City Series:Volume8B

Characters[edit]

Name: Algo Everquest

Style: Critical Forcer

Extension: ASB Word Race (High Speed Action Resistance)

Story: You Understand?

A US born orphan who studied the ultimate fist under Kobayashi Ungyou.

Trained alongside Aoe.

Entered DT in order to summon a great god so that he could heal Alternative’s Words Warn and is currently work hard toward that end.

Is immortal as a Martial Arts Master and knows the meaning of the strongest fist.

Name: Alternative Kobayashi

Style: Non-Style

Extension: ASB Word Race (High Speed Action Resistance)

Story: Innocent Lady

Kobayashi Akon’s daughter and Yuo’s twin sister. She is asleep in the hospital with Words Warn, but her Mind Lives are with Algo, so she is enjoying life freed from her body in DT.

She is generally found on Algo’s shoulder in mini-form, but when he enters battle, she will grow to full size and provide support.

Just as happy-go-lucky as her sister.

◀High Performance Form

How to Play[edit]

The Strongest

The strongest is an absolute power beyond just a killing power.

But does it really exist?

Algo Everquest once told Aoe Shouzou the following:

“If I had to explain it, I would say it is an interaction of the Plus and the Minus. Killing powers and the strongest power are both equations written with the plus and the minus.”

So what do killing powers and the strongest power add and subtract?

Killing: Adds and subtracts “life”.

Strongest: Adds and subtracts “?”.

Aoe: I think both killing powers and the strongest power are different ways of using power.

A killing power adds and subtracts life because it is used to kill.

But the strongest power I do not understand. What do you use a strongest power to do?

And I do not understand what Algo meant about an interaction of the Plus and Minus.

You can use a killing power without worrying about any of that.

■Aoe

Anxiety

Plus and Minus. These concepts are used to find the truth in reality and fiction, but their opposite natures contain contrasting anxieties and possibilities.

Plus

Anxiety: You could kill your opponent when you wield your power.

Possibility: You could step out into the world and assert yourself without fearing the emotions.

Minus

Anxiety: The anxiety of having the world’s eyes on you for killing is worse than the killing itself.

Possibility: You could surpass the “common knowledge” of logic and of the law and make decisions that sever your ties to things.

■Yuo

Yuo: Everyone is inclined in one direction or the other between Plus and Minus. When multiple Plus people or multiple Minus people gather, it is said they will provide support for each other’s anxieties. So with others of your kind, no serious conflicts are needed to understand each other’s anxieties.

But it’s strange isn’t it? Senpai and I are polar opposites, so why is it we get along so well?

World[edit]

Emblem Pattern

These are the Quartet’s Pseudo Load Emblems. Instead of Lives, they Load powerful subprograms known as Top Level Subprograms. These were prototypes for the Load Emblems created before the 1st Godtact Experiment. They are inefficient, but their abilities are more specialized than modern ones.

Excel’s Pseudo Load Emblem: Lotus

Loads a program control ability. Removes the upper limit on that program control ability.

Myst’s Pseudo Load Emblem: Premier

Loads her technical ability. Removes the upper limit on her drawing ability.

Daikatana’s Pseudo Load Emblem: Moebius

Loads his center of gravity. Removes the upper limit on his blade strength.

Mekton’s Pseudo Load Emblem: Tribes

Loads his reflexes. Removes the upper limit on the reflexes in his connection settings.

The Five Great Lakes Map

A map of the Great Lakes. DT exists to the south of the Great Lakes, nearly at the center.

The north end of the Great Lakes connects to the border with Canada, so DT was influenced by Canada and France even before the virtualization.

Red dots from left to right:

Chicago

DT

Toronto

Washington

New York

Fooblicky: The circle with the horizontal lines indicates the range of the Great Godquake that occurred when the great god was summoned in DT.

The extent of the destruction is why we Demigods declared the godtact experiments to be Death Techno and sealed them away.

As you can see from this map, DT is surrounded by lake Lives, not ocean ones.

There, that’s enough trivia for today.

This Month’s Newcomer!![edit]

Top left: The latest City Series game is a life sim game with a very dangerous title.

As the subtitle suggests, you need to work hard to obtain the strongest fist, aka the strongest tsukkomi!!

Title: Princess Bullying

The Strongest Fist Thrown by a Special Someone

Left text: Boke Tsukkomi Battling!

Chart:

Name: Yuo

Lewd Points: Fairly high

Sub Points: Maybe a bit high

Tsukkomi Points: My Specialty (Tsukkomi +1)

Boke Points: Here’s one thing I’m no good at

Long Ear Points: A perfect score!!

Item: One cloth. Buy me something, idiot.

Relationship: Underclassman

Top of meter: No Danger Yet

Meter: Mind Destruction Meter

Right Text: A real man wouldn’t laugh and compliment her so much!

Puppy: Not enough programs.

Dialogue Box: Yuo: “Excuse me, but none of the things in that chart on the upper left are actually ‘points’. Oh, that was a tsukkomi wasn’t it? Yes, that is my specialty. It really is.

Bottom Text:

58 years have passed since the release of Cat Bullying, the previous game in the series set in Berlin during the war. At long last, the sequel Princess Bullying has been announced for release this year.

The basic system remains the same as the original, so all the retired gamers who played the original will have no (non-health related) trouble jumping right in. The story follows the original’s. If you need a detailed explanation of that story, it is about [omitted] needs to be destroyed!! Curse you! Curse you, Himmler!!

Now, the original’s story spanned 7 years, but this blows that out of the water by spanning 600 years.

There is a setting that lets you play it in real time, so why not give it a try if you have an exceptionally long lifespan?

Oh, and this one is a joke too, so don’t believe it.

Bottom left: Screenshot of Cat Bullying. The verbal bullying starts here. However, the screen is laid out to so Ber-tan, the advisor character, stands out an awful lot.

But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am too young.’

You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you and will rescue you,”

declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me,

“I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms

to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

(Book of Jeremiah, excerpt from the Call of Jeremiah)

Chapter 10: Battle Field[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Go, go! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

Now, what’s going to happen to us here? A word mail from the Telyb Couple said Suedomsa has taken over the castle and Babel and that they can’t publicly announce his motive since they can only speculate at this point.

So anyway, I’m currently searching for the data on the civilian who supposedly entered the castle alone.

Old Man Telyb is being stingy and won’t tell me a thing about Suedomsa’s motivation.

Well, I can look into that myself. Today’s topic can be “capture”.

“They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

(Luke 21:24)

test –Railswest Leab

Hello, hello, hello. Test, test, test.

This is RW, the young wife of Oilbaron Leab, one of the 13 Demigods.

Ding dong. Oh? I can’t get in. I can’t seem to get inside DT, so I’m going to be posting from England. So what is going on, Racter?

07/07/2000 DT 00:48 PM (-02:12)

Help Text[edit]

The Bible and the Son of God

The term Bible refers to all scriptures inherited from the previous eras through their Concept Existence Lives, including the Pseudepigrapha and the Apocrypha.

It is mainly divided into the Old and the New Testaments.

The Old Testament is mostly mythological stories starting with the creation of the universe and the New Testament tells the story of the Son of God until he ascends into heaven to be with god.

The New Testament shows the Son of God arrive with god through the following process.

He is born to the Virgin Mary.

The king tries to find and kill the Son of God, so his father takes him to Egypt.

After the king’s death, he moves to Nazareth. He is baptized by John.

He rejects the devil’s temptations and begins his ministry.

He heals the sick, gathers 12 disciples, and spreads his word.

He denies being a demon himself in the Beelzebub argument.

He thrice predicts his death and resurrection.

He enters the holy land.

He works to make amends, but is arrested thanks to a disciple’s treachery.

Fearing disaster, one disciple denies knowing him.

He is hung on a cross and dies.

A soldier stabs him with a lance to see if he is dead.

Two Marys visit his tomb and learn he has been resurrected.

He speaks with his disciples and spends a short time with them.

He gives his blessing and ascends into heaven to be seated at the right hand of god.

This series of events was prophesied in advance, but it was only possible because the Son of God worked with his parents and disciples to follow that path.

The Son of God is not a title he received from the prophecy. He earned the title by fulfilling the conditions laid out to become the Son of God.

Aoe’s Board Mode: Inside DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are in Rooftop Central Communications Tower – Top Floor, a Top Page of North District Castle – Castle Interior.

The current time is 12:48 PM.

You are in a space with a diameter of about 10 yards. Communications consoles are located along the stone wall. The ceiling is conical, but there are a few crossbeams and ceiling panels.

You have just entered through the hole in the floor leading to the stairs.

There are 7 NPC Bodies inside. They have all ceased functioning.

Monkey hops down from your shoulder and runs toward one of the communications consoles.

Aoe: <All the NPC Bodies stopped when I arrived at the floor below this.>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

6 of the NPC Bodies are communication tower managers and 1 is a maid. None of them are moving.

Aoe: “I don’t know why they aren’t moving, but I have already reached my weapon’s time limit.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The trigger of your submachinegun will not move. You are forbidden from using firearms.

Monkey is altering the console’s program settings.

Aoe: “Once you take control, tell Telyb and the others I have reached the central comm tower.”

Aoe: “And once you finish that, show me the word mail Yuo sent me earlier. I’m going to send her one.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has updated>

Yuo’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Yuo’s Over Reload>

Yuo attempted to hack into the castle management program to obtain further privileges.

Her smaller form meant she had her legs folded up underneath her while she sat in the chair. She used that to put her head above the desk and opened a program.

She was giving it her all, but it wasn’t going well.

The data sealing and defenses were clever and they had even built an automatic counterattack program.

She held her stomach.

She sighed, let a subprogram handle the attack, and stretched.

Puppy suddenly hopped up onto the desk.

<Hey! Get off of there!>

Puppy answered her shouted thought by opening a window.

<Opening Word Mail Window>

Aoe’s Word Mail: To Yuo[edit]

hello. i am in the central comm tower. where are you

<Returning to Yuo’s Sight Mode>

Yuo’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Yuo’s Over Reload>

It was a short message, but as soon as Yuo saw the way it was written and the sender’s name, she shouted in her window.

She reflexively opened a transparent keyboard and began typing out a response.

<Yuo’s Sight Mode has ended>

Yuo’s Word Mail: To Senpai[edit]

Hi. Sorry if I’m interrupting, but it’s Yuo!

The thing is <The message was too long to send in full. Please contact the sender.>

<Awaiting a response from Aoe>

Aoe’s Word Mail: To Idiot[edit]

hey idiot. your message was too long. fix it

<Awaiting a response from Yuo>

Yuo’s Word Mail: To Senpai[edit]

Hi. This is Yuo.

You insult me, but I know you were happy to hear from me.

I wrote all sorts of things in my previous message, so it’s real shame it got truncated. I mentioned some important things, some things that have been on my mind, and some lewd things, but now you’re never going to see any of them.

But all that aside, you say you’re at the central comm tower?

Please stand in the very center of the comm room. I have a map, so I can locate you and bring you into my Site Page’s Board Mode.

But the enemy might be on the way there, huh? Well, when you think it’s safe, stand there and send me an ‘OK’ message.

<Awaiting a response from Aoe>

Aoe’s Word Mail: To Yuo[edit]

ok

<Aoe’s Board Mode has been transferred to Yuo’s Site Page>

Aoe’s Board Mode: On Yuo’s Site Page[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are on a Site Page created by Yuo.

The page has been locked down so only you and Yuo may enter.

You cannot receive external data even by Over Reloading, so be careful.

Yuo: <Oh, wow. He’s really here! What gives, Senpai!?>

Aoe: <What’s with you? You’re acting kind of silly.>

Yuo: <Oh, that. I’m missing some programs at the moment. So what are you doing here?>

Yuo: <Feel free to be honest. Were you worried sick about me? Were you afraid I would fall into the bad guy’s hands? Or did you want to pay back the money I lent you?>

Aoe: <Well, I’m not telling you now, idiot.>

Yuo: <Oh, I see.>

Aoe: <Mh?>

Yuo:

Aoe: <Mh. I see. Then feel free to strip for joy. You have my permission.>

Yuo: <Eh? Um, uh, can we do this negotiation later? Like after you’ve finished rescuing me? Because I think I’ll have an easier time of it then.>

Aoe: <You fool. I’m not the kind of jerk who demands a girl’s body in exchange for rescuing her.>

Yuo: <Hm? Um, Senpai? I was only talking about stripping. My body? Um…>

Yuo: <Uh, well, that might be on the table if you risk your life to rescue me but get badly injured in the process and then I’m nursing you back to health and you whisper just the right words in my ear. In fact, there’s a very high chance it would happen then.>

Aoe: <That’s awfully specific for something that definitely isn’t happening.>

Yuo: <Well, I don’t expect my fantasies to be realistic. Yeah, you’re probably too strong to get badly injured… Which too bad, but probably for the best.>

Yuo: <Oh, but enough escapism. So in all seriousness, what are you doing here?>

Aoe:

Yuo: <Well, this is sudden. Besides, how are you supposed to rescue me? You wouldn’t be much help if you showed up here. I’ve sealed myself in, so I can’t leave this room.>

Aoe: <We only need to hold on until Telyb gets here, but we thought you would have a hard time of it all on your own. You know what the enemy is trying to do, don’t you? And who Suedomsa really is?>

Yuo: <Eh? Um, yes, I suppose I do. You mean that they want to run a godtact experiment and that Suedomsa is my dad, right?>

Aoe: <Mh. Then have you figured out they want you as the godtact experiment vessel?>

Yuo: <…Eh?>

Aoe: <They intend to use you as the vessel for the godtact experiment they are about to run.>

Yuo: <Um. Don’t I get a say?>

Aoe: <It isn’t clear if they care about that at all, but they also said they would be erasing your current memories and overwriting them with the memories of the old you who volunteered to be a vessel.>

Yuo: <Wh-why would they want to do that!?>

Aoe: <According to one of them, your past self wanted to be a godtact experiment vessel after giving up on everything. He said that was the real you, so you would want the same thing if those memories were restored.>

Yuo: <Eh? Umm, what’s all this about me giving up?>

Aoe: <Mh. The point is they have some reason to want this. He seemed really insistent about it.>

<Yuo has left the Site Page>

<Yuo has entered the Site Page>

Yuo: <Sorry about that. I lost my focus and dropped out for a second there.>

Yuo: <Let’s see. I don’t really understand any of this, but I will trust you on this matter.>

Yuo: <If anything happens, will you be there to hear me complain afterwards?>

Aoe: <Mh. The way I see it, they are trying to steal you away from me and return you to a time when you had given up. I refuse to let them do that.>

Yuo: <Thank you for that.>

Aoe: <Thanks for what?>

Yuo: <Oh, you know. That was an awful forceful way of putting it, but it’s a very you way of putting it.>

Aoe: <It was me saying it, so of course it was. Anyway, I will be there soon.>

Yuo: <I suppose so. I’ll be waiting. I’ll send you a map showing my position and a management release program which I’m sure you want pretty badly at this point. Your Mouse will trigonize it, so use it when you’re ready. I have administrative privileges, so it will last 3 minutes. I will make sure it can be used for Grandloading.>

Aoe: <That isn’t very long.>

Yuo: <It’s hard to get permission because your attack power assessment was so high. How is one of your punches rated at 15% the power needed to conquer an entire city? But leave that one as a last resort. I will also send you a smaller release program that will let you use bladed weapons.>

Aoe:

Yuo: <What, are you planning to blow up the castle? But just in case, I’ll send you a release program and boost program for that. Your Mouse should be able to combine them, so use them whenever you’re ready.>

Yuo: <A-and…one other thing.>

Yuo: <You said the old me gave up and chose to become a vessel, right? If so…what was the Day of the Oracle prophecy about?>

Yuo: <I apparently said everything would get better in 2000 years’ time, but was that the great god giving me a prophecy for everyone else because I had given up and decided to leave everything in those other people’s hands?>

Aoe: <How should I know? But remember: it is up to us whether or not that prophecy comes true.>

Yuo: <So you say. You always have liked showing off, haven’t you?>

Yuo: <But once we get past all of this, we should really talk about some things.>

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe gasped and looked up.

He stood in front of a transparent keyboard in the center of the communications room. He was watching Monkey begin to create the program trigons atop the communications console in front of him.

“The transfer is a lot faster when they’re close by.”

After a short while, Monkey tossed one trigon then another his way.

He caught them and saw one was printed with a black fist symbol and the other a black sword symbol.

Two windows opened in front of him.

<You are permitted to use the data trigons created by Yuo Natas Wav>

<Intruder Aoe Shouzou has been registered as a Yard Assistant>

The data trigon Telyb had given him felt a bit warm in his shorts pocket.

He had two powers in his hand and one in his pocket. He sensed their presence while recalling what Yuo had said.

“She wants to talk about some things? Probably about what she said last night about wanting to apologize.”

He realized it would be a lot easier if it was just text. Because with text, he couldn’t see her expression and body language.

“There is that old saying: a letter does not blush.”

He sighed and nodded before Monkey tossed him a word mail. It was the message used to send the programs.

<Opening Word Mail Window>

Yuo’s Word Mail: To Senpai[edit]

I’ve sent you the program trigons.

I wish I could make a copy over here, but the copying process for criminal management programs is a real pain. I can’t get permission with the Yard and castle not functioning normally. Sorry. I think I’ll work on creating a different attack permission version before you make it here.

So anyway, I’ll be waiting.

What do you want me to be wearing when you show up? You get to choose.

P.S.

I know this is a weird time to ask this, but things are going to get complicated for us if you do rescue me. Because I’m a criminal’s daughter. …So what do you think about that?

<Returning to Aoe’s Sight Mode>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe looked away from the window.

He took a breath and drooped his shoulders. Then he pressed the reply button on the word mail window.

A blank window opened with the cursor flashing at to top left.

He placed his right hand’s index finger on the transparent keyboard and worked at using the unfamiliar alphabetic input.

“T – O – Y – U – O.”

He grunted in satisfaction at successfully capitalizing the appropriate letters this time. He kept typing from there, speaking the words aloud as he went.

“No matter what I might learn about you…”

He added “even if you are a criminal’s daughter” under his breath, but did not finish the sentence.

He had a glum look on his face as he continued typing.

After completing a few lines, he was about to hit reply, but he read through it again.

<There’s a typo.>

Just as he was moving the cursor up to fix it, his hands stopped on the keyboard.

He operated the mail window to save the message as a draft and closed the window.

He turned around and prepared for a fight.

His eyes were on the spiral staircase leading down the tower.

Someone was climbing up through the hole on the floor that the stairs exited through.

The tall, skinny man wore his long hair tied back high on his head.

Then Aoe realized the man’s eyes were shut.

But he did not need his vision for his feet to find the stairs. The weapon he carried with that firm footing was a metal rod of more than 3 yards held under his right arm and a wakizashi worn at his hip.

The hem of his blue and white Japanese clothing fluttered a bit as he climbed the last step. He turned his lidded eyes toward Aoe and named himself in a clear voice.

“I am Daikatana Uriel.”

He continued from there.

“I presume you are Aoe Shouzou, but I would like to test something with my life.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Telyb’s Sight Mode: In DT East District[edit]

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Telyb was finally able to take a break in front of the ruins of the Yard HQ.

“I received a word mail from Aoe’s Mouse earlier and it sounds like he can reach Yuo after all.”

He could still hear weapons fire coming from the west, where the prison was.

But he no longer heard it from anywhere else. He stood up from the rubble and looked across the city with relief written on his face.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom: Full Sight Open>

He saw smoke rising from a few points across the city.

He heard alarms in the distance and sirens coming from the firefighters.

“How is the evacuation of the city going? Has everyone been moved to the park in the south?”

He was answered by Fooblicky’s voice.

“Yes, although it feels weird evacuating people to the south when Suedomsa is the one behind all this. The people are on their way to the park near Babel.”

“I see,” said Telyb, looking toward the amusement park.

The amusement park located in front of Babel was not running due to the emergency, but a single large blimp floated above its white castle.

“That looks so weirdly peaceful when we’re moving to encircle the castle.”

“Is it really, though? By the way, I received a word mail from Ikemaru in Japan earlier. He asked if there was any way he could support Aoe and I told him to send us money. Money would help pay for boosting DT, so I wasn’t lying.”

“Yes, but phrasing still matters. We’re about ready here, so how about we start for the castle?” Telyb turned to look at the royal castle. “Once the evacuation is complete, we can encircle the castle. If Aoe fails to rescue Yuo, Suedomsa should have his enchanter link Babel and the castle soon.”

He sighed and added, “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

He noticed something odd while viewing the castle again.

He narrowed his eyes to be sure. Something white was lowered from all the castle’s windows.

Cloths. Every single window had a white cloth hanging out of it.

“Uh, oh. We might need to expedite that encirclement,” whispered Telyb, turning toward Fooblicky.

He then shouted to her with a panic on his face.

“Send Aoe a message! It’s an old-fashioned method, but the enemy is about to locate Yuo!”

<Telyb’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The battle preparations began with a window opening.

<Daikatana: Uriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to C Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Movement Stability>

Aoe clicked his tongue when he saw the window. Daikatana took a fighting stance in front of him.

In that moment, Aoe heard a voice come from within the staff Daikatana held at the ready.

“Strike”

With a splitting stone sound, an emblem appeared halfway up the metal staff.

The blade symbol was drawn in see-through gray.

The staff shook a bit and released a further Text as Daikatana held it up over his right shoulder.

“And fulfill all the anguish.”

Windows opened all around Daikatana. Rapidly and in great number.

A wind whipped up and Aoe saw text wrapping around the top half of the metal staff.

●Type-XX049 – Imperial-class – Moebius●

This was a Pseudo Grandload. A window saying the blade of text was in place appeared before Daikatana’s eyes, but his eyes remained closed. He did not even read the window.

As for Aoe…

He placed his feet at shoulder width to deepen his stance.

Daikatana’s nagamaki shook slightly in response. He had increased his grip strength.

Aoe kept his eyes on that nagamaki. He could see the text subtly vibrating.

He held his breath and reached his hand right, toward a pencil on a nearby table.

Daikatana immediately opened his mouth.

“Do you think you will find a weapon capable of competing with my blade there?”

Aoe stopped his hand. He noted that Daikatana’s eyes were as closed as ever. He focused his own eyes on those shut eyelids and smiled in a bashful way.

“I was only testing you to make sure you weren’t faking it.”

“You would learn that soon enough once the battle begins.”

“Fair enough.”

He snapped his right hand back and passed Monkey the data trigon with the blade printed on it.

“Eat this, Monkey.”

A window opened in front of him before he was even doing speaking.

<Management Program Release: Blade Usage Allowed: Time Limit: 30 seconds>

The number 30 appeared over his head.

At the same time, Daikatana leaned so far forward it looked like he was toppling over.

Aoe still had a trigon left in his left hand, so he shoved that into his shorts pocket and ran backwards.

A nagamaki attack struck the spot he had just vacated.

The roaring slash scattered the wind and was made so quickly Aoe failed to see the step forward or the swinging of the weapon.

“Oh!”

Aoe leaped to the right, pursued by the roaring wind that rushed in a moment later.

The downward-swinging blade suddenly changed direction to follow.

The metal trajectory skimmed across the floor and sloped up at the end to reach his flank.

He quickly realized the trick behind his opponent’s movements.

The bending staff’s tip sliced through the wind.

It was coming. The text blade was on its way to Aoe’s torso. He let his willpower shout when he saw the incoming speed.

“Not bad!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Download.

A shattering glass sound came from his feet and he kicked off the floor to leap again.

He just barely managed to avoid the blade arcing up toward him.

He did not counterattack. He leaped toward the south wall behind him. The communication console and Monkey were there. And his backpack was beneath the console.

He landed with 5 yards due south until the console. He had put 3 yards between him and Daikatana.

Daikatana had just finished swinging up his metal staff and was preparing to swing it back down. Aoe concluded another attack was not coming soon, so he twisted toward the console and took off running.

He turned his back on Daikatana.

A moment later, he heard the wind whistling behind him.

That was Daikatana’s blade slicing the air. Aoe realized what this meant.

He clicked his tongue, stretched out his leg, and stepped on the floor.

The wind washed over the back of his neck from top to bottom.

The blade’s arcing path down had passed very close by.

He did not look back. He leaped forward like he was grabbing at the floor with his toenails.

“Run!”

The console was close. Monkey stood on his hind legs and waved his front legs to say “get over here”.

Aoe heard Daikatana’s footsteps approaching from behind.

Another sword strike accompanied each step.

From above, from the right, drawing out an arc to connect to the next one, and from the left.

Aoe ran. He kept his hips low and made sure the soles of his shoes left the floor as little as possible.

He reached the console on the 7th step.

His left hand grabbed the backpack from the floor and snatched Monkey from atop the console.

He looked back.

Daikatana’s face was within arm’s reach.

He was preparing to swing an attack up from below.

“Do you ever give up!?”

Aoe could not immediately change direction after running to the console by the wall. Straight ahead would take him to the south wall of the central communications tower, but trying to escape to either side would get him cut down during his turn.

There was only one way out of this.

“Kh!”

He took a small leap toward the stone wall.

He arrived atop the console at about the same time Daikatana took his next step from behind.

Aoe instantly kicked off the top of the console, kicked off the wall, and leaped nearly to the ceiling.

But Daikatana’s nagamaki could still easily reach him. The attack skillfully avoided the console and carved into the wall to pursue Aoe.

Aoe could not dodge in midair.

Or he shouldn’t have been able to.

“I’m not done yet!”

There was a false ceiling made from a wooden framework overhead. It was used to support the base of the antennae.

He placed his right palm on the ceiling just as he kicked off the wall.

He used the kick off the wall and the attitude control of the hand on the ceiling to launch himself sideways.

He had successfully dodged.

By then, he was already thinking up his next move. And he acted on those thoughts before they could appear in the window.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe flipped around and landed.

The wall was to his left, the tables to his right, and Daikatana behind him.

He kept his back to the enemy he knew would be attacking again soon and he grabbed the closest table with his right hand.

“Ohh!”

The OS responded to his mental shout. A black spear emblem appeared on his right hand and a shattering glass sound surged out.

He lowered his hips and threw the table overhead with just his right arm.

Pencils, paper, pens, a ruler, and the files in the drawers were all scattered above him.

What goes up must come down. He ducked below the falling objects as he moved forward.

Behind him, he heard a spraying sound as Daikatana broke through the falling objects and the table.

Aoe shoved his hand into his backpack which contained paper plates, tape, writing implements, and a box cutter.

“That should do it!”

He looked over his shoulder to see the airborne papers and writing implements scattered like snow. And he saw Daikatana rushing through it all.

Aoe took action.

He pulled a single paper plate from the backpack and tossed it toward Daikatana’s face with a flick of his wrist.

The paper plate rotated vertically toward Daikatana’s face.

But even with so many small objects flying around, Daikatana dodged the plate with a minimal movement of his head.

Aoe jumped a large step back and whistled. He threw another paper plate while commenting loudly.

“You aren’t going to be hit so easily, are you!?”

“I have far more experience. What you said to Mekton does not apply to me.”

Daikatana dodged the second paper plate too. Then he stepped forward and launched an attack.

The metal arc he sent out sliced the already halved table into quarters.

Aoe immediately tossed another paper plate. Again aimed at Daikatana’s face.

“Take this!”

Daikatana raised his staff overhead and then frowned.

“This will never work against me!”

He took a step forward.

He swung his weapon down from above while he tilted his head to dodge the paper plate.

The dodged plate immediately curved downwards toward his face.

“What!?”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Daikatana’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Daikatana’s Over Reload>

The paper plate hit the right side of Daikatana’s head and bounced off.

It was a gentle blow, but a blow he had failed to predict.

A faint disturbance entered the giant blade formed from the C Word Race’s unifying power, but that rapidly grew to a much larger disturbance.

The metal staff veered off course on its way down, now on course to smash into the floor.

“Kh!”

Daikatana forcibly restrained the staff, moving it left.

He leaped toward the wall, looking like he was propping up a collapsing pillar with his left side.

He spun to the side to rid himself of the momentum from swinging down the weapon.

He crashed into the tower’s wall. The metal staff’s blade tore and stabbed into the wall.

The tower rumbled and shook while he frowned and focused on his ears.

While the scraps of paper and remnants of a table fell across the communications room, the paper plate that had hit him fell while shaking and spinning.

There was something unstable about the sound of its rotation, so he focused his ears on it without opening his eyes.

“Why would a paper plate move like that?”

“All I did was tape an eraser to it.”

The response came from dead ahead.

Daikatana raised his head and heard footsteps, telling him Aoe was rushing toward him.

He heard a blade slicing through the air from Aoe’s hand. Based on the volume of the sound, it was a knife of some sort.

Aoe charged toward him with that weapon at the ready.

<Daikatana’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe charged forward without hesitation. The countdown above his head had already reached 9 seconds remaining.

Just as the 9 became an 8, he poured renewed strength into his legs.

“Didn’t that Mekton guy tell you? Every part of a battle is setup for what comes next!”

“Including what you said when the second one failed to hit me?”

Aoe did not respond while the remains of the table hit the floor.

He charged forward with the box cutter held in his right hand like a sword’s hilt.

But Daikatana reacted. His left hand held the grip of his nagamaki while his right hand reached for the wakizashi at his hip.

“Do not assume I have only the one blade!”

He drew the wakizashi and aimed for Aoe’s throat.

Aoe’s feet reflexively slowed when he heard the blade slicing through the air.

He twisted backwards before also tilting back his head and taking evasive action.

The wakizashi blade swished through the empty air in front of his throat.

A smile formed on Daikatana’s lips.

“Inconvenient for us both that neither of us are entirely reliant on our blades, isn’t it?”

With those words, the path of the wakizashi shifted from Aoe’s throat to his right hand.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Daikatana’s blade shattered the box cutter blade Aoe held in his right hand.

The blade broke quite noisily.

Daikatana instantly returned the wakizashi to his hip. His now empty right hand joined his left hand on the grip of the nagamaki stabbed into the wall and he took a powerful step forward.

The blade sliced through the wall it was embedded in, allowing it to be easily raised overhead.

“Perish with your power taken from you!” shouted Daikatana, but Aoe had something to say back.

“You fool.”

Aoe stepped forward and manipulated the broken box knife. With a flick of his thumb, he pushed more of the blade out. Once the remnants of the broken blade came away at the break-off line, a short but brand new blade remained.

“Allow me to introduce you to a modern weapon!” shouted Aoe, jabbing the box cutter blade straight toward Daikatana’s chest.

Daikatana noticeably gasped and directed his face toward Aoe’s blade.

But his expression quickly returned to neutral and he did not let go of his nagamaki’s grip.

“Oh!” he roared, swinging the long weapon positioned to his left side. He swung it overhead and then to the right.

He sliced through the wall behind him.

The stone wall was at least a foot thick, yet he sliced an arch through it.

He backed away, right toward that wall.

Aoe saw an arch-shaped cutout of the blue sky behind Daikatana.

“…Oh.”

He stopped his forward momentum when he realized there was only empty air out ahead.

While he was braking, Daikatana tilted his body to take a defensive stance.

The full length of the box cutter’s blade stabbed into the left shoulder of his Japanese clothing and audibly struck flesh.

He frowned for one quick moment.

But that quickly changed to a smile.

A breath burst from his mouth, which could have been a gasp of surprise or a laugh of delight.

He pressed his back against the sliced wall behind him and leaped out into the empty air 15 yards from the ground.

The wind washed over him as he smiled and turned his head toward the red box cutter embedded in his shoulder.

“This was a good lesson for me.”

A moment later, the emblem vanished from his metal staff. The blade symbol drawn in see-through gray expanded as it vanished. With a splitting stone sound, the symbol image grew in front of him.

Aoe narrowed his eyes and took a defensive stance as that metallic light grew before his eyes.

“Mh.”

But when he looked up again, the light was gone.

As was Daikatana.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe frantically stopped his advancing feet.

He saw the castle’s roof below the hole cut in the wall.

A 20-yard castle lift formed the floor of that roof. The cut-away portion of the wall lay atop it, but Daikatana was nowhere to be seen.

“So he got away. I won the battle, but the war was a draw.”

A word mail window opened in front of his eyes. It was from Fooblicky and it was about…

“Cloths from the windows?”

He looked out from the hole in the wall and viewed the castle.

He could not see the side of the caste from the central communications tower on its roof, but he could see the inner side of the castle wall and the towers at the corners of the castle. He could see the same color from all the windows there.

The color of white cloths.

He shouted on reflex when he noticed that color fluttering in the breeze.

“Oh, no!”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Algo’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Algo’s Over Reload>

You are in 1F Audience Chamber, a Top Page of the castle.

The current time is 1:12 PM.

The rooms floor has closed. The queen’s throne sits at the end of the red carpet.

One PC Body accompanies you: Archon Suedomsa Txt.

One old-style NPC Body accompanies you: Alternative Kobayashi Asb. The old-style NPC Body containing her Mind Lives is in its miniature form.

Algo: “Now, then. We have 3 hours until we get started. The Yard should be encircling the castle since that’s the standard counterterrorism tactic. They will plan to attack when the barrier is brought down for our enchanter to link Babel and the castle.”

Suedomsa: “And it is Excel and Myst’s job to attack them when that happens?”

Algo: “Yes, that is the plan. Oh, excuse me.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

You are coughing.

Alternative: <Algo, are you okay?>

Algo: “Ha ha. I am perfectly fine. This is nothing for you to worry about, Alternative.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Alternative is biting her lower lip. She appears worried.

Alternative: <Please do not push yourself too hard. It is the part of me residing in you that is causing you to break down.>

Algo: “I don’t mind. I am happy to have you with me, even if you are afflicted with Words Warn. I am not attracted to an overabundance of energy like we find in Yuo and Aoe.”

Algo: “While those two were always heading out to eat ramen and get into fights, we preferred a quiet life in Master Ungyou’s dojo. …Is something wrong?”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Alternative is looking at you with her lips pouted. She appears exasperated.

Alternative: <You’re bringing up old times to avoid giving a straight answer again, aren’t you?>

Alternative: <But you’re right. Now, can I ask a fairly cruel question?>

Algo: “What might that be?”

Alternative: <If my sister hadn’t come to Japan, do you think Shouzou would have taken me out into the city to hang out instead of her?>

Algo: “Hmm, that certainly is a cruel question.”

Algo: “But knowing Aoe…”

Algo: “Yes, he probably would have done that. And I would have given my tacit consent.”

Alternative: <You would have? Why?>

Algo: “Because taking you out into the city would have been a good way to get a beating from Master Ungyou. It would have been good for you to get to see the city, but the risk of being reduced to a bloody pulp afterwards was too high. So I could let Aoe handle that particularly task while I took care of everything else.”

Alternative: <That’s an adorable opinion, Algo. But…isn’t it strange? We are both Minus people, as were my parents. But Shouzou and my sister are different.>

Alternative: <Have you ever wondered how those two managed to get along when one is Plus and the other Minus? Do you know, dad?>

Suedomsa: “That is a difficult question for me since I once shot Yuo.”

Alternative: <Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. Besides, you shot her back then because she was starting to become a great god and lose her humanity, right?>

Alternative: <You wouldn’t have shot her if she was still herself, would you?>

Suedomsa: “Well…”

Alternative: <You wouldn’t have, would you, dad?>

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Alternative is narrowing her eyes. It is a slight smile.

Alternative: <And now Shouzou is seeking her out just like you did back then. …It really is strange. He’s about as Plus as they come, which makes him the opposite of my sister. So how do they get along?>

<A new guest has entered the Page>

One old-style NPC Body has arrived: Myst Gabriel.

Myst: “Excuse me, but we have located Master Yuo. I had always wanted to redecorate this place. We hung cloths out of all the windows to search the rooms using an analog grid search.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst tilts her head when she sees Alternative crossing her arms in thought.

Myst: “Did I intrude on something?”

Algo: “No, not really. Where is Excel?”

Myst: “He has apparently begun restarting the Questron in the underground ceremonial ground. Once he is done, he will return and work with me to repel the Yard. I ask that you capture Master Yuo.”

Suedomsa: “And you will copy the Questron Body afterwards?”

Myst: “Yes. For Master Algo and Master Alternative. Excel should be programming the movement concepts necessary for that while he prepares to activate the Questron.”

Myst: “If we are lucky, Master Algo’s second phase will be unnecessary.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst bows and prepares to leave the audience chamber.

Suedomsa: “Myst, wait a moment.”

Myst: “Yes? Do you need something?”

Suedomsa: “Come here and hold out your hand.”

Myst: “…”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst walks over and holds out her hand. Suedomsa takes her hand and removes the glove.

His gaze intensifies.

Myst: “Master Suedomsa, did you switch to Sight Mode for me?”

Suedomsa: “You are my family, Myst Gabriel. I apologize for working you so hard.”

Algo: “What do you mean?”

Suedomsa: “They are well past their service life.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst’s fingers are cracked and the texture is peeling away from the frame.

Her cheeks are flushed and her expression changes. Her eyes narrow. Meaning of expression is unknown.

Myst: “Please do not worry yourself over this. We were created to serve. That purpose was given to us from the moment of our birth. We were given the noble job of serving the Minus people.”

Myst: “Although I am currently working to ensure Master Yuo gives up.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Alternative tilts her head at Myst’s statement.

Alternative: <Um…Myst?>

Myst: “What do you need?”

Alternative: <Um, I’ve been wondering. The Quartet seems really fixated on fighting Shouzou and on my sister’s resignation. Why is that?>

Myst: “Well…”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst lowers her head with her eyebrows drooping a bit. It is an expression of self-deprecation.

Myst: “That is probably our jealousy over not being chosen.”

Alternative: <Eh?>

Myst: “Long ago, Master Suedomsa left Master Yuo with us and we spent 2000 years with her.”

Myst: “We are NPC Bodies crated to serve, but at the time, we were feared due to our strength. But Master Yuo did not fear us. She played with us, learned with us, and looked at us as actual people.”

Myst: “That is why we decided to assist her in addition to our primary job.”

Myst: “Excel was her teacher and he taught her his Celestial Program Activator.”

Myst: “I would always chat with her and I would give her whatever pictures she wanted me to draw.”

Myst: “Daikatana often invited her to plays and he would fight for her.”

Myst: “Mekton would play with her and he was always protecting her.”

Myst: “But in the end, she chose resignation over any of us.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst has lowered her head.

Myst: “That Aoe person is ignorant of all this, yet he acts like Master Yuo has chosen him. In truth, she has simply forgotten her resignation after losing her memories.”

Algo: “I see. So that is why you are so obsessed with Yuo’s resignation and with fighting Aoe.”

Algo: “Myst, you believe Yuo will not choose this newcomer since she chose resignation over any of you?”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst nods.

Algo: “I see. Then may I ask one question to determine your true purpose here?”

Myst: “Ask away.”

Algo: “If, way back then, she hadn’t given up and had chosen to stay with you, what do you think you would be doing now? You would have chosen a different, much better path, wouldn’t you?”

Myst: “That…is indeed a cruel question when my destruction is so close at hand, Master Algo.”

Myst: “But if that did happen…we would have wanted to ensure she felt no fear or worry even if we were destroyed. We would have given her and taught her many things to thank her and to prove that she could get by without us.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst’s eyebrows are lowered and her teeth are showing. She is smiling bitterly.

Myst: “But that never could have happened. Because the only way to know she can truly get by without us would be for us to test her and see if she has surpassed us.”

Myst: “I believe Daikatana made a promise to her once. It was when she said his deadly sword techniques were beautiful. He promised to one day let her see those techniques which are too fast to actually see. But if he were to test her…”

Alternative: <She would have to defeat his invisible sword techniques?>

Myst: “Correct. But she cannot do that, so we can never go all out and truly test her.”

Myst: “I know she would give up on me if I told her she had to draw a picture capable of convincing me she can get by without me.”

Myst: “In the end, we are no match for the allure of resignation.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Myst turns around.

Myst: “Also, we are Master Suedomsa’s NPC Bodies. Returning Master Yuo to her past version is our current top priority. We will not betray him like we once did.”

Algo: “I see. Your reasons are as complicated as ours. But do remember one thing.”

Myst: “Eh?”

Algo: “Even if you cannot go all out against Yuo who stands on the same Minus side as you, you can go all out without hesitation against Aoe, who stands opposite you on the Plus side.”

Myst: “What is your point?”

Algo: “Just remember that. I have a feeling it will be important later.”

Algo: “We can find peace of mind in the things we do even though we know they aren’t right because we know there are people working at it from the opposite side.”

Algo: “Alternative, this is the answer to your earlier question.”

Algo: “This is why Aoe and Yuo can get along.”

Algo: <Now, that’s enough talking. We should get going too. First, we need to pay Yuo a visit.>

<Algo’s Board Mode has updated>

Chapter 11: Fade to Black[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Conclusion! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

Sorry about all this trouble my friends are causing.

That said, I wonder how this will turn out. Telyb’s Yard is gathering in front of the castle right now.

The final battle is about to begin, but this seems kinda familiar to me.

Old Man Ogre isn’t saying anything, but I saw this same situation 2000 years ago.

I dunno if I should say this, but not even I’m sure what’s going to happen.

I’ve been thinking of evacuating along with everyone else, but I just know my weird friends will be along soon.

Anyway, today’s word is “violence”.

“Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

(Luke 22:52-53)

Racter Nosrup has entered the chat.

Railswest Leab has entered the chat.

Racter: So Mrs. RW, I’ve finished my status update already, so I was thinking of evacuating to the southern park. I have a bad feeling about this.

RW: Eh? What? You want to avoid Noma that badly? I’m pretty sure she wants to get some answers out of you.

07/07/2000 DT 01:15 PM (-01:45)

Help Text[edit]

Restrictions on Criminals in DT

Any criminal held in DT has various restrictions applied when their PC Body is created upon entry to the city.

The restrictions are not on the PC Body itself, but on the actions and reactions received from the PC Body.

A pardon requires authorization from the Yard that managed their city entry and the creation of their PC Body and authorization after an audience with the queen.

The basic restrictions are as follows:

Proof of Identity

Everyone around them is informed they are a criminal.

Their window frame is black and any signature they provide for identification purposes automatically lists them as a criminal.

Restriction of Expression

Certain actions or statements are automatically stopped.

Examples include attacking someone, statements that exceed an established threshold of lewdness, or expressions of an antisocial nature.

If they do engage in these activities, a decision by DT’s OS and the restriction settings set up by their administrator will shut down their ability to perform those activities.

Restriction of Reaction

When they take certain actions, the target’s reaction will be canceled.

Just as their own actions are restricted through the restriction of expression, the tools or programs they might use will be locked down for safety purposes.

Since DT is boosted 100x, 100 years will have passed in the city by the time a single year passes outside.

Thus, countries can send their convicted criminals with extremely long prison terms to DT in order to finish out their sentence.

They can live here under the above restrictions and assist DT’s industries in the prison workshop.

However, any who are deemed to be safe and well-behaved can have a few of their restrictions removed and live in the city itself. If the abilities used to commit their crimes are considered useful, they are also recommended to assist in operations within the city in order to reduce their sentence.

So while the prisoners are trapped within DT, they are also given the right to put their combat abilities to good use in order to atone.

Yuo’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Yuo’s Over Reload>

Yuo was shrunken in the center of the room.

Her body and clothing were even smaller than before and she lay sprawled out on the rug.

<Ohh. I’m in real trouble this time.>

She had entered high performance mode the instant she stood up to grab something to eat before creating Aoe’s attack release program.

<Your heat energy reserves are low. Please be careful.>

She sat up on the rug that’s high pile was like grass around her.

She looked back to see Puppy the ferret atop the bed. He was looking down at her with his cheeks full. She stood up and sent a thought his way.

She ran to the fridge which was now nearly four times her height.

She had to use both arms to pull open the pressurized door.

She used both hands to pull out a large juice box in the door. It was orange x0.8.

She couldn’t prepare a glass at her height, so she opened the lid and drank it from the box.

There wasn’t much room in her shrunk mouth, so she had to gulp five times more than usual.

<Ahh. This is the kind of drink you live for.>

She looked to the bed and Puppy nodded. He and his filled cheeks looked a bit smaller than before.

She had returned to her less small form.

She was silently celebrating when a word mail window opened overhead. She glanced up to check the sender.

<Senpai?>

<Opening word mail window>

Aoe’s Word Mail: To Yuo[edit]

Hang a white cloth from your window. Right now.

The enemy is working out your room’s location.

<Returning to Yuo’s Sight Mode>

Yuo’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Yuo’s Over Reload>

Yuo silently read through the message.

The look on her face changed as she did. It grew pale.

<Oh, no.>

<Yuo’s Over Zoom>

She looked to the bed. The sheets were a light green.

<White.>

She turned her entire body to look left and right, but there was no white in the room.

She ran to the kitchen.

“Towel!”

A shattering glass sound came from her feet, but the carpet’s threads tangled around her feet.

She fell. But she got right back up. She groaned, frowned, and wiped the tears from her eyes on the way to the kitchen. A towel was draped over the edge of the sink.

She grabbed the towel.

<I’ll forget about Senpai.>

She suppressed the emotion, tugged on the towel, and gathered it between her arms.

<There’s still so much I want to tell him.>

The towel was damp and smelled of soap, but she didn’t care.

She left the kitchen and made her way to the window.

She was out of breath. She didn’t even have time to notice her panic before she gasped in front of the window.

She was too short.

<No!>

She held the end of the towel and swung it with both arms. The other end of the towel struck the windowsill, but it slid right back down. It simply made light thunk as it hit the wooden windowsill.

She tried three times before deciding to change tack.

She looked to the desk. There was a chair next to it. She threw the towel onto the floor and ran over to the chair.

<That’s it!>

Her feet tangled with the carpet again, but she made it to the chair.

Just as she placed her hands on the chair, she noticed a sound.

It was the quiet metallic sound of a key turning in a lock.

It came from the right. She turned to see the movement there.

<Yuo’s Over Zoom>

The stone wall to her right, where the door had originally been, was opening.

<Eh?>

Someone was entering. That realization made her reflexively let go of the chair.

She answered that thought by tossing a window to Puppy up on the bed.

It was a word mail window.

