Today is a normal day. With Bocchi-chan's school closing earlier than Suiko, I could meet with her… rather, her entire band in STARRY.
"You decided to perform in your school?"
"Uhm… Yes. I don't know if I could pull it off, though…"
I silently stared at my good friend who began fumbling with her hair.
"What happened while performing on the Tokyo Dome?"
"This is my first performance..!" Bocchi hastily retorted. "What if something bad happens and I screw everything up?!"
'Sigh…'
Since we've been friends for more than eight years, she could easily show her full-blown real self to me. I bet she could only do it inwardly when there are other people out there.
"All I could say is that… your worries are quite unfounded. You worked hard for this, no?"
She nodded while looking at me.
"The last hurdle present is the people themselves. So, all we have to do is to solve that. I'm going to help you with that."
"Alright…"
I saw her countenance become a bit better as she heard my words. It seems like my experience with playing in front of a huge crowd reassured her.
"The first thing to consider while playing is your skills. You already have enough skills to play in front of a crowd. The only reason you'd make a mistake is due to a psychological burden you placed onto yourself before the show starts. While playing, there's this thing called 'flow state' where…"
*****
"Childhood friends… Isn't this bad?!"
"Um. It is."
"Everyone?"
While Nobu is teaching Hitori, the rest of her bandmates watch them from afar.
"Why is it bad?"
Just as Nijika asked, she herself realized the answer.
"Childhood friends always lose."
"True, that."
"Can we not use manga as a realistic basis?" Nijika retorted. "Akasaka-san shouldn't be that dense."
"We will see."
Half of their practice time was used to practice their harmony. It is a crucial aspect of performing for a band. Oftentimes, bandmates could know what the other is saying with a look of their eyes. With that, they could adjust in order to assist their fellow bandmates.
They are aware that it is an aspect that they are lacking, more so with their several other performances in STARRY. Their first performance gave them a huge impact on real band performance.
A while later, the duo's talks ended. It led to the band playing several songs with Nobu as their sole observer.
"How was it to perform with your band, Akasaka-san?"
He received a sudden question from Kita, the cheerful red-haired girl. Even he was caught off guard due to her sheer liveliness. This was after encountering more 'Bocchi-chans' throughout the two worlds.
"Let's see… It's fun to play with other artists. I learned a lot from them at that time. I got a little bit inflated when my skills saw success. In simpler words, I was humbled."
"What about Van Halen?"
This time, it was their stoic blue-haired bassist, Ryo, who asked him.
"Van Halen-san… He taught me a lot of things. He was extremely easy-going, too. He didn't ask anything when we made several videos and posted them on my accounts."
It continued this way until everyone parted ways. By the time it was 5 PM, Nobu fetched Shiina from Suiko and returned home.
It was already 10 PM when Nobu was freed up from everything.
*****
"Fu…"
I sat on top of my bed as I readied myself for another experience.
"It's about time."
It has been a week since my return to my world. I reunited with everyone and stopped their worries. I also met up with Kazamitsu-san who is still extremely busy back in Europe today.
…
"Sitting here alone doesn't work. The number of magicians who are attempting to connect with the Spirit Realm is steadily increasing. We'd leave it out in the past in hopes of a new research finding, but it has to be controlled now. Lord Nettesheim's disappearance is a signal…"
"Was it the Twilight Syndrome?"
"Most likely." Kazamitsu-san responded. "Even the leader of the Ten Greeds couldn't match him. Gods from the Spirit Realm couldn't do so, either."
Magisters are beings who already stepped into the realm of gods. Their dream organs are transformed to be able to take in the [Infinite Conversion]. My fight with Goetia shouldn't be used to scale against normal gods.
If I were to visit Tenkai, I would be able to handle most gods, I believe. Goetia having King Solomon's body as well as his long preparation enabled him to be able to threaten the safety of their world.
"He is the one who came the closest to the Akasha."
"..."
Hearing this word made me recall Zelretch's words. In the other world, something akin to it existed—The Root.
