One minute in, the guests still stood confused over the mysterious man’s sudden presence before them. His face felt welcoming, but his smile gave them chills down their spines. They could not help but think he could kill them all in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, the mages stood their ground, preparing their magic.

The Kizoku twins sweated bullets but dared to walk closer. “Who are you, and how dare you attack our majesty! Hey, stop doing that!” They looked at each other in annoyance, talking in unison.

Feuer stepped in. “He’s no mere man. You lot should be very wary now. He is Elon Gatsby. The world’s finest merchant of death….”

The mentioned man slowly walked to them. “Quite an annoying name, isn’t it, Glatteis? My father never even bothered to give me the family name. He thought of me as a future billionaire, as I was next in line for the fracking business. I have no interest in poisoning the well. Only to make toys for the world, like the one I’m holding right now.” he presented the silver revolver.

“What do you intend to do…?” Feuer readied his magma-based innate ability.

Elon chuckled. “Simple, mate. A little of the old divide and conquer. After all, once again, I am nevermore….” All of a sudden, countless ravens flew around in the room.

As it went on, the birds grew to the point they were human-sized, frightening the non-mage guests. Curiously, not one of them tried to devour or even kill them.

Every mage got distracted by the fiasco. Even Feuer could not hold the ravens off. Beyond all the chaos, Elon turned his revolver on Yukino, who was crying out for her siblings. Once they saw the bullet flying, Kakunō and Kenkō tried reaching out to her but to no avail.

Fortunately, Yukino used her innate ability at the last second. The bullet swerved away and hit a nearby gold statue. However, Elon fired more. At that point, she could not keep up with the projectile rain aimed directly at her. The bullets teleported momentarily to another location when she least expected it.

The assault culminated in Yukino receiving flesh wounds on both forearms and a thigh. She lay on the floor in a fetal position. Kenkō screamed her nickname from afar. Just as Elon pulled the trigger at point-blank range, he awakened the wrath of the Bear in a flash, who protected Yukino in front by deflecting the bullet with her rapier. Kenkō immediately ran for Yukino’s aid.

Tokino breathed heavily with eyes lit up. “Die… I don’t give a shit who you are. Just fucking die, you bastard!” She flash-stepped onto Elon.

Unexpectedly, Elon knew where her weapon would strike. It was as if he had the same ability as her. He did the impossible by dodging every one of Tokino’s perfectly coordinated thrusts—and countered by summoning a murder of crows. Even the birds knew where to peck, and as a result, Tokino received excruciatingly painful gashes. She stood in place and panted.

Elon smirked at her. “I’ve heard about your innate ability: ‘Nostradamus.’ Foresight is always troublesome. However, I can ‘feel’ fate itself thrust upon me. And it’s never uncertain, unlike your power.”

No matter the pain, Tokino carried on and flash-stepped again. However, she now had no chance for victory. Elon stood still with a smile, and as her rapier pierced his face, it turned into a mass of black feathers. His head reconstituted, then he delivered a decisive blow. He summoned a raven that sailed right through her stomach at blinding speeds.

“Tokino!!” Haruto shouted, seeing his unconscious wife bleeding so much on the floor. At that moment, he inherited her rage, teeth clenching. “You bastard!!!” He flash-stepped toward the culprit and delivered a flurry of sword strikes.

Unlike his wife, Elon took care of Haruto with a simple turning kick, hurling him enough to crack a wall. He finished their “fight” with another murder of crows aimed at his vital spots. Haruto screamed in agony and fell on his face.

Yukino gasped with eyes widened. “Mama!! Papa!!” She tried running to her aid, but her older siblings held her off. Copious tears flowed out.

Elon sighed and turned around. “Don’t cry, little one. I can fully heal your beloved parents—but only in time. I wish to enjoy the party on my own while it lasts….”

“‘Ey, Feathers! Ya forgot about Lenore,” said a sudden voice behind Elon, hammering down a gold statue onto him. The ballroom floor rippled, splintering the wood into shreds. He escaped—but his right deltoid muscle got sliced off when the statue’s sword made contact.

Hokori walked closer, eyes narrowed. “If I remember your powers correctly… you deadass be tellin’ me dat you knew I was gon’ wound ya n’ shit?” He cracked his knuckles.

Elon held his upper arm and panted. “Yes, you’re right, Udemaeno… But if I didn’t act upon it—this day would have been my last….” He kept his smile.

Hokori walked closer. “So, now what? You gon’ fight or nah? I hate answers that go nowhere….” He cracked his neck.

He sighed with his eyes closed. “No, I won’t, sadly…” he backed away slowly, “…I can never compete against your pride, mate. It perfectly matches your strength….”

Hokori did not tolerate the notion one bit. He appeared before Elon as if teleporting, “Too bad for you, bitch! Ya ain’t welcome ‘ere!!” he delivered a lariat. Elon tried to turn his body into a mass of ravens, but the attack moved too fast. It sent him far into the sky at Mach 6. Elon’s travel did not stop, even when he had already gone past the whole city.

