Episode 6: From the Necromancy Dimension
* * *
Three hundred and twenty-eight Azure Academy students in total. Of those, two hundred and eighty-nine had been deployed throughout Japan.
"All units have reached their designated positions."
At the center of the underground command headquarters beneath Ichigaya Garrison sat a tall man — Von Simon.
"Copy that. What's the status on civilian evacuation?"
The thick walls sealed out every sound from the outside world. A massive monitor table projected a map of Tokyo, updated with the battle situation in real time.
"Per Protocol E issued by the Japanese government, ninety-two percent of Tokyo residents have been evacuated."
An ominous presence already saturated Tokyo — proof that Parallel Law was leaking from the portals created by the Necromancy Dimension. The city lay shrouded in deep fog, with Self-Defense Forces deployed across its streets.
"Kuku♡ Is it almost my turn~?"
A girl in a short nun's habit laughed, demonic wings spreading from her alluring hips.
* * *
[Praise Chaos (DISCORD)] — Half-Wing
A Half-Wing that "shares the world." It projects another being's senses onto the target's five senses. Originally manifested so its owner, "Dusk Glitter," could communicate with a dear friend who had vanished into another dimension.
* * *
The nun with demon wings — Dusk Glitter. She possessed the ability to seize others' vision and project someone else's sight in its place. Her role was to use this Half-Wing to relay the battle situation to Von Simon.
"When this battle's over... let's get married, okay♡? Simon-sama..."
"Shut up. Anyway, I'm counting on you, Nadia."
Simon sidestepped Dusk as she closed in seductively and addressed the ponytailed, bespectacled, dark-skinned girl — Nadia Hareed.
"Roger that!"
Nadia manifested a bright red megaphone in her hands and activated its Anti-Reality.
* * *
[Good News Good News (Al Waqtu Seif)] — Slash
A Slash that "cheers for your faves." A megaphone that "globalizes" the target's Gunscar, Slash, or Half-Wing. The effects of "globalization" vary depending on the Anti-Reality being targeted.
* * *
A combo that "globalized" the ability to "share the world." Through Dusk and Nadia's combined abilities, they shared the vision of nearly all Azure Academy students with Simon. The sheer impact made him clutch his head.
"...Ngh."
"A-Are you alright? Simon-sama... Processing hundreds of people's visual fields simultaneously isn't something a normal person can do!"
Dusk herself had once processed a maximum of ten visual fields simultaneously — and even that was clearly beyond the human brain's capacity, enough information to make someone pass out within minutes.
"...I'm fine. No... problems."
But the man who could process that volume of information — that was Von Simon.
"S-So cool...♡ If you ever need a bathroom break, please do tell. I'd be more than delighted to help with anything below the waist as well...♡"
"Die."
He smacked Dusk's head without hesitation as she whispered sweetly. Nadia stood nearby, shuddering.
(H-Hieeee. Completely unmoved by someone that smoking hot coming onto him! And Dusk-senpai's actually a closet masochist — she looks genuinely happy to get smacked! O-Oh I can ship this! I absolutely must ship this!)
Nadia was a dedicated shipper.
"Nom nom."
Simon scooped up sugar cubes by hand and casually tossed them into his mouth.
(...One hundred twenty-one from Corporations. Seventy-six from Chaos Institute came as support, but they haven't trained for coordination with Azure Academy or the Self-Defense Forces.)
Anti-Reality combat differed entirely from normal battlefields. Each individual had completely different capabilities, and those capabilities created interference or resonance with each other. Von Simon needed to perfectly track every student's Anti-Reality and deploy the right person against each enemy emerging from the Necromancy Dimension.
"Mehleeza-kun. Koshiba-kun. Can you hear me?"
And the critical pieces supporting Von Simon's decision-making — were those two.
* * *
"! Mehleeza squad here. We hear you."
Above Tokyo. Altitude: three hundred meters. Looking down at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Mef and Koshiba straddled an aerial bike. Top speed: Mach 4. The black bike was also equipped with a gun mount for Shamshir.
"Hiiiin... It's so high... I'm scared, Mef-senpai!"
"Quiet, Koshiba."
Mef ignored the trembling Koshiba and responded to Simon's transmission.
"I've distributed Seals to the 200th squadron. Koshiba-kun, any issues?"
That voice resonated directly in their minds — also part of Praise Chaos (DISCORD)'s ability.
"Yes! Numbers 001 through 200, right? I can snipe to any numbered position!"
Many squads had been given Koshiba's Seals. This allowed the Koshiba-Mef combo to snipe at designated positions from above, enabling ultra-high-speed movement.
"You two are the linchpin of this battle. Execute the operation carefully."
"Understood. ...However, Simon-senpai."
"Yes?"
"Where was our squad leader assigned?"
At Mef's question, Simon fell silent for a moment.
"She's on the most critical mission. I can't tell you about it either."
Mef and Koshiba exchanged glances and tilted their heads. This was the first time a mission involving Koito had been kept secret even from them. Koito was flashy. "Top secret" couldn't be further from her style.
"That's all. I wish you luck."
The transmission from Simon cut off. Nothing to be done about it — from here on, he had to wage something like a chess match using hundreds of pieces, only tens of thousands of times more complex.
"...Mef-senpai. Look. Over there."
Koshiba pointed toward Shinjuku Station. The light there was warping, bending strangely.
"That dimensional distortion... A portal is starting to open."
From now on, Tokyo would become a battlefield. Swarms of death spirits flying in from multiple dimensions would head for Shinobazu Pond.
If the Iron Heart was destroyed — this dimension would be crushed by the Star Whale.
"Today might be the day the Apocalypse arrives."
Mef murmured quietly, and Koshiba laughed.
"No way!"
"...Really? But—"
"Yes! Because there's no way everyone would lose to a ghost army!"
Koshiba believed it without a shred of doubt. Mef held her breath for a moment, then thought:
(Ah... This kid saved me again.)
Mef was bad at processing emotions. When that happened, it was always her partner Koshiba who helped her. She gave herself a kick for the moment of weakness.
"You're right. Let's do this, Koshiba!"
"Yes!"
Eight fighter jets screamed past at tremendous speed in the sky above them. Throughout Tokyo's streets, tanks and sandbags had been positioned at numerous points, and the Self-Defense Forces were frantically helping evacuate the remaining civilians.
"Mef-senpai! That!"
Koshiba shouted, and a tremendously massive presence swelled in the direction of Ueno. It felt similar to the distortion in reality when Koito unleashed her full power — but this presence was colder.
"That's... the Black Demon Lord's 'Great Giant.' The direction where Kotoyorozu-kun and the others are."
Koshiba stared down at the ground, then murmured quietly.
"When this is all over... I want everyone to have yakiniku at the dorm or something..."
Mef nodded. She resolved in her heart to make it happen — they'd all go back and fill the tables of that dingy dorm with expensive yakiniku. Every single one of them. Together with everyone from Squad Koito.
