Vol 4 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Stage 04: Who Made the Original Request?

“Ebh!? Agoh! Obhgah…!!!!!!”

“Oh, dear Oh, dear This is checkmate, isn’t it? My – dear – brother?”

(“Now” Stage 04 Open 06/03 13:30)

(“Past” Stage 04 Open 06/03 00:00)

Who Made the Original Request?

Part 1

(Timeline “Now”)

Below the blue sky of early afternoon, Kyousuke had already built his route to invade the colossal Repliglass mobile fortress named Pandemonium This would be his third tie plain If he swah those, he could escape the anti-personnel sensors and infrared searchlights to safely move in close The White Queen had destroyed the solid main entrance before

At the ti his way in with the Queen’s poould gather too much attention from all three major powers, he would win in the moment but be in trouble a year down the line, and he would be forced to rely on the Queen But now that he kneas only up against Perfect Game’s Max Layard and Incense Expert Ellie Slide, that hurdle was much lower

As for the main problem at hand…

“Okay, brother, what kind of swimsuit should I wear?”

“I don’t have time to deal with your jokes”

“But if I’ my sexy body off to you, shouldn’t that be ht sun, a never-ending beach, and the se a scene froo with the standard bikini? Or a one piece? I understand there are a lot of ht be fun to go all out and try out a shells, palshot! After all, after all! I will be unveiling myself for you, brother!!”

The White Queen drealed around and became each swimsuit she mentioned, but Kyousuke was not interested in any of them and shoved his palm into the center of her chest

“Hyah!? B-b-b-b-brother! Did you just touch my chest! How bold of-…bwah!?”

She splashed back-first into the crater lake and Kyousuke calen tank

The Queen was truly extraordinary, so she continued speaking even underwater A little thing like a lack of oxygen was not about to bother her

“Hrother! This is hupposed to he a date! I a to run out of hatience soon…”

He ignored her and embraced her from behind

Just like with Hi to his destination

“O-oh, hy How daring, hrother… If this was your hlan, you hould have haid so I a to offer hyself to you”

Kyousuke had learned from experience that it was best not to react to her nonsense

After crossing the linked crater lakes, they cliiant black squid Kyousuke reinal hoodie and track pants The White Queen pretended to cover her face while actually watching hi off her silver hair The water simply evaporated on its own and she was back to normal

There was nothing to stand in their way

They walked to Pandeate that the White Queen had destroyed before

But they did not immediately walk in Kyousuke operated the authorization panel to the side He had used Max Layard’s bio else this time

He used the Deltaston coat of arms he had borrowed from the hotel room

The machine was an reading that emblem instead

“Oh?”

“I had a feeling they would do this,” spat out Kyousuke “Ruby, sapphire, and I think the white jewel is pure corunduardless, this reads the piezoelectricity pattern in the crystal structure and uses it as a ured they would use their faical Plus, if they used a part of themselves as the crucialthat body part cut off Just in case, they prepared a lizard’s tail they can safely hand over to a criminal”

“But, brother, you didn’t need to unlock it The door was already blon”

“…I did need to”

This would leave a record showing he had broken in without any help from the White Queen

Even if it was ultimately useless, shi+royama Kyousuke entered the demon’s palace on his own The Queen happily followed him

Thanks to his pastcore without getting lost

And he of course did not run into any summoners or vessels on the way

He had noti control of Pandemonium

They crossed the narrowover the hundreds of transparent spheres and continued on to the central processing core

Just as expected, the Perfect Ga for them

“Now this is dangerous”

The man with a black pompadour used his shoulder to support his ski n with a swollen bottoest of the strongest than he was to Kyousuke

“I can feel it She’s briot to do this We’re carrying the naot to do this I doubt you’d understand Winning co else as Miss Strongest, so there’s not a single reason you should lose”

“shi+royama Kyousuke”

The next to speak was Ellie Slide, the blonde-haired, brown-skinned glasses girl with an eagle feather in her black and orange witch’s hat

She exposed the piercings in her ears, her navel, and even her tongue

“How much have you remembered?”

