Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume4 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 2===

'''(Timeline “Past”)

The information in his mind was still a collection of fragments which did not connect into a clear whole.

Even so, the distinct puzzle pieces poured into his mind along with a cloyingly sweet smell.

::“Yes.”

“There was a mistake in the job request.”

::::::“I lied.”

:::“But there were indeed 353 vessels here.”

“Including me.”

:::::::“In other words.”

:::::“It was already too late.”

“Pandemonium’s practical test was completed and she was summoned.”

::“The Wicked Green Woman was.”

::::“All of us were combined into a single Unexplored-class.”

“And we could not return to normal.”

:“In other words, the combined vessel is ‘me’.”

:::“Even I am not entirely sure if I am really Himekawa Mika.”

::::“But.”

“This was not your fault.”

:::::“It was this way from the beginning.”

“It was all over before you had even started.”

:::“So.”

Shiroyama Kyousuke heard something like sparks bursting near his ears and then it all finally combined into a clear image in his mind. His senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch all combined into a single vision.

He was in Pandemonium’s central processing core.

The giant cubic cage had 50 meter sides. Each wall was covered in detailed geometric patterns with ripples of red, green, and yellow light running through them.

Countless chairs were carefully arranged in the otherwise empty conference room.

It was a space with no master.

“…This is wrong,” groaned Kyousuke.

He faced the bluish-black ponytail woman smiling sadly a short distance away and his voice rose to a nearly shouted plea.

“But this is definitely wrong!!”

He suddenly found people standing on either side of Himekawa Mika.

It was Max Layard and Ellie Slide.

“Listen, Kyousuke-kun. The White Queen’s presence can easily distort people’s common sense. You have to have seen that yourself. It is true of those who obey her and those who oppose her.”

She showed no caution.

She wordlessly told him they had been working together from the beginning and she pressed a hand to the center of her chest.

“The 353 vessels were combined into a single Unexplored-class and returned to human form once more, but I don’t know how long this body will last with hundreds of souls inside it. I have no proof that the individual who has risen to the surface is really the person you know. But if Pandemonium is proven successful and deemed effective against the White Queen, the Deltaston family…no, anyone who is drawn to similar delusions will attempt the same thing. They will be so focused on their lofty goal that they will fail to question the sacrifices.”

“Then…”

“It is not about whether or not this can actually defeat the White Queen. ''It just has to appear possible.'' That is enough to hopelessly distort mankind. If the power was insufficient, they only need to increase it. Either they mass-produce Pandemoniums or they increase the number of vessels being sacrificed. And once they start thinking like that, there will be no stopping them.”

“Then are you saying you’ve given up on saving yourselves?”

“Kyousuke-kun.”

It was a truly gentle voice.

And then she opposed him for the sake of her own goal.

“This is only ''a hunk of flesh'' taking this form. Even if you can speak with me, feel my warmth, and watch me move, you were too late for the original 353 people. We were the introduction. So you don’t need to think about saving us. To put it another way…yes. Kyousuke-kun, are you familiar with mystery novels? The wealthy master of a mysterious mansion dies and his family begins a ruthless conflict over his fortune. When the detective accepts the job from a client carrying a letter predicting another murder, can he save the man who already died? And would anyone call it a failing that he cannot?”

“…!!!!!”

“So we want you to solve the ‘original case’, Kyousuke-kun.” The woman in the tight skirt suit thinly smiled and laughed. “Our ‘success’ here will accelerate Pandemonium. We do not know if another 353 will be consumed here or if a second and third Pandemonium will be constructed on the opposite side of the globe, but there will be more sacrifices now that there has been a success.”

A success.

Another 353.

“Hey, Kyousuke-kun, didn’t you find it odd? We, the 353 Holy Key Women here, were all sacrificed, so who were the ones giving the presentation at the D.R.O.K. booths? Why are there Holy Key Women beyond the 353? That is what I am talking about.”

“That’s a second set…? No, spares to fill any possible gaps?”

“They will be next. No, I…we, will not allow them to be sacrificed. We will not allow a sacrifice caused by our actions.”

Either way, the “rate of consumption” was bound to increase if the project proved successful.