* * *
The final defensive line — Ueno was protected by shadow giants glowing with blue geometric patterns. Armed Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers waited behind them.
"Such an unpleasant presence. The presence of battle. The presence of anger and sorrow..."
The Black Demon Lord glared at the sky. Two young people stood beside her.
"Is that so? What I sense is..."
One of them — Kotoyorozu Kotoha — murmured, reaching out to the world's atmosphere with his Apocalypse, "Whisperer."
"...The presence of hope and resignation."
Slowly, a portal was beginning to open. According to command headquarters' estimate, the battle would start in eight minutes. But Kotoha's senses told him it would be sooner — probably less than five minutes.
"Kotoyorozu-kun. If you notice anything, tell me right away."
Elif Anatolia murmured. Perhaps from tension, her gaze was sharp.
"Copy that. Mari-chan! Any problems on your end?"
Kotoha called out to mALEEa, who stood on a stage set up in Ueno Park. She smiled slightly and gripped her microphone tight.
"Mic test, mic test, one, two. ...I'm good, no problems!"
mALEEa's Half-Wing, "Invincible Princess (Princess Brave!)," was an ability that empowered those who heard her singing. That was why she had been stationed at the most critical point — to protect Ueno.
Ah... I'm scared. My hands won't stop shaking. I want to run away.
What's going to happen? I wish nothing would happen.
Kotoha could see the voices of people enduring their fear. But not a single person there fled — they just breathed deeply and glared at the sky. Standing shoulder to shoulder with people like that filled him with a small, quiet pride. That was also his weakness.
"Master-chan. Here, candy. Suck on it. You won't last if you don't conserve energy."
Luna alone remained calm among the tense crowd. Even the Apocalypse Stagnation Committee members weren't used to large-scale operations. But for Luna, who had been a warrior in her original dimension, this atmosphere was actually normal.
(Gotta keep an eye on Master-chan so he doesn't push himself too hard.)
The linchpins of this battle were the 100,000 Self-Defense Force personnel. "Death spirits" sounded mystical and solemn, but at the end of the day they were just a physical phenomenon — apply enough impact and they took damage.
Simple shells, machine guns, and explosions were the most effective weapons against the Necromancy Dimension.
(That man — the one with the skull mask. He'll make a move somewhere too.)
He would come to cut the Apocalypse Stagnation Committee's Achilles' heel somewhere. Luna knew this from her battle-hardened instincts. That extraordinary rage toward Azure Academy. He would definitely appear.
"But hey, is this okay? Elif-chan's pretty important, right? Should she really be here?"
Luna asked, and Elif laughed.
"It's fine. I'm just a figurehead. Koito-kun and Von do a better job than me. The least I can do is make the most of this position."
That was why Elif Anatolia was with Kotoyorozu Kotoha. These two would surely become the linchpins of this battle. If their mission succeeded, perhaps all fighting would end.
"Though my Gunscar won't be useful in this battle. Well, I'll do my best anyway."
Elif's words reminded Kotoha. Her Gunscar, "Prosaically (Bill Cup)," was an ability that fired bullets into the past — tremendously powerful, but with quite low destructive force in the present. Completely useless against monsters from another dimension.
(I have to protect President Elif.)
The boy resolved this alone. And only his servant noticed that resolve.
(Then, well, my job is...)
Luna thought it as casually as if she'd decided what to have for lunch.
(...to protect these kids, even if it kills me. That's all.)
She murmured it in her heart, and Luna couldn't help but laugh — mocking herself for always doing the same thing. But it was also true that she didn't hate that about herself.
"—They're coming."
The Black Demon Lord turned her gaze — dark as the void — toward the sky.
* * *
A massive hole had opened in Tokyo's sky.
* * *
From deep within the hole, screaming began — like the cries of a newborn.
Slender fingers gripped the edge of the hole, and the dimension groaned and warped violently.
What slowly overflowed from the hole was quivering red slime.
"Here they come!"
What fell from the giant black hole was — a crimson cocoon.
"Come... Sand and Wind!"
The Black Demon Lord shouted, and giants glowing blue appeared.
(It's started. The battle.)
Luna looked up at the sky, put a cigarette in her mouth, and lit it with a hundred-yen lighter.
* * *
Thirty kilometers southwest of the Amami Islands. In Japan's coastal waters, escort ships were lined up at regular intervals.
"Kakaka! So those are the 'Cherry Blossom Dimension's' ships. Looks like we've got worthy opponents!"
What emerged from the massive portal over the sea were sailing ships wrapped in ominous light. At the helm was a bearded old man. One arm was missing, replaced from the shoulder down by a massive dragon's head embedded into his body. He wore a large black hat, his beard woven into multiple braids.
"Let's go, men! —For the children!"
The dragon-armed captain shouted, and a tremendous chorus of replies echoed from within the portal. Along with the voices, more ominous ships — pirate ships — emerged one after another through the portal. The moment they were sighted, a certain man shouted.
"All ships, main guns — FIRE!!"
That was the voice of the AEGIS destroyer Maya's captain. The Maritime Self-Defense Force began their barrage. Torpedoes launched from submarines, and aircraft fired missiles.
"...Kaka! Quite the warm welcome!"
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's barrage blew away several dozen pirate ships. The dragon-armed captain was no exception — he lost his left side to an anti-ship missile explosion. But these were ships of death spirits.
"Come on, let's do this! The big festival's just getting started!"
The wreckage of the blown-apart pirate ships gathered as if possessed of will, clattering awkwardly as they rebuilt themselves into ship form. These weren't just ships — they were ships with souls.
"—We'll return the favor. With frenzy."
The ships didn't just rebuild themselves. They had also reintegrated the missiles and torpedoes the Maritime Self-Defense Force had fired into their own components. The dragon-armed captain pointed his arm straight at the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
"All ships, ready main guns! FIRE——!!"
The bone crew members operating the pirate ships clattered as they loaded the torpedoes and missiles into cannons. BOOM! With a violent blast, the exact same attacks struck the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
"Wha...!"
The Maya's captain was speechless. Those were just sailing ships — cheap wooden pirate ships. And yet they were operating the most advanced Maritime Self-Defense Force weapons with perfect precision.
* * *
[No. 8401: "Death Spirit Fleet"] — Stage 4: Excitatio
Properties: Necromancy, Parallel Law
Details: A naval combat unit operated by the Necromancy Dimension. Thirty-four soldiers have converted their own Ectoplasmic Fluid into sailing ships. The bone crew members operating the ships are pseudo-life forms created through simple Necromancy.
Special Trait: All sailing ships are immortal and will reconstruct no matter how much damage they take. During reconstruction, they replicate all weaponry that destroyed them as their own armaments.
* * *
The latest missiles fired by the thirty-four pirate ships slipped through interception and closed in on the Maya. The captain tried to order the crew to evacuate. But there wasn't enough time.
"—The Nights!"
What deployed to envelop the Maya was pure black "night."
"...Keep firing. There's a limit to their Anti-Reality."
