New WorldShadow - 402/403 (Patreon)

Chapter 402: A Memento Named Gijera. Great Red’s Regeneration

The two beings universally recognized as the world’s strongest fought for an entire minute in a place no one knew about.

In the end, if you rounded things off, Shadow had a slight edge over Great Red.

So let’s call it a draw.

Congratulations. What a wonderful result.

“You’d better hope I never see you again, Great Red! Because if I do, I’ll beat you up every single time!”

Shadow shouted after Great Red, whose two massive dragon wings had been forcibly broken, whose majestic crimson body now had a little turtle drawn on it, and who was fleeing toward the Dimensional Gap with her tail between her legs, hobbling on crutches while carrying a lunchbox and a bedpan.

“ROAR!”

Hearing that, Great Red let out a dragon roar that, to Cid’s ears, sounded exactly like a provocation.

Then, before Cid could react, she plunged headfirst into the entrance of the Dimensional Gap.

“Roar…”

Only after returning to the Dimensional Gap, her own home, did the badly battered Great Red finally let out a miserable whimper and breathe a sigh of relief.

What the hell was that?!

First she had somehow gotten caught and eaten by a tree branch for no reason. Then the moment she woke up, she had to face that petty bastard Shadow.

If she hadn’t been fast enough to run away, she might actually have been beaten to death right there!

Grumbling to herself, Great Red suddenly noticed two Ophis, or rather Ophis and Lilith, wandering aimlessly through the Dimensional Gap with nothing better to do.

“…”

Sure, Great Red had almost been beaten to death and was still seriously injured.

And yes, the two little ones in front of her had the numerical advantage.

But Great Red could clearly sense that each of them possessed only half the power of the Infinite Dragon God at her peak.

Rounding that down, weren’t they basically useless trash who couldn’t even compare to an ordinary Transcender?

And they had the nerve to move into her home while she was gone?!

She might not be able to beat Shadow, but there was no way she couldn’t beat two half-powered Infinite Dragon Gods!

Die!

“ROAR!”

“WAAAH!” X2

Hearing the dragon roar behind them, Ophis and Lilith simultaneously went pale with terror and immediately fled while screaming.

...

“No, nothing... That’s not right. How can there be nothing?”

Kneeling amid the ruins, Kunou gathered what little Youkai power she had left into her hands and pushed aside the shattered remains of buildings.

Her expression was visibly shaken.

“There’s no trace of Senpai here either. What should we do? Should we search somewhere else?”

Yukina used her silver spear to effortlessly sweep aside a large pile of rubble, but there was still no sign of the person she wanted to find.

Anxiety filled her face as she tentatively asked the others.

“Same here. The Shikigami I sent out couldn’t find any trace of that idiot or Yasaka-sama either. I think we should search somewhere else. The sooner we find them, the better their chances of being all right.”

Recalling her Shikigami, Sayaka Kirasaka bluntly said what Yukina had been trying to express.

There was another implication behind her words, but she chose not to voice it.

“Well... Yukina, Sayaka, and Kunou, you can search somewhere else if you want. But I’m staying here. I can feel it. Cid is definitely somewhere nearby.”

Rias looked around uneasily.

She knew they had almost completely overturned this entire area already. Since they still hadn’t found any trace of Cid, common sense said they should move on.

But...

Her intuition kept telling her that Cid was here.

Somewhere in this place.

Compared to everyone else’s reports, Rias trusted her own instincts more.

Natsuki Minamiya said nothing.

She simply continued silently turning over the rubble, hoping to find even the slightest trace of Cid.

She knew that after Shadow had explicitly mentioned him, the chances of Cid still being alive were extremely low.

But until she saw her student’s corpse with her own eyes, she refused to abandon hope.

Even Souna Shitori chose not to say anything discouraging at a time like this. Instead, she quietly helped Rias move one piece of rubble after another.

They had come to destroy Gijera prepared to die, without the slightest hope of succeeding.

And somehow, they had succeeded.

