Chapter 180: Screening of "Kara no Kyokai" Concludes! (1)
On TV, the preview for the fifth installment of "Kara no Kyokai: Paradox Spiral" suddenly began to play.
Various thrilling scenes were interwoven with snippets of character dialogue, unfolding before the audience.
First appeared Ryougi Shiki and a red-haired boy.
"I just can't stand your existence!"
"I've killed people!"
"Murdered your parents?"
Next, a conversation between Aozaki Touko and Kokutou Mikiya was heard.
"Kokutou, do you know about the new Ogawa Apartments built across town recently?"
"The Ogawa Apartments are a bizarre structure, combining two crescent-shaped ten-story buildings."
The scene switched back to Ryougi Shiki and the red-haired boy.
"Why don't you ask your deceased relatives?"
"I did kill them! Being alive is what's wrong!"
"Why not go and confirm it?"
Suddenly, Souren Araya appeared on the screen.
"Look into the darkness! And then, recall your name!"
"What do you intend for Shiki?"
"Taijitu is..."
"To incorporate Taijitu within oneself... to achieve Taijitu..."
"And now..."
"Aozaki!!!!"
With a scream from an unfamiliar man and a flurry of chaotic images that defied logic, the preview concluded.
Finally, a line of text slowly appeared.
— "Kara no Kyokai" Episode 5: Paradox Spiral, premiering next month.
.....
"Wow!"
In an instant, every TV pub in the southern region was in an uproar.
The audience, who had been relatively calm, suddenly began to shout wildly as if they had lost their minds!
"This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous! Director Durin, you're not human!"
"Right, right, how could you do something so cruel? I'm going crazy!"
"I just finished 'KonoSuba' this morning and got left hanging, and now after watching 'Kara no Kyokai,' they give us such an exciting preview. What's going on? Why not just kill me?!"
"Ahhh, you think that's bad? I rushed to watch 'Fate/Zero' first thing in the morning, then straight back to the pub to catch 'KonoSuba,' and now 'Kara no Kyokai.' I don't feel like doing anything unless I get to see the continuation of any of these shows!"
"Agreed, this kind of inhumane act is totally unacceptable!"
"A month? A whole month? Who can survive that?"
"Without 'Fate/Zero,' 'KonoSuba,' or 'Kara no Kyokai,' I'm going to die!"
"Wow, you really..."
"..."
Amidst the desperate chatter of the audience, Emperor Hubbard of the Human Empire watched the scene before him, smiling wryly as he said:
"Who would have thought that a fictional film could have such a powerful impact? Now, in the minds of these people, the characters from the movies probably leave a deeper impression than I, their emperor."
In response to His Majesty's statement, Wilhelm quickly looked around.
Since the orc prophet and Juno had already left and wouldn't return until the afternoon screening of "Steins;Gate," he sighed with relief and said:
"Indeed, although it is fictional, its influence and emotional pull far exceed any speech, and it resonates more deeply than any storybook. Perhaps this is what Lord Durin referred to as the future."
"Yes, but it's clear that Durin Edward's vision extends beyond mere ambition; he has a more profound expectation for the future of this world."
Emperor Hubbard said this with an unchanged smile on his face, continuing:
"This is good, no, it's better this way! The world needs change and progress to embrace more possibilities. The human empire's development over thousands of years has reached a sort of plateau, and now is the time to break through this bottleneck!"
"And you mean?"
"Heh, when did you start overthinking motives like a noble politician, Wilhelm?"
"Uh, sorry..."
In response to Wilhelm's earnest apology, Emperor Hubbard merely smiled and said:
"All right, since there's some time before the next movie starts, let's head over to the tavern owned by Baron Durin Edward. Besides, I'm hungry, and there should be food there, right?"
"Food?!"
Hearing that word, Princess Amy, who had been watching films all morning and was already quite famished, looked over with eyes sparkling with excitement.
Meanwhile, General Wilhelm found himself in a bit of a predicament.
He knew all too well the sort of mischievous creatures that frequented Edward's tavern, and ordinarily, he would prefer not to have His Majesty go there.
However, faced with the emperor's keen curiosity and the princess's faintly hungry demeanor, Wilhelm reluctantly nodded and said:
"Very well, I'll take you to Lord Durin's tavern."
"Hehe, let's go."
And with that, the group left the TV pub, walking boldly toward Edward's tavern.
...
Imperial Mage Academy.
While the students in the TV hall were groaning in distress, much like the audiences in the southern TV pubs, the archmages atop the Alchemy Tower were discussing the recently aired "Kara no Kyokai" Episode 4: The Hollow of Shrine and the preview for Episode 5: Paradox Spiral.
"That kid, Durin, is going to drive me mad with these cliffhangers! Is he trying to annoy us to death?" exclaimed Archmage Warton, clearly emotional.
Although the other archmages shared similar sentiments, they pushed those aside to dissect the storyline.
"What do you all think about this Souren Araya?" asked Dean Hohenheim.
Archmage Warton immediately chimed in, "What kind of person? That guy's just like our Spiritual and Soul Studies professor, Stitch, isn't he? He was even my assistant a couple of years ago!"
Hearing this, Archmage Rosa sighed and interjected, "Don't confuse the characters with the actors! You can't treat me as Aozaki Touko because of this."
"Well, it's because your personalities are quite similar. I almost called you by her name the last time we met," replied Archmage Brady from the Summoning Department.
Rosa's expression turned stiff at this comment, leading her to question whether participating in the film had been a wise decision.
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