Chapter 70: Link Begins
While Kirataka was having his eyes covered by Kiana and Bronya, Mei hurried back into the house, took out a pillow and blanket, and covered the body of the cherry-colored girl who was sleeping on the sofa, blocking out her spring scenery.
Afterward, as the only male, Kirataka's horizons broadened again.
He came to the sofa and looked closely at the girl in front of him.
——Yae Sakura didn't look in good condition. She was sweating profusely and her brows were furrowed. It was obvious that she was in great pain.
What happened during the time he and they were away from St. Freya's Academy?
"Who is this girl?"
Kiana looked at the girl on the sofa and asked curiously.
In any case, the sudden appearance of a naked strange girl in their and Kirataka's dormitory was very suspicious.
——St. Freya Academy is located on an island, but it is not easy for foreign invaders to appear!
Also, she was very particular about those lifelike fox ears…was it some kind of cosplay?
Mei was also very curious about this matter, but compared to the clumsy Kiana, she could obviously notice more details.
For example, the little pink fox that used to live with them disappeared.
The little pink fox and the cherry-haired girl with fox ears... there must be some connection between the two, right?
Kirataka thought for a moment and said:
"In any case, the most urgent task is to find a way to wake her up."
If there is a problem, it must be solved.
This cherry-colored priestess had helped him a lot in Nagazora, so it was impossible for him to just ignore her problem.
"So... should we send her to the infirmary?"
Mei suggested to Kirataka with some concern.
After all, the pink-haired girl doesn't look in good condition. If there is something wrong with her body, she needs to be sent to the infirmary for treatment in time.
"…"
Kirataka did not answer immediately.
If Yae Sakura was sent to the infirmary, her existence would be made public to the world—a certain bishop of Schicksal who had lived for five hundred years would discover Yae Sakura's existence.
After five hundred years, he met other people closely related to Kallen again. He didn't know what the insane Bishop of Schicksal would do, nor did he want to know.
Of course, he would not make a decision based on inference alone.
If Yae Sakura can only be cured by relying on the technology of St. Freya or even the Schicksal Headquarters, then there is no reason to refuse.
Well, at this critical moment of decision, it is better to go through different choices first and see the consequences.
If she were sent to the infirmary in the academy, her future would become——
[Soon, you left the dormitory with Kiana and the others, sent Yae Sakura to the infirmary in the academy, and found the doctor in charge of treatment and Theresa.]
[Naturally, St. Freya's advanced equipment detected Yae Sakura's identity as a pseudo-Herrscher.]
[This made Theresa a little confused. She had not received any reports of new Herrschers appearing in the Far East recently.]
[Of course, they were not surprised by the identity of the Pseudo-Herrscher.]
[After all, this is not a very rare thing. There is a real Herrscher Mei in the academy, a girl named Yuna who almost became a pseudo-Herrscher, and a Herrscher clone who failed to invade a while ago and is now imprisoned in the academy.]
[At the same time, the equipment also detected the reason why Yae Sakura fell into a coma.]
[——On her back, there is a holy scar in the shape of three magatama. In that Stigmata, the instrument detected an abnormal information flow, which caused the host's body function to be disrupted and also affected her consciousness.]
[I'm afraid this is why Yae Sakura can no longer maintain her fox form and has fallen into a deep sleep and coma.]
[According to the test results, she has been in a coma for some time, about two to three days.]
[You are discussing how to solve this problem and wake up Yae Sakura. Bronya seems to have a suggestion, but at this moment, the person you don't want to see appears in the infirmary and interrupts your conversation.]
[——Otto Apocalypse]
[Of course, he did not come here in his true form, or rather, this fellow, who had already completed "mechanical ascension" in a certain sense, no longer had the concept of his true form.]
[He controls a spare Soulium body stored inside St. Freya Academy.]
[Although he had given Theresa, the head of the Far East branch, considerable freedom of authority most of the time, it was clear that he could no longer sit still and had to intervene in the development of this matter personally.]
[Next, Otto used reasonable reasons to convince Theresa and others and planned to transfer Yae Sakura to the Schicksal headquarters for treatment.]
[In terms of rhetoric, he also easily convinced them with enough reasons that only by transferring to the Schicksal Headquarters could the girl be cured.]
["——Schicksal has done a lot of research on artificial stigmata. It is not too difficult to solve the problem of stigmata. However, St. Freya's equipment cannot support the implementation of the operation. It must be transferred to the headquarters."]
[Although you think Otto must have other intentions, facing his high-sounding rhetoric, you really have no way to change his decision.]
[After all, the blond man in front of you is the Archbishop of Schicksal.]
[Just like that, not long after that, the unconscious Yae Sakura was picked up by the personnel sent by the headquarters, and you parted forever.]
"…"
Kirataka opened his eyes.
Well, the future doesn't look good. It's better not to do this.
Well, he really didn't want Otto to come into contact with Yae Sakura, and the Herrscher of Corruption from the previous civilization who was behind Yae Sakura and coexisting with her.
On the one hand, he is worried about Yae Sakura's safety, but on the other hand, the Twelfth Divine Key itself is of great significance to Otto.
——As a virus that can corrode everything, the Twelfth Divine Key that it will transform into in the future will naturally have considerable special attacks against networks and machines.
In other words, [Jizo Mitama] can almost be called the nemesis of Otto, who relies on his Soulium body and uploading his consciousness to the cloud to survive.
No matter how many Soulium bodies were destroyed, they were just a string of numbers to the Bishop of Schicksal. But if a virus corroded his Soulium body and consciousness network... that would be another matter.
Therefore, if Yae Sakura is handed over to Otto, her fate will probably not be good.
