Chapter 338: Summer Time
Meanwhile, the four masked players in black robes who were fleeing finally let out sighs of relief when they realized no one was chasing them. Their eyes were filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.
"Thank goodness. It seems that guy isn't in good condition after the battle either, so he didn't come after us..."
The player was only halfway through speaking when a black shadow descended rapidly from the sky, landing directly in their path.
"Are you sure?"
Asagiri landed in an incredibly stylish pose. Then he slowly raised his head, looked at the four black robed players standing before him, and spoke softly.
"Naive."
"You... you..."
The leader of the four black robed players saw Asagiri blocking their way, and fear appeared in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and shouted,
"He's already at the end of his rope! Four against one, we can kill him!"
Seeing the four players reach into their clothes, seemingly about to take something out, Asagiri merely raised his right hand and aimed it at one of their necks.
"Corpses shouldn't talk."
In the next second, a dark gray hand reached out from the void and grabbed that player's neck directly.
Seeing this, the other three players could not help but show shock. They immediately took out weapons from their inventories. Two used daggers, while the other used a short sword.
The three of them gave it everything they had, slashing their weapons down on the dark gray arm, only to discover that their desperate attacks could not leave even the slightest mark on it.
The dark gray hand seized that player's neck, lifted him straight into the air, and then its five fingers tightened slightly.
With a crisp crack of breaking bone, the player's lifeless corpse was casually thrown to the ground.
The next second, dark gray smoke condensed behind the arm.
When the remaining three black robed players saw Walrider's appearance, their faces filled with horror and panic.
"Th-this is..."
"Kill them, Walrider."
After receiving Asagiri's command, Walrider did not hesitate at all. Its dark gray body scattered like a ghostly mist, and by the time it condensed again, it had already appeared in front of the three players.
It swiped out with one hand.
The terrifying force sent one player flying, his chest caving in deeply.
Strength was not Walrider's strong suit. That was only because the comparison was Human Asura.
"Th-this monster..."
The moment the last two players saw Walrider, they completely lost their will to fight.
They stared at Asagiri, who stood there with a calm expression, their eyes filled with nothing but disbelief and fear.
Why?
Why could this guy control the BOSS of this Dead Realm?
What kind of ability was this?
"Die! Just die already!"
The two players let out desperate roars and pulled out large caliber silver pistols from their clothes, aiming them at Asagiri.
Asagiri merely shook his head.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
After a burst of gunfire emptied their magazines, the two players witnessed an unbelievable scene.
Asagiri did not dodge or evade at all. He took every bullet head on. He even had the leisure to catch one bullet with his hand, gently pinching it between his index finger and thumb, holding it up against the sunlight to observe it with interest.
"Specially made large caliber armor piercing rounds... How incredibly boring."
Asagiri casually tossed the bullet aside, looked at the two trembling players, and waved his hand dismissively.
"Alright, you can die now."
As his words fell, Walrider's two arms appeared in front of the two players.
Those dark gray palms grabbed their heads, then smashed them forcefully into the ground.
After a dull impact, the two players' heads burst directly into bloody fragments.
"Alright..."
After killing the two players, Asagiri did not even glance at the corpses on the ground. He merely raised his head, looked at the sky, and muttered to himself,
"The battle is finally over."
...
Meanwhile, in the world of eternal night, inside the monitoring room of a Blackwatch underground military base.
"Routine check. Experiment Site 3 is normal. Experiment Site 2 is normal..."
The Blackwatch member in front of the computer switched through the connected monitoring screens, carrying out the inspection with an expressionless face while reporting into the communication channel.
"Experiment Site 1 is normal... Hm?"
When he switched the monitoring feed to Blackwatch's Experiment Site 1, the fifth floor of Mount Massive Asylum, which was also its deepest level, he found that the screen was empty.
"What!?"
The Blackwatch member's expression changed. He immediately switched to cameras from other angles, hoping it was only his imagination.
But no matter how he switched the feed, he could not see Walrider or the five Blacklight Virus infected hosts anywhere on the fifth floor of Mount Massive Asylum.
"Experiment Site 1... All experimental subjects have completely disappeared!"
"What!?"
In the core control room, the Blackwatch Commander heard the communication through his headset, and his expression changed sharply.
He immediately switched the screen in front of him to the surveillance feed of Mount Massive Asylum.
Seeing the empty fifth floor, he was completely stunned. Only after several seconds did he speak, his voice filled with agitation.
"The ultimate weapon we created at all costs, even sacrificing the lives of five Commanders..."
