Crack!
With just a little force, Arata's phone was completely destroyed and, if he hadn't still been frozen in time, Yuno's body would have collapsed lifelessly onto the table.
But Kaito's Dominion had decreed that he would remain completely motionless in time, so not even death would make him move.
Or at least... that's how it should have been.
The very next second, Yuno's body began to move, completely ignoring Kaito's ability.
"Puaaah. Being conscious feels so good." Yuno said with satisfaction. "This Lords thing is really insane, they even managed to steal my body."
[You have defeated the other eleven contestants. You completed the mission in only 17:45 minutes.]
[Mission complete. Rating: SSS]
[It has been detected that, due to an unknown error, there is one extra contestant in the mission. Eliminating them will generate extra rewards.
You may choose to withdraw if you do not accept.]
"Yuno Gasai, I assume?" Kaito asked, ignoring the system even though he already knew the answer.
Yuno looked at Kaito and frowned.
"And you're not Yuki-kun." she said, fury radiating from her entire being.
'Yuki?' Kaito thought. 'Now that I think about it, I haven't looked in a mirror since I came here. But since Yukiteru wasn't among the ones I killed, then I can only be him.' he realized.
"I'm not."
"I know. You're one of those Lords, right? That Arata guy tried to replace my soul, but I managed to survive.
Yuki-kun is just a normal person, so he definitely didn't survive." Yuno said in disappointment.
"You don't seem that sad." Kaito asked.
"I am sad." Yuno replied. "I'm very sad and very angry. Not only did you kill my Yuki-kun, you even took over his body? I'll kill you, but I won't kill you completely. I'll only cut off your limbs so you can't move, then I'll take you with me so you can watch as I dismember everyone you love, making sure they suffer as much as possible without dying."
"Don't you think that's a bit psychopathic?"
"Not at all." Yuno replied with an almost innocent smile.
"Then before we fight, would you tell me how you escaped my ability? It's pretty powerful, so I'm curious."
"Because you're terrible at using it. That weak control could barely restrain a weak person. I'm a goddess, you know? One with complete control over this universe's space and time.
Not only that, but Arata's soul had some interesting time control abilities."
"Had?"
"Yeah, I killed him. He won't resurrect, he won't even reincarnate." Yuno said with chilling calmness.
"I see. In short, you're better than me at controlling time." Kaito said.
'Looks like I'll have to practice this more. Although I don't think there are many people with powers that counter mine as perfectly as hers, or situations this specific, it's still better to be safe than sorry.'
In his mind, Kaito wondered if he should have immobilized her normally instead of messing with time.
Now he wouldn't be able to use that ability for an entire month, and it had practically been wasted.
"You seem to be thinking about a lot of things. It annoys me that you're doing that with Yuki-kun's face, so could you just die already and stop?"
The moment Yuno spoke, she vanished from where she stood, appearing directly behind Kaito and swinging a kitchen knife horizontally toward his neck.
Kaito ducked and turned around with a kick aimed directly at Yuno's stomach, but she dodged by retreating quickly while throwing the knife at him to distract him and prevent pursuit.
Kaito ignored the knife as he reappeared in front of her. This time he struck her squarely with a punch, connecting cleanly and sending her flying dozens of meters through every wall in her path.
Yuno stopped in midair, then flew naturally toward him at full speed.
Kaito spread his wings and flew toward her as well.
Their fists collided in the sky, sending both of them flying backward before they rushed back toward the center to continue fighting.
'System, explain exactly how the Loyalty Theft Card works.'
[Oh, I was wondering why she's still alive. So that's why.] the system said in understanding.
Actually, divine power in the world of Mirai Nikki didn't work like it did in other worlds. It didn't strengthen you that much, although it did to some extent.
It was more about control over that universe's space and time. Not only that, but Yuno had already used part of that power to recreate an entire universe similar to the previous one, so aside from her annoying control over space and time, she wasn't actually that powerful.
But Kaito wanted to see if he could bring her over to his side using the Loyalty Theft Card.
After all, finding someone with 100% loyalty was difficult, so a yandere seemed like the perfect target.
[The Loyalty Theft Card penetrates the target's mind and changes the previous connection that created all of that loyalty, redirecting it toward you, overwriting reality itself so they become loyal to you. We're not talking about overwriting their memories and deceiving them, but literally replacing the original person's place in reality.
However, this requires creating a mental link between the two of you, which is extremely dangerous if it's interrupted halfway through.]
'Isn't that completely broken?' Kaito asked in surprise as he grabbed Yuno by one arm and threw her into the ground.
Yuno got back up as if nothing had happened and reappeared behind him using her annoying powers.
[It is. It's a reward for taking first place in the first Lords battle, after all.] the system replied.