The one who protected the massive escort ship by turning half his body into "night" was a blond giant of a man.
"Until then, we'll protect you."
He — Alex Cave — was not uninjured. He couldn't even be called lightly wounded. He had taken the full brunt of cutting-edge missiles, and the tremendous impact had blown away a significant portion of his "night."
"...Sorry about that."
The captain murmured quietly, then began issuing orders to the fleet.
"Kakaka. Not bad."
The dragon-armed captain confirmed from tens of kilometers away that the Maritime Self-Defense Force was almost unharmed. But he also knew what needed to be done hadn't changed.
"All ships, steel yourselves. —Here they come again."
This battle was brutally simple: would their stamina run out first, or the enemy's? Both sides would keep shooting and protecting and shooting back until their strength was exhausted.
But the advantage lay with the immortal Death Spirit Fleet. While Apocalypse Stagnation Committee members were protecting each ship, they too had limits to their durability and stamina — and those limits were far inferior to the Death Spirit Fleet's.
"Found it, there. —Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)!"
A dark-skinned boy and a bespectacled girl stood on the deck of the Death Spirit Fleet.
"Kakaka! Well, this is nice. Welcome to my ship!"
The dragon-armed man laughed at the sight of the small assassins — at the dark-skinned boy, Fiddler Reynolds, and the bespectacled girl, Melvin Gray.
"You're the leader of this Death Spirit Fleet."
Fiddler murmured, and the dragon-armed man's eyes went wide.
"...Huh? You can understand me?"
"...Understand?"
"Yeah. I see. So that's the kind of Parallel Law it is. Convenient."
Fiddler wore a puzzled expression, and Gray let out a sigh.
"Look, who cares. The enemy general's right there, so—"
A red ring appeared in her hands — a portal entrance.
"—Stop talking and kill him."
"...!"
A blue portal had appeared behind the dragon-armed captain. Gray reached through it and grabbed the back of the captain's head, then forcibly dragged him inside.
"Die."
Gray closed the portal. In that instant, the dragon-armed captain's head — caught in the middle of the portal — was sliced clean through like a piece of fruit. The body of the captain, missing half his head, collapsed on the spot.
"...Gray. You're such a musclehead. With that look of yours."
"Fiddler, shut up. Better than getting taken in by the enemy's smooth talk."
Even as they traded jabs, neither Gray nor Fiddler let their guard down for an instant. The reason was simple — the enemy was immortal. And so, the corpse missing half its head was laughing.
"Ka... Ka... Kakaka!"
"...!"
"Nice. Your goals are clear. I used to be simple like you kids when I was young too... Or was I? I forget."
The corpse with its brain crushed slowly rose to its feet.
(Destroying his neural pathways didn't work. His human form is probably a decoy. He's converted his Ectoplasmic Fluid into the ship itself...?)
Even if immortal, one couldn't think without nerves. Therefore, if his physical body's true form were human, he would need rapid regeneration of the head or some alternative for his nervous system.
"But hey, missy. You sure about this?"
The dragon-armed captain asked Gray.
"—Touching me means touching immortality, you know."
"...Huh?"
Gray, who had been holding the blood-dripping upper half of his skull, went blank for a moment. Then immediately her face went pale as she tried to release the head — but her hand wouldn't open.
"Wha...!"
— Her arm had turned pitch black.
Starting from the captain's head, like a white rose with its stem dipped in colored water, her slender arm was turning black. Gray desperately tried to let go, but her arm was heavy as lead and wouldn't obey.
"The Nights!"
Fiddler turned his own arm into "night" and severed Gray's right arm.
"Guh... ugh..."
The "night" wrapped around the cross-section of the severed arm to stop the bleeding. Fiddler's judgment had been fast — it happened before Gray could take a single breath after realizing her situation.
"Are you okay, Gray!"
"Do I look okay... idiot...!"
Fiddler showed no concern for Gray whatsoever, his focus locked entirely on the death spirit before him.
"Does it hurt? Are you scared? That's amazing. You're alive. ...I'm jealous."
"...Gray. Let's get out of here."
For an instant, Gray was dumbfounded. They had gotten this close to the enemy boss — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Why would he say they should run? But Fiddler had noticed the worst possibility.
"They're 'spirits.' They can use anything they touch as part of their own bodies—"
Which meant.
"—We're touching the 'ship' right now!"
From beneath their feet, the death spirit's black was beginning to consume their bodies.
"Heh. Young ones. Quick on the uptake, though."
"Fool's Footsteps (Go Far Kid)!"
Before their bodies could be taken, the two escaped through a portal. The dragon-armed captain laughed.
"So those are the humans of the dimension we're going to destroy."
I see, he thought. I see. But there was already no escape — not in a spiritual sense, but physically. The Door of Dimensions had already closed.
"But they're young. Didn't they think of this?"
Starting from the death spirit ships, the sea was beginning to turn black.
"All right, steel yourselves, men. —A big storm's coming."
The death spirit ships were trying to control even the "sea" as part of their bodies. And the "atmosphere" too. From now on, this sea zone would be hit by an unprecedented storm — shooting and getting shot at in a raging sea, breaking and rebuilding, dying and coming back to life.
"All ships, advance! Our destination is Tokyo! Shinobazu Pond!"
Amid the tremendous barrage of missiles, the dead pirates laughed their heads off.
* * *
Above the Tsugaru Strait.
The Azure Academy transport helicopter was flying at over 3,000 meters altitude. Inside, two of Kotoha's classmates — PM and Arav — stared up at the enormous bone castle looming even higher above them.
[No. 8402: "Death Spirit Floating Castle"] — Stage 4: Excitatio
Properties: Necromancy, Parallel Law
Details: A floating castle operated by the Necromancy Dimension. Total length: 3,000 meters. Composed of human bones. Twelve gates periodically release Corpse Soldiers that fall to the surface. Physical resistance is level 2 — not particularly high — but any damage repairs itself four seconds later. The castle was constructed by mixing together the Ectoplasmic Fluid of several hundred souls.
Special Trait: The giant skull towering atop the castle gnaws through the surrounding reality, converting it into energy. The stored energy is fired as a death beam every five minutes.
"How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing?"
PM muttered. Arav watched as Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets tore across the sky at tremendous speed, unleashing volley after volley of anti-air missiles. The damaged castle walls repaired themselves almost instantly.
"What's that? The head — its mouth is opening—"
The colossal human skull atop the floating castle was opening its jaws. Even from this distance, he could see the ominous black light gathering inside. It was unmistakably power of the most profane kind.
"—This is bad."
Arav muttered. From the giant skull's mouth, a thunderbolt of astronomical mass was unleashed — a merciless death beam that destroyed the soul of everything it touched.
"...Ah."
PM's eyes went wide. The beam was aimed at the ground. It probably wouldn't lose any power at all — it would incinerate somewhere in the Kanto region, probably Gunma, where people still remained.
"STOOOOOP!!"
Countless innocent people would die. PM pulled out his Gunscar and fired wildly, but it was meaningless. Weakness was a sin.
