"C-Can't believe it… Are things like this really possible?" I stammered, trying to digest the information I had just received.
"Hard to believe, right? But trust me, it's all true. Why would I lie to 'myself'?"
There was a brief silence before he spoke again. "Perhaps it's time for you to get back."
"Get back… You mean…?"
"To your physical body that's lying still, of course," The Chronicler raised an eyebrow, answering as if it was the most obvious thing.
"So what am I now?" I wondered, still not fully understanding the situation.
"Currently, your consciousness has been brought here by me, not your physical form."
"Is there really anything you can't do, The Chronicler?"
"Haha, of course there is… But now's not the time to discuss that. Alright, I'll send your consciousness back to your body."
"Thanks… I'll leave it to you," I nodded, then turned to look at all of them. "Hey, you all…"
The LooP cheerfully responded, "What is it, The Merciless?"
I pondered for a moment before asking, "Don't any of you want to return to the real world? Using
"Hahaha…"
The room filled with soft laughter. The Chronicler, The LooP, and even The Muder TRIO laughed out loud, while The Emperor calmly sipped his tea as if he already knew the answer.
"Why are you all laughing at me?" I frowned, confused.
The LooP hadn't stopped his chuckles. "If that's what you think, why don't you just go back yourself?"
"Well…" I hesitated, unsure how to respond.
The Chronicler shook his head, his voice calm. "I've already told you… We are all 'you'. So you should understand how everyone feels, right?"
"Yeah, I get it," I sighed. "Alright, I'll be going now."
"Farewell. Bring victory in your hands, The Merciless," he said, blessing me with his words.
"OK!" I replied. The Chronicler slowly extended his hand toward me, and a glow from his palm began to spread, enveloping the entire space. The radiant light gradually faded, dimming until everything was silent again. I opened my eyes.
◊
"Watano… Watano… WATANO… Are you alright…?"
A worried voice echoed, pulling me back to reality. When I opened my eyes, I saw Shido's face leaning over me, his eyes filled with confusion and concern.
"Are you alright?" Shido repeated the question, his voice clearer this time, but still laced with tension.
I frowned, trying to regain my focus. My whole body felt heavy, but things slowly became clearer. "I…" I hesitated, my mind still reeling from the memories that had just resurfaced. "...I'm fine."
Shido let out a sigh of relief, then helped me sit up. "You suddenly collapsed, and I was worried something had happened."
"R-Really?" I replied, but deep down I doubted his words. It was just a blatant lie to cover up the fact that Miku had used
But now, things had changed. I was back, and they wouldn't have any more chances to deceive me. However, it was best not to reveal that I had regained my memories and spirit power. Keeping this secret would allow me to act more freely.
"Is something wrong, Watano? Your eyes… They seem a bit different from usual," Shido asked, his tone filled with suspicion.
"Oh, it's nothing," I quickly replied, trying to sound normal. "Maybe my eyes hurt a little from keeping them closed for too long."
"By the way… Where are we, Shido?" I asked, deliberately showing a bit of curiosity to divert his attention.
Hearing the question, Shido seemed a bit flustered, as if preparing to make up another lie.
"We're at Tenguu City Hospital…" he answered, trying to keep his tone calm.
"Oh, really? Though this place looks a bit strange, don't you think?" I asked again, observing his reaction.
"This room is a special one, that's why," Shido replied awkwardly, then quickly changed the subject. "You should get some rest. We'll head out."
I nodded, giving him a faint smile. "Thank you."
Once everyone had left, the room was quiet, leaving me alone. Without hesitation, I pulled the blanket over myself to hide any movement, then quietly summoned
I dared to summon the Demon King without fear of exposing my spirit power because, when I touched the wall, I realized it was covered by a thick Territory, strong enough to withstand any internal attacks while preventing anything from escaping.
"
The moment it was summoned, the all-powerful book
"Alright, tell me where I am," I commanded, my voice cold but firm.
It didn't take long for
"Fraxinus, huh? You've got guts, Shido, Kotori… bringing me onto your ship."
"Is this room under surveillance?" I asked, and when
"Phew… Good." I felt a wave of relief wash over me, but I remained cautious.
"Now then, tell me the current situation Shido and his group are facing!" I ordered, my eyes fixated on the book as
What appeared on the pages took me by surprise, along with an inexplicable sense of unease.
"So… it's almost the final showdown."