She also opened a transparent keyboard by her right hand, but…

<There’s no time.>

She changed the settings to voice input and made it a voice message instead.

She thought about the purpose of this message she was about to create.

She gulped at the objective meaning of what she had just said.

Her small hand hesitated before rising toward the hair fallen on her shoulder.

But she resisted the urge to toy with the hair and clenched her fists.

She moved her lips to put her thoughts to words. She didn’t make a noise, but the word mail program recorded her voice as data. She only spoke for a few seconds, but she smiled in satisfaction afterwards.

Then she set the message’s send settings.

She gave two conditions for sending: the receive time and the conditions for opening it.

She checked the time displayed in the window.

For just a moment, she squeezed her eyes shut as if making a wish.

After opening them again, she ran the program.

She used the word mail window to make sure Suedomsa had not retaken control of the central communications tower. A letter icon popped up and rotated to the side to say the message was sent.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

She checked the opened stone wall door. She sensed someone out in the hallway. They were checking inside the room.

She searched her hips for something she could use as a weapon.

She found a plate containing a program.

She turned the dial on the plate to set the air conditioning program. By setting the temperature to maximum or minimum, she could either roast the enemy’s skin or lightly freeze them.

She hid behind cover and kept her attention on the open stone wall.

Just as she had that thought, someone tall entered the room.

She prepared to hit the plate’s button, but she stopped. She recognized this person.

<Algo?>

During her moment of surprise, he turned toward her. He had long blond hair and wore a white robe. A miniature woman sat on his left shoulder.

That was Alternative.

When both of them looked her way, she gasped and prepared to hit the button at her hip.

A word came to mind on reflex.

<Senpai!>

<Yuo’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe ran full speed through the castle.

He raced across the stone floor, jumped down the stairs, and grabbed the walls to swing himself around the corners.

He ran despite how loudly his feet were pounding on the stone.

The only light came from the torches in the hallways.

He rushed through the flickering crimson glow. He was reliant on the map Yuo had sent him on the see-through window he had left open and on Monkey who was leading the way.

Yuo had marked the location of her room on the map, so he ran toward the place indicated by a red arrow, leaving himself out of breath. He pumped his arms, tilted as far forward as he could without losing balance, and converted all his energy into speed.

“Yuo!”

He shouted and continued forward.

The window in front of him showed his current position as a blue dot. He was close to the red arrow. He only had to turn one more corner and descend one more flight of stairs.

He turned the corner. His sandals skidded across the stone and he ducked low while redirecting his momentum.

He pushed himself forward with a kick off the floor.

He sucked in a breath, released it, and took off running again. Monkey also slipped around the corner, but kept running.

He saw people in the hallways as he ran.

NPC Body maids, librarians, and civil officials. He also saw the occasional knight.

But none of them were moving.

He chose to focus on moving forward instead of on wondering why.

He ran.

He could see the stairs now. That meant he would arrive soon.

He descended the short, 6-step flight of stairs in only two steps.

At the bottom, he found a corridor stretching out ahead of him. A few knights and civil officials were frozen there.

He passed by their unmoving forms and found part of the southern wall sitting open. The arrow on the window said that was his destination.

<Yuo!>

After slipping between a final pair of frozen NPC Bodies, he rushed into the opening in the wall.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

This is 3F Private Rooms – Yuo’s Private Room, a Top Page of the castle.

The current time is 1:19 PM.

You are in a stone room. There are a bed and a desk carrying a support computer by the west wall. There are a kitchen and a closet on the east wall.

No one else is here.

Aoe: “Yuo!”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The refrigerator in the kitchen has its door sitting open.

A large box of orange juice sits on the floor.

A set of pajamas is set out on the bed.

A window displaying a map of the castle is displayed above the desk by the wall.

Aoe: <Yuo!>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You hear a voice from the speaker on the room’s wall. It is Algo’s voice.

Aoe: “Algo’s!?”

Algo: “Hello, Aoe. I am sorry, but we can’t let you have the princess.”

Aoe: “Damn you!”

Algo: “Calm down, calm down. This is a broadcast being played throughout the castle. You should be able to guess where we are, so search us out later. Yuo is here waiting for you. But first, there is something I would like you to see as a participant in this fight. Is there a window nearby?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

There is a window on the room’s south wall. A white towel lies on the floor below the window.

Algo: “If there is, then please switch to Sight.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s vision returned. But more than that, he was aware of all his body’s senses returning.

His heart pounded in his ears. All his subprograms were rapidly pumping his blood through his body.

He was panicking.

The subprograms were giving his body the ideal version of panic.

“Ugh.”

He groaned and heard a sound form the hallway behind him.

“Fireworks?”

He looked back to see a change in the hallway.

It was empty now.

“Mh?”

The frozen NPC Bodies were no longer there. They had disappeared.

A small flash of electricity raced through the dimly-lit hallway. He detected the scent of a burning wire.

“What is-?”

Before he could add “going on”, a window opened in front of him.

<Warning: Loading heat energy into Questron. All unauthorized personnel must leave the premises immediately.>

“Are they using the heat energy from all the NPC Bodies in the castle?”

His question preceded a tremor.

“!?”

The floor bucked up at his feet, leaving his footing unsteady.

“What!?”

A shattering glass sound came from his feet and his sense of them improved.

His Downloaded feet felt the floor, walls, and ceiling trembling. It was a small vertical tremor.

The entire castle was shaking, producing a rumbling noise.

He looked across the floor and spotted Monkey rolling on the rug where he had given up staying on his feet. The small creature was bouncing with the unending tremor.

A new window opened in front of Aoe.

<Warning: Beginning restart of Questron. All unauthorized personnel must leave the premises immediately.>

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Telyb’s Sight Mode: In North DT[edit]

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Telyb stood in front of the shielded castle.

His Yard force was spread out along the dirt road when a sudden tremor knocked their feet out from under them.

The encirclement created from an artillery team cried out and crouched low.

The ground quaked, the houses shook, and the air tremored.

“Calm down! This will be over soon!”

Telyb’s voice brought them back to their senses, so they planted their feet firmly on the ground.

Then the tremor vanished.

A window had opened in front of all the Yard members who were not NPC Bodies within a half mile radius of the castle.

<Warning: Restart of Questron is complete. All unauthorized personnel must leave the premises immediately.>

Then Telyb saw a change come over the castle.

The defense shield surrounding it vanished.

It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

The curtain of light vanished from top to bottom, like a fruit being peeled.

The contents were revealed.

“The castle.”

The massive gray building now existed in the same space as the Yard.

Everyone sighed and began chatting.

But immediately around Telyb, none of the people forming the encirclement and none of the people preparing to charge the castle moved.

Their motionlessness was caused by a sound.

It came from behind them. It came from the tower rising toward heaven in the south.

A loud sound came from there.

Standing within the artillery team, Telyb asked Fooblicky a question.

“Should we turn around? I don’t want to take my eyes off the castle.”

“You’ll see something a lot more Minus-y than a castle captured by some outsiders.”

Fooblicky was already looking back, so Telyb turned to the south as well.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom: Full Sight Open>

Babel.

The word tower standing more than 2 miles tall was wrapped in light and producing noise.

A loud noise. The entire tower cried with a roar similar to the buzzing of insect wings.

At the same time, light resembling leaf veins shined across the ultra-tall tower.

Telyb and Fooblicky weren’t the only ones looking back now. Everyone gathered in front of the castle was.

Windows opened in front of those who were not NPC Bodies.

<Babel is activating. It will produce noise and light for a time, but this is an unavoidable part of the activation process. It will settle down in a few minutes, so do not worry.>

Babel’s noise grew louder and its light grew brighter while they read the identical windows.

Without warning, a color appeared in the southern sky: a white light.

The white light raced up from Babel’s peak and into the heavens.

<Babel activation complete: Control privileges have been granted to Administrator Excel Sys.>

<Babel Activation Phase 1 is stable: accelerating word particle extraction from ley lines. Conversion to virtual heat energy is possible.>

A light sound like a breaking lightbulb scattered through the air, but Babel still erupted with light.

In an instant, that light refused to be emitted into the sky and branched apart at the base.

“Their enchanter!? Are they sending power to the castle!?” shouted Telyb as the light bent before his eyes.

The light was directed toward the castle.

In an instant, the bright lightning in the sky covered the distance from Babel to the castle.

The light formed several thick beams and scorched the air with a sound like splashing water.

The light and noise shook everyone’s eyes and ears.

During the sizzling sound resembling splashing water, everyone’s eyes followed the light, showing them a glowing net set up in the sky.

A giant white object could be seen in front of the false sky covered by the power-propagating net of light.

It was the blimp.

The large white blimp normally floated above the amusement park, but it was arriving overhead now.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

Telyb gasped and moved his gaze from Babel to the blimp.

It had stopped at a position about 500 yards overhead.

Something like a white thread extended from its nose to the castle.

Telyb put his arm around Fooblicky’s shoulders.

He felt a single tremor run through her, but she said nothing and let him pull her close. He spoke after confirming that.

“Sorry. Being slow to act has always been a bad habit of mine. …Prepare to send the withdrawal signal.”

“Are two Minus Elites just not enough to challenge Suedomsa, the ultimate Minus Elite?”

Fooblicky sounded exasperated as she opened the window with the notice to send out to all the Yard members.

After waiting for her to open the window, he turned his eyes to the thread in the sky. It stretched from the blimp’s nose to the castle rooftop where the flowing net fell.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

The light illuminated a pair standing on the edge of the gray castle roof, with the tall communications tower behind them.

One was a black man dressed as a butler. The other was a woman in a white dress with some sort of long white staff in her hands.

The woman raised her white staff.

Light was already running through it. The crimson light formed an emblem symbol resembling a stone slab.

Red light formed a lotus flower emblem in the hands of the man standing by her side.

The effects of their emblems had already shown themselves.

The blimp.

Its white elliptical shape had changed.

Gun turrets had appeared on its round bottom side.

Large turrets like that couldn’t normally be installed on a gasbag. They were 125mm guns.

One of the Yard members muttered “it can’t be” when he saw the muzzles aimed their way.

The turrets in the sky produced light as if to prove that statement wrong.

In the center of the Yard group, Telyb added strength to the arm around Fooblicky’s shoulders.

<Telyb’s Sight Mode continues.>

Myst’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Myst’s Over Reload>

You are in Rooftop, a Top Page of the castle.

The current time is 1:25 PM.

One old-style NPC Body accompanies you: Excel Raphael.

Myst: “Well? Is the picture I drew functioning?”

Excel: “Yes, quite well. The 12 turrets are dispensing doom as we speak.”

Myst: “Good. Thank you for that, Excel. Sight tires me out so much of late.”

Excel: “Ha ha. Sight does speed up our deterioration. View the wind with your Board eyes.”

<Myst’s Over Reload>

A wind carrying heat energy is blowing in from an adjacent Page.

Myst: “What happened to the Yard?”

Excel: “It appears the humans and glossolalians under Master Telyb’s command have taken shelter, but the new-style NPC Bodies were slow to react. As I suspected, their shared memory slows their group actions.”

Myst: “While our individual memories allow us to make decisions right away.”

Myst: “It’s strange, really. We of the Quartet have refused to be formatted or have backups made because we fear losing our memories. Yet we still haven’t broken down so long after our intended service life.”

Myst: “Do you remember what happened so long ago? We were stationed in the amusement park and Master Suedomsa eventually introduced us to a girl – to Master Yuo who wanted someone to play with.”

Excel: “I do indeed remember. He was busy with his work, so he asked us to look after and play with her. She cried the first time we met, didn’t she?”

Myst: “But while we thought we were looking after her, it was really the other way around. It made us so happy to have her watch us. Daikatana would put on plays for her and Mekton would do circus tricks for her.”

<Myst’s Over Reload>

A wind carrying heat energy is blowing hard from an adjacent Page.

Excel is narrowing his eyes toward that Page.

Myst: “Wasn’t that when we had a discussion to see if we could do anything for Master Yuo since she was always crying but always stayed with us and watched us?”

Excel: “Yes, we wanted to do something that would convince her she didn’t need to cry and that would help her be strong.”

Myst: “I mentioned that to Master Algo in the audience chamber earlier. Because Master Alternative asked why we were so obsessed with Master Yuo’s resignation and with Aoe Shouzou.”

Myst: “When I did, Master Algo asked me what we would be doing right now if Master Yuo had not given up.”

Excel: “Oh? And how did you respond?”

Myst: “As I left, I said we would probably have repaid her in some way to ensure she would be able to get by without us…but I also said I doubted we would be able to do anything.”

<Myst’s Over Reload>

A wind carrying heat energy is blowing upwards from an adjacent Page.

Myst: “Because the only way to really prove that she could get by without us is to test her and see if she had surpassed us.”

Myst: “Excel, you taught her your Celestial Program Activator, but do you think you could seriously test her?”

Excel: “No. If I tried, I just know I would end up going easy on her.”

Myst: “Right? As Minus people, we can never go all out against a fellow Minus person like her.”

Myst: “I think Master Suedomsa is the same. I actually eavesdropped on their conversation a bit before entering and I heard a few things Master Alternative said.”

Myst: “She said Master Suedomsa was only able to shoot Master Yuo during the 2nd Godtact Experiment because she was becoming the great god and was no longer herself. So if he had arrived before the great god’s Lives were overwriting her own…”

Excel: “You think he would not have been able to kill her, just like we cannot go all out against her as fellow Minus people?”

Myst: “Yes.”

Myst: “But why is it we can’t go all out against Master Yuo?”

Myst: “Especially when that Aoe Shouzou can do it.”

<Myst’s Over Reload>

A wind carrying heat energy is blowing upwards from an adjacent Page.

Excel is looking your way. His eyebrows are lowered. It is a look of confusion.

Excel: “Aoe?”

Myst: “Yes, Master Alternative went on to say that man is Master Yuo’s opposite.”

Myst: “I have heard the current Master Yuo is stubbornly refusing to give up because she met that man in Japan…but that is something we could not do even as we served her to the best of our ability.”

Myst: “Do you think the same thing will happen again?”

Excel: “Preposterous. Are you suggesting the past Master Yuo we resurrect might abandon her resignation if she meets Aoe Shouzou?”

Excel: “She abandoned us to choose resignation. And the resurrection process will eliminate her memories of Plus Aoe.”

<Myst’s Over Reload>

A wind carrying heat energy is blowing hard from an adjacent Page.

You close your eyes and nod.

Myst: “But after hearing all this and speaking with them, Master Algo told me one more thing while telling me to remember it.”

Myst: “He said we may not be able to go all out against Master Yuo, but Aoe would be able to do so without hesitation because he is her opposite.”

Myst: “Excel. Could you remember those words too? I think I will ponder them a while longer. I feel like there is something to learn from them.”

<Myst’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe ran down the hallway.

“Damn,” he swore with Monkey taking the lead, sniffing the floor as he went.

Based on where Monkey was taking him, their destination was likely the audience chamber at the center of the first floor.

The artillery fire shaking the castle earlier had since ceased.

It had taken precisely 5 minutes for the low-altitude blasts to stop. That was at 1:30 PM. The large blimp doing the bombing had spent that five minutes moving along the major road linking the castle to Babel. It had eliminated the Yard forces encircling the castle and waiting near Babel.

When Aoe had checked outside from Yuo’s room after the glow of the bombing had faded, the road connecting Babel and the castle had already collapsed.

The heat had been visible and a few windows had appeared on the collapsed ground to inform of obliterated objects.

His vision was still burned by the light and he recalled the image of the aftermath while he ran.

“Damn.”

Telyb and Fooblicky had said they needed to attack when the initial shield went down, but they had been wiped out instead. Now there was only a deserted wasteland between the castle and Babel.

“They underestimated their opponents.”

Just before leaving the window, Aoe had seen a change in the bundle of light stretching from the top of Babel to the castle. It left a few thick strands there in the air while spreading out over a wide area. That formed a wall surrounding a vast space containing both the castle and Babel.

That was the second, larger defense shield.

Unlike before, the shield generated by Babel covered Babel, the amusement park at its feet, and the now-deserted road leading to the castle. The boosted bundle of light extending from Babel became an all-encompassing shield.

Then a new window appeared in front of Aoe.

<Preparing to alter some DT settings: The space within this shield will increase to a boost setting of x1000 in 90 minutes.>

<If you have yet to evacuate, please hurry to the south park. Creating additional defense shield.>

Aoe knew this was all the enemy’s doing.

He kept running. He parted the castle air that felt so thick due to the heat and shaking. He jumped down the stairs to reach the first floor of the castle now void of NPC Bodies.

He simply made his way to the location where Algo was waiting: the audience chamber.

He ran down the hall, raced through a large corridor, and saw his destination up ahead.

Large doors sat open at the end of the corridor. He ran full speed there and leaped.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

“I am here! To take back everything!”

Aoe kept himself in Sight Mode as he ran into the audience chamber and made a decision based on his sight data.

He was in a large stone-walled space. There was a red carpet on the floor.

He saw five people at the other end of the carpet decorated with gold thread.

One was an elderly man in a green robe.

One was the NPC Body in blue and white Japanese clothes who called himself Daikatana.

The next two were Algo and Alternative dressed in white.

But Aoe’s eyes focused on the last one.

Someone in a light green Yard uniform was forced into the center of the group while held in place by Algo.

It was Yuo.

As soon as his foot touched the carpet and produced a muffled footstep, Yuo looked up and opened her mouth.

“Senpai!”

He pressed his feet harder against the ground in lieu of answering.

“Mh.”

A shattering glass sound came from his feet and his run sped up.

He raised his voice and finally checked the enemy more closely.

He raced toward the white of Algo’s clothing. He dropped his backpack behind him to accelerate.

He passed Monkey and further accelerated with a leap forward.

Just then, the man in green on the far left of the four standing behind Yuo raised his right hand.

Aoe saw a program trigon in his hand.

No one answered him. But the dove on the man’s shoulder ate the program trigon as if to show the answer.

Aoe’s mind was immediately switched to Board Mode.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are running.

Suedomsa: <Are you Aoe Shouzou? I somewhat illicitly removed Yuo’s privileges for your management program and took them for myself. You will do as I say for about 3 seconds.>

<Warning: As you are in Board Mode, your Download was canceled and you have been switched back to a movement subprogram.>

Suedomsa: <Try to stay put for now. Will this be enough to make you trip and fall?>

<Suedomsa→Aoe: Body Control Settings: Horizontal Reversal: Run>

<Warning: Your movement subprogram cannot function at such high speeds. You will fall as things are. Please switch to Sight Mode, Download, and reduce speed before switching back to Board Mode.>

Aoe: “Kh!”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You trip as if twisting your body around. You roll once.

Suedomsa: “Isn’t this more exciting than simply stopping you from running?”

Aoe: “Damn! I need to switch back!”

<Warning: That setting has been locked by an administrator. Please reattempt the switch with administrative privileges.>

Aoe: <Damn! What is this city’s problem!?>

Aoe: <Everything is fake in this stupid city!>

Suedomsa: <You are an awfully noisy person. And I see you really are a Plus person who loathes fake things.>

Suedomsa: <Well, breaking through administrative privileges security is too exhausting to do for fun, so that should be enough. Now accept defeat.>

<Suedomsa has abandoned your administrative privileges. Your settings have returned to the default for a criminal.>

<Aoe’s Board Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are lying face down on the floor.

Some kind of stick is pressed against your back, preventing you from moving.

Daikatana stands to your right.

Aoe: “Kh. Is that your metal staff pinning me down? Then the person in front of me must be…”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo stands in front of you.

Algo stands behind her. Alternative and Suedomsa are there too.

Aoe: “So sis is my enemy too.”

Alternative: <Sorry for making my sister cry.>

Aoe: “Your sister?”

Aoe: <So they really were sisters, just like Yuo suspected.>

Alternative: <When she was in Japan, Uncle Ungyou and I didn’t have the…I guess you would say ‘guts’ to tell her.>

Aoe: “Ha. So even that was an attempt to preserve her feelings. That sounds like you. But…”

Aoe: “You say Yuo is crying?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo’s eyebrows are drooping somewhat. It is a look of sadness.

There are tears in the corners of her eyes.

Yuo: “Senpai…”

Aoe: “You idiot. Listen, Yuo. The only tears I want to see are tears of joy at me showing up to rescue you.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Her eyebrows are still drooping, but she is smiling a little.

Yuo: “H-how can you say that when you’re crawling on the floor like a frog?”

Aoe: <She needs a talking to later.>

Algo: “Optimistic of you to assume there will be a ‘later’, Aoe.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo is simply looking at you. He is expressionless.

Yuo looks back at him with her hands still held behind her back.

Yuo: “Algo, um, could you stop this?”

Algo: “Unfortunately, that is a question we have all asked countless times by now.”

Yuo: “Then…!”

Algo: <That statement does not lead to a ‘then’. We decided to follow it up with a ‘but’.>

Algo: “We left the task of stopping us in your hands.”

Algo: “Listen.”

Algo: “If it weren’t for you two, I doubt we never would have decided to do this.”

Algo: “It reminds me of what Master Ungyou said to me.”

Algo: “When I was feeling down after learning of Alternative’s day of destruction, he challenged me to a duel and gave me the position of Martial Arts Master and the strongest Minus power. Then he told me to look after the two of you if I was going to fall to the Minus side.”

Aoe: “Ha. You expect me to believe you learned the strongest Minus power from that Plus old man?”

Aoe: “The strongest power surpasses a killing power! How could you obtain it through killing!?”

Algo: “You have no right to ask me that when you do not know what the strongest power is or how it is fulfilled. You must find the answers for yourself.”

Algo: “And Master Ungyou also said you would never be able to obtain the strongest power from him no matter how much you worked at it.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo’s lips are bending slightly. It is a small smile.

Aoe: “Don’t you underestimate me!”

Algo: “I am not, I assure you. We haven’t gone easy on you, have we? And now we will do what it takes to end things between you and Yuo. Then we will move on to the next step.”

Algo: “I will tell you one thing, however. Or has someone already told you? Our fight will not end even if you do stop Master Suedomsa’s godtact experiment that is about to begin.”

Algo: “If you do manage to stop him, Alternative and I will take over and begin the next godtact experiment.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo is looking down at you with no change of expression.

Aoe: “So it was true!”

Yuo: “What!? How could you possibly do that!?”

Algo: “Myst and Excel are currently copying the Questron’s texture and control programs. We will be taking those to Babel and using them there. As for the vessel, we have Alternative and myself. Her, pure and unsullied. Me, a long-lived immortal thanks to my position as Martial Arts Master.”

Algo: “If we share our settings and make some modifications, we can be used as a single vessel.”

Aoe: “You can what!?”

Algo: “The problem is that we will not be indestructible, but that can be partially patched using the backup feature of the NPC Body containing Alternative.”

Algo: “Although at the moment it looks like the past debts will be paid and we will never have to play our role. Those 11 Demigods must feel guilty about their past sins because their heart isn’t in this fight.”

Algo: <Aoe, I know you are upset, but do you still think you can pay those past debts in their stead and reach your actual fight with us?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo’s expression remains unchanged. He is still smiling.

Algo: “As things are, we need Yuo, but this is the end for you, Aoe.”

Aoe: “Hah. So you planned that second godtact experiment just to be safe?”

Aoe: “Stop acting above it all. You think this is the end? This isn’t ending!”

Algo: “Even if Yuo loses her memories?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo nods just once.

Algo: “What reason does she have to be with you after losing her memories? You aren’t going to act like the law or righteousness has any role to play there, are you?”

Algo: “Losing Yuo should be enough of a reason for you to drop out, shouldn’t it?”

Aoe: “Don’t be absurd. I-”

Yuo: “Um, Senpai? T-time out on getting all worked up, okay?”

Aoe: “Mh?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo nods in your direction too.

The tears are gone from her face.

Yuo: “Algo, what happens to me if I do lose my memories?”

Algo: “Not much changes really. You will simply have different memories. So…”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo sticks his left hand into his white robe and pulls out Yuo’s Mouse.

Algo: “This Mouse’s memories will not change and your body will remain the same. The x5 hamburger you just ate to return you to full size will also remain in your stomach.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo holds the Mouse up in his left hand. That left hand is a prosthetic.

Yuo frowns and lowers her head. She appears to be thinking.

Yuo: “Umm.”

Aoe: “Mh. Don’t think too much. No one wants you overheating your brain.”

Yuo: “Is now really the time?”

Algo: “Have you arrived at a decision?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo raises her lowered gaze.

She looks to her own Mouse in Algo’s grasp.

Yuo: “It’s only my memories I’ll lose, right?”

Suedomsa: “Correct. Your memories of the past 2000 years will unravel and lose all meaning to you and the seal on your old memories will be broken. In other words, your old memories will be written on top of your current self.”

Yuo: “You mean my memories will revert to a time when I knew you were my dad?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo gives a small nod.

She closes her eyes and breaths in deep.

Yuo: “Um.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

She moves her head a little bit.

She sucks in a deep breath of air.

Yuo: “Listen, Algo…and dad.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo opens her eyes and looks first to Algo and then to Suedomsa.

Yuo: “Once I regain my memories, if I, at any time, choose not to give up on everything, please smile and let me go free.”

Suedomsa: “I…”

Suedomsa: “I know this is not a Minus thing to say, but that is not possible, Yuo. Your memories will return to just before the 2nd Godtact Experiment – just before you entered the Questron 2000 years ago. You will return to a time when you already had given up.”

Suedomsa: “And you say at any time, but you will have less than an hour from your memories returning until the godtact experiment begins. When will you even have time to abandon your resignation?”

Yuo: “That isn’t for you to worry about.”

Yuo: “It is true I think I would do everything the same if I forgot everything. But I also think I could change if someone gave me the chance. You don’t have to give me any power or any object. Just let me know that there is a better option out there than giving up.”

Yuo: “Once I know that, I will be able to act on my own. So when that time comes…please smile and let me go free.”

Suedomsa: “You sound confident this will happen. Why is that?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo looks to you with her eyes narrowed and her lips loosening. It is a small smile.

Yuo: “Because I know Senpai will come for me. He might lose, he might get hurt, he might even appear to have given up, but he has always come for me. It may have taken him 600 years, but he still came for me here.”

Suedomsa: “You think he will change your mind? But…”

Yuo: “But nothing!”

Yuo: <Everyone else might say ‘but’, but I’ve decided to say ‘then’!>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo nods.

The motion of her head sends tears falling from the corners of her eyes.

Algo nods as well.

Algo: “I see. Then let me ask one thing: what happens if Aoe does not come for you?”

Yuo: “Then I lose and I will likely become your vessel.”

Yuo: “Oh, but you don’t have to apologize. If I win, the great god won’t be activated and you can’t save Suedomsa and Alternative. We are both working against each other here.”

Yuo: “I know that, but I still want to win. Strength is not something you are given – it is something you reach out and take. And something you take back if it is taken from you. Isn’t that right?”

Yuo: “I will not be lost. I know some small amount of me will remain in here somewhere. Deny it all you like, this version of me will not vanish from myself and from others.”

Yuo: “Just like my past self tried to bring back the me who had my last name changed. So even if my memories are erased to create a different version of myself, I doubt that me will be able to deny the me speaking to you now.”

Suedomsa: “I see. Algo, can you get the process rolling?”

Algo: “Let’s give them a minute to say goodbye. Aoe, switch to Sight Mode please.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe gained his sight from his position pinned to the floor.

In front of him, he saw Yuo with her arms bound. She took a breath and bowed toward Algo.

Algo smiled bitterly and nodded back.

“Is there anything you need to avoid giving up?”

“No, not anymore. Besides, I am looking beyond that – into the future past my decision to not give up. That is why I sent a word mail as insurance before you entered my room.”

She smiled bitterly.

“You could call it a message of support to ensure my memory-erased self doesn’t pull away from Senpai after choosing not to give up.”

“Did you send it to Aoe?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know. No messing with the word mail settings to erase it. That would be cheating.”

Still smiling bitterly and turned toward Aoe.

Her bitter smile looked a lot brighter to his eyes.

She kept that expression as she approached him and crouched down.

He watched as she kneeled and sat down.

She was within arm’s reach.

So he placed his hands on the floor and shifted his body. The metal staff pushed down with more force, but he ignored it.

“Yuo.”

A shattering glass sound came from his back and he lifted his upper body.

She nodded at the Text of his will and reached out her hands.

She touched his cheeks to prop him up.

She leaned her face in, shut he eyes, and moved even closer.

“Senpai.”

A shattering glass sound came from her head.

Then their lips touched.

Aoe felt the damp sensation of her lips and…

“Oh.”

He heard a sound like striking pebbles from between their lips.

By the time he realized their teeth had collided, she was blushing and pulling her head back.

Her shut eyes bent into a smile.

“That’s three times now we’ve done the same thing.”

“Y-you fool.”

Aoe realized now was the time to act. This would be his last chance with her so close.

He gathered strength in his shoulders for just a moment in preparation to save her.

But something stopped his movement.

Yuo’s words. Her smile had lost its bitterness, but she shook her head.

“Senpai.”

That familiar title stopped him from moving. She lowered her eyebrows a little.

“Let me say one thing. I have always wished we could be together forev-”

Before she could finish, a sound like tearing fibers came from the back of her head.

<Yuo has been temporarily frozen while her Memory Lives are altered. Processing during the freeze will be handled by the DT OS.>

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo is collapsing toward your left side.

<Warning: Yuo is falling. Please support her immediately>

Aoe: “Yuo?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo has fallen onto the carpet. Her eyes are narrowed. It is a small smile.

She is not moving.

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

She takes a deep breath and then another.

She is not moving.

Algo: “Your minute is up. Her memories have ben erased, but she will restart soon enough.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo sticks his right hand’s finger into the mouth of the ferret he holds in his left hand.

Aoe: <Did you feed that weasel a program?>

Algo: “Yes, because I know Yuo was unlikely to eat it herself. But more than that, look.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

A window has opened next to you.

<DT OS→Yuo: Memory Lives Management Program: Recover and Normalization: Run>

<Alteration to Yuo’s Memory Lives detected. Changing her ID name. Please view her as a different person and give her a new ID name. She will now be known as Unknown Name>

<Unknown Name has lost her memories of using Wish Bringer, her currently set Load Emblem. The memory change may have returned her to a state from before she ever used Wish Bringer>

<Unknown Name has memories of using the Load Emblem named Mule, so it is recommended she changes that setting if she must use it after restarting.>

Suedomsa: “There is no need to return that to the way it was. The Mule was a symbol of the Virgin Mary while Wish Bringer is a symbol of the songstress prophet. Wish Bringer is works better as a sign of god.”

Algo: “Aoe. How about you follow the OS’s recommendation and view this Yuo as a different person? A simple Over Reload or Over Zoom will show her as Unknown Name, after all. If you think of her as a different person…”

Aoe: “Then this Yuo won’t be the Yuo I know?”

<Sorry about the wait. Unknown Name is restarting now>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You have Over Reloaded, but your mind has refused to provide a new ID name for Unknown Name. She will continue to be defined as Unknown Name until you change your mind.

Unknown Name’s legs tremble just once while she lies on the carpet next to you.

Algo drops her Mouse.

Her Mouse runs to your left.

Unknown Name: “Huh? Puppy?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Unknown Name’s Mouse places his front paws on her thigh and stands up.

The Mouse shakes his head over and over.

The Mouse begins striking her thigh with his right front paw.

Unknown Name: “H-hey. What has gotten into you?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Unknown Name pulls back her leg and the Mouse falls.

The Mouse falls on his back and begins flailing his legs.

Unknown Name: “Really, what is with you? Wait, what?”

Unknown Name: “Um, what is going on here? I thought it was just dad, me, and Akalabeth, but now Daikatana is here too. And Alternative?”

Unknown Name: “Then there are these men.”

Unknown Name: “Who are they?”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe switched to Sight Mode as if to cut off Yuo’s words.

He was still in a push-up pose on the floor with the metal staff against his back.

But he didn’t care about any of that as he pushed the breath from his lungs.

“Kah!”

The shout came more from his gut than this throat.

The person next to him flinched back. But…

<I don’t care!”

“Ohh!” he shouted while swinging up his right hand.

“Daikatana.”

His quiet voice signaled the beginning.

Daikatana spoke a Text directly above Aoe while jabbing his metal staff into Aoe’s back.

“Perish.

“For that will solve everything.”

Several windows opened in an instant and a splitting stone sound came from his metal staff.

●Type-XX049 – Imperial-class – Moebius●

Aoe took action before the text string could appear around the metal staff.

He sank down all of a sudden.

“Mh.”

A shattering glass sound came from his arms and a metal spear emblem floated above the backs of his hands.

He grabbed at the carpet with both hands to pull himself down faster than the force from above could push him down.

The force on his back vanished.

A moment later, he gathered strength in just his right hand and pulled himself to the right.

The swift movement meant the nagamaki blade intended for his back only graved his left flank and stabbed into the carpet.

The force of the strike sent the blade right through into the floor below.

“Kh!”

Daikatana sliced through the floor to swing the staff up again.

But Aoe looked forward instead.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

His enemy was there. He ignored Suedomsa and Alternative to focus on Algo.

When his mouth opened, a yell shot out.

“Damn you!” he roared, ignoring Daikatana to race forward.

He stood up and swung his right fist as he ran.

The clenched first flew forward with the metal spear emblem floating above it.

A tearing sound surrounded the fist directed at Algo’s face, but Algo easily dodged it.

“You are overexcited. You can control your power better than that.”

At the same time, Aoe’s fist passed below Algo’s head.

The attack never could have produced any attack power, but by not hitting, it whipped up the wind.

Algo’s robe fluttered up in the gentle breeze, revealing half a body in a white tank top and with a prosthetic left arm.

Aoe also saw Algo’s left chest. He noticed a different color between the white artificial muscle and black connection material where the prosthetic arm was attached.

There was a point of green there.

It formed a 1-inch jewel near Algo’s left chest. It looked like glass and glowed with a faint green light.

“What is that?”

“You have already been shown the answer. This contains Alternative’s Mind Lives and is the most important part of me. She gave me her Words Warn, which left me with no choice but to live in the x100-boosted Minus world.”

Algo took a breath, raised his left hand, and slowly brushed Aoe’s right arm away.

“For your information, Alternative’s Words Warn day of destruction is today at 3:40 PM. If you stop us here, both of us will be destroyed at that moment.”

“Kh!”

Algo took a step forward, so Aoe reflexively took half a step back.

Aoe saw Algo clenching his right fist He also saw the pearl ring on his middle finger.

Algo and Alternative opened their mouths in unison.

“What will you do?”

With Algo’s words, an emblem symbol appeared on his raised right fist.

It was colored white and it depicted a long nail surrounded by a square.

The same emblem glowed on Alternative’s back.

Then they both spoke their Texts. The Texts for a Grandload.

“Is that all you can do?

“If so, this ends here.”

A wind blew out and hundreds of windows opened.

<Opening Joint Load Emblem>

“Joint!?” shouted Aoe when he saw the windows.

“Yes, because Alternative and I are together. We support each other’s Minus side.”

A text string emerged from the emblem as Algo responded.

●Type-Origin: God-class: Sudden Strike●

The rest only took an instant.

Algo stepped forward.

Aoe tried to take a defensive stance with his foot still half a step back.

Algo’s fist surpassed his defense speed.

“…!”

Aoe more sensed than saw the clenched fist strike him in the chest.

The moment after he realized something had hit him, he was slammed into the floor.

Not on the carpet.

Into the bare stone floor exposed by the hole Daikatana’s nagamaki had torn in the carpet earlier.

His back hit so hard he bounced back up.

All the air was knocked from his lungs and he doubled over, feeling oxygen deprived.

<No, not here!>

“I won’t give up! Not while I still don’t know if I am really and truly unable to ever obtain the strongest power!”

Algo sent out a second attack.

Aoe twisted his body to escape it.

A moment later, he saw a girl’s face.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

<Yuo.>

His upward-facing vision saw a pair of eyes looking down at him.

Her pale face contained a look of surprise.

Just as he realized it was the look of someone seeing a stranger, a window opened over his head.

<Over Zoom of Unknown Name confirmed. Unknown Name’s ID Name has been updated from Yuo Natas Wav to Yuo Suedomsa Wav.>

The words he read there made him stop moving.

Algo’s second attack crashed into his chest.

“Gah!”

The voice that left his throat was really more of an abnormal breath.

But another sound brought that to a stop.

A crack ran through the exposed stone floor below his back.

That was where Daikatana’s nagamaki had sliced the floor. The white cement joining two stones there was beginning to break.

The collapse did not stop. The floor gave a great groan to let everyone know what was happening.

The floor gave way.

By the time Aoe tried to stand up, he was already positioned lower than the floor. A 2yd section of floor fell and the red carpet dented in like an antlion pit.

He didn’t have time to say anything before he was thrown into the darkness below.

“…!”

He fell into the abyss.

He could not return.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Chapter 12: Don’t Stop[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Start the discussion! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

Hooray. I was all ready to evacuate, but I got so caught up chatting with a certain stupid woman…

I didn’t get away in time!! The shield closed me in!”

Oh, hell. But our chat did give me a good guess as to what’s going on: Suedomsa took over the castle in order to run a 3rd Godtact Experiment.

If that happens, all of you will get to see DT destroyed. So anyway, the topic this time is sin, so I think I’m going to shout that stupid woman’s sins at the top of my lungs.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:

“Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him.

“Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?

We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.

But this man has done nothing wrong.”

(Luke 23: 39-41)

Yeah, sorry about that. -Autodeur Noma

07/07/2000 DT 02:18 PM (-00:42)

Help Text[edit]

Rank System

The rank system is used to rank and manage people’s abilities and to monitor and restrict their actions.

It was officially established in a UN resolution during September 1999, which makes it a very young system from a global perspective.

In addition to the ranks determined by social status and titles, this applied official ranks to people’s effective abilities – such as attack power, development ability, and speed – and it applies restrictions on the actions of anyone above a certain rank.

The system was a direct result of the lockdown of Tokyo in August 1999. At the time, the entire world pushed in on Japan in order to surrounded locked-down Tokyo.

They entered Japan on the pretext of providing aid and security for Japan after losing their capital.

The foreign armies of course never moved beyond the seven seas or the continent, but the great warriors who hold the most military might in each country entered Japan as representatives of their countries and took up positions around Tokyo.

This put individual warriors with greater power than entire armies around Tokyo, creating a powder keg.

The interim Japanese government sent a request to the UN order to put a stop to this.

The rank system was the result.

Global ranks for individual warriors were established and any individual warrior of sufficient strength had to be placed under UN management and registered as a weapon possessed by their country or that country could no longer receive certain rights. Also, if any individual warrior of sufficient strength who was not registered as a weapon were to harm a country they were staying in, all rank holders and UN forces were obligated to subdue them. These measures were meant to prevent nations from using those warriors as a convenient way of waging war.

Starting from the strongest, the ranks and the numbers of each are as follows:

Heavenly: 1

God (Dragon): 4

Sage (Emperor): 8

Master (Monarch): 16

Supreme: 32

King: Unlimited

Any rank holder is required to register with the UN and Master or higher are required to register as a weapon belonging to their country.

Also, countries can establish lower ranks if necessary.

These ranks are established separately for weapons, martial arts, technologies, and so on.

After the establishment of the rank system, the preexisting Ten War Generals, Four Land Generals, and New Five Great Peaks were incorporated into the system, but most wandering schools such as the Sixteen Sword Masters, the Three Emperors, and the Divine Tool Alliance chose to wander from country to country to avoid being bound to any one state.

The Heavenly rank is an exception in that it is given to someone who acts a symbol of the faction in question.

Also, the God, Sage, and Master ranks are all immortal. Through their training and battles, their Lives have grown distorted, giving them that quality. Some groups, like a martial arts school, will pass down the method of achieving this, and thus pass down the rank, which is said to help stabilize the number of people with each rank.

Monarch, Emperor, and Dragon are special ranks given to the very few people who reach those levels of power without also becoming immortal.

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The next thing Aoe knew, he was staring up towards heaven.

He wasn’t sure if he had been unconscious or asleep.

He simply felt a sense of loss bordering on emptiness permeating his body.

He only saw the color black with a single point of white in the center.

The white was a small light seemingly shining down from heaven. It was actually the light coming from the hole in the audience chamber floor.

He didn’t know how far he was from that heavenly light.

He only knew he was at the bottom of a pit located below the audience chamber.

“Mh.”

He nodded and checked to make sure he was in one piece. He had the usual complement of arms and legs, but he was lodged in some kind of ditch. He couldn’t twist to either side or do much of anything.

“Mh,” he grunted as a new shadow appeared in his vision.

He could see the outline of a miniature dog in the heavenly point of light.

“Is that you, Monkey?” he muttered and Monkey nodded.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He sensed Monkey sitting on his chest, but Monkey’s size and weight seemed to have changed. He was bigger and heavier. It was like Monkey had grown giant without changing his miniature proportions.

Aoe held his right hand up to get a look at it.

The hand he held in the white point on the ceiling had small, stubby fingers.

He stared at the hand and Monkey rubbed his wet nose against it. That tickled and gave him a look at Monkey’s face.

Monkey’s cheeks were bulging close to bursting, indicating he had program trigons in there.

His thought appeared in a window which he could only see as a silhouette in the darkness.

Monkey reached a foreleg toward that window.

<Window Display Settings: Pseudo Backlight: This will exhaust your eyes, so focus on a distant object once every hour.>

The window became a light-emitting panel, palely illuminating his surroundings.

He saw several sharp cones jutting upwards. He was currently lodged in a gap between two rows of giant dusty spikes.

He looked back to Monkey on his chest.

Monkey appeared to be about as big as his torso.

Aoe nodded once to accept that he had shrunk.

The window overhead began to flash.

After five flashes, the light-emitting thought panel vanished.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He again couldn’t see a thing. Silence and motionless surrounded him.

Monkey curled up on his chest and stopped moving.

Aoe filled his lungs with the dark air while lying between the spikes.

He looked up and stared at the white point of light.

He released his breath and placed words on it.

“Why…can I never win?”

He could not come up with an answer for his question.

He simply asked the question.

And a new question came to him.

“Why am I always too late?”

His voice faded away and vanished.

His audible exhalation soon changed to an inhalation.

“Yuo.”

The breath caught when that girl’s name came to mind.

A sandy sound came from Monkey’s mouth while the Mouse sat on his moving chest.

Then the point of light overhead blurred. His vision was distorting and bending.

Oh, no, he thought, but it was already too late.

A warm dampness fell from the corners of his eyes and toward his ears.

Monkey remained curled up on his chest.

He did that to hide himself from Aoe. He remained entirely still, as if to say he would play no part in his master’s emotions.

Aoe was surrounded by a vague darkness.

It was a false darkness. In truth, it was nothing more than the brightness setting being set to zero.

But he wept within that false darkness. He placed his feelings in the subprogram in charge of the tears and left them there.

He didn’t even wipe the tears away.

He exhaled and inhaled while his limbs trembled from the pain remaining in his body.

All of his movements were fake, but they managed to express a certain emotion.

He spoke through his trembling lips.

“Why…am I crying?”

He exhaled.

“If I could express it in words…would the tears dry up?”

He inhaled.

That was when a somewhat withered woman’s voice spoke from the previously silent darkness.

“Yes. So much would go so much more smoothly if we could express everything in words.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You have stopped crying.

Aoe: “Who was that?”

Aoe: “Monkey, can you display the data from when I entered Board Mode?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

This is BF3 – Pitfall Bottom, a Top Page of the castle.

The current time is 2:23 PM.

There is one PC Body with you: Akalabeth Bubezleeb Sys.

Aoe: “Akalabeth? You mean the queen?”

Akalabeth: <The very same.>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

A woman sits on a ledge built into the wall. That is Akalabeth.

She is narrowing her eyes. It is a faint smile.

Akalabeth: <Based on the noise I heard overhead and your tears, I take it Yuo had her memories erased?>

Aoe: <Mh. That is correct.>

Akalabeth: “I see. Since we were both dumped down here, we need to try to get along and work together. That way we can escape here and stop the godtact experiment.”

Aoe: “H-hold on.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You place your hands on the spikes around you and sit up.

Monkey falls from your stomach.

Aoe: “You plan to fight?”

Akalabeth: “Yes, I do. But I’m sorry to say the fighting will be your job, Aoe Shouzou. Cleansing our cowardly pasts, linking everything to this battle…”

Akalabeth: “And finding a reason to fight are also your job.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

A new window opens over Akalabeth’s head.

Akalabeth: <First, we can talk about Yuo to help get to know each other.>

Akalabeth: “That should give us the mutual understanding we need to work together.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Suedomsa’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Suedomsa’s Over Reload>

After switching from Board Mode and gaining his body’s senses, Suedomsa felt someone supporting his back. The touch felt so familiar. It contained the unique strength of a martial artist’s hand.

He saw Algo’s face with the stone corridor’s ceiling behind it.

Suedomsa had fallen and Algo had caught him in a hand with Alternative and Daikatana on either side of him.

“Are you alright, Master Suedomsa? You stumbled.”

“I am fine. Just a little unsteady.”

“Maybe you should stay in Board Mode for now?”

“No, we have begun a continuation of those events from 2000 years ago. I want to see it all for myself.”

He straightened up and looked ahead.

They were in a hidden passageway in the castle’s third basement.

The stone passageway was about 2 yards wide and had a single door on its wall.

The door was labeled “Ceremonial Ground”. Despite being in the castle, the door was not made of stone or wood. It was a composite bulkhead of polished heavy metal.

The heavy bulkhead opened with a deep groan.

Its two halves slid to either side. The one behind it opened to the top and bottom. The final one a short distance past that rotated like a camera’s shutter to open all at once.

“This seems awfully strict. Perhaps because none of the doors or surrounding walls are dummy data.”

Suedomsa stepped forward, passing through the open doors.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

He saw two glowing panels past the bulkheads.

That was a virtual bulkhead.

When he stepped between the glowing panels, air blew down from above.

He placed his hand on the dove seated on his shoulder and let the wind wash over him.

After only a few seconds, he stepped out of the virtual bulkhead.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

The space known as the ceremonial ground was there.

It was 40 yards long, 20 yards wide, and 10 yards high.

The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered by the metal panels much like the bulkheads.

