Let’s chat a bit about the world of ‘neon lights.’
In this world, there’s this group called ‘The Thirteen Steps’ doing shady stuff.
They’re into magic, like the supernatural kind.
Right now, they’re calling the shots in Neon City, which is like the biggest deal economically and politically, and they’re still aiming to spread their influence worldwide.
It’s straight out of those stories with the bad guys.
There’s a good reason why they went out of their way to mess with the knightly bloodlines holding down Neon City.
These bloodlines have been passing down some magical legacy for generations.
Holy sword magic.
Just like it sounds, it’s magic that controls holy swords.
It can do all kinds of stuff, from beefing up regular swords to conjuring energy swords out of thin air, but one thing’s for sure: it’s strong.
All these folks have been protecting Neon City with justice in their hearts.
That’s why The Thirteen Steps saw them as trouble and decided to wipe them out.
To stop the descendants from getting ahead, to bring them down, and to cut off their bloodline for good.
Yeah, even making it look like accidents.
Kevin, the main guy in this story, loses his mom to these guys, and at the start of it all, he’s kind of lost in the dark, but let’s forget about that for now.
Right now, it’s pretty much The Thirteen Steps running the show in Neon City.
But here’s the kicker: those secret boss characters you face after finishing the game? They’ve got nothing to do with the organization.
Well, one of them might hint at what’s coming next, so saying they have zero ties to the group might be stretching it, but the other two? Totally unrelated.
One of them becomes a playable character once you beat them. And the other one’s all about dropping the sickest gear when you take them down.
“Hey, Lux-san, can I ask you something?”
…Even though such a secret boss is of an appropriate age before the start of the original work, I never would have imagined that the child in front of me would one day defeat the protagonists with ease.
The boy’s name is Nein.
He’s some vagrant kid who’s not from the Knight bloodline, yet somehow he can handle Holy Sword Magic. His existence itself feels like a glitch.
Well, I mean, the fact that he can use Holy Sword Magic paradoxically suggests that there’s Knight blood running through this boy. But anyway, no matter what, seeing such an extraordinary being just pop up in a run-down park makes me suspect a glitch completely.
In reality, even in the original story, you had to pray for him to spawn as a rare occurrence even after meeting the conditions.
I thought it was ridiculous to introduce luck elements at the end, but well, that’s the nature of replayability elements.
”Lux-san, why are you so strong?”
The 10-year-old Nein asks, delivering a sharp roundhouse kick.
In the original, each of his attacks was like a finishing blow, constantly demanding evasion or invincibility, but so far, his power is decent since his body is still that of a child.
Even I can handle it.
“No one has ever been able to keep up with me until now, so honestly, I’m surprised.”
“Well, I know Nein-kun is quite powerful.”
“Don’t say that while easily blocking my attacks!”
He leaps into the air with a snap.
Then, like a piercing kick through empty “space,” he accelerates by kicking off nothing.
Jumping two steps like it’s no big deal, is he a game character?
He was a character from a game.
I dodge by a hair’s breadth, grab his leg, and throw him far away.
In response, he skillfully adjusts his posture mid-air like a cat and lands.
“Wow, amazing. I wonder if I can become like you when I reach the same age, Lux-san.”
“You’ll easily surpass me. I’ve just aged normally, but if you’re a genius, you’ll easily surpass me.”
“Despite your words sounding nothing but sarcastic, it’s impressive that I don’t feel any sarcasm from you, geez.”
I stretch a bit and then glance outside the park.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. Just thinking. Even though he’s insensitive, he’s not so insensitive as to do something insensitive.”
“…?”
“Well, in a way, that’s somewhat comforting.”
Seeing my reaction, he makes a slightly amused expression.
Then, picking up a PET bottle from the bench, he quickly finished the contents in one gulp and said, “I’m gonna throw this away,” before dashing out of the park.
“…But there are trash cans in the park.”
Nevertheless, by that time, he had already disappeared from sight.
◆◆◆
The man had come to that place solely to gather information about a man named Lux.
Descendant of the knight who defeated Shizen.
A man dispatched to assess his abilities.
However, what he witnessed there was truly extraordinary, something that should be narrated in a story.
The boy kicked through space as if it were natural, moving with the force of a fierce wind—no, more like a raging gale—turning his body into a deadly weapon and unleashing fatal violence.
Perhaps that boy was the only one capable of avenging the organization alone, and if so, it could result in fatal damage.
Yet, there was a man who effortlessly manipulated such dangerous techniques as if they were child’s play.
He intercepted the fierce wind like a gentle breeze, redirecting, deflecting, and brushing it aside.
It was an unbelievable sight.
The events unfolding before his eyes were truly something that should be recounted as myth.
The issue was the possibility that these events could eventually be directed towards the organization.
That’s why this information needed to be brought back.
They needed to be immediately eradicated with all available forces.
And so—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“G-gh…!”
The man’s consciousness abruptly ended there.
