kscans

Chapter 826 - I Exist Because I Think of You, The World Continues Because I Wish It So, Part One

The first anomaly was on the laptop's screen.

The monitor, which had been displaying only a green crystal amidst the darkness, was suddenly wracked with static, the gentle, pale light torn asunder as it raged.

And then,

"Huh?!"

"Hyaah…!?"

"Whoa!?"

The second anomaly struck the artisans' hands.

With the exception of the current and former leaders, who had anticipated the abnormality and braced themselves, cries of surprise erupted from a blue-haired girl, a green-haired one, and a single dinosaur. But every single one of them was met with rejection; the hands of all five artisans deploying the formula were simultaneously thrown back from their terminals.

And then, the third anomaly.

"…Just now, at the end…"

"Yeah… it moved."

It wasn't that they weren't surprised. But with the composure befitting their ranks, and making full use of the split-second of preparation they had, the two of them hadn't been simply thrown back empty-handed. They murmured to each other.

Murmured, as they both turned to face the same direction… the complete opposite of where my partner was currently holding back the pandemonium.

"Haru."

They called my name, their tones troubled. It was, without a doubt,

"…Think you can manage one more push?"

"If you can't… well, let's just say… I have a really bad feeling about this."

—a plea for help.

Yes, of course it was. Anyone who saw that thing would steel their hearts and request a reboot, even from a groggy mess of a guy who had exhausted his mind and body to the very brink.

It was an unnatural, extremely game-like spectacle.

While there were similar things, like enemy spawn animations, the ones I knew were seamlessly integrated into Arcadia's photorealistic graphics, designed to minimize any sense of違和感 (dissonance).

"""""…"""""

But the literal 'foreign object' that had appeared, the one all of us, myself included, were now staring at, was so mismatched with the world that it threatened to break my brain… it was almost unpleasant to look at.

A gaudy, pitch-black mass of polygons.

It emerged from the void, clattering, sloshing, and squelching as it stuck together and grew, a mysterious, bizarre, and grotesque existence whose substance couldn't be grasped by sight.

It made no sense. There was no way to understand what was happening.

But if there was one thing I could instinctively sense—

"…Natsume-senpai?"

"…What is it?"

"May I ask for your assistance?"

"…Even if you didn't ask, I have to stand up. There's no other choice, is there…!"

—it was that whatever that thing was becoming, that thing that was constantly adhering to itself and growing, that thing that was projecting an intensely chilling 'will'… was something utterly and fatally dangerous to us.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—H-huh… wh-what…?"

An earth-shaking tremor, and then, an indescribably awful sensation. Feeling it come from behind her, the girl spun around, her eyes met with a sight that was both meaningless and incomprehensible.

A black mass, growing in volume at an accelerating rate. It wasn't the physiological revulsion one might feel from an insect-type enemy, but a different kind of discomfort, one she couldn't quite put into words.

And then, their eyes met.

"—Hk…!?"

Gyorori—a massive, single eye opened.

Through countless adhesions, it had achieved a form so large it had to be looked up at even from a distance. It resembled a lizard, yet also a lion, and also a great bird… a form so distorted, bizarre, and unpleasant that no suitable name could be chosen for it.

It couldn't even be called quadrupedal. It wasn't crawling; it seemed to be merely throwing its leg-like appendages, which simply grew from its body, onto the ground.

Despite being a single shade of lusterless black, it looked disturbingly lifelike. And not on its 'head,' but right in the center of what appeared to be its torso, a single eye, as if torn from its very body, had opened.

◆◇◆◇◆

I felt like it was looking straight at me… no, that's not it.

Because I knew… that it was looking at me.

◆◇◆◇◆

I felt like it was looking straight at me.

"—Ruby!"

As if to kick away the fear of the unknown and the terror of ignorance, the girl took up her staff and swung her sword.

The name she called was her starlight shadow. The body she wore was a mirror. Seven tails swayed in the air. Activating Trance and uniting in 'Possession,' she poured her overflowing magic into the soul-bound ring, along with her wish.

It's scary, terrifying, I don't understand, but none of that matters.

Because when she looked behind her.

"Sword Ring (Schwert Kreis)."

Far away, back to back. As always, as if it were a matter of course, even when faced with an unknown that made her tremble—

—the sight of her partner, ready to face it, filled her vision.

"Twin Performance of a Thousand Swords (Zwei Tausend)!!"

Her heart was easily roused, as if there was no need to be afraid.

◇◆◇◆◇

"…I can't even tell which one is the real monster anymore."

"Hey now, even you, senpai, are not allowed to call my partner a monster."

"If it's a girl that honest and super-duper cute, I'd welcome her even if she was a monster."

"You're acquitted."

"Get a grip, you Soracon."

Just as I thought the incomprehensible black mass had performed its dramatic eye-opening, a thousand supporting strikes from my partner flew in from behind and began to hack the giant, bizarre form to pieces.

A thousand swords here, a thousand swords there; as always, my partner is invincible.

And, just as I suspected, no matter how long I waited, no status bar popped up above the monster's head. It didn't even display a name, leaving me with absolutely no material to even begin to guess what it was.

However,

"…It looks like it's in pain."

"Sure does."

"…I think we can assume it's working."

"Yeah, looks like it."

There were no screams. No exaggerated reactions.

But I could definitely see it flinching from Sora's magic swords—each with its own trajectory quirks, undoubtedly the work of that little fox, Ruby—as the thousand blades assailed it.

Other than that, I knew nothing. But…

"Well then, I guess I'll get serious too…! I'm counting on you lot over there, you esteemed folks!!"

"You got it! Leave it to us!"

"Roger that! Go get 'em!"

This is a raid. Which means this crazy thing that just appeared deserves to be beaten up. If it's got enough common sense to feel pain when it's cut, then there's no need to overthink things—oh, look, it's starting to move forward.

Its path is a straight line to the laptop.

At the very least, letting it get close is probably a bad idea.

"Are you okay to charge at that? In both senses of the word."

"I don't know about one, but the other is fine. I've memorized the trajectory patterns."

"…I see. You two are so well-matched it's laughable."

Its hostility and the threat it posed were more than clear. Which meant we had no choice but to challenge it.

About five minutes had passed since Sora and the others joined us. Reinforcements had to be arriving any second now. All my exhausted body needed to do was buy another ten, maybe twenty seconds.

"In that case… well, I'll support you as much as I can."

"Yeah, thanks."

And, for better or for worse.

The final trump card I could bet to achieve that—

"'The Red Circle remains in this world.'"

—dwells within me, a power that surpasses miracles.

---

It's okay for things you don't understand to remain that way.

For now.