Shido and the spirits, along with the remnants of Ratatoskr, were preparing for a major battle against the D.E.M. organization. After I had nearly wiped out all of Ratatoskr before, D.E.M. had taken advantage of the power vacuum to build a stronger army, ready for the final conflict, targeting the Sephira Crystals of all the spirits.
But more importantly, when the battle begins, I'm certain that the Spirit of Origin, Takamiya Mio, will make her move. If I don't act swiftly, there will be no chance left to defeat her.
In hindsight, she and I aren't all that different, are we? Both of us are willing to slaughter anyone to fulfill our desires, to turn an impossible dream into reality at any cost. But unfortunately, our desires clash irreparably. So, empathy for her is unnecessary!
"You've had enough fun... Now, it's time for me to take over this game."
Darkness gradually engulfed the room, swallowing me deep into its void. As the blackness dissipated, I was no longer there. The place I reappeared wasn't unfamiliar—it was the JGSDF base, now eerily desolate. Not a soul in sight, and the signs of long-term abandonment were evident on every wall, every structure.
After the great massacre I carried out under the name
"I wonder how Mildred is doing..." I muttered, but immediately shook my head, trying to dismiss the thought.
"Now's not the time to be thinking about that, Watano!"
Each step I took echoed coldly in the deserted courtyard of the base. Most of the machinery here had long since stopped working. They relied on realizer technology, but with a lack of energy and after being abandoned for so long, everything had fallen into disrepair. Planes, CR-units, guns, and countless other devices lay scattered like worthless piles of scrap.
However, I knew that if there was anything left that could still be used, there was only one place it would be kept.
"I'm here."
I stopped in front of Mildred's mechanical workshop. Raising my hand, I pushed the sliding door with force. Without maintenance, the entire door had nearly rusted shut, making opening it quite the challenge.
"Damn… Too much dust!"
I waved my hand in front of me, trying to clear away the thick dust that clung to the air. The inside of the room was completely dark due to the sealed space, with no light managing to seep through.
"
"Where could it be?"
The search became more difficult as I wasn't familiar with the layout, and the dim light from
"An old generator? Lucky me, I can use this for now."
Next to the generator was a can of fuel—fortunate indeed. I quickly filled the generator and gave the crank a strong turn. The sound of the engine started softly, growing louder until the machine settled into a steady hum.
"Good."
Satisfied, I began searching for the electrical switch to power up the system.
"1… 2… 3!"
I flicked the switch, and flickering lights slowly spread throughout the old mechanical room. The overhead bulbs flashed a few times before stabilizing, casting light over the chaotic space, full of abandoned machines. Broken equipment, dilapidated CR-units, and scattered materials all came into clear view.
The newly activated lights reflected off something massive in the center of the room, immediately drawing my attention.
"There it is!" I exclaimed, quickly pulling down the black cover.
"Not bad after all this time. Mildred really took care of this, didn't she?"
Before me was a warship, functioning as a CR-unit, designed to utilize personal mana to perform complex maneuvers that regular aircraft couldn't handle.
Its design closely resembled the warship
I stepped closer, my hand gliding over its cold, metallic surface.
"But there's a problem..." I frowned, realizing the challenge ahead. "I don't have enough mana to operate this thing."
To pilot this warship required an immense amount of mana—something I currently lacked. The only sources of such powerful energy were either within the D.E.M. Corporation or Asgard Electronics, the parent company of Ratatoskr. But clearly, asking for or stealing from either of these two entities wouldn't be easy.
"Could it really be that I have to find another way...?"
"Wait,
I quickly recalled
"Is there a way to substitute mana with spirit energy?" I asked, hoping the demon king's wisdom would provide a solution.
As expected,
"Perfect! With this, it's no longer an issue!" I felt a surge of excitement, as though a great burden had been lifted.
Wasting no time, I followed the instructions provided by
"Done! Now to install it into the ship."
The sight of my handiwork filled me with excitement, but when I got down to work, the reality was far from simple. The tangle of wires and their complexity took up a lot of my time just to sort them out.
"Is it this wire...? No, maybe the blue one... Alright, now for the red wire..." I focused intensely, trying to avoid any mistakes.
From dusk until deep into the night, I still hadn't finished the installation. Only when I had to rely on
"Whew... finally done!" I sighed with relief, feeling lighter after completing the task before the day ended. "Tomorrow, I'll set off."
Looking outside into the pitch-black night, I realized that returning now risked detection by the Fraxinus. So, I decided to spend the night here and gather some supplies in the morning before departure.