"Walrider... Where on earth did it go!?"
...
That evening, in an office on the top floor of a building in Tokyo.
Miwa Ashikaga sat behind the desk, listening to the entire story of the incident before nodding slightly.
"You obtained a new Persona? Then this Dead Realm incident can be considered a gain for us."
Yuuki Asuna, who was sitting on the sofa with Asagiri, pursed her lips and asked with some concern,
"Teacher Ashikaga, the virus in those Special Infected..."
"It's not contagious."
Miwa Ashikaga understood what Yuuki Asuna was worried about, so she answered that first before continuing.
"Judging from your description, those people called Blackwatch don't want to destroy the world. They want to create biological weapons to fight against Cursed phenomena. So the virus in those Special Infected doesn't seem to spread through infection. According to the intelligence obtained from official dissections, once the host dies, the virus immediately loses activity. Rather than a zombie virus in the traditional sense, it is more like..."
Asagiri spoke in a flat tone.
"A parasite that cannot change hosts."
Miwa Ashikaga nodded.
"That's right. Exactly."
Yuuki Asuna noticed Asagiri's thoughtful expression and could not help but ask curiously,
"What's wrong? Is there something worth worrying about?"
"The truth about this Game."
"Eh?"
Seeing both Miwa Ashikaga and Yuuki Asuna show surprise, Asagiri took out his phone. He looked at the app with the eye icon on the screen and spoke softly.
"The rules of the Trial stated that an unknown number of Dead Realms would descend upon this world. Not just Tokyo. Not just Japan. Dead Realms would descend all over the world. Although the descent stops after twelve hours, the Dead Realms that already descended will not disappear."
Hearing this, Yuuki Asuna and Miwa Ashikaga vaguely guessed what Asagiri meant, and disbelief appeared in their eyes.
"You mean..."
Asagiri spoke slowly, stating a hypothesis that shocked Yuuki Asuna.
"The world of Blackwatch may have already experienced a Game. And during the Trial phase that occurs in every stage, the players of that world failed to contend against the constantly descending Dead Realms. Cursed phenomena and monsters from other worlds ran rampant, eventually ravaging that world until it became the world we saw."
"How could that be..."
Thinking that their world could also become a place of eternal darkness, filled with rampant Cursed phenomena, Yuuki Asuna's expression became extremely heavy. She immediately said,
"But if that world really is a world where players failed the Trial, then the people of Blackwatch should know about the Game. Yet they acted as if they knew nothing, as if they had only just come into contact with the Game."
"That's why it's only a hypothesis. It can explain why that world became like that, but there are indeed many inconsistencies."
After saying this, Asagiri stood up from the sofa and smiled.
"Alright. Since the incident has been resolved, now it's time to enjoy the relaxing summer vacation."
...
Meanwhile, in the Shijo Family mansion.
"Maki..."
Seeing the worry in the eyes of the well dressed, elegant middle aged woman, Shijo Maki forced out a smile, shook her head, and said,
"I'm fine, Mom. You don't need to worry too much."
Hearing this did not make Shijo Maki's mother breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, she blamed herself even more.
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let you take such a risk to resolve some Dead Realm. At that time, you were so close to..."
"Don't say that."
Shijo Maki pursed her lips and recalled the scene from earlier that day.
In her mind, she saw the dangerous moment when she faced those Special Infected and her life hung by a thread.
She also saw the back of that person wearing a long black trench coat.
Her expression became slightly complicated as she spoke.
"It was because my strength was too weak, and because I had too much blind confidence in myself, that I made a reckless judgment and fell into such danger. I bear the Shijo name. If I hid because I was afraid of death at such a critical moment, what would the players who joined our Shijo Family faction think? This is not your responsibility, nor anyone else's."
After saying that, Shijo Maki parted her lips.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked,
"By the way, that competition for control of Tokyo in a few days... will the Ashikaga Budo Association also participate?"
"Of course they will."
Shijo Maki's mother nodded and sighed.
"In this Trial incident, the Ashikaga Budo Association displayed overwhelming strength. I heard that the Black Giant Ship in Shinjuku, as well as the Dead Realm with the Special Infected and that gray shadow, were all resolved by Shadow from the Ashikaga Budo Association. Although I am very unwilling to admit it, at the current stage, the Ashikaga Budo Association is the strongest player faction, far stronger than our Shijo Family."
"I see..."
Shijo Maki nodded noncommittally on the surface.
But in her heart, a feeling of anticipation could not help but rise.
In that competition a few days later...
Would she be able to see him?
.....
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