Yet Cid, the one who had encouraged them, the one who had already cleared the trial and could have simply saved himself, the one who had been stronger than any of them, had chosen to fight alone because they had lost their will to fight.

And he had died because of it.

Not just Rias. None of them could accept that outcome.

The person who most deserved to witness the moment the world was saved had died because they had held him back.

If they had come to their senses sooner, maybe Cid wouldn’t have had to die.

Thoughts like that kept circling through everyone’s minds.

If things really ended this way, that crushing guilt might follow the survivors for the rest of their lives.

Every one of them would live beneath the shadow of what had happened here.

“By the way... why do all of you think Cid went off to fight Shadow?”

Well, apparently there was still one person dense enough not to care about the mood.

Kanade stared at everyone with a face full of question marks, genuinely unable to understand how the conversation had somehow gone this far off track.

“Cid never even said where he was going, did he? He only said he was going to do what he thought was right. Why did all of you just decide that meant he went to challenge Shadow? Maybe he’s off somewhere having the time of his life right now.”

From what Kanade knew of Cid, his thought process might be a little... abstract, but he definitely wasn’t the kind of person who would knowingly do something equivalent to suicide.

It even made her wonder whether Shadow had been lying about Cid in the first place.

“It happened before too. Me, Christina-sama, and Princess Alexia had all decided Cid had sacrificed himself for us and gotten eaten by zombies, and then he suddenly popped up again with a cheerful ‘Hey!’ like nothing had happened.”

Kanade remembered how she had already prepared a funeral wreath for Cid, only for him to suddenly appear and scare her into thinking a ghost had come back.

The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

Even more absurdly, nobody had wondered how Cid had survived.

Everyone had just hugged him in delight, making Kanade feel like she was the only sane person in the entire world.

Seriously, why had everyone simply assumed Cid had become a zombie and then been healed by Shadow?

Did nobody wonder just how ridiculously unlikely it was for someone of Cid’s strength to avoid being eaten or killed for that long and survive until Shadow showed up?

“Sayaka, do you think the person Senpai brought along couldn’t handle the news of what happened to him and lost her mind?”

“Looks like it, Yukina.”

Sayaka Kirasaka nodded in response to Yukina’s question and gave Kanade a strange look.

Even she, someone who knew Cid extremely well, wouldn’t dare make such baseless assumptions.

Where did this weakling get the confidence to say all that?

That was Shadow they were talking about.

Sayaka Kirasaka admitted that Cid, that idiot, was fairly strong.

But against the legendary Shadow?

Surviving a single slap would already count as a victory.

Sayaka sighed.

For the first time, she regretted not stopping Cid back then.

She didn’t even like that idiot very much. She had only treated him a little better because she didn’t want Yukina to be upset.

But...

Why did it feel as though she had lost someone important?

Why did her chest hurt so much?

“Forget it. Let’s keep searching.”

Shaking her head and refusing to think about it any further, Sayaka was just about to split off according to the plan they had discussed.

Then she turned around.

A figure had appeared atop the ruins across from them.

“Hey, everyone. I won the resurrection round, so I’m back.”

With a bright smile, Cid stood atop the highest point of the ruins with the sunlight behind him, waving one hand to attract everyone’s attention.

And on his back was a familiar figure.

“Look! Look! I told you I was right! Cid’s life is even harder to snuff out than mine!”

Kanade shouted excitedly, but nobody cared about her commentary anymore.

“Kunou…”

The voice was incredibly weak.

But the pale face peeking out from behind Cid still immediately caught the attention of Kunou, who had been digging through the ruins.

“Mother! Cid!”

With a cry of pure joy, Kunou ran toward the top of the ruins as fast as she could.

Her movement snapped everyone else back to their senses.

They immediately rushed to Cid’s side, threw their arms around him, and tightly embraced the person who, from their perspective, had returned from the dead.

“Hey, careful! Something’s going to fall!”

