I landed at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport, following which I got in the car that the Government of Thailand had prepared and headed towards the building that was under the control of ESCAP.
Accompanying me was a member from Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was also apparently a member of the United Nations as well. I was told that the building wasn't that far and so we'd get there in a bit.
After hitting the road, I looked outside the car's window only to be left speechless.
On both sides of the road there were crowds of people that were waving the flag of Thailand. Thinking that maybe some kind of festival was going on, I decided to ask the person accompanying me.
"What are you saying.They're here to welcome you Mr. Gojo."
"What!?"
'This amount of people are here to welcome me?' I couldn't believe it.
"As expected they probably wanted to see the world famous here up front.Similar to them, I'm also honored that I was able to accompany you today."
'I was holed up within the Self-Defense Force's base this whole time so it never really hit me, but is it like this in other countries as well I wonder?'
"I thought that everyone would be afraid of me…"
"It's true that there are some people like that.After all people tend to be cautious around things that they cannot comprehend.However, there is no denying that you saved the world Mr. Gojo"
All of the people outside were shouting various things. I couldn't understand what they were saying, however I could feel that they were happy to welcome me.
There were also some posters written in Japanese here and there.
[Thank you] [We're grateful] [Welcome] and so on… I was trying to keep a poker face however I was happy on the inside.
Afterwards the car left the main road and proceeded towards the ESCAP building's site.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
"I got a message from Wan.They'll be here soon.We should try to meet up with them while still being cautious."
I had taken some of The Sanctuary Knights' members with me and had come to the United Nations' Executive Office building in Bangkok by car. It was usually a place with high traffic, however currently the roads were closed, so only certain cars were able to get in.
Before coming here I had already contacted Gojo as well, so if the Black Knight happened to appear, the three of us would meet up and surround him.
However, there was still that possibility that he wouldn't show up at all…
"Gress I'm leaving the appraisal to you."
"I've got it covered Master Leo!"
The people that had come with me were Freya, Carlo, Anna, Elias, Luke and Gress. With me, there were 7 of us in total. The reason why I took Gress with me, even though he couldn't fight, was to have him appraise the Black Knight.
I wanted to get as much information about this mysterious enemy before fighting him.
After meeting up with Wan and Suzaku's members, we discussed how we would split up and where we would wait for the Black Knight to appear.
"I hope you'll forgive me, I wasn't able to get the Chinese Government's permission so I couldn't bring a lot of people.Besides me there's only two of my men."
"That's enough.I'm just grateful that you came."
Apart from Wan, two of Suzaku's members had come. One of them was holding a spear while the other a bow.
We decided that Suzaku's members would guard the inside of the ESCAP building, and The Sanctuary Knights would divide into three groups, with one of them guarding the inside of the Executive Office building, while the other two would be situated outside of the venue.
We had already informed the Government of Thailand of our plan beforehand, and they had helped us by forbidding the entry for ordinary people within the site of the building.
However, they were forced to allow people associated with the media to enter. After all if they forbid their entry as well the whole point of this Public Hearing would be lost.
There was a possibility that they would end up getting dragged in the fight, however there was nothing we could do about it.
We wanted to act without getting found out by the media, however rumors that The Sanctuary Knights and Suzaku were here had apparently already started making their way.
"Will he really come…" whispered Luke.
We were riding in a car and looking around the outside of the building. In the car there was me, Luke and Gress the three of us.
We were currently stopped at a place that normally didn't allow it, however we had gotten permission so it was fine.
"I don't know whether he'll come or not, the only thing we can do is wait patiently." I said, while preparing myself, thinking that this would turn into a dragged out fight.
Just as we were talking――
Leo: "What is this?Is it the people from the media… They sure are noisy."
The press crops in front of the building appeared to have moved all at once.
"I'll go check it out." I said while getting in the car and began driving on the road that led to the ESCAP building.
After getting there, I saw numerous people making a scene while trying to take pictures of something. I circled around to try and get a better look myself, what I saw was…
A knight donning a jet black armor was leisurely walking down the middle of the road.