“I’hteousness”

Hearing that answer, the incense expert adjusted her large hat which shook the sleeved cape with the bottom split into feather-like shapes

She hid her eyes and giggled

“Good, this’ll be easier if you understand everything So choose which path you’d prefer,” urged Max Layard with his vulgar personality revealed by his baggy T-shi+rt and shorts “Will you ask the White Queen to blow us away along with everything around us? Or will you refuse to use her power and be killed by us in a noroal either way Will the Box be destroyed directly, or will the Queen snap and destroy it all? Anything’s fine as long as Pande core is broken”

Kyousuke’s ansas also simple

He reached for his back

He was pulling out his Blood-Sign Instead of hiding behind the Queen and grabbing at the bottoht as a summoner in the Artificial Sacred Ground

And he spoke

“To hell with that”

Several shoes could be heard scraping against the floor

The White Queen could settle this at any tinity, but shi+royae the distance between each other eapons in hand

But the pompadour man was confident

“You’re not very s What can you do without relying on a Material!?”

They were Governap was less now For one, Kyousuke’s vessel was occupied by the White Queen, so he could not use her Even if he charged into an Artificial Sacred Ground, he could not summon a Material Nor could he set up a protective circle There was nothing he could do An Award 1 suinal Series to easily crush him

So when Max threw his pineapple-shaped Incense Grenade, it should have all been over

shi+royama Kyousuke did not put up any kind of futile resistance such as grabbing it and throwing it far away before it could detonate

As soon as the Artificial Sacred Ground appeared, Kyousuke’s Blood-Sign struck a White Thorn with ferocious speed

It less action

He would gain nothing by shattering the three-di the his vessel with an unnatural method, he could not summon the Material he wanted

But that was not what Kyousuke was trying to do

“What!?” shouted Max in surprise

The pompadour man made his first shot Just as he tried to start thethe three-dimensional Rose with a White Thorn, Kyousuke’s White Thorn flew in to interfere

The white path veered far off course and et In fact, Max’s White Thorn ricocheted and fell into a Spot before it could acco

This was no mere coincidence

After the 2nd and 3rd shot, Max finally realized as going on

“damn you!! Since you can’t suh interference ga down my Thorns with yours!?”

“Of course And are you sure you should continue? We summoners start with 3 White Thorns And if you hit a White Thorn into a Spot with no er a severe penalty But if you’re just an insane believer ants to be devoured by the Black Maon’t stop you”

“…!?”

Max Layard’s large body stiffened slightly

And Kyousuke used that slight opening to spring forith his Repliglass Blood-Sign in hand He ran right up to Max

Yes

“Even inside the Artificial Sacred Ground, you don’t get a protective circle until after you summon your first Material”

“Wait…you!!”

Sounds of pri poles collided together The pompadour man roared as sweat poured from his body

“You’re trying to ithout a Material!? And when you’re up against a su all out!?”

“A Suins before the Materials are suht you would just end up with enough tied ht”

“Tch!!”

They exchanged more blows

Max had used up all of his White Thorns, so he could only wait the 10 seconds for one to replenish It was only 10 seconds, but that was 10 whole seconds Sensing the dense tension in his skin, Max immediately cast aside his nearly suicidal pride

He adjusted his grip on his skistar while sha his voice

“Boss!!”

A quiet sigh followed

The brown girl in a black and orange witch’s hatShe pressed the flute-like row of keys and pulled the trigger That giant ararette device and could efficiently spray incense as a ely sater vapor wafted out

That extrenition or memories and it could even cancel the enemy summoner’s Artificial Sacred Ground in some cases

But Kyousuke was unfazed

By the ti on the floor, he had already circled behind Max There was no fear or pain on his face His eyes were zeroed in on his target

He had clearly escaped the incense expert’s spider web

“It’s true Ellie Slide’s incense is powerful Compared to our Incense Grenades that can only produce a predeteric ht indeed be best described as an amplifier”

“!?”

