been noticed? Kids really are sharp.
Of course, Kosma didn't have mind-reading abilities. Naturally, he had no idea Vill-V was already plotting to ruin his future innocence.
Even though the ability to eject metal claws from the back of his hand when enraged looked cool, Kosma rarely used such lethal weapons unless absolutely necessary.
The reason he was so tense was that the girl had recognized his true identity. And once his identity was exposed, it meant that Godfather would send more people to his town.
For the past two years, the town had been free from Godfather's attention. But now that his identity was exposed, that might no longer be the case.
Godfather was undoubtedly still coveting the research materials left behind by his adoptive father. For those materials, he wouldn't hesitate to turn the entire town into a bloodbath.
Standing in a dark corner, Kosma's face was shrouded in shadow, his eyes glinting with an unsettling cold light.
Using Shadow ★ Shine's hoarse voice, he spoke slowly, "I will not take your life. But I will bring you before the judicial authorities for a fair trial."
Although Shadow ★ Shine was not a hero who never killed, that didn't mean he would take lives lightly. Unless absolutely necessary, he would still hand criminals over to the justice system. That was why others called him a vigilante.
"However, the justice system here is no longer just. I will take you to my place first."
Of course, that was just what he said. In reality, Kosma's goal was to extract more information about Godfather from Vill-V before handing her over.
With that, Kosma rotated his arm and lightly touched the girl's slender neck with the flat side of his blade. Electricity crackled.
The current was precisely controlled—enough to knock an adult unconscious, but not enough to cause permanent brain damage.
However, the girl did not collapse as expected. Instead, she looked completely fine.
"Oh... right, I'm supposed to pretend to faint here... hold on a second."
Since the rooftop floor was a bit dirty, Vill-V laid down a hovering module she carried with her.
"Uh, I'm fainting now..." (monotone)
The girl lay down gracefully on the floating module, her coat neatly covering beneath her legs.
Kosma's mouth twitched. "Uh... does this count as being electrocuted unconscious?"
He raised his claw and checked the voltage. Hmm... the safety was turned off.
Before he could process further, the girl suddenly sprang back to life. Taking advantage of his distraction, she snatched the Teriri Demon-Subjugation Record from his hand, stuffed it into her small bag, and then immediately resumed playing dead.
Damn it—so she really was pretending to faint to lower my guard.
But why did she only take the scroll? She clearly had the chance to attack me just now.
And after succeeding, why is she still pretending to be unconscious? What does that mean?
It's possible she wants me to approach her, then launch a fatal attack.
Cunning... truly cunning. As expected of one of Godfather's cadres. I must be even more cautious!
To prevent Vill-V from leaking his information, regardless of her intentions, Kosma decided to restrain her first.
He pulled the cord on his backpack. The tactical pack automatically opened, and sturdy fiber cables shot out, tightly binding Vill-V's body and restraining her completely.
"Mm—" Vill-V let out an uncomfortable sound.
Seeing that the girl could no longer resist, Kosma curled his lips. Now, even if she had hidden weapons, she wouldn't be able to move.
"Hmph. Did you think pretending to faint would let you overpower me?"
"Stop acting. Godfather's supervising cadre! Your scheme has already been seen through."
That's right—the scheme of pretending to faint to lower his guard, luring him closer before launching a fierce attack.
Hearing Kosma's grand detective declaration, Vill-V actually sat up in shock.
"What? You saw through my plan? As expected of Shadow ★ Shine—you even realized my plan to restrain a Herrscher and protect the citizens!"