"Well, I guess I'll sleep here for tonight…"
◊
*Beep beep*
"It's time."
The watch on my wrist signaled 10 a.m. sharp. I was already seated in the cockpit, wires tightly connected to my body in preparation for the process of transferring spirit energy into the ship.
Taking a deep breath, I focused nearly all of my spirit energy into the conversion device. I felt the surge of energy flow through me, transmitted into the circuits.
"Energy level at 10%... 20%..." The AI system's monotone voice echoed steadily, reporting the rising energy levels.
"Warning, energy level at 90%, approaching maximum threshold... Energy level at 100%, please disconnect the energy feed."
I let go of the controls, feeling the tension leave my body. "Whew..." I exhaled in relief, though my focus remained sharp. A single mistake could spell disaster.
"Luckily, the spacequake alert no longer lingers in this base... or else things would be a lot worse."
Sitting upright, I carefully examined the control panel, checking every single reading one more time.
"Control systems are stable... Energy is sustained at maximum levels... Everything's ready."
I gripped the control stick tightly, spirit energy coursing through my muscles as I prepared to activate the ship. Every second seemed to stretch endlessly, and then...
"Launch!"
The sound of the mana engine roared to life, shaking the space around me as the ship slowly lifted off the ground. Its wings spread wide, glowing faintly with the light of spirit energy. For the first time in a long while, this battleship was operational once again.
I recalled the words The Chronicler once said to me...
---
"Mana isn't a natural resource readily available on Earth's surface for mages to use spirit arts. It resides deep within the Earth, almost near its core."
"But due to an ancient catastrophe, the Earth's crust cracked, allowing mana to gradually leak to the surface."
"And you see, just that tiny amount of mana leaking up was enough to create an omnipotent being like the Primordial Spirit. Now, imagine what could happen if you used spirit arts in a place with the densest concentration of mana."
"I-I don't know..."
"Of course, you'd possess power far beyond your imagination."
"But remember, this energy isn't lifeless; it has a will of its own. That's why Mio, even though she was born from mana, possesses a mind and emotions like any human."
"It can also reject anyone who tries to claim the full source of that mana."
"So, have you tried absorbing it yourself? Is that why you're so powerful?"
"Me? Haha, I've done far more than that."
---
"It's time. Let's go... destination: the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth."
The trench was only about 1,200 kilometers away from Tenguu City. With this warship's top speed of 5,000 km/h, the distance was nothing. However, what concerned me more was ensuring that the flight remained undetected.
To be safe, I decided to reduce speed and activate an outer layer of Territory, creating an invisible camouflage to avoid Fraxinus' surveillance. I also needed to conserve energy for action upon arrival.
The speed dropped to 500 km/h, but that was sufficient to reach the trench quickly.
"More than two hours to go? Guess I'll take a quick nap."
I activated the control panel, transferred navigation to the AI, and set an alarm to go off when we arrived.
Everything around me fell into silence, save for the hum of the engines and the steady sound of the AI systems operating. Though I knew I should rest, my mind couldn't calm down.
"We've arrived," the AI's voice pulled me out of my daze.
I blinked and looked at the radar display. The ship was now hovering right above the Mariana Trench—the deepest point on the planet.
"Alright then..."
"Prepare to deploy Territory," I commanded the AI as I double-checked the ship's systems. Once everything was confirmed to be in order, I opened the cockpit door, ready to leave the warship.
The Territory expanded gradually, enveloping the ship in a sturdy protective layer, prepared to withstand the immense pressure of the ocean's depths.
I pulled out a mana core from my right pocket, a leftover from the battle with Shido's group at the Ratatoskr base. Adjusting the detonation timer, I secured it firmly in the cockpit.
"Max power engaged, destination: the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Disable defensive Territory once we reach it."
With everything in place, I stepped out of the cockpit. The warship's doors slowly closed, and it immediately angled downward, aiming for the abyss below. Engines roared as blue flames flared, and in a blink, the ship shot downward, racing toward the bottom of the trench.
"Countdown initiated: 2 minutes..."
A clock appeared, and the numbers began their slow but relentless descent.
"00:03... 00:02... 00:01... 00:00!"
At the moment the countdown hit zero, the waters at the bottom of the Mariana Trench began to churn violently, as if an invisible force was stirring the ocean's depths. The ground shook in powerful waves, with tremors radiating from deep beneath the sea, causing underwater earthquakes that echoed in the currents.
