MHGA Chapter 338 – The Process of the Story
"Holopsicon…"
"Holopsicon…"
At nearly the same instant, Altair and Sirius both activated the same movement of Holopsicon.
Twin shockwaves—like Almighty Push—erupted outward from both Altair and Sirius as the epicenter.
The immense force of the blasts made it impossible for the others attacking Altair to continue their assault—they had no choice but to dodge to survive.
Squeezed between shockwaves of two distinct hues, the buildings on both sides of the street crumbled, and Altair wasted no time, rapidly closing the distance to Sirius, intent on destroying her mirror.
"…Headache."
Kairo Retsu stabbed his Great Sword into the ground to stabilize himself and watched as Altair, ignoring him, focused entirely on killing Sirius first. Watching their clash, Kairo felt a migraine coming on.
"Elderseal works… at least Altair isn't completely untouchable…" Kairo muttered to himself. "But the Shagaru Magala… do I still follow the original plan? Have Kazuma bring Aqua and Setsuna's ashes to attempt resurrection?"
"..."
Kairo wavered.
With Shagaru Magala potentially arriving at any moment, even the plan he'd already prepared was now a source of doubt.
After a brief pause for reflection, Kairo hardened his resolve.
So what if Shagaru Magala shows up here? It's not like he's never handled a monster invasion mission before.
What the Hunters needed to defeat right now… wasn't Altair herself.
It was the force called "Approval Rating" that existed in this world.
Right now, Kairo and the other Hunters were part of a story.
Altair's story had already been given a beginning. Therefore, if they truly wanted to eliminate the influence she was causing, they had to give her a conclusion.
"Reality is a load of irrational crap… but a story needs a coherent ending…" Kairo muttered to himself. "She's the ultimate crap-monster. The kind of system-boss you just want to uninstall."
"Kazuma!"
Kairo raised his voice and shouted into the guild comms—and also directly at the Birdcage's cameras: "Where the hell are you with Setsuna's remains!?"
His voice wasn't just relayed through the comms to Kazuma—it was also picked up by the cameras in the Birdcage and broadcast to the live event site, where it appeared on the big screen.
"Setsuna? Who's that?" murmured some of the audience. "Is that a character's name?"
"Is she one of the new characters from the event?" another speculated. The "event" referred to the story Kairo had released earlier, featuring the Hunters.
"I haven't finished all of those side stories yet…" muttered a bleary-eyed viewer with heavy dark circles. "But I do remember seeing the name Setsuna somewhere…"
Not just at the event—viewers watching the livestream also began posting bullet comments due to Kairo's outburst.
Most people assumed Setsuna was a key character needed to advance the plot, and that Kairo contacting Kazuma was a pre-planned major story beat.
Some even remembered Setsuna's identity and said so in chat: "I remember now—Setsuna was the original author of Altair who committed suicide in the prequel, right?"
"Huh?!!"
"LMAO—"
"So this counts as desecrating the dead, right?"
"Of course it's the thief Kazuma… Why not just have him steal Altair's underwear while he's at it!?"
The comment feed filled with chaos. Given Kazuma's story reputation, some even started speculating about the next developments.
"They're not seriously going to threaten Altair with Setsuna's ashes, are they?"
"WTF—how is this something a main character party would do?"
"That's a total disqualification from protagonist status."
"Come to think of it, is there anyone on site who can actually resurrect the dead?"
Audience members and viewers continued furiously debating Kairo and Kazuma's exchange.
Meanwhile, Kazuma was pedaling furiously on a bicycle, with Aqua seated behind him holding Setsuna's urn, panting from exertion: "OHHHH! I'm three minutes away!"
"Hey! Even if Aqua knows Resurrection Magic, it doesn't work on ashes! What the hell's your plan to bring Setsuna back!?" Kazuma shouted while pedaling faster.
"…It's a gamble," Kairo murmured, looking up at the fierce clash between Altair and Sirius.
The overlapping movements of Holopsicon, the number of attacks, and the ferocity of their collision—all of it left Kairo awestruck.
Altair really had been shaped by countless creators, becoming a monster filled with infinite possibilities.
But thankfully… she had her limits.
"Wait…"
Kairo watched the battle unfolding in the sky and suddenly sensed something wrong.
This wasn't a fair fight. There was a subtle imbalance.
In the clash between Sirius and Altair, Kairo noticed that Sirius—completely undamaged—was now slightly losing to Altair, who had been wounded by him.
"Sirius is supposed to be Altair's mirror image!" Kairo's eyes widened. "How can she be at a disadvantage against a damaged Altair?"
Even in the original storyline, Altair had only been able to erase Sirius because Sirius had no self-awareness—not through raw power alone.
But in the next instant, Kairo figured out the answer.
At the brief moment when Altair and Sirius brushed past each other mid-air, he clearly saw dark fumes emerging from the corner of Altair's mouth—and her crimson pupils had turned a purplish red.
That was… the sign of the Frenzy Virus being triggered—and overcome.
"…?"
Kairo's eyes went wide: "Are you kidding me… she's overcoming the Frenzy Virus?! From that Gore Magala?! Shit!"
Kairo didn't hesitate another second. The moment Sirius began to fall behind, he leapt into action, preparing to forcefully intervene in the "territory battle" between the Military Uniform Princess and her mirror.
Altair, too, had sensed something odd about her condition—but she quickly realized it was due to the Frenzy Virus released by the Gore Magala that had identified her.
The virus was stimulating her latent power, enabling her—despite being wounded—to completely overpower Sirius, who shared her mirror abilities.
But just then, that irritating figure—Kairo Retsu—appeared once more.
Leaping down from a nearby high-rise, he came crashing toward Altair with a charged Great Sword slash.
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