New WorldShadow - 389 (Patreon)

Chapter 389: If Nothing Unexpected Happens, Something Unexpected Is About to Happen

“She’s kind of heavy.”

Cid crouched slightly and hoisted the glassy-eyed Nine-Tailed Fox onto his back. Feeling the softness pressing against him from behind, he couldn’t help muttering under his breath.

Considering that the average Japanese woman was only around one and a half meters tall, the fox currently riding on Cid’s back had to be at least one meter sixty-five, a full head taller than average.

Between the Nine-Tailed Fox’s ornate, heavy accessories, her thick kimono, and her own weight of over seventy-five kilograms, Cid estimated that she weighed more than a hundred kilograms altogether.

The main culprit was the fact that Yasaka had nine more tails than a normal person.

But even accounting for all that, by ordinary standards, the mature woman on Cid’s back was definitely on the heavy side.

So Cid simply muttered what any ordinary boy might think.

“Don’t talk about my mother like that!”

Kunou had just finished gathering up Yasaka’s limp tails and securing them when she happened to hear Cid’s quiet complaint. She immediately snapped back in defense of her mother.

Caught badmouthing someone behind their back, Cid paused for a moment, averted his gaze, and selectively pretended his previous words had never happened.

“Anyway... now that we’ve dealt with General Yasaka, let’s hurry and get moving. The longer we stay here, the more likely the enemy is to come back.”

Sayaka Kirasaka had originally intended to come over and warn Cid about a few things, but the sight before her left her speechless instead.

After urging them to hurry, she turned around and prepared to lead the way out.

“And don’t do anything a scumbag would do.”

Before leaving, however, Sayaka Kirasaka still turned back and warned Cid.

Cid responded with what, from her perspective, looked like an honest and harmless smile.

Sorry.

I already am one.

Still smiling, Cid and the other two hurried after Sayaka Kirasaka, intending to escape this nameless hellhole.

...

In central Kyoto, Cao Cao and his group had spent more than ten minutes reducing an entire area to scorched earth and carving a massive Magic Circle into the ground.

Cao Cao stood behind Georg, the Hero Faction’s technical expert, True Longinus in hand.

He watched as different sections of the Magic Circle repeatedly lit up and faded. Tapping the Spear against his shoulder, Cao Cao frowned.

“Georg, are you still not done? We can’t keep Kyoto isolated for too long. Give it a few more hours at most, and the other factions will realize something is wrong and come investigate.”

“Almost. The earth veins across half a planet are far too vast and tangled. Sorting them out from beginning to end is incredibly difficult. Fortunately, there were no problems with the modifications and surveys we carried out on the spirit veins beforehand. And with the blueprints that young lady gave us... fifteen minutes. Give me fifteen minutes and everything will be finished.”

Georg lowered his head and thought for a moment before giving an exact estimate.

Untangling the earth veins of half a planet was an enormous undertaking. A single mistake could result in a catastrophic problem.

But to complete the first step of their grand plan, they had already run several simulations in advance.

All they had to do now was resolve whatever problems emerged during the actual operation.

“Good... If nothing unexpected happens from here on out, the first stage of our grand plan will be completed without a hitch.”

Cao Cao nodded in satisfaction, pleased by Georg’s remarkable efficiency.

And just like that, he casually raised a flag.

As everyone knew, the moment someone said, “If nothing unexpected happens,” something unexpected was practically guaranteed to happen.

“Crack... crack...”

The crisp sound of shattering glass echoed across the now-empty Kyoto.

Every part of the Magic Circle carved into the ground lit up at once, erupting with blue-green light.

“The spirit veins...”

“Nothing serious. They got stuck and released everything at once.”

After Cao Cao and Georg exchanged a question and answer to establish what was happening, Cao Cao’s expression shifted from confident certainty to complete blankness.

Then both of them looked toward the source of the sound.

The sky.

The barrier had cleared away the city lights, revealing a star-filled night sky.

Across that sky, a twisted black scar suddenly stretched over all of Kyoto.

Wisps of white mist poured from the spatial fissure and spread in every direction.

Several seconds later, the raging spirit veins beneath the ground calmed down, and the Magic Circle that had been blazing with light returned to normal.

But by then, thick white mist had already covered the sky over Kyoto.

“Crack, crack, crack...”

Then came a continuous series of glass-shattering sounds.

A tremendous wave of Magical Power erupted and spread outward in ripples.