The light shining down came from holes punched into the panels in an orderly fashion. It came from the fluorescent lights above there.

The room’s entrance area and back area served different functions.

The entrance area contained a giant round diagram.

That was a diskette program measuring 15 yards across. The program diagram carried a laurel wreath in the center and it had at least 7 layers of colors and carvings.

The floor, ceiling, and walls around it were covered in consoles, round buffer reactors, and barrel-shaped transformers.

The most notable features were the clocks on the cardinal directions of the diskette emblem. Their large digital displays clashed with the color of the metal around them and they were counting down to the Day of the Oracle.

The countdown had reached 25:56, with the seconds field soon turning to 55 and 54.

Past the digital displays, all of the machinery was connected to the plugs on the walls and floor by thick wires and conduits. Those were wrapped in black, blue, or red and they all passed around the giant diskette program before continuing on to the ceremonial ground’s back area.

Suedomsa looked up.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

Excel and Myst stood partway along the path of those many wires and conduits. Myst was drawing detailed reinforcement parts and Excel was applying programs to their exteriors.

Past them was the device every will, virtual or otherwise, desired.

A large digital clock newly applied to the ceiling counted down to the Day of the Oracle, but below that was a massive composite machine.

That was the Questron.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

It was shaped like a flower.

A very large flower. The metal flower had blossomed with 15yd-diameter petals.

The 16 petals were large virtual connectors aligned with well-balanced symmetry.

The stem leaves were anti-resonance buffering shield panels used to support the connectors.

The fruit at the center of it all was a pillar of light.

That green light was a 1yd-diameter defense shield linking the ceiling to the floor. It was produced by the Questron.

The walls of light were formed to protect their contents and an animal stood at the point where the bottom of the wall connected to the floor.

The animal was a ferret.

The long-tailed brown creature looked nervously up inside the walls.

There was someone inside the walls of the light.

A woman. A female silhouette floated inside, separated from gravity by the small diskette emblem at the bottom.

That was Yuo.

She wasn’t wearing anything and her expression was blank.

Her eyes were closed and her mouth opened slightly as she floated in the air.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

Suedomsa spoke while watching Yuo from a distance.

“It’s all exactly as I remember it.”

“I thought you said the defense shield was not in place back then.”

“Akalabeth and the others likely felt guilty, so I think they left it so Yuo could leave at any time if she so chose. They had already ceased to be Minus Elites at that point.”

He shut his eyes.

“And that is why my bullet could reach her.”

He left it at that, taking a step forward.

He continued walking toward Yuo in the Questron, no one else accompanying him now.

He crossed the giant, multi-layer diskette program and passed the insulated wires and pipes.

On the way, he asked a question of Excel who had a settings window opened for maintenance purposes.

“How is Yuo?”

“No change from when she last spoke with you. She has agreed to perform the ceremony she attempted so long ago. She called it returning to her long slumber.”

Excel looked past Suedomsa to the entrance.

He saw Algo with Alternative on his shoulder.

He said nothing and Suedomsa, still walking, spoke on his behalf.

“Did Yuo make that decision after seeing Alternative? After seeing her younger sister is now older than her?”

“Yes. And she agreed to accept a program to help her concentrate.”

Excel bowed and held out his right hand. He held four program trigons between that hand’s fingers.

They were each printed with a different symbol: an eye, a musical note leaving a mouth, an ear, and lightning stabbing into a hand.

“We of the Quartet would like to keep these as a memento of Master Yuo.”

“I suppose she won’t turn around if you call her like she did for me back then. Because we aren’t as kind as Akalabeth. We perfectly trapped her in her resignation so we could seek out the proper past.”

Suedomsa nodded once and walked past Excel.

He looked to Yuo at the center of the steel flower petals spread out before him.

“This isn’t how it was 2000 years ago, Yuo. By the time I reached you then…you were already becoming a great god. You were no longer yourself.”

He nodded.

“But I have no right to criticize you for that. Still, Alternative may have been right that I managed to fire that bullet without hesitation because I was a Minus Elite.”

Yuo did not respond within the light, her eyes still shut. There were occasional subtle changes to her expression, like she was dreaming, which indicated she was in Board Mode.

But with her programs removed, she could not sense any outside sound, light, or vibrations even if she Over Reloaded. She could only read the thoughts floating in the other person’s window as part of the standard OS functions.

In Sight Mode, Suedomsa walked onto the flower. He passed between two of the petals and approached the defense shield.

He narrowed his eyes toward the ferret who turned around in front of the shield.

His dove produced a program trigon from below its wing and tossed it down to the ferret.

That was Aoe’s management program. When it rolled in front of the ferret, the Mouse immediately swallowed it.

“I don’t need it since I can use Akalabeth’s program and it belonged to you originally anyway.”

Suedomsa gave the animal no further attention as he arrived in front of Yuo with the glowing wall between them.

A window appeared over her head. She could not see or hear him, so these were her enclosed thoughts.

A new window appeared over her head too.

<But…I wish I could have spoken with everyone first.>

He read her feelings as text.

And he lowered his head. He looked to his feet and spoke through his clenched teeth.

“Yes, you probably do. But, Yuo, it is time to reveal the answer. Were we right? What did you want when you fell to resignation? And…will someone show up to stop your resignation?”

He put his thoughts to words without raising his head again.

“This is our way of finding all the answers…so it is time to finish what we started 2000 years ago.”

<Suedomsa’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth is talking. She looks to you and nods.

Akalabeth: <And when Yuo arrived, she quoted the bible and told us to use her as the vessel because she was no more use to anyone in any other way. At the time, her Load Emblem was Mule, which used the Virgin Mary as its symbol. She even said that was the perfect symbolism for the one who would help give birth to a god.>

Aoe: “So that idiot…had given up?”

Akalabeth: “It is hard to say. We all tried to stop her, but she refused to listen. She said her father only ever paid any attention to her sister who had Words Warn and that her father had come down with the disease as well, so she said she would do more good saving those two than staying with us.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth’s eyebrows are drooping and she is smiling. It is a bitter smile.

Akalabeth: “After that, she said she wanted us to erase her memories if the experiment were to fail. And that she wanted us to erase her father’s memories too. She said everything would get better if we did that.”

Akalabeth: <Perhaps our first mistake there was accepting the offer she gave us. We quickly modified the Questron below the castle for use with her. It has a defense shield meant to enclose the vessel, but we created a seam for the vessel to leave if she wanted.>

Akalabeth: <And when the Great God Lives extracted from the ley lines exploded along with her, she partially got her wish. Everyone in DT had their memories wiped, but the Demigods and NPC Bodies all retained their memories.>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth has lowered her head.

Akalabeth: “You heard about the prophecy regarding the Day of the Oracle, didn’t you?”

Aoe: “That everything would get better in 2000 years, right?”

Akalabeth: “What do you think that meant, Aoe Shouzou? We only know that the great god responded to her will and gave a prophecy of the future based on that.”

Akalabeth: “So do you think that prophecy was meant for all of us because she had already given up on everything? Or do you think it was meant for her because she had not truly given up yet?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth sighs.

Akalabeth: “I do not know the answer. And I do not know what is going to happen.”

Akalabeth: “I wanted to know the answer, so after sealing away Yuo and Suedomsa’s memories as promised, I adopted Yuo as my daughter. But it was after she visited Japan that she started saying she would not give up. It was after she encountered the Plus in you, Aoe Shouzou.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Her eyebrows are somewhat lowered. It is a small smile.

Akalabeth: “Don’t you find it odd that a Minus person like her could overcome her anxieties and grow stronger through the Plus? And what happened to you then? Did your power turn toward killing when she was with you?”

Aoe: “Of course not. She never stopped lecturing me.”

Akalabeth: “Heh heh. That does not surprise me, Aoe Shouzou.”

Akalabeth: “The two of you were together as the Plus and the Minus, weren’t you?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

She corrects her eyebrows and looks to you. It is a serious expression.

Akalabeth: “Now, I think it is time for a change of subject. We need to discuss you.”

Akalabeth: <From what Yuo told me and the report Telyb sent me, I gather you are searching for a certain power. You want the strongest power for a Plus attacker like you.>

Akalabeth:

Aoe: “What is it?”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe sat facing Akalabeth in the light of a glowing window.

Akalabeth was stroking the head of the fox Mouse wrapped around her neck.

“You seem to think you may have already dropped out, don’t you? Then what is this ‘killing power’ that made you drop out?”

Aoe groaned in thought while seated cross-legged in the darkness.

He recalled what Algo had told him when they fought.

“It is an interaction of the Plus and the Minus. Killing powers and the strongest power are both equations written with the plus and the minus.”

Seeing that question in her window, Aoe thought about what a killing power really was.

He looked down at his clenched right fist for a moment before nodding and answering.

“What else but life? That power places life in the equation by subtracting it.”

“Correct. That is not a power a Plus person like you should be wielding, is it?”

She gave him an honest smile and he nodded, holding up his right fist.

“No, I don’t think I should be using this killing power.”

“Correct,” she said again, her smile deepening. <That means you must not defeat your opponent with that killing power, can you? So you already have your answer, do you not? That should tell you what the strongest power is.>

“Huh?” he responded, so she explained.

“It is a simple. Think of it in reverse. If the killing power subtracts life and you must not defeat your opponent with it, then what is the strongest power?”

She paused to think for a moment before looking him in the eye and giving the answer.

“The strongest power adds or subtracts something other than life…and you are willing to defeat your opponent with it.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe rose from his sitting position when he heard Akalabeth’s answer.

Her argument was simple. If the killing power was something he must not defeat his opponent with, then the strongest power was…

“A power I am willing to defeat them with…but what the hell does that mean!?”

“That is the logical conclusion. Calm down, Aoe Shouzou. Do not reject it on reflex. Think about it: what kind of power would you be willing to defeat your opponent with?”

He shook his head at her question, clenching both his fists hard.

“That sounds too good to be true!

The shout of his willpower was followed by a sharp blow to his left cheek.

“…!”

Feeling the pain running through his cheek, he glared at Akalabeth and stood up.

“You-” he started, but he gasped when something damp dripped down his cheek.

“What is this?”

His cheek was wet. He touched it and found red on his fingers.

He looked again and noticed Akalabeth looked pale in the window’s glow. He frowned.

“Are you injured?”

“I can survive a fall by altering the settings, but I was struck by a blade shortly beforehand.”

She was holding her side. The stomach of her clothing was very damp.

But she smiled a little.

“Sorry about that. I shouldn’t have struck the person I am asking for assistance.”

Aoe fell silent. “Mh,” he grunted deep in his throat before clenching his teeth and sitting back down in front of her.

Seeing Aoe’s lowered head, Akalabeth sighed and spoke.

“Let’s continue, shall we? So back to a power that you are willing to defeat your opponent with.” She nodded. “I am an amateur when it comes to martial arts, but I believe such a thing exists. But it is definitely something you do not have. Also…”

She made it sound so simple.

“Whether or not you are willing to defeat your opponent with it is not even the most prudent question. What truly matters is if your opponent feels they are willing to let that power defeat them.”

“Wha-?”

He started to protest again (“What are you talking about?”), but he swallowed the words.

She had a point. He would be much mor willing to defeat his opponent with a power if they were willing to accept it than if he were forcing it onto them. In other words…

“A power someone would be willing to lose to.”

“Do you get it now? It is the opposite of a power you don’t want to lose to.”

Algo had hit him with plenty of attacks he didn’t want to lose to, so he understood.

He dug up the memory of his loss to Algo half a year ago, when all of this had started.

He fell silent there, but Akalabeth gave a small nod.

“Then a power you would be willing to lose to would be the opposite of that, wouldn’t it? A power that does not inspire frustration in the person it defeats and that erases their fear and anxiety related to power. So in the equation you mentioned before, that power would subtract regret, anxiety, and fear instead of life.”

He looked up.

He repeated her words under his breath, and…

“That power is only theoretical, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. It only needs to meet two conditions.” After a beat, she continued. “The first condition is of course belief that the attack will benefit your opponent. In other words, the answer it teaches them is how to believe, not anxiety or fear.”

And…

“The second condition is that you understand your opponent’s anxieties and fears and your attack surpasses those things. If you want to know they will accept defeat to your attack, you need to surpass their anxiety and fear and teach them that they will be fine without any fear.”

“I need to surpass their anxiety and fear?”

“Yes,” confirmed Akalabeth. “People fight in order to face their anxieties and fears. For example, Algo is driven by his anxiety and fear regarding Words Warn, which began with Alternative Kobayashi. So if you wanted to use the strongest power against him, you must understand his anxiety and fear and you must show him something that surpasses his reasons for attempting a godtact experiment. You need to show him he doesn’t need to do that.”

“Mh,” grunted Aoe, clenching his fist on his lap.

“I must believe in my fist so that I can understand and surpass my opponent’s anxieties and fears?”

“Yes. Do that and you will have the strongest power that your opponent will accept defeat to.”

Akalabeth clenched her right hand as well. She poured her willpower into the bloodstained fist.

“An attack like that could end a battle and leave both sides satisfied.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Myst’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Myst’s Over Reload>

Myst was painting a thick coat over a wire’s casing to reinforce it.

She looked to her hand on the virtual pen. Her fingers were shaking a bit inside the white gloves.

“Kh,” she groaned, her lips twisting when she saw that tremor. She heard a voice from the side at the same time.

“Myst.”

It was Excel. He stepped up beside her with a few text strings floating around him.

“The preparations here are now complete. I intend to head up for the preparations there.”

And…

“Are you still thinking about what Master Algo said?”

Excel’s question earned a twitch of Myst’s eyebrows and she eventually nodded.

“We cannot go all out against Master Yuo since she is also Minus, but we can do so without hesitation against a Plus person like Aoe. I honestly still don’t know what that means.”

She sighed and smiled like she couldn’t help herself.

“But I am an NPC Body with a duty all my own. Whether I understand or not, I will remain here to protect this place. But, Excel, do you think Aoe Shouzou is coming?”

“Yes, Plus people like him can be irritatingly persistent.”

Myst saw him nod and responded quietly.

“He kind of reminds me of Master Suedomsa during the 2nd Godtact Experiment.”

“The difference would be that Master Suedomsa is a Minus Elite and Aoe is a Plus dropout.”

Myst nodded, raised her index finger, and waved it.

“So before it was a confrontation of two Minus people, but now it is between a Plus and a Minus person.”

Myst stopped her raised finger.

“Master Suedomsa was too late and had to shoot Master Yuo. But I doubt he would have done that if she had not been in the process of being overwritten by the great god.”

“That is mere speculation. Myst, we do not have much time left. NPC Bodies like us should not let speculation about our master influence us.”

“True. But I do have one bit of speculation regarding Aoe. When he comes to stop Master Yuo, he will be here to reject her since she is his opposite.” Myst looked to Suedomsa at the top of the Questron. “But I think a Plus person like him will go all out against Minus Yuo even if she is not being overwritten. He pursues her in a different way from Master Suedomsa or us. He-”

Myst’s lips stopped moving there.

She gasped, shook her head, and shuddered.

“Could it be?”

Excel watched her shake her head again.

Past her shaken hair, her face had gone entirely pale. She looked to Suedomsa and Yuo as she opened her mouth again.

“Could that be the relationship between Plus and Minus?”

“Could what be, Myst?”

“Well,” said Myst, covering her mouth with the hand not holding her virtual pen. “It took me a while, but I have finally linked everything together. I think I know what Master Algo was trying to say.”

She took a breath and continued in a quiet but steady voice.

“The Plus and the Minus are drawn to each other!”

<Myst’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mod: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe crossed his arms while seated across from Akalabeth.

“Believe in my fist, understand my opponent…and surpass them.”

Akalabeth continued smiling, but he tilted his head.

“But, ma’am, I can trust in my fist easily enough, but I can’t read my opponent’s mind. How am I supposed to understand their anxiety and fear?”

“Oh? Aoe Shouzou, you have already done so. Don’t you remember?”

That came as a surprise.

He wasn’t aware of that.

He looked back through his memories, but he couldn’t come up with anything. He grew impatient and brushed a hand through his short hair.

“Sorry. I have never been good at riddles. I bet Yuo could give me the answer if she was here.”

Only after saying it did he realized that could never happen again.

He hung his head a bit, his fingers still in his hair. And he heard Akalabeth’s voice.

“What has you so down? You just gave the answer.”

“?”

He looked up to find her smiling at him.

“Think about it, Aoe Shouzou. Why did you come to DT?”

“In pursuit of Algo, of course.”

“That was not your reason. Telyb told me you wanted to meet Yuo so you could decide if you were going to give up on your fist as a dropout.”

She spoke with her well-enunciated voice and in her window.

“Yuo is the same. She made you her assistant so you, as a Plus person, could eliminate her anxiety and fear over leaving you. Not to mention her anxiety of dropping out that she gained from the feelings and memories she gained in the outside world.”

Akalabeth took a breath there.

“You did the same thing out in the Plus world, didn’t you? You were always assisting each other.”

She fell silent and stared at him, but then she laughed quietly.

He frowned.

“What’s so funny?”

“That look on your face that says you have no idea what I am talking about. It probably came so naturally to the two of you that you weren’t even aware it was happening.”

He clicked his tongue at that, which only deepened her smile.

“That is the proper interaction between Plus and Minus. Eliminating the Plus anxieties and fears is a job for the Minus people who can face the killing power that Plus people fear so much. In the same way, eliminating the Minus anxieties and fears is a job for the Plus people who can reach out a helping hand to the Minus people cowering in fear of the outside world.”

“So by combining my Plus and Yuo’s Minus, we can cancel out our anxieties, leaving us with zero?”

<Yes. With two Plus people or two Minus people, they understand each other’s powers, coping strategies, and standpoints, so when they fight, they can sense their opponent’s pain so vividly they avoid the issue before going all out. Similarly, two of the same type can provide support for their anxieties, but they can never surpass and eliminate those anxieties.>

Akalabeth narrowed her eyes.

“You apparently said that Algo once told you his strongest power was only a partial answer. He likely meant that both he and Alternative Kobayashi are Minus people. He was expressing self-deprecation at the fact that they weren’t in balance the way you and Yuo are.”

Aoe listened to her in the window’s light and nodded.

She nodded back.

“If you can still eliminate Minus Yuo’s anxieties and fears, couldn’t you do the same for the other Minus people?”

“Well…”

“Is that a no? It is true no two people are alike. Everyone carries their own anxieties and fears. That is why you must find the correct power to use against each and every one of them. But the same applies to Yuo. So think about it. Think about how a Plus person like you would usually bring relief to a Minus person like Yuo. Then you only need to figure out how to apply that to other people.”

“Hah. So that’s it. That’s how the strongest Plus and Minus powers work.” He clenched his fist tight. “Sure enough, the strongest power isn’t something you can really put to words.”

<Yes, because it has no fixed form and changes to match the person it is wielded against.>

“If you understand that, then you must seek out how to wield the strongest Plus power. That is, how to wield a power a Minus person would accept defeat to. You must find a way to trust in your fist, understand your opponent’s anxiety and fear, and surpass them. That is your task, young man who has begun to lose faith in his fist and cannot read people’s minds.”

“Once you find that method, you will have truly mastered the strongest power.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth has her arms crossed over her stomach.

Aoe: “Can I ask one thing? If Old Man Ungyou was a Plus strongest, why did he fight Algo and die? Would a wielder of the strongest power really do something that subtracts from himself?”

Akalabeth: “It is true the strongest power is unlikely to do anything that subtracts from your opponent or your own life. Because people generally do not seek death when they fight. So if it did lead to that…”

Akalabeth: “Yes, it must have been a battle where even death was a possible outcome.”

Aoe: “Does such a battle exist for the wielder of the strongest power?”

Akalabeth: “It does. For example, a battle over inheritance of the Master title.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth looks you in the eye.

Akalabeth: “Immortality is a requirement to hold the rank of Master and that requires an intense enough battle to greatly distort your Lives. But no one can intentionally cause that. Not even Kobayashi Ungyou, the strongest who was trying to pass his Master title to Algo.”

Aoe: “So as the strongest Plus, he could fight to eliminate Minus Algo’s anxiety and teach him the strongest power, but he could not survive the battle to pass down the rank of Master?”

Akalabeth: “I imagine it was a gamble. I have heard Kobayashi Ungyou was an old immortal since he only achieved the rank of Master in his 50s. The result may have been different if he had been younger.”

Aoe: “I don’t believe it! U-um, ma’am, why would he eliminate Algo’s anxiety, teach him the strongest power, and try to pass down the rank of Master? Especially when that would mean his death!”

Akalabeth: “I do not know why he made that gamble, Aoe Shouzou. If you wish to know, then do your own research. I am not your textbook.”

Aoe: “…”

Akalabeth: “If you wish to know what Kobayashi Ungyou sought, then fight. Surpass the battle between Suedomsa and me, rescue Yuo, and reach your own battle against Algo.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth nods. Her lips form a small curve. She is smiling.

Akalabeth: <Listen. 2000 years ago, Suedomsa was so Minus, he avoided speaking with Yuo and this led to tragedy. By the time he decided to speak with her, she was no longer human and her only words…were a prophecy.>

Akalabeth: <He was too late. But what about now? What about you?>

Akalabeth: “It looks to me like you can just barely arrive in time. You came to DT in order to speak with Yuo and you are doing everything you can to end her resignation.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

You click your tongue.

Aoe: <B-but she doesn’t remember me anymore. What do I do about that?>

Akalabeth: “Calm down. There is no need to panic. You are her savior.”

Akalabeth: <The current time is 2:49 PM. The enemy will have gathered and Yuo should be inside the Questron. Your battle should last only a moment. We will know soon whether the past will deliver a finishing blow to the present, or the present will inherit everything from the past. So…you need to prepare yourself.>

Aoe: <Mh. Just to be certain, is there any way of bringing back Yuo’s memories?>

Akalabeth: <None at all, save for a miracle.>

Akalabeth: “Are you saying you will not rescue her now that she has lost you?”

Akalabeth: “Your strongest power does not give up that easily, does it? Rescuing her is your starting line. The real struggle begins after that.”

Aoe: “So if I can pull this off with Yuo, I need to show off the strongest power with others as well?”

Akalabeth: “Yes. What kind of attack would you be willing to defeat Quartet and Algo with? You cannot read minds, but you must still come to understand your enemy’s anxieties and fears and surpass them.”

Akalabeth: “You must rescue Yuo, battle them, and ask them, Aoe Shouzou. Anyone can ask questions and anyone can find their own answer.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth’s eyebrows are bent and her eyes narrowed. It is a slight smile.

You wrinkle your brow and frown.

Aoe: <Ha. Trying to motivate me? I’m a complete stranger to Yuo now. To use the holy symbols you people love so much, I’m like the devil binding the son of god to the human world. You get that, right?>

Akalabeth: <That is fine. As the attacker, you might as well be a pitchfork-wielding stealer of souls. And there might just be a highly unusual princess out there who wishes to speak with and stand with the devil who comes to steal her away.>

Aoe: “…Mh.”

Akalabeth: <Hee hee. Aoe Shouzou, was that meant as agreement or disagreement?>

Akalabeth:

Akalabeth: <If that was an okay, then prepare for battle as soon as you end this Mode, Aoe Shouzou.>

Akalabeth: <You have an obligation to surpass us and then ask your question.>

Akalabeth: <Yes, we all see it that way. Suedomsa and I are finishing what we started 2000 years ago and you are finishing what you started 6 years ago and what you started here in this city.>

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth continues to smile and nods.

Akalabeth: “Now, Aoe Shouzou, As DT’s queen, I officially request your power as you seek out the strongest Plus power. Reach Yuo before the Day of the Oracle arrives. And…”

Akalabeth: “Find an answer for the questions of the past, reclaim everything, and begin your own battle.”

Akalabeth: “That is what the past demands of you.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Myst’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Myst’s Over Reload>

In the ceremony room, Myst covered her mouth with a hand and spoke to Excel with a tremor in her voice.

“In that case, Aoe’s only option is to stop Master Yuo’s resignation.”

“Why? She no longer remembers him, so why would she choose him over resignation?”

Myst nodded.

“When she first met him in Japan, she of course did not know him. And yet she chose him. She chose Plus Aoe Shouzou, who fought with a never-give-up spirit.”

Excel gasped and Myst shook her head.

“The thought scares me too. Not that Aoe could prevent her resignation, but that she might abandon her resignation but choose him over us and become our enemy.”

She took a breath and shut her eyes.

“Even if that does happen, I do hope she will consider what we used to have together and let us express our thanks before she becomes our enemy. Because if my calculations are correct, we should be able to thank her if she has Aoe with her!”

Excel frowned at that.

“Thank her? But how are we supposed to test her to prove she can get by without us? Teaching her she has surpassed us requires testing her with everything we have…but you just said earlier that isn’t an option.”

“There is one way it can be done. We remember what Master Algo told us to remember! We have a Plus person take her place!”

“You mean…”

“Yes. If she chooses Aoe, then we can go all out against him in a way we could not against her! We test the person she chooses to see if he has surpassed us and thank her through him!”

Myst wasn’t sure if she should say the rest, but Excel spoke before she could decide.

“Myst.”

She looked up with a gasp and saw him pulling a trigon from his pocket.

“This is my handmade Questron control program.”

“Y-yes. The one to start the second phase. But why give it to me now?”

She took the program trigon and he nodded with a smile.

“Because I felt you needed to find the answer to your question. I will head upstairs for defense as planned, but if Aoe Shouzou defeats me…it will mean you were correct.”

“Excel!?”

Her shout only deepened his smile.

“Do not look so worried. A butler is meant to greet the guests and let them through if they are worthy.”

“So what if Aoe arrives here and attempts to stop Master Yuo’s resignation?”

“Then you should fight to the best of your ability. Our administrator is Master Suedomsa, not Master Yuo, so Aoe remains our enemy even if Master Yuo chooses him. We must protect her resignation for Master Suedomsa’s sake. Do not forget to fight as one of the ultimate NPC Bodies he created.

“But,” he sighed, raising his right hand in its white glove. “If you care for Master Yuo and she does abandon her resignation and turn against us, that is when you must tell her to fight against us as our enemy.”

<Myst’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

When Aoe regained his sight, he saw Akalabeth seated in front of him.

Her complexion in the glow of the window looked even worse than before.

He scratched his head worriedly and looked her way.

“I will make it quick, so bear with it. Where is the exit route?”

She smiled bitterly at his demand and pointed overhead.

“About 20 yards above us.”

“That would take too long. I’m in a hurry.”

He pressed his right palm against the wall next to the ledge.

“What is beyond this wall?”

Her mouth fell open for a brief moment, but then she looked to his hand and the wall.

“You can’t be serious. That wall is 3 yards thick.”

“If it has a thickness, it has another side. No wall is unbreakable.”

He pulled a program trigon from his pocket.

“This lets me go all out for 180 seconds. So tell me: what is beyond this wall?”

“The large lift located directly above the underground Questron.”

“Mh,” grunted Aoe as a nod. Then he asked Monkey the time.

The floating window showed it as 02:56:12 PM. Akalabeth watched the seconds ticking up.

“Suedomsa should overwrite Yuo with the Great God Lives at precisely 3 PM, so you need to stop him before that happens. She should be contained in the Questron’s defense shield, so you can forcibly stop the godtact experiment by shattering that and removing her. That should be more effective than trying to take back control of the Questron at this point.”

“So another wall I have to break, huh? That I can understand. And what if I fail?”

“If you cannot break the defense shield, this is over. You will be killed and not even formatting her will be an option.” Akalabeth nodded. “Listen. I have already given you a pardon for your criminal identification. But be careful because your criminal management program is still active in Yuo’s settings. If the fight drags on too long, you will have trouble winning unless you get Yuo’s help in changing those settings.”

Aoe silently nodded and checked the clock on the window. 3 minutes and 10 seconds remaining.

He gripped the program trigon in his right hand and watched the clock.

5 seconds until 2:57. Akalabeth’s window appeared next to the clock window.

4 seconds.

3 seconds.

2 seconds.

1 second.

“Go ask your question. Take back everything so you can ask it again.”

0 seconds.

Aoe gave no response to Akalabeth and tossed the yellow program trigon into his mouth.

A familiar flavor burst atop his tongue. It tasted just like the ramen at the place he and Yuo used to go together.

His cheeks bent into a slight smile and he prepared to move.

The narrow ledge was his only footing, but he didn’t need a long running start. His initial velocity and the gathering of his strength were what mattered.

“I will go ask.”

A shattering glass sound came from his arms.

Download.

A black metal spear emblem appeared on the back of his hands and he lowered his hips while speaking his Text.

“I shall move ever forward,” he muttered, remembering what Yuo had started to say her final moment.

She had said that instead of that she didn’t want to forget. He thought on the meaning of that desire which went beyond simply keeping her memories.

“Right. So now I have to show her.

“That forgetting doesn’t mean it has to end.”

<Grandload: Running Load Emblem: Black Belt: Opening>

<Releasing Management Program: Striking Attacks Authorized: You may now act: 180 seconds>

The emblems floating by Aoe’s hands revealed their form.

The emblems roared. The loud, bursting sound was like shattering metal.

Many windows opened and a text string raced from the emblems on his hands.

■Type-AA0765: God-class: Black Belt■

It only took an instant.

A shattering glass sound came from his hands and fingertips before a shock ran through his entire body.

<Activating Grandload of Aoe’s arm strength: Removing limiter for all Lives Loading and for striking power>

He thought to himself while his hands grew tense with power.

A tremor ran through him, but then…

“Damn.”

Just as he clenched his fists, he finally took action.

His movements were fast, but generalized.

“I need to trust in those fists to reunite us!”

A shattering glass sound came from his arm and he his attack broke through the wall.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Chapter 13: Sky[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Behold! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

Sounds like something’s going on at the castle!

Earlier, a signal noise played there. It was so loud it shook my cathedral.

So anyway, the key phrase this time is “the curtain opens”. How ‘bout that?

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The Son of God called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

(Luke 23:44-46)

A 2nd Post This Time -Racter Nosrup

Welcome back! I’m making a post here because some emergency information came in.

I have some info on the castle intruder!

This comes straight from the intruder’s boss and has been confirmed by the interim Japanese government, but any more than that is top secret.

You ready for this? The intruder’s name is Aoe Shouzou, former Japanese North Kantou Chancellor and student to-

07/07/2000 DT 02:57 PM (-00:03)

Help Text[edit]

Old-Style NPC Bodies

NPC Bodies have existed since DT was first virtualized and they were originally created by the Three Sages who managed that virtualization process.

The NPC Bodies created as an experiment during DT’s initial phase no longer exist in the current year of 2000.

They were linked to the initial DT OS, so when Archon Suedomsa completed the mass-produced NPC Bodies, they were all saved to the intermediary layer and made to work as a portion of the OS.

The NPC Bodies created by Archon Suedomsa are divided into the following types.

Michael Class

Originally a PC Body designed for Words Warn patients, this type can be remote controlled by Mind Lives alone.

The sensory programs directly send the received information to the user’s Mind Lives, but this requires heavy finetuning at the time of creation and is highly inefficient in its use of heat energy, so it was never mass-produced for use as a PC Body.

But the direct link to the Mind Lives means it can converse rapidly through windows and can easily Load the Mind Lives, so it was used by Words Warn patients who requested one at the time.

Its Word Race cannot be changed, so it is restricted to the Word Race it is initially given.

Gabriel Class

The NPC Body on which all image-related Word Races are based. Originally a female model.

Was given an expansion slot upon creation intended for use with audio Word Races.

It can change Word Races and it is designed to rapidly and precisely output a large amount of data of the type that matches its current Word Race.

Raphael Class

The NPC Body on which the Sys Word Race is based.

The Bat and Dll Word Races were derived from it as well.

It can be nondescript since it registers as null when its Word Race features are not active, but its influence on the surrounding space is much higher than others when the features of the Sys Word Race are active.

Uriel Class

Originally an experimental NPC Body. Meant to create Body data in all the languages running on the DT OS and investigate their benchmarks, but due to its standardized foundation, it can actually change its foundational language by switching Word Races.

Most well known for the Bas, C, Asb, and X Word Races.

These NPC Bodies were all originally meant as experiments for future medical PC Bodies, so they were meant to meet human needs, such as being general-use and possessing their own individual memories. On the security front, their personal data was locked down and all but the Michael-class are unable to hide their thoughts.

The flaw of these old-style NPC Bodies was their poor fuel efficiency.

That was why, after the failure of the 2nd Godtact Experiment, when the creation of many more NPC Bodies was needed to create the DT we know now, production of this type was ceased to avoid applying too much pressure on DT’s heat consumption. The new-style NPC Bodies are mass produced nowadays.

The modern NPC bodies use a shared memory and have standardized traits, but they still have some human aspects like displaying their thoughts in windows. That way they can still be used as Bodies for Words Warn patients.

Excel’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Excel’s Over Reload>

You are in BF3 – Large Lift, a Top Page of the castle.

The current time is 2:57 PM.

A steel lift painted white takes up a 20yd square of the floor in front of you.

The stairs down to the Questron are behind you.

A large piece of rubble lies atop the lift. It is a piece of a wall cut away during Daikatana’s battle with the intruder.

One PC Body is there. He is the intruder, Aoe Shouzou Asb.

Aoe has only just arrived from the adjacent page: In the Wall. He is currently running your way.

Aoe: “What, I break through the wall and come running but some old guy is the only person who comes to greet me? And on the same lift that formed the roof? Where’s the fun in that?”

<Excel’s Over Reload>

Aoe looks up at the pit overhead.

He is approximately 10 yards in front of you. He stops in the center of the lift.

Excel: “You arrived quicker than expected. I nearly failed to arrive in time.”

Aoe: “Mh. So you greet even the rude guests? You were trained well.”

Excel: “I am not here to greet you; I am here to determine whether or not you will be allowed to pass.”

<Excel’s Over Reload>

You pull a program trigon from your pocket.

The program trigon is printed with an ear symbol in black.

Excel: “This is Master Yuo’s hearing.”

Excel: “Fearing the slim possibility of resistance from herself and to help her focus, she converted the rights to her hearing, touch, sight, and voice into program trigons and left them with the Quartet.”

Excel: “Although the one for Mekton is currently with Master Algo since Mekton is at Babel.”

Aoe: “Hah. So I’m supposed to take them back? You have terrible taste in games.”

Aoe: “But more importantly, how’s Yuo doing? Has she given up?”

Excel: “She has.”

Aoe: “I see. I suppose there would be no point in defeating her otherwise.”

Aoe: “So are you willing to be my test case? Answer the question I am about to give you.”

Excel: “What might that be?”

Aoe: “When would you be willing to accept defeat?”

Excel: “––––––”

Excel: “What is that supposed to mean?”

Aoe: “Why the surprise? It’s a simple question. I am asking when you would decide you didn’t need to keep fighting.”

Excel: “––––!?”

<Excel’s Over Reload>

Your eyebrows are raised and your eyes narrowed. The meaning is uncertain.

Your expression is changing. You are looking dead ahead now. It is a serious look.

Excel: “Ha. So Myst was right after all.”

Aoe: “Myst?”

Excel: “Do not worry about it. It is none of your business.”

Excel: “Anyway.”

Excel: “To answer your question…”

Excel: “That would be when I confirm Master Yuo has surpassed me as a programmer.”

Excel: “Unfortunately, that can never happen now that she has fallen to resignation.”

<Excel’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s eyebrows are raised and his mouth curved downwards. It is a defiant look.

Aoe: “I can’t strictly call this the strongest power since I wasn’t asking with my fists, but still.”

Aoe: “Understood, Excel Raphael. I will give you what you want.”

Aoe: “And if you accept my answer, then let me pass. Is that acceptable?”

Excel: “Ha. Very well. Assuming you can manage it, of course.”

<Excel’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s vision joined with his mind.

He saw the walls around him moving downwards.

Excel stood on the lift ahead of him and snapped the fingers of his raised right hand.

<Movement Device: Accelerate>

Aoe’s entire body felt downwards momentum.

At the same time, wind filled the 20yd lift. It began rapidly ascending.

The lift roared as it pushed up the air. From basement floor 3 to the roof. The wind roiled within the pit leading down into the castle, buffeting Aoe.

He realized he had lost his sense of hearing. He immediately pinched his nose and breathed, popping his ears.

“Are you taking me to the roof!?”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He looked around to see his surroundings ruled by wind and speed.

The lift’s motors roared along with the wind.

A square of sky was approaching overhead. The lift was already halfway to the roof.

It was moving fast. It was approaching the speed of an artillery shell launched skywards.

Aoe was nearly toppled to the floor by inertia, but he kept his footing.

Excel smiled a bit and spread his arms.

A red lotus emblem blossomed from his palms.

“Now, let us see

“If you are worthy of passing this point.”

<Pseudo Grandload: Running Pseudo Load Emblem: Lotus: Preparing for Use>

A window opened and text strings raced from the emblems on his palms to his back.

●Type-XX016 – Imperial-class – Lotus●

The lotus flowers on the emblems shined red and a triangle of diskette programs appeared behind him.

He raised his right hand.

The diagram behind him moved. The triangle rotated left as if loading a bullet.

All the wind racing through the sky was dyed by bluish-white light.

The wind swirling around him lost its pressure and a scattershot of 1inch projectiles appeared in front of him.

The wind shotgun drew a rightward curve toward Aoe.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The wind rushed in as a solid object.

As soon as Aoe felt the weight of the wind vanish, he moved right.

He kicked off the floor with his left foot. The scattershot hit there.

It was fast.

He attempted to dodge, but a few shots followed his leap.

The disturbance of the air from his leg movement drew the wind shots in.

“…!”

A finger-thick piece was gouged from his left shin.

The remaining shots crashed into the floor. 1-inch holes were torn into the steel floor.

Even with the attack to his left leg, Aoe landed on his right toes. He twisted around to face forward. He was about 5 yards from Excel.

Excel held out his right hand and the emblem behind him made a destructive sound and rotated.

The wind around him was converted into a straight-line blast like an optical weapon would produce.

The wind roared.

The line of wind pierced the surrounding air and left a trail of white as it flew.

It targeted Aoe’s solar plexus.

It was too close and too accurately aimed to dodge.

Especially when Aoe was still on one leg after landing.

Blood trickled from the wound on his left shin.

But he ignored that.

He pushed his left leg out and kicked it up as if to fling off the blood.

He sent it rapidly overhead.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

His kinetic vision tracked the wind and his body moved accordingly.

“…!”

Just as he kicked up his left leg, he leaped up with his right leg.

His left toes and his right calf muscles broke free of the ascending lift’s inertial force.

He let his rising left knee strike him in the chest and flipped backwards.

He performed a flipping roundhouse kick.

It of course found only empty air.

But the wind produced by his toes caught the incoming line of wind.

That high-speed wind attack pursued the wind produced by his rotating toes and diverted off course.

Aoe completed his flip, making it more compact than usual to account for the lift’s inertial force.

He landed with his hands on the floor and his legs back – a crouch start.

He heard the wind passing him by. He heard it crash against the wall behind him.

He gathered strength in his legs and gave a shout as he launched his body forward.

He took his first step.

The inertia of the lift’s ascent filled his head, shoulders, back, arms, and legs.

But he broke through that inertial weight on the second step.

“Ohhhh!”

The shout of his will helped free his body’s strength. He used that to sprint forward.

To run from a crouch, he pumped his arms and kicked off the floor to propel himself alternately left and right.

It was more like a series of rapid jumps than running and it moved him outside his opponent’s field of vision.

“Sh!”

He pushed a breath from his lips and kept moving. He moved to Excel’s right side, circled wide in toward the left, and then moved further left. He moved so fast, the pounding of his feet on the metal only caught up a moment later.

Excel fell back in response. So he could target Aoe after his sideways leap.

“Kh.”

Too slow.

Aoe instantly closed in, moving to Excel’s left.

Excel did not turn toward him.

Aoe readied his fist. His left fist with emblem fully active.

He swung his right leg in front of Excel. As soon as his toes stepped on the metal floor, he twisted his right heel inwards.

He was crouched and kind of sliding in, starting with his toes, and he placed his full weight behind his left fist.

He threw that fist forward from his hip, aiming for Excel’s flank.

Excel finally looked his way.

The blow landed at the same time.

Rather than the sound of struck flesh or breaking bone, it sounded like a simple impact.

The side of the butler’s vest dented in and his tall, skinny body rose from the floor.

But even as Excel shook from the blow, his mouth opened in a curve.

“Hah. Much too slow!”

His eyes opened wide and sweat instantly appeared on his brow.

“It is no longer possible to grant my wish!” he shouted, raising his arms.

“Fly so high no one can hear you scream.”

His hands moved as if grabbing the red lotus emblem and the triangular formation behind him rotated to the right.

While subject to the lift’s inertia, Aoe saw bluish-white light soar around Excel.

The light expanded in an instant, forming a grid across the lift and in the sky above.

As soon as the lift reached the top, Excel landed on trembling legs and shouted again.

“Gravity!”

As soon as the midair grid vanished, Aoe felt the extra weight leave him.

The lift had reached the top.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Excel’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Excel’s Over Reload>

The 20yd metal panel crashed loudly into the stopper on the roof.

The stopper’s structure could not suppress the lift’s abnormal acceleration.

The metal panel tore apart the stopper and loudly threw its components into the air.

The lift panel tilted a bit and then fell. Its corner made a heavy metallic groan as it caught on the edge of the pit.

The lift would not fall.

Only one person stood on the lift anymore: Excel who was looking into the sky.

Aoe was no longer on the lift.

He was in the sky directly above the lift, where Excel was watching.

Someone had been thrown into the false sky surrounded by the defense shield.

That was Aoe.

After confirming Aoe’s presence there, Excel held his punched side.

“I will not allow you to fall to your death!”

He created a black orb about 10 yards across in front of him. It was formed from gathered and compressed gravity.

While the gravity orb expanded by the second, Excel loosened his tie.

And he glared up at Aoe in the sky covered by the beams of light coming from Babel.

“We of the Quartet were originally meant to manage the amusement park under Master Suedomsa’s command. We were meant to entertain and comfort the terminally ill and children whose parents were busy with research.”

He inhaled and crossed his arms in front of him.

“Master Yuo fell into the latter category and I was so happy when she said she wanted to learn my programs. The girl who had only ever cried wished for my help when I had only ever dealt with programs before.”

A smile on his lips, he pulled the white gloves from his hands.

His fingers were starting to break apart.

Cracks formed across his body and his textures unraveled, but he still spread his arms to the sides. He threw away the gloves, which slowly fell to the floor in the gradually returning gravity.

He opened a transparent keyboard and typed rapidly at it.

He used his Celestial Program Activator.

He instantly typed out several text strings that formed celestial orbits. The texts rotated, intersected, and spun before disappearing. The gravity orb in front of him grew even faster in response.

But his body grew transparent at the same rate.

Maintaining his Load Emblem and activating so my programs was draining his heat energy stores.

But he did not stop himself.

“Aoe Shouzou. I have heard you taught Master Yuo to never give up. But…even if you did teach her that, you cannot defeat us!”

His fingers raced.

All of the text strings forming the celestial orbits vanished, bursting into particles of light.

The gathered gravity orb had taken its final form.

The black orb was now 20 yards in diameter.

But his eyes were on Aoe overhead, not on the gravity directly in front of him.

<Excel’s Over Zoom>

Aoe was about 200 yards up. He was still rising even as his speed dropped.

“You have no footing to throw a punch and no ground to jump from. You shall die in the void.”

Excel raised his arms, which had begun to flash.

The 20yd gravity orb crushed the wind as it was launched.

The dark power roared up toward Aoe.

“Myst. I am afraid we cannot thank Master Yuo after all.”

The tension left his face as he watched the compressed power and his target beyond it. His raised eyebrows lowered and his powerful smile became a gentle smile. He clenched his vanishing hands.

“She really is the same as she was back then. She remains the divine child, left in our care by her father.”

He opened a window while letting his words spill to the floor.

The clock window provided the current time.

The time until the Day of the Oracle had fallen below 100 seconds.

<Excel’s Over Zoom>

His eyes were on the clock, but the corner of his eye caught Aoe still attempting to resist.

<Excel’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Sky[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe slowly viewed his surroundings in the sky where the enchanter’s beams of light raged.

A mass of gravity had been launched toward him from the castle below.

He had less than a second to decide what to do about it, so he eliminated all hesitation and spent zero seconds on making the decision.

He needed a foothold. He couldn’t brace himself without that.

That wasn’t something found in the sky, but Aoe knew that it was in fact there.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

There it was. Overhead, just a few short yards away, was a piece of stone which had been thrown into the sky along with him.

The piece of tower wall cut away by Daikatana awaited him overhead like a floor.

He took action instantly.

He used the wind to twist around, placed his hand on the rising stone, and pulled himself toward it.

“Kh!”

He used the flying rock wall as the ground to stand upside-down.

And once he had that footing, he made a full power dive toward the ground overhead.

He began his attack.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Excel’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Excel’s Over Reload>

Excel saw Aoe raising both arms while diving rapidly down.

He held a data trigon in his hands.

Yuo had created it by sealing the explosion produced by the knight the Quartet had unleashed the day before. The blast was contained inside that trigon.

Aoe’s voice rang from the sky.

“Eat Yuo’s custom attack!”

The sky was engulfed in flames.

The explosion carried the momentum of Aoe throwing the trigon down, so it flew toward Excel.

The flames crashed into the top of the giant black orb Excel had launched from below.

The impact sounded like two stones colliding.

The two attacks bent, swelled, and whipped up the wind, but then something unusual happened.

A text string formed a long elliptical orbit around the flames.

That was a buffering program Yuo had included.

The light raced around the flames, transforming them.

The mass of fire had been radiating outwards and attempting to envelop the black orb, but it rapidly gained a sharper shape.

It became a spear.

Excel responded by activating his own text string to reinforce the gravity orb.

“I don’t believe it. I never imagined I would be competing with Master Yuo in this manner!”

He smiled.

His deteriorating fingers raced full speed across his keyboard to create new celestial orbits.

The orbits created by Yuo and the ones created by Excel rotated at the exact same speed.

The flames attempted to pierce the darkness as a spear.

The darkness attempted to expand and envelop the spear.

The speed of piercing and expansion were identical.