It was irritating, but Pandemonium was incredibly convenient.

Just like the book describing the end of the Angolmois, it could be used to mislead and deceive people, fill them with anxiety, and lead them to rely on you.

If they were mass-produced and people were able to keep the various Unexplored-classes all to themselves, it would indeed bring an everlasting prosperity to the Deltaston family.

They would have absolute authority in which any tyranny was allowed.

They would hold the divine right of kings.

“That’s why you called me here? You knew the 353 vessels were not in the central processing core, you knew they had already been sacrificed, and you manipulated me with the job request?”

“Yes. Because we want you to destroy this place. We want you to thoroughly destroy this Box.” Himekawa spoke like a ghost pointing to its murderer. “Pandemonium is sturdy enough to take a hit from the Lady of Purple Lightning’s power, even if it had decayed a fair bit. Even with the help of Perfect Game here, we cannot be certain we can absolutely destroy the living data. And if even a slight sample remains, a self-proclaimed hero like the Deltaston family will certainly build another one. So we thought about how to use the resources on hand to bring about the greatest destruction. And the answer could not have been more obvious.”

Kyousuke felt something unpleasant running down his spine.

“We summon the White Queen. And in the way the Deltaston family would hate most. We take the despicable strengthening idea they proudly prepared to defeat the White Queen, we use that to thoroughly increase the Queen’s own power, and we let her loose. The hunter and the prey. We will give the label of hunter to the nemesis meant to wear the label of prey.”

And this would solve everything because…

“If Pandemonium is destroyed by the White Queen’s power, it will announce to the world that this method cannot oppose the peak of the Unexplored-class. Even the Deltaston family will be forced to accept it. This is not an issue of the process or conditions. ''This will destroy the twisted idea that mankind can even attempt to defeat the Queen.'' That is the best way to save the next 353.”

Kyousuke looked to Himekawa’s neck.

In addition to her whistle, she wore a sin necklace with a number of small decorations.

The mug referred to heavy drinking.

The lips referred to trickery or deception.

The 12-sided die may have been a symbol of a gambling addiction.

“How can I accept that…?”

“And on top of that, we will stimulate the White Queen. We must ensure she puts on the greatest performance with her cruelty. That is where you come in, Kyousuke-kun. You are the only person in the world with the ‘Loved by the White’ Award.”

“There’s no way in hell I’m accepting that!! The Queen can save people? We can rest easy and let her take care of it? That’s just succumbing to her evil!! You’re just running into a future barrier, coming up with an arbitrary justification, and sadly deciding it might be worth ''celebrating'' if it means being killed by her! Besides, what happens to all of you then? This isn’t just about Himekawa Mika. What happens to the 353 souls here right now!?”

“Oh? You can’t make a guess?”

“I didn’t notice it, I overlooked it, and I thought it was just a biological component supporting Pandemonium…yes, something like a parallel DNA computer. Until I arrived here, anyway!!”

Kyousuke and Himekawa had seen something just before arriving at this Box.

They had crossed a narrow metal catwalk with giant translucent spheres covering the ground below. A quick estimate had suggested there were more than 100 of them.

Himekawa sighed once and gave the answer.

“Kyousuke-kun, do you remember my keyhole?”

“That thing on your tailbone?”

“Yes, but the original designs had it at the center of my chest. The key was made to enter my heart and turn.”

“…”

It was obvious what that meant.

The location had changed.

There was a difference between the original Himekawa Mika and the one here right now.

“After the Wicked Green Woman summoning experiment, the Unexplored-class left, but there were not 353 bodies left over. ''Only a single flesh cocoon.'' You could say that I am the Himekawa Mika who was born then.”

“Then…those transparent spheres…”

“You understand, don’t you? I could not ignore the remains of the cocoon after it burst open, so I took emergency measures. Luckily, the fragments split into 353 pieces that formed spheres on their own. All I did was stick tubes in them to supply oxygen and nutrients.”

“Are those…embryos?”

“Probably. When you think about losing your soul, you might imagine a rapid aging, but it seemed to work differently this time. Losing the soul means a rejection of the soul’s accumulation and experience points, so the body’s growth was reversed and it returned to an embryo that has yet to even become a fetus. However, the body’s volume could not disappear, so the embryo’s size is between 40 and 50 liters. In other words, about as big as a balance ball.”