The dense white mist was swept away.

Under the dark night sky, their superhuman eyesight allowed them to make out countless figures plummeting from above.

“...Georg, what’s the absolute fastest you can finish everything?”

“Ten... seven minutes. Give me seven minutes and I can finish everything involving the earth veins.”

“Fine. Seven minutes it is. Jeanne, bring Kunou and Yasaka here immediately. Siegfried, Heracles, go intercept anyone trying to interfere with our plan. Once the plan is complete, we retreat according to the original arrangement.”

With only a few sentences, Cao Cao assigned everyone their tasks from a distance.

He lifted True Longinus, tapped it against his shoulder, then leapt from the altar and ran toward the direction he had just seen.

...

By gathering everyone’s strength at once, they had successfully forced the spirit veins to stop moving for a brief instant.

But once Rias and the others escaped the virtual space, they immediately came crashing down from the sky.

The impact left them feeling as though every organ in their bodies had been twisted together.

“Finally... we’re out.”

Yukina Himeragi had been responsible for breaking through the outer layer of the virtual space at the critical moment and exposing the core point where the spirit veins operated.

Because Vali’s Divide had not drained her strength, her physical condition was still relatively good compared to everyone else.

After only a brief pause to recover, she managed to stand.

She looked around.

Her gaze eventually settled on central Kyoto.

The Magical Power there was so dense that it had practically taken physical form in the real world. Merely looking at it was enough to inspire dread.

There might not necessarily be anything wrong elsewhere.

But when Magical Power was concentrated to the point where one mistake could potentially flatten Kyoto, there was no need to think about it.

Something was definitely happening there.

That was also why Cao Cao hadn’t bothered trying to hide.

At this point, hiding was impossible.

Asking him to give up and wait for another opportunity was even more unrealistic.

The major factions would never give him a second chance.

So the only option left was to fight it out head-on.

Wait for me, Senpai. Sayaka.

I’m coming to save you.

Yukina Himeragi tightened her grip on her Spear and sprinted toward the greatest concentration of abnormal energy ahead.

“Hey, Himeragi, calm down...”

After taking a moment to ease the pain in her back, Souna Shitori saw Yukina Himeragi recklessly charging toward a place that was obviously dangerous.

She instinctively reached out to stop her.

How could Yukina possibly defeat the infamous Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade by herself?

What Yukina Himeragi needed to do now was wait for everyone else to recover, then confront Cao Cao and the others together.

But before Souna Shitori’s hand could reach her, someone stopped it.

Startled, she turned toward Rias, who had come to stand beside her.

“Let her go.”

“Rias, what are you saying?! In our current condition...”

“She must be going to save someone who means a great deal to her. Whether it’s because of her duty or because of her feelings, we have no right to stop her.”

“Because I’m the same.”

Rias’s body had been pushed far beyond its limits by absorbing most of everyone’s Magical Power.

All she could feel now was endless exhaustion.

Even so, she forced herself to stay upright and began walking toward central Kyoto, just like Yukina Himeragi.

The residual Magical Power left behind after she unleashed the attack was only a small fraction of what she had absorbed.

But even that small fraction still left Rias with enough Magical Power to fight.

The real problem was her mental exhaustion.

Yet that was precisely why she understood Yukina Himeragi’s feelings so well.

The moment Rias thought about someone important to her having been taken by Cao Cao, her concern for Cid and her anger toward Cao Cao immediately overwhelmed her fatigue.

“She’s a good kid. I think she decided to fight because she simply couldn’t bear the pain in her heart anymore. Just like me.”

“Yukina Himeragi... If I remember correctly, she’s the underclassman who enrolled about a month ago, right? Once this is over, I should properly introduce myself.”

“If Yukina Himeragi really is our underclassman, shouldn’t that make us even more determined to stop her?! She’s walking straight to her death!”

Souna Shitori angrily pushed Rias aside.

But during that brief delay, Yukina Himeragi had already disappeared from sight.

“It probably won’t come to that. Remember what Koneko’s Nee-san, Kuroka Toujou, said earlier? There aren’t only two factions here...”

Rias shook her head and tried to calm Souna Shitori down.

Souna Shitori looked at her in confusion.

“Wasn’t she talking about us?”

“I thought so too. But when I attacked Kyoto’s spirit veins earlier, I sensed another group of powerful presences hidden within that virtual space.”

“If I’m remembering correctly...”

Rias pointed toward the horizon.