Due to his completely relaxed demeanor the people from the media were probably thinking he was some sort of cosplayer and were wildly taking his pictures.
After all the appearance of the Black Knight hadn't been made public. There was no way for them to know that the person standing in front of them was the infamous mutant killer.
"So that's the Black Knight!"
I never thought that he would appear so casually. I immediately contacted everyone and let them know that the Black Knight had appeared.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
"What's up?"
"Isn't that Leo Garcia from The Sanctuary Knights!?"
"So the rumor that The Sanctuary Knights were here was true?"
The people from the media currently surrounding the United Nations building slowly began to realize what was going on. The press crops within the building began coming out and gathering on the main road as well.
What they saw when they came out could be described as strange.
The Sanctuary Knights and Suzaku's members were currently encircling a knight donning a black armor.
No one knew what was going on, however seeing them readying their weapons, the thought that the black knight might be the mutant killer slowly began popping up in their minds.
The ordinary citizens that were standing a bit farther off could also feel something changing.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Gress: "Is he stupid!?"
Starting with Master Leo, everyone had already picked up their weapons. No matter how strong he may be, there was no way he could escape from this.
What I also saw was that Gojo was coming out of the building next to us as well. He was wielding an enormous sword… It was the first time I was seeing this weapon, however it seemed that Gojo was completely focused on the Black Knight.
I proceeded to appraise the Black Knight just as Master Leo had ordered me before.
"What in the world!?"
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Gojo:'So that's the Black Knight… He really has a strange air about him. I wonder how strong he really is…' Thinking that I appraised him――
Hubris
Hero Lv 99
[Class Skills]
Light Protection Rank SSS Title: "Light's Guide"
Swordsmanship Rank SSS Title: "Sword Saint"
Magic Sword Rank SS
Assassination Rank A
Sorcery Rank B
Protection Rank B
Healing Rank C
[Unique Skills]
Cage of Grief
[Skills] [Magic]
Strength Increase (XXIV) Light Magic (XII)
Physical Resistance (XVIII) Dark Magic (XVI)
Magic Resistance (XII) Fire Magic (XV)
Agility (XIX) Healing Magic (VII)
Stealth (VIII)
Growth Speed (X)
'What!?A Hero?'
Just as I thought that, the Black Knight appeared right in front of Elias.
Just as the Black Knight's strike was about to land on Elias he somehow managed to react and put up his Protection skill, which barely blocked the strike but was completely shattered creating a shockwave which sent Elias back.
Apart from me, everyone standing here immediately jumped towards the Black Knight to attack him. However due to it currently being mid-day, the Black Knight gained from his Light Protection Skill.
Furthermore, he also had the title that came with it, making it even more dangerous. While those thoughts were running through my mind I decided to stop time.
However, the Black Knight still plunged his sword in the ground and whispered something.
"EH?"
The Black Knight pulled out his sword creating a terrifying shock wave which headed directly towards Leo and the others, blasting them off.
Thinking that I had to do something I went to their help, however I was still shocked about my time manipulation not working. This was a first.
Furthermore, when I tried to stop the shockwaves with Barrier, Barrier wouldn't activate as well…
'What's going on!?'
I faced the Black Knight and lowered my Adamantium Great Sword towards him. However he was easily able to stop my full force attack, and even began to counterattack.
Our swords collided and I could clearly feel the weight of my opponent's strike.
'Strange… Normally when I use Gravity Manipulation on the Adamantium Great Sword, it makes it as light as a feather which allows me to use it easily, however now it's just way too heavy and I can't control it properly.'
The Black Knight's sword grazed my shoulder leaving a slight wound that didn't heal…
'What's going on!?Is he behind all of this!?'
I went back creating some distance between us, which gave me chance to appraise his Unique Skill
[Unique Skills]
Cage of Grief:Prevents the effects of any and all Unique Skillswithin a certain range.