Both orbits were vanishing as the evolution of both attacks came to an end.

The smile on Excel’s face grew.

“Will they cancel each other out!? Are Master Yuo and I on the same level now?”

“No!” Aoe’s voice rang down from the sky. “This is a power she never told you about!”

<Excel’s Over Zoom>

The spear accelerated.

It flew straight along its intended path.

A new acceleration boosting program was cast on top of the spear program, creating a second layer of celestial orbits.

Excel’s eyes widened when he saw the flaming spear’s further burst of speed and the double layers of orbit.

“How can she possibly cast a spell as complicated as the Celestial Program Activator twice!? That means twice the number of text strings! She couldn’t possibly control them all!”

<Excel’s Over Zoom>

The answer was displayed before his eyes.

This program did not use text.

It used song.

A song provided the program around the explosion that was gathered and sharpened into a spear tip.

Yuo’s voice sang comfortably but loudly.

The distributed lines go to the multitude. The variable numbers bring us all together.

The power I produce goes to your pure arms and pure legs.

You carry no restrictions. This city has forgiven you. I have forgiven you.

I use the forgiveness of all as the signal for the running program.

The voice-input celestial program appeared on top of the one Yuo had typed in.

Excel’s typing could not keep up with the double-speed program.

The spear completed its transformation and reached the upper limit of its acceleration.

The attack instantly reached and burned away the gravity with its flames.

The gravity shattered with a burning sound and changed to the bluish-white shards of a grid.

The explosion’s momentum carried it straight down.

Excel stood in the flames’ path and his hands had stopped moving.

<Excel’s Over Zoom>

He stared at the color of the approaching fire.

The shards of his program orbited around the scorching attack that formed a giant spear.

He viewed that shattered light while his own body grew transparent, the glow of the flames passing right through him.

But he was smiling.

“Yes, I had forgotten. Master Yuo sang in order to assist that young man yesterday.”

He watched the scattering and vanishing program shards while listening to the song.

“She had already developed a program superior to my own.”

He slowly looked further up past the flame spear to look at Aoe.

Their eyes met.

Excel bowed even as his body flashed.

He placed a hand on his chest, lowered his head, pulled Yuo’s hearing program from his pocket, and tossed it to Aoe.

“You may pass.”

With those final words, Excel vanished and the spear pierced the lift, splitting the steel panel.

<Excel has been fully eliminated>

Suedomsa’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Suedomsa’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa saw two separate things underway inside the ceremony room.

The first was the Questron flower moving around Yuo in the back of the room.

The second was the countdown digital clock on the ceiling which had just dropped below 60.

Below it, the metal Questron flower was preparing to accept the great god’s true name.

The 16 large virtual connectors that acted as petals had thin lines of light running through the slits analogous to leaf veins.

The resonance buffer shielding on the bottom of the petals began to vibrate in readiness.

The only part not in motion was Yuo floating in the central glowing fruit.

She was waiting for everything else.

Suedomsa stood on the giant seven-layer diskette program locate at the entrance of the ceremony room.

Behind him stood Myst, Daikatana, and Algo with tiny Alternative on his shoulder. He faced forward with his head somewhat lowered.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

Yuo floated at the center of the distant flower.

His eyebrows drooped some and he sighed.

He raised his eyes from Yuo to the digital clock hanging from the ceiling.

And when the countdown reached 50…

“Time to begin.”

Shattering glass sounds came from both his arms.

The emblems that opened over the backs of his hands were a transparent azure. A cross symbol was drawn in them.

“I will redo this myself.

“To reclaim what I lost.”

After his Text raced out, the air gathered around the emblem on his right hand.

The emblem emitted a text string along with the wind and that string rapidly extended toward his elbow.

The string was also colored a transparent azure. The lengthy combination of text and lines said, ●Type-XX012 – God-class – Explorer●

The text glowed and three diskette emblems combined with the trailing ●. Those rapidly rotated and glowed.

The emblems groaned and light gathered around the symbols on his hands.

The wind audibly blew and he raised his arms in the trembling air.

A dove flew from his shoulder. It flew toward the ceiling, scattering white feathers as it went.

Suedomsa opened his mouth.

“–––––!”

He prepared to yell out loud, but something else happened before he could.

A transparent reddish-purple diskette program floated at the center of the exposed metal ceiling.

<Suedomsa’s Over Zoom>

Suedomsa froze. He heard the breaths of the people standing behind them. After a solid gulp, he heard Myst’s voice.

“A destruction boosting progr-

Her comment could have been interpreted as a statement or a question, but she never got a chance to finish it.

Her voice was drowned out by a noise.

The loud crash of impact came from the ceiling. It came from the center of the emblem floating there.

It was approaching.

Light raced across the ceiling. The reddish-purple emblem had burst to illuminate the ceiling.

Then the destruction revealed its form.

A 5yd-radius circle at the center of the ceremony room’s ceiling was split open.

“––––!?”

Metal shards, rubble, and sparks. Roars, crashes, and rumbles. And a shouting voice piercing through all the destruction.

“Ohhhh!”

Someone’s will roared as they dropped from above. It was a young man with black spear emblems on his arms.

Suedomsa spoke his name.

“Aoe Shouzou! You actually made it in time!?”

<Suedomsa’s Over Reload>

Aoe landed among the ceiling rubble 20 yards away and stared straight at Suedomsa.

Their gazes audibly clashed.

But Aoe immediately looked away and slowly moved.

He turned around almost lazily.

Toward Yuo.

He looked to the Questron while the countdown displayed above it reached 40.

He ran over, his footsteps sounding loud and powerful in the ceremony room.

At the same time, Suedomsa shook his head.

“Are you going to stop her, Aoe Shouzou?” he asked, using the same tone he used to speak to himself. “Do you think a Plus dropout can find an answer that eluded a Minus Elite like me!?”

Then Suedomsa raised his arms again. To run the program.

The countdown had reached 35.

Suedomsa ran the program while watching the young man running to Yuo. He ran the program to alter the settings to x1000 within the shield linking the castle with Babel.

<Suedomsa’s Sight Mode has updated>

Telyb’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Park[edit]

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

DT’s southern park was a grassy area on a large hill and most of it was contained within a defense shield created by Suedomsa. That had been made for evacuees after the shield linking the castle and Babel was in place.

Inside the shield, the clocktower at the park’s central square had two clocks on it. The dark metal tower had an analog clock that showed the ordinary time and a digital clock that counted down until the Day of the Oracle.

Telyb currently stood at the bottom of that clocktower with the Yard members and citizens who had evacuated here.

“We managed to escape safely, but now we can only watch the godtact experiment playing out in Suedomsa’s defense shield.”

Before looking at anything else, Telyb looked to Babel.

Babel continued to emit power and the park was located between the tower and a mountain to the west. Looking down, Telyb could see countless small colors gathered in the central square.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

The citizens and NPC Bodies who had evacuated DT’s city were at the center of the park.

The remaining Yard members were on the south end of the park. They were mainly from the machine force.

All of those Yard members were busy distributing food, water, blankets, and such to the evacuees. When any of them had a spare moment, they would contact the outside world.

Telyb was watching all of them when a window appeared high in the sky.

<1st Demigod Program: Portal: Run>

It happened suddenly.

Everyone who read that gasped and Telyb finally reacted.

He clenched his teeth and shouted.

“It’s finally happened! They’re accelerating the inside of the defense shield!”

At the same time, a grid of light ran along the surface of the large defense shield linking Babel and the castle. The grid surrounding everything from the top of the sky to the bottom of the earth and emitted a bright light.

The range of the effects was being established. After that synced, another window appeared overhead.

<Range Set: DT Boost Settings Change: x100→x1000: Apply>

Everyone understood what those numbers meant.

The inside of the defense shield linking Babel with the castle now had one thousand times the speed.

The current time was 2:59:30 PM.

The countdown until the Day of the Oracle had only 30 seconds left.

A short figure stood next to him. It was Fooblicky.

She looked up at the countdown on the clocktower’s digital clock.

After reading the numbers, she spoke quietly and emotionlessly.

“In another 2.6 seconds, it will be 3 o’clock. But,” she said. “The adjustment program means the human lifespans inside the shield are condensed ten times as much as out here. So when Suedomsa adjusted the settings with 30 seconds left, he will have had 300 seconds of life left.”

A sound rang out from Babel before she was done speaking.

It was a high-pitched thing.

An ear-splitting animal roar reminiscent of a scream.

Fooblicky, Telyb, the Yard members, and the evacuees all looked south.

Toward Babel.

The giant tower on the south side was shaking and roaring.

They all saw the giant word tower moving at ten times its usual speed. The internal components raged, light and noise burst into the air, and it began to operate under the effects of the 1000x boost.

It drew out its full abilities to extract the Great God Lives from the ley lines.

<Telyb’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe ran.

He was 10 yards away from the Questron’s core.

He was 9 yards away as he weaved between the ceiling rubble.

He was 7 yards away as he leaped over a large cable.

He was 6 yards away as two windows opened in front of him.

<1st Demigod Program: Portal: Run>

<Range Set: DT Boost Settings Change: x100→x1000: Apply>

He was 5 yards away as he muttered for himself to hurry and arrived at the base of the Questron.

He was 4 yards away as his footsteps rang loud and hard.

He heard a roar like a dog’s howl from behind.

He was 3 yards away as he looked back.

Some people were moving by the room’s entrance, past the giant diskette program. Daikatana and Algo with Alternative were moving his way. But someone else ran out ahead of them – Myst and the beast drawn out by her pen.

The blue wolf charged toward him once its drawing was complete.

“Kh.”

Aoe wasn’t sure if he should respond or not, but Monkey jumped down from his shoulder.

Monkey looked his way in the air before transforming into his standard form. He became a full-sized brown dog standing more than a yard tall.

Monkey ran faster than the wolf to intercept it.

Aoe heard barking and growling, but…

“Take care of that for me.”

He faced forward again and took another step, bringing him 2 yards away.

He viewed the glowing cylinder out ahead and saw 25 seconds remaining on the digital clock overhead. By then, he was 1 yard from the center of the Questron.

He sensed something at his feet and saw a ferret there.

“Yuo’s weasel.”

He tossed a program trigon to the ferret while he took the final step.

The trigon contained Yuo’s hearing.

Aoe smiled bitterly when he saw the ferret jump into the air to catch and swallow it.

“We got lucky.” He sighed as this distance dropped to 0 yards. “Now Yuo can hear my voice in Board Mode too.”

As long as she Over Reloaded, she could receive his name. Since she lacked her memories of him, that name would have no meaning to her, but she would still know he was here.

So he looked to Yuo within the cylindrical defense shield at the center of the Questron.

Her eyes were shut and she was naked while she floated motionlessly inside.

“Quit calling this a godtact experiment. You’re just using that fancy name to make it sound important, but it’s really just…”

“Some lewd ritual!”

An emblem appeared on his fist as he raised his voice.

“Yuo! If you’re in Board, then read these words and Over Reload!”

And…

“Whether you’re in Board or Sight, listen to this!”

He punched the defense shield.

It felt hard, like he had punched a stone wall, but the sound was much more promising. It sounded like he had punched glass.

He shouted a question over that sound.

“Can you hear my punch!? Yuo, where are you right now!?”

A change eventually came over her expression.

She wrinkled her brow a little like she was waking up. It was the minimal change characteristic of Board Mode.

But it was enough to tell Aoe that she was still alive.

He felt rather than thought that he didn’t want to lose her and a word spilled from his mouth.

The word carried immense relief because he knew it would reach her.

“Yuo.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Myst’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Myst’s Over Reload>

Myst was the first to react to Aoe’s action.

As soon as she saw him, she drew a wolf and installed a program that would have it pursue him.

She also tossed two trigons to Algo next to her. Those were the Questron control program Excel had given her and the Questron texture trigon she had created herself.

“Just in case!”

After seeing him catch them, she caught her dress’s hem with her left hand and prepared to run.

“Daikatana! Guard Master Suedomsa and Master Algo!”

With that, she took off running.

Her right arm held the giant virtual pen that was a part of her and her footsteps rang loud.

She ran forward.

She looked to Suedomsa atop the seven-layer diskette program as she ran past the giant circle.

“Excel must have let him through, but does that mean he is worthy of Master Yuo?”

She mouthed the question to herself as she erased Suedomsa from her vision to look forward.

Up ahead, the wolf she had drawn had begun battling a large brown dog.

She crouched low as she ran and readied the virtual pen in her right arm.

Her running breaths carried a whisper.

“We are the ultimate NPC Bodies created by Master Suedomsa. So here I must throw out my personal interests and…”

She wrinkled her brow, raised her head, and released her will like she was roaring and breaking free of something.

“Protect Master Yuo’s resignation!”

That Text produced a shattering sound and placed an emblem at the tip of her swung pen.

The pen tip launched a beam of light directed toward Aoe’s back at the center of the Questron.

She came to a stop as soon as the pen tip drew out the line of light. She released her left arm from her dress. She ignored how the white fabric fluttered around her legs as she slapped the program control panel at her hip.

The drawn light gained attack power as it flew straight toward Aoe’s back.

“Take this!” she shouted, but then she saw a wall.

A panel of light suddenly appeared between her and Aoe.

“Wha-?”

Before she could get her question out, her light attack crashed into the yard-tall wall of light.

They both loudly shattered.

She also felt a chilly wind behind her.

She quickly looked back to see a wall of light had appeared there too.

It was a defense shield.

The wall cut her off from everything behind her. It also separated Suedomsa and the others from the Questron.

She gasped and faced forward again.

A woman sat on the bundle of cables below the hole in the ceiling at the center of the room. The gray-haired old woman wore a reddish-purple dress.

Myst shouted her name.

“Akalabeth!”

<Myst’s Sight Mode has updated>

Akalabeth’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Akalabeth’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth calmly looked across the ceremony room.

Behind her, Aoe stood in front of Yuo.

He looked over his shoulder at her. He held his right fist at his hip while staring directly at her. Almost like he was waiting for permission to attack.

She narrowed her eyes slightly before looking away from him.

Her partially-shut eyes fell on the result of the dog and wolf battle held nearby.

The large brown dog was ripping out the wolf’s throat.

When she saw the wolf vanish and the dog growl ferociously, she shut her eyes and nodded.

“Suedomsa.”

Another voice cut off that name.

Myst’s. She drowned out Akalabeth’s voice with her own.

“A mere queen dares stand in the way of the great god’s summoning…and an artist’s attack!?”

Hearing the loud, rage-filled question, Akalabeth opened her eyes and looked up. She kept a small smile on her lips, which produced more from Myst.

“What’s so funny!?”

“Silence.” Akalabeth placed her hands on her sides and bent her body. “Someone who calls herself an artist thinks she look down on ‘a mere queen’?”

“What!?”

“You were created as an artist. I have my own actions to thank for the position I hold. Just like Suedomsa has his own actions to thank for being where he is.”

She wasn’t even looking at Myst anymore.

She raised her head and stared straight at Suedomsa.

<Akalabeth’s Sight Mode has ended>

Akalabeth’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Akalabeth’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa stands further back than Myst.

He is Grandloading.

Akalabeth: “Here I am, Suedomsa. This time, I am the one here to take her away.”

Suedomsa: “I do like the look on your face, Akalabeth. Are you here to rescue Yuo?”

Akalabeth: “No, I am not. I am here to ensure the Plus can defeat the Minus resignation.”

Akalabeth: “Yes, a Plus dropout will reach out his hand and a Minus dropout will take that hand.”

Suedomsa: “What? That isn’t-”

Akalabeth: <It is very possible.>

<Akalabeth’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa is wrinkling his brow. It is a look of confusion.

Akalabeth: “I like the look on your face, Suedomsa. You seem to think destiny will obediently do as you say. But listen. There is one thing we have forgotten all this time. Why do the concepts of Plus and Minus exist?”

Akalabeth: “I will now teach you – no, remind you of the answer.”

Suedomsa: “What are you talking about? The Minus is the opposite of the Plus. We exist to consume each other, don’t we? We Demigods were all persecuted in the Plus world. What else is there to remember?”

Suedomsa: “Besides, what can that Plus man possibly do to end Minus Yuo’s resignation? Only the Minus can understand the Minus. Isn’t that right? To us, his call is nothing more than a reminder of the loathsome Plus reality. He thinks truth can only be found in the outside world.”

<Akalabeth’s Over Reload>

A window opens in front of you.

<Preparing to extract Great God Lives from Babel. Preparations will be complete in 25 seconds>

Suedomsa: “Akalabeth. Whoever is right, you only have 25 seconds left. What are you going to do?”

Akalabeth: “That is fine with me. You too can only wait and see how it plays out.”

Akalabeth: “I will protect this place. Suedomsa, and his subordinates too. If you attempt to interfere, you must first get past the Queen of the Minus. Let us wait…and watch.”

Akalabeth: “So show us the answer, Aoe Shouzou. Was Yuo’s prophecy 2000 years ago a statement of resignation or of persistence? Whose will was it born from?”

Akalabeth: <Shatter the wall before you and rescue Yuo!>

Akalabeth: “Take the first step toward the strongest. Experience what it is like for the Plus and the Minus to surpass and eliminate each other’s anxieties. Just like we once did.”

Akalabeth: “Yes, remind us Minus Elites that we once attempted to summon a great god to eliminate our hatred of the Plus world, Aoe Shouzou. Remind us that we too could believe in the ground we stood on because we were with our opposite!”

<Akalabeth’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe didn’t even need to respond to Akalabeth. He looked to Yuo inside the defense shield.

Her eyes were shut and she still looked confused, so he spoke to her.

“You probably don’t know who I am anymore.”

She could define his name if she Over Reloaded, but that wouldn’t tell her who they were to each other.

Their past together was now absent from her memory.

He reflected on that fact and sighed.

“But right here…I’m going to give this my all. I’m not very smart, so that’s the best I can put it. So if you want to find out the whys and the hows, you’re going to have to switch to Sight.”

He clenched his right fist.

“I’m going to use my fists to ask something in real time. And you…”

He pulled back and raised the fist.

“You do whatever you want!”

With that Text, he slammed his Emblem-bearing fist into the shield wall.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Chapter 14: Course Select VR[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Shout! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

It’s happening! Suedomsa applied a x1000 boost inside the shield just before 3!

For those of us outside the shield, there’s only 2 seconds left.

Which means anything I write will be too late! You’ll have to make do with what I wrote up ahead of time!

Here you go: So there’s this thing called a Questron in the castle basement that’s used for a godtact experiment.

The Great God Lives extracted from Babel should be overwriting Yuo as their vessel right about now.

Listen up.

2000 years ago, we Demigods chose Yuo as the vessel for the 2nd Godtact Experiment, but that ended in failure. Just as the Great God Lives began to overwrite her, Suedomsa came running and shot her to death.

He did it because he was her father.

And now a young man is rushing to Yuo just like Suedomsa did back then.

According to his arrival data, his emblem is called Blackbelt and it’s depicted by a spear.

So our topic this time can be “spears”.

Will he succeed where Suedomsa failed and arrive before Yuo becomes the great god?

Anyway, I wish him luck.

But when they came to the Son of God and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

(John 19:33-34)

07/07/2000 DT 02:59 PM x1k (-00:01)

Help Text[edit]

Due to the boost setting change for a portion of DT, the DT OS has put certain restrictions in place.

Please wait until the system stabilizes.

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Time passed and the countdown overhead reached 20.

Aoe swung his fist.

He had to shatter the wall and rescue Yuo just like Akalabeth wanted.

If he failed to shatter the wall, it was all over.

If that happened, it would mean he did not believe in his power.

And if Yuo refused to leave, it was also all over.

If that happened, it would mean he had failed to understand her anxiety and fear.

He needed power and a knowledge of her.

Once he had both, he would finally reach the starting line for the strongest power.

He suppressed the impatience telling him to hurry as he threw his left fist and used that to throw his right fist.

Impact.

He saw the defense shield cry out, endure, and glow.

He could see Yuo past that glow. He wasn’t looking at anything else anymore.

“Yuo.”

He punched the wall separating her from him. To shatter it, to destroy it, to break it open.

He had once eliminated her anxiety and fear.

With that thought, he swung his fist.

The impact rang loud.

Light scattered and sound burst.

Yuo was wrinkling her brow on the other side of the wall. Worriedly. She held her breath with the anxious look of someone wondering what was going to happen.

She could hear the impacts. He could tell that. But she was still in Board Mode. Her expressions were enough to tell. The worried look on her face before had been far too perfect.

So he threw another punch. To tell her an Over Reload couldn’t properly appreciate the sound it made.

His flying fists produced noises from the right and the left.

He rapidly spun side to side, his shoulders shaking and his feet braced. His breath escaped amid the noisy barrage.

“Ha!”

The remaining time was down to 19 seconds.

Just then, he saw a window open above Yuo’s head.

<Why?>

He answered her question with three simple words.

“I don’t know.”

He threw his left fist as soon as the right one landed.

He opened his mouth and sucked in a breath. Sweat dripped down his cheek and then flew into the air from his vigorous movement.

He ignored that as he launched his right fist again. And his left too. He wasn’t stopping.

He put his hips behind the actions and made sure to extend his knees too. The bottoms of his feet slid back and forth from the full power strikes.

The amount of scattering sweat grew and the remaining time dropped to 18 seconds.

He saw Yuo open her mouth just a bit.

<Mr…Aoe?>

Seeing that impersonal way of addressing him made him shout back on reflex.

“Shut up!”

He saw her shoulders shake and he slammed his right fist into the wall.

“If I could explain it in words, I would have done so already!”

He slammed his left fist into it too.

17 seconds.

“Damn!”

He threw his left. The impact traveled back up his arm and rattled his neck.

But the wall would not break.

He looked at his fists. Those fists could not break down this wall. He understood that, grimaced, and he threw another punch.

An unpleasant sound came from his left fist when it landed.

16 seconds.

He groaned and frowned a bit. But he kept his eyes dead ahead with all emotion gone from his face.

Because he had seen the change to Yuo’s expression when his fist produced a breaking sound.

Her brow unwrinkled and her eyes widened in slight surprise.

Her eyes were unfocused because she had yet to regain her sight.

But those unfocused eyes were still looking at him.

Her lips trembled as she moved them and spoke through her window.

She lowered her head.

She forcefully shook her lowered head.

Those words briefly stopped his fists. He pulled back his broken fist and sucked in a deep breath.

15 seconds.

She repeated herself as he stopped moving.

He started to lower his gaze when he saw the window.

With that thought, he stopped his moving gaze. He saw Yuo’s expression below the floating window.

Tears were spilling from the weakly closed eyes on her hanging head.

The tears floated in midair thanks to the shield’s inertial control.

But that wasn’t all. He also saw strength in her gaze.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

14 seconds remaining.

He realized her expression had changed after the unusual sound from his left fist.

She would tremble and her expression would change whenever he breathed or made any kind of sound at all.

Board Mode couldn’t do that.

Over Reloading couldn’t provide those real-time changes.

He nearly smiled as he moved his lips to confirm it.

“Did you switch to Sight Mode?”

He realized she had taken an interest in him.

“If so…”

13 seconds.

Yuo’s window opened.

He did not respond. He threw his right fist like that was all the answer she needed.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

12 seconds remaining.

Aoe held his breath and thought while throwing his fists. And he vocalized his thoughts.

“Damn.”

He pulled back his right fist.

“The killing power?”

He threw the fist forward.

“The power of a Plus dropout?”

He felt the impact and readied his left fist.

11 seconds remaining.

“I was so arrogant for someone whose fists can’t even break this puny wall.”

It would not break.

The defense shield was powered by the energy that Babel extracted from the ley lines. That meant it had near unlimited power and with no upper limit.

But Aoe faced the shield and tensed his eyebrows.

“Can my fist…”

He slammed his fist against it. With great speed and no hesitation.

“…break a divine barrier!?”

He punched, increasing his speed and making the movements more compact.

Each punch carried the force he normally reserved for a finishing blow.

10 seconds.

The shield shined and shook before his eyes. The barrage was turning the entire thing into a glow panel. But the light was greatly distorted where he was concentrating the blows.

He stared at that distortion and through the wall.

Yuo was there.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He noticed her hands were moving.

She had lost her sense of touch, so this had to be an automatic action born of instinct. She wasn’t trying to move – her conditional reflexes were kicking in.

9 seconds remaining.

Her wandering arms were now held up by her right shoulder.

Her fingers moved as if trying to tangle something around them.

Her hair was down at the moment, so there was no ponytail there.

But Aoe knew what the action meant.

She always did that when she was worried.

8 seconds remaining.

She was in Sight Mode without her sense of vision, so she could not see his window.

So she did not answer his question.

Her face shook with worry. The set of her eyebrows, eyes, and mouth said she didn’t know what to do. He had seen this expression on her long ago, when he had first met her.

He realized that had been their starting line.

At the time, he had told her to come with him and she had done so.

He gasped and looked up as he realized he knew the source of her anxiety. It was something all Minus people had.

7 seconds remaining.

She was clearly worried right now.

When he had first met her, she had not given up, but she had been anxious.

So she had answered his call and eliminated her anxiety within the Plus world.

Her anxious behavior told Aoe this Yuo was the same.

It was the Plus world’s job to eliminate Minus anxieties.

Aoe scattered sweat as he slowly opened his mouth and formed a question there.

“Hey, Yuo? Are you afraid of the Plus world outside the city?”

She jumped in response.

6 seconds remaining.

He immediately pulled back his left fist and asked something else.

He chose his words carefully because this was what mattered most.

“Has anyone ever asked you to join them in the Plus world?”

She trembled and lifted her head slightly.

Her fingers squirmed by her right shoulder as she gave an answer.

<…>

The window was blank.

But she did shake her head.

Without her sense of touch, the movement was exaggerated and her body shook within the floaty lack of inertia.

But Aoe smiled slightly when he saw her no.

“Ha!”

But the smile didn’t stop there

5 seconds remaining.

The joyful twisting of his cheeks grew greater and greater.

It grew to a full, toothy smile.

“Is that so?”

He clenched his left fist. Blood dripped from the back of his hand, wetting his middle and index fingers.

But he managed to form a fist.

“Then I know the answer.”

“Yuo.”

He slammed his right fist in at the same time.

The impact rang loud.

“You can make this choice!”

“I don’t care if you’ve forgotten doing it before.”

“You just have to do it again! And if it will let you choose…”

“I will say the same thing again.”

“To make sure the resignation won’t beat you!”

4 seconds remaining.

He spat out a breath and sent his left fist in. And he raised his voice.

“Come to me! Come to the sound of my Plus fists!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

“You can find your rightful place as a Minus person here!”

His voice rose to a roar and Yuo raised her tearful face.

She opened her voiceless mouth.

<B-but! What is a Minus person supposed to do after leaving here!?>

She shouted her will on the window.

He knew the answer, so he raised his right fist and shouted it.

“What can you do!? That one’s easy!”

He released his will along with his clenched right fist.

“You sing the song of the forward march!”

<…!?>

3 seconds.

Aoe’s Text made Yuo tremble and he found the result of his punching.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

At just one point on the wall, the light distortions created by his punching intersected. That distortion should not have existed if the defense shield were constructed properly.

He wondered what that meant and Akalabeth explained from behind him.

“That is the sign of our hypocrisy. It gave her the chance to choose to leave even if we used her as the vessel.”

Aoe smiled at that. And clenched his right fist.

“Come to me!”

He called to Yuo with his Download Text.

He looked to Yuo’s face as he swung his right fist with all his might.

“Maybe you fear the outside world. Maybe it makes you anxious.”

When she heard that, she frowned and the hands by her right shoulder stopped moving.

She shook her head just a bit.

But her unfocused eyes were looking right at him.

2 seconds remaining.

Her eyebrows drooped and she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something.

Her shoulders rose and fell, her mouth opened, and she failed to speak several times.

She wanted to say something, but she was also waiting for him to say something.

Seeing that, he spoke to her.

He produced a Text using the words he had once spoken to her.

“I…”

Her trembling stopped when she heard it.

“I will put all your worries to rest for the rest of your life!”

His fist and its spear emblem crashed audibly into the wall.

“Yuo!”

The voice of his will struck the hypocrisy point and Yuo nodded with her tearful face distorted by the barrier.

<––––!>

It was more of a reflex than part of her will.

With only 1 second remaining, her hands left the position that indicated anxiety.

She only had the sounds to go on, but she moved her hands.

There was only one thing she sought now: his fist.

As soon as her slender hands touched the inside of the wall, the clock reached 0.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

All DT Residents’ Board Mode: Everywhere[edit]

<DT’s Foundational OS has forced an Over Reload for all DT residents>

In south DT, the people watching the castle from the park realize everything has come to a conclusion in a mere two seconds.

A window opens in front of them all.

<Warning: The Great God Lives overwrite installation target is missing>

<Warning: Shutting off all circuits to prevent a Live Hazard>

<Warning: The initially extracted Great God Lives remaining in the Questron have grown unstable>

<Warning: The Questron’s interior is unstable: 76% probability the Questron will collapse>

<Warning: Everyone within the Questron facility must evacuate immediately>

Then light races across the sky. The bundle of light curving from the top of Babel to the castle now race straight up into the sky.

Cracking lightning sounds race every which way through the sky.

But everyone hears a loud sound other than the lightning scorching the air.

It is a terribly impatient chiming.

Every single clock inside the x1000 boosted castle and amusement park was going on.

The arrival of the Day of the Oracle at 3 o’clock is greeted with fanfares and music.

<The general Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s attack shattered the glowing wall.

The light shattered, several windows immediately opened, and nothing more remained between him and Yuo.

Within the blizzard of shattered light, Yuo’s missing sense of touch kept her from standing on her own.

The light shards still had physical form, so they lacerated her in a few places, producing blood.

But she still managed to take one step through the light before collapsing.

Aoe silently caught her in his arms.

An alarm rang especially loud in the ceremony room.

A moment later, the metal spear emblem vanished from both his arms.

The spear symbol drawn in a see-through black rapidly grew and glowed, but it vanished a moment after that.

Yuo opened her mouth and her unfocused eyes in his arms.

<Ah!>

Tears began to spill from her eyes.

<Ahh!>

The tears soaked into the cuts from the shield, drawing red lines down her cheeks.

The only words she spoke were the weeping of her will. Her trembling came from an emotion unconnected to the sense of touch.

He held her around the hip and let her head rest against his chest.

“It’s okay.”

He nodded and repeated himself.

“It’s okay.”

She nodded in his arms.

Still crying, she rubbed her forehead against his chest and nodded. Tears fell, her long ears were squashed and bent, and her head was shaking.

<I’m sorry.>

She sucked in a rough breath.

“Which is why you gave in for a time!” he shouted. “But not even you yourself can force you to give up anymore!”

His voice was joined by a sound from the surface portion of the castle.

A great chorus drowned out even the alarm.

Outside the x1000 boosted defense shield, joyful music indicated the arrival of the Day of the Oracle.

He held Yuo in his arms and turned around.

Suedomsa stood atop the diskette program beyond the defense shield Akalabeth had erected.

Aoe stared straight at gray-haired Suedomsa.

“Now the past has come to an end! Yuo does not fear the Plus and will not give up!”

Then he looked to Algo standing behind Suedomsa.

He held Yuo in his left arm and raised his right hand.

His extended index finger pointed at Algo.

He opened his mouth and spoke.

“No longer will I doubt my power! Because I have reclaimed it and reached my goal!”

Algo’s face twisted into a slight smile.

And he spoke.

“Then what will you do now?”

“Defeat you!” roared Aoe, stepping forward and scattering the sweat from his brow. “Listen. It’s time to take another look at your so-called strongest power, my weakness, and my resignation! And I will make you accept your defeat! I swear it!!”

Algo nodded.

And he looked away, turning ever so slightly to view Suedomsa atop the diskette emblem.

“Master Suedomsa.”

“Yes, I heard.” Suedomsa shut his eyes. “You are about to be very busy, Algo.”

That reminded Aoe of something. Suedomsa was scheduled to succumb to his Word’s Warn at 3 PM. He gasped and looked up, hearing Suedomsa’s voice.

“Akalabeth. Is this your answer? Cooperation between the Plus and the Minus?”

His question was addressed to Akalabeth, but Aoe could tell the man’s voice and gaze were directed at him.

“So you say the Plus and the Minus can do more than destroy each other? Just like the Minus Elites tried to save the outside world or like my Plus brother tried to teach Algo the strongest power?”

“Yes, anyone who belongs squarely on one side will seek out someone on the other side.”

Aoe saw a slight smile on Suedomsa’s lips as he looked his way.

“But the answer for you is that Yuo had not given up. The great god has left it to us to make our own decisions. What more do you need?”

Akalabeth had grown pale as she looked to Suedomsa and then smiled toward Aoe.

She met Aoe’s eyes and nodded.

“You must ask. You now possess the strongest Plus power and have Minus Yuo with you, so you must ask how you can understand and surpass the Minus anxieties and fears.”

Aoe nodded back with Yuo in his arms, but then he heard someone else.

It was Suedomsa.

“I see. Akalabeth, so you too think their battle has only just begun?” He lowered his head a little and raised his right hand. “The past has recalled its truth and reached a conclusion, so now a new, modern battle is beginning!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Suedomsa held two program trigons in his right hand.

He swung that hand backwards, throwing the trigons.

The yellow tetrahedrons flew toward the man standing behind him.

That was Algo.

Algo easily caught the two flung trigons despite the shaking of the floor.

“Take these. These are the programs you need for the next – the modern – godtact experiment.”

After that, a tremor ran through Suedomsa’s body.

He was coughing.

A deep rumble came from the ceiling and the floor shook violently.

“…!”

The ear-splitting noise made Aoe frown.

He saw the hole in the ceiling he had used being blocked up.

The thick steel panel covering it was the lift that should have been up on the roof.

Their escape route was gone.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa has fallen to his knees and looks your way.

He wipes the blood from his mouth with a hand.

Suedomsa: “Myst.”

Myst: “Yes, master. Ask me anything.”

Suedomsa: “Then, Myst – no, Quartet. I want you all to do everything you can to stop them here.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Myst gulps and lowers her head.

Suedomsa looks your way.

Suedomsa: “I apologize, but I am a Minus Elite through and through. I may have failed to activate the great god here, but I remain a Minus person. Your fight has inherited what we began.”

Aoe: “Mh.”

Suedomsa: “…”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa shuts his eyes.

Yuo raises her head.

Suedomsa: <Yuo.>

Yuo: <What is it, dad?>

Suedomsa: “After the Son of God died on the cross, the king ordered a soldier to see if he was dead. The soldier used a metal spear.”

Yuo: “And when the spear pierced his side, blood and water spilled out.”

Suedomsa: <The soldier learned that the Son of God still lived.>

Suedomsa: “Is the blood flowing from the beating of your heart and the water from your shed tears, Yuo?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa stands up.

Suedomsa: “Then this is how it was meant to continue.”

Suedomsa: “Can you hear me, Elites of both sides!?”

Suedomsa: <As the traitorous apostle, I will betray you all once more in the end.>

Suedomsa: “I will not meet the pitiful death you all expect of me.”

Suedomsa: “Because every part of me is gathered here.”

Suedomsa: “Alternative, Yuo. I want you to continue on from here!”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Suedomsa’s body is burning away.

The Mouse on his shoulder burns away with him.

Archon Suedomsa Txt’s death has been confirmed.

Archon Suedomsa Txt cannot be formatted as he died from Words Warn.

Yuo: <Dad!!>

Yuo: <Dad…>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The shaking of the floor causes the white ash to float up and spread out across the diskette program.

Algo, Alternative, and Daikatana leave through the bulkheads.

Akalabeth falls to her knees.

Akalabeth: “Hee hee. You really do know how to surprise me.”

Aoe: “Mh? Hey.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth tilts to the right.

<Warning: Akalabeth is falling. Please support her immediately>

Aoe: “Hey!”

Akalabeth: “This is fine. I have finally seen the answer to a 2000-year-old question.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth collapses onto the carpet.

Akalabeth: “This is the answer.”

Akalabeth: “It may not be the best answer, but it is the only true answer.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Upon switching modes, Aoe was linked with his sight.

He saw someone in a reddish-purple dress collapsed on her side.

The color red had spread out on the metal floor around Akalabeth.

That was blood.

Aoe gulped hard and the defense shield erected by Akalabeth vanished.

At the same time, he heard a voice.

“Master Algo has left now. What do you plan to do about it?”

The voice was high-pitched but firm.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

An artist in a white dress stood at the center of the ceremony room.

That was Myst.

She held a giant virtual pen in both arms.

It formed a horizontal line in front of her.

“I’m sure you plan to begin this new fight, but just as I was commanded, I will keep you here. Even if that Minus task is something given to me, I will do it…”

She inhaled and released her Text.

“As DT’s greatest artist.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Chapter 15: Outride A Crisis[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Rejoice! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

I live!! But the shield around the castle and Babel is still there.

Babel is still extracting the Great God Lives and the people fighting haven’t left yet.

That means the battle is ongoing in some form.

So what do you think? This is a false city remade to erase the greatest mistake made by us 13 Demigods.

Yet we still want to govern and preserve DT.

It might be false, but is it really? Anyway, the phrase this time can be “waiting for an answer”. Think on that for a while.

Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

(Matthew 27:59-61)

Hm, I see you’re blabbing away on here. -Fooblicky Telyb

Hey, hey, hey. I’m stopping in to say hi in between jobs.

Racter, you’re giving away too much information. Not that I can really blame you. Anyway, I’m going to give what information I can.

07/07/2000 DT 03:03 PM x1k (+00:03)

Help Text[edit]

DT’s Boost Control

DT’s internal speed is boosted to 100 times the speed of the outside world.

But that x100 speed is the result of controlling the boost for human purposes since DT’s natural speed is a lot faster, which creates energy consumption and safety issues.

Even the current DT OS can alter the boost setting of a portion of DT up to x1000.

The boost control is generally handled by the generators in DT’s intermediary layer and the DT OS itself.

The intermediary layer is a uniform space, so the generators are positioned at virtual positions that allow them to surround DT’s X, Y, and Z axes from all directions. They intercept the high speed virtual waves constantly produced by DT, apply a controlled boost, and return that to the DT OS.

When the DT OS receives that, it activates a Mini Boost Adjustment Program written across all of the space forming DT.

By taking control of the entire space, the speed of all things can be controlled.

Also, the PC Bodies within DT have their metabolism and other biological data fed back to the DT OS where they are adjusted and have subprograms applied to ensure their growth within DT matches the outside world.

This technology gives the people within DT a lifespan 100 times longer than normal, although that extra time is technically an artificial experience since that much time does not pass in the outside world. This is why DT became a destination for terminal patients, prisoners with long sentences, and various types of research and development.

In the current year of 2000, the adjustment program can handle a boost up to x1200, but all plans to increase the boost have been abandoned.

This is partially because safety is only guaranteed with a boost up to x1000 and because an increased boost would exacerbate the disconnect between DT and the outside world.

Research is underway to find a way for the setting to be changed on an individual level, so by accumulating heat energy through eating or paying money, an individual or a limited space can take the heat energy usually used for the boost setting and use it to activate their own programs instead.

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The first thing Myst drew while facing Aoe was a single cloth.

The light green cloth was quite large. She tapped the program control panel at her hip to give the cloth a hitbox. The drawn cloth began gracefully interacting with the air around it and it flew above Yuo.

Aoe stood next to Yuo, so he caught the flying cloth in his right hand and draped it around her.

He then moved Yuo to a sitting position, leaning her against one of the Questron’s leaves. He had her crouch with her back in a corner so she wouldn’t fall over.

Her weakly opened mouth tried to form words but only released a breath.

<Wait. Please wait.>

She realized he was about to move away from her. The quick reaction meant she was in Sight Mode.

<Change attack authorization setting? Y/N>

That was Aoe’s criminal management setting which had been customized nearly beyond recognition. He wasn’t even sure where his name was written on the thing, but the attack authorization setting was displayed at the very top.

He needed that, but for Yuo, it would mean telling him to defeat someone she knew well.

Without her sight, she could not read the contents of the Mouse’s window, so he explained it for her.

“That is a settings window for removing my attack restrictions. If you raise your hand and press Y, I will be able to punch that Myst woman.”

That put a look of surprise on her face.

But after a bit, she raised her hand, unsteadily due to her lack of touch.

She spoke in her window and prepared to make her choice with trembling fingers.

<Ah.>

Tears spilled from her eyes. Her hand started to lower from the window.

But something stopped her: a voice.

Myst’s tearful cry rang sharply across the room.

“Master Yuo! How could you choose him!? He killed Excel. Excel, who looked after you and taught you your program activation technique!”

Aoe spun around.

“How dare you! You would confuse her further after all this!?”

But he was somewhat shaken when his gaze reached Myst.

In the center of the ceremony room, Myst’s face had clearly paled while she held her virtual pen with the emblem floating near its tip. Her face was twisted in anger at the words she herself had spoken.

She looked him in the eye before shutting her eyes, biting her lip, and shaking her head.

Aoe realized what this meant.

Myst soon raised her head and spoke with a tone that differed from her facial expression.

Her tone was accusatory, but her face belied that tone.

“And now he intends to kill me! Me, the artist who dried your tears in the amusement park 4000 years ago! How can you let him do something so unconscionable, Master Yuo!?”

Myst swung her virtual pen.

Several windows opened in the wavering air above her and to her sides. But not just 10 or 20. There were hundreds if not thousands of windows.

Countless winds blew out to prove the presence of those windows.

“You can hear this, can’t you, Master Yuo? This is everything we shared since our meeting 4000 years ago.”

Images appeared on the windows.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

They all depicted Yuo smiling.

Myst’s expression broke down in front of thousands of smiles.

Her eyebrows drooped and her cheeks tensed, but her voice remained firm.

“You once abandoned us in your resignation, but now that you are abandoning that resignation, you still won’t join us!? You’re going to throw us out again so you can be with that man instead!? How is that fair!?”

That one made Yuo’s lowered hand flinch back. She began to pull the fingers back toward her right shoulder.

<Myst.>

But with some silent words, she kept her hand where it was.

A tear spilled down her cheek as her window added a “but”. But just the one.

Aoe saw the voice of her soul.

At the same time, he heard the powerful cry of a wild animal from nearby.

That was Monkey. The large Shiba Inu stood up despite the blood soaking parts across his body. He moved between Aoe and Yuo with a ferret on his head.

The dog barked loud again and Yuo responded with a faint smile.

She raised her hand and reached for the window.

The ferret cried quietly and waved his front paw. The window moved to meet her extended hand.

Aoe smiled bitterly when he saw the result of her choice: her finger had pressed the Y button.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe turned back toward Myst.

She stood in front of the many past smiles. She hung her head a bit with tears in her eyes.

Her face remained pale, but her expression was no longer twisted.

She looked like she had gotten over something.

Aoe spoke to her through his window.

Myst opened her mouth a crack and mouthed a response so only Aoe could see.

“You fool. Only ignorant commoners and extreme hypocrites assume all actions have pure intentions.”

She twisted her lips into a small smile, raised her eyebrows, and held her head high with tears still in her eyes.

“Is that so?” replied Aoe, spreading his arms. “Then answer me this: will you let us through like Yuo asked? The Yuo you believed in has already abandoned resignation. Algo may have a reason to keep fighting, but you don’t.”

Myst pushed her chest out and raised her head. She still did not wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Ha! I already discussed this with Excel! The Quartet has only one administrator! Even if it means Master Yuo turn on us, we cannot disobey Master Suedomsa.”

She stabbed her virtual pen into the floor and spoke with a tense look on her face.

“The settings you ask us to apply are not a part of the Quartet’s basic concept!”

“Excel has confirmed for us you can be the strongest for Master Yuo. But if you and Master Algo intend to begin a new fight here, we will obey Master Algo who is following in Master Suedomsa’s footsteps!”

“Ha! That’s some loyalty!”

“Loyalty? That is too crass a word to describe this, fool.” She suddenly smiled. “Listen carefully. The purpose of our coming battle is to stop you, but is also to test you. We do not have much time left before we die, so we must test you to see if we can leave Master Yuo in your care.”

“So if you defeat me, it’s for Algo, but if you can’t, it’s for Yuo?”

“Yes. I knew this was coming as soon as I learned Excel had let you pass. Did he learn that Master Yuo was an even greater programmer than him?”

“Mh.”

Myst shut her eyes at Aoe’s grunted affirmation.

“Then if you wish to continue past us, we will each thank Master Yuo in our own way.”

That thought window was Yuo’s.

Myst opened her eyes, read the window, and opened her mouth.

“Yes. Back before you gave up, you stayed with us and supported us. As fellow Minus people.

“But,” continued Myst. “We wanted to thank you for the time you spent with us by ensuring you would be fine without us. Unfortunately, we cannot seriously test you to see if you have surpassed us.”

“Is that why you chose to become her enemy like Suedomsa told you to?” Aoe looked Myst in the eye and nodded. “You wanted to use me, a Plus person, to eliminate the anxiety and fear she would feel when you disappeared?”

“Yes. If she has set aside her resignation, then we too must return to who we were so long ago. This is a thanks we can only provide as enemies. I believe this was a final kindness Master Suedomsa did for us.” Myst lowered her head a bit. “He told us to do everything we can to stop you here. He doesn’t normally speak so inefficiently.”

She smiled and slowly raised her virtual pen overhead in both hands.

“Master Yuo, I will now thank you for spending time with someone as insolent as me…and for always viewing my drawings and supporting me!”

Her expression grew tense once more.

“The strongest artist strives to perfect herself and continues creating art as an offering to someone.

“If you were to compare her to a flower, she would be the ambitious chrysanthemum blossoming toward the sky!”

<Pseudo Grandload: Running Pseudo Load Emblem: Premier: Preparing to Activate>

A shattering stone sound came from the pen and the arms holding it.

Dozens of transparent windows opened around her.

Text strings extended from her arms and the emblem at the pen tip.

●Type-XX076: Imperial-class: Premier●

A large diskette program appeared halfway down the pen and began to rotate.

With another shattering stone sound, she shifted the virtual pen to only her right hand.

“Behold!”

<Myst: Gabriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to Avi Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Accelerated Drawing>

Yuo’s smile vanished from all of the windows behind Myst.

The next thing Aoe saw was light.