“But soerous enough toit, then eren’t its effects more indiscriminate? Specifically, why didn’t it affect Ellie or you? If she has confidence in her position as an incense expert, it’s hard to iine she uses some other chemical…like an antidote or immunization”

There was a deafening sound, but the clashi+ng Blood-Signs were only a distraction

Kyousuke’s leg swept Max’s entirely unguarded legs out from under him

“Ellie Slide’s incense uses a cocktail syste axe to spread several different harmless chemicals in advance and she uses those to produce the optimally mixed incense at only the coordinate she wants Just like a spider web’s vertical and horizontal threads play different roles, I’ you kept a safe zone for yourself in the middle of the deadly web”

“Gah!!”

The surprise attack slaainst the floor and knocked the breath out of him

But he did not take the tih

He realized so before he could

“I fell victiain?”

shi+roya over thedeep in Max’s survival instincts told hi to the pain

“Oh, ohh, oaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Max screanored

He was beaten repeatedly

More than 10 seconds had passed and Max’s added White Thorn floated around hi it He could not even raise his Blood-Sign Even as he curled up to protect his vitals, more and h the gaps in his defenses

This was Freedom Award 903, Alice (with) Rabbit

With nothing more than his own body, he could defeat a summoner that could freely summon any Material

“Y-you…”

Even after being thrown into the crucible of pain and even with a rusty flavor filling his roan some words

“You wouldn’t…understand You know you’ll win…and you can only fight because you can win…so you don’t kno it feels for those who…have to keep fighting when they can’t afford to lose…and aren’t allowed to lose…”

“Screw that”

This man sounded like he stood on the side of the weak, like he was on the side of theKyousuke felt a dark fla in his core when he heard it

“You can’t afford to lose? You aren’t allowed to lose? And as it that drove Himekawa Mika to this point? An expert summoner and vessel approached her with some self-satisfied look on their faces, thrust her down into despair, and then tried to blame your oeakness on the rest of the world!? Do you have any idea how those 353 vessels had to feel when the experts gave up on them!?”

“Yeah, that’s right We’re the worst To be honest, I can’t think of any way of saving Himekawa Mika or the 353 vessels No, we only ever pretended to be working with thehtest”

The pompadour man smiled despite his broken teeth

Max still had so He had not broken?

“But compared to that White Queen, even all 7 billion of us are thetravelers who can’t afford to lose but have no way to fight!! …So was that old man who could speak with the wind and waves…or should I call theement Then what about an Unexplored-class? How mad e be driven by the peak of that peak!? We can’t allow that to ainst her! All 7 billion of us will be sed up It isn’t about being strong or weak We’ll be charins!!”

“…”

“So we have to fight by any means necessary I don’t care how it happens, but we have to destroy Pandemonium if it can peroes beyond just Himekawa Mika or the 353 I…no, we!! We have to turn this into a victory to save the 7 billion weak humans!!”

A solid sound burst out

Max Layard had shi+fted froh his ribs were broken and he had struck a White Thorn with his Blood-Sign while lying face up on the floor

“It isn’t that I know I’ll win,” spat out Max “I’ because I can’t afford to lose! It doesn’t ets or if I have to spit on the concept of glory! There’s so here I absolutely have to do!! If I lose here…if I let this become a loss, I’ll be left with no choice but to succumb to that Queen’s temptation!!”

But whatever had happened to him, if the Rose shattered, the many Petals scattered, and one entered a Spot, he could summon a Material He would have a monster immune to physical attacks and he would be surrounded by a protective circle Kyousuke was no match for either

A triumphant look covered Max’s bloody face

“Laugh if you want Make fun of me all you like But I’ll win I’ll do it for the 7 billion ainst the White Queen I can’t afford to lose! Even if I have to sacrifice 353 people here, I swear I’ll tear down Pandemonium!!”

Ellie Slide’s body rapidly transformed She seemed to spiral around as she was remade into a yellow translucent slime

But so happened just a moment beforehand

shi+royan with perfect accuracy and the tip tore through the drea from Ellie Slide’s neck and collided with the center of her flat chest

“Wha-?”

This time

This ti

“It’s true that Materials can deflect all physical attacks, but things are different when they’re only ‘half formed’ And if the vessel herself is knocked unconscious, she is considered defeated and the Su Ceremony process is canceled” The White Queen crossed her ar on in boredom “And more importantly, did you really think you couldhim of a Material?”

