Slade didn't come back. Yuto sat next to the lab door for a few hours. Impatient, he knocked on the metal door, waiting for an answer. After a few seconds, it opened and the same scientist as before was revealed.

— Well, if I'm not mistaken, you are Yuto, the new level 7, right?

— What happened to Kataki-chan? Is she fine?

— Oh, so you've been waiting here all this time? I'm sorry to inform you, but the experiment will not end today.

— What?! But you didn't say any of that!

— We told her. She probably didn't tell you because she didn't want to worry you.

Yuto didn't know how to respond, so he just looked down at the ground, as if defeated.

— I think you'd better go home. When we hear from her, we'll contact you.

— Right…

Yuto returned home, head down. Kanata was more overprotective than before. She hugged him when he arrived, but that didn't cheer him up.

— What happened, Yuto? Are you hurt?

— I'm worried about Kataki-chan… I don't know when she'll be back.

Kanata was surprised to hear that his brother was worried about the girl she had tortured the night before.

But she wasn't the least bit sorry. After all, the uncontrollable love she had for him justified her actions. She knew that kind of love wasn't normal between brothers, or even between lovers, but she let herself be carried away by the feelings.

Days passed, and no news of the project was announced to Yuto. It might have been a success or a failure, but there was no information about it either on the internet or on the association's app. It seemed to be linked to the darkness of the city.

Yuto lost hope, even though he had promised the opposite to his best friend.

Kanata seemed to be worried about something. She left the house a lot more than usual and came back later too. A few days ago, she wouldn't leave her brother's side, but now she was moving away from him.

Yuto, confused, asked:

— Big sis, what happened? Why have you been so busy lately?

— Ah, Yuto, I'm sorry, but I can't involve you in this.

Yuto, unsatisfied with the answer, looked her straight in the eyes.

— We are brothers! We have to share our secrets, so you must involve me in this!

Kanata looked away and hesitated, but decided to tell:

— I'm planning a massacre- I mean, a raid on the association.

— What? But why-

Yuto didn't finish his question. He thought of his friend's image. It was his chance to rescue her, like in a romance manga the protagonist saves the princess.

Furthermore, it was time to unravel all the mysteries of the association and the city as a whole. Crimes were committed all the time, and swept under the rug.

— Right, big sis. I will participate in this raid!

— What?! No way I will involve you in something this dangerous!

— Come on, let me do it, sis, please… I'm already a level 7 and I know how to take care of myself.

— It's not as easy as it looks. I've been busy recruiting several rebellious heroes for this quest. Two of them are level 7, and they were seriously injured by another one. You don't stand a chance against someone like that.

Yuto seemed to get even more excited.

— Seriously? Are we going to fight alongside two more level 7's? And against one even stronger than them? I can't wait to defeat him!

Kanata had never seen him like this. On the surface, he seemed to be looking forward to a full-scale battle. But inside, he could also be hiding negative thoughts.

— I will help you unravel the mysteries of the association, I promise! The more people the better, don't you think?

Kanata didn't seem to like the idea, but she couldn't refuse his brother's request.

— Alright, I'll let you help me. But with the same condition as before: don't leave my side even when I let you.

Yuto had his hopes refilled.

War was approaching, and both siblings were anxious, positively and negatively. Therefore, they needed to relax. They walked around the city, went to different restaurants to relieve tension.

They decided to go to the best place to calm down: the beach. Dressed appropriately for the occasion, they enjoyed the walk.

— Yuto, I'll get some coconut water, do you want one?

— I would love one!

Kanata came back with only one coconut, and in it there was only one straw.

— Sis, didn't you forget to get mine?

— Of course not. We're brothers, so it's okay to use the same straw, right?

Kanata was obviously seducing his brother.

— Of course there is a problem! That's unsanitary and, well... you know...

Kanata had already started drinking the water through the straw, and offered it to his brother, as if she was feeding a baby.

— "You know..." what? Come on, drink this wonderful water.

Out of space and embarrassed, Yuto slapped the coconut, which fell and spilled all the water on his sister's body covered only by a bikini.

— Ara ara, little brother, how evil. I didn't know you liked that kind of thing...

— I don't like it! Sorry to get you wet, but I'm your brother, and I want to be treated like one. So stop this kind of behavior! Let me get you a towel from the locker room.

— Hm? I can actually use your towel- I mean, sorry for getting carried away. I will get my towel.