One of the windows behind her shined bright and then the data was transferred to all the windows.

The thousands of windows shined a bright white as they worked together.

<Myst: Gabriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to Jpg Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Accelerated Drawing>

A dual lens floated in front of the thousands of windows.

<Myst: Gabriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to Gif Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Accelerated Drawing>

Each time she drew something, a mobility program window was applied to it and a moving turret appeared below all the lenses. The thousands of lenses moved back and forth and focused in on Aoe and Yuo.

“What in the world!?”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Windows opened in the light to indicate program transfers and they were all given the power of the drawn images.

The light of the windows grew in heat as it shined through the lenses.

“Are you trying to burn us to death!?”

Anything created by a program would remain even if the program user disappeared.

Defeating Myst now would not stop this attack.

She wasn’t his target. He had to attack the window behind her that had shined first.

Then destroying the initial window would stop them all. Speed was the issue, so he did not hesitate to run forward.

“Let us through. If you have a problem with me, then stop me!”

The light reached its peak then, as if responding to his words.

Myst shouted while transformed into a silhouette by the light shining from behind her.

“Can you stand up to this, Master Yuo’s chosen strongest!?”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Myst’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Myst’s Over Reload>

Myst saw something within the light shining on her back.

The light around her was already so bright she had trouble seeing anything more than 2D silhouettes, but one such silhouette seemed to be swimming through the light.

That body eliminated all excess motion to move with great speed and no waste.

The racing image created from high contrast whites and blacks had an emblem open on both arms.

A see-through black frame surrounded a metal spear symbol.

That was Aoe. She couldn’t hear his footsteps or even his breathing in that world of shadows, but she did see him.

He was shadow art of unwavering attack power.

Myst spoke in the light, her will displayed in a window.

Aoe’s silhouette was coming, but Myst did nothing as he passed by her side.

Rather, she couldn’t do anything.

She was already slowly fading away in the light.

The hand she stretched out to grasp the silhouette had lost its hitbox.

She could no longer touch things.

Her white dress, blonde hair, and virtual pen all slowly melted into the light.

She shut her eyes and faced upwards. Her lips curved into a smile and that curve opened.

“I see…”

She spoke in a tone that could have been acceptance or regret and her hands moved in the light. Her flashing index finger reached out in front of her and opened a window.

The window was colored such a dark black it couldn’t be dyed by the surrounding light. It was a film settings window.

“Master Yuo, you said, for the first time, you want a drawing meant for more than just comfort, didn’t you?”

Her eyes remained closed as she angled the virtual pen, which was a part of her, toward the window.

It had lost its hitbox, but she used her last strength to shine a light from the pen tip.

“Understood. I will now draw the piece you deserve.”

She wielded a light even brighter than the surrounding light to draw out the negative of an image.

She drew.

It did not take long for her to finish.

And with that done, she disappeared and all the light shattered.

<Myst has been fully eliminated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The heat produced by the shattering created a wind that blew Aoe away.

The next thing he knew, he saw the metal floor back over his shoulder.

That meant he was flipped onto his back in midair, so he instantly punched at the floor.

The impact pushed him back into a flip. He turned his back in the direction he was moving, took control of his body in midair, and landed on the floor.

He ended up crouching between two of the Questron’s leaves.

He saw Monkey back in mini form.

He also saw Yuo seated between the leaves with her hands on the floor.

Something fell in front of him as he viewed her.

A yellow program trigon had been tossed this way by the heated wind.

The mark on its surface depicted lightning stabbing into an open hand. That was the program controlling her sense of touch.

The ferret ran over before he could snatch it from the air. The ferret leaped like a baseball player but with his mouth open wide instead of a glove. He caught the trigon in his mouth and swallowed it while rolling across the floor.

A solid thud soon followed.

“Mh,” grunted Aoe, looking up.

He saw Yuo.

She was still wrapped in the green cloth and now she was bent over and holding her head.

He looked to the Questron above her. He noted the corner of a curving metal panel at about her head height. It was right where she would hit the back of her head if she stood up from there.

Yuo rubbed her head with both hands and opened a window.

<Owww.>

“You idiot.”

She looked up when she heard him. And she stopped rubbing her head.

She opened her unfocused eyes and quickly looked side to side. She was searching for him.

So he took her hand.

<Oh.>

Before that window even opened, he scooped her into his arms while standing up.

She resisted for a moment, but she relaxed the next moment and let him carry her. Her hands found his body, moved up to his shoulder, and grabbed on.

He nodded and then noticed something strange.

The floor was shaking slightly.

“We must pursue Algo,” he said.

She nodded and smiled bitterly.

<You’re a man of few words, aren’t you?>

He read the window and checked her expression.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Her expression was gentle and changed frequently. That meant she was in Sight Mode.

So he shut his eyes and thought about what she had said.

He kept the words on the window she couldn’t see and said something else out loud.

“I am blunt by nature.”

He looked up and noticed something scattering through the ceremony room.

Myst’s windows were shattering in a chain reaction.

An alarm continued to sound as the dust of shattered windows fell through the air. Fell slowly and silently.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

One new window floated at the center of it all.

“What is that?”

That was where Myst had been standing.

He carried Yuo across the shaking floor toward it, but she couldn’t see.

“The artist drew something for you.”

He looked at the window, but he couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. It was a negative image, so colors polarized to purples and oranges were drawn atop a black background.

He only needed to alter the window properties to fix it, but he didn’t know how.

The ferret had followed after at his feet and, after some thought, raised his front paw.

The image on the window suddenly changed. The negative of blacks and purples became a positive image with the proper colors.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The window depicted Yuo and Aoe. It was a rushed hand-drawn image done in watercolor.

The Questron was in the background. In front of the roughly colored metal, an equally roughly drawn Yuo was held to Aoe’s chest while she held a window to herself and had a serious look on her face.

“A look of determination, huh?”

<Eh?>

After Yuo’s question, the window folded itself up and disappeared. The ferret had stored it.

All of the specks of light floating in the ceremony room vanished at about the same time.

“You can see it once you get your vision back.”

His reassurance was followed by a tremor that seemed to shake the entire room. It was a powerful vertical shaking.

A window appeared.

<Warning: Forced interruption of Questron output has placed too great a burden on the system. Please evacuate the area immediately>

Extremely heavy destruction began overhead as if answering the warning.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The metallic mass forming the ceiling was pushed down along with a few smaller pieces.

First, a piece crashed loudly down. A meter-long hunk of metal landed on the seven-layer diskette program covering half the ceremony room.

That was the starting point.

Aoe sensed more large masses beginning to move to the right, left, front, and back.

“Damn.”

He took off running.

He leaped atop the diskette program and kept moving forward, rushing toward the bulkheads leading out of the ceremony room.

The ferret cried once while passing by the ashes left by Suedomsa.

Yuo flinched in Aoe’s arms when she heard that cry, so Aoe spoke to her.

“You can return here and cry once things settle down.”

He moved his gaze from Yuo’s lowered head to the first bulkhead. The sounds of destruction were continuing.

Once he was only a few paces away from the bulkhead, he heard a sound from overhead.

It was an annoying sound, like the chirping of an insect, so he looked up toward it.

There was a distorted square mass overhead. It had to be at least 2 yards across and it was falling toward them.

He cried out in alarm, but without warning, a bluish-white panel inserted itself between them and the falling metal.

The hunk of metal that had to weigh several tons crashed loudly into the defense shield.

The bluish-white barrier stopped the falling steel.

The bulkhead leading outside opened in front of Aoe.

Only then did he look back inside the ceremony room.

He heard a rumble and the sound of spilling sand as more metal fell to the floor.

The diskette program and Questron had already been smashed to pieces by the heavy objects.

Several damage warning windows opened, but Aoe still managed to spot a woman inside there.

“You.”

Akalabeth stood with her back turned deep inside the room. Her reddish-purple dress was not a bit out of place.

She held her bleeding side and had grown transparent.

Aoe tried to say something.

“–––––”

But he couldn’t find the words, so he turned away from her and ran out through the open bulkhead.

The defense shield protecting them immediately vanished and the ceiling pieces fell.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Akalabeth’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Akalabeth’s Over Reload>

Akalabeth slowly sat down in the collapsing ceremony room.

She held her fading body, shut her eyes, and rested her chin on her raised knee.

She heard destruction all around her and placed her vision in the darkness.

“Suedomsa. What emotion will I feel in this Minus world after I am Formatted and learn you are no more?”

Her shut eyes bent a bit.

“It’s just like the biblical symbolism, isn’t it? Even if my Wild Name isn’t Mary.”

She lowered her head, pressed her forehead against her knee, and sighed.

Her shallowly opened lips sang a song.

The sounds of collapsed continued, the ceiling broke, and its pieces stabbed into the floor as she sang her song.

It was the song Yuo had often sung.

She sang as she disappeared.

And eventually, the entire ceiling had collapsed.

<Akalabeth has been temporarily destroyed>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe climbed the narrow stairs with Yuo in his arms. It was a winding basement stairway. Some of the angled stones forming the wall had fallen out onto the stairs.

The castle was no longer shaking around them, so its collapse was complete.

Aoe hurried up the stairs.

Yuo remained perfectly still in his arms with her arms around his neck. Her Sight Mode expression had the eyebrows bent worriedly. Her unfocused eyes looked up vaguely in the direction of his face.

<Um…you can put me down now.>

“Mh,” he grunted, but did not do so. So she did not let go of him either.

<I’m still not sure what’s going on, but what are you to me? Aoe was it?>

When she struggled to remember his name, he only gave an expressionless grunt of acknowledgment.

She responded with a tense wrinkling of her brow.

“I would rather not.”

<Wh-why?>

Since she was in Sight, she could not read the window floating above his head and she wrinkled her brow even more.

She tilted her head and her loose hair swayed while more text appeared.

“I haven’t done anything you need to thank me for.”

Her thoughts appeared in her window, but then her eyebrows lowered.

Aoe looked to her lowered head with exasperation on his face.

“Listen.”

<Listening.>

“I pushed you toward that decision, but I am no more than a stranger to this version of you.”

<You don’t remember your past with me, so whatever I might want is irrelevant to you now,> he added on his window.

So…

“Do not trust me so readily.”

He came to a stop partway up the stairs.

“For one thing, I never arrive on time when you’re worried. And…”

He paused for a moment.

“I have killed several people and I am proud of it.”

She responded by nodding her head.

“Then!”

He raised his voice, but now she shook her head.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Yuo asked her question in his arms and shut her eyes.

She shut her mouth and squeezed with the arms around him.

“…”

She sucked in a shallow breath and shouted with her thoughts.

She let out a rough breath.

“Well…”

After Aoe read her questions, he saw something shining on her cheek.

It was a tear.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe’s vision grew clearer as he viewed the tear on Yuo’s cheek.

At the same time, her expression suddenly changed. She had looked worried, but now her eyes widened in surprise.

She removed her right hand from around his neck and placed it on her cheek.

He saw a new tear there.

The eyebrows of her surprised expression collapsed. Her mouth twisted and a window opened.

<Is…is it…>

A tear dripped down her cheek and she wiped it away with her hand.

Her question led him to realize something.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

There were indeed tears on Yuo’s cheek, but their location was unusual.

Only her right cheek was damp.

Those were not her tears. Someone else’s tears had fallen onto her cheek.

His lips trembled as he asked whose tears those could be.

“Was it…me?”

He didn’t need an answer because he could now feel the tears dripping down his own cheeks.

His cheeks twisted and he could not stop his thoughts from leaving his mouth.

“I…”

He choked a bit and his vision blurred, but he still got his mouth open.

“I…!”

He sucked in a breath and tried to force out his voice, but then Monkey raised his front paw atop Aoe’s right shoulder.

Confused, Aoe looked over to see a word mail window had opened.

The message Monkey showed him was not a new message or one he had already read. It was a draft filled with typos.

It was the one he had written for Yuo in the central comm tower.

He had never actually sent it and Monkey was showing it to him now.

He read through it.

“No matter…”

He spoke the words aloud.

“No matter what I might learn about you, it changes nothing.”

<Opening word mail window>

Aoe’s Word Mail Draft: To Yuo[edit]

No matter what I might learn about you, it changes nothing.

I swear I will come for you.

I swear I will give you a place by my side.

So don’t you worry about anything, Yuo.

<Returning to Aoe’s Sight Mode>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

“Don’t you worry about anything, Yuo.”

Once he said those words, Aoe held Yuo even tighter.

“Uh.”

A groan left his throat and he lowered his head.

Meanwhile, Yuo let out a breath, rested her cheek on his shoulder, and eventually shut her eyes.

She placed her arm around his neck and opened the hand.

She gently patted his back. Over and over and over again, she softly and gently patted his back and nodded.

The ferret on her shoulder raised his front paw as if responding to that nod.

A word mail window of her own opened next to Aoe’s one.

Hers had a new message. The message’s send settings had been altered so it would only be sent…

“If Aoe Shouzou recognizes my presence after the Day of the Oracle.”

Aoe’s voice trembled as he read the conditions aloud and the word mail responded.

It spoke in Yuo’s voice because she had used voice input for the message.

<Opening word mail message>

Yuo’s Voice Word Mail: To Me[edit]

Um, I’m not really sure how to say this.

If you’re hearing this, it means I made it through alright.

If you’re listening to this, it means I’m still with Senpai.

But if I can make one request, please apologize to Senpai.

I don’t want him to think I forget about him so I wouldn’t have to do that.

After that, I won’t have anything else to worry about, so you can tell him I’ll be with him forever.

<Returning to Aoe’s Sight Mode>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Her claim in the message was belied by the worried tremor in her voice.

But she didn’t hesitate or stumble over her words.

Aoe realized Yuo had leaned more deeply against him after hearing her own voice.

Her eyebrows were drooping.

A window opened above her somewhat lowered head.

<That’s right. I need to thank you, but I also need to apologize.>

Her shoulders trembled just a bit, she breathed in, and another window opened.

Aoe read her words in silence.

<I’m sorry.>

She shut her eyes and pressed her cheek into his chest.

<I’m sorry.>

She rubbed her cheek against him even though it bent and squashed her ear.

<I’m sorry!>

“I know,” he said, his voice shaky.

He saw the words she had wanted to tell him for so long.

The window over her head wrote out an apology.

It contained the words he needed to hear and it contained her will.

<I’m sorry for worrying you and for forgetting you.>

She let out a choking breath.

<I’m sorry…I can’t remember you.>

“Don’t worry about it.”

He held her more tightly in his arms.

“I felt the same.”

<Yes. We’re the same.>

Her nod sent tears spilling down her cheeks.

These were not from Aoe. They were her own tears.

The tears flowed as she let the emotion take over.

They wet his shoulder as he said something more.

<I’ve forgotten so much, but…but from now on…>

She roughly took in a breath and truly addressed him for the first time.

She did not know who he was, but her past self had used a certain term when talking about him.

So she followed that example and redefined their relationship using it.

He was no longer just a stranger to her. He was…

<Senpai.>

She nodded and finished her thought while weeping.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Chapter 16: Rush a Difficulty[edit]

Welcome back! This “Listen! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” is forgoing the usual intro!

So, everyone, DT – and the whole world really – is facing a big problem right now.

If DT disappears and all us Minus residents go along with it, the great god will be summoned into the world.

Now summoning a great god will improve the world – that’s true. But we don’t want to die.

Sorry, but if anyone out there thinks it’s better if the world doesn’t improve, then could you come save us?

It all comes down to money.

I’m going to set up a special donation account for DT at a Swiss bank.

Any money sent there will be transferred to the DT Yard’s account and used as a boost fund.

Then the Demigods at DT Yard will use that power to fuel their attacks so they can stop the summoning.

How about that? Does anyone want to make yourself a watchman by trying to stop the great god?

And with that, I think “watchman” will be the subject this time.

“Take a guard. Go, and have him keep watch over the tomb.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

(Matthew 27:65-66)

I have a question. -NoName

Would you mind answering a question from the outside?

I get that things are bad for the Minus world of DT, but how do we out here benefit by spending our money on you?

Your deaths would be a loss for our world, but your survival isn’t a benefit or a loss for our world because that is the default state. So…

07/07/2000 DT 03:21 PM x1k (+00:21)

Help Text[edit]

Word Race origins and Types

The Word Races began as a technology known as an Extension Word Race which was created during NPC Body research. The idea was to apply something like a Message to the data used to create the Body in order to give it a stable and unique extension, which was likened to the concept of humanity’s different races.

Several ideas were proposed for how to determine Word Races:

–The language used to create the Body.

–The format of the subprograms and data used by the Body.

–The primary format used when interacting with other Bodies and Lives.

In the end, people were allowed to choose from any of those options when arriving in DT.

People would choose (or have chosen for them) the Word Race best suited for them and that would become a part of their name. This combined with the pseudonyms being used to create a unique form of expression where the people in DT use their pseudonym plus their Word Race Name in place of their real name.

This is especially common among the second and third generations born within DT when the Word Race system was already in place and with corporate workers, but that has led to frequent trouble when contacting the outside world.

However, since some nonhumans have a rule saying only their parents are allowed to know their true name, people born in DT have used that as precedent to gain authorization to continue using their pseudonym and Word Race name while staying outside the city'.

There are a large number of Word Races, but they can generally be split into a few different categories.

Text Data

Ex: Txt, Doc, Log.

Can read and produce text data quickly and accurately. These Word Races can only be held by humans and nonhumans with Lives data, so NPC Bodies cannot use them.

Voice Data

Ex: Wav, Dat, Sn, Aud, Pmc.

Can rapidly create and receive detailed voice data as well as convert it into text data.

Image Data

Ex: Gif, Jpg, Bmp, Png, Pdf, Pct.

Excels at image processing, image creation, and image extraction.

System

Ex: Sys, Bat, Dll, Cnf, Exe.

Excels at creating programs and the understanding and control of program contents.

Language

Ex: Bas, C, Asb, Pas, Cob, For, Xc.

Each one excels at different things such as movement speed, movement options, data processing, data control, etc.

If necessary, these Word Race traits can be applied to your Lives when leaving the city, so they can be brought from the city to an extent.

Algo’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Algo left through the castle’s main entrance and walked through the courtyard.

Mini Alternative sat on his shoulder as he walked briskly along, but out of nowhere, he looked behind him.

<Algo’s Over Zoom>

The castle was there.

It didn’t look the same as it had. A tower was missing from the northern roof. It had collapsed. The collapse of the ceremonial ground in the northern basement and the fall of the northern lift had begun a chain reaction.

The entire castle looked a bit off. There were cracks here and there and some of the stones forming its surface had fallen away where they now sat on the ground like decorations. The castle had originally drawn out the rectangular shape of a fortress, but it now had a trapezoidal shape, like a cake squashed from above. Algo stared at it.

“ ‘Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged.’ Yes, that is exactly what we are accomplishing here. With the boost setting inside this shield set to x1000, we now have ten times as long until our Words Warn day of destruction.”

Just as Alternative spoke in her window, a different window appeared next to Algo.

It displayed a square-faced man – Mekton.

The dark sky made up the background and the image was redrawn once every second.

“Wh-where is Daikatana?”

“He stayed inside. As a guard to stop Aoe.”

That put a worried look on Mekton’s face. Algo looked away from him.

<Algo’s Over Zoom>

He saw the castle gate up ahead.

“Don’t worry. He has spent 400 years cutting down his fellow NPC Bodies as an actor. He has more experience than Aoe, me, or even Master Ungyou.”

“B-but th-that idiot…”

“Yes, Aoe already repelled Daikatana once.”

He walked through the gate. The sky was dark, but the gate still cast a shadow.

Algo coughed within that shadow.

He held his throat and let out a scratchy breath. He used that breath to speak.

“That is because both Daikatana and Aoe want the same thing, even if they hold opposite positions.”

“The strongest power?”

“Do you have something like that as well? Something you can use to test if he is really worth entrusting with Yuo?”

“Yes. I will…disappear soon. I have something…for before that. I want to test the one…who wants to look after Master Yuo.”

Algo responded to Mekton’s affirmation by lowering his eyebrows and nodding.

“Is that something you can’t use to test Yuo herself?”

“Yes,” confirmed Mekton and Algo let out a coughing breath.

Algo finally raised his lowered head to reveal his usual smile.

“Aoe has something like that too. And you can test a Plus person like Aoe even if you can’t do so with Yuo, right? That is what allows the two of you to battle. Because you both have a deep connection to Yuo.”

He left the other side of the gate.

“But Akalabeth told him the strongest Plus power he should seek is a method of learning of and surpassing the Minus anxieties and fears.” He took a breath. “That means he still doesn’t know that method.”

Algo kept walking with his eyes shut and a smile on his lips.

“Learning someone’s anxieties and fears is no easy task.”

“When we discussed this last night, you said the strongest defense would be to protect against anything, didn’t you? That is because the act of defense makes it easier to learn your opponent’s anxieties and fears. When you defend, your opponent’s attacks tell you those things in place of their words. For a defender, defending against your opponent’s attacks is the very act of learning and surpassing their anxieties and fears. So blocking and defending against their anxieties and fears leads you directly to the strongest defense.

“But,” he said. “It isn’t so simple for attackers like us. We can only learn things through the attacks we send out. We must think about their unique anxieties and fears and then make our attacks accordingly.”

After a few seconds, he opened his smiling eyes and looked out ahead.

“But we cannot read people’s minds, so how are we supposed to learn what our opponent’s anxieties and fears are?”

Alternative tilted her tiny head in thought.

After a few seconds, her eyebrows bent in defeat.

“Oh? Are you sure you aren’t overthinking it? The answer is actually extremely simple. Alternative, you asked before how Aoe and Yuo could be together, remember?”

<Yes, but I still don’t have an answer to that.>

“I suppose not.” Algo continued like he was questioning himself. "They feel no anxiety or fear when together…but that requires more than just being together. They must notice each other’s anxieties and eliminate them.

“So,” he said. “How are we to notice and understand each other’s anxieties?”

<If you ask me,> he added silently. <Figuring out that system is the key to reaching the strongest power.>

<Algo’s Over Zoom>

After passing through the castle gate, Algo found a surprise where the drawbridge and moat should have been.

Everything was gone.

A long trench had formed from the castle all the way to the amusement park in front of Babel. The trench had filled with rubble, the main road had become a hole 5 yards deep, and the bridge crossing DT’s central lake was missing.

Algo came to a stop and looked into the sky.

Overhead, he saw the double-layered sky flowing toward Babel. One sky layer was inside the defense shield and the other was outside it. Gray clouds swirled through the sky and their movement was slower outside the shield.

Ten times slower to be exact.

And Algo noticed a point of white in the sky.

That was Mekton’s blimp. Algo smiled when he noticed it remained steady against the current of the gray clouds.

He pulled a program trigon from his robe. The yellow tetrahedron was printed with a music note coming from a mouth. He rolled it around in his hand.

“Mekton, I have something for you, so hurry here.”

“What is it?”

“Yuo’s songs. The voice of the girl who stayed by your side and watched your performances back when you were a failure of a jester whose large size scared everyone away.”

Mekton hung his head in the window. He shut his eyes too.

“I-I will hurry.”

“Please do. And then take me to the top of Babel. Fulfill your role as part of the Quartet. Managing the Questron on my own, it should take…probably 6 hours.”

“6 hours. I will work hard. With Daikatana. To stop Aoe.”

“Yes, the two of you need to stop him. Ideally you would defeat him, but slowing him down should be sufficient.”

“Master Algo,” said Mekton.

The window showed him smiling now. He had raised his square face again to show the smile there. But it was a forced smile.

“I will w-win, but Daikatana is the same. The same.”

“The same how?”

“We want to see. See Master Yuo.”

Mekton nodded and the window vanished. He had ended the transmission.

Algo lowered his gaze. His eyebrows drooped a bit and he let out a breath that may have been a sigh.

Hearing the unclear exhalation, Alternative turned to look at him from his shoulder.

He looked over to find her watching him. He noted the angle of her eyebrows.

“Mekton can’t see us now, so you can cry.”

She lowered her eyebrows a bit and shook her head.

<Sorry. Let me cry alone for this one. I should have some time alone while you prepare the Questron at the top of Babel.>

“Is that so? Then once you finish crying, we can board the blimp and enjoy the view on our way to meet Aoe and Yuo. It isn’t that I don’t trust Mekton, but we cannot focus on working in the Questron if we aren’t certain those two have been defeated.”

Alternative formed a small smile with her eyebrows still lowered. Algo smiled back.

“I really didn’t expect that idiot to show up.”

<That’s just how Shouzou is. My sister too. I’m sure those two are having some kind of silly conversation right about now.>

“The two of them have been a constant source of trouble for us, haven’t they?>

Alternative gave him a displeased look and he smiled bitterly.

“I seem to recall a time when you were constantly lamenting how awkward she was.”

She paused and nodded.

“You knew there had to be more to it, didn’t you? Perhaps things would have been different if you had discussed it with me back then.”

<Yeah. But my uncle and I had decided we weren’t going to tell anyone about it. She didn’t have her memories and we knew she was going return to DT in three years, so I saw it as a temporary dream even if I didn’t know what had happened.>

“Was it a good dream?”

<Yes. Everything is a good dream if you adjust your point of view – even Word’s Warn. I’ve always looked at things that way, even back then. That’s what makes me a Minus person. That unhappiness was very real, but I managed to convince myself it was all fake and that I was happy.>

She nodded.

“No, not really.”

She narrowed her eyes and then looked up into the sky.

“Whatever form? You mean whether you are overwritten by the Great God Lives or Aoe and Yuo stop that and you are destroyed by Words Warn? Either way, we will have our answer in 6 hours.”

<We will,> she said with a nod, her eyes viewing the white blimp approaching with the giant tower behind it.

Algo viewed Babel’s sky as he spoke.

“The Son of God died once, but he was resurrected and ascended into heaven. To take his seat at the right hand of god. And now we are attempting the same. But…”

Alternative let that thought trail off and Algo nodded.

“Yes, he needs to use his fists to tell us everything will be all right even if we don’t do that.”

Algo looked up into the sky as he continued.

“Can his fists surpass the divine symbolism?”

<Algo’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are in 1F Audience Chamber Entrance Passageway, a Top Page of the castle.

The current time is 3:32 PM.

The passageway is 5 yards wide, 4 yards tall, and 20 yards long.

You have just entered from the adjacent page, 1F Audience Chamber.

You carry one PC Body in your arms: Yuo Suedomsa Wav.

One old-style NPC Body is in the passageway: Daikatana Uriel Undefined.

Aoe: “Just when I thought we were safe after leaving that secret passageway behind the throne, I run into you.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana notices you and turns to face you.

He makes one final statement into the window he has open and then closes it.

Aoe: “What was that window? Looked to me like you were talking into it.”

Daikatana: “That was from Mekton and Master Algo on their way to our headquarters. They told me to buy them time.”

Yuo:

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana is in Sight Mode without any sight program active. He cannot read Yuo’s window.

Aoe: “Time to set up a new Questron at Babel?”

Daikatana: “Indeed. It should take them approximately 3 koku. That means until around 9:30 PM today. That is also around when the disease Master Algo shares with Master Alternative comes to an end.”

Aoe: “Huh? But I thought their limit was 3:40.”

Yuo: <Because of the x1000 boost.>

Daikatana: “Babel continues to accumulate the Great God Lives from the ley lines. Once the Questron is back up and running, the two of them will be able to summon the great god. If they are stopped…”

Yuo: <Babel will become oversaturated with Great God Lives and explode?>

Daikatana: “Indeed. Which will lead to mass destruction just as it did for Master Yuo 2000 years ago.”

Daikatana: “You have 3 koku. That might seem like plenty of time, but in truth…”

Daikatana: “I only need an instant.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

A metal gray emblem appears on Daikatana’s staff.

Daikatana: “The 3 koku will pass in no time once you are injured.”

Aoe: “Oh? Big talk for the guy who turned tail and ran last time.”

Daikatana: “I will not be as careless this time.”

Aoe: “Then are you planning to use your strongest power to test me like Myst did and Suedomsa told you to?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana raise his head and nods.

Daikatana: “So Myst did this as well. I will of course do so. And Mekton agreed when I relayed Master Suedomsa’s message just now. I can assume Excel has already done so, so by the end we will all have tested whether or not you are worthy of Master Yuo and given her a memento so she will not worry for us after we are gone.”

Aoe: “Yes. Excel passed away after confirming that Yuo was a better programmer than him. And Myst sent her a picture.”

Aoe: “So what will you be giving us?”

Daikatana: “I will demonstrate my strongest sword technique for Master Yuo.”

Aoe: “Sword?”

Daikatana: “Indeed. My strongest sword technique exceeds DT’s frame limit and becomes no more than a hitbox. Demonstrating it and having it accepted will prove I have my own strongest power.”

Aoe: “And that will eliminate Yuo’s anxiety over losing you?”

Daikatana: “Before she fell to resignation, we made a promise. When I was lamenting that my sword was only good for killing, she accepted it from a Minus perspective by saying it was beautiful regardless.”

Daikatana: “I promised to show her my most beautiful Minus sword technique…and I will do so even though she cannot see.”

Daikatana: “Then, even if she has lost me, she will still remember the promise I fulfilled and the power of my blade.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana reaches his left hand into his pocket and pulls out a program trigon.

The trigon contains Yuo’s sight program.

Daikatana: “I have Master Yuo’s sight program trigon here and I promise to return it after our battle.”

Aoe: “Mh? How can she see your sword technique before you return that?”

Daikatana: “I have always been blind. I developed my strongest sword technique from my blindness, so that will not be an issue. It is…a must-see.”

Aoe: “Fair enough. Then the question is whether or not I am strong enough for you to use this strongest sword technique against me. And if I want to prove I’m worthy of Yuo, I have to defeat you after seeing that technique. Do I have that right?”

Daikatana: “Indeed. I ask that you assist me. I have determined you are the worthy opponent I have been searching for. So now you must confirm my technique using your fists.”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s view opened up within a large, stone passageway. He lowered Yuo on a step behind him with the green cloth still wrapped around her. The step led up to the audience chamber’s entrance.

When Yuo felt him release her, she looked to him with her Sight Mode expression.

<Be safe,> she said with unfocused eyes and a troubled smile, so he grunted an acknowledgment.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

A window opened in front of Daiktana.

<Daikatana: Uriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to C Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Movement Stability>

“Now let us fight to our fullest. I am certain it will be…”

“Fun.

“Because the Plus and the Minus are destined to keep fighting forever.”

A metallic gray light appeared in the metal staff he swung.

<Pseudo Grandload: Running Pseudo Load Emblem: Moebius: Preparing>

The emblem at the tip of the staff gave a cry. The loud, low noise was like stone breaking.

Several windows opened in rapid succession and surrounded him in no time.

Text raced down from the emblem at the end of his staff. The text first drew out a spiral.

●Type-XX049: Imperial-class: Moebius●

The staff instantly became a nagamaki with a 1.5 yard shaft and a 1.5 yard text blade.

Aoe did not move forward or back as he lowered his hips and clenched his fists.

“Bring it on.”

A shattering glass sound echoed through the stonewalled passageway.

That acted as their cue to begin.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The first to move was Daikatana.

He took a fighting stance.

He held the nagamaki in a loose two-handed grip and slowly raised it overhead.

He moved his right leg forward and put his weight on it from a somewhat diagonal angle.

He pulled the staff back like it was a fishing rod, ultimately holding it parallel to the floor.

He placed his right hand at the top of the staff, simply supporting its weight from below.

He placed his left hand on the bottom of the staff, simply holding its front side in place.

He was ready to lift with his right hand and pull with his left.

He was prepared for a rapid, bending attack similar to casting a fishing rod.

“Prepare yourself. When I fought you before, I was only using my stage-fighting techniques.”

“So this is your real stance?”

Daikatana did not reply.

Aoe took that silence as confirmation and responded with his body.

He let out a single breath and raced forward without warning.

“––––!”

His aim was to rush right up to Daikatana before he could react.

He charged a few steps along the floor, using the kind of force usually reserved for running up a wall.

He easily pulled it off and leaned forward like he was about to crawl along the floor.

He was so low the sword’s path would have to nearly reach the floor to hit him.

Maintaining a stance with his chin nearly scraping at the stone floor required the leg strength to move at high speed and…

“Go.”

It also took the load Text that provided power to his feet.

As soon as the wind danced in his ears, Daikatana entered his view overhead.

His head was within range of Daikatana’s attacks.

In that moment, he saw the big toe within Daikatana’s tabi pressing hard against the floor.

Something was coming.

From overhead.

A high-speed attack was dropping from a blind spot.

With that realization, Aoe deduced where the attack was likely to land.

He removed both his feet from the floor while leaning so far forward and running.

As soon as he dove forward, he threw his fists straight down.

He punched the floor to lift himself and push himself backwards.

The double blow landed and his fists worked to stop his forward momentum. From there…

“Stop!”

His body seemed to be floating.

He bent his back with his fists against the floor, spinning his legs around to the sides, and placing his heels down in front of him.

“Now move back!”

The force definitely pushed him backwards. His forward momentum vanished and he got up as if bending backwards.

He could now see overhead where Daikatana’s downwards-swinging staff was getting awfully close.

Aoe felt something cold on the left side of his neck.

On instinct, he immediately let himself fall further backwards and twisted his head to the right.

That saved his life.

Daikatana’s text string had reached Aoe. It was only by about an inch, but the metal staff had moved out faster than Aoe had predicted.

The blade graced his top half of his left collarbone.

He saw the flash of light as the blade brushed its way down his tank top chest.

He felt the wind on his left side.

“Kh.”

But that was all. He hadn’t been cut. And now it was his turn to act.

“Mh!”

With a grunt to motivate him, he threw his backwards-leaning body forward and took a step.

He confirmed out of the corner of his eye that the metal staff’s tip was on its way to the floor and then he threw his right fist.

Immediately, Daikatana moved in front of him. He crouched low and gripped his lowered staff in both arms.

The staff had been swung down right in front of Aoe, so it would jab him in the belly if it was lifted now. But…

“He can’t manage it after the momentum of that swing!”

The 3-yard metal staff had only just now hit the floor with a powerful swing.

It was too late to change its course now, concluded Aoe as he prepared to jump over the staff and keep going.

That was when he heard a Text.

“I am the bearer of attack.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

A shattering stone sound came from both of Daikatana’s arms.

He gripped the staff with both hands. No, he practically embraced it.

He held the bottom of the staff under his left arm and wrapped the arm itself around it. He held the top of the staff tight in his right hand.

Then he leaned forward.

“Kh!”

He twisted his body to the side. He balanced on his heel like a top starting to tilt.

Aoe watched as Daikatana rapidly rotated his own body while holding onto the staff.

The sleeves of his Japanese clothing spread out and whipped at the wind. The dry sound was joined by the nagamaki rotating.

The blade should have struck the floor, but it instead easily sliced through the floor and kept rotating.

His rotation created a new attack with even greater acceleration.

And this slash had his full weight behind it.

As for Aoe…

“Is this how you really fight!?”

He lowered his right fist and took evasive action. He poured all his strength into his legs to fall back.

But it was too late. He saw a white trail of water vapor form behind the sword tip.

And he heard the cry of a rent in the air when the blade sliced through it.

It sounded almost like a whistle.

That sound was only created at speeds too fast to be seen.

The attack passed through Aoe’s lowered left chest to his right side.

<Oh, no!>

His vision predicted the injury he had taken: half an inch deep from the left collarbone to the gut.

He felt a chill down his spine when he saw the location of the wound.

Daikatana’s attack hit him in the same place as the slash from Algo in the mountains of North Kantou.

Back then, it had been a blast from Algo’s palm. Here, it was a slash through the center of his chest.

<…!>

The memory briefly resurrected in his mind and threatened to fill him with anxiety, but he forced it down.

“I won’t lose that way again now that I have Yuo by my side!”

The injury was a serious one, but he gathered strength in his body. He held his breath and kept his muscles from releasing their tension. He felt the chilly air on the flesh of his split left chest.

But he ignored that injury and faced forward.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He saw Daikatana holding the staff below his left arm and lowering his hips after swinging it downwards.

He heard three sounds like breaking wood from below Daikatana’s left arm. That was the metal staff breaking his ribs.

He had paid that price and groaned in pain just once to keep the staff from swinging further downwards.

He had thrust it out before its downward momentum was fully gone.

Aoe tensed his left side while evading backwards. He sandals sounded coldly on the floor twice once and then twice.

Daikatana’s jab had not reached him. It had reached its full length with about 2 inches between its tip and Aoe’s gut.

Then Aoe saw a certain movement in Daikatana.

Daikatana let go of the metal staff that was his primary weapon.

“What the hell!?”

Daikatana ignored Aoe’s confusion and leaped forward. Toward Aoe. Over the staff.

He swung his leg up and stepped atop the airborne staff.

He used his second step to kick firmly off the staff near the front end, clearing its entire length.

Aoe had only taken half a step back, so this brought Daikatana right in front of him.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

“…!”

Aoe tried to put himself at the appropriate distance for throwing a punch. He tried to fall back in order to make a counterattack against Daikatana.

Before he could, Daikatana reached for his inner pocket and threw something.

<What!?>

Aoe first noticed it was red.

It was in fact a box cutter.

The blade Aoe had previously stabbed into Daikatana’s shoulder now flew toward him.

It was aimed at his face, so he swung his right hand on reflex. He tried to grab the red-handled blade.

He avoided getting stabbed in the face, but his evasive action was delayed.

Daikatana was already right in front of him.

“Every part of a battle is setup for what comes next! Isn’t that right!?”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Behind Daikatana, the staff he had kicked downwards was beginning to spin in the air.

And Daikatana drew the wakizashi at his hip.

He flipped the wakizashi’s blade around and sent it in from the right.

Aoe did not hesitate. He acted on reflex, swinging his right arm outwards after grabbing the box cutter with it.

Before he saw the result, he heard a fibrous cutting sound.

A blade had grown from Aoe’s right upper arm.

Daikatana’s wakizashi had stabbed into it up to the hilt.

Aoe had been prepared for it – both for the pain and the force of the impact.

“Bear with it!”

The emblem on his right arm glowed bright as he endured the pain.

Daikatana responded by stopping his movement.

Aoe smiled at the hint of surprise on Daikatana’s face.

Then Aoe lowered his hips a bit and sent out his left fist.

His stance wasn’t great, but he definitely heard his opponent’s sternum break.

“Kh!”

Daikatana staggered back.

Aoe stretched both arms up and yanked the wakizashi out of his right arm.

He could ignore the pain. He could not ignore his opponent’s actions.

He saw something on Daikatana’s right shoulder. It was the bottom end of the metal staff.

The staff had rotated all the way around and was now swinging forward over his shoulder.

He placed both hands on the staff and turned his closed eyes toward Aoe.

Some blood was dripping from his lips after the blow to the chest, but those lips were definitely smiling.

His scarlet-dyed mouth moved.

“Prepare yourself!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

“Bring it!” shouted Aoe, spreading his arms.

Daikatana’s arm muscles swelled as he pulled down on the staff. The staff drew out an arc as it rotated over his right shoulder.

The sound of a breaking bone came from his right shoulder, but his strength did not flag.

He let out a breath and lowered his hips like he was taking a seat in the empty air.

He lowered all of his body’s strength.

He achieved an instantaneous explosion of movement.

The blade seemed to shoot up from behind his back.

He raised his voice.

“If you cannot look with your eyes, then look with your ears!

“Behold my strongest blade, Master Yuo!”

Aoe heard a whistling sound.

It was much louder and carried farther than the previous attack.

I sounded like the cry of an attacking bird of prey.

That sound was everything.

The end of the metal staff left the emblem and the text string as it grew too fast for the eye to follow. This attack exceeded DT’s drawing speed. Only the hitbox could keep up with it.

At the base of that power, Daikatana’s expression relaxed.

“That is the sound I have sought!”

Aoe no longer tried to fall back.

He readied his left fist.

“I am watching carefully!”

He swung his right wrist.

Swung it upwards.

The first thing that accomplished was tossing the box cutter he held in that hand.

After launching the box cutter straight up with only a snap of his wrist, he shut his eyes.

He focused on his ears.

He could see the path of the blade from the whistling sound.

He noticed another sound mixed in: a light sound similar to breaking bone.

That was the sound of the thrown box cutter contacting the blade hitbox and being destroyed.

That sound marked the location of Daikatana’s blade.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe located the blade from the light, breaking sound.

He used the sound, not his eyes.

He worked out the trajectory and velocity from the sound of the box cutter’s destruction and threw his fist overhead.

He opened his eyes.

“There!”

His fist flew rapidly to the left, making a windy sound.

The tearing sound of the downwards swinging staff and the windy sound of the rightwards swinging fist collided.

Aoe punched the metal staff from the left as it swung down toward him.

But Daikatana lowered his stance further.

“That is not enough to stop it!”

The blade was pushed rightward, but it also continued downward. The whistling of the sliced air continued unabated.

The leading edge of the sound was about to slice through Aoe’s right shoulder.

But Aoe immediately sucked in a breath.

“I have more than one fist!”

His right fist was already swinging by the time the words were out of his mouth.

“Hear the sound of true power!”

He tried to get a counterattack on the staff from the right as well.

Daikatana’s expression changed, but not to surprise or anger. He wrinkled his brow in a look of focus.

“Ohhh!”

Both men roared and accelerated themselves.

Daikatana’s slash maintained its strength.

Aoe did not pull his punches.

Aoe poured strength into his extending right elbow and wrist.

“Stand strong.”

He poured further strength into his shoulder and planted his feet firmly on the floor.

A moment later, the fist collided with the metal.

The sound was that of a fist punching steel.

“Kh!”

The struck staff lost some speed.

Its black angular shape was visible again. It was now bent from the punches it had taken from either side.

Aoe threw all of his strength into the point his fist had contacted.

He focused all his speed, grip strength, body weight, center of gravity, and will on the punch.

The force of the punch passed through the bent steel.

A tearing sound came from the point of impact and the wind split on the other side of the staff.

In an instant, the metal staff was torn to pieces.

The metallic gray text string surrounding the staff scattered.

In its place, a black light raced from Aoe’s fist.

It expanded until it enveloped Aoe and Daikatana and then it broke apart with a shattering glass sound.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana has fallen to his knees on the floor in front of you.

He is looking up at you with his broken staff in his hands.

You keep your left side tense as you look down at him.

Daikatana: “Well done, Aoe Shouzou. I would expect nothing less from the one chosen by Master Yuo.”

Aoe: “Don’t be stupid. If you hadn’t explained your strongest sword technique, I might not have been prepared to face it. I only won because you told me what you wanted beforehand.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You take a breath.

Aoe: “There is one thing I don’t get.”

Aoe: “I have to know. What makes you think what you leave Yuo will eliminate her anxiety and fear? It isn’t like you can read her mind.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana’s jaw has dropped. It is a look of surprise.

Daikatana: “Do you…not know how to learn what other people are thinking?”

Aoe: “This might be a weird thing to ask, but if you do know how, could you teach me?”

Daikatana: “I will consider it. You would be worth teaching as you are worthy of looking after Master Yuo, but…I do not have much time left.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana’s mouth has curled somewhat upwards. It is a slight smile.

A color other than his shadow colors the floor at his feet.

Aoe: “Blood? But why? Did my fist do that?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The stomach of Daikatana’s inner clothing is soaked with blood. He is lethally wounded.

Aoe: “Really? But that practice is so outdated.”

Daikatana: “This way you will not let your guard down. Since you only have one chance at your coming performance.”

Aoe: “You fool.”

Daikatana: “You are the bigger fool. More importantly…Master Yuo, are you still in Sight?”

Yuo: <Oh, yes, I am. Give me a second. I’ll go to you.>

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Daikatana had fallen to his knees. The floor was stained with his blood and he was soaked with sweat.

Aoe wiped sweat from his own brow and asked Daikatana a question.

“Are you returning her sight?”

Daikatana shook his head and spoke so only Aoe could hear.

“I am sorry, but not yet. I do not want her to see me like this. My play is not over yet.”

Daikatana did not raise his head as he sighed. And he called a certain name.

“Master Yuo.”

Aoe heard Yuo stand up in response.

Before he could look back, he heard awkward barefoot footsteps approaching behind him.

Daikatana raised his head when he heard the same.

He lowered his metal staff to the floor and held the hand against his side instead.

He wiped the blood off with his hand and bowed his head. He placed his hands on the floor in preparation to prostrate himself.

“Master Yuo, please give me your judgment of my previous attack.”

As soon as he was finished speaking, Yuo arrived at the bloody floor with her head still lowered.

Aoe took her hand when he saw how unsteady she was next to him.

A window saying <Oh.> opened in response, but he did not look to her face and instead guided her in front of Daikatana.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He saw the swordsman gradually fading away.

So he tapped Yuo on the top of the head to tell her to hurry up and speak.

But Daikatana spoke before Yuo could think of something to say.

“Aoe Shouzou, you relay her answer for me. Could Master Yuo see my previous sword technique?”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Yuo turned toward Aoe, looking close to tears.

But then she nodded, still looking close to tears. A window appeared, conveying her will to him.

He read her window aloud. He did his best to read it plainly, without placing any of his own feelings in it.

“She saw it. She says it was even more beautiful than any you have shown her before.”

Aoe’s words put a small smile on Daikatana’s face.

Then he slowly stood up. He continued to fade away as he stood weakly but firmly.

“Then I achieved my strongest power here.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He opened his eyes and looked toward Yuo. There was no tension on the face carrying those white eyes.

“I have fulfilled my promise. The promise I made to the girl who did not fear my killing techniques, called them beautiful, and said she wanted to see my invisible sword technique.”

He spread his now empty hands and brought them behind his head.

In one smooth motion, he untied the green string tying back his hair.

“You gave me this 2000 years ago as proof of my promise.”

He held a hand carrying a single string.

“Ever since you lost your memories, I have shared the burden of my anxieties with this memento.”

Aoe took Yuo’s hand and placed it on Daikatana’s hand.

But the string fell before her hand could touch his.

Daikatana’s hand was flashing, as was the rest of him, including his clothing.

Aoe caught the string in the air and placed it in Yuo’s hand.

He heard Daikatana’s voice.

“Farewell.”