Cid hadn’t expected his resurrection to make everyone this emotional and cried out in surprise.

But once he realized they were merely excited and hadn’t actually lost their senses, he didn’t resist.

He simply let them hug him.

“Everyone, my dear benefactors, I understand how excited you are to see your companion again, but could you spare a thought for my body and let me see my Kunou?”

Yasaka, still riding on Cid’s back, finally spoke up in amusement.

Only then did everyone realize what they were doing and hurriedly release Cid and Yasaka from the crush.

“Thank goodness, Mother... You’re okay…”

Sobbing, Kunou, who had been pushed aside by the others, finally reached Cid.

Cid tactfully crouched down, allowing Yasaka and Kunou to face each other properly.

“It’s all right, Kunou. Your mother is still alive thanks to this young man. I’m just a little weak, that’s all. But you, honestly. You’re already this old, so why are you still such a crybaby?”

Yasaka gently placed one hand on Kunou’s head and softly comforted her daughter.

After their warm reunion, Yasaka turned toward the other people present.

The first two she looked at were Yukina and Sayaka Kirasaka, the bodyguards she had hired to protect Kunou.

“I’m sorry, Yasaka-sama. I failed to protect Kunou-sama properly. It was a serious dereliction of duty. If someone needs to be blamed, please blame me.”

“Sayaka…”

Sayaka Kirasaka immediately stepped forward and admitted fault.

She knew exactly how badly she had failed in her duty as a bodyguard.

Yukina, standing behind her, froze for a moment due to her lack of experience.

“No, you both did very well. You may have gotten hurt, but that wasn’t your fault. You already did everything you could.”

“Haha. To be honest, when I first asked the Lion King Organization to protect Kunou while I entered the spiritual veins, I was rather worried. But not anymore. You’ve proven that you’re more than capable.”

After reassuring the two nervous bodyguards, Yasaka turned to Rias, Souna Shitori, Natsuki Minamiya, and Kanade.

The three of them other than Natsuki Minamiya immediately grew tense.

Strictly speaking, Yasaka, the Eastern General standing before them, was one of the acknowledged leaders of Japan’s Youkai world.

She could easily be called a legendary figure.

If they hadn’t been unlucky enough to encounter Cao Cao during this incident, young members of the new generation like them, who had not yet formally entered the upper ranks of combat power, might never even have had a chance to meet her.

“I sincerely thank all of you for helping my daughter and me. Unfortunately, I’m not in any condition to properly repay you right now. Please wait until I return home. When I do, I will reward you in my capacity as the Eastern General of the Youkai world.”

“I promise it will be a reward that satisfies all of you.”

Hearing that, Rias and the others simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled and shook their heads.

“There’s no need, General Yasaka. But if possible, we’d like this incident to become a symbol of friendship between the Underworld and the Youkai world.”

“Is that all? Then that’s simple enough.”

In just a few sentences, everything had already been settled.

Only Kanade noticed the bag Cid was holding.

“Cid, what’s that?”

At Kanade’s voice, everyone instinctively looked over at the sealed bag in Cid’s hand.

“Oh, this? I found a little flower on the way here, so I picked it up and put it in this bag. I thought it might make a nice memento of everything that happened.”

“Huh? Senpai, you mean…”

Cid opened the bag.

Inside was a small yellow flower sealed within a glass jar.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah. I’m planning to name this flower Gijera, as a memento of this whole incident.”

The instant he said that, everyone’s expressions stiffened.

They clearly wanted to say something, but with Cid standing right there, nobody quite knew how to put it.

In the end, Sayaka Kirasaka, who outwardly had the most ordinary relationship with Cid, was the one who spoke.

“You idiot. Don’t assume everyone else is like you and can just shrug off something that terrifying. Even if this isn’t the real Gijera, you still can’t call it that. Change the name.”

Her words were rather harsh.

Yet not a single person spoke up for Cid.

Even Yukina, who normally stepped in whenever the two of them argued, remained silent.