The moment Kanata turned around and started walking, she bumped into someone.

It was a woman wearing a white dress and a hat, the same color, used on beaches to shade her head. She had short, dark blue hair. She wore sunglasses, so her face wasn't very visible.

When she fell, she dropped her bag and several papers that were in it. Kanata offered her help to get her up and organize the papers, and apologized.

The woman, without saying anything, turned her back and started walking.

— Wait, that doesn't make sense.

Kanata grabbed the woman's neck and lifted her, choking her.

— Sister?! What do you think you are doing?!

— What's the point of someone bumping into me, dropping a bunch of papers, which would be of no use on a beach, and walking in another direction?! What are you up to? If you don't say it in 4 seconds, I'll crush your neck.

The woman was in a lot of pain, on the verge of fainting, or dying, whichever came first.

— Kanata! Stop it already! This must be a misunderstanding! Maybe she's blind and didn't know where she was going!

— But, Yuto, she…

— Release the girl now!

Kanata, startled by her brother's scream, released the woman, but this time didn't apologize.

In all that time, the woman didn't say anything, and she couldn't, because her neck almost got broken.

The woman left.

— Sister, you have to stop attacking innocent people!

— But, Yuto, don't you agree that that was very suspicious?

— That's no reason to murder someone! Look me in the eyes and make me a promise: never do that again!

— I don't know if I'll be able to keep that promise-

— Promise it, now! Or I won't forgive you.

— Right… I promise not to fatally hurt anyone from now on.

Kanata made a promise, but wasn't sure if she could keep it.

— Alright, sis, I forgive you. It's alright now.

October 31, 2041.

This date was chosen by Kanata because of the Halloween festivities. A large-scale battle would be unpredictable on such a peaceful day. The authorities' attention would be focused on residential areas, where the famous trick-and-treaters dominated.

Kanata's quest had a bounty of 77 million yen, taken from her own pocket and distributed proportionally to each participant. Rescuing innocent prisoners, non-killing, revealing association's secrets, and other goals were all rewarded. It was like a scoring system.

But the mission didn't matter to Yuto, Kanata and the other two level 7's. The other heroes of the uprising served more as a distraction. Yuto didn't know that his sister had put the lives of thousands of heroes on the line just for her own benefit, so he didn't question the decision.

The plan was for the four to ride together and, if the second strongest hero, Sage, who had injured the third and fourth placed, appeared, he would have no chance of winning.

Kanata knew that some member of the coup would report her to the authorities, but that didn't worry her.

— Nice to meet you, I'm Stalor and this girl next to me, Spectrum.

Stalor was a boy, about 17 years old, who had dark green hair. Only one eye of the same color as the hair was visible, as the right one was covered by bangs. He was wearing casual clothes, unusual for an event like that. What caught the most attention were his futuristic white sneakers, as if they had a jetpack hidden inside.

Spectrum was a woman in her 20s. Her hair was of various colors and cut short, typical of a tomboy. She was robust and wore no sleeves. She wore gloves and very colorful clothes, contrasting with her masculine appearance. She didn't show any emotion, looking more like a kuudere.

— Nice to meet you. You must be much stronger than me, so I feel safer having you around.

— Our differences aren't that big, Yuto. In the battle we had with Sage, I was blinded in my right eye and Spectrum lost her hearing. But if we are four against one, we will certainly win.

Yuto felt chills, as he hadn't thought that there was someone nearly as strong as his sister.

— By the way, Stalor, what are your powers?

— Oh, I forgot to mention it. My power is Matter, and hers is Color.

— What do they do?

— Mine can transform the physical state of anything, changing the molecular composition of an object from wood to iron, for example. And hers channels the colors of an environment to be discharged in an attack. The color green, for example, generates healing power. That's why she wears these colorful clothes.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

— Eh… I don't know if I understood very well…

— Don't worry, when we go into action, everything will be clear.

The four began to search the association building, which had mountainous dimensions. They split into two groups to speed up the process.

Stalor and Spectrum entered a small room full of computers. They contained the most important information on the room, which was stolen using pen drives. The only way out was a reinforced metal door.

They found their first opponents: 4 level 6 heroes who were called in to quell the rebellion. Each used a different type of weapon. They focused their attacks on Stalor, who looked weaker.

Any weapon that touched him turned into bubbles. He was untouchable. He formed a barrier around his body that evaporated any solids and then solidified them again. That way, he could walk through walls.

