A few minutes ago, when it was almost New Year's.

At almost the very top of a world-level tall tower known as the "Sky Tree," which was over six hundred meters tall, a silver-haired boy in black Sakura Island clothing was sitting here.

This was definitely no location an ordinary tourist would be able to reach. At such height, just the powerful and chilly winds alone would be impossible for any normal person to withstand. It was obvious that this boy who was sitting here so relaxedly was no ordinary person.

He looked down at the city below him, humming a fun and casual song while shaking his head.

After he finished humming his song, he fell quiet for a few seconds before speaking up, "Tsubame, give me one more gla.s.s, please."

There was no response.

"I know that I've drank more than allowed already, but I just want one more gla.s.s."

There was still no response.

"It's almost about to be the New Year's. How can such an important moment be without alcohol?" He clasped his hands together in an imploring manner as he looked beside him. "Please~ Tsubame~ Give me one more gla.s.s, just one tiny little gla.s.s~" He lowered his head and even begged.

There was the sound of a sigh.

Then, a cyan-colored wine flagon and an exquisite gla.s.s materialized in midair as fragrant wine poured out from the flagon into the gla.s.s.

"Thank you! I love you the most!"

The young man gave his pa.s.sionate thanks as he received the wine gla.s.s and immediately took a sip, revealing a blissful expression.

"You have quite a way of having fun, finding such a place to enjoy the scenery while enjoying some wine," a voice suddenly spoke up beside him.

The silver-haired boy turned around to see that a black-haired beauty had arrived next to him without him realizing it.

"Hey, Qilin."

"I told you not to address me like that," the girl stated coldly.

"Qi-chan, then?"

"Do you want me to kick you off from here?"

"Er… Milady then?"

The girl didn't say no to this.

"Milady, why did you come to find me?"

"To kill you."

"Eh!?"

"If you do anything strange, that's what will happen."

"Hey, hey… don't scare me." The silver-haired boy seemed to be frightened.

"I'm just stating the facts." The black-haired girl looked at him. "At such an important time, you're actually not staying where you should be… If I discover that you're doing something you shouldn't, I'll simply have to kill you."

"So scary…" The young man was s.h.i.+vering.

The girl retracted her gaze and turned to look at the city below her.

It was about time.

All those people below amongst all the lights didn't have an inkling of what the New Year that was about to arrive really represented.

It would be the arrival of a new era, but at the same time also the return of an old era.

Long, long ago, people feared the darkness, and relied on each other and the power of numbers to resist against their fear of the unknown.

By now, people ignored the darkness, and ignored each other as well, forgetting what their ancestors had faced head-on as well as the precious things they used to possess.

The relations.h.i.+ps between people became less than in the past as they used the intangible internet to fulfill their needs for communication and connection to others. They believed that this would make them independent enough to face everything as they abandoned many things that they should have valued as precious.

They never knew that the darkness had always been present, and never left.

Nor did they know that some things that seemed as st.u.r.dy as stone were far easier to break than they thought.

This included both electric lights in the darkness as well as the never-resting internet.

What would people do if these so-called foundations of modern life disappeared?

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" the silver-haired boy spoke up. "When looking at it from above, the entire city seems just like a treasure box that's giving off such an alluring light."

The black-haired girl looked towards the young man. She saw that his eyes were sparkling.

"Such a brilliant scene will be swallowed by darkness in just a while. Just thinking of this, it seems all the more beautiful… it's so amazing." The young man took another small sip of his wine as he exclaimed, "Everything beautiful in the world is at its most beautiful moment right before it's about to be destroyed! The moment before it's destroyed, its beauty is at a peak that can't be surpa.s.sed by any artwork in the world! Only human souls can experience such beauty!!"

The girl hmphed coldly upon hearing his high-pitched words. "How vulgar."

"…Milady, what do you think of all this, then?"

"There's no need to tell you."

"Don't be like that, tell me~ We're companions! We're seeing this moment together, so there's nothing wrong with talking about what you think." The silver-haired boy chuckled.

"I've never treated you as my companion. There's nothing to discuss with you," the black-haired girl stated coldly.

"So cold! But, an icy beauty type is pretty nice as well, or should I say that you're a tsundere?"

*Boom!*

The silver-haired boy was kicked off the high tower.

"Wahhh!!" he shouted pitifully as he dropped from such a height.

Suddenly, a pitch-black claw emerged from the darkness and accurately caught him.

"Thank you… Tsubame…" He sat up on the claw and looked at his winegla.s.s while almost crying.

"The wine spilled… can I have another gla.s.s?"

There was the sound of yet another helpless sigh.

It was almost time.

The black-haired girl watched the city and silently waited.

The moment she was waiting for arrived.

All the blinding lights in the city, the street lights, in everyone's houses, in various buildings and businesses… they all went out!

It seemed just like a large candle that had been blown out.

Everything sank into darkness.

"Happy New Year," the girl said lightly.

She wasn't talking to anyone in particular. She was only talking to the new generation.

Not only had the electricity gone out, there was no cell phone signals or internet.

As they took a taxi to the hospital where Natsuya had helped him set up the right to receive magical-related treatment, Seiji held on to Reo as he looked outside the taxi's window. Apart from other cars' lights, there was only darkness.

The traffic lights were using a backup power source, so traffic was still able to proceed as normal.

"Could this have happened to the entire city?" Seiji muttered to himself.

What did he feel just earlier? It was so strong that it stopped all electricity and communications signals!?

It seemed like it had a huge area of effect, although he was unsure just how huge it was.

Was Peach-sensei affected? Did she have a fever just like Reo?

He was unable to call her, so there was no way to contact Mayuzumi and ascertain her situation. Seiji was quite worried.

Not long later, the taxi reached the hospital. The hospital also had a backup power generator, and had some basic lights on.

After paying the taxi driver his fare, Seiji got off the taxi together with s.h.i.+ka and rushed towards the hospital door with Reo in his arms.

The female doctor on duty gave the little girl a checkup and informed them that the reason for Reo's condition had something to do with her soul. There was no way to cure it, but they could suppress her fever with medicine.

'The cause is in her soul… it must be due to her mysterious power as I thought!' Seiji furrowed his eyebrows.

Luckily, medicine was available to help reduce her fever.

The female doctor prescribed some medicine for Reo and arranged a high-cla.s.s hospital room for her to receive an IV drip in.

Seiji was able to sigh in at least some relief after seeing her condition obviously improve.

"s.h.i.+kchan, stay here and take care of Reo. I'm going to go look for Peach-sensei," he told her.

Although he was unsure if Mayuzumi would be in her apartment right now for New Year's, he had to go take a look.

After leaving the hospital, Seiji checked his cell phone again. There was still no signal.

The city was pitch-dark and all forms of communication were shut down… it felt to him as if time had reversed to an older era without electric lights or cell phones.

He faintly heard the sound of a bell. He figured it came from a nearby temple.

According to stories, ringing a bell was supposed to help clear away frustrations for the New Year. However, with the city in its current situation, the frustrations probably wouldn't be so easily cleared.

'What an awful New Year… just what b.a.s.t.a.r.d caused all this!?'