Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 3

Chapter 1 Part 3

Hirotsu calmly watched Chuuya. “This brings back memories,” Hirotsu began. “I had a similar phase when I was younger. I was rash and deluded, thinking I was invincible. I thought my brute strength alone could break the world to my liking.” A faint smirk played on his lips. “Guns don’t work on you, you say? There is nothing special about that. Plenty of other skill users could say the same. At any rate…you’ve had enough warnings. Now it is time to repent. You’ll have plenty of time to rue your foolishness and ignorance in a pool of your own blood.”
Hirotsu’s shoes clicked audibly as he took a step forward. His gaze was more chilling than death itself.

“You’ve got powers, too, huh?” Chuuya’s eyes sharply narrowed. “I like the look in your eyes. You seem at least a little tougher than everyone else I’ve fought,” he said. “Come.”
He readied himself for battle, hands still in his pockets.
“Hirotsu… You should probably sit this one out.” Dazai winced with pain as he continued, “He can manipulate the gravity of anything he touches… Your skill’s a bad match.”
“Hmm… Gravity, you say?” Hirotsu replied as he removed the white glove on his right hand. It was a very elegant action as if he were royalty. “Then it is only fair that I tell you my skill, young Sheep. I can repel anything my hand touches.”
“Ha-ha! How kind of you to share,” Chuuya said with a laugh. “But don’t expect me to go easy on ya just ’cause you’re old.”
“No need.”
Hirotsu nonchalantly tossed his glove at Chuuya. The moment Chuuya knocked it away, Hirotsu was already right in front of him. He grabbed the boy by the collar with his left hand and pulled, but Chuuya didn’t resist; instead, he leaped off the ground and spun to dodge Hirotsu’s approaching right hand. He then launched a kick. Hirotsu pulled his right hand back and hit the bottom of Chuuya’s shoe with his palm. Their gravity and repulsion collided, creating a flash of light. Once again, Chuuya didn’t resist the impact. He flew backward and landed on his feet with feather-like gentleness.
“Man…wish I could say I’m impressed, but I’m just not feeling it. Your skill’s worthless against mine, old fart.”
Chuuya could manipulate the gravity of anything he touched. The Earth maintains a constant gravitational force of one g, but Chuuya’s skill allowed him to change the direction and force of the gravity of whatever he came into contact with. Meanwhile, Hirotsu’s skill could only repel a target in the opposite direction by touching it with his right hand. There was a clearly superior skill of the two. And yet, Hirotsu didn’t so much as bat an eye.
“No need to concern yourself, young one. When I was your age, I, too, believed that the stronger skill always won out. I was fortunate enough to realize my mistake before it cost me my life. That is why I pity you.”
Chuuya sneered. “You’ve piqued my interest.”
This time, Chuuya charged forward, hands still in his pockets, and threw a roundhouse kick. Hirotsu held out his right hand to stop it…until Chuuya changed the direction of his kick, aiming straight for Hirotsu’s neck. Hirotsu promptly blocked with his pistol, which groaned under the weight of the heavy kick. A moment later, Hirotsu grabbed Chuuya’s shoulder with his right hand.
“I’ve got you now,” said Hirotsu.
“So what? Your skill won’t work on me.” “I dunno about that,” came a voice.
Chuuya looked back, clearly surprised. Dazai was standing right behind him. He placed a hand on Chuuya’s neck.
“Sorry, but gravity is no longer yours to control.”
Dazai’s skill also activated when he touched his target. He had the power to halt and nullify all skills.
It was the ultimate anti-skill, no exceptions. “I can’t…use my powers?”
Hirotsu had his right hand on Chuuya’s chest. “Now it’s time to pay your tuition.”
A white shock wave blasted Chuuya’s small frame backward with such force that it looked like he’d been hit by a truck. Dazai was almost simultaneously knocked back as well, bouncing off the ground until he hit the plaster wall behind him.
“Dazai!”
Confusion briefly clouded Hirotsu’s face. He’d only used his skill on Chuuya; why did Dazai get knocked back, too?
“He got me…” Dazai groaned as he clutched his stomach. “He kicked me…right before we crashed…and I let go of him. He used his skill to fly backward.”
Chuuya landed sideways against the building behind him and grinned fiendishly. “Ha-ha-ha! Yes! That’s what I’m talking about! Nothin’ like a little fireworks to get the party started!”
And with a shout, Chuuya kicked off the wall so quickly and powerfully that he destroyed it in the process. He was like a cannonball charging straight for Dazai and Hirotsu. There was no way Hirotsu could block the attack with only his right hand; even if Dazai were to nullify Chuuya’s skill, the force of the crash would tear him apart. But at the very next moment…
…black flames blasted everyone backward.

“Gwah?!”
The black shock wave sent the entire group flying. And not just the people themselves—buildings, utility poles, and even trees were blown away, too. Everything on the surface was torn asunder, as if the air itself had suddenly lashed out.
It was a black explosion.
A massive explosion had just occurred near the center of Suribachi. But it was no ordinary blast—this was a colossal fireball large enough to swallow an entire neighborhood. Dazai’s vision spun while he flew like a dead leaf in the wind, and that’s when he saw it:
The glowing red eyes.
The face wrinkled from decades of death and destruction. The white hair.
Standing cloaked in black flames was the devil himself. “The previous boss…!”
Dazai’s shout was swallowed by flames—and then his consciousness faded to black.