As his goal was not to kill, he only incapacitated half of the heroes with his sneakers. When he did the kicking motion, it created a strong air current that he could apply his power to, increasing its reach.

— Your turn, Spectrum. Wait, you can't hear...

Spectrum understood the command and charged towards the remaining heroes. With her physical skills, she dodged with dexterity and immediately counterattacked.

As most of the structure was dark blue in color, Spectrum channeled it into walls of black ice, which she cast around the heroes to immobilize them. The ice would be easily destroyed if it was conventional, but it came from a level 7, making it nearly indestructible.

The lab was the first place Yuto and Kanata went to. They broke down the reinforced door and searched everywhere. It was just an operating room and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Except the fact that there was no one. It seemed that they had foreseen the invasion.

Kataki wasn't there, so she had been taken elsewhere. She couldn't be far and had to be inside the building. So they both continued the searching.

They arrived at a dark room and soon began to collect information.

Suddenly, a group of rioters surrounded them. Kanata recognized them. They were heroes of varying levels that she had hired in the quest.

— Hey young lady, I knew you were up to something. You intended to use us and take all the money and merit. But if we defeat you, we'll earn a much bigger reward.

Kanata looked at them with contempt. They were nothing more than traitorous insects disturbing her peace. They weren't intimidated and went after her.

— Yuto, make a reverse barrier on yourself.

Yuto could create an inverted gravitational field with his body as the center, strongly repelling any approaching object. Understanding the command, he raised the barrier to protect himself, afraid of what would happen.

Kanata raised her right hand to intimidate the bandits, but they didn't understand the signal. As a last warning, she brought her middle finger and thumb together, about to snap. They continued to approach.

Kanata snapped her fingers with such a thunderous force that it could deafen anyone hit. A shock wave was generated, and all the bodies were shredded and reduced to just blood and dust. The walls, which nullified most of the power, could not stand it and were completely destroyed.

The entire building was shaken and the windows were destroyed. Stalor and Spectrum, who were on the opposite side of the building, thought it was a magnitude 7 earthquake. The tremor affected lasted for nearly a minute.

Yuto had raised a maximum power barrier, but it barely took the impact. Kanata didn't need one, as her body took her own attacks easily. When the shaking ended, Yuto got angry and slapped his sister, shouting:

— Sister! You had promised that you wouldn't kill anyone unnecessarily!

— But they were traitors, and bandits at that. Their lives had no value like ours.

— It is not right! You can't take the lives of others as if it were something trivial!

Kanata had never seen Yuto so angry before. She felt guilty and regretful.

— Sorry, Yuto, I got carried away again. I know I shouldn't do this, but I still can't control my strength.

— I don't need to hear your apologies! Don't ever do that again! Look into my eyes and promise it!

— I'm sorry… I mean, I promise not to take lives again.

Kanata knew that that new promise was worthless, as she had already broken the previous one, and could repeat the same mistake.

The ceiling had been broken by the attack, and it was possible to see the fourth floor. The wall from that point on was intact. But there was a strange figure hanging, which Yuto soon noticed.

Before he could say anything, they both felt a deafening noise. Yuto raised the barrier, but to no avail. The noise seemed to come from inside their head, so it was impossible to silence it.

Despite experiencing unparalleled discomfort, their ears did not bleed. The 7-Up increased the body's resistance, so they felt pain, but took no damage. They crouched down, covering their ears, but nothing changed.

A figure, so fast that it was not even noticed by Yuto, punched Kanata, who was thrown hundreds of meters away, breaking the walls that remained in the way.

The figure became visible in the little light there was in the place. He was an old man with long grey hair, green eyes and glasses. He was wearing a black suit and hat, a green tie, and white gloves.

Yuto didn't recognize him right away, but he remembered the only one who could rival his sister: Sage, the second level 7.

While Kanata didn't return, Yuto had his body twisted by unknown forces. He felt a crushing pain, but if he screamed, no one would hear because of the noise that filled the entire floor.

Stalor and Spectrum, after discovering the source of the sound, rushed to the place. When they arrived, they tried to shout the secret of his powers, but not even they could hear their own voices.

Both went after Sage. Stalor tried to land a punch in the man's heart, to evaporate it. His fist reached the old man's chest, but nothing happened. He didn't move.

