Was the sky about to change?
Su Yuzu thought she had heard something like that before — back in the game.
The power of Saint Michael watched over the Tokyo metropolitan area.
In the eyes of most people, it was precisely Saint Michael's restraint over Kujou Iruka that had kept her from ever setting foot inside Tokyo.
But… based on the information Su Yuzu had gathered and shared with Director Saionji, the real reason Kujou Iruka had never launched an attack on Tokyo was most likely something far simpler: she simply had no interest in human settlements — no interest in human suffering, in human despair, in any of it.
If anything, quite the opposite.
The one and only thing that could make Kujou Iruka take notice — the one thing that could drive her to blind, incandescent fury, the one thing that could make her want to level Tokyo to the ground — was probably nothing more and nothing less than Kujou Katora's despair.
Su Yuzu had originally assumed the game's storyline went like this: Kujou Katora falls to Leviathan, and a Kujou Iruka consumed by grief and rage launches an all-out assault on Tokyo.
But… from the fragments and clues Su Yuzu had been piecing together, she was starting to suspect that the one who died on the shores of Lake Kasumigaura in the game wasn't Kujou Katora at all.
It was Hayabusa — and every last member of the Investigation Bureau's Fourth Action Division.
No wonder the in-game Kujou Katora was always alone. No wonder her character art showed a girl sitting in shadow — solitary, half-mad, as though she wanted to unmake everything around her.
Her heart had already died long before.
It had already been crushed to nothing beneath that detestable monster.
That despair — the girl's despair — was exactly what had sent Kujou Iruka into a fury.
Saint Michael's restraint might not have been nearly as powerful as most people imagined — not when it came to Kujou Iruka.
Still… what Director Saionji said next came as a mild surprise even to Su Yuzu.
"Based on our data analysis," Director Saionji said.
"The holy radiance began to fracture and unravel over a month ago." Director Saionji paused, and cast a meaningful glance at the girl standing before her.
Su Yuzu had a fairly good idea of what Director Saionji was implying.
"Is it… because of me?"
"The timing simply overlaps." Director Saionji shook her head, gesturing for the girl not to read too much into it. "It's entirely possible that when the Eye of Insight was preparing to move against you, they also began sabotaging the power Lord Saint Michael left behind."
Faced with Director Saionji's attempt at reassurance, Su Yuzu could only taste bitterness.
Because somewhere deep down, she already had a premonition — a quiet, creeping certainty.
The holy radiance that hung above the city, that had stood watch over it all this time — it had begun to crumble because of her awakening. Because of her.
"There is one more thing —"
"Regarding the collapse of the holy power…" Director Saionji turned and looked toward Yamabuki Nanako.
Yamabuki Nanako was standing on a stool, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she pulled up the data. A blue line graph was projected in front of Su Yuzu.
"The collapse was actually very gradual at first," she said.
"At the rate it was degrading before, it would have taken a hundred years for the holy radiance to fully unravel."
"But… starting about twenty-odd days ago…"
"The rate of collapse suddenly accelerated."
"And it's been dropping in sharp, stair-step intervals — every single day."
"After the earthquake caused by that Aberrant attack, every time an erosion domain is deployed anywhere within the city, the holy radiance degrades a little more."
"If this keeps up…"
"It might not take a hundred years. It could be three years — maybe even less — before the power Saint Michael left behind completely collapses."
"And when that happens, what we'll be facing…"
"Kujou Iruka." Su Yuzu said the name on Director Saionji's behalf — the name that had perhaps been too difficult for her to speak aloud.
"—Yes." Director Saionji's expression was heavy.
And indeed —
A being who was potentially a Seventh Sequence Aberrant, a walking living Abyss — a terrifying existence with the raw power to raze the city beneath their feet all on her own.
It was impossible for Director Saionji not to feel the weight of it.
Especially given that the one most responsible for all of this was a student she had personally educated.
She had never stopped blaming herself — for her old teaching philosophy, too ruthlessly pragmatic, too transactional. She had always felt that Kujou Iruka's fall was something she could never fully separate herself from.
But… compared to Director Saionji's heaviness, Su Yuzu was considerably more composed.
After all, she had fought the Kujou Iruka interception battle more times than she could count — back in the game.
As the World Boss, Su Yuzu had cleared Kujou Iruka so many times she'd lost track. All for a tiny handful of World Boss materials as a reward.
She knew exactly how to speed-farm the Lake Kasumigaura storyline to obtain the "damaged music box" and weaken Kujou Iruka's combat power.
She knew exactly how to complete the Lost Radiance storyline, claim the "Saint's Blessing," strengthen herself, and meet the entry requirements for the Boss fight.
She had run it so many times she could do it in her sleep.
Even reborn into this life, those memories would still give her no small amount of help.
And besides… the most important thing of all was this:
Reality was nothing like the game.
In the game, players had absolutely no way to recruit Abyss-attribute Operators.
To say nothing of directly recruiting an Aberrant.
But in reality — Su Yuzu had already successfully tamed the little cat.
And through the little cat's soft, pitiful meowing, she had proven that Combat Records worked on Aberrants just as well as anyone else.
They could produce that same effect — something close to a Blessing.
And Kujou Iruka… back then, she had pursued Lady Fate's Blessing with something bordering on obsession. She had hunted Aberrants and Catastrophe Beasts without end, without mercy.
And it was precisely that madness that had eventually led her down the path of corruption.
If she could recruit Kujou Iruka — Su Yuzu actually thought she might be able to win without fighting at all.
A single Combat Record, and the great Abyss of Eternal Smiles herself, a Seventh Sequence Aberrant, would be wagging her tail at Su Yuzu's feet.
Of course —
Su Yuzu knew that was wildly unrealistic.
To have any hope of recruiting Kujou Iruka, she would first need to successfully intercept her outside Tokyo.
And even defeat her.
But still — Su Yuzu didn't feel like the path ahead was nothing but darkness and hopelessness.
"However —" Director Saionji pulled herself together. She gestured to Yamabuki Nanako to present the next piece of intelligence to Su Yuzu.
"The reason I called you in today isn't about Iruka… it's not about her."
"Earlier —"
"When that Aberrant appeared and triggered the earthquake and tsunami, tearing through the holy radiance's defensive line —"
Director Saionji pulled up the intelligence on Feng Ke's first appearance within the city.
"We found something rather interesting."
"The force that tore through the holy radiance… didn't come from any of the Wind · Fire · Mountain · Forest."
"It came from the sea."
"And even now, the Aberrant readings from the bay are in complete disarray."
"Beyond the sea —"
"Is an enemy."
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