Hearing that, Aoe looked up and faced forward.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Daikatana was no longer there.

Aoe sighed.

It felt wrong to notice how hungry he was, so he brought a hand to the wound on his chest instead.

Blood was starting to seep from his left chest where Daikatana’s slash had reached him. He knew it would eventually start bleeding too much for his hand to hold back. He needed first aid before that happened.

The feeling of his hand on the wound felt somehow familiar.

He sucked in a breath to stiffen his side and faced forward again.

All that remained of the battle was the dampness of Daikatana’s blood on the floor. But…

“Mh.”

Aoe’s eyes lowered to where Daikatana had sat earlier.

There were two things there.

The first was Yuo’s program.

The other was some writing.

Dark, thick writing spelled out a message on the floor. Daikatana had written it in his own blood.

If it bothers you so much that you cannot read people’s minds, then start by thinking of Master Yuo.

Aoe mouthed the fading words to help record them to his memory.

“Is he saying that is how to learn what people are thinking?”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo’s Mouse runs over to the program trigon on the floor.

Yuo has started retying her hair with her head still lowered.

She remains in Sight Mode.

Yuo: <How do I look?>

Aoe: “Great. You can switch to Board Mode now.”

Yuo: <Oh, have you already switched? But Daikatana just returned my sight program, so I was hoping to start it up and get a look at things.>

Aoe: <Makes sense.>

Aoe: <Mh? I can’t seem to speak out loud.>

Yuo: <What’s wrong? You aren’t saying anything.>

Aoe: <This is weird. …Oh, whoops. Yuo can’t read my thought windows when she’s in Sight without her sight.>

Yuo: <Really, what’s this about? Say something.>

Aoe: <Hold on. Something’s wrong here.>

<Warning: Your bodily functions are breaking down. Please resolve the issue immediately>

Aoe: <Huh? Sure, I was just slashed by a sword, but it wasn’t that bad, was it?>

<Warning: The primary reason for the breakdown of your bodily functions is the limited quantity of spare heat energy caused by your hunger. The secondary reason is the bleeding from your chest wound.>

<Warning: Conversion to high performance mode will not be enough. Please resupply on heat energy before you are frozen.>

Aoe: <So an empty stomach is even worse than a wound? What an annoying city.>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are seated on the floor. Blood is starting to flow from your chest.

Yuo’s Mouse has finished installing her sight program.

She opens her eyes and looks to you.

Yuo: <Eh?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Her eyebrows rise and her eyes widen. It is a look of surprise.

Yuo: <Senpai! You’re covered in blood. A-are you alright!?>

Aoe: <Don’t worry, Yuo. The blood is only from a serious injury. The bigger problem is…I’m hungry.>

Yuo: <N-now is not the time for stupid jokes!>

Aoe: <Shut up. I’m ashamed to admit it, but Daikatana was exactly right.>

Aoe: <Sorry. I need time to rest. I’m going to sleep for a bit…>

Aoe: <So please…>

Aoe: <Be there by my side when I wake up.>

<Warning: Your life functions are at risk. Your mental link is being forcibly severed.>

<Aoe has been temporarily frozen>

Chapter 17: Waiting Girl[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Seek It Out! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent! This time, I’ll be answering a post from last time!

“What do we out here benefit by spending our money on you?”

You have a good point there and I understand it completely. See, I work as an archbishop here, which means I speak to and listen to the confessions of the prisoners. Those conversations also come down to benefit and loss. And now I’m going to say something that mainly only benefits me: “What do you benefit from it? Are you stupid?” Saving us is never going to benefit you more than activating the great god would.

But let me make one thing very clear: “Imagine for yourself what would benefit you most.”

What really is the world or a country? Is it the world or a country that benefits? What about you yourself? Do you not benefit at all if we survive?

Or are you saying you’re willing to pay money for the world or for your country, but not for yourself? That’s no fun at all. Listen. If the great god is summoned, it will save the world, including you. But if that happens, then everything you accomplish will be due to the great god, not you. I’m willing to wish blessings on people, but not on god.

So how do you benefit from spending money on us? Figure that out yourself.

I can’t answer that question for you. I’m not your textbook. You need to open your own textbook and find the answer yourself.

Anyway, that’s my answer. Today’s topic is “resurrection”, but who does that topic benefit?

“Remember how he told you, ‘The Son of God must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’

Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.”

(Luke 24:7-9)

07/07/2000 DT 05:55 PM x1k (+02:55)

Help Text[edit]

The Three Sages and Early DT

When DT was first virtualized and began its transformation into the city it is now, three academics researched DT before the Demigods came about.

They were experts in the fields of science, chemistry, and old Lives research and they became known as the Three Sages.

They modified DT and created both the DT OS and the foundation of the Bodies.

The identities of the Three Sages have never been made public. It is only known that one was a European man, one was an American woman, and one was an Asian man.

Their records have been locked up in a Swiss bank data vault and their destruction is forbidden lest their Concept Existence Lives be reborn.

There are a number of theories as to why Switzerland has gone to such lengths to permanently lock away their records, but the most likely is that they carried out human experimentation while in DT.

When DT was first virtualized, it was difficult for people to enter the city. But during that initial period, the Three Sages investigated DT and developed the OS. Some historians say, “During the early period, the Three Sages somehow created ‘a person who can enter DT’, but the threat that person represented prevented that information from being made public.”

If that is true, then who was this person who could enter DT?

DT’s boosted speed was known at the time, so one theory says prisons around the world requested the creation of a facility to hold prisoners with extremely long sentences. In addition, many hospitals are said to have asked to send terminal patients there. The historians mentioned above suggest those people were modified to enter DT.

In other words, people were combined with incomplete Bodies that were still being developed and they could not be separated from the virtual data afterwards.

This has not been confirmed, but it is known the Three Sages’ NPC Bodies all ceased to function in DT when Archon Suedomsa arrived. But they were not abandoned. They were stored in the intermediary layer where they sleep as a portion of DT’s current OS.

They were sacrificed so the programs embedded in them when they were created could be made a part of the DT OS and they could function with the bare minimum of data while they sleep.

The intermediary layer where they sleep looks like a free zone, but it is actually a data space not even the 13 Demigods can easily access.

That makes it next to impossible to determine whether or not those NPC Bodies are what became of people from outside the city during the time of the Three Sages.

After the Three Sages created the initial version of the DT OS and left us many mysteries like that, they retired in 1963 and left everything in the hands of the researchers they had gathered.

From there, their research results were used by the researchers who took over, leading to various problems and advantages of the virtual world, as well as ways of controlling those things.

The Three Sages did so much to create the foundation of DT, but they are said to have died in the blast caused during the 1st Godtact Experiment.

However, no one ever saw their bodies, so there are some who say they became a part of DT or they lived out the rest of their lives in the outside world.

Telyb’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Park[edit]

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

The color of DT’s sky was changing.

Into two different colors, in fact.

The boost speed was different inside and outside the large shield piercing through DT. Both had cloudy skies, but the sky outside the shield had the light of 3 PM while the sky inside the shield was already growing dark with the approach of evening.

The large shield connecting the castle and Babel and the smaller shield covering the southern park were both still functioning. The settings privileges had been transferred from Suedomsa to Algo, so they both continued to protect the people within them.

Everyone inside the park was safe. That included Telyb, Fooblicky, the other Yard members, and the Yard ambassadors from other countries gathered at the base of the clock tower.

The DT residents and the modern NPC Bodies were all there as well.

Overhead, both faces of the clock at the center of the park were operating.

The upper analog clock said it was 3:17 PM and the lower digital clock said it was 5:55 PM.

The bottom of the digital clock’s face sat open after a recent adjustment.

It now indicated the time within the large shield.

That was the time of DT’s x100 boost pushed up to a x1000 boost.

The Yard members were at work below the clock operating ten times as fast as the other.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

Telyb saw their actions as light and sound.

The light formed a single powerful line. The line of light stretched from the base of the clock tower and toward the castle.

It was in fact directional glowing orbs being alternately produced by the Yard members. The Energy Gunners from image data Word Races were firing a beam with no attack power included. Those would tell the people inside the castle where exactly they were.

The sound came from behind him. More Energy Gunners from the gun force were setting up a speaker and microphone at the base of the clocktower.

The glowing wires extending from those two devices were connected to a single window.

The window was running a communications unification program. It contained a word mail program and a waveform display to increase the vocal communication speed by ten times.

A woman sat below that window: Fooblicky.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

She wore the headphone mic extending from the window. Another glowing wire connected the window to the see-through keyboard in her hands.

She was speaking with the castle in front of the many assistant operators and Yard ambassadors.

“Yuo, our situation and your reality are exactly as I described them. The enemy will attempt another godtact experiment at around 9:30 tonight and the Great God Lives are currently gathering in Babel. Isn’t that right?”

The wave displayed on the window shook and then vanished. After a moment, a reverse oriented wave appeared.

Fooblicky nodded when she heard Yuo’s voice over her headphones.

“So you’re saying you healed that idiot all on your own? And your Mouse is supplying him with spare heat energy? Excellent work. He should be recovered in another hour? Then we’ll plan accordingly.”

Another nod.

“Yes, we will apply a patch to Spell Breaker so we can support you and that idiot. …Don’t mention it. We would be blown to smithereens too, just like with the 2nd Godtact Experiment.” Fooblicky wagged her index finger. “So don’t worry. Just trust us. Noticing our call at all was more or less a miracle. You said you didn’t know where your room was, but your Mouse led you there while you were carrying that idiot, right?”

After a few seconds, she heard something else from Yuo.

She smiled bitterly.

“Ha ha. Yes, I imagine it was a surprise to find your Load Emblem is Wish Bringer now. Mule was all about measuring thought speed – and accelerating assumptions – but Wish Bringer is used to bring your thoughts to the surface. …But you aren’t going to change back, are you?”

Her smile lost its bitterness.

“Listen, if you intend to sing, then stop apologizing for forgetting your time with the Yard and find some way to tame that idiot. We can’t have him refusing to help at the very end. That is your most crucial mission right now.”

She tilted her head and the corners of her smiling lips twisted upwards.

“You know how to link your song to that idiot’s fists, don’t you? …What? An Emblem? No, he uses his fists and you use your voice, so you won’t want to combine them like we do. There should be some other way. …Good. Then we’ll have Spell Breaker ready to go by 9.”

When she sighed and removed the headphones, the operator next to her turned to face her.

“Vice Chief, I know you are busy, but I have statistics on the international response during the emergency virtual meeting.”

“Give that report to my husband, the actual chief. Everyone seems to forget about him.”

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

Telyb nodded when Fooblicky looked his way.

“In the bible, it was a woman who informed the 11 remaining disciples of the Son of God’s resurrection.”

“Oh, shut up. Stop trying to sound smart the way Nosrup does and just listen to the report.”

Seeing the way Fooblicky was looking up at him, Telyb began to sweat and obeyed.

<Telyb’s Sight Mode has ended>

Telyb’s Board Mode: In DT Park[edit]

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

The Yard ambassadors and operators are looking your way.

The woman acting as a representative for the operators stands directly in front of you. She will be temporarily defined as “Operator”.

Telyb: “Fine then. I’ll hear you out. What does permanently neutral Switzerland have to say?”

Operator: “Yes, sir. They say they will leave this in our care. Also, you can check this window for the predicted international reactions.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

A large window opens above everyone’s head. It displays a world map with DT in the center.

Red parabolas leading to DT are drawn from each state and country on the map.

Operator: “The space inside that defense shield has been boosted 1000 times. Lieutenant Yuo’s data suggests a godtact experiment begins inside there at around 9:30 tonight. As it is 5:50 inside there, she has 220 minutes from her perspective, we have 22 minutes from ours, and the outside world has 13.2 seconds from theirs.”

Fooby: “Not even a missile launched now would arrive in time. The only ones who can possibly stop this are that idiot and Yuo. Although I get the feeling most people outside would consider themselves lucky if the great god were summoned.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky clicks her tongue.

Fooby: “The truth is, that probably would be best for the world as a whole. Switzerland claims they’re going to leave this with us, but I doubt that’s what they actually want.”

Telyb: “Either way, activating the great god would cause a great Godquake which would devastate the Great Lakes area. And even if you would like the great god to exist in this world, hoping this summoning works is the same as hoping all of us are killed.”

Fooby: “Yes, if the activation works, they would be fine, but if they cheer on the great god and it fails, then there will be an international debate on the ethics of the situation. Switzerland considers itself the world’s bank, so they need the world to consider them trustworthy.”

Telyb: “Which is why they’ve left us in charge. They win if the great god is activated and they receive accolades for trusting us if we succeed in stopping it. But what about the country of freedom we use as our parasitic host – what about the US?”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

One of the Yard ambassadors – a white man – stands up.

He is wearing a Yard strike force jacket over a brown suit. His hair is gray and his eyes are blue.

Unless otherwise specified or an Over Reload is made, he will be referred to as Ambassador1.

Ambassador1: “With the Cold War behind us, they want to prevent a single absolute power from descending upon our world. They are transferring all on-site authority to us, but they promise to provide aid if requested.”

Telyb: “The US has a bad habit of making political decisions based on what makes them most look like a hero. I bet the real reason is they don’t want to hand the great god over to Switzerland.”

Telyb: “But whatever the case, I appreciate the one keeping their neutrality and the other handing all authority to us.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

One of the Yard ambassadors – a black man – stands up.

He is wearing a Yard machine force uniform. His hair is black and his eyes are black.

Unless otherwise specified or an Over Reload is made, he will be referred to as Ambassador2.

Ambassador2: “I request to speak with my name and nationality left anonymous.”

<Notice: Anonymous setting approved. You will now be referred to as Anon1>

Anon1: “What about people like me who were just abandoned by our home countries?”

Telyb: “You have the right to harass your home country and the duty to wish for our victory.”

Anon1: “Are you sure that is wise? I mean, I’m all for it if I know I won’t be found out.”

Telyb: “No worries there. Have you forgotten this is an old hangout for Minus Elites?”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Anon1’s eyebrows are drooping and his lips are curled into a smile. It is a bitter smile.

Telyb: “Whatever the Plus world decides, our one and only job is to protect DT. So we will all play our parts. If your job is to assist the refugees, do that. If your job is to create the patch for Spell Breaker, do that. And if you have some spare time, use it to harass the bigshots who abandoned us here.”

Telyb: “And top priority for harassment are the countries that abandoned their Yard ambassadors.”

Fooby: “Yes. And if we want to send them a virus program, I suggest a time activated one. Once the countdown reaches 10 seconds remaining, it can display the countdown on all their machines with a big explosion in the background. And once the countdown reaches zero, it can display some kind of nasty message.”

Telyb: “That’s an awfully specific suggestion.”

Fooby: “And for good reason. I finished writing it a moment ago.”

<Telyb’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe entered Sight Mode as soon as he woke up.

His returned sight showed him a wooden frame and a stone panel. A lamp hung from the wooden frame.

He was looking at the ceiling.

He was lying on top of a cloth with a blanket over him. He was naked.

The ceiling he saw was vaguely familiar.

He checked the wall and saw decorative plates and framed posters attached to the stone texture.

He stared at them in his drowsy state, the sense of familiarity growing stronger.

<Whose…?>

His mind finally woke the rest of the way up.

“Yuo!”

He sprang up to a sitting position. He looked around, ignoring that the blanket fell away from him.

He found someone seated behind him by the pillow.

Her back was covered by a light green dress and brown hair.

Past the puffy shoulders of her dress, he saw a word mail window, a program window, and a few data icons.

He looked down at his naked body.

He had a high performance healing charm attached from his left shoulder to his right stomach. There was another on his right arm. He felt warmth below them, but no pain.

He sighed.

Then he looked down at the slender back next to him. To check something.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He blinked for a moment, but she still did not move.

The hair falling down her back did sway a bit, though. A window opened over that hair.

After a while longer, her hands stopped moving.

She took a breath and turned around. She closed the word mail window but left the program window open.

She slowly turned to face him with her knees atop the bed.

She tangled the skirt of her dress in her hands and tilted her head.

First, he looked at her face.

Then at her chest.

And her hips.

He leaned to the side to look at her butt too.

And…

“Mh,” he grunted in approval.

She gave him a troubled smile.

<Um, I wasn’t asking for you to judge my various body parts.>

“If you find a man who looks first at a woman’s face, then her boobs, and finally at her butt, you have found a truly honest man.”

“More than,” he replied without really checking on his condition.

Then he looked at her more closely. Her eyes were focused now.

To be certain, he held his hand out in front of her face and waved it side to side.

She smiled bitterly with the program window still glowing behind her.

“Mh,” he grunted in acknowledgment before doing so again. He also crossed his arms. “What do you think?”

She took a closer look at his face before answering.

<Oh, well, I had already seen your face in the audience chamber, but I suppose I was happy to see it again.>

“No. Not my face.”

He looked to the blanket draped over his hips and finally looked back at her.

“You saw me naked, didn’t you?”

<N-n-n-n-now wait a minute here. Back up.>

When she realized what he meant, she leaned forward, her face red but with anger rather than anything else. She reached out her white-gloved right hand to point at his left chest.

“I do not care about my healing, my wound, my hunger, or Monkey’s whereabouts,” calmly replied Aoe. “I asked what you thought.”

Yuo groaned and backed away. She held herself and tensed, but eventually…

<Umm.>

She held an open hand out toward him.

“But I didn’t get to strip you first. That bit of fun means you still owe me one.”

“Mh. You have a point there. There wasn’t anything else you could have done.” He crossed his arms and nodded deeply. “But the fact remains that I have not stripped you.”

She blushed down to her neck when he said that. The sweat on her brow dripped down her cheeks.

Maybe it was an overreaction from her subprograms, but her hands moved in a flustered way.

<U-um, S-Senpai? Are you, uh, familiar with the concept of negotiating?>

“Mh,” he confirmed, giving her some hope. But, “When I negotiate, I always demand it all.”

<Ugh, you really are an idiot, aren’t you?> Yuo spoke in her window and brought a hand to her forehead. <Um, uh, h-how far do you intend to strip me?>

<C-could you be a magnanimous Senpai by going easy on me and letting me keep my underwear on like in a game of strip poker?>

“Where did you learn about that?”

Aoe noticed a hint of enjoyment on her face when she answered on reflex, so he said something else.

“Yuo.”

<Um, yes?>

“What do you think?”

She backed away again.

<Um,> she said in her window and he smiled bitterly.

“Not what I meant. I’m asking if you enjoy this back-and-forth between us.”

Her eyes briefly widened. She looked taken aback but with her cheeks still flushed and she considered what he was asking her.

After a few seconds of silence, she nodded.

“That’s good enough for me. Let’s switch to Board Mode. I want to set the silliness aside and get some information on the present situation.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo is seated in front of you in a dress.

Aoe: <So what’s the situation?>

Yuo: <Let’s see. It is currently 6:40 PM inside the shield. The shield is still in place. If the plans Daikatana shared with us are still accurate, then the god will enter Algo and bring this all to a climax at around 9:30 PM.>

Aoe: <Then we need to go stop this right away.>

Yuo: <No, you can’t do that. Stop being so impatient.>

Aoe: <What’s the problem? You haven’t chickened out, have you? Or are you asking for something in return if you go?>

Yuo: <This is going the exact opposite of how Fooblicky said it would…>

Yuo: <Not that it matters. Telyb and Fooblicky are currently making a program for us. It will use Spell Breaker to apply a constant boost that allows us to go wild within the x1000 boost. It will be powered by donations from the outside world and the power of DT’s people. They say it should be ready at 9.>

Aoe: <Hm. So a little more than 2 more hours. We could grab a bite to eat and still have plenty of time to spare.>

Yuo: <Then let’s talk. I’ve read a lot of my own logs already.>

Yuo: <That gives us a lot to talk about. Even if I don’t have direct memories for a lot of it.>

Aoe: <You really are stupid, aren’t you? Why would you go and do something like that?>

Yuo: <What’s the problem? It’s all me anyway. …Oh.>

Aoe: <Oh, what?>

Yuo: <That reminded me that I win our “negotiation” from before. Because based on my journal, you already stripped me 6 years ago. I just don’t remember it anymore.>

Aoe: <But you saw me naked then too.>

Yuo: <That doesn’t count if I don’t remember it.>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo’s eyes bend and her teeth are showing. She is smiling.

Yuo: <That gives me a real advantage. Remembering it is a sin, Senpai.>

Aoe: <You don’t play fair… But anyway, you lost a lot of your past, didn’t you?>

Yuo: <Yes, I did. But I can partially regain a lot of it like this. Oh, but, Senpai?>

Yuo: <It said in my journal that when you, um, stripped me, you complimented me a lot. That’s something of a surprise.>

Aoe: <Huh? I did nothing of the sort.>

Aoe: <All I did was nod when you asked me what I thought about your underwear, your boobs, and your butt.>

Yuo: <That’s what I mean.>

Yuo: <You really did look at me and nod with that grunt of yours, didn’t you?>

Aoe: <Mh.>

Yuo: <That was enough for me. You either stay silent or protest when you don’t like something, don’t you?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo narrows her eyes a little and flattens her eyebrows. It is a look of relief.

Aoe: <…>

Yuo: <But it’s strange. If, hypothetically, we had done it all back then, I doubt we would have ended up like this.>

Aoe:

Yuo: <Are you going to tell me you want to pick up where we left off back then?>

Aoe: <No. There’s no point in rushing things and pressuring you to do that now.>

Yuo: <Eh? Why not?>

Aoe: <You have to ask?>

Aoe: <Because now you’ll always be by my side, won’t you?>

<Warning: Your body is collapsing. Immediately do something to prevent a fall.>

Aoe: <Mh?>

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s vision linked with his mind.

He was falling onto his side atop the bed. This was due to the medical charm covering him from the left chest to the right flank. The charm was applied tight enough to tug at his skin and it was making his entire body tense while he lost his balance.

His left side fell downward. Instead of the sheets, he found a smoother fabric below him. It was light green silk. But he found something else below his head. It was like a warm pillow.

That was Yuo’s lap.

He looked up to see her. She was lowering her head with her eyes shut.

When his thought appeared in a window, he realized he had been fully released from her management.

But I’m used to it now, appeared in the window while he focused on her face.

Her eyes were shut, but she still looked sleepy.

He guessed she hadn’t awoken from Board Mode yet.

But then he spoke aloud.

“That isn’t it.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He saw her looking at him with eyes open.

“What, am I forgetting something about that?”

She peered into his eyes.

That reminded him of the Board conversation he had held with Yuo while in the castle’s central comm tower.

She smiled when she saw the look of realization on his face.

“Yes, it was an oddly specific and unlikely request.”

Aoe sighed and looked into her face.

“I’m not sure what to do.”

She smiled bitterly at that.

<Yes, I’m not sure what to do either. It’s a strange feeling.>

“Why’s that?”

She raised her head a bit and placed a hand on her chest.

<So, um, can I ask something of you?>

“What is it?”

She narrowed her eyes a little and looked him in the eye.

“Sounds like you’re in a similar predicament to me earlier. Inconvenient, isn’t it?”

She nodded and glanced behind her.

The program window she hadn’t closed was still there.

“Huh? Is that really possible?”

Aoe considered it for a bit.

“Y’know, couldn’t you use that Mule one instead of forcing a link to use Wish Bringer? And if you can modify the Load starting conditions, can’t you change Wish Bringer’s starting condition to your hand, your boobs, or your butt?”

<Well, um, sort of, but…this is also practice.>

She blushed and hung her head.

He tilted his head as she tried to shrink as small as possible.

“Practice for what? Why is Grandloading along with mine useful?”

She looked straight down when he asked.

Eventually, she raised her flushed face and stared at him.

Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth shut in a serious expression. Some words were instantly displayed in a window above her.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe frowned with his head resting on Yuo’s lap.

She had just said linking activation of their Load Emblems was practice for a joint Load Emblem.

That meant she wanted to set up a joint Load Emblem with him. Or to put it another way…

“You want to perform a dangerous act with me?”

She waved her hands to stop him from continuing and hung her head a bit.

“So you want to link Wish Bringer with Black Belt now as practice, even if you can’t sing?”

Aoe nodded and considered it.

A joint Load Emblem required authorization from both parties and it would mean directly linking their individual traits.

By joining their Load Emblems, Aoe’s fists could be directly affected by the programs activated by Yuo’s song and that could increase his accuracy.

“What affect will this practice version have on me when we activate it?”

She took a breath.

“I see,” said Aoe, but then he realized something. “But creating a joint Load Emblem requires us to be together, doesn’t it? And doesn’t it require sharing our settings?”

He thought for a moment while viewing her face from close up.

Her eyebrows bent awkwardly and she looked away.

But after a sigh, he spoke clearly to her.

“I…”

He nodded.

“I want to create a joint Load Emblem with you.”

He scratched his head while still resting his head in her lap.

“Don’t make me say why that is.”

<I-I won’t.>

She blushed and quickly nodded without lowering her eyebrows.

Her shoulders drooped a bit and she gulped in a breath. Her words appeared in a window a few seconds later.

“Mh? Together?”

He didn’t look happy about that and she narrowed her eyes.

She laughed quietly and spoke through her thoughts.

<I’ve been thinking about this for centuries now, you know?>

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Telyb’s Board Mode: In DT Park[edit]

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky is at work next to you, typing on her see-through keyboard.

Fooby: “This is really weird. Those international Yard ambassadors are normally at each other’s throats, but the instant you suggested harassing their home countries, they’re all working together to do just that. You did love childish pranks even in your research days.”

Telyb: “Says the woman whose name is based on a game of mischievous dogs.”

Telyb: “I heard that indecent demand you made of Yuo at the end of your conversation there.”

Fooby: “Indecent? I only told her to tame that idiot. I never said a word as to how. …Although I did hear she stripped him bare while treating his wound.”

Telyb: “…”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky has stopped working.

Fooby: “Oh? What’s that look supposed to mean? I don’t see anything wrong with it. She seems really attached to that idiot even after losing her memories. …And I’m sure they both already have their justification ready.”

Telyb: “What justification?”

Fooby: “Oh, come on. You know what I mean. Just remember what you told me, a woman 10 years younger than you, before the 2nd Godtact Experiment.”

Telyb: “I said your miniature form is the most- geh!”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky’s fist has jabbed into your side.

You have fallen to your knees.

Fooby: “Before that, idiot. About the great god.”

Telyb: “Y-you mean that the great god is a purity fetishist who hates immoral people?”

Fooby: “So you do remember.”

Fooby: “Yes. And then you said we aren’t the great god, so we could corrupt this world twice as fast if we worked together.”

Fooby: “So, honey. What do you think would have happened if I had become the vessel like everyone initially wanted? It would have happened if you hadn’t said that to me.”

Telyb: “The same thing that happened anyway. I would have tried to stop it and ended up shooting you.”

Fooby: “Hee hee. You are such a bad liar.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky nods.

Her eyebrows are raised and her lips pursed. It is a look of satisfaction.

Fooby: “That means that idiot made a different decision than Suedomsa and you. He rescued the vessel with a power even greater than a gun and now he’s going to make her immoral.”

<Telyb’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The rooms lights were off and darkness surrounded Aoe.

The faintly lit scenery was visible out the window.

Light raced toward heaven from the tip of the tower sticking up into the dark southern sky.

Aoe held his right hand toward that light and started to remove the bandage covering that hand.

<Senpai?>

A window opened below him. Yuo had her bare back to him atop the waves formed by a light green dress.

He unwrapped the bandage from his arm and looked to his upper arm.

A scar ran through the front and back of the arm. The split in the skin had already filled with white scar tissue.

So he removed the medical charm from his chest as well.

He revealed the scar left by Algo and Daikatana and rolled up the charm.

“It’s still leaking blood. Just like you would expect of a wound tying you to someone else.”

He spoke to himself while viewing the scar on his chest.

The white line ran from his left shoulder to his right hip, but most of the blood had been absorbed by the charm, leaving only the scent of medicinal herbs and a bit of the oozing blood.

He tossed the balled-up charm in the trashcan next to the bed and looked to Yuo.

“Sorry, I got distracted. As pathetic as it sounds, I’m starting to get nervous about this.”

“Maybe something is weighing on my mind, making me distractable.”

Yuo got up in the darkness and approached him.

<What’s weighing on your mind?>

“You know I’m seeking the strongest Plus power, right? I want to be able to understand and surpass my opponent’s anxiety and fear using the fists I can trust in.”

<Yes, I have heard bits and pieces of that several times so far.>

“I managed to trust in my fists when I rescued you, but I still don’t know how to understand how other people feel. I mean, I can’t read people’s minds.”

He recalled a piece of data: the message in blood from Daikatana he has seen just before passing out from injury and hunger.

“But in his final moments, Daikatana told me to think of you if it bothered me I can’t read people’s minds.” He scratched his head with a troubled tone to his voice. “So maybe I’m thinking about you a little too much.”

He looked up to see her looking back at him.

He could see her sweaty skin in the darkness, showing him she really was looking right at him.

She tilted her head once before choosing her words carefully.

<U-umm, well, Senpai?>

“Yes?”

She looked up a bit and thought about what to say.

Eventually, she scooted toward him on her knees.

<Th-the thing is, I’m not sure what your problem is. You already know what Daikatana was talking about! You already know how to know what people are thinking!>

She took his hand and held it to her chest.

He felt her pulse. Her somewhat rapid pulse.

“Mh,” he grunted as she opened a window.

<Listen,> she said in a new window. <It may be difficult for a Plus person like you, but Minus people like us can do this from people’s words alone. We can never truly know someone else, but that’s why we do our best to imagine who they must be and think about what they must be thinking!>

“B-but that’s the Minus way. A Plus person like me can’t do that.”

Hearing that, Yuo looked to his hand on her chest.

She nodded, turned toward him, and said more.

“So the strongest power can be found in the Plus or the Minus? You just have to believe in yourself and…”

<Yes, and throw your fist while thinking of your opponent. That may be the best way of putting it.>

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe smiled bitterly at that. He laughed out loud and scratched his head.

“That’s the answer? Really?”

He looked at Yuo tilting her head in the nude and continued with a sigh in his voice.

“So it all comes down to thinking about your opponent first and foremost?”

He had some exasperation in his voice, but Yuo smiled instead.

<Yes, I believe so.>

That smile made Aoe consider the relationship between the Plus and the Minus.

Yuo blushed when she read the window floating above him. He only realized his thoughts had appeared in a window when he noticed her blush. He spoke to her while she hung her head and tensed her shoulders.

“Although I have some doubts how serious those thoughts about me are.”

<C-could you not tease me after all this?>

“But as much as my thinking about you seems to have put you in the mood...” He sat cross-legged on the bed. “Why am I all irritated instead of getting in the mood?”

She withered under his gaze and produced a window.

<Umm, logically speaking, wouldn’t that mean I’m not thinking about you enough?>

“Good point. So how about you put a little more effort into it. For example, you could directly-”

Yuo sighed, shoulders drooping.

Yuo came to a sudden stop.

He wondered what that was about and she scooted closer, apologized, and opened a window.

<Um, it turns out I never changed your management settings. You’re still a criminal.>

“I’m what?”

She held up the window to show him.

It displayed his management settings. All the fields scrolled rapidly by, but her focus zeroed in on one of them.

<Yeah, I was right. You’re restricted from all sexual activities.>

“Restricted!? How dare they!”

<Don’t get all worked up over it. Besides, the problem is you for trying to do that as a criminal. …Do you want to see the settings window with all the naughty stuff on it?>

“Mh,” confirmed Aoe, sighing and reading the window over Yuo’s shoulder.

“What does this ‘Highest Allowed Category’ setting mean? The options are hard, normal, and easy.”

“I was castrated!?”

Aoe’s expression grew super serious.

“I was starting to question a rather fundamental part of my being, but that explains it! Castrated!”

<Honestly, your basic stats must be way too high if you could take it this far with that kind of restriction in place.>

He ignored Yuo’s sidelong glance and reached for the window. He checked each of the humanoid icons lined up below the window and Yuo soon noticed.

<S-stop that! I’m not doing any of that acrobatic yoga-like stuff!>

“Why limit our options so soon?”

“Damn. …Hm, is this where the settings I share with my partner are located? Then what’s this icon of a rotating arrow?”

“Then this must be where you switch off the guy’s voice and Body display, this must be the sound effect volume level, and this must be the extra lives setting.”

Yuo breathed an exhausted sigh and said “this is a real pain” in her window.

<Um, this is important, so can we just check the consent box in the morals section, ignore the entire movement management section, and then Grandload? The subprograms are so businesslike I don’t want to do it that way.>

Yuo opened a new window.

<Yuo: Load Emblem Settings: Program Activation Change: Run>

With a quiet metallic sound, a tremor ran through her body, but nothing more.

However, there was a change on the Load Emblem settings window she opened for him to see.

“All of your settings are the same as mine.”

<Yes. It’s temporary, but our settings are shared. Now to change some of them.>

She switched off the symbol display, voiced expression, and activation notification window settings.

“Yeah, it would ruin the mood to suddenly hear shattering glass in the middle of it all.”

He noticed she was still messing with their windows.

“Hey, what’s that ‘shared pain’ setting you’re adding in?”

<Well, you’re used to pain, so I figured you could take on about 80% of my pain.>

“Deal with your own pain. Also, what’s this mosaic filter setting?”

<Well…um…maybe we don’t need to actually see certain parts of me and you?>

“But this is America.”

“They don’t censor that stuff either. I believe strongly in freedom of expression, so I refuse to use that setting.”

She hung her head and wordlessly closed the settings window. She breathed a lengthy sigh before speaking again.

<I’m no match for your lewd spirit, Senpai. Please do with me what you want.>

She held the settings window in her arms and leaned into his chest.

He embraced her and held her tight.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Their lips met a few times and they touched each other’s bodies.

He remained seated as he held her in his arms and viewed her.

She sat on his lap, her cheeks red and her eyes shut.

“Are you afraid?” he asked.

<I’m embarrassed. …Oh.>

When he poked at her side, she jumped and opened her eyes.

She sighed with some tears of surprise in her eyes.

“I would think it’s scarier if you can’t see. I’m not even sure what I might do.”

She breathed a heated sigh and he embraced her again. He placed her left arm around his back so her cheek pressed against his left chest.

She used that arm to hold him tight.

He could see her long ear growing red out to the tip.

“Press your ear against the wound you healed.”

<Um, okay.>

She nodded and did so. Her long ear bent as it pressed against him.

Her senses may have been heightened because she fidgeted for a bit at the uncomfortable distortion of her ear.

She finally came to a stop with her ear on his chest.

<You’re nervous too, aren’t you? Your heart is racing.>

She sounded happy and he responded with a grunt and a nod. He also placed his hand on her left breast.

He could hear her pulse through her skin.

In lieu of responding, he planted his lips on her neck.

He felt her pulse there as well. “Mh,” he grunted.

“I don’t know what to tell you.

“I don’t know why either.”

“I want you to touch me more.

“I’ll be fine.”

He smiled bitterly at her Text.

He turned his head to take a look at her. Her expression had softened and her movements had slowed.

He bit at her face and lips with his mouth. And he pulled her hips toward him with his left hand.

He didn’t remove his lips as he touched her with his right hand.

He rubbed and tapped his fingers along the bulging parts, the indented parts, the bony contours, and the spaces between the bones, hearing the sound of the taps passing through her body.

She let out a sigh when he touched her side and he swallowed that breath in his mouth.

<U-um, Senpai. Wh-what are we supposed to do when we do this sort of thing?>

“Use your imagination. Let’s just say this is commonly referred to as an extravaganza of sucking and groping.”

When his right hand slipped between her legs, her hips tried to escape backwards.

She used her empty left hand to grab his right hand and her face was noticeably red even in the dim light.

He ignored her. He touched her while biting her ear. Her shoulders shook as he tugged her head back with his teeth. She let out a heated sigh and obediently leaned her head back.

She was leaning backwards, so trying to move her hips back would only bend her body. When he touched her, she only shut her eyes with a quiet moan escaping her throat.

He used his teeth on the cartilage of her ear to turn her ear inside out in his mouth.

That was enough for a concerned sweat to cover her skin in his arms.

They spent a few minutes like that while she kept moaning with her body shaking again and again. Finally, she opened her tearful eyes.

<Ahh…>

“?”

<I’ve been defiled.>

A groan of protest left her throat and beads of sweat began to drip down her skin.

<What an indecent body,> she said.

<Hey, I can’t help that.>

Her body trembled in his arms.

She shut her eyes apologetically and leaned her head against him even as he bit her ear. He licked the bite mark on her ear before releasing it.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Her cheek, hair, and somewhat softened ear were resting on his shoulder.

She sighed and he felt the heat of the breath on his skin.

“Don’t worry. One night with me will be better than those 600 years combined.”

She opened her eyes and raised her head with surprise in her gaze.

“Mh,” he replied, looking to her.

After confirming the mood of guilt he had sensed from her was gone, he touched the side of her butt and her navel.

In his left arm, she brought her lips to his chest.

He noticed some blood seeping from his wound there.

She cleaned it off with her tongue.

Her tongue felt like a bug crawling on his wound. And at the same time…

<You’ve always tried to keep me from getting hurt, haven’t you?>

Instead of answering, he bit her ear again. Pressing his teeth into the cartilage and twisting it.

With a sound like a popping joint, the ear turned inside out.

A heated gasp left her.

She tensed and trembled a bit, but…

Seeing that in the window made him let go.

He held his arm around her back and lay her down on the bed.

She sank a bit into the waves of her removed dress.

She touched her bit ear, twisted her body toward him, and spread her knees.

He crawled on top of her, placing his hands next to her shoulders.

He looked her in the eye. Her somewhat tearful eyes were directed up at him and she said nothing.

“What is it, Yuo?”

She answered by narrowing her eyes and reaching her hands toward him.

Her extended index fingers touched the scar on his chest. And the drops of blood oozing out.

“That hurt, didn’t it?”

After a pause, he nodded and she narrowed her eyes.

She wiped a dot of red from his chest and licked it from her fingers.

She sucked his blood from her fingers and breathed a heated sigh.

After that, she used her removed dress as a pillow and placed her hands on her shoulders. It looked a lot like she wasn’t sure if her body suited her.

“I promise to give you an answer, so you make sure to imagine who I am from that answer.”

She smiled, her cheeks flushed red, looked up at him.

And she asked a question.

“What do you think of me?”

His response to her was brief.

“Mh.”

That made her smile grow as tears spilled from her eyes.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Puppy’s Special Board Mode: In DT Castle[edit]

<Puppy has been reactivated by a request from Yuo>

<Puppy’s Over Reload>

You are in Fortress 1F Dining Hall, a Top Page of the castle.

Aoe’s Mouse, Monkey, is sleeping next to you.

<Monkey has been reactivated>

<Puppy’s Action: Sharing request notification with Monkey>

Yuo: <Help me create a temporary joint Load Emblem setting.>

<Monkey understands the request from Yuo. He is following Puppy’s lead>

<Puppy’s Action: Movement: Target Set: Yuo: Run>

<Monkey’s Action: Movement: Target Set: Yuo: Run>

<The two Mice have left Fortress 1F Dining Hall>

Chapter 18: Runner[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Sing! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

Let’s see what happens.

I have an account ready at the Swiss bank and the final preparations are underway inside DT.

So let me be blunt: we need cash.

Can you some god-slaying power via that medium?

I have nothing else to ask of you. Normally, I’d be working with the other Demigods to summon the NPC Bodies left by the Three Sages or something like that, but the situation is too dire. And the Demigods outside the city aren’t any help at all…

Anyway, I wish the best of luck to this Minus city and to the people in the Plus world who can believe in this fake city.

The topic this time can be “belief”.

“Then the Son of God told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ ”

(John 20:29)

Just sent my payment -NoName

07/07/2000 DT 08:31 PM x1k (+05:31)

Help Text[edit]

Babel and the Izumo Company

Babel’s sponsor in DT is the Izumo Company, which funded the construction of Babel in Japan. Izumo was originally a large research laboratory known as the Izumo Aviation Virtual Laboratory, a collection of researchers dating back to before World War Two.

It is now a global corporation and a symbol of Japan, a change that came about from the internal conflict during the Rhythm development race that began in the ‘70s.

In 1983, the Izumo family’s representative went missing and management of Izumo fell to the branch family which established a profit-seeking corporate policy.

This led to an internal split. Several companies fell under the Izumo umbrella during 1983, but they began distancing themselves from the Izumo Aviation Virtual Laboratory. That was when the Izumo Aviation Virtual Laboratory changed its name to IZUMO.

This led to a situation where Izumo was split between the main IZUMO company and the associated companies that had split away. Both sides tried to argue they were the real Izumo.

The largest of the companies under the Izumo umbrella was IAI (Izumo Aviation Institute) led by Ooshiro Ataru, who had worked directly for the Izumo family representative.

The conflict between the branch family and Ooshiro was set to end with IZUMO’s construction of Babel in Osaka, but this fell through because Babel contained an illegal object.

IZUMO lost its power when that trouble forced them to abandon Babel, but when the closing of Tokyo led to conflict between east and west Japan, IZUMO’s responsibility was set aside.

IAI used that opportunity to rise to the forefront and arranged to have Babel, which was being managed by the Japanese government, sent to DT. Ooshiro took out a large insurance policy on Babel and had it sent to DT. The tower was presented as a way to seek the word of god regarding a resolution to the trouble around the world.

IAI was prepared for the possibility of Babel collapsing, so it would either bring IAI a great fortune or it would collapse and they would receive their insurance payout which they planned to use to construct another Babel.

That Babel was tentatively known as 3rd Babel and it was based on the initial design plan for Babel as a word cannon meant to blast through the Great Canopy. That Babel’s interior would have been a large gauss gun which would be used to break a hole in the Great Canopy. It was set to be constructed in Daytona, Florida, USA.

The construction technology used for Babel has already been used in a few standard products, so you could call it a symbol of the Izumo brand.

Even if it collapses, the Izumo family intends to rebuild the tower as many times as it takes and that family is said to be the descendants of the wind god who once ruled Japan’s Mystical City – Izumo. Izumo’s corporate side had its beginnings researching aviation in order to ride the winds, but with their representative gone, they are now fixated on constructing a tower up to heaven. There could be some hidden meaning there.

Fooblicky’s Sight Mode: In DT Park[edit]

<Fooblicky’s Over Reload>

In the park, Fooblicky looked up at the center of the group of Yard members and Yard ambassadors.

She looked up to see the analog clock’s hands approaching 3:30. The digital clock below its round face had just passed 8:30.

She looked down to see a Yard member shining a light toward the castle and Telyb standing behind him.

“Are you okay, honey? You’ve been in Sight Mode this whole time.”

“I didn’t get this belly by being short on spare heat energy.”

The surrounding Yard members nodded silently before she could say anything, so she smiled bitterly and asked something else.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes, we finished it a while back and sent the harassment emails to the UN and everyone’s countries. Those hardheaded old folks are probably trembling in front of the countdown on their desktop monitors right about now.”

“I didn’t mean that. Is everything ready to assist Yuo and the idiot?”

A few of the working operators turned toward her then.

A window opened in front of her, displaying several program icons.

One operator stood up.

“We somehow managed it in time. A shame it’s still standard working hours so we don’t get overtime for this.”

“I’ll make sure you get hazard pay. And good work, everyone.”

<Fooblicky’s Over Zoom>

Small smiles appeared on the faces of the Yard members around her.

After confirming that, she asked a question of the operator.

“Do we have the people’s support?”

“Everyone who is willing and able to help is gathering in the central square and nearby, regardless of age, sex, and occupation.”

“I see. Then how are things outside the city?”

“Switzerland set up a bank account for DT aid money 7 seconds ago in outside time. Boost funding is rapidly coming in, mostly from the US, Europe, and Japan. It’s primarily from online sources, but it’s gathering fast.”

Telyb whistled at that.

“If only we could spend that on ourselves.”

“These are donations by private citizens, not national governments.” Fooblicky smiled a little. “This is just what I would expect from Switzerland where money does the talking, but for once I’m grateful for it. These are all people who have never even met us and they’re using the incomplete global network to come together and help us.”

“Things really are getting better,” she mouthed but did not say.

“Ah,” gasped the Yard member sending the light toward the castle.

“What is it? Did you catch a voice?”

“No, two people just left the castle. It’s the lieutenant and…an Asian man!”

<Fooblicky’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

You are in Amusement Park Entrance, a Top Page of the amusement park.

There is a large garden and an entrance gate in front of you.

A single PC Body floats behind you. She is Yuo in her Yard light combat uniform.

There are 401 old-style NPC Bodies here.

Aoe: “We walk all this way and there’s suddenly more than 400 of them as soon as we get inside? And who’s the 1 of the 401?”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

One old-style NPC Body steps forward. He is Mekton Uriel Undefined.

Mekton: “Me.”

Yuo: <Mekton?>

Mekton: “H-hello again…Master Yuo.”

Yuo: <U-um, Mekton? Could you possibly let us through? No?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Mekton shakes his head.

Mekton: “I-I have…a job. Must punch…that idiot.”

Aoe: “Do you mean me? …Yuo, do you think we can talk this out? Should we try?”

Yuo: <Well…I hate to say it, but he’s a lot like you.>

Aoe: “What? I’m a perfectly reasonable guy.”

Mekton: “The idiot is lying.”

Aoe: “Do I need to teach you a painful lesson!?”

Yuo: <What happened to being reasonable?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo sighs.

Yuo: <Mekton. Please listen.>

Mekton: “No. I have…a job to do…with that idiot. I must test him. Master Suedomsa…gave me permission…to use my strongest power.”

Mekton: “Excel, Myst, and Daikatana…all tested him. I will do the same.”

Yuo: <Test him? You too? So you’re going to thank me and disappear like the others did?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Mekton nods his head.

Mekton: “You will not…give up anymore. S-so we must…not let you give up. That means…t-testing that idiot.”

Yuo: <…>

Mekton: “Sorry. But I know you will…be satisfied. You must…trust me.”

Yuo: <You had better…>

Yuo: <You had better leave me satisfied.>

Mekton: “I will. Because I am a clown. I satisfy the guests.”

Mekton: “Idiot. Do you have…anything to say?”

Aoe: “No, I don’t.”