The massive death beam scorched the sky.
"—Howl, my shield. 'Roaring Dark Guardian Shield (Ultimate Darkness Aegis)'!"
The one who caught the death beam head-on was a knight.
"That's...!"
Long hair streaked with black and purple, her entire body clad in sinister armor. The girl casually swung an enormous gunlance with one hand while the other held a massive shield of darkness.
"Such tremendous Antihuman ether. Is that a servant of the Night?"
In response to the girl's words, the motorcycle carrying her through the sky answered.
"No, Master. That is not a vampire's servant. It is the Necromancy Dimension's floating castle."
"As a fellow member of the Darkness Family, I, Platinum, leader of the Dirge of Knights, shall face you!"
"No, Master. You are merely human, not a member of any darkness-whatever, and you lead the Arboreal Knights."
Scattering radiant darkness as she went, the girl flew through the sky on her talking motorcycle. At all of Azure Academy, there was only one person who could possibly fit that description.
"That's RANK 12! Commander Platinum! Azure Academy's... strongest warrior after Koito-senpai!"
Arav cheered. Platinum Story End — after Koito Hikari, Azure Academy's most skilled combatant, and commander of the Arboreal Knights.
Her Gunscar left no openings in offense, defense, or mobility.
[This is My Story (The Last Reel)] — Gunscar
A Gunscar that allows the user to "become a dark knight." Creates a 10,000-ton gunlance, a great shield with level 9 physical resistance, and a flying motorcycle capable of understanding human speech. The owner insists it is a gunlance, but it has no bullet-firing function. Equipment she creates has no weight for her alone.
A ridiculously huge and heavy spear, an indestructible shield, and a talking motorcycle to fly through the sky with. Nothing more — a power almost too simple to call Anti-Reality. But precisely because of that simplicity, she was consistently strong.
"Surely you weren't planning to fire without being prepared to be fired upon?"
Commander Platinum drew back her gunlance.
"Master. Your one and only flaw is that your choice of phrases is otaku-infected."
"Hush."
Black light gathered at the fingertips gripping the spear. Her Ectoplasmic Fluid. Then she hurled it with all her might.
"...!"
A tremendous roar split the sky. A throw powered by the motorcycle's speed. Fighter jets typically weighed around 20 tons. A gunlance 500 times heavier than that tore through the sky at subsonic speed, and with a thunderous crack, destroyed the floating castle's outer wall.
"Before my Dark Knight Neidhart, even an Infinite Armor would be as fragile as candy sculpture!"
"Master. 'Candy sculpture' does not need furigana."
"...I-Is that so? Then what should I say... hmm... 'Baby's Neck' or something?"
Platinum's only weakness was that she was somewhat ridiculous. In mission completion rate and combat ability, she stood shoulder to shoulder with the highest-ranked students, but her personality caused people to take her slightly less seriously.
"Commander Platinum! Look out!"
"Huh?"
Descending from the sky was a massive winged bone warrior that had emerged from the Death Spirit Floating Castle. It was about to bring its enormous scythe down on Platinum.
"Royal Task!"
"Nguoi Rung (Forest Person)!"
Royal Task, the Gunscar that "doubles things," and Nguoi Rung (Forest Person), the Gunscar that "changes size" — together they pierced Platinum's great shield, which became another massive wall and protected her.
"Th-That was clooose! That was scaryyy!"
"...Master. Your other flaw is that your attention wanders."
"...Hmph! W-With my All-Seeing Paranoid Eye, I knew that was coming! Th-That was just... a test... mumble mumble... More importantly!"
Platinum generated a new gunlance in her hand and drew it back.
"Become rust upon my blade! —Antilight Slasher!"
She cleaved through the massive bone Corpse Soldier as easily as if it were Jenga blocks.
"Master. Your weapon is a spear, not a sword."
"Hush!"
Manipulating her talking motorcycle, Platinum approached the helicopter carrying PM and Arav.
"—You're safe now, young ones. As a reward, I shall make you my servants."
Still dumbfounded, Arav responded.
"C-Commander Platinum! Is there anything we can do to help?"
"You're just going to ignore the servant thing... I mean."
Seeing their hands trembling with nerves, Platinum smiled softly.
"You have your own role to fulfill, don't you? —Go, comrades. I pray for your good fortune in battle."
Her gentle smile gave PM and Arav a small measure of comfort. This was their first battle. That encouragement transformed their fear and tension into a sliver of courage and resolve.
"Onward, my beloved steed! Phantasmagoria — The Red Steed!"
"My color is black."
Like a storm, Platinum raced off to intercept the floating castle's attacks. She had no time to rest. The crucial task of blocking the floating castle's attacks fell to her. PM and Arav exchanged a glance and nodded.
"...We've gotta do our best too."
PM found himself thinking about the classmate who wasn't here right now.
"Kotoha really is something else, huh."
"Hm?"
"He's the same age as us — maybe even younger. And he's been standing on battlefields like this, over and over."
He'd heard that Kotoha was currently in Ueno, the most intense combat zone, assigned to the most important mission. That boy, so unfailingly, almost painfully straightforward — he was surely giving it everything he had, literally fighting for his life.
"Come on, let's go. Time to begin our assault."
The helicopter climbed higher. The boys headed for the castle gates.
* * *
Evening darkness soaked Tokyo, transforming it into a demon realm.
"Don't fall back! Fire! Don't let a single one into our city!!"
Shinjuku, Kabukicho. A writhing mass of rotting flesh took a direct hit from a tank shell. The gunfire blasted chunks off its body, but it regenerated like a slime almost immediately.
It crept into firing range, then suddenly leaped up and devoured people.
"Squad A-11, fall back 300 meters. We have support units positioned on upper building floors. Squad C-7, cut through the eastern alley to the main street and support Squad D-3. Air units Alpha and Beta, provide support at Point U2, Shibuya Scramble. Mehleeza's team, move Seal number 054 to the rooftop of M.A. Building."
In the underground command center beneath the Ichigaya garrison, Von Simon watched the ever-shifting tactical screen and issued orders without pause.
(Ha ha... Is this guy for real? When does he even breathe...?)
Dusk, the devil-winged sister, stared in disbelief at him giving commands without so much as a breath between them. His instructions covered the workload of dozens — perhaps a hundred people combined.
(I can't believe someone can do all this without even using a Gunscar...)
The rumor that Azure Academy would collapse if he took five days off was no exaggeration. Factoring in the friction of warfare, he had been accurately deploying the students for hours already.
(W-Whoa! Dusk-senpai, who's usually all jokes and teasing and pervy moves, is seriously watching Simon-senpai with maiden eyes! This is so shippable--!!)
Nadia, a first-year from Chaos Institute, was being her usual shipping-obsessed self.
"Kh..."
Simon's command was extraordinary. Perfect, even. Yet humanity was being slowly pushed back by the immortal soldiers of the Necromancy Dimension.
