Several months had passed since the battle with the Ishtar Familia and Haruhime's induction into the Hestia Familia.
In that time, the Kingdom of Rakia finally launched its long-anticipated invasion of Orario. However, because Orario crushed them every single time they attacked, the citizens weren't panicked in the slightest. Life went on as usual.
Save for a select few.
To think he would actually come here…
"…"
Far outside the city, at the frontline encampment established by the Loki Familia and the other major factions, Tsuna stood perfectly still. He was in Hyper Dying Will Mode, his eyes closed in absolute concentration.
Because no one had expected him to participate in the defense, the surrounding adventurers couldn't hide their surprise. At the same time, sensing the sharp, dangerous aura radiating from him—so unlike his usual self—none of them dared to approach him.
—The timeline rewinds to a few days prior.
『Is it true you've identified the creator of the rings?』
"Yeah. The 9th Boss contacted us a little while ago," Reborn confirmed.
They had finally uncovered the identity of the ring's creator. An emergency meeting was being held in Hestia's room, attended by Tsuna, Reborn, Hestia, and Ouranos, who was communicating via the Oculus.
"The creator's name is Celua Lastor. She's a brilliant scientist in the Mafia underworld, and also a notorious black market dealer."
『How did you pinpoint this Celua as the culprit?』
"A man named Bermuda found out the Vongola was investigating the rings. He reached out to us directly and provided the intel."
"Wait!? Bermuda did!?" Tsuna gasped.
"Who exactly is this Bermuda-kun?" Hestia asked.
"There's an organization in the Mafia underworld called the Vindice," Reborn explained. "They are the keepers of the law, punishing those the law cannot reach. Anyone who breaks the fundamental laws of the Mafia is hunted down by the Vindice, thrown into an inescapable, impenetrable prison, and judged for their crimes."
"So even the underworld has laws…" Hestia muttered.
To Hestia, who had always assumed the underworld was a lawless wasteland devoid of order, the existence of a regulatory body was highly unexpected.
"Though, to be fair, you have to commit a severe atrocity to actually get targeted by the Vindice," Reborn added.
『Then am I correct to assume this Celua had drawn the ire of the Vindice?』
"Exactly. Celua was selling her inventions to black market clients to fund her research. But a lot of her creations were highly illegal, cursed items—and that ring was one of them. That ring forcibly draws out Dying Will Flames, granting the user a massive power boost. The price is that they lose their sanity, and their life force—their flames—constantly leak out until they die. Unless you knock the user out, remove the ring, or destroy it, the flames won't stop."
"Death…!?"
Tsuna felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that if he hadn't knocked out Ted's bodyguards at the Grand Casino, they would have burned through their own life force and died.
"…So because of that, Celua-kun was targeted by the Vindice?" Hestia deduced.
"That was part of it, but Celua created something far worse than those rings. That's what really put her on the Vindice's radar."
"Something worse…?"
"To explain that, I first need to explain what a Box Weapon is."
"A Box?"
"It's faster to just show you."
To answer Hestia's question, Reborn pulled a ring and a small, cubic box with a hole in it from his suit pocket. He slipped the ring onto his right middle finger, ignited a flame, and injected it into the hole in the box. The lid popped open, and a handgun materialized from inside.
"A weapon came out of a box!? How does that even work!?" Hestia exclaimed.
Seeing a handgun emerge from a box far too small to hold it left Hestia completely bewildered.
"This is a Box Weapon. It can store objects regardless of their size or mass. But you need to inject Dying Will Flames to open it."
『Does the flame-clad animal Sawada Tsunayoshi uses have something to do with these Boxes?』
Having observed the Loki Familia's expedition via Fels's magic item, Ouranos already knew about Natsu and accurately deduced the connection.
"If you already know about that, this'll be quick. That's a Box Animal—an animal familiar imbued with Dying Will Flames. By combining the animal's natural traits with the specific characteristics of the flames, they become incredibly powerful weapons. Tsuna."
"Right."
Catching Reborn's drift, Tsuna ignited his ring and summoned Natsu.