“Gah”

The shock of defeat was co

No matter how it happened, the su to the rules of the Su their God slaughtered before their eyes

Still on his back, Max moved just his eyes to look up at Kyousuke

That sureatest weapon, the Blood-Sign, but his expression had not changed

“You were on the right track there I kind of liked that you viewed the Queen as a threat and that you were desired so greedily to defeat her at all costs But don’t forget that nothing will change if you try to oppose her by accepting sacrifices and beco a monster yourself”

As he spoke, the Blood-Sign denting Ellie Slide’s chest was pulled down by gravity

It clattered to the floor

“And if you wanta joke that makes people happy”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

A moment later, Max’s defeat was confirmed An invisible shock raced out from his chest and covered his entire body

Part 2

(Timeline “Now”)

Government Award 501, Perfect Game

Max Layard and Ellie Slide had been defeated But even if the people guiding it had vanished, the fundamental proble, the 353 vessels’ bodies were still contained inside the many spheres in the other room, and all of their souls were inside Himekawa Mika as about to burst And on top of all that, the White Queen was still around

Kyousuke had to resolve all of that

After soht, he spoke

“Ellie Slide”

The shtly

After a summoner and vessel were defeated, they lost the ability to think and becainal sense who could only slowly repeat a single action They could only obey gestures or simple commands

But this reaction was clearly different

After an irritated sigh, Kyousuke spoke again

“I know you’re only pretending and I don’t have ti my time, I’ll throw you to the White Queen”

“…Oh, honestly!!”

The blond-haired, brown-skinned glasses girl with an eagle feather in her black and orange witch’s hat quickly got up

But she was not obeying hi under her oill

And Kyousuke did not seem surprised

“You already did this once in the past After I defeated you in the Su afterwards Do you have incense that softens the shock of defeat? I’ it for cheap tricks”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want so to properly redistribute the 353 souls that were forcibly gathered into a single body”

“I aood or evil in that Save me your sob story, but I won’t feel anyAward 1000”

“Stop pretending to be evil If all you cared about was reaching Award 1000, ould you bind a contract with Government Award 501? Even if you can amplify them up to around 500 Awards, it would still be faster to pair up with someone in the 800s or 900s But since you chose Perfect Gaardless, I can only assume you sympathized with him in some other way”

“…”

“I won’t ask what that was, but did you predict things would end up this hen you first shook hands with Max Layard? If you were envisioning so else, then ith me None of us can afford to lose So I’ll show you a different path A path that doesn’t require abandoning Himekawa Mika and the rest of the 353”

He was clearly stating his intention to harirl only smiled in amusement

And Ellie Slide breathed an exhausted sigh inside her sleeved cape

“Did you think I arrived at this extre else?”

“…”

“I tried everything I could I even put together theoretical plans for the things I couldn’t do And there was no way of saving Himekawa Mika and the other vessels There is only sothem”

He had expected that answer

So he was not taken aback

“True, the two of us alone cannot save those 353”

“Then who is supposed to help us? Surely you aren’t going to suggest the White Queen”

“…You really thought I would reach for that worst possible option?”

His voice grew too cold to even call icy

After focusing on forcing down his emotions, Kyousuke continued

“Ellie Slide There’s so from my mind, isn’t there?”

He pointed right at the center of Ellie Slide’s flat chest

He pointed at the broken spider web or the fallen rose

In other words, the dreamcatcher

The Native A in dreams, so they used that protective charood ones

He pointed at that selector

And he said it

“The name of Madam Professor”

Part 3

(Timeline “Past”)

Hied for it Would shi+royama Kyousuke ask the White Queen for help, or would his death send the White Queen on a rae that would overheat the syste core would be destroyed just as she hoped

shi+royama Kyousuke knew the Miniature Garden developer known as Madam Professor was a very devil- she disliked about the job requested of her, she would rewrite the script and secretly build in a loopholeJust because she found a syste in humanity, she would fill the eer a critical bug or error