(There are several ways to destroy immortal beings. Stop the ritual. Interfere with the immortality function. Exhaust their energy source. Destroy the body beyond recovery--)
For the Apocalypse Stagnation Committee, immortal monsters were the most familiar kind of enemy. The analysis of the Necromancy Dimension's immortality had been completed within three hours of the battle's start.
(Their immortality is simple. But that's exactly why it's hard to deal with.)
One: Their Ectoplasmic Fluid doesn't disperse and remains in place.
Two: Their Ectoplasmic Fluid generates weak electrical signals, substituting for neural function.
(Their Ectoplasmic Fluid serves as both soul and brain. The solutions are either using weapons that can destroy Ectoplasmic Fluid, or waiting for the Corpse Soldiers to hit their limit.)
Dimensional homeostasis had a property of trying to purge the laws of other dimensions. The portal from the Necromancy Dimension had already closed. They had no supply line. The correct approach was a war of attrition.
(But for us -- the moment they reach Shinobazu Pond, we lose. ...The front line is far too close.)
Self-Defense Force casualties were gradually mounting. Worse, the enemy repurposed their fallen soldiers' corpses, using them as new bodies. An infinitely multiplying army.
(At this rate... we'll be checkmated within hours.)
Yet there was a girl who shone most brilliantly when the end drew near.
"Ahaha! This is great! Hey, isn't this great?! Right?!"
The final defense line -- Ueno Onshi Park.
The last human defense guarding Shinobazu Pond was the black-clad Demon Lord.
"Kehehe! Come at me, heroes! You want to save the world, don't you?! You want to destroy our world, don't you?! That's why you came here, isn't it?! THEN!!"
The Black Demon Lord rode atop a towering giant's shoulder, laughing uproariously.
"--Try to kill me. Kill the Demon Lord! The enemy of all heroes!"
A legion of shadow giants was crushing the handful of immortal soldiers that had made it to Ueno. Her shadows directly collapsed Parallel Law -- the natural enemy of most immortals.
"...!"
But this was hardly the Demon Lord's stage alone.
"Sand and Wind!"
A massive arrow made of bone pierced the shoulder of the Demon Lord's giant. Carrying immortality, the arrow began dyeing the giant's shadow an even deeper black, attempting to take over its body.
"Over there...!"
It was a long-range shot from Tokyo Skytree in Sumida. A Corpse Soldier -- perhaps dozens of meters tall and wearing a deer skull -- clung to the upper portion of the tower, nocking another enormous arrow.
(This is bad! I can't do ranged combat!)
The Demon Lord pulled the arrow from Sand and Wind and hurled it with all her might. The arrow split the Tokyo sky with a tremendous roar, but missed Skytree by a wide margin.
"...Crap!"
The giant Corpse Soldier was nocking another arrow. The Black Demon Lord reflexively moved to shield Shinobazu Pond. The Iron Heart had high physical resistance, but she had to account for worst-case scenarios.
"This is Bravo 1! Commencing strafing run!"
Five F-11As shot down the archer. Flying ultra-low over Tokyo, they strafed Skytree with their machine guns.
"Nice!"
With the Air Self-Defense Force's support, the Demon Lord was saved. She resumed her battle against the ground-level Corpse Soldiers with a laugh. Humanity was being pushed into a corner. But the Demon Lord never let her smile fade.
(Because I'm the Demon Lord. The one who destroys the world. The enemy of all life!)
She was the enemy of all life, and happy endings alone were her ally. She couldn't play the pitiful victim in despair -- not her. She was always the perpetrator, always evil, always the Demon Lord.
(So! If I don't laugh here and now -- who will?!)
And so the girl laughed. Like a demon lord. Triumphantly. She fought with such apparent joy that every soldier who caught sight of her felt something kindle inside them.
Suddenly. Creaking, cracking sounds.
"..............Ah."
Something was tearing in the sky above. The Demon Lord looked up. A massive red cocoon floated there, roughly a kilometer long -- it had been hovering in the sky ever since the Necromancy Dimension's portal opened, and now it was hatching.
(--This is bad.)
An overwhelming presence of Parallel Law. The Demon Lord was certain that whatever emerged from that cocoon was the Necromancy Dimension's ultimate weapon. With emotionless, lion-like eyes, she stared up at the sky.
"Is that... a butterfly?"
From the cocoon -- which the Air Self-Defense Force's fire hadn't scratched -- emerged a massive red butterfly with translucent wings. Like a drop of blood in water, impossibly beautiful, impossible to look away from.
(Beautiful.)
For a moment, the Demon Lord was entranced. But she immediately noticed the red scales scattering with each beat of those wings. That was a mist of decay.
[No. 8403: "Crimson Rot Giant Butterfly"] -- Stage 4: Excitatio
Properties: Necromancy, Parallel Law
Details: A biological weapon operated by the Necromancy Dimension. It scatters the Ectoplasmic Fluid of pulverized Corpse Soldiers as scales throughout the atmosphere. Those who inhale the scales have their bodies hijacked.
Special Trait: Believed to be constructed from approximately 1,000 Necromancy Dimension humans. Has a secondary ability to solidify the scales with atmospheric moisture, creating giant pillars of blood-ice.
"Everyone! Don't breathe iiiiin!!"
The Black Demon Lord screamed. Then Von Simon broadcast a warning to all units. But it was too late.
"Guhh... cough... hack..."
An Azure Academy girl directly below the giant butterfly collapsed, coughing. Blood pooled in her eyes. She felt something pulsing inside her body. Something else was inside her.
"What... is... this..."
And it wasn't just one. The remnants of a thousand souls were devouring the girl's Ectoplasmic Fluid. The sensation of losing herself -- it struck her body directly.
"N-No... I'm... melting...?"
The girl's body began to melt from within. Her lungs first. Then her heart. Her legs dissolved, then her neck liquefied, and finally, slowly, slowly, her skull vanished.
"Hel... p..."
The melted girl had become a bright red cocoon.
"Urgh--"
The cocoon cracked open. Emerging in a spray of crimson amniotic fluid was a faceless rotting creature with twelve legs. Its bright red body quivered as it let out a roar.
"...Run! Ruuuun!!"
A Self-Defense Force soldier screamed. He had watched a human become a monster. But it was already too late -- everyone nearby had inhaled plenty of the decaying scales. Within ten minutes, the scales would blanket all of Tokyo.
"No! NOOO!! Don't melt meee! Don't melt MEEEEE!!"
"My... heart is... disappearing... oh... ohhh... it's breaking..."
"Fall back!! Put on your gas masks! Everyone, fall back!!"
Red scales blanketed Tokyo. People screamed in panic and fled in terror.
Koshiba and Mehleeza watched the scene from above.
"...Hiii..."
Chalquiruq had reconfigured itself into a completely sealed aircraft. Koshiba's Shamshir could transport oxygen from anywhere. But their survival was pure luck -- just minutes ago, they had been directly beneath that red cocoon. They'd simply happened to be supporting another location.
"Mef... sen... pai... E-Everyone... Everyone's..."