Aoe: “But if I have to say something, I’ll say that I’m going to test myself this time. Because I think I get how to understand my opponent now.”

Aoe: “I won’t ask you with my words. I will finish this with the strongest attack.”

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Mekton nods his head.

Mekton: “Do you want to…be the strongest?”

Mekton: “Then I will f-fight you. S-so I can satisfy Master Yuo…and make sure she doesn’t worry once I am gone!”

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The sky overhead seemed endlessly large.

It was already filled with the black of night. It was no more than a dark color Aoe could not focus his eyes on.

A single shape jutted into that sky while emitting light toward heaven.

That shape was Babel.

A white ellipse floated near the artificial lake located in front of Babel.

…That’s the blimp.

With the management removed, Aoe’s thoughts remained in his head and he tapped Monkey’s face and pointed forward.

Between them and the blimp was a white castle full of light and several attractions.

A large white entrance gate stood with that amusement park scenery behind it.

“Welcome.”

The greeting came from the 401 NPC Bodies who managed the amusement park.

Standing out in front of their joined voices was Mekton in his black combat outfit.

The NPC Bodies behind him were dressed in the clothing of men and women both young and old.

They all wore their version of formal wear and carried combat equipment.

The guard knights readied rifles on horseback, the mages held glowing staffs, and the jesters were passing glowing orbs between each other. The restaurant workers were equipped with knives and other weapons and wore heavy-duty vests over their work uniforms.

Yuo, dressed in her light combat uniform, placed her left hand on Aoe’s shoulder while he viewed them all.

He did not turn to look at her. He simply viewed the strength of the hand on his shoulder.

“I’m going to break through. If I focus on speed, I won’t have to bother fighting him. You can blame me for that.”

Yuo’s right hand pushed a window into his view. It was her thought window.

He realized the strength had left the hand on his shoulder.

So he nodded with a smile on his lips.

Mekton was staring at them, like he was observing their conversation.

He crossed his arms with no apparent expression on his face.

“Aoe…you called me…i-inexperienced.

“But,” he added, swinging down both his fists without warning. His thick arms sliced through the air.

“This is my power.”

With that Text, the notification window for his Word Race trait change opened.

Several points of white light appeared around him.

But they did not come from any part of his body. They came from behind him.

Bluish-white toy soldier symbols appeared on the hands, feet, necks, and weapons of the 400 NPC Bodies.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The splitting stone sound was so loud it reached the level of a roar.

“We often…played with Master Yuo…and protected…her.

“Then she would…stop crying.”

<Pseudo Grandload: Running Pseudo Load Emblem: Tribes: Preparing>

Enough windows opened to surround them all and the excessive displays created noise resembling thunder.

Light shined from the hands, feet, necks, and weapons where the emblems had appeared on the 400 NPC Bodies.

A text string was drawn from the emblems.

●Type-XX050: Imperial-class: Tribes●

<Pseudo Grandload: Activating Pseudo Grandload of Mekton’s reflexes: Loading highest-level subprograms and releasing upper limit on Load Emblem applied reflexes>

Aoe saw diskette programs attach to the ends of the 400 text strings and begin to rapidly rotate.

…He’s the same Uriel type as Daikatana, but he uses it completely differently!

As soon as it was all ready, Mekton tapped the program control panel at his hip.

Bluish-white lightning appeared in his hands and his feet floated from the ground.

“This is a race, Aoe.”

He stood about a foot off the ground and looked back over his shoulder.

He looked past the white castle attraction and past the artificial lake, to something at the bottom of Babel. A plaza was built there with a beach-style swimming area.

A white blimp was floating there.

“Master Algo is…below that blimp.”

Aoe clicked his tongue at that and replied in annoyance.

“Enjoying a relaxing swim with sis, huh? He always did know how to take it easy.”

“Will you go meet him?”

“You bet I will. But I doubt you’re going to just let me through. You aren’t going to let me pace myself.”

A smile formed on the corners of Mekton’s lips and he raised his right hand.

Immediately, all of the NPC Bodies behind him ran backwards.

“!”

The wind blew as the 401 figures crossed the border between Top Pages and vanished into the amusement park.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe no longer saw Mekton or anyone else for that matter.

Only the small leaves of the garden’s bushes blowing in the wind.

But he did hear something. It was not coming from the amusement park.

It came from the sky. A noise seemed to ooze out of the word tower.

Babel was playing some music.

It was not a song everyone knew. Nor did it suit the amusement park situated at the tower’s feet. It was a deep, ringing march. Aoe recognized it.

He began humming the rhythm without meaning to and then recited one of the lines.

“I shall move ever forward.”

His lips stopped moving as a look of disbelief formed on his face.

He looked to Yuo’s hand on his shoulder. The hand was trembling in surprise.

He gulped and moved his gaze up from her hand.

She was looking to the amusement park with surprise on her face.

Then he realized something without needing to ask.

She still knew this song.

“Yuo.”

<Yes. Shortly before I came here, this song was written in North Kantou where the Kobayashi family lived. Dad and Alternative learned it right away, but…I had trouble learning it.>

She lowered her gaze in a troubled or tearful way, but then she smiled.

He moved his eyes when he saw that smile. He looked to the plaza below the blimp near glowing Babel. He could just barely make out the beach there.

“Sis is there, isn’t she? Algo too.”

She nodded. She still looked near tears, so the ferret lightly tapped her head and Monkey tapped her hand on Aoe’s shoulder.

That put a small smile on her face.

<Don’t worry. I’m fine.>

A window appeared over her head and Fooblicky’s voice reached the two of them.

“Yuo! And the idiot! We’re ready to go! We have less than half an hour left, so get to work!”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Fooblicky’s Sight Mode: In DT Park[edit]

<Fooblicky’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky and Telyb activated their Demigod Program in the center of the park.

A large joint emblem shaped like a blue set of scales glowed over their heads.

■Type-Origin: God-class: Balance of Power■

<Activating Grandload of Ogre’s physical strength and Fooblicky’s willpower: Loading full Lives and releasing upper limit on precise judgment>

Fooblicky glanced up at the emblem set to appear only once when they used the joint version.

Their greatest power was manifested there.

After confirming that from the shape of the emblem, she lowered her gaze for the first time.

<Fooblicky’s Over Reload: Full Sight Open>

She viewed the entirety of the amusement park past the mountain. She saw the two people standing in the entrance past the gate.

Her eyebrows angled somewhat angrily, but she had a smile on her lips.

She turned her gaze toward her own surroundings and found the Yard members, Yard ambassadors, and the ordinary residents were lined up in ranks atop the grass and looking her way.

She slowly spoke to them.

“We will now use Spell Breaker to link you with DT’s boost system. The linked power will be sent to Lieutenant Yuo within the defense shield surrounding Babel! We will keep this going until the situation is resolved. We’re in it for the long haul!”

They gave their acknowledgements and she nodded.

“Our enemy is Babel. In biblical times, the people used that tower to try and reach heaven, so god tore it down and prevented the people from understanding each other. …But this time we will stop the tower before god can show up. So once this battle is over, I am sure the entire world will criticize us. They will say the world would have been better off if we had died and the great god had been activated. But you know what?”

She opened a window.

“It’s strange, but there are Plus people who want to put our Minus lives ahead of the creation of the great god. All the money flowing in from the DT boost support fund is proof enough of that.” She tilted her head and showed them. “I’m thankful, but there’s no need to thank them. Their motives might not be entirely pure, after all. Besides, you could say the same about us since we tried to summon the great god so long ago. This is likely the response to that.”

“At their x1 speed, the Plus world is so slow to respond.”

She spoke with her will, but she formed a smile with no bitterness or mockery to it.

She tilted her head back and her hair brushed against Telyb’s belly.

She looked up and saw him nod overhead. He looked to everyone and began to speak.

“People! The great god everyone hopes will improve the world is apparently a purity fetishist who hates immoral people.”

Fooblicky’s eyes widened in surprise at that.

He shrugged before continuing.

“But…listen carefully. We are not the great god. We are the Minus Elites. So let’s each of us infect the world in our own way. And at 100 times the speed of ordinary society!”

When he spread his arms, the emblem overhead absorbed the wind and glowed brighter.

“We will now pour all of our support into just two of our people. But those two have progressed much further than any of us. Because they are fighting at a speed of x1000. …Let’s do this, everyone. Let’s push our harmful Minus powers to the greatest speed in the world to stop that lonely purity fetishist people are calling a great god.”

Fooblicky nodded and shut her eyes.

“As DT Yard Vice Chief, I have a mission for all DT citizens here.”

She reached out a hand and spread the fingers. As if forcefully grasping at something. As if reaching for the two people waiting to fight so far away.

Her lips moved to form the words.

“As a Minus Elite, I take the Plus world’s assistance and protect DT’s strongest attacker with my own power.”

<5th and 6th Demigods → Aoe: Spell Breaker: Transfer High Level Power Field: Run>

A beam of light filled her vision as it raced out in front of all the gathered people and NPC Bodies.

The light grew to a mirror-like panel and some text was written in the center.

<Keep up the attack. This constant power is bound to reach its target in this burdenless Minus world.>

<Fooblicky’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe looked to a sky filled with dark clouds.

A beam of light dropped toward him from there. The beam curved in on its way from some distant point.

Unlike lightning, this was a constant, unending power.

As it approached, Yuo ran her and Aoe’s Word Race traits and removed the limits on their abilities.

<Senpai! Grandload your Emblem now! Mine will activate along with it!>

Aoe gave a grunt of acknowledgement and readied his arms.

“Let’s go.

“And take back what was taken.”

“Yes, let’s go.

“And find the answer!”

<Grandload: Running Load Emblem: Black Belt: Preparing for Activation>

<Grandload: Running Load Emblem: Wish Bringer: Preparing for Activation>

Black metal spear emblems appeared clearly on Aoe’s hands.

■Type-AA0765 – God-class – Black Belt■

A songstress emblem drawn in green light floated behind Yuo’s back.

■Type-AA0765 – God-class – Wish Bringer■

Countless windows opened and the light of boosting power descended from the sky to reach their emblems.

The racing light connected with the ■ portion of the emblems.

The process was complete in mere moments.

Shattering glass sounds came from Aoe’s hands and fingertips and from Yuo’s back and they felt an impact run through their bodies.

Aoe tensed his hands. He briefly grasped at empty air, but a moment later…

“Hah!”

He raised his voice and filled the rest of his body with strength.

Meanwhile, Yuo took action behind him. The voiceless woman used only manual program activations, but she transformed the cloths around her shoulders and hips into key guarders which connected to her light combat outfit with lines of light.

<Senpai! I will assist you while I gather feedback data!>

<Yuo: Effect Range: Deactivate Optical Surface Visibility: Run>

The light connecting to Aoe from the sky was gone. No, he simply couldn’t see it anymore.

His feet floated from the ground and he took a step in the empty air while Yuo passed him a program trigon.

<Senpai. I don’t know if you’ll like this, but it gives a x7 boost to your movements. It->

He didn’t speak a word before tossing the trigon in his mouth.

It was curry flavored. Yuo’s idea of a curry flavor was fairly sweet, but he could tell she had tried to give it a flavor he would enjoy. He gave her a quick smile before getting started.

He gave a powerful kick at the empty air to move forward. He leaped into the amusement park’s Top Page.

Into the battlefield.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe remained in Sight Mode as he entered the Top Page.

The garden was directly in front of him when he entered the amusement park. Surrounding that was a plaza, itself surrounded by an arcade.

Yuo floated behind him thanks to her coordinate settings and she had opened two windows. One displayed the feedback data and the other the settings for their combined Load Emblems.

She typed at her keyboards for both windows and then opened a further window.

Aoe nodded. That normally wasn’t done because it gobbled up energy, but they were being boosted by everyone right now.

He appreciated that as he poured strength into his legs.

He ran.

It only took a moment to get used to running in midair. It felt a lot like repeatedly sliding forward.

“I feel like a GASAS attacker.”

He reached a top speed of approximately 140mph. After taking one step, he would leap 15 yards before the next step.

To change direction, he made skip turns with his feet or used the wind pressure to slide around corners.

To attack, he swung his arms at high enough speed to launch shockwaves.

“That’s ridiculous! I’d prefer a map, Yuo! Give me the most direct route to Babel!”

Monkey raised his front paw while clinging to Aoe’s right shoulder and a window opened to the right of Aoe’s face.

It displayed a general map with handwritten text.

From bottom to top, the plaza, the white castle, the artificial lake, and the swimming area were labeled.

“A duel on Ganryu Island. So Round 3 will be fought on Babel’s beach!”

He saw the large fountain in the center of the plaza past the entranceway.

It was lit up by the scarlet outdoor lights and a semicircle of souvenir shops were set up around it, creating a sort of wall.

He saw movement in the buildings and their shadows.

Arrows of transparent red light appeared in his vision. They pointed inside and on top of the stores and behind the fountain.

Those were the enemies.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

As soon as he saw them, countless winds blew his way.

The earth-rattling winds were in fact bullets.

“No need! They aren’t even worth dodging!”

He leaped.

His x7 boosted jump caused his footsteps to vanish and an empty wind to surround him.

He instantly reached an altitude of 10 yards.

He cleared the fountain below, along with the shop clerk NPC Bodies aiming guns his way.

A few of them followed him with their eyes, but none managed to follow him with their guns.

The stream of automatic gunfire pursued the path of his jump like a swinging whip.

It was all too slow.

He descended again, set to land between two shops. In other words, on the main street. He prepared to land while looking out head.

The view past the shops was blurry. That was the border between Pages.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom: Full Sight Open>

He could see the white castle. The tall, white structure looked straight out of a picture book.

There was a single arch-shaped hole at the bottom of the castle. There was light visible through the hole.

He smiled bitterly at how the building might as well have been telling him to pass through it. And he landed. He bent his legs to absorb the impact.

He adjusted his balance when inertia tried to topple him forward. After leaning nearly 30 degrees forward, he straightened his legs and continued forward.

His next leap took him across the Page border.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe left the plaza and saw the white castle. The tunnel through the castle was normally a large passageway used for displays and shows, but none of its lights were currently on.

He sank down and chose the shortest route. He prepared to charge through the dimly lit tunnel.

Just before he did, his ears caught a sound. The deep, intermittent sound reminded him a gear turning.

…What is that!?

He was close enough to the tunnel that he had no choice but to use it when the color black dropped down from above.

A barrier blocked his way.

He thought they were planning to trap him there, but then he heard another sound from behind.

He soon realized what the window from Yuo meant. A white horse lined up on either side of him.

The horses immediately matched his speed and they were already growing transparent.

“This is absurd!”

He further accelerated his legs. He threw himself forward like he was swinging his entire body.

He slipped below the lowering barrier and entered the castle.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In the White Castle[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe was inside the tunnel below the white castle. He was surrounded by darkness. The light of the exit shined about 80 yards ahead.

Four internal barriers were descending in between.

He also noted the number of transparent red arrows that appeared in the darkness around him.

<That’s a lot!>

“We need to break through!”

He was 70 yards from the exit.

He kicked at the air to continue forward. He parted the wind, increased his speed, and passed below the first of the internal barriers.

…Will the third one catch me?

He made that estimate while some kind of projectile flew through the darkness.

Yuo worriedly kept close to his back.

“Don’t worry! They only seem to be aiming at me!” he concluded by viewing the incoming bullets.

A white bullet flew straight toward his face as if to prove him right.

He straightened up and tilted to the right.

The air pressure took his floating body along a gentle curve, removing him from the line of fire in a surfing pose.

He dodged the attack.

As soon as he landed, he crouched low. The bullets coming from behind whizzed over Yuo’s head as she floated by his back.

He noticed several scream windows appear over her head.

He ignored that. He kept low and leaped forward.

The line of fire pursued his leap. He heard the floor being destroyed behind him. He no longer heard the music coming from Babel. Instead, he heard gunfire echoing down the tunnel.

The deep, low sounds were a lot like a jackhammer as they approached from behind.

Yuo quickly threw a window to him.

<Senpai! Faster! Faster!>

She answered that with a fist to his back. He smiled bitterly at the protest.

She had very little experience with this sort of thing, so she seemed to think the gunfire was aimed at her.

But every one of the bullets was definitely aimed at him.

They blatantly stopped firing whenever she got in the line of fire.

They didn’t want to harm her.

He had 50 yards to go.

The barriers had lowered to a yard overhead.

Thanks to his speed, he still felt the need to duck below the next one and kept on.

That was when the knights on either side caught up.

The surrounding gunfire stopped and the horseback knights appeared from either side.

He accelerated. Once the knights caught up from the rear of his vision, he twisted to the left.

He moved in front of the knight to his left. The knight raised his rifle toward Aoe.

But Aoe was faster.

He reached back his left hand and grabbed the muzzle of the rising rifle.

“!?”

He ignored the surprise coming through the metal he held.

Just once, he kicked hard off the floor. He kept the muzzle in his hand as he jumped over and behind the knight. He looked to Yuo, who was following his high speed movements thanks to her coordinate setting, and performed a flip without curling up.

The knight’s finger inside the trigger guard bent at an odd angle.

The sound of the breaking bone and the groan of agony were drowned out by the wind.

As soon as Aoe landed behind the knight, he ran toward the rear of the racing horse.

And he yanked yard on the gun he held.

The knight could not keep his grip with his finger broken.

The gun was now Aoe’s.

“Okay.”

He spoke for the first time and threw the gun forward.

He placed his fingers on the muzzle and pushed down on it to perform a snap draw.

At the same time, he moved toward the now-gunless left knight. The knight tried to turn around and draw his sword, but Aoe ran in from behind, kicked off the floor, and leaped.

The knight responded with a horizontal slash of his sword despite his broken finger.

Aoe jumped, lifted his legs, and placed his feet on the back of the swung sword.

He used the sword as footing while swinging his left foot’s toes up into the knight’s jaw.

“Sh!”

He felt and heard his toes hit flesh.

After the kick, he twisted backwards and performed a flip.

When he landed, he ran forward, the knight’s airborne body passing by overhead.

With its rider gone, the white horse staggered and veered to the left.

40 yards left

“Now the knight on the right!”

Aoe could see the right knight was already aiming his gun.

But it was too late.

Aoe reached his right hand ahead of him as he ran.

His hand stretched into the dark emptiness and something fell right into his grasp.

It was the rifle Aoe had thrown into the air earlier. The one he had stolen from the left knight.

Its grip fell into Aoe’s hand.

He had a solid grasp on it.

So he extended his arm, extended his wrist, held it out in a straight line, and squeezed the trigger.

A single gunshot rang out and the bullet struck the stomach of the knight’s armor.

The knight doubled over and rose into the air. The white attacker struck the horse’s head as he was launched forward.

The knight and the horse crashed into the barrier up ahead.

That loud impact was followed by the gunshot reverberating off the barrier.

The barrier shook and Aoe arrived within 3 yards of the exit.

The shaking stopped the barrier’s descent just long enough for Aoe to slide beneath. The gap was only 1.5 yards tall, but he kicked off the air and ducked even lower.

“Get down!”

He looked and found Yuo was on her back like her chair had toppled over.

<Yikes!>

The window conveying her shout hit the barrier and shattered.

That made a sound, but that was it. The two of them slipped below the barrier.

That was when Yuo opened a window.

<Senpai!>

His reflexes kicked in.

He saw Mekton right next to him.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

An enormous body in a black combat outfit was 5 yards to Aoe’s right.

That was Mekton.

Once Aoe realized Mekton had been running alongside him, using the knight as cover, he kicked hard off the air.

He leaped.

But Mekton stuck with him.

Footsteps rang loud as the two of them ran side by side with Yuo positioned behind Aoe. Aoe knew this opponent’s strength from the last time they fought. His attacks came heavy and fast.

Aoe swung down his right fist in a hook stance.

At 5 yards apart, his fist couldn’t reach, but the powerful punch soared out regardless.

A shockwave roared out from it.

Mekton reacted just as quickly. He raised his thick left arm as if swinging up the elbow. He rotated it upwards with so much force you would think he hadn’t given it any thought.

His left hand tore through the air, creating a shockwave.

The air blades collided between the two of them. The clash sounded like tearing paper.

White steam exploded out.

Sensing an oddity in the sound, Aoe leaped forward. He groaned when he saw a shockwave flying his way from the white smoke.

Mekton’s strength had overpowered his own.

“Uh, oh!” he shouted, moving forward.

He was less than 20 yards from the exit now.

Up ahead, he saw the final barrier closing.

The outside light brightened by the narrow gap between floor and barrier.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The gap below the barrier was less than a yard, so Aoe ran.

<Senpai!>

He knew why Yuo was shouting. He needed to hurry.

He sensed a large presence alongside him. He didn’t even need to check. He knew Mekton was there.

The two men charged toward the barrier’s gap at the full speed of their x7 boosted movement. Mekton arrived first.

He slid through feet first. It looked like the barrier would catch his thick upper body.

“Kh,” he groaned, grabbing the bottom of the barrier in both hands. Then he pushed himself through.

Next, Aoe glided through the air in a sliding pose. Yuo followed after him.

He passed through in an instant.

After emerging into the scarlet outdoor lights, he checked on Yuo behind him.

Her coordinate control had her floating a foot off the ground as she stretched toward him below the barrier.

She wasn’t going to make it.

Aoe realized the barrier had fallen too far.

Even if he grabbed her hand, the barrier would catch her on the shoulder.

Hitting the barrier at this speed would mean more than a simple injury.

Their 140mph momentum didn’t allow for hesitation. Aoe made up his mind while sliding.

“Yuo! Cancel your coordinate setting!” he shouted, grabbing Yuo’s hand below the barrier.

He tugged with all his might. That action as all Yuo needed to understand, so she held his hand back.

<Okay!>

She canceled the coordinate setting fixing her to a position relative to him.

That caused gravity to pull her down. The barrier was above her and the ground below.

Hitting the barrier would mean a terrible collision, but falling would mean scraping along the ground.

However, Aoe pulled her toward him while he slid through the air. And he swung her to the side like a baseball bat.

“Gah!”

With a loud shout, the emblem on his arm shined and he pulled out to safety.

She swung sideways, skimming just off the ground, and emerged from below the barrier.

Aoe stood up while taking her hand and turning around. Mekton had gotten to his feet nearby and was looking to them in surprise.

Aoe kicked off the ground again, not letting his momentum slow.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Behind the castle, Aoe swung Yuo around and left the tunnel.

They were moving at 120mph, which was more than 50yd/s, as he took her hand, turned around, and saw the sky covered by dark clouds.

He lowered his gaze to see the crimson outdoor lights and Yuo.

All across the amusement park, NPC Bodies activated emblems in their weapons and launched attacks.

But those attacks might as well have been decorative fireworks as Aoe spun Yuo around and pulled her toward him. He kept his balance and stored his inertia as he did so.

It all happened at high speed. All while he ran through the air to reach the tower.

“Come!”

A glass sound shattered in his hands.

“Okay!”

Another glass sound shattered at her feet.

They began a dance of evasion and forward progress.

They used the momentum of leaving the castle to spin.

They swapped and shifted locations while taking 140mph steps.

They sometimes took each other’s hands and sometimes moved apart, but always continued onward.

A familiar song provided music for their ball. It was the old song Babel played.

They kept onward.

The gunfire could not reach them or keep up with them, so it played out a rapid drumbeat on the stone pavement.

Aoe performed a rapid but leisurely turn with Yuo.

And he looked ahead.

He saw an artificial lake more than half a mile across.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The amusement park’s southernmost plaza was on the other side of the lake.

A giant white oval floated there.

The white object floating just off of the water in front of Babel was a blimp.

It was stopped above the swimming area on the opposite bank.

The artificial beach there looked blurry from this distance. It was lit up by some outdoor lights.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aoe saw someone running that way.

That was Mekton. In the instant he came alongside Aoe and Yuo, he turned their way.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe thought he saw an apologetic smile on Mekton’s face in that moment.

Mekton accelerated. He leaped above the lake and kicked off the air above the water to further accelerate. The water thrown into the air came from the wind whipped up by his movement, not by his feet.

Aoe and Yuo’s dance brought them to the lake too.

It was about time to end that dance.

Aoe pulled Yuo toward him and held her close just once.

<Senpai…>

She smiled bitterly.

But she didn’t say anything more.

She pressed her cheek against his neck and then pulled away. She made one last spin before reaffixing her coordinate.

“Mh,” grunted Aoe as he set foot atop the lake.

His feet were affixed in the air, but he slammed his boosted strength into the ground to launch himself over the water.

He flew toward the watery surface that had become a battlefield.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: At DT’s Amusement Park Artificial Lake[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The lake was an actual Top Page instead of an Other Page like the sky was.

Aoe’s opponent was already waiting for him.

100 yards away, at the center of the lake, the enormous man bent his arms in preparation.

Aoe responded with a fighting stance of his own, with Yuo at his back.

If his opponent was ready for a fight, he only had to charge on in.

He kicked off the water’s surface to continue forward.

He ran.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

“Mh!”

Running with his actions boosted seven times, he could clear the 100 yards in 1.5 seconds.

He ran, producing a wind that sent water splashing into the air.

He approached his enormous opponent in no time. Mekton took action when Aoe was 10 yards away.

He opened his right hand and readied the nails.

“Aoe!” he roared with a swing of the hand.

Aoe responded by leaning and then leaping to the right.

He made a right-angle course change, seeming to ignore his momentum. The wind whipped up and the water exploded from where he jumped.

But Mekton broke through the spray and pursued Aoe.

“Damn, he’s fast!”

Aoe turned himself toward Mekton to protect Yuo. By the time he landed from his leap and recovered his fighting stance, Mekton’s nails were about to reach him.

Mekton attacked with a fist and an open hand.

He sometimes attacked along straight lines and sometimes along curves.

Aoe sucked in a breath and backed away. He swung his upper body to the side, to the front, or to the back to dodge the claws.

While falling back and performing a sway back, he watched his enemy’s actions.

Mekton’s movements were powerful but sloppy.

But when Aoe swung his body to the side, Mekton stepped in the same direction.

When Aoe tried to go right, Mekton spread his legs to the right and attacked from the right.

When Aoe tried to go left, Mekton spread his legs to the left and attacked from the left.

That prevented Aoe from moving to the side, limiting him to backwards movement.

He needed a certain distance between them to step forward and make his attacks, but while falling back with all his might, he had trouble finding room to do anything else.

But whenever he again tried to move to the sides, an attack would stop him.

He couldn’t find a solution.

Just as he was getting irritated, the elbow of Mekton’s right arm lifted up. The man’s flank was visible.

“Kh!”

Aoe groaned and threw a right.

But his attack was blocked.

In that moment, he saw Mekton put up his guard before throwing a fist.

…Did he intentionally leave an opening to lure me in!?

Aoe immediately rejected the idea. Mekton’s face showed none of the frustration of someone who lured in his prey only for that prey to escape. His nearly expressionless face only showed the twist of his lips from blocking Aoe’s punch.

He had simply blocked the attack before seeing it.

There was only one way to take action before seeing your opponent’s attacks.

“Are you predicting my movements!?”

Aoe had done the same to Mekton before.

By predicting your opponent’s pattern, you could use even greater offense or defense to keep them from moving or attacking.

Mekton replied while throwing a flurry of attacks.

“I saw it. Tribes lets me use the eyes of the 400.”

Another blow.

“…!”

Mekton’s right fist attempted to break through Aoe’s defenses from above.

Aoe crouched and leaned back while jumping backwards.

He had been driven back. No…

…I’m still being driven back.

Aoe felt some panic as he considered his present situation.

His opponent was definitely responding to the beginnings of his actions. When he decided to move right or left, he made some kind of initial movement that acted as a signal and Mekton responded to that.

This was due to their previous battle and having 400 pairs of eyes on him.

Those initial movements were too subtle for the average person to make out.

At Aoe’s skill level, he wouldn’t give away his intent with his gaze.

Since the attack on Mekton’s open side had been blocked earlier, it had to be the movement of his shoulder in the instant he took aim.

…So do I just have to punch without thinking or taking aim?

That wasn’t possible. That kind of subconscious attack only happened when you took a hit and lost consciousness or when you were caught off guard. That wasn’t going to happen right when he needed it.

And while he tried to figure out what to do…

<Senpai! You can’t keep falling back! You need to move forward!>

Aoe spoke with his thoughts until a question occurred to him.

…What if I could make an attack disconnected from my will?

With that thought, he jumped backwards. Just before landing, he opened a window and tossed it to Yuo.

She gasped behind him.

Mekton charged in ahead of him.

He looked back toward Yuo, taking his eyes off of Mekton.

Yuo tapped him on the right shoulder.

That was the signal.

“!!”

Without thinking, he threw the exact same attack as before.

He aimed for Mekton’s right stomach.

By the time his body got moving, Mekton’s arm was already guarding his right stomach.

If Mekton blocked the punch, Aoe would be left open to attack immediately afterwards.

But Aoe threw the punch all the same.

His right shoulder shook, but it was his left fist that flew.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Mekton couldn’t react in time. He was guarding his right stomach, but Aoe’s fist hit the wall of muscle that was his unguarded left stomach.

“Kh!?”

What had looked like a right punch had been a left. The unreadable action made Mekton look up and fall back.

Aoe responded by moving forward and preparing to swing his left fist, so Mekton guarded his left side.

Yet it was Aoe’s right fist that jabbed into Mekton’s right stomach.

“What!?” shouted Mekton.

Aoe tilted his head to give Mekton a view of Yuo behind him.

Mekton’s eyes found the window floating over Yuo’s head as she typed on a see-through keyboard.

The windows said, <Yuo→Aoe: Body Control Setting: Left-Right Reversal: Run immediately after beginning of attack>

As soon as Aoe began to attack, his left and right sides switched out.

Suedomsa had used the same setting change to make Aoe trip in the castle’s audience chamber.

But while Grandloading and when he knew the reversal was coming…

“I can stay in control!” he shouted, taking a leaping step forward.

His attack landed, producing the sound of struck flesh.

Mekton bent backwards.

In that instant, something small fell from Mekton’s pocket and flew through the air.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

It was a program trigon. The one for Yuo’s voice.

The yellow trigon flew through the air in the 6 yards between Aoe and Mekton, veering a bit to the left.

“Is that Yuo’s voice!?”

Aoe hesitated.

If he moved to collect the trigon, Mekton would attack.

It was especially bad that the trigon was falling to his left. If he moved in that direction, he would be exposing his unguarded body to Mekton.

But if he didn’t collect it, Yuo’s voice would sink to the bottom of the lake.

Mekton ignored Aoe’s thought and took action. He took a step forward.

“Ohh!”

Aoe made up his mind when he heard the great roar of Mekton’s will.

After confirming Mekton was throwing his right fist, Aoe reached his left hand back over his shoulder.

And he raised his voice.

“Yuo!”

A shattering glass sound came from his left hand and Yuo grabbed that hand. She did so slowly and with uncertainty in her grasp.

He didn’t have time to give the answer, so he simply squeezed her hand.

His will passed to her and she acknowledged it with her Text.

“Okay!”

Their actions were synchronized from there on.

Yuo canceled her coordinate setting and he swung her to the left by her hand.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He ran forward, swinging her in an arc around him.

She rotated while skimming just above the water.

During that rotation, she collected her own voice in her hand.

At the same time, Aoe threw a kick toward Mekton.

“…!”

It landed.

In that instant, Aoe saw that Mekton’s right hand was not forming a fist. His hand was open and swept through empty air.

…He was trying to collect the dropped program trigon?

Why? wondered Aoe.

But things were progressing too quickly to find an answer to that question.

Mekton was stopped by the counterattack.

At the same time, Yuo circled behind Mekton with her program in her grasp.

Aoe followed her. Like a pendulum, her weight tugged on him and spun him around behind Mekton.

All the movement occurred in an instant.

Aoe pulled on Yuo’s arm so she wouldn’t fall into the water and she used her see-through keyboard to reset her coordinate property to place herself behind him. She flicked the program trigon into the air with her thumb and her ferret caught it in his mouth and swallowed it.

Now she had them all.

And he heard a voice.

“Senpai! I have the feedback data I wanted! I’m going to activate the joint Load Emblem based on our shared memories!”

He heard her voice for the first time in a while and a window opened.

<Do you agree to share your settings with Yuo? Y/N>

He tapped the Y on the window and Yuo did the same behind him.

The window shattered into glowing dust and then he heard a song.

Yuo was singing along with the music played by Babel.

“I…”

He nodded and joined her with his will.

“I shall move ever forward!”

Aoe and Yuo’s joint Grandload activated.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

The first thing to appear was light.

The light that appeared around Aoe and Yuo came from a spiral of windows.

A group of 32 windows surrounded them and emblems appeared on Aoe’s fists and Yuo’s back.

The emblems were formed from a black light and they depicted a prophetess singing with a spear in the background. In the narrow space of the emblem, there were stars in the sky, a laurel wreath on her head, and determination on her face.

Aoe looked ahead with the new emblem on his fists.

The windows describing the special effects of their Word Race settings and the windows notifying them of the Grandload opened as he released his Text and Yuo’s voice did the same behind him.

They both asked the world to grant a simple wish.

“Come to me, power.”

The world responded.

<Grandload: Running Joint Grandload: Ultima: Preparing>

A window granted permission to the 256M Lives and granted them both power.

<Activating Joint Load Emblem>

Aoe and Yuo’s wills were answered by text strings racing from their emblems. They ran from Aoe’s fists to his elbows and from Yuo’s back to her shoulders. That text formed words.

■Type-Origin – God-class – Ultima■

<Activating Grandload of Aoe’s arm strength and Yuo’s voice: Loading all Lives and releasing upper limit on high-speed attacks>

As soon as the emblems were complete, Yuo sang and Aoe directed all of his strength forward.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe sang. He belted out the contents of his heart as if teaching Yuo the lyrics.

“I shall move ever forward.”

He moved forward.

“I shall move forward.”

Mekton forcibly turned toward him.

“To accomplish something or to solve a problem.”

That didn’t matter. Aoe spun his body to the right and let fly a rightward roundhouse kick.

“No matter the strength or speed of my foe. No matter the destiny carried by my foe.”

His right leg drew out a large arc and then swung down.

“I shall move ever forward.”

Mekton fell back to dodge.

“My hands shall tear down my foe’s every barrier and my feet shall trample their every trap.”

Aoe pursued. Once his right toes reached the floor, he spun his body atop them. He threw a left kick this time.

“I wield the defensive power to block any wind. I wield the offensive power to tear through any wall.”

Mekton also dodged the second kick sent overhead. His cheek bent.

“My power is a manifestation of my will.”

“That was…Daikatana’s move!”

“My Lives carry all this power with them.”

Aoe did not confirm it. Nor did he stop attacking. He balanced on his left heel to send out another right kick.

“They carry the power of my hands, legs, head, and even the minute power of the tip of my toe.”

He rapidly swung his leg down in a third rotating kick.

“I shall draw on all that power and surround myself in my own willpower.”

He heard Yuo’s voice as he kicked off the floor with his left pivot leg.

“I can fight.”

He jumped to increase the height of the third kick. To send it further.

“I can fight.”

Mekton realized he couldn’t dodge the extended kick, so he crossed his arms overhead.

“So I shall move ever forward.”

He took a defensive stance. Aoe’s right heel slammed down against the crossed arms.

“To accomplish something or to solve a problem.”

The impact caused the bones to strain inside Mekton’s arms, but he lowered his hips to endure it.

“That is why I sing this marching song of progress.”

Mekton spread his arms wide, launching Aoe’s blocked right leg upwards.

“Any goal is achievable if you never give up.”

Aoe nodded at Yuo’s song. And his left pivot leg crashed into Mekton’s jaw from below.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

“…!”

Mekton’s large body lifted from the ground and bent back.

Aoe had intentionally let the trio of downward kicks be blocked and deflected and used that force to power a roundhouse kick from below. The final kick had only been possible because he used his left leg to support him.

He bent back, made a full flip, and landed with both feet on the ground.

Mekton managed to stop himself after taking a single step back. He had looked up and seen the white blimp behind him for a moment, but his powerful gaze was back on Aoe soon enough.

With his jaw broken, blood dripped from his mouth.

“Gah!”

He used a powerful swing of his unsteady body to retake a fighting stance.

“Ah!”

He opened his mouth.

“Eh!”

He shouted, but Aoe was already moving forward.

<Senpai!>

Yuo shouted, but Aoe focused on his enemy instead.

Mekton’s trembling legs were beginning to grow transparent.

…I had a feeling.

That was the result of boosting himself while receiving power from 400 NPC Bodies.

He trembled and displayed his destruction through his transparency as he asked a question.

“What will it be!? Your killing power? Or your strongest power?”

Aoe answered while approaching.

“The strongest!”

He thought about his battle with Mekton. He thought about the things that had happened during it.

He recalled that the 400 NPC Bodies had avoided aiming at Yuo even though she was their enemy.

He recalled that Mekton had tried to retrieve the falling program trigon when he could have won the battle.

“There’s only one possible conclusion there!”

…Was he protecting Yuo to avoid losing her?

As soon as that thought raced through Aoe’s mind, he clenched his right fist which contained an infinity and he released his will.

“Then I will use this attacking fist to protect Yuo!”

A shattering glass sound came from his fist.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Up ahead, he saw Mekton’s chest as his target and Mekton’s right fist swinging in from the side.

Aoe swung his fist. He couldn’t have dodged if he tried and he didn’t even consider it.

They both sent out a powerful blow.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

“Kh!”

Aoe’s fist was faster. His right fist carried all of his strength to the center of Mekton’s chest.

It landed.

The impact erupted at Mekton’s back, not his chest. Mekton’s body shook with a sound like a falling boulder.

But that did not stop him from moving.

His right fist was going to catch Aoe on the side of the head. Aoe realized something when he saw the approaching fist.

A moment later, Yuo wrapped her arms around his neck from behind.

“Stop!” she shouted just as Mekton’s fist ran right through Aoe’s head.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

For a few seconds, Aoe came to a complete stop and waited.

The wind blew across the water and chilled his skin.

The wind directed his attention out front.

After wrapping her arms around him from behind, Yuo had covered his face with them.

Past her arms, he saw his own right fist pressed against a thick chest covered in black.

Past his fist, he saw Mekton with the white blimp behind him.

He was frozen in his punching stance.

Blood spilled from his mouth as he looked down at them with a faint smile.

“Master Yuo.”

But Yuo may not have been able to hear his voice because her arms did not move.

Aoe looked back to see she had her eyes and mouth squeezed tightly shut.

…What is she so worked up about?

He smiled bitterly and looked Mekton in the eye. Mekton looked him in the eye too, so Aoe pulled back his right fist and poked at Yuo’s arm that was dangerously close to strangling him.

Then she moved behind him. He sensed her slowly raising her head.

“Eh?” she said, her hair tickling the sides of Aoe’s neck.

She was looking side to side. She stopped while looking to the right, so Aoe sighed and did the same.

He saw a fist there.

It had been passing through his face this entire time. It was Mekton’s enormous right fist.

It was transparent.

Aoe heard Yuo’s voice while he viewed the fist from the inside.

“Its hitbox is gone.”

Sure enough, Mekton’s entire arm had gone transparent at this point.

“His fist wasn’t disturbing the air on its way to me,” said Aoe to no one in particular.

Then he looked to Mekton.

He sighed and asked a question.

“It seemed to me you intentionally took that final attack. Did you?”

Mekton shut his eyes and nodded.

“I thought…it would be best…to let it hit.”

Yuo asked a question about that. She leaned forward with her hands on Aoe’s shoulders.

“Was that because…you knew Senpai would protect me?”

Mekton opened his eyes a crack to view Yuo.

He lowered his gaze and thought for a bit.

“I made up my mind…when this idiot…collected the program…and attacked. I knew then…that he would protect you. And I knew…he wouldn’t choose to die.” Mekton spoke softly. “My job…was to protect you. And you kept me company…and cheered me on. But I knew…I would lose eventually. But…but I hoped I could get him…to protect you for me.”

“And that was your way of thanking her?”

Aoe saw Mekton starting to flash.

“We all…felt the same. We wanted something…that could defeat us like that. We wanted a Master Yuo who would not give up…a new Master Yuo who could defeat us all.

“Do you understand?” he asked Aoe.

As he disappeared, he turned his eyes toward Yuo.

Aoe looked over his shoulder. He saw Yuo on the verge of tears as she faced Mekton.

Mekton narrowed his eyes and smiled.

He opened his smiling mouth and spoke a quiet but distinct pair of words.

“Don’t cry.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Mekton disappeared.

Aoe shut his eyes.

Yuo’s hands were on his shoulders. Her hands trembled as they gripped his flesh.

He took a few deep breaths before opening his eyes.

He looked to the sky. He saw the dark clouds and the silhouette of the tower jutting up into that darkness.

He lowered his gaze to find a blimp.

He stared at it.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Below the blimp was the artificial lake’s shore. A small sandy beach was built there and two people stood on it.

“That’s them,” said Aoe, feeling the tremor vanish from Yuo’s hands.

Her hands squeezed firmly in lieu of a nod.

Not feeling a need for any more words, he started walking across the water.

Slowly at first, but soon…

“Let’s go, Yuo.”

He ran. His feet kicked spray into the air on the way to the final battlefield.

The enemy he had sought awaited him there.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Fooblicky’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Park[edit]

'’'<Fooblicky’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky fought a sea of data below the dark sky.

“But all I’m doing is preserving my Demigod Program with my see-through keyboards!”

She shouted in anger while managing all the people sending power to Aoe and managing the boost assistance coming from the outside world.

Behind her, Telyb had his own keyboard open.

“You look awfully busy, but do you want to take a break to eat?”

“You eat it for me! Our heat energy settings are shared!”

She immediately felt a sweet flavor spreading through her mouth.

She wondered what he was eating, but she simply gulped and kept typing.

Around her, the Yard members and ordinary residents were sending their own power into the windows opened in front of them.

She heard impacts, blows, strikes, and shattering.

So many other sounds and actions sent light streaking out.

The lights flew toward the beach plaza below the blimp stopped at Babel’s base.

Fooblicky spoke to herself while viewing the back of the blimp in the distance.

“We need to treat everyone to a big party if this works.”

<Fooblicky’s Sight Mode has updated>

Algo’s Board Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Algo’s Over Reload>

You are currently in Babel Plaza – Beach, a Top Page of the amusement park.

It is located atop an artificial beach 150 yards long and 20 yards wide.

There is a blimp behind you.

A single old-style NPC Body is standing by your side: Alternative Kobayashi Asb. She is using the old-style NPC Body as a terminal for your Mind Lives.

Two PC Bodies are approaching: Aoe Shouzou Asb and Yuo Suedomsa Wav.

Algo: <Now, then.>

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Aoe walks toward you from the artificial lake with Yuo still on his shoulders.

His brow is a bit wrinkled. The meaning is unclear.

Algo: “Took you long enough, Aoe. …Come on, Alternative, you greet them too.”

Alternative: <Oh, u-um…it’s good to see you again.>

Yuo: “L-likewise.”

Aoe: “What are you getting all nervous about, idiot?”

Yuo: “H-how am I supposed to give a normal greeting given the circumstances?”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

You cross your arms and nod.

Algo: “Perhaps we should have skipped the pleasantries and started fighting.”

Yuo: “Oh, sorry. I’m just a little nervous is all.”

Yuo: “So, um, what should we do now?”

Algo: “Good question. The thing is, the Questron has already been activated atop Babel, but I can’t have Aoe interfering after we go inside and begin the godtact experiment. It would be best to have our battle before we attempt that. If we win, I plan on summoning the great god.”

Aoe: “And we must prevent that.”

Algo: “Precisely. But for now, take a look around you.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Two windows open in front of you.

<Questron Status: Setup Complete: Awaiting Activation>

<Warning: Emergency Exit: Too many Great God Lives are gathering within Babel. If Questron input is not completed soon, Babel could collapse>

Algo: “Babel has been running since Master Suedomsa started it up for the previous godtact experiment. The Great God Lives have already been extracted and continue to accumulate. So…”

Yuo: “Babel is functioning as a temporary vessel, isn’t it?”

Algo: “Yes, so if you do not defeat us soon…”

Aoe: “Babel will explode like Yuo did during the 2nd Godtact Experiment?”

Alternative: <Shouzou, phrasing it like that isn’t very nice to my sister.>

Aoe: “Mh. Sorry, sis. But the thing is…I have a thought about that.”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Aoe is wrinkling his brow with a lopsided frown on his lips. It is a puzzled look.

Aoe: “Wouldn’t it be best if the Great God Lives gathered in Babel until it collapsed?”

Yuo: “Eh?”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Yuo grabs Aoe’s arm and shakes him.

Yuo: “Y-you can’t be serious! Yes, that would be better than having the great god activate and trigger a Great Godquake, but the explosion of Great God Lives during the 2nd Godtact Experiment partially destroyed DT!”

Aoe: “Only because you weren’t there.”

Yuo: “Eh?”

Aoe: “Can’t your Demigod Program suppress the explosion?”

Aoe: “And even if we do stop Babel now, all the countries out there will start arguing over who owns the Great God Lives inside it. In the worst case, that could lead to someone else being chosen as a vessel like you were.”

Aoe: “So I think we should eliminate all of the Great God Lives.”

Yuo: “…”

<Algo’s Over Reload>

You nod once.

Algo: “Ha ha. You never change, do you? And after we all worked so hard to extract the Great God Lives, I certainly don’t want to see them used as political tools.”

Algo: “So. If we lose, will you explode the Great God Lives?”

Aoe: “It is one option.”

Yuo: “And you want me to suppress the explosion? I feel like I’m being forced to clean up the mess I caused when I partially destroyed DT during the 2nd Godtact Experiment.”

Algo: “Ha ha. What’s wrong with that, Yuo? Of course, that assumes that Aoe can defeat me before Babel collapses.”

Yuo: “But if we do that, you and Alternative will both be…”

Algo: “The same goes for you two if we win, right? It seems to me no one would ever do anything if they let themselves get hung up on issues like that. So how about this? No hard feelings no matter who wins.”

Yuo: “…”

Algo: “Do you get it now? Then let’s enjoy a battle between a pair of strongest powers.”

<Algo’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe looked around in the dark night that only existed inside the shield.