I am not sure whether they are the same thing or not. However, it is indisputable that they hold the same power.
Reaching Akasha, in a sense, would grant someone the knowledge of All Truths. It came from a plethora of fields such as Buddhism (akasa), Hinduism (pṛthivyāpastejovāyurākāśāt), and Theosophy (Akashic Records).
All of them explain that Akasha is the origin of all things. It contains every knowledge in spacetime, be it the past, present, or future.
If something happened to a Magister who reached that state, it is definitely concerning enough for the entire Magician Society to take action.
"His disappearance is only known by me and Gluttony. Until we know about his whereabouts, it could only continue this way."
…
I closed my eyes and thought of the many possibilities once more. Nine mind partitions worked out in tandem as all possibilities started being presented in my mind.
Unfortunately, I still have not mastered the method of using [Revelations: EX]. I tried to search for Galahad, but it was as if he wasn't here anymore.
'I'll know everything within this chance.'
A familiar itchy feeling popped up in my chest.
'Modify your combat experiences ten years later?'
This would be the first time I will see the future after leaving the Singularity.
'Confirm.'
My mind was sucked into darkness once more.
*****
***
*
One week had passed.
'I lost it… or rather, was this a splintered timeline?'
Fourteen chances of seeing the future gave Nobu enough knowledge to analyze the Holy Grail's power. Unlike before, he is also far stronger than before. He only focused on surviving and saving everyone rather than experimenting on his former cheat.
With enough leeway as the fourth Magister, Nobu is more free to conduct several experiments now and then.
As he thought, he fought the monsters on the 85th floor of the dungeon.
'Lord Nettesheim's disappearance… I will have to focus on this one first.'
…
"To think—!"
Pssshk-!
Hundreds of light rays pierced numerous holes in Uraume's body. His ethereal body was disintegrated with the Holy Magicka that Nobu used.
"You…"
In front of him, Itadori suddenly underwent a huge change. His aura turned into full bloodlust while black marks appeared on his face.
"King of Curses. It has been a long time."
Under his gaze, Nobu's cold expression remained unchanged. For someone who caused him enough suffering in his memories, Nobu wouldn't show mercy to him.
Zoom-!
Zoom-!
Zoom-!
Instantly, a dozen 'slashes' were sent out. Space was dislocated as the cursed technique aimed to Cleave its enemy.
Bzzt-!
It met a strong resistance as a seven-layered golden circle appeared.
"It seems you like playing with the ethereal body. Splitting it into twenty fingers… it is a daring act."
At this moment, black spots began engulfing the ground. Sukuna did not know what they were, but his intuition warned him of their dangers.
Unfortunately, Nobu acted extremely swiftly.
The black spots turned into golden spots of white light.
Blaze-!
Sukuna reacted by opening his Domain.
Shatter-!
It was countered by Nobu's own Dreamland. It swiftly broke before it could fully form. At this moment, his imitation of domains became strong enough to contend with the real thing.
Hum-!
A familiar katana appeared on Nobu's hand. He looked at Sukuna who applied the Reverse Cursed Technique towards himself.
"Come."
…
October 31, 2020.
It was supposed to be the date of the Shinjuku Incident. However, no such thing happened within the station. After all, Kenjaku is already dead, and so is Sukuna. His remaining fingers are being searched throughout the entire world.
Most of Nobu's manpower are relegated to it at this moment.
"Did he foresee this happening? I am quite concerned with how smoothly it went…"
Nobu thought as he sat down. Using [Historia Emendatus], a black card appeared on his hand.
"Lord Nettesheim…"
Suddenly, his surroundings turned silent.
"You're on time."
The 'average-looking' Magister sat beside him. His clear blue eyes and short-cut black hair made him slightly stand out.
"How was everything? It went well, I presume."
"It is too smooth, to the point that I suspect something has gone awry."
Nettesheim laughed as he heard Nobu's response.
"Your senses are still sharp. Even without the Sacrament within you, your strength is already sufficient to stand your ground."