In response, Sage headbutted Stalor, knocking him out. A hole was made in his head. Then, the old man grabbed him by the collar and launched him up. When the body fell again, he kicked him in the stomach, sending him so far that he went off the building.

Spectrum discolored the green of the environment, including Sage's eyes and tie and her own clothes, channeling a single healing power that was directed at Yuto.

She gathered several spears of black ice and charged directly at the man. They shattered before reaching him, countering their resistance. Finally, a force pushed her away from the building.

Yuto was confused, but he didn't hear the noise anymore. He didn't feel any pain either. The cure was not instantaneous, but lasting. Being the only one who could face him, he used his strongest attack: supreme gravity.

This attack worked on a cylindrical volume, and increased the gravity of the designated location to a point where any material, no matter how resistant, was crushed. Since he isolated gravity from that area, whatever was outside was unaffected. So the result was a deep and wide hole.

However, Yuto wasn't in his best calculation condition, so he wouldn't be able to perfectly isolate the area around Sage. When he used the attack, the target sank to the ground, but it wasn't enough to incapacitate him, let alone kill him.

Sage started to walk towards Yuto. A figure came flying out of nowhere and punched him so hard that the shockwave destroyed everything behind him. He was dragged for more than 10 meters before stopping. It was Kanata, who had already returned practically unharmed. The noise stopped.

She jumped towards him, landing a kick to his right. He defended it with his arm, but got launched sideways. His arm took no damage. Before he could react, she punched and kicked him so quickly that he couldn't do anything. Kanata grabbed his head and pulled it towards her powerful kick. Once again, more destruction. He fell down unconscious. She looked at his body for a few seconds, breathing heavily. Then, she faced her brother.

— I forgot to tell you his powers, Yuto. He is one of the few heroes that has two: Sound and Immutability. The first caused this deafening noise and the mysterious forces that attacked you. The second nullified any damage he took, at the cost of staying still. That's why you couldn't hurt him. You are not weak, he is too strong.

Surprised by his sister's quick recovery, he asked:

— Sis, are you okay? That punch seems to have been serious.

— Of course I am! Regeneration is part of my power. And I'm above him in the rankings, which means I can't lose.

Kanata was playing strong, but she had clearly been hurt. But Yuto was relieved, as the danger was over.

— Sis, do you think he has any chance of waking up?

— No. I calculated my strength to just knock him out, not kill him. His power also stopped, so it means he's unconscious.

— Thank you for saving me, sister. I could have died just now.

Kanata smiled, happy to have regained his brother's trust.

— Oh, I almost forgot, sis. Are Stalor and Spectrum okay?

— Of course they are. They shouldn't fight again today, but they wouldn't die from a blow like that. Besides, Sage isn't the type to kill people in cold blood. He is friends with Boss, but has his own ideals.

— I see…

Yuto remembered the figure he had seen on the fourth floor through the ceiling.

— Hey, sis. Let's see what's that over there?

Yuto flew up to the fourth floor, reversing his gravity. Kanata just jumped and punched the ceiling to not fall. Since there was no floor, the figure was hung from the wall by chains leading to handcuffs.

It was a child wearing an outfit so improvised and dirty that a garbage bag would be better. They soon recognized who it was: the green-haired girl who had given them power.

Astonished by the girl's deplorable state, Yuto reached his hand to the handcuff to remove it, but got shocked. Kanata just destroyed the wall, so that the child could be examined more carefully on the first floor.

Yuto tried to wake her up:

— Hey, are you okay?

After a while, her eyes opened.

— Who are you…?

— Can you hear and speak after all that? By the way, how come you haven't been hurt since we got here?

— The God of Distortion… he protects me…

Both, not understanding what that meant, asked:

— Who?

— It's a long story…

With a longer pause between each word, the girl fell asleep again. Yuto placed her on his back, intending to carry her. Kanata felt a little uncomfortable:

— Yuto, don't you think I'd better carry it?

— No, sis, she's safer with me. I can create a reverse barrier around both of us simultaneously.

Kanata gave a small chuckle, remembering the day his brother received his power.

— I guess I was wrong. Your power is not destructive. It serves to protect people.

— Of course! No matter what power you have, it can always be used to help others!

Yuto remembered the raid's main objective: to rescue Kataki. However, she was not in the lab. Therefore, they both continued to look for her.