From the trench's depths, an overwhelming surge of spirit energy erupted, forming a dazzling column of light. The beam shot straight up into the sky, tearing through the ocean's surface and climbing so high it seemed to pierce the very heavens.
*WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO------*
In that instant, seismic alert systems worldwide blared simultaneously. Large and small nations alike were thrust into emergency mode, alarms ringing endlessly, sirens howling across the globe.
Space satellites detected the anomaly and swiftly relayed signals to each country's command center. From military bases to emergency control hubs, all plunged into high alert, tracking the enormous column of spirit energy with growing tension.
"I need to act quickly. D.E.M and Fraxinus will undoubtedly detect this and come rushing over."
Dark spirit energy began to envelop my entire body, swirling around me like eerie streams of power, gradually forming my familiar spirit armor.
Without hesitation, I let my body freefall. The wind whipped past my ears, and the ocean's surface grew closer and closer until I finally plunged into the icy water. The cold depths enveloped me, dragging me down toward the Mariana Trench's abyss, where no light dared reach.
"This feeling... it's familiar," I thought, my eyes fixed on the dark ocean floor below. "Just like that time on Arubi Island..."
Memories resurfaced—moments when I faced unseen forces, when I stood at the brink of life and death.
"
I summoned the demon king
"It's time!"
With a powerful throw, I hurled the sword downward, as if tearing through both the darkness and the ocean's depths.
The sword shot down with incredible speed, slicing through the deep water, ripping through the abyss toward the bottom of the Mariana Trench, where something unknown awaited.
I kept sinking deeper, feeling as though I were falling into an endless void. But the stillness was merely a prelude to something far greater lurking below. Gentle tremors began to ripple out from the trench's bottom, and I knew I was close to my target.
"Light...?!"
As I neared the bottom, faint beams of light shimmered from below, resembling mana veins leaking and flowing across the seafloor. The earlier column of spirit energy still burned fiercely, further destabilizing the area's energy.
I landed on the trench's floor with a heavy thud, my feet sinking into the frigid stone. All around, tiny streams of light ran along the rocky surface like the earth's veins, spreading out in every direction.
Here, at the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, lies the final connection to a vast source of mana buried at the Earth's core—a sacred yet perilous land.
"Hah... So this is where it all began?"
I stepped closer to the massive column of light, gazing down into a seemingly bottomless abyss beneath it. It felt as though I stood on the threshold between two worlds—on one side, reality, where humans dwell; on the other, a forbidden realm where no one should ever tread.
But now, hesitation only meant failure. There was no turning back, no stopping. Once again, I plunged straight into the light, letting my body be swept away by the powerful currents of mana. It felt as if I were falling into an endless abyss, with no knowledge of where or when it would end.
"This... doesn't feel as unsettling as before... it's almost soothing..."
All around me was now enveloped in a deep blue glow from the mana, filling the entire space. Looking up, the way back had vanished into the ethereal mist of light. I let my body drift, sinking slowly into the stillness, feeling as though I were merging with the flow of the universe.
Closing my eyes, I released everything, allowing myself to fall freely, no longer resisting. All tension faded away, leaving only a strange peace, ready to accept whatever awaited ahead.
At some point, I lost all sense of reality. My awareness of space and time became blurred, as if everything was dissolving into nothingness.
"Why do you humans... always crave that which does not belong to you?"
No one else was here but me. The voice seemed to emanate from the very currents of mana swirling around me, echoing through the boundless space.
"...Who's there?"
"For millennia, you've been but tiny creatures in this infinite universe."
"..."
"But you... you are different. You are unlike the humans we have encountered before."
"You bear a resemblance to us…"
"You seek power, but not for destruction... You desire strength, but are willing to sacrifice... You yearn for authority, but to remake the world…"
"Show me, small human... how strong is your will to embrace the source of our power…"
"Is that so?"
"
Suspended in the white void, I summoned the demon lord
"I understand now... Trust me. Give me everything you have!"
"Activate! Spirit Formula!"
The magic circle from the book flared brilliantly, with torrents of mana surging fiercely, spiraling around me like a storm of energy. Massive waves of power poured in from all directions, merging with the magic circle, shaking the surrounding space as if it was cracking under the immense pressure.
The overwhelming force of the mana weighed heavily on
"Not... yet…"
The mana continued to surge through my veins, pushing me to the razor-thin edge between transcendence and destruction. The ancient symbols in the book began to fade, signaling that the ritual was nearing its climax.