"Hey, didn't you say you stole Arata's time abilities? Then why aren't you using them?" Kaito asked as he vibrated, causing Yuno to pass harmlessly through him before stopping and turning back toward him.
"You think I don't want to? It's not that easy, damn it, besides, he only had basic abilities." Yuno said as she landed several punches on Kaito's chest.
Kaito caught every one of her punches while smirking.
"So then what you said earlier was a lie. Resisting my ability was just one of his skills, huh?"
"It's Temporal Resistance." Yuno said, disappearing and reappearing farther away while breathing heavily. "Having that means he has the potential to control time naturally, without depending on abilities."
Kaito smiled, storing the information away in his mind, then took the card out of his inventory, ready to use it.
"What are you doing?" Yuno asked in confusion, but she didn't need an answer when she saw the card disappear into the air, transforming into a ribbon of light that instantly penetrated both her mind and Kaito's.
"Aaaah!"
"Arghhh!"
Both of them immediately fell to their knees on the ground, clutching their heads in pain. As their minds connected, they each saw the other's memories in their entirety, feeling as though they had suddenly lived the other's entire life.
Of course, that was only a side effect. In reality, the card was running millions of simulations every second, fitting both of their memories together and changing Yuno's until they matched perfectly.
Once everything fit perfectly, the card would turn that perfect simulation into real memories by altering reality itself.
That was the level of power possessed by the system's items.
But halfway through, something happened.
Between her pained groans, Yuno murmured something.
"I don't want to lose... my freedom."
The moment he heard those words, Kaito felt a familiar sensation, as though his mind were fragmenting once again.
'Damn it, not again.' he cursed inwardly, but the next second a voice interrupted him.
"What are you doing? Taking away someone's freedom?" he muttered to himself.
And he answered himself.
"No, she... is a resource."
"She's a person, not a resource."
"She's evil anyway. What's wrong with it?"
"Don't use pathetic excuses. In the end..."
Anyone watching the situation up close would have understood absolutely nothing.
On one side, there was a girl writhing on the ground while muttering incoherently, and on the other, there was a man talking to himself as though he had gone insane while occasionally groaning in pain as well.
As if that weren't enough, the strange light connecting them and illuminating the entire area made everything look even more bizarre.
Finally, after what felt like decades from Yuno's point of view, the pain stopped at Kaito's command.
[Are you sure? The connection is still active and I can resume the procedure.] the system asked.
"Yes, stop it before I change my mind." Kaito muttered.
Following his orders, the light disappeared while the card returned to Kaito's hand before he stored it back in his inventory.
There on the ground, Yuno breathed heavily before looking at Kaito with fear in her eyes.
Without giving Kaito even a chance to speak, she simply disappeared into the air using her power over space.
"Aah... ahhh... Do you know where she went?" Kaito asked after struggling to catch his breath for a moment.
[She just connected to the system.]
"What?"
[She used Arata's connection to the system and his powers to get away.]
"So she's..." Kaito realized.
[On Earth, your Earth.] the system confirmed.
"I just created a huge problem, huh?" Kaito muttered to himself.
Receiving no response from the system, which was basically confirmation, he simply sat down on the ground and looked up at the stars in the sky.
There were a lot of them tonight.
...
After escaping, Yuno reappeared somewhere else in the blink of an eye.
It was a dark, moldy alley, with several clearly dangerous people there who looked at her the moment she appeared with obvious intentions.
The heavy rain pouring down soaked her clothes, making everything even more unpleasant.
But Yuno wasn't thinking about that. She was processing everything she had seen and discovered.
She looked at her own hands in disbelief, and all the background noise seemed to disappear, leaving only the sound of her own voice.
"I... am I a character in a story?" she asked herself.
Meanwhile, the nearby people had also noticed Yuno and immediately approached her. Needless to say, it wasn't with good intentions.
A beautiful girl like Yuno, looking so weak and fragile, was like a gift to these people abandoned by society.
Only a few of them hadn't sunk to that level of desperation, even so, that only meant they ignored her instead of helping her.
Returning to reality as she sensed someone approaching, Yuno noticed their intentions and was ready to kill them all. But before she could make her move, she felt the warmth of a human hand around her wrist as someone pulled her and forced her to run.
"Run" a voice told her.
It was an ordinary looking boy with short dark brown hair and brown eyes.
But Yuno couldn't help feeling her heart begin to beat rapidly as she associated him with someone else.
"Yuki-kun." she whispered softly when she saw him.
As they ran, Yuno thought she caught a glimpse of the stars for a brief moment, but they disappeared behind the lights of cars and buildings as they left the alley and entered the streets of a bustling city.
______________________________________
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)