Because her strength had temporarily skyrocketed after absorbing more than half of everyone’s Magical Power, when she attacked the virtual barrier surrounding the spirit veins, Rias had sensed another group within it.

Their cold, sinister auras were in no way inferior to Vali and the others.

If anything, some of them felt even stronger.

At that exact moment, figures clad in black robes flew through the night sky toward the same direction everyone else had gone.

Even though the black robes concealed their bodies, Souna Shitori and the others caught a glimpse beneath them when the fabric lifted in the wind.

White skeletal bodies.

And black scythes clenched in bony white hands.

“The Grim Reapers serving Hades, Lord of the Realm of the Dead, from Olympian mythology.”

Souna Shitori’s extensive knowledge immediately supplied their identities.

Almost as if he had noticed Souna Shitori’s words, the Grim Reaper flying at the front of the group turned his head.

He was clearly far stronger than those around him and wore an ornate robe.

His masked face turned toward Souna Shitori from afar.

Then, without saying a word, he accelerated.

“One of the oldest Grim Reapers serving Hades, the King of the Realm of the Dead. A legendary figure whose name has been passed down through history.”

“He’s also one of the few beings in the Realm of the Dead, aside from Hades himself, who has publicly confirmed SS-class strength. Hades, of course, is universally acknowledged as an SSS-class being and one of the world’s top fifteen.”

“Why are so many major figures appearing in the same place at the same time...?”

Souna Shitori’s body stiffened.

Having recognized the identity of the leading Grim Reaper, her throat moved as she explained it to Rias in disbelief.

“So it’s him. Then as long as Yukina Himeragi doesn’t get directly dragged into their battle, her chances of rescuing her friend and Cid should be fairly high.”

“But just in case, Sona, we should go too. The more people we have, the better our chances of getting Cid and the others out.”

After hearing Souna Shitori explain just how powerful that Grim Reaper was, Rias finally relaxed slightly.

No wonder Kuroka Toujou had been so confident that all they needed to do was escape from the virtual space.

The Hero Faction had made far more enemies than just one or two groups.

“...Fine. I’ve recovered enough to move anyway.”

Rationally speaking, both the enemies and the situation had already gone far beyond what Souna Shitori should involve herself in.

The correct choice would have been to stay out of it entirely.

But when she looked around, everyone capable of fighting had already disappeared without a trace, aside from the local small-fry Youkai of Kyoto.

And since she knew there was no stopping Rias from trying to save people, Souna Shitori could only sigh deeply.

There was only one answer left.

“We need to move fast. The more chaotic things are, the better our chances of succeeding. Once one side loses or the Hero Faction completes its objective, Cid and the others will probably be in serious trouble.”

What else could they do?

Fighting the world-class terrorist organization known as the Hero Faction was as politically safe a position as it got, second only to opposing the Five Strongest in the World.

And Rias and Souna Shitori both firmly supported the former.

“Thank you, Sona.”

Rias smiled happily at her best friend’s support and grabbed Souna Shitori in gratitude.

“Don’t mention it, Rias. Even now, I still can’t understand how a simple business negotiation somehow turned into this.”

“At this point, I don’t even know whether it was good or bad that only the two of us came and we left Tsubaki and the others behind.”

Souna Shitori held her head in frustration.

It was supposed to be a simple business negotiation that would take two or three days at most.

Neither Rias nor Souna Shitori had expected anything significant to happen, so they hadn’t brought their Peerage Members.

Now they lacked enough manpower to prepare for unexpected developments.

On the other hand, if their Peerage Members had actually been here, Souna Shitori probably wouldn’t have been willing to indulge Rias in doing something this reckless.

Unless the person she had brought happened to be Tsubaki Shinra.

“Let’s hurry. If something happens to Cid and the others because we wasted time here, you’ll never forgive yourself, Rias.”

After making arrangements for the local Kyoto forces that had fallen from the virtual space with them, Rias and Souna Shitori ran off in the direction Yukina Himeragi had taken.

...

Inside a long, dark underground corridor, Cid’s group moved swiftly and silently.

The darkness caused Sayaka Kirasaka no difficulty at all.

But Cid, carrying the Nine-Tailed Fox Yasaka on his back, suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing him halt, Sayaka Kirasaka looked back in confusion.

Kunou and Kanade also stared at him nervously.

“...I just remembered something.”

“The instruments I picked out at the music store earlier... I don’t think I ever paid for them.”