Koshiba watched the carnage below, face pale, tears streaming down her cheeks. Humans being transformed into monsters one after another. Former comrades killing each other.
"No... I don't want this... hic... hic...!"
The twelve-legged creatures that had once been their allies clearly possessed intelligence. They climbed building walls with their twelve legs, closed distances in an instant, and had begun operating guns and tanks.
"Hah, haah, haah..."
Koshiba was hyperventilating, spiraling into panic.
"Koshiba!"
But Mef remained calm.
"...Mef... sen... pai..."
"We have to keep it together! Your Shamshir can save the people who couldn't escape! Simon-senpai will definitely reorganize our forces! Look, over there!"
Mef pointed toward Ueno. A massive shadow covered Ueno Onshi Park like a dome, blocking the red scales from entering.
"That must be the Black Demon Lord's shadow barrier! That area's still safe! Any moment now, we'll get word from Simon-senpai. We'll transport everyone there!"
"Mef... sen... pai..."
"We don't have time to cry!"
Mehleeza was a worrier, prone to negative thinking. That was precisely why she could act calmly in worst-case scenarios. Koshiba was positive and stress-resistant, but in extreme situations, she couldn't think and act as clearly as Mehleeza.
They were two halves of one team.
"...Okay... hic... ...Okay!"
Koshiba nodded and gripped Shamshir. Chalquiruq raced toward Ueno Park at tremendous speed. Mehleeza believed. Von Simon would figure something out. Or perhaps he--
"...It's over."
In the underground command center beneath the Ichigaya garrison, Von Simon murmured.
"Wh...?"
Nadia started to speak, but Simon ignored her and began calmly issuing orders to all units. Retreat to Ueno Park. Urgent rendezvous with students whose abilities could block the crimson rot mist -- he especially prioritized transport via Shamshir. But the situation was dire.
(At this rate, Ueno Park will fall in about thirty minutes. The Black Demon Lord is enhanced by Invincible Princess (Princess Brave!), but she's devoting most of her power to the shadow barrier.)
They had been forced to abandon most key positions. During the retreat, the Black Demon Lord alone would bear the brunt of the attacks. Already, thirty percent of all soldiers had been hijacked by the crimson rot mist.
(Well, the odds were against us from the start. Can't be helped.)
Von Simon remained calm. He had known this from the beginning. Neither the pirate ship off Amami nor the floating castle over the Tsugaru Strait had been stopped -- both were heading straight for Tokyo.
(If only we could use Koito... No, that would be counterproductive.)
Her cherry-blossom-colored miracle might have been able to destroy the red cocoon. But the shockwave from Koito's full power would have collapsed every building within several kilometers and blown away their allies and the Self-Defense Force together. Even in simulations, coordinating her with the Self-Defense Force or the Black Demon Lord had proven difficult.
Besides, Koito Hikari had an even more grueling battle ahead. Only she could do it.
(Time to begin damage control.)
Von Simon was about to start a new mission -- to evacuate as many people as possible and minimize casualties. Tokyo was surely finished. No -- the universe was.
"It's... over...?"
The tan-skinned girl -- Nadia -- asked. Simon looked at her and felt a twinge of sadness.
"No... no! My sister's out there! My sister!"
Dusk restrained the panicking Nadia from behind as she lunged at Simon. Von Simon had commanded as optimally as possible. But the losing general had a duty to face criticism.
(Ah...)
Simon watched the crumbling front through the screen with cold eyes.
(So this is our Apocalypse.)
The boy allowed himself a self-deprecating smile.
"HAHA! Simon! The secret weapon's ready!"
A man's voice suddenly crackled through the comms.
"...What?"
Simon's eyes went wide as he grabbed the microphone.
"What are you talking about? Ter! Where are you and what are you--"
"I told you about this before, didn't I? --The plan."
"Well, yes..."
He had heard about it. But he had thought it was absolutely impossible -- the conditions to use it weren't in place. He had written it off from the start, assuming it would never be ready in time.
"Huh? Why does your voice sound like you've been crying? Were you crying?"
"...As if!"
"Yeah, that's right! No way the oni vice president would be sniveling like a kid just because he almost lost! No way he'd be giving up and looking for excuses!"
That young man -- Termibek Janebekova. Mef's brother and the lab's problem child. He -- the riders of the steppe -- never gave up, no matter how deep they sank.
"--Look up at the sky, Von Simon! This isn't over! Not by a long shot! Am I wrong?!"
For Simon, who was always calculating and perfect, Ter was the most difficult person to deal with. He was always reckless, unpredictable, impossible to factor in, and pathetically hopeless with women.
"...You're sure it'll work?"
"Hell yeah! Who do you think I am?"
The young man laughed. That voice kindled fire in Simon's heart.
"Leave this to me. I'll maintain the front line as long as possible."
"What exactly are you planning...?"
Dusk Glitter asked. Simon smiled -- a smile full of confidence.
"--We're starting the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons."
The time had come for this nation's -- for Japan's -- ultimate weapon to awaken.
* * *
The Asama Shrine lay three hundred meters beneath Mt. Fuji, housed within a dome several hundred meters across, formed by the roots of a colossal tree. A solemn yet small shrine floated upon a shallow underground lake.
"From us, the small children of humanity. To all the gods, our fathers. With reverence, with reverence -- we speak."
On the small shrine's noh stage, two girls danced, bells in hand.
"From us, the small children of humanity. To the raging gods of calamity. With reverence, with reverence -- we speak."
The shrine enshrined a Seven-Branched Sword driven deep into the roots. It was the most powerful seal remaining in modern Japan, created by the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early nineteenth century.
""From us, the small children of humanity. To the eight million gods, immortals, and fox spirits. With reverence, with reverence -- we speak.""
The Artificial Spirits 64-a and 64-b -- miko-clad girls who held not only bells but short blades as well -- danced to the clear ring of their bells until they stood on either side of a man dressed in pure white.
"...hah... hah... hah!"
Seated between the two artificial girls was an old man with white hair -- Director of the Bureau of the Unusual, Amakusa Kiyomaro. He was smiling. Smiling as he gazed at the enormous urn before him.
"...I'm sorry for making you accompany me, 64-a. 64-b."
Director Amakusa smiled at the two girls in their frilly miko attire.
"Not at all, Director. We were born for you."
"We were born so that you could spend wonderful days."
Director Amakusa had known they would say that. He had truly wanted them to find happiness -- these artificial beings modeled after his own daughters, daughters who had once lived.
"However, Director. Our usual question. May we?"
"Ah, go ahead. What is it?"
"Why do you all try to live? Even though it's so difficult. Suffering, crying. Why do you resist the fate of death? After all, you and we are merely sequences of molecules, and whether we live or die, the amount of information barely changes."
The Director was surprised -- it was the first time he had been asked such a question. Perhaps these artificial beings, too, were finding meaning in this story's end.
"Why we live -- that doesn't matter."
"It doesn't matter?"
"We're simply going to see what lies at the end."