Incense Expert Ellie Slide had feared that If Kyousuke were to learn of this infor toward one or the other of the two options Hied for? There was a chance he would stray onto a third path she had not accounted for

And so…

“shi+gara Masami”

Inside the 50core, shi+roya his hand on a wall decorated by countless geometric patterns

He held an analysis filter glassmanicure repair solution and the vibration of his voice, just like the one he had used to read the surface ar’s su

He read the structure

No matter how precise it was and even at a level invisible to the naked eye, a ic circle And those circles always listed the important factors: what it summoned, the date, the place, the symbols, the related heavenly bodies, the important directions, etc So instead of a chaotic collection of lines and curves, it was a e meant to be read by a human mind

His voice quickly rose to a shout

“shi+gara Masami!! Madam Professor’s nainally a Governn of Pande at the Queen’s Miniature garden…if that’s really the case…!!”

Ellie Slide held her giant ar axe She had operated the flute-like keys on the handle and pulled the trigger to activate the incense of forgetfulness

Kyousuke desperately held onto his fading thoughts and ue to voice a plea

To who?

To Max Layard, Ellie Slide, and Himekawa Mika

To everyone as using Kyousuke to destroy Pandemonium

“That woman would never allow such a coldhearted system to exist No matter what the user’s n was, she !! The ansas inside Pande!!”

“…”

“So destroying Pandemonium would have the opposite effect There’s a way to return Mika and the others to nor it We need to investigate further! We need to check over every nook and cranny!! If this coldhearted system only looks coldhearted to you, then youthat Madam Professor left behind!!”

He had no proof

No actual data had turned up to support his conclusion

But Himekawa Mika, who stood at the center of all this, widened her eyes in surprise Her lips trembled and her shoulders shook Yes, she knew the person naara Masami, she knew that wos

And when she heard Kyousuke’s words, Ellie Slide realized they were falling out of step The at toto waver in her intent to destroy Pande herself

Would she continue on or fall back?

This was the final watershed

Incense Expert Ellie Slide toyed with the dreamcatcher around her neck and left the decision to someone else

Not to Max Layard but to Himekawa Mika

“What will you do?”

It was a simple and thus cruel question

The answer contained hesitation, doubt, fear, and uncertainty…but she still spoke clearly

“”

And

The range of memories to be erased was reselected

Part 4

(Timeline “Now”)

In the present, shi+royama Kyousuke clenched his teeth

He looked around his surroundings once e cubic Box Before, it had only looked like a symbol of the malice and joy created by the Deltaston faed class

“The path to salvation was right before our eyes all along”

“Not necessarily Tens of thousands of developers worked for years to create this detailed systeate thisthat fell into the ocean”

“Who set that limit?”

“…”

“At the very least, it wasn’t Madaht chance The receiver has ignored her situation, given up on their own, and brought out some convenient nuuilt …I’ht here”

Each side was 50 meters

The area was far larger than a school gyht was taken into account Kyousuke directly faced the geo all six surfaces

“Hand it over”

“Hand what over?”

“I assume you have at least a moderate desire to look after yourself as a lady, so hand over yourmanicure repair solution would be perfect”

She clicked her tongue and tossed over a pouch

He caught it and prepared a frightening device with just those ordinary products

Those massive patterns were more than just lines If someone understood the system behind the a needle through the groove of a record

When he viewed one of the walls through his es It was like having every page of an encyclopedia pasted on the wall All the information he needed was there, but if he did not accurately focus in on what he needed, he would be sed up by the flood of information

If he lost control, he would instantly lose sight of the answer

The answer he had pulled out would likely never rise to the top of his ain

If he was si so intensely, it would likely take years He doubted the souls of Hi

But he had a hint

shi+royama Kyousuke knew Madam Professor

He understood that devil-ara Masami

What would she do?

Through what process would she had arrived at what truth, hoould it have angered her, and ould she have added in? And what si place would she choose so the coldhearted developers would never find it yet it would appear like ic to anyone truly in need?

———…

It was only a thin, thin thread at first

Not even Kyousuke knew if he should continue in that direction He suspected it was the entrance to a labyrinthine forest that would send hi in circles forever