Cid had passed through Gijera’s Dream fair and square, so of course he didn’t care.

But the others were different.

Every one of them had cheated to some degree.

Not one dared claim they could pass again if they had to repeat the trial.

It was like a top student casually joking about an exam after acing it, while the failing students who had cheated their way through immediately suffered PTSD from hearing about it.

“Uh…”

Cid silently looked away.

For some reason, he suddenly had the strange feeling that everyone liked to make fun of Kanade, yet deep down, everyone was Kanade.

[I have a plan. Since everyone is afraid of Gijera, why don’t we rename Gijera “Ultraman Tiga”? Then nobody will be afraid anymore.]

“Heh. Fine. Let’s call it Ultraman Tiga.”

Just thinking about it made Cid burst out laughing.

“That name is way too weird... Let’s change it back.”

The new name left everyone speechless.

In the end, they relented and allowed Cid to restore the original name.

And so, amid laughter and casual conversation, the whole incident finally came to an end...

Probably.

...

Elsewhere, Delta, Cao Cao, Vali, Xenovia, and the others, who had already awakened from their dreams, stared at Pluto, the Grim Reaper, standing before them.

“Where’s Delta’s big meat bone?! Where’s Delta’s big meat bone?!”

“How disgraceful. To think that even a hero would succumb like that.”

“I’ll kill you!”

“Irina, change targets! I want to kill this bastard first!”

Now it was finally over.

...

Chapter 403: Betting the Nation’s Fate. This Too Is One Side of Gijera’s Dream

As time passed, peace gradually returned to the world, and most people had already emerged from Gijera’s dream.

That was only natural. Strictly speaking, Gijera did not possess any overwhelmingly powerful addictive effect. The real problem was that after spending several months in the dream world, many people found it difficult to cope with the enormous contrast when they suddenly returned to reality.

But Gijera had already been destroyed by Shadow. Those who could not accept reality did not have the courage to simply die either, so in the end, all they could do was cling to life.

“Shadow is the Demon King!”

“Shadow is a terrorist trying to destroy the world!”

“Why isn’t the government doing anything to capture or kill Shadow and the Infinite Dragon God? Are they really going to let these terrorists do whatever they want?!”

Only a few days had passed, yet most of Kyoto’s provisional government complex had already been rebuilt.

Outside, huge crowds of ordinary citizens with bloodshot eyes were protesting in outrage. Overnight, they had gone from being proud “Kyoto elites” looking down on everyone else to destitute nobodies, and the sheer contrast had driven them into a frenzy.

Their language was vicious.

As for Shadow, the man who had both destroyed their lofty position in reality and dragged them out of their beautiful dreams, these people were offering him their most heartfelt “greetings.”

“Heh. Just the whining of defeated dogs.”

Watching the broadcast on television, Cid chuckled and shook his head, silently mocking the hypocrisy and darker side of human nature.

People had to live in reality eventually.

Now that everyone had returned to reality, and all life across the world had returned together, more and more people were gradually waking up and accepting it.

Under those circumstances, saying that everyone should remain in the dream world was not only absurd, but also the kind of thing that undermined unity. Naturally, people could no longer openly say such things.

But those who had not escaped through the proper route, the people Shadow had literally tortured into fleeing the dream world through the agony of slow dismemberment, certainly had no intention of thanking him.

These days, switching to practically any television channel would show someone verbally condemning Shadow.

Cid would actually have preferred to clear the situation through the proper route himself.

But how should he put it...

This world had no Ultraman Tiga backed by forty-four episodes of accumulated bonds, nor did the overall atmosphere possess the kind of harmonious spirit of cooperation needed to make the standard solution work.

Trying the “correct” strategy would have been suicide.

So he had no choice but to take the unorthodox route.

Still...

Cid rubbed his chin and pressed the remote, switching back to the previous channel.

His eyes settled on a man loudly denouncing the government’s incompetence and demanding to know why the entire world had not united to eliminate Shadow and the Infinite Dragon God, those two oversized terrorists.