"Gau."
"Eh…!?"
Expecting a terrifying, ferocious beast, Hestia was completely disarmed by how adorably cute the lion cub was.
"This is… a Box Animal…!?"
"Oh right. This is your first time seeing Natsu, isn't it, Hestia?"
"Yeah… but wait, where did this little guy even come from!?"
While Reborn had produced his gun from a physical box, Tsuna hadn't used one at all. Hestia was completely confused as to how Natsu had just appeared.
"Natsu usually stays inside my ring. Unlike normal Boxes, ring-types don't require you to use your hands to hold the box, which is a huge advantage in a fight," Tsuna explained.
"No… I think just having a Box that defies physics is more than enough of an advantage…"
To Hestia, the mere existence of a box that could store weapons regardless of their size or mass was already mind-blowing enough.
"…But Celua created a new type of Box Weapon," Reborn continued, his tone darkening. "A demonic weapon that turned living human beings into Box Weapons."
"""—!?"""
Taking a moment to process the horrific implications of Reborn's words, Tsuna and the others were left speechless by the sheer depravity of Celua's actions.
"To be precise, she created clones and sold those cloned humans as biological weapons."
『What exactly is a clone?』
"It's a technology that uses a person's biological material—like their hair, skin, or blood—to cultivate and replicate an identical human being. Due to massive ethical violations, human cloning is strictly forbidden. In the public world, at least."
『…Which means the laws of the public world hold no sway in the underworld.』
"Just creating clones wouldn't have been enough for the Vindice to mobilize. The problem was how they were used. The human weapons Celua created had no personality and no free will; they were nothing but mindless slaughter dolls meant only to kill. There were even cases where they were used as suicide bombers to wipe out rival Famiglias. Judging that they couldn't ignore this any longer, the Vindice moved to capture Celua a year ago. But Celua vanished without a trace. They couldn't capture her; they couldn't even find her. Since then, there haven't been any incidents involving human weapons, and everyone assumed she had quietly died somewhere… But the truth is, she escaped to this world. A world free from the annoying keepers of the law."
"But isn't that far too coincidental? For two people, her and Dire-kun, to have the same idea to escape to another world…"
Hestia found it highly suspicious that someone besides Dire had thought to flee to an alternate dimension to save themselves.
"It wasn't a coincidence. We found out Dire was one of Celua's clients."
""Eh!?""
Learning that Dire and Celua were connected left Tsuna and Hestia stunned.
『Who exactly is this Dire?』
"He's the man responsible for bringing Tsuna to this world. He betrayed his Famiglia, the Movimento Famiglia, and completed an interdimensional transport device to escape here. But he was killed before he could use it. By some twist of fate, the device landed near Tsuna, and he was transported here instead."
『I see… So either Dire or Celua came up with the idea to escape to another world, and through their business dealings, the other learned of the plan. Celua completed her device first and escaped to this world, and Dire was supposed to follow later, but Sawada Tsunayoshi was transported instead.』
"Most likely, Dire was the one who came up with the idea to escape to another world. His betrayal was discovered around the exact same time Celua vanished. And the one who tipped off the Movimento Famiglia about Dire's betrayal was almost certainly Celua. To ensure her escape to this world remained a secret, she feared that if Dire completed his device, it might fall into the Vindice's hands, allowing them to follow her. So she tried to have him eliminated. But contrary to her expectations, Dire managed to evade his Famiglia's pursuers long enough to complete the device."
『However, because Sawada Tsunayoshi arrived in this world, and due to the anomaly known as Ted—who was collecting women from various countries—Celua's existence was finally exposed. Fortunately, Celua is likely unaware that we know she is here. This means the upcoming Rakian invasion is the perfect opportunity to capture her. We must apprehend Celua at all costs.』
If the existence of Dying Will Flames became public knowledge, the lower world would descend into chaos. For Ouranos, stopping her was an absolute necessity.