At this moment, Nobu felt a strange feeling. If he could view this entire experience from the outside, he would be wondering:
"Why is this included within combat experiences?"
"It's better to show you everything. Your judgement should come next."
Everything turned pitch-black. Nobu found himself to be standing in front of a black cat. Nine tails swayed on its back as it stretched its body.
"..!"
He activated all of his defenses. A seven-layered golden circle surrounded him as the darkness on the ground was slowly being replaced by white light.
'This..?!'
"Misfortune. It is the concept of humans blaming a mistake on something else."
"Rank A Demon…" Nobu muttered.
"One of them is still tolerable, no?"
The rankings of demons followed the ranks of magicians. However, demons required established magicians within their ranks. If they are facing a Rank B, the magician should not be a newly-appointed Rank B.
As for Rank A, it follows the semi-special grade of Sorcerers up to select special-grade curses that could be easily dealt with.
Even the Ancient Dragon is merely at Rank A.
"Hundreds of them would appear during that time." Nettesheim stated. "I believe you are aware of this fact."
Nobu nodded in his words.
From the nine iterations, he saw how there would be hundreds of Rank A Demons who would appear all over the world, thus emphasizing the concerning 'Twilight Syndrome' when it has its full power.
"What you don't know, however, is the Rank S Demons. They are the manifestations of the humans' beliefs towards the world's end itself."
There are several accounts of eschatology from different systems. There are the Seven Seals of Revelation, Sermon of the Seven Suns (Sattasūriya sutta), Alamatu's-sa'ah al-kubra (The major signs of the end), and so on.
"These major beliefs would come crashing down… all at once."
"..."
Nobu fell silent upon Nettesheim's declaration.
In the end, he ended up asking him the question that bothered him the most.
"Where are you?"
"I'm alive. There's just someone who needed to handle more than half of these eschatologies. Still, thank you for asking."
"..."
At this moment, he was extremely surprised by Nettesheim's capabilities. Nobu even forgot the Demon who is attacking him just now.
"With Phenomenon Mixer… No, Probability Distortion, this is possible."
"You are just as monstrous as Suimei."
"But I'm still not strong enough."
If it was Nobu who was in his place, he might've only been able to block nearly two-fifths of it.
"With our world's current strength, it should be able to get through the Twilight Syndrome. Suimei's enormous fate could make it possible."
"What about you?"
"Me? I will die. This is already a foregone conclusion. It'd be even a good outcome if my existence isn't wiped off by the Twilight Syndrome."
"...What?"
"Yes. One of the true nature of the Twilight Syndrome is 'disappearance' along with 'certain end'. You will notice that eschatologies have these concepts as their main driving force."
Cease of one's life.
Disappearance of the material world.
An unstoppable end.
For the third time, Nobu fell silent. He didn't care about the other Rank A Demons who appeared and attacked his barrier.
"Has it always been this hopeless?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"...The Magician Society is truly admirable."
A magician within the society has two responsibilities. They have to actively seek for the truth, so as to become a Scholar of Truth. Moreover, they are to fight off the certain end of the world.
The Magician Society is a gathering of idealistic people who wanted to find a way out of this stalemate. On the off chance that they did not find one…
Then they would simply create that one outcome.
"A world worth protecting…"
*****
A/N: The hints for the first "big arc" of this fic is now out. The Twilight Syndrome has been mentioned several times throughout this fic, so it is already time to face it.
Though, there is still an arc before it happens (Feel free to guess this one). After that big arc, I am still choosing between the several possibilities that fits with that theme.
Fighting an end... it certainly fits with one of them. If I were to give a hint, MC's existence and purpose would definitely fit the theme of that world. As to what it is, it was a world that some of y'all asked for but was left out from the possible world auxiliary chapter. It wasn't there since I am already inclined to writing that world in the first place ;)
Anyways, I am now back in college. That's why you might notice the update schedule being slower than usual. In fact, I already have four projects to finish within this week so... yeah. I'll try to strike a certain balance to my schedule after I adapt to my new college schedule.
Happy Reading~!