Chapter 2

In an instant, he disappeared from his opponents' sight, leaving them stunned by their target's sudden display of inhuman agility, of which they had been unaware. With his superior thinking, physical dexterity, and body control, Sora moved easily through most people's blind spots, appearing as a blur to those who caught a glimpse of him.

 

——Before being hit hard in the face with knees or fists, accidentally knocking off their ridiculous masks, with blood gushing from their mouths while pieces of teeth flew through the air while a gust of wind blew some trash.

 

With a perpetually cocky grin on his face, Sora quickly knocked out five of the clowns before having to block a bat attack using his arm; protecting himself by having his skin, muscles, cells, and bones structurally reinforced by a smooth and constant control of his Chi that one wouldn't believe could be done in the middle of a hectic fight.

 

A cracking sound was heard, but it wasn't Sora's reinforced arm that broke, but rather the bat, which fractured due to the strong recoil of its own kinetic energy. The attacking clown's hands trembled from the unexpectedly strong recoil before he was kicked away, unable to properly respond to his opponent.

 

Gritting his teeth behind his mask, another of the clowns lunged at Sora, taking advantage of his current position, and hit him in the back with a bat filled with electricity, only for him to lean back with a grimace as if the electrical energy was no big deal while his parka smoked.

 

—This was my favorite parka, your Lars!

 

Shouting like that while placing both hands on the ground, Sora slammed his face down with a vertical kick and did a backflip, dodging another bat attack that broke the asphalt on the ground and unleashed another gust of wind, almost as if a hurricane was about to occur.

 

The clown's jaw, brutally beaten, seemed about to break. But fortunately for him, Sora wasn't a murderer, nor did he intend to render him jawless. He simply rendered him unconscious; although his jaw and neck would ache for a long time.

 

As for the one who attacked with that glowing bat of great destructive power, Sora scooped up dirt from the ground and threw it in his face on a whim with an amused smile.

 

—Argh! W-what!?

 

He was quickly knocked out when Sora repeated the Leonidas-style kick with grace.

 

—L-Lars!

 

—This is ridiculous!

 

—You didn't pay me enough for this, you Fuyumi bastards!

 

The sound of bats falling from the ground was heard when, suddenly... the other clowns screamed and ran away, not caring about their friends. Sora watched, stupefied, as they ran away from him at full speed as if their lives depended on it. His parka was still smoking as his arms dangled helplessly at such absurdity.

 

"Wait! Seriously? You're just leaving? Come back here, cowards!" he exclaimed furiously. Of course, those guys ignored him. Obviously, they weren't masochists who would just stand there waiting to get the beating of their lives. They weren't brave/stupid enough for that.

 

—Those Lars...

 

Sora sighed in disappointment at this disappointing ending. But thinking about it, he laughed. Why did he think they'd fight to the bitter end against someone who defeated half of them in just 15 seconds or less?

 

—Shit! I have to get out of here...!

 

Belatedly remembering that the IACO—Illegal Anomaly Containment Organization—would obviously be called upon by the civilians during this event, Sora quickly grabbed her bag from the convenience store and began fleeing the crime scene in the direction of a certain apartment, where her sexy friend with benefits lived.

 

He may have been the "victim" in this case, but even though it didn't seem like one at all, Sora had no interest in contacting the Anomalous Containment Team again. Perhaps they would call him later... but today, he wanted to feel Yuna's skin against his own.

 

My dear Yūna-chan will definitely have to comfort me in bed after being attacked so brutally like that—!

 

——Shigaraki Sora's cheeky thoughts were interrupted when suddenly, the pharmaceutical building in front of him exploded due to an attack from the sky.

Sensing the sudden danger just seconds before, the young man simply jumped from the spot using all his strength and chi field to perform an incredibly high jump away from the blast radius while covering his face with his arms.

 

Dropping over a railing of a nearby building like Spiderman, Sora simply stared with horror-filled eyes at the destruction as flames already engulfed the bodies of the fallen criminals, and raised his head to see lightning forming in the sky as what appeared to be a massive, humanoid machine slowly descended towards Earth with blue electronic eyes from a rift in space-time itself; so black it seemed to absorb light...

 

It was a sight that would easily leave you stunned, as if it were the descent of an Angel; a colossal and terrifying metal angel, coming to unleash his wrath upon humble mortals or deliver a divine message, who gave off a powerful sense of intimidation not only because of his size, but also because of the intense energy that lingered in the air around his mighty presence and the "door" that served as his entrance.

 

However, Shiragaki Sora and many young people of his generation knew well that it was not a god or a divine force. It was impossible for them not to know this, since from their history classes they knew that "It" changed the course of human civilization with its arrival; a hostile alien existence.

 

—This is...?! A real Nao?!

