kscans

Chapter 205 - Cheat Bro VS Villainess

"...Looks like it worked."

Just past midnight on November 25th. That was the current time. Localized time manipulation was one thing, but I had never experienced time manipulation on this scale before. I was a little worried, but it seemed I managed to successfully rewind time. If all I wanted was to restore the world, rewinding it by a day would have been enough, but a whole month is easier to work with.

"Now then, what to do."

I was the only one here at the secret base on Okutama Island. Of course I was, since it was a month ago. There was no other version of me from the same timeline. I had chosen a type of rewind that did not create those kinds of inconsistencies.

"...First things first, I guess I'll have them hear me out."

I sent a telepathic message to Chika-san, Takahashi, and Suzuki. I asked if they could meet right away about something important, and though they were a little flustered, they agreed. They might have sensed how much trouble I was in. They told me to call for them after ten minutes, so I waited ten minutes before teleporting the three of them over.

"""Eh?"""

The three of them seemed rather bewildered. What was it? No, it did not matter. Sorry, but they needed to hear what I had to say right now.

"...For now, please sit."

"""Ah, okay."""

I did not even have the time to spare brewing tea, so I offered them bottles of it instead.

"Hiro, what's this important thing you wanted to talk about..."

"Ah, yeah, about that. A month from now, the world was destroyed."

The moment I led with that,

"""...Huh?"""

Yeah, I guess that would be their reaction. But it was true. It was so true that I could only tell people I trusted from the bottom of my heart. Well, I would share the information with others later. First, I needed to get things in order.

"Um, I don't really get what you're saying."

"What do you mean it was destroyed, not that it will be destroyed?"

"It wouldn't be strange if you could see the future, Hiro, but..."

"It was seriously destroyed once. The Earth was blown away, along with the entire solar system. Then I rewound time and made it so it never happened."

"""..."""

The three of them smiled sweetly.

"""Don't mess with us!"""

"N. No, you might not believe me, but it's true..."

"That's not what we mean! What's with you dropping a story like that on us out of nowhere!!"

"We wouldn't think! That you'd suddenly tell us something like that!?"

"Besides, what's the point of telling us!? Tell the heads of the pantheons first!!"

"Wait, so we died once!?"

"And what's with you not dying, Satou-kun!?"

"This makes no sense at all!!"

...It seemed I had not been as calm as I thought, either. This was definitely not something to be revealed in a lighthearted tone. I should have prefaced it by saying it was a seriously bad situation. After they had shouted for a while, the three of them seemed to have calmed down, so I began again.

"Given the circumstances, I could only talk to people I truly trusted first... I'm sorry."

"Haa... I'm sorry, I lost my composure. I understand how you feel, Hiro."

"Even you would panic if you were the only one aware of such an incomprehensible situation, Satou-kun."

"My bad. Please explain again."

"Yeah."

I disclosed everything. The sequence of events, the culprit's identity, and all the information I had at this stage...

"""What a pain in the ass..."""

"Right!?"

"The scale of her tantrum is way too big..."

"She should just be content with her own world, she's so annoying."

"Why'd she have to drag our world into it, seriously, she can go die."

I know, right. They were absolutely correct. Anyone I told this to would likely have the same reaction.

"To think she's on par with the current you, Hiro, or even stronger. That's not funny."

"...Well, it seems she's a rare case even for another world."

"She may have destroyed several worlds, but it seems this was her first time running into someone like Satou."

And to make matters worse, it seemed there was no one else in this universe who could hold their own against me. It was the solar system that got blown away, but that one attack had left the universe itself on the verge of death. Despite that, I was the only one who charged into the villainess's domain. Were they just watching? Even so, the battle had already ended for the time being. They should have taken action and tried to contact me long ago. But there was no sign of that. If they had the power to match me, distance would be irrelevant. I went all out, so they could have just used that reaction to teleport.

"...It's almost certain the villainess will come with numbers, right?"

"Yeah. She'll probably invade other worlds and forcibly round them up."

Because that is what I would do if I were in her shoes. A horde of nobodies would not be able to kill me, but if they could chip away at my strength even a little, it would be a win for her. When two opponents are evenly matched, the slightest difference can decide the victor. If she intended to use every card in her hand, gathering numbers would be a natural step. That is why I had to prepare numbers of my own. To reduce my burden, even if just by a little.

"An all out war, huh... But hey, Satou."

"I know. We can't rely on Earth's gods."

She was a woman who became so irritated with her god, a father who loved humanity, that she rebelled against him. Rear support might still be safe, but if the gods stood on the front lines and showed any sign of protecting humans, she would definitely snap. What about agitating her to make her lose her cool? Well, that might work on some opponents, but it would be meaningless against her. I mean, she rebelled out of pure emotion, got sealed away, and then destroyed worlds when she found out her god was dead. Riling up the emotions of someone like that, who was still in the middle of a tantrum because her anger had not subsided, would just be adding fuel to the fire. It would be one thing if her anger remained within a scope we could control, but putting the gods on the front lines would make it completely uncontrollable.

"Then how about asking extraterrestrial lifeforms to fight with us?"

"Or... right, how about we take our story to a different world that hasn't been destroyed?"

"That'd be difficult."

Aliens exist. And since I can operate in space without any problems, I could probably find a planet with life. But there was not enough time to get from there to forming a joint front. The same goes for other worlds. I could not just forcibly drag them into this like the villainess. That was a tactic only someone with nothing to lose could use. The fact that we have to win is unshakable, but we also have to think about what comes after we win. We do not have the luxury of scattering unnecessary seeds of conflict. It has been proven that beings who can match me exist out there, even if not in this universe. It would be too optimistic to think the villainess is the first and last of her kind. Causing a possibility of attracting another dangerous enemy as a result of our own lawless actions would be completely counterproductive.

"Satou-kun, what about using time manipulation to take our time and prepare carefully?"

"Mm, hmm... No, that's impossible. I don't have enough resources."

The top priority was to create an environment where I could fight at full power without worrying about what was behind me. I had already thought of a way to do that, but it would consume an enormous amount of resources. I may use time manipulation casually, but it is a technique that uses up a lot. I can use it so readily because these are peaceful times, but in the current situation, I do not have the leeway to use it for negotiations. Then what about a god who can manipulate time? That is also impossible. Based on the laws I heard from Dr. Kawasaki, they cannot wield their power outside of Earth. Besides, I have other things I want to ask the gods to do besides fighting on the front lines. It is part of creating the environment for me to fight at full power, and by my calculations, the gods' resources will be stretched to their absolute limit.

"So we have to manage this with only Earth, is that it?"

I was really glad I had called the three of them. I could feel the information in my head getting organized as I exchanged opinions with others.

"We can't deny we'll be at a numerical disadvantage... so that means we'll have to raise the quality of our forces. What are your thoughts on that?"

"Ah, about that..."

Our discussion continued until dawn.