She had said it had split into 353 masses.

Then who was the Himekawa Mika here?

No, it may have been the same regardless. None of the many embryos had a soul and all of the souls had gathered in “Himekawa Mika”. She just so happened to be the one on the surface, but she was essentially a new body in which all of the vessels had gathered.

Those spheres out there were the same as unfertilized eggs.

They had the white and the yolk, but no amount of warming them could make them grow.

“Then isn’t that even worse?” Kyousuke forced out the worst possibility. “What happened to the souls of the missing 353 people? If they’ve simply mixed together, there’s nothing we can do, but what if they’re still in the process of doing it? We might still be able to do something and we need bodies for them to return to. If Pandemonium is supporting those embryos, then we can’t just destroy it! Do that and all of the souls inside you will lose anywhere to return to!! And…”

“…”

“Your own body won’t last… You have to know how absurdly unnatural your current state is. If you don’t let the excess souls escape, that flesh container will burst!!”

Himekawa Mika did not answer.

She simply smiled calmly.

“Say it.”

She had counted on this.

Kyousuke hated that look on her face, so he forced out the resentful heat burning deep in his stomach.

“Say it!! In front of me! Say what you really wanted to say!! Relying on the Queen? You’ll be happy as long as she destroys everything? Yeah, right. That shallow textbook benevolence won’t fulfill your heart!! There’s no ‘next time’ when it comes to saving people. There’s no order to it! You don’t need to decide it based on what’s possible and impossible! You can be more selfish and greedy!! When you’re saving people as a human being, it’s no time to be putting limits on anything!!”

“We have two ways of stimulating the White Queen.”

The woman who looked so much like Madam Professor was not listening to Kyousuke.

She simply watched with a smile like he was a child throwing a tantrum.

“The first, Kyousuke-kun, is placing you by her side. After all, you are Loved by the White. Even if she is an extraordinary monster, she will still want to look good in front of her beloved. If you ask her just once, she is sure to instantly smash the Box into oblivion.”

She continued coldly.

“And the second, Kyousuke-kun, is to persecute and kill you in front of her. Once again, you are Loved by the White. What better trigger is there to send that peak of the Unexplored-class on a rampage? For this one, no one even needs to ask her. As long as the Queen is enveloped in bottomless rage, Pandemonium will overheat and destroy itself as it supports the summoning. …So Kyousuke-kun, which would you prefer?”

In other words…

Whether Kyousuke won or lost, the stage was set so he would cause the White Queen to destroy Pandemonium. That was Himekawa Mika’s plan.

The Perfect Game duo took a step toward Kyousuke.

Why was Perfect Game obeying Himekawa?

Did Government gain something from Pandemonium’s destruction?

Or was it a matter of personal feelings?

Even if Kyousuke used an Incense Grenade to fight, there was nothing he could do when his vessel was working against him. In the worst case, she would summon a Divine-class through the alternative Holy Key Woman method and the Blood-Sign Summoning Ceremony would not respond.

No.

A practical test using the 353 of them had apparently already proven they could summon the Unexplored-class Wicked Green Woman with the turn of a key, so if things were set up just right, it was possible they could summon the White Queen right away.

That was just about the worst case scenario for a flesh-and-blood human.

“Now, Kyousuke-kun. No, Alice (with) Rabbit.”

Himekawa Mika spoke the cursed words without understanding what they actually meant.

“''Save'' us.”

He would be thrown into the greatest evil!!

“…To hell with that."

Shiroyama Kyousuke adjusted his grip on his Blood-Sign.

He did not know how much he could actually do. The Summoning Ceremony had been almost entirely taken from him and he was faced with a Government 500 level as well as Incense Expert Ellie Slide, a legendary vessel said to be able to amplify her partner’s power by 500 Awards. On top of that, a single authorization key in the keyhole on Himekawa Mika’s tailbone and she might be able to summon the very, very top. The situation could not have been worse.

But.

Even so.

The fighting spirit did not vanish from Alice (with) Rabbit’s eyes.