 

He was surprised, as he never expected to see a functioning Nao in his lifetime. In fact, he always believed there was a greater chance of winning 100 million yen in the lottery ten times a year than of a Nao reappearing after almost a century.

 

…Let alone, that they will begin an attack on Neo Tokyo…After all, it was assumed that the first Nao was a malfunctioning machine that crashed to Earth after an accident and that its creators were not inherently evil!

 

However, Sora didn't have time to say anything else when another purple laser beam descended from the sky, causing an explosion in the building it had hit. Sensing danger again with his passive technique "Chi Sense," Sora jumped again... but, panicking, threw himself against a nearby building...

 

——Which also exploded with another rapid beam from the alien automaton’s “mouth.”

 

Thus, Sora was caught in the flames and the blast wave, easily smashing against a metal wall as he flew away. In the end, despite his incredible physical prowess, comparable to Spider-Man's, he was simply a human caught in the unmatched firepower of advanced alien technology.

 

Sora had no way of knowing this at the time, as he would inevitably have died later no matter how you looked at it. But not only Neo Tokyo, but the entire Earth, his home planet, was suddenly invaded by the same advanced species whose ship caused the events that led to the birth of Neo Tokyo and the current technological advancement of humankind.

 

In fact, this isn't the first time otherworldly beings, or rather, other dimensions like the Nao, have invaded; it's just that civilians like him weren't aware of this because they were protected by Anomalous, martial artists, and other truly powerful supernatural figures that neither he nor anyone outside the government had any idea about.

 

However, the Nao, the most passive in their invasions, this time arrived in great force to annihilate human civilization...

 

Unfortunately, this led to his pathetic and untimely end without having the slightest chance of participating in the defensive war, as the hero he could have been destined to be... fortunately for him, a heavy blow with a huge metal bar shattered his head and he barely felt any pain before losing consciousness.

 

...Yüna?

 

Though, somehow before that, Shigaraki Sora thought he saw a familiar black-haired girl very similar to his busty friend Yüna appearing among the flames like a goddess… but that was just the illusion of a horny man dreaming about that wonderful body before he died.

 

...or maybe not...

 

♦♦♦♦

—What are the levels of magical energy required to activate all the projection chambers?

 

—Currently, the amount of magical energy required for the soul transmission operation is 57% of the Hydronian energy used to power all the systems at our central base, including the PIFR borders. If we start the project right now, we'll have to disable some systems and equipment to save a lot of energy for a long time. Perhaps if...

 

—I don't care, prioritize the necessary magical energy over the cameras. This project is much more important... I'll make sure to obtain enough Hidrun from the Nao to sustain us, since the Naoprietak won't take such a long break when it comes to creating and sending their children against our reality... you just worry about checking everyone's vital signs during the operation, especially my Shiso-kun's.

 

-…Understood.

 

Inside a gray-walled room that looked like a large warehouse filled with high-tech equipment, two strangely dressed women conversed in low voices while the last one to speak looked at the futuristic cameras clearly visible up ahead, with a lot of data scrolling on the screens displayed on her visor.

 

In these futuristic chambers, one could observe what appeared to be a strange fusion of alien technology and magical rituals in a form strangely reminiscent of coffins, as in each of these 12 metal chambers, a wide variety of symbols could be seen pulsing with supernatural light.

 

A magical aura seemed to emanate from each of them, and the sight was particularly eerie, especially given their unusual design; they looked like something that should only be used to store and bury the dead.

 

Even more so...because of the severely damaged bodies that were found inside those chambers.

 

Six men and six women, almost cadaverous in appearance, were rubbing themselves with a light green liquid, barely visible through the small windows of the chambers. Each had various horrific, life-threatening injuries, and if not for the life support provided by the chambers, they would likely be dead without exception.

 

The sight of the life support equipment connected to each of them was quite sad and disconcerting.

 

—How stable is the Reality Lens currently? Will it allow for a secure connection to the system on the other side once we find what we're looking for in Imaginary Number Space? It would be problematic if we had to recalibrate things due to a failure in calculating the disturbance in the main world's RF².

 

Gently stroking his arm as if feeling a bit cold, the machine operator finally replied with some uncertainty evident in her voice: “…Although the Reality Lens is currently searching for worlds with similar conceptual laws but fewer information layers than ours, it is impossible to say that there are no major problems in our path. The construction plans you purchased online make it clear that this technology is not perfect, even if it was designed by the ancients, and glitches caused by the 'QWBPW'³ could occur, resulting in the loss of a stable connection between both sides. Not to mention the foreseeable interference of the will of the «Story World» once it realizes our intervention in narrative causality…”

 

—True… but this must work. We have no other choice. We must send their souls to the Fantasy Bubbles within the Imaginary Number Space and anchor them to our reality through them, or we will have no chance of surviving in the near future if this entire effort fails completely. It's been two years, and the enemy is advancing toward our total destruction.