The corners of Cid’s mouth rose.

“The results actually aren’t bad.”

Judging by the current situation, the first stage of Cid’s plan, “attack every major power in the world and use Shadow as an external threat to force the world to unite,” had gone smoothly.

The first step, “issue a warning,” had not merely succeeded.

It had exceeded expectations.

Cid himself still had no idea where Gijera had suddenly come from, but that did not matter.

Everything was part of Shadow’s plan.

Never mind that he had genuinely considered destroying the world in the middle of it, along with all the other random accidents.

The important question was this.

Had he successfully drawn the hatred of the entire world onto himself?

Yes.

Then it counted as laying the groundwork for his plan.

“Ah, the first step has succeeded. Once the final device is completed, it’ll be time to begin the second stage.”

Even though there did not seem to be anyone around, Cid poured himself a cup of pure black coffee without sugar and spoke in an intentionally mysterious tone.

To complete this grand plan, Cid had made the rare decision to spend money lavishly.

He had taken out most of his savings and collection and commissioned Gamma, along with several other black-market merchants, to assemble an enormous “wonder” for him.

The money he had left was deposited in a bank.

According to Cid’s calculations, it should be enough to support him for roughly a thousand years.

But while drinking his coffee, a question suddenly occurred to him.

What exactly was the second stage of the plan?

“Hmm…”

That really was a difficult question.

Cid had never seriously thought that far ahead.

He had simply gotten carried away and come up with the plan on impulse.

All he really wanted was to unlock the achievement of “Defeating the Entire World Single-Handedly.”

He thought it sounded cool, so he decided to do it.

Whatever.

A way would present itself when the time came.

Why bother thinking so far ahead?

He would take things slowly and worry about it once the “wonder” he had commissioned was finally completed.

Feeling completely satisfied with himself, Cid leisurely took another sip of coffee and enjoyed the brief peace and quiet.

“Senpai, what did you mean about finishing the first step and starting the second?”

A head suddenly appeared beside Cid.

Yukina Himeragi stared at him with open curiosity.

“...What I meant was that I’ve already visited the first attraction on this trip, so now I’m thinking about visiting a second one. Do you have any recommendations, Yukina?”

After a moment of silence, Cid answered as naturally as he could.

Fortunately, even he had no idea what his own plan actually was, so changing the subject required no effort whatsoever.

“Well…”

Cid’s question immediately stumped Yukina Himeragi.

She thought about it for a moment.

Then inspiration struck.

She had come up with an idea that could accomplish two things at once.

“My assignment protecting Princess Kunou is over, and my master ordered me to go to Kanagawa Prefecture for another escort mission. Would you like to come with me, Senpai?”

“...Is something happening over there lately? Why is everyone going to Kanagawa?”

Hearing the location Yukina Himeragi mentioned, Cid instinctively asked the question.

She gave him a puzzled look.

“Nothing. Nagisa Akatsuki told me she’s been traveling with her family recently to relax, and they’re in Kanagawa Prefecture right now.”

Actually, Nagisa Akatsuki had never personally told Cid that.

However, as the temporary teacher helping Nagisa Akatsuki keep her mind occupied, Cid had learned about it during one of their evening lessons.

“Maybe there is something going on? I don’t know. So, Senpai, do you want to come and take a look? Once my mission is finished, I can come out and hang around with you.”

Yukina Himeragi shook her head thoughtfully.

She was a little hesitant, but when she remembered how casually her master had described the assignment, as though it were just another routine mission, she did not think too deeply about it.

“Sounds pretty good. I could meet Nagisa Akatsuki too. But is that all? There are plenty of major events... I mean, beautiful places in this world. That alone isn’t enough to convince me.”

“Well... do hot springs count?”

“I’m going. We leave now. Perfect timing too. I already used Kanade as a scapegoat... I mean, as a good brother, so now I can travel by myself.”

Moving at a speed perfectly appropriate for a background character, Cid rushed over and began packing his clothes.

