"Hm…"
At this moment, Aleph was intently staring at the [Cursed Sword] in his hand. It was an item that helped him hone his cursed energy control to a large extent.
With a thought, the world became slower in his eyes. The clarity and speed of his thoughts were upgraded to another level. His mind became capable of doing several things at once.
Briefly, his sight turned dark blue as a black spark appeared in the [Cursed Sword]'s location. Upon seeing it, Aleph's mind received strange information from it, telling him it was somebody's cursed energy.
There weren't any explanations. He simply knew that it came from a man called Okkotsu Yuta.
Without any prior knowledge, that stuff came to his mind.
"...I'm so dumb."
Aleph covered his face with his hand.
"Elemental Sight. I took it too literally."
When Aleph received [Elemental Sight] after the ambush a few months ago, he explored its capabilities. It was an ability that allowed him to perceive all sorts of energy, ranging from cursed energy to electricity and honkai energy. That was the main reason why he alway had the initiative in his fights—he knew where the opponent was.
The moment he laid his eyes on the fourth Herrscher, it was destined to never be able to escape.
However, since he awakened [Great Sage] a few days ago, he noticed several strange occurrences—mainly from his short bouts with Kashimo and Sasaki.
For once, he received information in his brain that what he saw were their past images. It told him of what they were about to do, as well as how they would approach him. These things manifested instinctively through [Deathly Intuition] at first, but when he recalled the details of the fight, these information were simply there.
Unfortunately, the two attacked too suddenly. There was also the factor of their strengths being unknown and the narrow location.
Aleph knew their attacks were coming but couldn't react properly against them. One was very fast while the other has an unbreakable attack.
{Analysis complete.}
{Result: Elemental Sight is an ability that peers at the "essence" of an existence. The traces left could be used to infer all kinds of information from the source. It is more than 60.91% similar to another ability within the database, [Analytical Appraisal].}
"Explain it."
{Answer: Analytical appraisal utilizes wavelengths to read the target's information. The reason behind its difference was largely due to the medium used. The information intercepted by the wavelengths will then be fed back to the user.}
"I see…"
Simply put, Elemental Sight directly reads the traces while Analytical Appraisal requires someone to send out wavelengths—presumably created with a certain energy—to obtain the traces.
In that aspect, Elemental Sight was far superior as wavelengths sent for appraisal may be blocked through certain means.
'As for why I couldn't bring it out until now…'
Aleph thought of [Great Sage]. Its existence was the only difference between him in the past and him now.
'There's also the Sephira Fragments…'
In the end, he gained a completely different outlook at this seemingly plain ability.
*****
Two weeks had passed since the fourth Herrscher's death. Everything went back to normal… at least for the people inside Fire MOTH.
To the millions of people affected during that time, Fire MOTH's human resources finally reached its limit. They were no longer able to hide honkai's traces. All sorts of speculation on the bio-terrorism that occurred in Nagazora City rose one after another.
Thus, deeming it as a waste of resources, Fire MOTH ultimately decided to announce its existence to the entire world.
Its aftermath wasn't something that could be settled within a few days. While their attention was completely taken by it, another shocking event is about to happen right under their noses.
"You don't have to worry. Things are much better than when you did everything by yourself. Even if it fails, I'll be fine."
"Hah. I'm just worried about losing such a capable worker. Klein's workload dropped by half when you arrived."
"Then, you shouldn't doubt your skills"
Aleph was wearing a medical gown. He had gone through several steps of sterilization. His hair looked quite wet as a result of it.
Mobius spoke with him through a speaker inside the room. The entire surgery will be done remotely, something that has been adopted since the study of honkai became a thing.
"Well, see you later."
While he was preparing for the actual surgery, the voice in his mind resounded for the hundred and fiftieth time.
{Result: 96.84% of success has been simulated. The factors related to the body, honkai resistance, and environmental factors are calculated.}
'If it somehow fails… take out the [Gene Stabilizer].'
Back then, Aleph decided to carry the small fragment of the Sephira Crystal on himself. He tied it to his neck later on when he discovered how important it was.
The same goes for now. Although the Senzu Beans were proven to be ineffective against diseases that abnormally affect the cellular process of the body, the [Gene Stabilizer] he received more than eight months ago was his final insurance.
Aleph took one last look at Mobius' retreating back. Klein was already preparing in the control room.
'MANTIS… A thing I dreamt of before.'
Back then, Aleph's ace was the MANTIS surgery. He didn't have any kind of power back then, thus he set his sights on this thing. Later on, he found out that merging with strong honkai genes wouldn't be possible without the corresponding honkai resistance.
Given what happened back in Nagazora, it sufficed to say that Aleph's resistance was weak.
In the end, that plan would've failed had he tried it.
'Then… my last chance lies in Kurumi's world.'
Aleph looked at the vague silver sword mark on the back of his left hand. It shone extremely dimly every time he willed it. With elemental sight, he vaguely knew that it required some form of energy to be activated.
Strangely enough, the mark's light was increasing in its brightness, although still dim.
Aleph thought of one other person who could've caused it.
'Once I return, that woman…'
This time, he saw her features. It was more than enough to paint a target on the woman who killed him.
'I hope this surgery will bring some positive surprises…'