——In the original timeline, [Jizo Mitama] completely disappeared after the incident of Yae Sakura was completely resolved, and did not even reappear until after crossing the end.
Kirataka had reason to suspect that it was Otto who retrieved the Divine Key and hid it away afterward.
Anyway, if there was a problem with Yae Sakura's own stigmata...
'…I'm afraid it's Higokumaru's doing.'
Kirataka pondered.
Apart from this, there is no other possibility.
Although Yae Sakura mentioned before that she was able to suppress the Herrscher's consciousness, judging from the current situation, there might still be some trouble.
The dark Herrscher realized that she had not yet completely succumbed to humans, and was constantly thinking about taking back control of her body and continuing her mission of destroying human civilization.
Therefore, in order to solve this problem, we still have to deal with that guy, or in other words, we have to enter the Stigmata space in her body.
We have to face Higokumaru... or rather, [Jizo Mitama].
So Kirataka said carefully:
"It's better not to send her to the infirmary yet. I think I know what's wrong with her."
Seeing the three girls around him looking at him curiously at the same time, Kirataka coughed twice and repeated to the three of them the specific situation he had obtained from that thing that no longer existed.
"…Is there a problem with the stigma?"
Mei tilted her head slightly.
For them, [Stigmata] is not a strange concept.
She herself had a stigma on her body, which gave her the power to fight.
But this is the first time they have heard of the "problem with the Stigmata."
Incomplete awakening of the stigmata can indeed cause problems for the human body or even lead to death. Mei herself is a good example.
Because of the awakening of the stigmata, she almost died. Implanting the Conquest Gem into her body and relying on its power to suppress the awakening of the stigmata was also a decision made by her father, Raiden Ryoma, out of necessity.
However, the cherry-colored girl on the sofa obviously does not belong to this category, and her situation is different from Mei's.
Kirataka nodded and continued to explain:
"Well, normal natural stigmata or artificial stigmata of Schicksal will automatically adjust according to the host's physical fitness, but in her body... that stigmata did not originally belong to her. Judging from the current situation, her consciousness should have been swallowed into the stigmata space."
As he said this, he pointed to the stigma on Yae Sakura's back.
On that back as smooth as jade, the stigmata formed by three magatama is clearly visible.
This is not a natural stigmata that she was born with, nor is it an artificial stigmata that was implanted later in life. If anything, for Yae Sakura herself, it is probably more like a curse.
"Then, then does that mean she will never wake up again?"
Listening to Kirataka's description, Kiana held her head in her hands and exclaimed.
As a poor student, she actually couldn't hear clearly what was said, but at least she could tell that it was definitely not a good thing.
This situation is basically the same as being in a "vegetative state." There is no consciousness, and only the body is still alive relying on physical instincts.
"No, of course, there is a way to solve it."
Kirataka remembered that in the "future," Bronya seemed to have some proposals in this regard, so he set his eyes on the silver-haired girl:
"Bronya, do you have any ideas?"
"…"
The silver-haired girl thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.
She immediately returned to her room and took out two Hom-style "hats."
Judging from their appearance, they are somewhat similar to the device that Kirataka used before that could infiltrate the Schicksal Database.
Of course, the functions and usage are also extremely similar.
Bronya briefly explained:
"This is the [Submerged Mind Reality Connection Device]. As long as you wear it on your head, you can connect to the stigmata on her body and enter the stigmata space to find out the cause of the abnormality."
This device is certainly not an invention of Schicksal, but a device from Anti-Entropy.
The inventors of this device are Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla.
——The Schicksal family is not the only one who is studying the stigmata and Honkai energy.
Although it is much smaller than Schicksal in size, Anti-Entropy has actually produced quite a lot of relevant research results.
For example, [Moonlight Throne], for example, the Herrscher's replica technology, and so on.
After explaining the functions of the equipment, Bronya looked at the three people in front of her and said nothing more, as if she was waiting for something.
Her meaning was quite clear, to select two users to use the device.
Mei nodded in sudden realization and enthusiastically recommended herself:
"I see. Please let me try."
"I want to go with Mei too!"
Kiana on the side raised her hand, wanting to join in.
There were only two infiltration devices, and there were four of them, so it was obviously not enough.
"Stupid Kiana, do you think this is a spring outing? Just stay here with Bronya and take care of her real body, and let Kirataka and Mei sneak in to deal with the problem."
As Bronya spoke, she calmly pushed away Kiana, who wanted to come closer, rejecting her idea of wanting to get involved.
She knew a little bit that the girl in front of her was related to Kirataka and thought that Kirataka would definitely participate in this matter personally, so the other equipment quota should be left to him.
And it is indeed not an easy task.
If the spirit is in the stigmata space
Considering the strength, it would be better for Mei, who has the ability of a Herrscher, and Kirataka, whose identity is mysterious in her opinion, to do this.
As for the reckless Kiana, forget it. Bronya never considered this option.
"Well, it's decided then."
Kirataka nodded and picked up another Hom device.
If he could use Bronya's equipment to solve Yae Sakura's problem, he could avoid the consequences of Otto finding out about her existence.
Before preparing to sneak in, the three of them first moved Yae Sakura from the sofa and moved her to Mei's room.
At the same time, Mei also found a set of her own pajamas and put them on Yae Sakura.
Well, in terms of figure and body shape, the cherry-colored girl is unusually similar to her, and her clothes, when put on the unconscious girl, can only be said to fit her quite well.
A virtual screen appeared next to Bronya, and she operated on the screen to complete the preparations.
After a little adjustment, Bronya said:
"Sister Mei, Kirataka, it's ok. Bronya will use the central computer to keep in touch with you."
Kirataka and Mei put on the equipment together, and then Bronya pressed the start button.
The scenery before their eyes suddenly changed.
Link Start!
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