 

-I know...

 

The two women remained silent, a heavy atmosphere enveloping them as the girl with short, dyed-blond hair continued to operate the complicated technology she was working with, some concern in her eyes under her visor at the terrible possibilities of failure.

 

An electronic beep echoed amidst the eerie silence—at least to her—and another blue screen appeared before the pink-eyed blonde girl, slightly confused by the sudden appearance of a row of different data. A faint smile spread across her face shortly after. "It seems the Reality Lens has located the coordinates of the world you so desired."

 

The other woman, with long black hair and dressed like a fairy-tale white witch, crossed her arms over her prominent breasts and asked with a raised eyebrow behind her gray mask, "Really? Which one? You know I wanted three worlds specifically."

 

—The one you like the most of the three, the one that also conveniently has the greatest number of layers of information similar to ours and possesses conceptual laws close enough to our reality to serve as a new texture in which to live.

 

The woman who basically looked like she was cosplaying as a scientist casually turned to look at her, leaning back somewhat relaxed in her sleek black chair, and the other party smiled for the first time since she entered that lab.

 

“That’s great… I can’t wait to see a realistic version of Britannia, and most of all, him finally awakening and conquering it.” Her gaze shifted to the man at the center of all the projection cameras, who had visible burns on every part of his naked body. “It’ll be like that time when we peacefully ventured through <Chronicles of Holy Grail Online> with our guild across the Centoria continent and conquered numerous dungeons in search of the elusive Holy Grail… though he’ll awaken at a completely different time, I suppose.”

 

—Peacefully, you say... Pfff—the scientist mocked as she raised her elegant visor, recalling those mischievous days they all shared together in that ultra-realistic virtual world. —The Black Dragon and the Chaos Witch acting peacefully is the biggest joke in the history of both worlds... In fact, if we add Queen Cornelia, Team Castastrophe would be complete—Ack!

 

The aforementioned Chaos Witch playfully hit her friend for her prank. With a smile, she simply said, "Cut the nonsense and begin the soul transmission for the top three, including Shiso-kun, immediately."

 

"Yes, ma'am, officially commencing Operation New Human Order!" Rubbing her sore shoulder, her friend responded with a poor imitation of a military salute while talking nonsense that made her roll her eyes before actually springing into action, manipulating the console.

 

The world, agonizing under the foreign threat, had no idea that something monumental was about to begin. The fate of humanity, which had seemed bleak, was about to change…

 

Due to an extreme and incomprehensible future alteration of reality that will encompass everything throughout time...

 

♦♦♦♦

 

The young man thought he heard a voice echoing in the dark void that housed his vague consciousness, its mechanical and lifeless tone weakly impacting his mind, which was confused between dream and reality.

 

<Successful parasitism of the master system fragment at the core of existence. Beginning of initial analysis of the soul structure... quantification of the ego...>

 

It was as if a machine were performing a deep operation of some kind, while he felt something running through his being like a probe.

 

<Analysis completed. Started researching available characters with equivalent builds in the "Story World"... exploring the surface of the Fantasy Bubble...>

 

<Match found. The target character from the story world, [Arthur Pendragon von Draco Silva], has a high match with the envoy's soul structure (at least 89%). It is estimated that he likely has high existence fusion rates with this level of structural match, ensuring a successful mind overwrite.>

 

<Error. The character possesses a superior nature with high existential value for their narrative world, and the purity, density, strength, and solidity of their soul are greatly increased. Existence fusion rates are significantly reduced, and the chance of the Original Ego collapsing is drastically increased.>

 

<Administrator {Lady Chaos} recommends spending 1,000,000 existence points to increase the Master's existence nature...>

 

<The corresponding existence points have been paid. The process of strengthening the Master's existence has begun...>

 

Her consciousness could barely register what was happening, but somehow, she felt the very essence of her being growing ever more intense until it reached a point where it was no longer exactly the same as before.

 

He felt... superior to what he never was and would be as Shigaraki Sora.

 

<The elevation of existence is complete>

 

<The existence registration rate has increased to 94%. Does {Lady Chaos} wish to begin fusing the Master's existence with the soul of the character [Arthur von Pendragon von Draco Silva] right now?>

 

He felt as if the voice was asking him a question... Or was it someone else? He wasn't sure; in fact, he didn't even know what the voice was saying, other than that it didn't seem alive.

 

Although he felt so… unique, not knowing how to describe it better, the young man still felt weak and around him too, unable to determine what he had been doing and where he really was.

 

<The initiation of the existence fusion has been accepted. The Master's consciousness is deactivated to successfully imprint existence into the target soul. It is expected to awaken sometime after the original consciousness is overwritten.>

 

And with those last words, Shigaraki Sora's consciousness abruptly and permanently shut down.