He could already barely contain his excitement about soaking in a hot spring.

Just like Nagisa Akatsuki, he intended to treat this as a chance to reward himself, clear his head, and enjoy an impulsive trip.

As for Kanade?

Christina had rushed over overnight and dragged her away.

The Kingdom of Midgar was still rebuilding from the disaster. There was no chance Christina would simply allow perfectly clean and capable workers like Cid and Kanade to walk away.

Fortunately, in that critical moment, Cid had narrowly defeated Kanade through his overwhelming strength and kicked her out as the scapegoat.

“Hey, Yukina, are you really sure it’s okay to tell this idiot about our mission so casually? If he accidentally lets it slip, our master is going to punish us.”

Sayaka Kirasaka stepped in from the doorway.

She had overheard their entire conversation and stared speechlessly at Yukina Himeragi’s carelessness.

Their mission had not even officially begun yet.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I trust Senpai not to tell anyone.”

Yukina Himeragi casually waved a hand, speaking with an inexplicable amount of trust in Cid.

Watching her, Sayaka Kirasaka could not help feeling strangely sour.

“Forget it. That’s just how you are, Yukina.”

Once the irritation passed, Sayaka Kirasaka could only sigh helplessly.

It was not like she could actually do anything to either Cid or Yukina Himeragi.

Besides, an ordinary escort assignment like this did not really require much secrecy in the first place. It would probably end up on television sooner or later.

Assuming this really was an ordinary escort assignment...

“I’m going to say a few things to that idiot, just in case.”

“I know, I know. Sayaka, you’re acting a little strange. You normally wouldn’t care this much about something like this.”

Yukina Himeragi had spoken casually at first.

Then she seemed to notice something and looked suspiciously at Sayaka Kirasaka, who had suddenly become unusually tense.

“...It’s the most basic rule. We can’t casually reveal the details of our missions, even if it’s nothing more than a simple escort assignment.”

“I’m going to tell Princess Kunou and Yasaka-sama that we’re leaving. Sayaka, if you really care that much... then go talk to Senpai yourself. But don’t start arguing. You two should try to get along.”

Yukina Himeragi gave Sayaka Kirasaka a quick once-over.

She did not think much of it.

She simply assumed that her best friend, who normally loved making sarcastic remarks about her superiors, had suddenly developed a short-lived obsession with following regulations.

Then she turned and went to report their departure to the people they had been assigned to protect.

Watching Yukina Himeragi leave, Sayaka Kirasaka looked conflicted.

After a while, she walked over to Cid, who was still packing.

“Idiot, you heard all that. Why don’t you pick somewhere else to travel?”

“Give me a reason. I get the feeling you guys don’t actually care that much about keeping this secret.”

Cid answered absentmindedly.

He admitted that he spent most of every day doing absolutely nothing, but once he decided on something, he was surprisingly hard to persuade otherwise.

Right now, he wanted to go to Kanagawa Prefecture, soak in the hot springs, enjoy the scenery, then return to Itogami Island and continue attending school.

Sayaka Kirasaka thought for a moment.

Remembering the secret conversation she had once shared with Jeanne of the Hero Faction, she gritted her teeth.

“Because if you leak the details of our mission, it’ll cause serious trouble for both me and Yukina. Is that reason good enough?”

At that exact moment, the television they had left on began broadcasting a news report.

[Regarding the world-class terrorist Shadow and the devastating disaster he unleashed from Kyoto four days ago, the attack resulted in the disappearance of Kyoto, one of our nation’s ancient capitals, while various regions suffered differing degrees of damage.]

[Our Prime Minister will arrive in Kanagawa Prefecture today to deliver a speech regarding measures to reduce disaster damage across the country, as well as international cooperation aimed at opposing and defeating Shadow...]

“Is he the person you’re supposed to protect?”

Faced with Cid’s question, Sayaka Kirasaka could only slap a hand over her face and reluctantly nod.

Now the entire world knew about it.