『Sawada Tsunayoshi. Could you use your illusions to infiltrate the Rakian army, just as you did at the Grand Casino?』
"Oh, I get it! Tsunayoshi-kun can use his illusions to disguise himself as a Rakian soldier and gather clues about Celua-kun!" Hestia realized.
"That won't work," Reborn shot the idea down.
"Eh? Why not?"
"Celua is an illusionist. A master of illusions. And she wields the Mist Flame."
"Mist…"
Hestia recalled the description of the [Tri-Ni-Sette] on Tsuna's Status, which listed elements mirroring the weather.
"The Dying Will Flame has seven attributes: Sky, Storm, Rain, Lightning, Sun, Cloud, and Mist. Each attribute has its own unique characteristic. The Sky is Harmony, Storm is Disintegration, Rain is Tranquility, Sun is Activation, Lightning is Hardening, Cloud is Propagation, and Mist is Construction. In other words, the Mist Flame's Construction allows the user to generate physical illusions."
"I see."
"More importantly, unlike Tsuna—who only gained the ability to use the other attributes through the power of Falna—Celua was born with the Mist Flame. She is a true illusionist. To be perfectly blunt, Tsuna's half-baked, amateur illusions would be seen through instantly, and worst-case scenario, our entire plan would be exposed."
"Half-baked…"
Hestia was taken aback that Reborn would so casually dismiss the incredible illusions that had completely toyed with the Apollo Familia as "half-baked."
"Tsuna isn't a natural illusionist to begin with. Compared to a true master, his illusions are fundamentally inferior. If Celua is hiding in Rakia and we send Tsuna to infiltrate them, it will only put her on high alert. If that happens, we'll never catch her. Therefore, we only have one option. We have Tsuna join the intercepting forces led by the Loki Familia and search for clues from the frontlines."
"But if we do that, Tsunayoshi-kun's existence… and worst of all, his Dying Will Flames might be exposed to the public…"
『No, the Loki and Ganesha Familias are not the type to forcefully extract secrets or spread rumors. The Freya Familia will certainly take an interest in him, but their dependents care for nothing but their Goddess, Freya. They are unlikely to resort to petty schemes. As long as he does not act recklessly, there should be no issue.』
If Celua had taught the Rakian soldiers about Dying Will Flames and supplied them with her cursed rings, they would undoubtedly use them in the invasion. Their only option was to capture the soldiers using the rings and interrogate them for information on Celua's whereabouts.
While Hestia was deeply concerned about the risks of Tsuna fighting on the frontlines, Ouranos believed it wouldn't lead to a worst-case scenario.
"Then it's decided."
With Reborn's proposal accepted, the meeting concluded, and they cut the transmission with Ouranos.
"Tsunayoshi-kun, let's update your Status. We don't know what might happen out there."
"Okay."
Tsuna took off his jacket and lay face-down on the bed. Hestia let a drop of Ichor fall onto his back, initiating the Status update.
───────────────
Name: Sawada Tsunayoshi
Level: 1
Strength: SSS 1500 → SSS 1650
Endurance: SSS 1300 → SSS 1430
Dexterity: SSS 1200 → SSS 1300
Agility: SSS 1600 → SSS 1700
Magic: I 0 → I 0
[Magic]
None
[Skills]
[Blood of Vongola]
Accelerates growth.
Increases strength through continuous combat.
Effect amplifies based on the strength of the opponent.
[Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised]
Absorbs the opponent's magic and converts it into the user's power.
Cannot absorb magic mixed with impurities.
Absorbing too much magic will cause self-inflicted damage.
[Tri-Ni-Sette]
Allows the user to freely change the attribute of their flame.
Usable attributes: Storm, Rain, Lightning, Sun, Cloud, Mist.
Changing the attribute also changes the attribute of the user's partner.
Multiple attributes cannot be used simultaneously.
[Vongola Decimo]
Grants a massive correction boost to all abilities during interpersonal combat.
The correction rate fluctuates depending on the strength of the opponent.
Does not apply to Status parameters that are completely at zero.
───────────────
A fourth skill… and another rare one at that… With this, he should be fine even if Orario faces a massive threat… right?
----
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations