Chapter 23: The Illusion
Inside the elevator.
Kazama leaned in the corner, hands in his pockets, right hand fingers rhythmically tapping against his pants leg.
"Hey hey, Ally! What exactly just happened?"
Rikka beside him leaned closer. A faint fragrance like flowers drifted into Kazama's nose.
"Did that black shadow get scared off by my Wicked Eye? Or did you use some forbidden sealing technique? That light! That light was like a supernova explosion!"
As she spoke, she waved her arms with such exaggerated motions she nearly hit Kazama's nose.
Completely lacking any fear from their recent brush with death.
Kazama didn't turn his head, replying casually.
"Nothing much. Just what you saw. You can think of it as some kind of texture loading error."
"Texture loading error? That explanation is so boring!"
The girl puffed out her cheeks, reaching out to grab his sleeve.
"It was obviously magic! That move you did just now... though I didn't see it clearly, that light effect was definitely top-tier demon-breaking sorcery! Hey hey, show me one more time, okay?"
Kazama imperceptibly shifted his body, avoiding that hand.
"Nothing to see. That was a flashbang."
"Liar! Flashbangs don't have that effect of devouring darkness!"
Just as Kazama was about to brush her off with more excuses, the elevator opened.
"Let's go."
Kazama stepped out first.
Rikka behind him hurried to follow.
"Eh? Wait for me! Ally! Since the mission's complete, shouldn't we celebrate? I know a great takoyaki place nearby..."
About two meters from the automatic glass doors.
Kazama suddenly stopped.
The abrupt halt came without warning. The girl behind nearly crashed into his back.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
She stopped, tilting her head, staring at that suddenly frozen figure with puzzlement.
"Did that black shadow chase us down? Or is it..."
"I suddenly remembered—I think I forgot something upstairs."
Kazama turned around. His expression was terrifyingly calm, that calmness like stagnant water, revealing no ripples, no emotion whatsoever.
"It's something very important. If I left it there, it would definitely be sad. You go outside and wait for me. I'll be right down."
"Eh? No way!"
The girl immediately shook her head like a rattle drum.
"Upstairs is so dangerous! How can I let you go alone! As your ally, I'm obligated to protect your back!"
She stepped forward, reaching out to grab Kazama's sleeve.
"Protect me?"
Kazama stepped back half a pace, dodging that hand, then pulled his right hand from his pocket, holding The Windy card.
"No need. Because I think staying by your side is what's most dangerous."
The air froze in that instant.
Rikka's extended hand stiffened mid-air.
That lively, chattering, even somewhat cute demeanor vanished completely in that single second.
Replaced by something bone-chillingly sinister.
"What are you saying... Ally?"
"Staying by my side... how could that be dangerous? Aren't we partners? I'm... the person most worried about you."
"Partners? Heh."
Kazama sounded like he'd heard a hilarious joke.
"Save it. Your acting is terrible. Really. Next time you want to play human, please go study Stanislavski's 'An Actor Prepares' first."
Rikka laughed dryly. "What are you talking about? I don't understand at all."
Seeing the opponent refuse to give up without seeing the coffin, Kazama explained:
"Earlier, suspecting the opponent might be a space-type Clow Card, I stayed slightly alert. When riding the elevator, from floor 1 to floor 6 took exactly 23 seconds. From floor 6 to floor 8—when I started timing after noticing the anomaly—took 8 seconds."
"This means the elevator's average operating speed is approximately 1.5 seconds per floor. That's even accounting for acceleration and deceleration time."
"But just now."
He pointed at the elevator doors behind him.
"From floor 10 down to floor 1. No stops in between. Only took 12 seconds."
"12 seconds for 10 floors. Average 1.2 seconds per floor. And I barely felt any weightlessness."
"A full ten floors of height. Even free fall wouldn't be this fast. Unless this building's elevator has rocket boosters, it's physically impossible."
"Originally I thought it was The Shadow card or some space-type troublemaker playing tricks. Like folding space or something."
Kazama looked at the girl with lowered head, mouth curving into a mocking arc.
"But just now, I confirmed that thing was just a shadow-playing Clow Card. It only throws objects at people. It doesn't have the brains or ability to modify physical laws."
"Since that shadow-player couldn't do it."
"Then that means the elevator anomaly must be a second card causing trouble. A card that can interfere with human senses and create the illusion of time distortion."
"Hehehe..."
"Rikka" didn't speak. She still kept her head lowered, bangs covering her eyes, expression invisible.
A low laugh squeezed from that "girl's" throat.
That laughter grew louder, sharper, making scalps tingle.
"I see... so that's why..."
She raised her head.
That face originally belonging to Takanashi Rikka now wore an extremely eerie smile.
"But why are you so certain it's me?"
"Maybe the elevator broke? Maybe you miscounted? Don't you trust your ally at all?"
Kazama looked at this thing still resisting stubbornly.
"Your biggest failure wasn't the timing, but how you appeared."
He pointed at the elevator doors behind him.
"When I was on the tenth floor, I pressed the call button. The elevator doors opened almost instantly. Meaning the car was already stopped on the tenth floor."
"If it really was Rikka taking the elevator up to find me, then before I pressed the button, the floor display outside should have shown an 'ascending' arrow. And I should have heard the elevator operating sounds."
"But there was nothing. Nothing at all."
Kazama spread his hands, delivering the final blow.
"The instant I pressed the button, the elevator arrived. And you were standing inside."
"The real Rikka doesn't have precognition abilities. She couldn't possibly know which exact second I'd press the button, much less park the elevator there in advance waiting to open the door for me."
"You didn't ride the elevator up. You were conjured. Or rather, you were hiding in that car from the beginning, waiting to give me a surprise."
"Moreover. Though that girl is a chuunibyou, in a life-or-death situation, she absolutely wouldn't ask questions like a curious baby. Her first concern would be her sister."
"But you—every word was asking about that black shadow. Trying to distract me through conversation? Cover up the elevator problem?"
Dead silence.
The girl finally stopped pretending. She began clapping.
"Oh my... I never expected... to fail on such a boring math problem."
"I wanted to play a bit longer."
That thing sighed, voice full of regret.
"If you'd just believed that lie... you could have gotten an obedient, clingy girlfriend. Isn't that what you human males desire most?"
"What a shame."
"Since you don't like this script."
"Let's switch to something more interesting. Tell me... Kazama Chiba. Who do you think I am?"
Kazama thought for a moment.
"If you'd only altered space, I might not have guessed. But if you appeared as Rikka, then I'm fairly certain."
If it could create visual deception, alter spatial perception, and even perfectly disguise itself as someone else, only one Clow Card matched all these characteristics.
Kazama stared at this false girl, calling out its true name.
"The Illusion."
END OF CHAPTER 23
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