"Simply going to see?"
"What do you mean 'simply'? It sounds fun, doesn't it?"
The white-haired old man laughed, and the two artificial beings exchanged glances before giggling.
"That's right. You're right. It does sound fun!"
"I hope everyone can make it there. With packed lunches. And snacks too."
That journey, that story, the trajectory of humanity -- he found it beautiful. That was all. That was enough. The reason to cry and fight, the reason to resist despair. That was why the old man sat here.
"Well then, I'll leave the rest to you. Termibek-kun."
Ter, who had been watching the three from a distance, nodded slightly. Amakusa Kiyomaro felt somehow happy. In that very moment, he knew his life had been truly fulfilling and wonderful.
"From us, the small children of humanity. To all our honored ancestral spirits!"
The old man cried out in a ringing voice. The bells chimed clear and bright.
"We beseech you, protect our children. Protect our bloodline."
The two girls exchanged a small glance. They smiled beautifully, like dolls.
""With reverence. With reverence. We humbly beseech you.""
The girls gripped their short blades and slowly drove them into Amakusa Kiyomaro's temples. They carved through skull, reached his brain, and sent blood spraying forth. Yet Amakusa Kiyomaro, yielding to neither pain nor fear, cried out in a ringing voice.
"Come forth. King of Anomalies. By our ancestral spirits, protect our children!"
Amakusa Kiyomaro collapsed and died. The two girls fell as if layered upon his remains.
"...!"
Only Termibek watched. He witnessed the oldest of rituals -- human sacrifice -- used to break the seal. The Seven-Branched Sword shattered and scattered.
"It comes."
The moment the boy murmured, gray miracles erupted from the hole the Seven-Branched Sword had sealed -- like a geyser, with tremendous force. These were the souls of humanity's ancestral spirits. This was the barrier the Tokugawa Shogunate had created. In the nation of Japan, the souls of all deceased humans were sealed within that hole.
"...!"
The gray miracles erupting into the air -- the ancestral souls -- poured into the ancient urn. The souls of hundreds of millions, old and worn, were now gathering for the sole purpose of resurrecting a single Anomaly.
Crack.
When the last of the gray miracles had settled, the urn fractured. Crack. Crack. It slowly broke apart. When it finally crumbled completely, standing there was a girl wrapped in rags.
"You... are... the King... of Anomalies...?"
The girl turned vacant eyes toward Ter. That alone made every hair on Ter's body stand on end, and he instinctively dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead to the ground.
(What... is this thing...! I've never seen a being with such density!)
The rag-clad girl with a tiger's tail looked up at the sky. And then, just a little, she wept.
'...It never changes, does it.'
"What?"
'Someone gets hurt to protect someone else. Throwing away everything else for the ones they love. Truly... that... is a mechanism that never changes...'
The rag-clad girl gently stroked the three corpses and closed their eyes. Then she clutched the shattered Seven-Branched Sword as if it were precious and swallowed it whole.
"...My name is Termibek Janebekova. O King of Anomalies, I humbly beseech you."
'I already understand the situation through the ancestral spirits. Tokyo is in terrible danger, isn't it?'
Ter suppressed his fear as he gazed at the King of Anomalies and nodded slightly.
'Young man. I am merely a defeated one. One who staked everything and could protect nothing -- a memory, nothing more. What could I possibly do now? We remnants of mythology.'
* * *
[No. 0004: "King of Anomalies"] -- Stage 0
Nature: Collective Illusion
History: June 999. The Anomaly who caused the largest Anti-Reality incident in Japanese history -- the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. Through a ritual gathering the power of thousands of Anomalies, she attempted to cause a dimension-scale reality breach. She was stopped by the desperate battle of the Onmyou Agency's agents.
Purpose: Her goal was to protect the dying Anomalies and create "a world where humans and Anomalies coexist." She fought alone for that purpose. Praise for her nobility came from both human and Anomaly sides without end, and she was called "the true hero."
* * *
"O King of Anomalies. I need you to cause a Night Parade."
'...Young man. I'm afraid this is no longer the age of immortals. In this stabilized universe, the power of us Collective Illusions is fragile. Gods and yokai are already useless relics.'
Japan was once called the land of the gods, an island nation rich with Anomalies. But through the activation of Homeostasis due to universal stabilization and the erosion of illusions through globalization, the gods had weakened. The hero who tried to stop that and lost was this King of Anomalies.
"--The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation has been laid across Tokyo."
'!'
Collective Illusion was a phenomenon seen only in young universes. The more sentient beings believed in Anomalies, the more they wished, the more powerfully it manifested as reality. It was the mechanism of primordial fundamental science.
But in this fully stabilized dimension, Collective Illusion was impossible. Under normal circumstances.
'No way. The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation? No way. That's nothing but a theoretical concept requiring astronomical calculations. For mere humans to achieve such an absurd thing--'
The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation -- a ritual that recreated the environment of the age of immortals by lowering the Naxa Index within the formation to its absolute minimum. Many researchers had already concluded it was impossible.
"Humanity has kept moving forward. While you slept."
'...'
"Even those stars are within reach now. We will continue advancing forever."
In Ter's gaze, filled with strong will, the King of Anomalies saw a glimpse of her former self -- those times when she threw away everything to fight for her Yearning.
'Very well, young man. We defeated ones shall watch over your battle.'
"!"
'However, the Night Parade is chaos incarnate. It can never be controlled.'
"No, it should be possible. --If it's my friend."
The King of Anomalies felt joy. She pitied the Anomalies and loved humanity -- the brilliance of humans. And even after a thousand years, fragments of what she had loved were still being passed down.
'--Initiating access to the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation.'
She had no reason to refuse.
'Target: Tokyo. Establishing reality anchor. Access permission confirmed. Calculating spirit-realm variables... Beginning expansion of Ten Thousand Immortals Field. Objective: Naxa Index 78. Void Gap -- deploying.'
Japan was once called the land of the gods. Eight million rampaging deities manifested in various forms. But they were driven out by Homeostasis, and not a single one remained.
(How should I call out so the gods will answer?)
The King of Anomalies reconstructed the Seven-Branched Sword -- with the trajectory of humanity, with the fluid of souls.
(Please protect your children? Guard the precious people? Strike down the impure enemy...?)
No. That wasn't it. The eight million of this country wouldn't even twitch their noses at such proper, boring words. They were free, chaotic, raging. Simply kneeling and praying was meaningless -- they wouldn't lend their power for something like that.
So the rag-clad girl cried out. She waved her tiger's tail and raised the Seven-Branched Sword to the sky.
'O eight million gods, immortals, and fox spirits! Come -- the festival begins!'
In that instant, gray miracles erupted from the girl's Seven-Branched Sword. These were the ancestral souls in fluid form. They shot from Mt. Fuji's crater at blinding speed and rained down upon Tokyo like a shower.
'Dance madly, laugh loudly! Leap and bound and drink and revel! Sing from the void! Ten Thousand Immortals Formation!'