He was in the plaza in front of Babel. It contained a beach built alongside the amusement park’s artificial lake.

The beach was 20 yards long. The artificial lake’s waves were washing up three yards to his right.

To his left was a 20yd grassy plaza. Beyond that was a forest and Babel.

The only lights were the plaza’s three outdoor lights.

He couldn’t see the park where Fooblicky and the others were because the blimp was in the way.

Everything was dark and still, so the waves were the only sound.

In that near silence, a man and woman in white stood about 10 yards away from him.

They were Algo and Alternative, who had grown to her full height.

Their white clothing palely reflected the lights.

Algo’s face was visible. It bore a slight smile.

He kept the smile as he opened his mouth and spoke alongside the sound of the waves.

“I am past worrying if anyone is watching, but this is an important battle. We should settle this in private.”

Aoe nodded and looked to the dark artificial lake.

He had fought Mekton there earlier, but its surface was placid now that they had left the amusement park. The lights of the park were visible in the distance, but Aoe knew it was empty.

Then he looked to his left.

He saw a massive wall there. It was blurry since it was in a different Page, but it had several lights shining from its surface. He knew it was in fact the silhouette of Babel in the darkness.

Babel shined its lights into the sky, but its great size kept him from seeing the whole thing at once.

“Curious about Babel, Aoe? But you cannot defeat me if you do not focus on the battle.”

He turned toward that voice and found Algo looking his way on the beach.

“Let’s get started.”

With the voice of Algo’s will, an emblem symbol appeared on Algo’s right hand and on the back of Alternative’s head.

The emblem was a white nail in a box.

Algo clenched the hand bearing the emblem and release his Text.

“I will grasp the answer here and now.

“Because ‘someday’ must have meant today.”

His lips formed the Text and Alternative’s lips followed along.

Immediately, rows of windows opened around them.

Those announced the activation of their Word Race traits and the beginning of their Grandload, but a single window appeared at the very end.

<Activating Joint Load Emblem>

Text strings emerged from their emblems.

●Type-Origin – God-class – Sudden Strike●

<Activating Grandload of Algo’s arm strength and Alternative’s perception: Loading all Lives and releasing upper limit on high-speed attacks>

And…

“That isn’t all we can do!”

Algo raised his emblem-bearing arms.

<Algo’s Over Zoom>

Suddenly, a flashing white light appeared over Aoe’s head.

“Lightning!?”

His question was drowned out by a sky-splitting roar.

The vibration of the air crashing down from above sent spray up from the surface of the dark lake.

“––––!!”

Aoe saw something in that sound.

The light emitted from the top of Babel had grown even brighter.

The thunderous roar was the scream of scorched air.

Yuo’s voice reached him through the din descending from the sky.

“Babel has started releasing all of the heat energy it gains while extracting from the ley lines!”

As if to confirm this, the four beams of light in the sky roared, stretched out, and scorched the air as their motion suddenly changed.

They curved downwards, toward the man standing in front of Aoe.

The light was descending toward Algo’s raised arms.

It dropped down with a sound reminiscent of a waterfall and was devoured by Algo’s emblems.

Both his arms received two high-level boosts taken from the word tower. The four beams of light made a powerful tearing sound while they shook and never left the ● portion of his emblems.

That was the same as the boost Aoe and Yuo were receiving from the Yard.

But when Alternative opened a window behind Algo, the light and sound disappeared.

She had deactivated their visibility setting.

Darkness and silence returned to their surroundings and Algo spread his arms.

He looked like he was trying to embrace the sky while he spoke in a carrying voice.

“I have one question, Aoe. The bible says the Son of God ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of god. We were brought here by divine symbolism and now we are trying to bring it all to an end.”

So…

“How do you intend to stop us? Defeating my strongest power requires achieving a strongest power of your own. But how do you intend to surpass our concerns?”

Aoe thought for a moment and then clenched his right fist.

He had a simple answer.

“Let me teach you a certain rule of martial arts.”

He raised his right fist.

“Any question can be answered with your fists.”

“I see.” Algo shut his eyes and nodded. “If your fists can indeed provide an answer, then we will leave everything in your hands. But if they cannot, then we will summon the great god in accordance with the divine symbolism. Is that clear?”

He took a breath.

“If you intend to defeat our divine symbolism, then we will defeat you with that same symbolism. This world is too great a burden for humankind, so there is no need for you to struggle so. Leave everything in our care.”

Aoe did not respond. He simply readied his fist bearing his Grandload emblem and watched Algo.

Algo raised his head to watch him in turn.

Aoe started by focusing on his vision.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

This was an artificial beach. During the day, families would come here to play.

It was a meaningless location for a battle.

No one else was around to witness the battle.

There wasn’t enough light.

No one else’s voices could reach them.

But Aoe deepened his fighting stance.

A wave reached his feet.

The artificial lake’s waves were greater than normal thanks to the earlier shaking of the air.

He could see the waves reaching Algo’s feet as well.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice, the waves wet the sand and audibly receded.

After the fourth time, they both deepened their fighting stances.

Their feet audibly dug into the sand.

Their hands audibly clenched their leather gloves.

They both opened only a crack, but their wills spoke clearly.

“Come.”

The sound of shattering minerals came from their fists and they began their attacks.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Chapter 19: Maximum Power[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Feel! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

Thanks, everyone!

It looks like we’ve started the final battle in here!

The boost funding keeps pouring in, but the other side is apparently doing the same thing.

Is there anything left for us to do?

Yes, there is.

If you can wait, then wait.

If you can cheer them on, then cheer them on.

Either way, you’ll see the result in just a moment.

This is going down at 1000 times the speed of the outside world, after all.

Will we survive, or will the great god rise up?

They’re making a real racket over there.

And that racket will lead to our answer.

Let’s see this through.

Let’s find out if this fake city has a real answer!

Let’s do this. This is probably the last entry for this whole affair, so of course I’m going to quote the ending for the Son of God from the eternal best seller: the bible.

“After the Son of God had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.”

(Mark 16:19)

07/07/2000 DT 09:29 PM x1k (+06:29)

Help Text[edit]

Words Warn and Reincarnation Theory

It is said the Words Warn illness is incurable because it causes the elements making up your very being to break down, but this presents a problem of interpretation based on current research.

This would suggest that Words Warn is not an illness at all, but a proof of the reincarnation evolution and destruction given to Lives.

According to reincarnation theory, all beings carry karma with them. And all beings are given the abilities needed to face and destroy that karma. They are repeatedly reincarnated with that karma, constantly battling against it. But this theory contains three contradictions.

Contradiction 1: What happens to a being once their karma has been destroyed too fully to be reincarnated?

Contradiction 2: Karma changes and evolves with each new age and as technology changes. However, the abilities used to destroy karma do not change or evolve – they reincarnate. How can that keep up with the changing and evolving karma?

Contradiction 3: Each new era and the changing of the world leads to the creation of new karma, but where do the beings needed to oppose that karma come from? If all beings reincarnate, then there will be no new beings to face the new karma.

It has been suggested that Words Warn is the method of resolving these contradictions.

Words Warn causes a being to fully break down and be destroyed.

This part is only speculation at this point, but it is thought the broken down Lives rejoin the ley lines where they are given a new Lives arrangement. In other words…

Contradiction 1’s Solution: When a being fully destroys their karma, Words Warn releases them from karma when they reach the end of their lifespan and they are rearranged to face new karma.

Contradiction 2’s Solution: When a being cannot handle the evolved karma, they are broken down by Words Warn. They are then reconstructed for their next reincarnation and the ley lines grant them new abilities capable of handling the evolved karma.

Contradiction 3’s Solution: When new karma appears, the broken down Lives that have returned to the ley lines are made into beings who can destroy the new karma.

None of this has been observed as of yet.

Contradiction 1 is especially tenuous as we have no way of determining if karma has been fully destroyed, but if it is true, it would explain why beings reincarnate between species, how evolved karma is handled, and why some people appear to inherit the abilities of people who lived before.

Words Warn is the first disease to exist in our City World, but some experts have suggested that the many times the world was destroyed during the Obstacle Era and earlier were because the people could no longer handle the evolving karma. So to avoid that from happening again, the world itself created Words Warn and gave it to us as a means of freeing people from karma and allowing us to evolve.

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

They exchanged blows and Aoe took a few as the battle accelerated.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe saw the sky and the massive structure, saw the forest and the beach, saw the lake and the amusement park’s lights, and saw his enemy.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

An impact knocked Aoe flying.

“Gh!”

He sent out his remaining striking power to stay in the fight. He pulled his right knee to his chest while in midair.

That was to ensure he could throw a kick at a moment’s notice.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo was coming.

He was fast.

Algo tore through the wind and aimed for the left leg Aoe intended to land on.

Algo crouched low and threw his hips forward. He slid forward and swept his leg around in front of him.

Airborne Aoe responded by pulling his left leg up to avoid the leg sweep.

Just beforehand, Algo’s sweeping leg accelerated and Aoe’s right leg swung down.

Aoe’s right heel stabbed into the beach.

“Oh.”

Aoe’s attack had missed and Algo threw himself forward. Algo kicked off the ground with his right foot and lifted his butt while jabbing his left heel upwards.

He performed a heel kick from the ground.

Aoe pulled his left knee up to block with his shin. Algo’s left heel struck it from below.

The impact sounded explosive.

Aoe’s left leg strained and a rupture of air sent spray everywhere.

Aoe was launched backwards.

Meanwhile, Algo used the returning force of the kick to roll forward. He kicked at the sand and put some distance between them.

But Aoe didn’t let him go. He forced his left leg up even with the previous impact still affecting it.

He moved to catch Algo’s fleeing left leg with his toes, but he also kicked up at Algo.

“Oh,” said Algo as the rotation of his body sped up.

He had twisted forward in a roll, but the extra force turned the roll into a tumble and he landed hard on his side.

Aoe’s feet slid as he landed, sending sand spraying out in front of him.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

They faced each other from about 4 yards away. Aoe took a fighting stance and let out a breath.

He bounced on his feet with his sweat forming a white steam in the chilly wind.

Algo did the same. He took a fighting stance with sweat on his brow.

Alternative was visible past his shoulder.

Aoe looked down and noted the kick mark left on Algo’s white pants.

“I hit you.”

“You did.”

Algo shook his head to fling the sweat from his brow and nodded.

Seeing that nod, Aoe checked his own body.

He had taken hits to the limbs, torso, back, face, and neck and he still felt the strain.

He had only hit his opponent once. Nevertheless…

“I can do this,” he told himself.

Algo smiled bitterly.

“You’re a tough one.”

“Little late to be noticing that,” said Aoe. He took a breath, adjusted his fighting stance, and listened to the waves of the artificial lake. “I gave up on defeating you once.”

He nodded with a smile on his lips and shook the sound of the waves from his ears.

“But no longer.”

Blood dripped down his lips.

A finger wiped away the blood. A slender hand had reached in from behind him.

That was Yuo.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her lick the blood from her finger.

Her face was a bit pale, but she had plenty of strength in her eyes and eyebrows.

After licking the blood away, she removed the finger from her lips and let out a heated sigh.

And she quietly asked a question.

“This isn’t all you can do, is it?”

Both men answered.

“No,” said Aoe. “It isn’t,” agreed Algo.

Alternative followed up Algo’s words by shutting her eyes and shaking her head.

A moment later, Aoe and Algo clashed in an explosion of sand.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

This battle felt familiar to Aoe on a level deeper than conscious thought.

He had fought like this with Algo before.

That was back when they were at Ungyou’s Kobayashi Dojo. In the early mornings, they had descended the mountain and sparred on the coast of the port village.

In this fake world, Aoe felt some familiar emotions.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Out of the corner of his eye, Aoe saw Yuo feed Monkey a program trigon.

<Senpai!>

Her window popped up and his speed increased.

The speed boost was a variable thing. He could choose to boost his speed anywhere from x1 to x10.

He understood why she had done this.

His enemy – no, his opponent named Algo – was speeding up.

Algo’s fist was coming. A fist with divine speed.

Aoe ducked, digging his feet into the sand to dodge his opponent’s fist barely enough that it tore through his hair.

This new speed brought fresh sweat to his skin, but the wind pressure dried that up in an instant.

His surroundings looked dimly lit. That meant their actions were distorting and shifting the wind.

In that dark scene, Algo’s white clothing and golden hair stood out against the waves behind him.

…And I must be really hard to see.

Because I’m wearing all black, thought Aoe.

He could sense his movements once more. His opponent swung his hand on a downward arc toward his head, but he moved to dodge that.

He moved left, digging his left shoulder into the barrier that was the air.

He broke through that barrier.

The air audibly split and then his evasion went quickly.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He narrowed his vision, focusing only on Algo’s movements.

His surroundings grew blurry, but he could see the white attacks clearly.

A kick flew rapidly toward him.

Algo’s kick was so fast it visually skipped forward through the air. DT’s visuals could not keep up with the speed.

Aoe considered the situation.

…Since he’s joined with sis, the Words Warn will only give him a few more minutes to live.

Why? he wondered while taking evasive action.

…Why is he wielding all this power to fight?

“Why?”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

His question took the form of a fist.

Algo’s left was coming. Aoe’s instincts launched his right fist in a motion baked into his body.

He swung his arm, threw his entire body forward, and sent all his motion directly into his fist.

The dense attack power crashed into its target.

The two attacks canceled each other out. The impact of deflecting Algo’s fist traveled back up his arm, through his shoulder, up his neck, and into his cheek.

Aoe considered the tremor he felt racing throughout his body.

…Why does he need so much power?

He knew why.

“There is a power that can destroy that and save them!”

He shouted.

“To save them…

“I must use my own power to surpass their anxiety and fear!”

Shattering glass sounds came from Aoe’s arms.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom – Full Sight Open>

<–––––!>

His thoughts grew clear.

He raised his head, sweat flew from him, and he faced forward with his renewed vision.

He saw Algo and the background so much more clearly.

This was the beach in front of Babel. It was fake sand alongside an artificial lake.

A massive structure split the sky overhead.

The false sky.

The fake sky.

The Minus sky.

The wind blowing below the clouds and the night was chilly, but even that was created by a weather program.

His own body was fake in the same way, even if he had Loaded into it.

He knew all that. But…

The things he felt within all these fake things were no lie.

He looked to Algo as they exchanged blows. He looked to Alternative.

Why Algo fought was obvious.

It was just as clear why he wanted to win.

So there was only one way to defeat him.

Algo carried an anxiety telling him he had to bring all of this to an end.

Telling him he had to summon the great god.

Telling him to fear Words Warn and the Plus world. Telling him to purify it all with the great god.

“I must overcome it all!”

Aoe shouted his will and jumped back to put some distance between them.

“Because that is the only victory you will accept!”

If he only had to win from his perspective, there had to be better ways and other strategies.

But that wasn’t what he wanted.

What was the strongest power? He already knew the answer.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo’s afterimage smiled at the window reconfirming Aoe’s will.

<Yes, the strongest power is gained by thinking about your opponent. And that is the only power you can safely use against your opponent.>

Aoe nodded in response.

…It’s a power that can’t be put to words and that will make your opponent accept defeat.

He understood something now.

He understood how Algo had managed to use the strongest power in the battle that had killed Ungyou.

Algo sped up as he viewed that window.

<Yes. I was too inexperienced, so he couldn’t teach me the strongest without accepting that fate.>

Algo’s expression changed for just a moment. He looked close to tears.

“Can the two of you surpass the divine symbolism we chose in order to conquer our fears!”

Blood sprayed from Algo’s skin as he broke through the wind and approached.

The heat burned his skin and his blood vessels and nerves appeared on the surface like knots on a rope.

He sped up and reached the limits of his control.

He couldn’t eliminate his momentum and he briefly entered the water.

But even as a pillar of water erupted from the lake, Algo kept charging toward Aoe, the water failing to catch at his feet.

It all happened in an instant.

“This all ends here!” shouted Algo, his white afterimage kicking up the sand as it rushed in.

Alternative raised a fist while seemingly supporting his movement from behind.

Their movements were synced and she used her Load Emblem to assist his actions.

Aoe sensed Yuo moving behind him.

That window disappeared nearly instantly. She eliminated her doubt and produced a different window instead.

Aoe heard a song from behind him.

In their high-speed motion, her hands produced a circular grid keyboard from her key guarders and began boosting Aoe.

But her song also created a program to support his movement.

She sang to keep his body intact and whole.

He answered her song with movement.

The movement felt almost slow within the high speed of the imminent clash.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe pulled his right fist back at eye height.

He inhaled.

He tensed and relaxed his right fist.

He tensed and relaxed his right wrist.

He tensed and relaxed his right arm.

He tensed and relaxed his right shoulder.

Same for his chest, back, hip, butt, thigh, knee, shin, ankle, and big toe. He gathered strength in them all before relaxing them again. It traveled in a straight line from his arm to the foot planted behind him.

“…!!”

His entire body told him to roar, so…

“Oh!!”

He released a biting roar.

His entire body shot forward.

All 175cm of him tore through the wind as he leaped.

Power exploded below his feet, blasting the sand behind him.

On his way forward, he gathered his strength in the opposite direction from before. From the foot to the fist.

The foot, the ankle, the shin, the knee, the thigh, the buttocks, the hip, the back, the chest.

And finally the right shoulder, the right arm, and the right wrist.

He poured forward-directed power into them all and clenched his right fist.

All the strength in his body concentrated there.

If he sent that fist out, it would form a straight line from his foot to his fist.

“Mh.”

He sharpened the straight line running through his body and placed the knuckle of his middle finger at the leading edge.

All of his speed and weight were there.

He took a powerful step forward, toward his opponent. He ducked low from the head.

A great sound rang out.

It came from his feet digging into the sand.

He also heard the waves and the wind rushing by his ears.

He heard his breath leaving his throat and joining the air.

All of those sounds were fake.

They were no more than sound effects created by DT.

The sand below him was also fake.

…Yes, that’s right.

The beach was fake.

The waves washing up to his feet were fake.

The lights of the amusement park visible past the waves were fake.

Even the sky above all those fake things was fake.

<That’s DT’s sky.>

That’s right, his racing mind muttered.

The darkness in the sky above was fake.

The clouds blowing through it were fake.

The wind blowing the clouds was fake.

Everything he could see when looking up from this fake land was just as fake.

The heavens and the earth were fake in this city.

But he was just as confident that he really was there.

<Ohh!>

He viewed the distant amusement park lights, heard his own breaths, heard the waves blowing in the wind, and felt the sand beneath his feet.

He faced forward as he ran and saw his enemy there.

So he gathered strength in his fist.

“This ends here!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo did not dodge.

He sent his raised left fist into Aoe’s fist.

He went all out.

He showed no hesitation.

He sent out the fastest attack, which was also a killer attack.

Just as their two attacks collided, their powers reached an equilibrium and nearly exploded.

The impact traveled back through Aoe’s fist and up to his neck. The sound rang in his ears and rattled his brain.

In the brief moment of collision, Aoe had a thought.

…How…

He had a realization.

“How is any of this fake!?”

It was all there.

The familiar things.

The things he wanted.

Even the things he had forgotten.

And that wasn’t all.

“Yuo.”

Something so important remained by his side.

He could sense it all. And…

…Look.

He thought to himself.

…Look at it all now.

But that was when his vision distorted.

Thinking there was something wrong with his sense of sight, he shouted his will to correct it.

“I will never exchange blows with this man again!”

His Downloaded vision remained distorted.

There was nothing wrong with his sense of sight. The distortion came from the tears in his eyes.

His great speed scattered the tears into the air and he poured strength into his arm to push on his colliding fist.

But the tears weakened that strength.

And just as he sensed his own weakness, he sensed another strength and a voice.

A gentle strength grasped his upper arm and a powerful voice rang out.

He sensed the strength tactilely, but the voice rang out as a will.

“Don’t give up!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

It was Yuo.

She leaned out over his right shoulder and swung out her own right arm.

Monkey and the ferret clung to her right shoulder and stared out ahead of his fist.

The Mice watched as her Load Emblem linked with his.

He realized the hand on his right arm was Yuo’s power.

It was a gentle thing that did not supply any additional attack power. Her voice also had no actual effect.

But they were both crucially important to him.

He knew in that moment that he had everything he needed.

He gave a roar.

“I will surpass you!”

His will moved his body.

He shook his head, brushed away the tears, and shouted his thoughts.

“Go.

“I will no longer give up!”

The Son of God emblem on his right arm and Yuo’s back shined and they gained a renewed awareness of themselves. Text strings audibly emerged from the emblems.

■Type-Origin – God-class – Ultima■

The strongest Plus power shot out with no fear of the Minus.

It all happened in an instant.

Algo smiled when he saw Aoe and Yuo on his right shoulder in that moment.

“So the child of god has indeed arrived at the right hand of god!”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Algo’s left arm could not counteract Aoe’s strength, so it shattered.

Aoe’s fist continued on to strike Algo in the center of the chest.

“…!”

The impact produced a great heat that scorched the air.

The sandy beach split apart and water erupted from the artificial lake.

Algo himself was launched backwards.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Fooblicky’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Park[edit]

<Fooblicky’s Over Reload>

Their power suddenly vanished.

The mirrors emitting light in front of everyone around Fooblicky disappeared.

It wasn’t that she or Telyb had canceled the spell.

The power had been cut off at its destination. As if to say the power was no longer necessary.

Inside the park, everyone looked to Babel.

The evacuees, the Yard members, the Yard ambassadors, and Telyb all did.

They saw the defense shield connecting Babel and the castle disappear.

The same happened to the shield around the park.

A single large window opened overhead.

<Removing localized speed boost: All of DT returning to standard x100 boost>

“So now it’s all back to normal,” sighed Fooblicky.

Just then, windows opened in front of everyone.

They displayed the numeral 0 in white using the standard large gothic typeface.

That was the virus program the Yard members had created earlier.

The white numeral soon changed to a video of an explosion with a loud sound effect to match.

But the screen suddenly went blank after the explosion finished.

A quiet triple chord tune played as text appeared on the blank windows.

Fooblicky read aloud the single English word written in black.

“Congratulations.”

<Fooblicky’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT’s Amusement Park[edit]

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Algo stood on the beach sans left arm.

Alternative stood to his right and worked to helped prop him up.

With the blimp behind him, heat left his body and white steam rose into the sky. The blood vessels bulged out on his upper arm and neck, a few had ruptured, and blood spilled into the waves washing at his feet.

But in addition to that, he had blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

That was due to Aoe’s fist and the Words Warn.

He and Aoe faced each other from within arm’s reach.

The wind blew through. The waves reached their feet, reaching up to their ankles.

The water was more ticklish than cold.

The giant wall to the left – Babel – continued to make noise.

The air moved and the wind blew.

But they did not move.

Aoe only sensed Yuo holding her breath behind him.

The wind blew and Algo narrowed his eyes. He wobbled on his feet, scaring Alternative, but it only happened once. He stood tall and spoke weakly but with a smile.

“Such a pleasant breeze. Nice and cool.”

The waves nearly drowned out his voice and Aoe did not reply.

Nevertheless, Algo pulled three program trigons from his pocket.

He looked to the sky.

“Aoe, why is the wind so cold?”

Aoe opened his mouth to respond.

But when he spoke, his voice was squeezed from his throat, not from the mouth.

“Because a wind that wants to be a wind…feels like the wind.”

“Yes. So I ask you, Aoe. Does your Plus fist remain real even in this Minus world?”

Aoe looked to his right fist.

After making his attack and pulling it back, the emblem had vanished.

That was only a PC Body’s clenched fist being run by a subprogram.

He stared at his fist and Algo shut his eyes.

“Yuo.”

“Um, yes!? What is it!?”

She looked up and Algo waved his hand.

He tossed the three program trigons over Aoe’s shoulder, one by one.

Monkey followed them with his eyes and the ferret caught them in his mouth and swallowed them.

“Those are Babel’s management program, the queen’s Demigod Program…and Master Suedomsa’s Demigod Program.”

“You’re really giving me all of this?”

“Oh, no. The Babel one and the Queen’s one I am merely returning. Oh, and Yuo? Take a look at Aoe’s eyes.”

“Mh?” grunted Aoe as he looked back over his shoulder. Yuo placed her hand on his right shoulder and looked at his face.

Her eyes wandered searchingly, until…

“Oh,” she said and opened a window. The window displayed a photo of his face.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Now he understood the reason for her surprise. Something about him had changed in that window.

“My eye color.”

The right one was still black, but the left one had turned green.

He heard Algo’s voice.

“The title of Master has been passed down, creating someone even more powerful.”

Aoe looked back and saw Algo clenching his fist.

Algo approached, stepping through the waves with Alternative.

He was now fully within arm’s reach and he spoke with his face gone somewhat pale.

“This is exactly how Master Ungyou said it would end.”

“What? Old Man Ungyou predicted this?”

“He did. He told me that you could never learn the strongest power from him, since he was your master.”

“You don’t mean…?”

Aoe gasped and Algo shut his eyes, saying nothing more.

But he did pull his fist back in front of Aoe.

He took the most basic of stances for a martial artist: the middle punch stance.

Aoe knew the meaning of this, so he clenched his right fist and pulled it back as well.

Algo asked a question.

“Can you show me the punch that created the strongest power?”

Aoe shut his eyes just once. He clenched his teeth and pushed down what he felt rising into his throat. But it didn’t work. The tremor escaped him in his breath.

He did not perform a Load. Because he knew the fist he sent forward was real.

He opened his eyes and Algo did the same to look at him.

It began suddenly.

Algo’s fist moved.

Aoe watched that movement and pulled back his right arm without lowering his head.

A wave washed over his feet as he threw a weak punch.

“––––”

Algo’s fist grazed his hair, but it didn’t hit. It passed behind him.

Instead, Aoe’s fist struck Algo in the chest.

It was a weak thing, more placing his fist there than anything.

It barely even made a sound.

Aoe heard the sound of the wave receding and then heard Algo’s voice.

“Was that supposed to be a punch?”

“But!”

Aoe hung his head. He kept his fist clenched as he bit his lower lip and grabbed Algo’s shoulder with his left hand.

Algo placed his right on that left hand and squeezed it.

Aoe looked to Algo, still biting his lip.

Algo smiled. His smiling lips parted and his grip on Aoe’s hand increased.

“Begin anew from here, Aoe.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

As soon as Algo spoke those words, a window opened between the two of them.

<Warning: Emergency exit has been breached: Great God Lives accumulation within Babel has passed the critical point. They are no longer controllable: Babel could collapse in approximately 270 seconds>

<Warning: All PC Bodies in range of this window alert should immediately evacuate to the southern park>

A siren rang in the distance and Algo let go of Aoe’s hand.

“It is time. The Great God Lives will disappear just as you want them to.”

He spoke with no emotion in his voice and pulled a book from his pocket.

He held out a copy of the bible. It was the one he had inherited from Kobayashi Ungyou.

A ring sat atop the black leather cover.

The pearl ring was the one Algo had been wearing on his right hand earlier.

He pressed the two items to Aoe’s chest.

A single window appeared over Algo and Alternative’s heads.

Aoe wasn’t sure which one of them that window came from, but he still raised his voice.

“Hey!”

Aoe looked down to catch the bible and ring before they fell, but that was when Algo turned around without another word. Algo picked Alternative up with his remaining arm and ran toward the bow of the blimp.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe looked up in surprise to see long golden hair blowing in the wind.

Those two did not look back.

In an instant, Algo made a boosted leap onto the top of the blimp.

“Wa-”

Before Aoe could tell him to wait, a deep rumble ran through the air.

The blimp was beginning to rise.

He knew where it had to be going: to the top of Babel.

Neither the man standing on the blimp nor the woman in his arm looked back.

Aoe stretched his hand out toward them.

But he stopped himself. He knew what they were doing.

“They’re going to deal with the Great God Lives inside Babel.”

After saying that, Aoe reached his right arm back and around Yuo to pick her up.

The blimp carrying Algo and Alternative was already far overhead and still rising.

He did not look that way. He turned away from the sky and looked Yuo in the eye instead.

She was lowering her head a bit, but she nodded with determination on her face.

She was telling him to do this.

Just then, the air shook and the ground quaked.

“…!”

Just as he braced against the quake below his feet, windows opened all around, displaying alerts in red text.

Yuo spoke from his arm, a note of panic in her voice.

“Has Babel started to collapse!?”

Aoe didn’t answer. He ran along the beach, leaping out onto the artificial lake.

Yuo altered her coordinate setting to take a seat in the air while he gave her an instruction.

“Yuo, put up a shield!”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Fooblicky’s Sight Mode: In DT Park[edit]

<Fooblicky’s Over Reload>

It only took Babel an instant to collapse.

The park happened to be the perfect spot to watch it happen, so Fooblicky shouted to everyone around her.

“Switch to Sight Mode!”

Before she was even finished speaking, Babel’s towering form swelled out. The internal structure had given way to the inner pressure of the Great God Lives, breaking the frame from within and tearing open the joints in the outer paneling.

The inner light leaked out through the scars of the expansion.

It was a divine light. It expanded outwards in search of the path of least resistance.

That path was upwards.

It blasted through the heat dissipation device that formed Babel’s roof and continued on into the sky.

It only took an instant.

The top of the tower shattered and emitted light.

Babel exploded, shredding itself all the way down the tower.

The outer paneling opened as if blossoming and light spread from the center like a flower.

At the same time, a cylindrical shield surrounded blossoming Babel and rose toward the heavens.

That was a defense shield.

“That’s Yuo’s Demigod Program!”

The barrier of light created by a Demigod attempted to suppress Babel’s explosion.

But the great god’s power was going to win out. The middle of the shield was swelling.

If the shield was torn through by the inner pressure, DT would be partially destroyed.

Text strings formed in circular orbits around the shield and a song scattered from it, but it wasn’t enough. The surface of the shield glowed bright as it expanded.

And then…

<Fooblicky’s Over Reload: Full Sight Open>

An elliptical shape was blasted up from the center of the explosion while the light enveloped it.

That was the blimp.

Someone stood atop the blimp.

A man with a woman on his right shoulder.

The heat burned his body as he raised his right arm.

The woman on his shoulder also raised her arm.

Then he swung down his arm.

That arm had its boost settings set far above the usual limits.

The arm burned and blood sprayed out, but he produced a massive shockwave at the center of the great god’s explosion.

The shockwave ruptured the blimp and arrived at the bottom of the light without weakening.

The Great God Lives would not be destroyed by such insignificant power.

But it did throw off the Lives’ directionality, creating a large wave of scattering light.

<Fooblicky’s Sight Mode has ended>

Algo’s Sight Mode: In DT Airspace[edit]

<Algo’s Over Reload>

Algo was surrounded by a deafening roar and a wave of light soaring upwards.

He looked down to see his mangled right arm.

He stared at the arm which was no more than a stick of flesh and blood at this point and then he looked to Alternative who was still on that shoulder.

“I’m a little young to be retiring as a martial artist, but I don’t think I have a choice now.”

He muttered to himself while seeing the Great God’s scattering light.

The light filled the shield from the ground below to the dark sky above.

The light and debris rose like a fountain at first, but soon acted like water flooding the cylinder. Finally, it hit the infinitely looping border surface in the sky.

The shield filled with light. He could no longer see outside of it. He couldn’t see anything to stand on below him either.

Babel’s wreckage was rapidly turning to little more than dust.

It was shattering.

Everything was shattering.

While it all fell apart, Algo collapsed backwards with Alternative still on his shoulder.

He fell backwards in the light erupting toward the sky like fireworks.

His feet began to break apart. Then his ankles and shins. They turned to white ash, particles of light, and formless nothingness.

He did not fight it. He simply let himself break apart as he fell down, down, down.

Then Alternative left his shoulder and moved out in front of him.

<Algo’s Over Zoom>

Her feet were also breaking apart and growing transparent.

He embraced her vanishing body with his mangled right arm.

She no longer had a hitbox, but he still embraced her.

She placed her arms around his back.

She smiled with a window over her head.

<It’s so warm.>

She couldn’t actually sense temperature with her Body breaking down so badly, but Algo still shut his eyes and nodded.

His hearing detected a song coming from beyond the rising light and roaring noise.

The song pierced through all the unconnected noise and it carried the Text of someone’s will.

The song belonged to a girl outside the shield. The song was a program voice input to supply a double boost in the hopes of strengthening the shield surrounding them. But the lyrics continued even after the program Text was complete.

The sound of the song changed then.

“This song…”

Both of them recognized that Text. They had sung it themselves.

Algo narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth while listening to the voice.

“Alternative.”

The girl in his arm looked up.

She was smiling, but with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

His arm was badly broken and she had no hitbox, but he still held her tight.

“Do you know why it feels so warm?”

As soon as she answered, the two of them fully vanished into the light.

<Algo has been fully destroyed>

<Alternative has been fully destroyed>

DT OS Word Mail: To All DT Residents[edit]

Notification to all DT residents.

The citywide alert has been canceled and stabilization efforts are underway. Please return to your everyday lives.

<Returning to everyone’s individual modes>

Final Chapter: Can Still See the Light[edit]

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Rejoice! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent!

So it’s all over now.

I’m going to keep this brief.

This page’s hit counter has maxed out, so you can think on what that signifies if you want.

And I might as well leave you with a final message while I’ve got all this attention.

This isn’t following the Son of God’s story anymore, so I figure I might as well end it with the final verse of the Bible’s final book, written by that anarchist artist John.

“The grace of the Son of God be with God’s people.”

(Revelation 22:21)

Feel free to stop by again if you feel like it.

Aoe’s Present: In His North Kantou Hometown[edit]

The ramen shop was small.

The concrete building was only about 3 yards wide and 5 long, so it only had two tables by the wall and seats at the counter.

Aoe and Yuo currently occupied one of those tables.

Yuo was using her chopsticks to do battle with the miso ramen in her large bowl. Since it was summer, she was wearing a T-shirt beyond the miso-smelling steam.

Aoe had already emptied his extra-large bowl of ramen and soup. He wore a black tank top and white jeans and their luggage was contained in a single large black bag down by his feet.

He watched as she skillfully operated the chopsticks.

The clock on the wall said it was nearly 2 PM. Preparations for the afternoon rush hadn’t even begun yet, so they were the only customers.

There was only one worker: a boy working part time. He had nothing to do at the moment, so he was watching the old TV installed on the wall.

Aoe could hear baseball commentary coming from the TV.

A high school game was on.

He checked the screen, checked the kitchen, and then called out to the worker’s back.

“Where’s the old man?”

The worker’s shoulders jumped and he turned around.

“Huh? Oh, the neighborhood association dragged him along to cheer for our team. You hadn’t heard?”

“Mh. I only just got back in town. My plan is to stick around for a few weeks, but…”

Before Aoe could finish his sentence, he heard a hit. The worker looked back to the TV.

The metallic sound of the bat coincided with another sound coming from the distant sky: a steam whistle.

That familiar sound made Aoe sigh and look to Yuo again.

She had sweat on her brow as she leaned forward and carried noodles to her mouth and she kept brushing back her ponytail when it fell past her shoulder. But now she stopped and looked to him with a frown.

“What’s so funny? Why are you grinning?”

“Nothing really. Just that you chose this as the first thing you to eat after getting back to Japan.”

“You’re the one who kept saying you missed it in DT. And I don’t have much money, so what’s wrong with ramen? Also, I’ll make sure the program trigons taste like this from now on.”

“Sure, sure.”

Aoe checked his watch. The LCD watch displayed a cartoony Shiba Inu drawn in colored pixels. Aoe smiled bitterly as he stared at the dog sleeping happily sprawled out on the watch face. Then he looked away.

“Will DT be fine with you away for a while?”

“Yes. The open release mostly got ignored what with Babel collapsing and Akalabeth getting formatted. Telyb was right when he said our presence would only complicate matters.” Yuo kept grabbing ramen with her chopsticks. “And if I stay there for too long now, people would probably start saying I needed to inherit the throne.”

“Oh, yeah. There was talk of that, wasn’t there?”

“What about you, Senpai? You inherited the title of Martial Marts Master, didn’t you? That means you’re actually immortal like me, but are you going to register as a Japanese weapon?”

That question silenced Aoe.

Yuo fell silent too. But instead of giving him a questioning look, she resumed work on her ramen.

Aoe drank barley tea from his cup on the table and Yuo ate the cabbage floating in her soup before they both said the same thing at the same time.

“You could always choose to do something else.”

They exchanged a glance.

Yuo looked confused for a moment, but then she closed her mouth and smiled.

Aoe smiled bitterly. He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back, giving him a view of the menu on the wall.

He noted the prices had risen a little and then noticed his butt wasn’t resting in the seat quite right. That was due to the bible in his back pocket.

He stood up, pulled out that bible, and casually flipped through it.

It contained a Japanese translation along with several notes jotted down in pencil. They must have been written by Ungyou before he died. The very last page included a note concerning Aoe and Algo.

It mentioned wanting to do something about Alternative’s disease for Algo and Alternative’s sake and wanting to free Aoe from the path of killing despite introducing him to GASAS. That note had the date written with it.

…Three days before Algo defeated him.

Seeing that brought back a lot of unprocessed feelings in the bottom of his gut.

He noticed Yuo was looking his way. Her eyes were on the black leather-bound book he held.

So he looked her in the eye and held up the bible so she could see.

“Hey, Yuo. I hate to interrupt while you’re eating, but do you have a moment?”

“What is it?”

“Do you know what happened to the traitorous disciple?”

“No, what happened to him?”

She answered with a slight smile because she did in fact know. But he still nodded and answered.

“He took the silver coins he was paid for his betrayal, returned them to the temple, and took his own life.

“But,” he continued. “The temple’s chief priests refused to take the blood money, so they instead bought a potter’s field and turned it into a graveyard for foreigners.”

“The queen said she wouldn’t be rebuilding Babel and that land will be used for a shared graveyard. And…” Yuo lowered her gaze a bit. “The money saved by not reconstructing Babel will be used for reconstructing the city and researching Words Warn.”

“Mh,” grunted Aoe, looking to Yuo’s somewhat lowered eyebrows and then next to her.

A menu, small bottles of soy sauce and vinegar, and a chopsticks holder sat by the wall.

Something else was mixed in among all the chopsticks in the holder: a single three-tined fork made of green plastic.

Its color looked faded, suggesting no one had used it in a while.

He narrowed his eyes and looked to Yuo just once.

Then he stood up.

She looked up at him.

“Um, where are you going?”

“I’m heading outside now. You can handle the check.”

With that, he picked up the bag at his feet and turned toward the exit.

He opened the door.

“Oh.”

He felt a pleasant chill.

The door led to a narrow alley awash with the afternoon sun. The alley formed a stone-paved slope.

This town was surrounded by mountains and had almost no space between the harbor and the nearest mountain.

He stood on the slope that led from the harbor to the mountain slope.

Wooden buildings stretched out on either side and the street drew out a gentle curve.

Down the slope led the harbor, up it to the mountain.

The few late summer cicadas chirped from the surrounding mountains.

Looking past those mountains showed the color blue with some white clouds mixed in.

“It’s so peaceful,” he muttered, looking back down and realizing why it was so quiet.

He couldn’t see a single person around.

He was the only one on the stone-paved slope.

He was only accompanied by the gentle breeze carrying the cicada cries.

He tilted his head at the absence of anyone else and looked up again.

He looked up to the mountains.

The Kobayashi Dojo could be found past one of those mountains.

The trees covering the steep slope were a deep green and the leaves reflected the bright afternoon sunshine.

The street he stood on now curved gently through the city to reach that mountain.

Looking down that street and past the mountain ridge, he saw a large white cloud.

It was the kind of cloud seen at the very end of summer.

He stared up at that white color and reached his right hand into his jeans pocket.

He pulled out a ring – the one Algo had given him at the very end.

He stared down at the ring and his vision blurred.

“…”

He said nothing.

The ramen shop’s door slid open to his right, as if to break through his silence.

He looked back to see Yuo exiting while giving the wallet in her hand a concerned look.

She turned to him with wrinkled brow, preparing to say something.

“–––––”

But the anger faded from her face and she tilted her head.

“What’s wrong? Did someone do something terrible to you?”

“Mh,” he grunted, clenching his right fist and lightly striking himself in the face.

After hearing and feeling the solid sound and pain, he turned toward the slope and grabbed the bag with his left hand.

“Let’s go. The path is probably a mess after going unused for so long.”

“Yes,” agreed Yuo, lining up to his right.

Just then, loud voices erupted from both sides of them.

“–––––!?”

Aoe took a confused fighting stance until he realized these were cheers.

They were joyful voices.

Applause and cheers came from the wooden buildings along the formerly peaceful street.

He had felt all alone here a moment before, but now he heard people walking on tatami mats or wooden flooring.

People laughed and shouted “yes” or “way to go”.

Yuo frantically turned her head this way and that to look to all the noise and voices. Her gaze finally settled on the harbor town below them.

“This must be about that high school baseball game.”

“Did one of the teams win?” Aoe wondered aloud, scratching his head.

He heard a song.

He could see a school down toward the harbor. The newly-constructed concrete building was a high school. The song came from there.

Aoe recognized the song. So did Yuo.

She trembled once and turned toward him. She turned her back on the singing town and gave him a resigned smile.

“I don’t think we won this one.”

He thought for a bit before grunting a response.

Cheers – cheers which were false from their perspective – came from the seaside town.

So he smiled and breathed the summer air deep into his lungs.

He crossed his arms and asked a question while looking down at the town with Yuo.

“Ready to go?”

She thought for a moment before nodding.

“Yes.”

Her affirmative coincided with another cheer.

Joyful voices rose into the sky from the houses lined up along the streets.

The voices gathered together, joined together, and added to the song.

They added to a song born in this town and known to the pair who had returned there.

A joint cheer rang out.

But Aoe still didn’t see anyone around.

No one came to greet them. The cheers and the song were fake for those two.

But Aoe still reached his right hand out toward Yuo.

She nodded and took his hand.

Finally, her expression changed. She looked at their clasped hands with confusion on her face.

“Um, there’s something in your hand.”

It was a ring.

After a look of surprised realization, she blushed and looked to him.

He did not say anything. He simply grunted and faced the mountains.

Let’s go, he thought.

He held her hand in his right hand and the bag in his left as he began walking.

The mountain path was long. And they were sure to stop when they spotted something familiar on the way.

There was no need to rush, but he still wanted to reach a certain point before it got dark.

So he kept walking with Yuo by his side.

He held her slender hand with his right hand which was not forming a fist.

She squeezed his hand back.

That response contained no words, but its meaning was clear.

He nodded and then looked up to see the green mountains.

Past the mountains, he saw the large white clouds and the blue sky.

He viewed them all, held Yuo’s hand, and walked forward.

His feet showed none of the uncertainty he felt. He squeezed Yuo’s hand and she squeezed his back.

They turned their backs on the fake cheers while summer approached its end.

“Let’s go!”

To the place waiting beyond the mountain. To begin it all again.

Aoe and Yuo began walking.

And they kept walking.

While believing they still had so much to learn.

Afterword[edit]

Kawakami Minoru’s Sight Mode: Afterword – Game Over[edit]

<Kawakami Minoru’s Over Reload>

Okay, here’s the second afterword.

I wanted to take it easy with this afterword, but when I typed in “Kawakami Minoru’s Sight Mode”, the IME got it all wrong and I fell back onto the floor where an analog joystick happened to be. It jabbed me right in the spinal cord for a very complex sort of attack that left me writhing on the floor at 5 in the morning. That crafty thing targeted me where training won’t help. I really need to Over Zoom what’s behind me and what I’m typing, huh?

Anyway, this is the end of DT. I hope this gave you the data – and the corresponding feelings – for what the City World is like in the modern day. I’m really grateful I got to use many pages for both books in this one. I have all of you readers to thank for that one.

Now for the usual late-night chat.

Kawakami Minoru: “Hi. Whether you’re in a good mood or not, I’m overjoyed about the ice cream I’m eating as a reward for finishing this book. The custard flavor is so good!! So how are you?”

Friend Y: “You’re pretending to be someone you’re not, aren’t you? I don’t like it.”

Kawakami Minoru: “Yeah, but I felt like I was being too samey in these things.”

Friend Y: “The guest is already different each time, so the host doesn’t need to be different too.”

Friend Y: “But anyway, this was the first of your novels I’ve read since Hong Kong.”

Kawakami Minoru: “Here I am celebrating getting Part B done and you’re already making this afterword incredibly rude.”

Friend Y: “Don’t let it bother you, idiot.”

Friend Y: “Besides, you only summoned me because I work in electronics, but I’m really just an ordinary person making a living at a boring job. If only I had stories as exciting as H does.”

Kawakami Minoru: “Ordinary people don’t say ‘summoned’ in everyday conversation.”

Kawakami Minoru: “Besides, I heard you turbo-boosted a railway crossing in your moped last month. Was that testing for something you’re developing, or were you just trying to be Michael?”

Friend Y: “It was dark out and I wasn’t looking where I was going. The next thing I knew, I was sitting there on the track, but then I saw my moped spinning away through the air. It was totaled.”

Kawakami Minoru: “What it is with my friends and flying through the air?”

Friend Y: “Oh, shut up. But to get back on topic…was this DT volume’s theme supposed to be, well, you know.”

Kawakami Minoru: “What?”

Friend: “The process by which athletes get hooked on 18+ games.”

Kawakami Minoru: “Are you sure you aren’t just making things up now?”

Friend Y: “C’mon, honesty is the best policy.”

Not always. But let’s ignore that idiot and get on to the announcements.

The next city I plan to write is London, but before that, I want to finish up SF and release the new series I’ve mentioned here and there.

This new series is part of the Ahead listed on the back cover.

It’s going to be a school action story set in the modern day…which doesn’t make it sound all that different from City, does it? But I can’t fight my style or my desire to write this, so I think that’s what I’ll do next.

I keep talking about things I plan to do, but I’m going to do everything I can to make this actually happen.

Okay, I finished up the editing of this one while listening to Bump of Chicken’s Stage of the Ground and wondering, “Who was the loser?”

Now, then. Next up is SF and my new series.

February 2002. A morning with a critical hit to the back.

-Kawakami Minoru

Satoyasu Page[edit]

This ends the long ears festival without issue. I’m satisfied.

See you next time.

-Satoyasu

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