Hokori told everyone to stay back and leaped twenty kilometers away in a single bound outside.

Elon massively hit the ground multiple times, destroying terrain in the process. He groaned from his injuries and slowly got back up, snapping back his dislocated joints. His adversary stood in front of him once again. “You never change, do you, Udemaeno? That’s all I have to say for now.” He panted.

“Well, good… Cuz now you’re lookin’ like a lot of fun tonight. I still hate your guts for harming my family, though.” Hokori flash-stepped before Elon and uppercut him. Its shockwave alone warped the land into barren birt. However, Elon moved away long before he made his move.

In response, he chuckled and clapped his hands. “Nice dodge, dipshit. Now, I wanna see ya dance faster!” He delivered a barrage of punches in front. It sent Elon flying in Mach 7. Hokori’s arms looked like they never even moved during the attack.

He praised Elon again, detailing how he would have been dealt with effortlessly with the first punch. Moments later, Hokori switched in his attacks with devastating kicks this time.

At first, Elon thought of them as slower than punches, but he felt “fate” telling him to be on the defensive. Hokori flung him to a forest via a right turning kick. Trees spanning two thousand acres uprooted from the ground it stuck on. Hokori jumped nearby him and chuckled. “Y’know somethin’, dipshit? I deadass be lookin’ like the villain right now, ain’t I?” he pointed to himself with a thumb.

A bloodied Elon groaned and got up slowly. He clutched his left upper arm as he limped away. “Precisely, mate… You’re giving me no breather whatsoever. Do you have to be so cruel?” Once again, he kept his calm smile.

Hokori gave out a hearty laugh. “Of course! Dis world ain’t no place for no hero. So fuck off, will ya!” Hokori threw a straight punch, but his enemy dodged by a hair again.

As a last resort, Elon summoned ravens—far more numerous than the ones back in the ballroom. The distraction worked as he expected since Hokori became more excited about killing the birds. However, he handled them more effortlessly than he thought.

Even when the ravens grew into building size, their blood and innards instantly stained the land due to Hokori’s onslaught; he grinned and laughed throughout the slaughter. Elon rode one of the giants crows and flew high into the sky. Unfortunately, that only resulted in him becoming an easy target.

Hokori appeared right behind him as if teleporting. The world slowed to a crawl at that moment. Elon turned around and tried to transform into a mass of ravens again.

Hokori’s uppercut turned Elon into a twinkle in the sky. All the ravens he created dissipated into ebony smoke.

Hokori went back to Harald’s mansion. He saw his comrades accompanying Yukino sitting on a chair. Kenkо̄ managed to fully heal the Minagawa family. Tokino stepped in, tears rolling as she asked her daughter about her safety. “I’m fine, Mama. I really am,” Yukino demanded. “I’m sorry if I worried you….”

Tokino’s tears flowed out more, teeth clenching. She immediately hugged her tightly. “No… No, don’t be. I wasn’t worried. I was terrified…” she rubbed her back, “…I know that you’re strong on your own. But I can’t stand losing you, honey. I’ll never forgive myself….” She sobbed further.

A nearby Haruto shed a small tear as well. “I’m so sorry, Yukino. I’m a terrible father…” he clutched his chest, “…But I’ll do better! I promise….” His eyes narrowed, filled with pure determination.

A nearby Harald announced for all of his guests to vacate. He commanded the brigade mages to strengthen their city’s security measures.

“Sir… who was that man?” Haruto asked, walking to him.

The king’s stern eyes looked away beyond a large window. “Elon Jay Gatsby… A weapons tinkerer who thrives in the black market. A reborn human—who also happens to be an Earthly Mytho….”

“‘Earthly Mytho’…?” his eyes squinted.

Harald sighed and turned to him. “Haven’t Hokori told you already? The world we live in is incredibly vast. So who’s to say—that earthly folktales do not exist as real people here?” He held his shoulder, “All of you must act vigilantly tomorrow, Haruto. We are in this together. And this world’s whimsical nature doesn’t just stop with folktales….”

Haruto’s eyes squinted further. “‘Whimsical’…?”

Somewhere outside Coelestis in the sky, mechanical airships donning jolly rogers illegally parked on the city’s airspace. Elon slowly opened his eyes and got up. Looking around, he realized he was aboard the largest ship present. He yawned and stretched. “Am I a cabin boy now, mate…?” he turned his head, smiling.

A tall, tricorne-wearing man sat on a chair and grinned. “Hahahahahaha! We’re not old-timey swashbucklers, bud. But the spirit lives on….” he sharpened his two-meter-long cutlass with a whetstone.

Elon stood up. “Yes… I can clearly see that, mate. And it appears we’re much more alike than we thought—considering we call each other with the same term.”

The mysterious man stood up as well. “Nope… We don’t say ‘mate’ around here. Unless you really want us to. Mate….” The captain walked to the main deck; Elon followed. Outside, a thousand crewmates loaded cannons with metallic, cylindrical ammunition that glowed blue.

Elon sweated bullets and smiled nervously. “Oh, c’mon now, mate… We’re not at war. All of this is way too much….”