Yuto and his sister were walking in an extremely long corridor, which didn't seem to have any end. On the left side, there was a reinforced wall. On the right, a window that occupied the space of a wall, giving a view to the futuristic city. It was broken after all the confrontation, but it was still possible to enjoy the scenery.

While they were talking, they both heard a trembling voice:

— S-Stop! I-If you continue from that point, I'll shoot!

It was a man in a suit who was further down the hall, holding a pistol. He had only been sent to die, considering who he was up against.

Yuto looked at his sister, about to ask what they should do. But she was no longer there: her arm was already through the guard's head.

Yuto let go of the girl who was on his back and ran towards his sister, punching her. He was even angrier than before.

— YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T KILL ANYONE ELSE!

Kanata regained consciousness. Her brother had never shown such violence to her. She couldn't believe what she had just done. His reaction was so intense that she started stuttering.

— Y-Yuto… I'm sorry… I s-shouldn't-

— Didn't that promise mean anything to you?

— Yuto, I know you're mad at me, but I don't know what's going on with me-

— No more excuses! I won't forgive you this time!

Kanata froze. She couldn't think of anything else. Her eyes widened. She had lost her brother's trust again. She had no more reason to live. She knelt down, filled with despair, and started to cry.

— Y-Yuto, I… I can't… I can't live without you! Please, I beg you, forgive me! I won't do it again! I know you don't believe me anymore, but you are the reason for my existence! Without you I'd rather die!

Yuto had never seen his sister cry so much. In fact, he never saw her cry in his life. This made him uncomfortable as he didn't know how to react.

— C-Calm down, sis, no need to cry, I'm angry but it's not that extreme-

Before Yuto could finish his sentence, a figure crossed the reinforced wall at a speed that didn't leave room for either of them to react.

It was a hooded person, whose face was barely visible. It had the figure of a woman. Of course, neither of them had time to analyze this, or to realize that there was someone coming through the wall.

The figure punched Kanata's head. The momentum pushed Yuto away. The only thing he saw was some kind of laser. Also, the city lights and stars, which were seen through the broken window, lengthened.

Yuto didn't understand anything. He felt dizzy. After a few minutes, he regained consciousness. His sister was gone. Only the hooded woman remained.

Yuto looked through the broken window, but didn't recognize what he saw: the only visible landscape was dirt, as if something big had dragged over it. The city was no longer there.

Finally, he understood what had happened: the association building had been pushed so that it swept the entire city in its path. If the unaffected part was no longer visible, it means that the distance traveled was such that what was left of the city could no longer be seen.

The cause of this was the hooded woman. She punched Kanata hard enough to knock her back at what felt like a laser speed. The lights lengthened by the speed with which the building was pushed in the opposite direction.

77 kilometers. The building traveled 77 kilometers before coming to a stop. If it wasn't made of a material that nullified 77% of the power, it could have ended up in another city, or even in the ocean.

The woman approached Yuto, and took off her hood. She was the woman who bumped into his sister on the beach.

— Thank you so much for protecting me that day, boy. I really thought I was going to die. That sister of yours is hard to deal with, I feel sorry for you.

Yuto was wide-eyed and unresponsive. He was staring at where his sister had supposedly died. She would come back, like when she punched Sage. He was sure of it.

But it had been minutes since the attack, and she still hadn't appeared. He didn't want to believe what he had witnessed. His sister was dead. In the blink of an eye, the strongest in the association died.

— It's a shame, but the Boss ordered me to kill you too. I like you, but he'll reward me a lot more if I complete the job. So if you don't mind-

Without saying anything, Yuto thrust his index and middle finger into the girl's eyes, blinding her. Writhing in pain, she tried to grab him, but he was already gone. He put the girl on his back and left the building.

It was raining. He started looking for his sister in the rubble. No results. He didn't even know where she had stopped. He gave up looking for her.

He walked aimlessly.

No destination.

He even forgot about Kataki.

Nothing else made sense.

The girl woke up.

— Young man… what happened?

Yuto took the girl off his back and placed her on the sidewalk of a bridge. He was about to jump, but he had no reason to take her with him. The girl quickly understood what he was about to do.

Slapping Yuto in the face, the girl exclaimed:

— What do you think you're doing?! I don't know what happened, but if that girl isn't with you anymore, she's probably dead. But that's no reason to waste your life! Live for her, or for me, or for yourself, just live!

Yuto felt better with the girl's words, but not enough to say anything. He just held her hand and they both continued walking.

This time, however, they had a place to go.