Tatsuki: "Kurumi."
Kurumi: "What business does Mr. Admin have with me?"
Tatsuki: "I'd like to ask you to help me investigate something."
Kurumi: "Me? Aren't we in different worlds? Besides, I'm hardly what you'd call a good person. If you're coming to me for help, you're looking in the wrong place, you know?"
Tatsuki: "Tsk, tsk. Kurumi, what, you just killed a few scum who deserved it—hardly a big deal. I've slaughtered hundreds of millions myself. No need to get all self-conscious with me; I'm not some pure-hearted saint either."
Kurumi: "…"
Kurumi stared closely at the glowing chat window.
Hundreds of millions? She suspected she'd misread it.
And she wasn't the only one who had that thought.
Hai Xiaomei: "Huh? H-hundreds… hundreds of millions?"
Mikoto Suoh: "…"
Furina: "Heavens! Hundreds of millions killed!"
How many people is that in terms of Fontaine's population…
Ch'en: "So this Apocalypse Chat Group is what—made to create apocalypses?"
Hundreds of millions—what kind of concept was that?
Some countries on Terra didn't even have a total population that large.
Nami: "Everyone, don't freak out. Tatsuki-kun only took action to resolve an apocalypse."
Reinhard: "As shocking as it is, those people really were ones who deserved to be culled."
Seitenshi: "They were born in my world, but… I cannot acknowledge them as people. Monsters with warped hearts would be a more fitting description."
Seitenshi: "It was Tatsuki-kun who saved this sad, futureless world."
Tendou Kisara: "All I can say is—served them right."
Tendou Kisara: "Tatsuki-kun did kill people from our world, yes—but that had nothing to do with destroying the world. He's the one who ended our world's apocalypse and its darkness."
Kiana: "Even if I don't know all the details, I refuse to believe Tatsuki-kun is the kind of villain who kills people for fun."
Mikasa: "Tatsuki-kun is a good person."
Mumei: "Big Brother would never be in the wrong."
Vivi: "I'll choose to believe Tatsuki too."
Mikoto Suoh: "If everyone in that world says so, there's nothing left to doubt."
Hai Xiaomei: "I'm sorry, Tatsuki-kun. I'm really, really sorry for jumping to conclusions about what you did!"
Furina: "I also need to apologize. I believe that all injustice and sin will be judged—and the people are often the ones who see the most clearly."
Tatsuki: "I don't really mind this sort of thing. Like I said— I'm not some pure-hearted good guy."
Kurumi: "…"
She didn't even know what to say.
For Tatsuki to calmly admit he'd killed hundreds of millions while sounding so unbothered by it… and she was here endlessly tormenting herself over the 'sin' of killing ten thousand.
In comparison, she suddenly felt ridiculously childish.
…
Ch'en frowned.
She opened a private chat window with Exusiai, wanting to verify things.
Ch'en: "Exusiai, is what that Tatsuki said true?"
Exusiai: "Ah, everything everyone said is true, y'know."
Exusiai: "I was there at the time. I gunned down a ton of monsters too. That world's people… the twisted ones were pretty terrifying—very similar to the scum on this land."
This land.
The moment Ch'en saw that phrase, she instinctively understood.
If they really were similar to the criminals on Terra… then they truly deserved to die.
Exusiai: "Tatsuki-kun is out there saving worlds. He even came to help me not long ago."
Ch'en: "Oh?"
An otherworldly visitor—Ch'en was a little curious what Tatsuki had actually done.
Exusiai: "You know Chernobog in Ursus? He helped us push back a Catastrophe."
Ch'en: "Pushed back a Catastrophe?!"
If she hadn't understood the power levels in the group before, she did now. Hearing it framed in Terra's own terms made it click instantly.
Pushing back a Catastrophe… was that something humans could even do? Even if she drew Redglow and went all out, all she could really do was cut from one end of a street to the other.
Exusiai: "Tatsuki-kun didn't just save Chernobog, he also defeated and rehabilitated the violent Infected organization Reunion."
Ch'en: "Reunion…"
Lungmen had received intel on them as well—an Infected organization active in Ursus.
Exusiai: "Yup. And Reunion's leader, the undying Black Snake, Talulah and so on—Tatsuki-kun took that leader away with him."
"!!!"
It was like having her skull rung by a giant bell—the echo humming in her mind.
She saw a name she would never forget, one she had thought of by day and dreamed of by night.
Talulah.
Tal's name.
Ch'en hurriedly asked, fingers shaking: "Talulah? A silver-haired draco?"
Exusiai: "Huh? I mean, yeah, she was silver-haired, but I dunno if she's a draco or a Vouivérine. Maybe a Weiyan or something. You know Reunion too, Ch'en-sir?"
Ch'en didn't reply.
She clutched at her wildly pounding heart.
That was Tal—had to be Tal!
Just then, in Ch'en's office, young tiger girl Swire kicked the door open, ready to brag about her latest accomplishments… only to see Ch'en looking pained, almost stricken.
Swire hurried over, anxious. "Puk Gaai Lung! What's wrong with you? You okay?"
Ch'en lifted her head. "Do you… still remember Tal?"
"Tal…" Swire froze.
Her mind flashed back to years ago.
When they were little.
Her, Ch'en Hui-chieh, Lin Yuhsia, and Talulah—four childhood friends.
That silver-haired draco girl with the bad temper and the overwhelming presence.
The one who shielded them whenever something happened.
She remembered that Christmas Eve kidnapping… the one where Talulah had been taken.
After that, Talulah disappeared from Lungmen, never to be heard from again.
Thinking of Talulah, Swire's expression dimmed. "Why bring her up now…?"
Ch'en's eyes were full of nervous excitement and fear. "I… think I might've just found her."
Remembering Exusiai's words—that Talulah had been taken away by Tatsuki-kun—Ch'en was desperate to find him and confirm it.
And then, the Apocalypse Chat Group's Journey notification appeared.
[Ding! Apocalypse factor detected in: Saiki Kusuo. Apocalypse Journey unlocked!]
[Apocalypse Journey: Three-Man Trip]
[Journey Duration: 1 hour]
[Participants: Tatsuki, Saiki Kusuo, Ch'en]
[Journey Objective: Prevent the volcanic eruption.]
[Apocalypse Journey: Apocalypse Termination]
[Journey Duration: Unlimited]
[Participants: No limit]
[Objective: Permanently resolve the volcanic eruption.]
Ch'en: "I think I just saw my codename, along with some kind of confirmation prompt… what am I supposed to do?"
Tatsuki: "Apocalypse Journey means we jump to someone else's world to handle their apocalypse."
Aqua: "When it comes to dealing with apocalypses, we're professionals."
Ch'en: "Apocalypse…"
That word seemed to run through the very core of this entire chat group.
In her mind, an apocalypse was something like a world riddled with Catastrophes, calamity everywhere.
Tushan Honghong: "Saiki Kusuo doesn't seem to be here?"
Tatsuki: "Ch'en, don't overthink it. Just hit confirm and you'll see for yourself."
Ch'en: "Understood."
The two of them confirmed the Apocalypse Journey.
....
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