This was Japan's ultimate weapon -- the Night Parade, wielded through the King of Anomalies. It was the recreation of the age of immortals. The second coming of the age of gods. A time-limited bacchanal.
A blue moon rose over nighttime Tokyo.
* * *
"Shit...! Shitshitshit! Shit!!"
Maid Street in Akihabara. A man in a gas mask ran through the streets, rifle in hand.
"Guh!"
The man stumbled on debris and fell. His name was Satake Nobuteru. Twenty-two years old. A young man who had joined the Ground Self-Defense Force after graduating university. His family home was in Niigata, and his hobby was watching streams while gaming.
(Everyone, everyone, everyone...! They're all... gone...!)
His comrades had inhaled the crimson rot mist and transformed into faceless monsters with twelve legs. Satake alone had barely managed to pull on a gas mask and escape that fate.
'Gigigigi. Gigigigi. Gigigigi.'
The faceless crimson humans scraped their long claws together, grinding out that sound. It was their communication -- those monsters issued simple commands to each other through claw vibrations.
"Stay back...!"
Satake kept his rifle raised from where he had fallen and turned around. Four crimson humans stood there, each clutching an iron pipe or a chunk of debris.
"...!"
Per his training, Satake put his finger on the trigger. But when he spotted a half-melted acrylic keychain embedded in one crimson human's body, he froze. It was FPS streamer fan merchandise he had given to a junior.
"You're... Miyano...?"
The crimson humans had no reason. No memories. Killing them might be a mercy. But Satake couldn't do it. He just couldn't.
'Gigigigi.'
A crimson human raised its crude iron pipe.
'Awoooooo--!'
Beneath the blue moon, a massive silver wolf howled.
"Huh?"
The silver wolf kicked off Akihabara's buildings at tremendous speed, seized the crimson humans in its great fangs, shook its head violently, and tore them apart.
'Hee hee.'
Riding on the wolf's back were pale, lifeless children.
'It's beginning.'
'The festival.'
'The Night Parade.'
As if in a dream, Satake watched the wolf. What was that? That strange phenomenon -- why did it feel so nostalgic?
"...!"
The ground rumbled with a boom -- an Akihabara building collapsing. Gigigigi -- the scraping of claws overlapped. It was a massive bone Corpse Soldier commanding the crimson humans. Larger than a building, it grabbed the crushed debris in its hands and swung down at Satake with great force.
'Well well, that's one big bone monster. Well well, you... you bastard...'
Someone's voice echoed. Satake had no time to look back. Instead--
'--Who do you think owns this land where you're rampaging?'
A massive iron club smashed the bone monster to pieces.
(I've seen that before.)
The huge iron club. The ox horns. The tiger-striped loincloth. The red and blue skin. Everyone knew. Anyone who grew up in this country would recognize it. Exactly like the picture books.
(That's -- an oni.)
The oni stood about three meters tall. Before anyone noticed, they had appeared throughout Akihabara, glaring at the death spirits with expressions of fury.
'This is mine! Our land! The only ones allowed to bully these people are us!'
* * *
[No. N/A: "Oni"] -- Stage 0
Nature: Collective Illusion
Details: Humanoid Anomalies told of in many legends and folk tales. They possess high intelligence and physical ability. They were given the nature of "evil" opposing humanity. Yet without shadow, there is no light.
* * *
Boom, boom, boom, boom -- taiko drums thundered across Tokyo's night sky. Piihyara, pii -- bamboo flutes trilled. Shan, shan, shan -- bells purified the air.
'Let's go, you lot! This is our final brawl! Tear 'em up!'
At the red oni's command, the blue oni roared. The red and blue oni charged the undead army, swinging their massive iron clubs.
(What... is this...)
One of the oni came and stood beside the dumbfounded Satake.
'Pass it on.'
"...What?"
'About us. Forever. Don't forget us.'
The oni grinned, showing its fangs. Satake had a feeling he would never forget that smile -- the festival where the gods and yokai gathered one last time.
'Awoooooo!'
The silver wolf dodged the arrows fired by death spirit soldiers at tremendous speed, its body covered in wounds, racing through Akihabara's streets. The children on its back merrily rang bells and played flutes, strengthening the power of the Collective Illusion even further.
'Hee hee hee.'
'Let's dance, let's dance.'
'Let's sing, let's sing.'
The silver wolf ran with fierce determination. It had to. It had to protect humanity. That was the final duty of the illusion wished for by humans.
* * *
[No. N/A: "Inugami"] -- Stage 0
Nature: Collective Illusion
Details: An Anomaly born from rituals using the grudges of dogs. Once it existed to curse and kill humans, but it syncretized with water-child mythology and transformed into a curse-illusion that protects children. Purified by a certain girl's prayer, it now protects humanity as a sacred divine hound.
* * *
The foundation of Anomalies was Collective Illusion. Stories someone once dreamed, told to someone else, believed by someone else. But they weren't mere fiction -- they were truths the universe believed in.
'Hihihihi! This is the best! So much fun! Songs, dances, and plenty of enemies to fight! This is the best! This is the greatest festival!'
The giant ape yokai -- the hihi. The riverside yokai -- the kappa. The sky-fliers -- the tengu. Ittan-momen. Nurarihyon. Mary-san. Yuki-onna. Onyudo. Giant spiders. Giant centipedes. Abura-sumashi. Enra-enra. Karakasa-kozo. Koropokkuru. Kuchisake-onna. Suiko. Sunekosuri. Hidarugami.
'I am the karasu-tengu. I know not what you are. But we shall be your opponents.'
A single tengu dove from high in the sky and crushed the skull of a death spirit soldier with its tall wooden clogs.
'For this is our land.'
The death spirit soldiers attacked the tengu all at once. But protecting him were small Anomalies -- Tofu-kozo, white snakes, Zashiki-warashi. Even the weakest Anomalies clung desperately to the death spirit soldiers' arms.
'We are the defeated. We are the vanishing. We are the forgotten gods and immortals.'
Collective Illusion was already a law with no more force than a breeze in this universe. When the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation closed, the gods, yokai, and urban legends would fade into mere old tales. Someday they would be forgotten. But that was no reason to let something be taken from them.
'Brawls and fireworks -- that's what festivals in this country are! Now then, death spirit lords. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Let us exchange blows together. Let us laugh and dance and revel. Until we vanish with the morning dew!'
And so it began across Tokyo.
The battle between the ancient, fading gods, immortals, and fox spirits -- and the death spirits and undead from the dimension beyond.
King of Anomalies
A noble girl who fought against the world to protect both Anomalies and humans.
Her goal was to create a law that would “allow the universe to accept fantasy.”
To that end, she summoned the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons and gathered the power of all Anomalies into one.
With that concentrated energy, she tried to rewrite the world — but was dispersed by a certain man, an agent of the Isolation Agency.
The man enshrined her as one among the gods and sealed her away beneath the Appraiser’s halls.
He knew. That one day, without fail, the day would come when she would truly save the world.