There was no way she could keep using her previous excuse.

“Pick somewhere else. There are plenty of places with hot springs in Japan. You know that speech is about opposing Shadow. What if Shadow suddenly appears and attacks the venue? That place isn’t safe right now!”

“Now that you’ve put it like that, I definitely have to go see it.”

Cid snapped his suitcase shut.

It was decided.

The second stage of his plan would begin in Kanagawa Prefecture.

He would improvise once he got there and find some opportunity to stir up trouble again as Shadow.

After all, it was only a prime minister.

He could relax while taking out a few minor enemies for entertainment.

“Damn it! I’m done trying to stop you, idiot. If you want to die, then go die! Just don’t complain in Hell that I never warned you!”

Sayaka Kirasaka had repeatedly tried to persuade Cid in a relatively gentle tone.

But faced with his stubborn refusal to listen, she finally lost her temper, cursed at him, and turned to leave.

Then she noticed the Gijera flower Cid had packed into a pot.

Her feet stopped.

“By the way, are you seriously planning to carry that plant everywhere you go? Its name really is terrifying.”

“What else am I supposed to do? Plant it in the ground?”

If I have to go through another Infinite Tsukuyomi, I really might not be able to stop myself from destroying the world.

Having finished preparing everything, Cid raised his head.

A dark shadow swept past the window.

“Bang!”

“Another suicide.”

Cid hurried to the window and looked down.

Seeing the mangled corpse below, he could not help sighing.

“They’re nothing but scum. If they’re dead, they’re dead. Why should anyone care?”

Hearing the commotion and looking down at the corpse, Sayaka Kirasaka showed nothing but disgust.

Ever since people had awakened from Gijera’s dream, things might have looked normal on the surface, but the hidden consequences were impossible to measure.

People had spent months living inside a dream where they were accustomed to being untouchable protagonists.

Then they had suddenly fallen from that false peak back into reality.

That enormous contrast was enough to drive people to extremes.

For example, aside from construction, the most profitable industry in the entire world right now was gambling.

After all, Gijera had allowed everyone to personally experience the fantasy of having everything handed to them.

More and more people had started believing they were the chosen child of destiny.

The result was a growing number of people recklessly going all-in on bets, followed by an equally growing number of people taking one-way flights from high buildings.

As for why they became people who ended up jumping from buildings, Cid could only say that anyone completely incapable of enduring the difference between reality and the dream had, in a sense, already died together with Gijera.

Perhaps only time could calm down this group of people who could no longer control their desires and simply wanted to indulge themselves without restraint.

“Come on, let’s go. Don’t learn from them. What’s so interesting about staring at a bunch of scumbags?”

Sayaka Kirasaka pushed Cid away from the window.

She hated scumbags, and at this point, there was almost a hundred percent chance anyone doing something like that was one.

“Fine. Let’s go tell Rias. Still, rebuilding most of Kyoto in only four days is kind of ridiculous.”

Cid obediently allowed Sayaka Kirasaka to push him away.

Fortunately, judging by the current situation, aside from ordinary people at the bottom, none of the major factions seemed to have been driven insane by Gijera.

The world remained peaceful.

Once Cid launched his plan and Shadow began his offensive, everything would surely become even better!

...

Within a dim chamber, a group led by one of the Three Saints of the Lion King Organization reported to the figure hidden behind a curtain.

“Your Imperial Majesty, this is the plan for our operation. We will exploit the Cult of Diablos and The Cleansers to seize everything for ourselves.”

“If the plan succeeds, we will obtain combat power on the level of the world’s strongest, along with an immortal and indestructible army of beasts.”

“We will stand at the summit of the world.”

The man at the head of the group remained prostrated on the floor.

Only after a cough came from behind the curtain did joy appear on his face.

He turned toward everyone else.

“Gentlemen, this operation will gamble the fate of our nation!”

“Yes!”

Apart from a small handful, nearly everyone responded.

This too was one side of Gijera’s dream.