“If you don’t get it, then I’ll show you. True salvation has no room for that pure white! It has to be brought about by human hands!! Don’t let her blind you and lead you away from the essence of salvation. What was it you really thought while you struggled in this dark, dark Box? Were you hoping someone you’ve never seen or heard of would be saved!? Of course not. Your bodies melted away in some bizarre experiment, hundreds of souls were removed from their bodies, and Himekawa Mika is about to burst from within despite just barely surviving it all. And you expect me to believe you’ll be happy as long as you can protect someone? Not a chance!!!!!!”

''Kssshhh

::''Kssshhh

“Hm, I had a feeling it would come down to this. Himekawa Mika’s attempt at the White Queen was the most over-the-top and she made it pretty far, so I started to think it might happen after all, but a failure is a failure. We’ll have to make up for this somewhere.”

He heard a voice.

It was a young girl’s voice, but it was as cold as can be.

Fingertips moved along the handle of an axe and operated the flute-like keys.

“What caused you to start viewing Pandemonium as a threat? Did you think the world revolves around you? There are 353 vessels here, so there are 353 new summoning methods. Just as someone thought about making an attack on Pandemonium with the Attach Saint Project, the Holy Key Women, or the individual limited Incense Grenades, the trigger for you was the summon bombing. That is what you used to come this far. Of course, most of the 353 projects are empty theories and those attempts either ended without even getting close to Pandemonium or they’re still pathetically spinning their wheels outside. You used that bombing for a quite a lot: to steal the VIP evacuation route map, to slip past the anti-personnel radar with the crater lakes you had created, and so on. A single book points to a single conclusion and you seem to be the closest to reaching the ending.”

[[Image:BloodSign_v04_196.jpg|thumb]]

Ellie Slide.

Her voice droned on and on so much that Kyousuke lost his sense of time.

Small colorful bottles were attached to the back of her axe and they gave off a damp light as she pushed at the caps like cylinders.

“Then again, those were definitely the words I would expect from Freedom Award 903, but they stray from our objective. Right, Max?”

She adjusted her black and orange witch’s hat with an eagle feather in it and she dragged along the giant armor-breaking axe as its built-in electronic cigarette device scattered a sweet aroma.

It released the scent when she pulled the trigger and she intentionally altered the intensity of the vapor.

“He is extremely logical, so he will come up with the answer right away. If a win or a loss will achieve our goal of triggering a rampage from the Queen, then he only has to delay an answer indefinitely. And that would be a problem.”

The incense expert spoke while showing off her chocolate-colored swimsuit tan lines.

“And have you forgotten? I am the vessel known as Amplifier 500. I am an expert in the small field of Incense Grenade creation and I can increase my partner’s strength by 500 Awards. I specialize in preparing the requisite incense in advance.”

::::''Kssshhh

''Kssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh

::::::''Ksssssssshhhhhhhhh

“Simply put, this phase was a failure. You rejected Himekawa Mika’s invitation, you refused to abandon the few for the sake of the many, and you did not selfishly summon and rely on the White Queen. Now, we must reset the stage to reuse this stubborn 900 level. So give us a little more time to work behind the scenes. You are so skilled that you are a bit difficult to control, so beginning this again now would only lead to another failure. My incense will rob you of your short-term memory and we will set things up while you take your time figuring out what happened. Okay, Alice (with) Rabbit?”

''Kssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

“Don’t worry.”

:::“We are used to buying time.”

“Pandemonium is a mobile fortress.”

:::“There is no reason that this has to happen ‘here’.”

::::::“We have fought all around the world.”

:“We have repeated this again and again and again.”

“One attempt tried to induce arrhythmia in the heart reactor.”

::“One attempt feigned a virus infection to check for any weaknesses.”

:::::“But almost every plan was crushed before it even began.”

“There have been mountains of attempts no one is even aware of.”

:::“At one point, I happened to meet Perfect Game.”

:::::“At some point, we happened across Alice (with) Rabbit.”

::“So.”

::::“We will try this as many times as it takes.”

:::“We are not afraid of failure.”

“As long as it gradually brings us closer to success, anything is fine.”

::::::“So Kyousuke-kun.”

“Until we meet again during the next phase.”

::::''Click.