(Note: There are several typographical errors in this chapter.)
(1. Shiki: Refers to the primary personality of Shiki Ryougi.)
2. SHIKI: Refers to the masculine personality of Shiki Ryougi.
3. 『Shiki』/ Void Shiki: Refers to Root Shiki, the personality directly connected to the Root (Akasha).
-----
Half a year later.
Next to the sun's orbit, there was a small black speck.
If you looked closely with a camera, you would see that it was a person—specifically, a naked man.
This man was Haruto.
At that moment, Haruto was basking in the sunlight and sleeping, simply floating in the sun's orbit, absorbing solar energy while he drifted.
During these six months, Haruto would take a nap directly in the sun's orbit every day at noon (a very deep sleep), sunbathing throughout.
Haruto felt it would be very cool to be able to sunbathe on Earth like Clark. No, his power could now be said to have increased rapidly. All of his abilities had evolved. There was a sort of evolution toward Silver Age Superman.
This was a good thing. Haruto felt that, aside from Thought Robot (Cosmic Armor Superman), the Silver Age Superman might be the strongest.
Why? Because the potential of Silver Age Superman was the greatest—far stronger than the Golden Age Superman.
The upper limit of Golden Age Superman's power had been set, but not for the Silver Age.
Haruto said, "How strange; why did I destroy the sun and evolve into a Silver Age Superman?"
The answer given by the system was that the perfect version of the Doomsday Gene can only be obtained by integrating all Kryptonian templates and all the super-advantages of every version, plus Doomsday.
And his potential far exceeded that of Silver Age Superman. The future upper limit was clearly beyond the reach of thought.
Of course, if Haruto wanted to ask for details, he couldn't; the system was being upgraded and maintained, a process that would last for half a year. Even the sign-in function that had just arrived remained unused, as it was immediately upgraded and maintained.
Haruto smelled his own body, and he was now awake.
"Alright, it's time to go back."
He opened the property system display. Although the system was under maintenance, his properties could still be viewed.
[Haruto]
• Physique: Perfect version of the ancient Doomsday gene (immortal, indestructible, infinite evolution)
• Strength: S
• Defense: S
• Durability: ∞
• Agility: S+
• Magic: ∞
• Luck: ∞
• Comprehensive Power: Five-digit Exception
• Abilities: Permanent Third True Magic (Heaven's Feel), Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Flight, Super Defense, Super Vision, Super Hearing, X-ray Vision, Heat Vision, Super Breath, Super Healing Ability, Super Hypnosis, Aether Energy Beam, Last Hope of Humanity, Nostalgia of the Goddess.
This was his current strength; the sunlight had not been in vain over the past six months. His power had directly reached five-digit figures.
WHOOSH!
Haruto flew directly toward Earth. His flight speed reached the speed of light as he suddenly broke through the Earth's atmosphere.
Haruto thought to himself: Where should I go? I haven't seen SHIKI for two days, so let's go find SHIKI.
It could be said that Haruto had directly conquered the other two 『Shiki's』 personalities over the last six months—yes, all of them. Not just Root Shiki, but also the other two personalities and the very fabric (structure) of those personalities had been mastered by him.
In the beginning, due to personality issues, the SHIKI personality tended to be masculine, which gave Haruto a headache.
The female body had a male character, which made Haruto feel as if he were "sword-fighting" every time he entered and exited SHIKI's body.
Later, through Haruto's efforts, he corrected SHIKI's personality directly, making her realize she was a woman. Coupled with hypnotic suggestion, it worked.
As for why hypnotism was used, it was, of course, the "Super Hypnosis" within Haruto's evolutionary abilities. This ability appeared in Superman and could be used to hide double-identity secrets. Superman could use this ability to suppress various powers for a period, usually no more than 24 hours.
However, clearly, because this ability could be used on others, a righteous Superman would not do so.
But Haruto was not the straight-laced Kal-El; he felt no need to hold back from using such a convenient ability, and there was no time limit after he strengthened it. As long as Haruto wished, the ability could be activated at any time.
Of course, he didn't overdo it, as the ability reminded him of a certain series from the past. He wouldn't go into details here.
As for Shiki, Haruto directly subdued them with charm and power.
Naturally, before that, Haruto remembered he wasn't dressed.
He quickly took his clothes out of the system space; he didn't want to be considered a pervert.
Haruto sighed while putting them on; the atmosphere under the sun felt cool, but it was a bit wasteful on clothes.
At that time, Haruto did not realize he was being watched, especially regarding his current situation.
-----
In an ancient palace.
Alaya and Gaia blushed while watching Haruto's scenes.
"Bah, what a pervert," Alaya said with a flushed face, but there was no actual shame in her eyes; instead, she kept staring at Haruto, nodding silently as if she were critiquing him.
Gaia also blushed and said, "Alaya, your drool is coming out."
"Ah!" Alaya turned pale with shock and quickly wiped her mouth with both hands.
She panicked as if she had been caught doing something bad on the spot.
It could be said that Alaya and Gaia had been peeking the entire time during these six months... er, no, they were monitoring Haruto.
Every afternoon, Gaia could always hear Alaya making lewd noises.
-----
Japanese Mansion.
This was the Ryougi residence, one of the four Demon Hunter clans. A figure with long hair fluttered under the cherry blossom trees.
Sitting at the edge of the path, brewing tea, looking at the sky as if searching for something.
This person looked exactly like SHIKI, but she was slightly different from the SHIKI of a year ago.
Her hair had grown long. That was what Haruto had requested back then. Haruto had imagined SHIKI with short hair at the time; although SHIKI was brave and valiant, she still suited long hair.
Thus, Haruto referred to the third-stage appearance of the two Saber personalities when playing FGO. Both personalities were accepted after some persuasion.
She had long hair and wore a kimono embroidered with peonies and white cranes. At that time, Haruto was shocked when he saw her and immediately went to the Root to celebrate. Of course, in the end, the clothes had to be remade.
Swish—
A figure descended, landing in the courtyard, and approached SHIKI.
It was Haruto.
"SHIKI, were you waiting for me?" Haruto looked at SHIKI with a smile.
"No, I was just resting," SHIKI replied, yet her eyes could not hide her joy. She took a cup and poured tea for Haruto.
Haruto could naturally see that SHIKI was being "tsundere" (honest with her feelings but acting tough), and he didn't mind. After half a year, he was used to getting along with her. Every time he came and went from Root Shiki, the woman always said it was the last time.
"Really? I could ask Little『Shiki』; after all, you two share the same thoughts," Haruto smiled.
The "Little 『Shiki』"was actually Root Shiki. To make it easier to distinguish between the three personalities, Haruto gave them appropriate names.
Hearing that, SHIKI showed a hint of panic. "No way! You're not allowed to call her; that girl, who is clearly just a corpse, keeps turning against me."
Speaking of Root Shiki, Haruto felt that Root Shiki was truly "playable." While he was in high spirits when first entering and exiting Root Shiki, Root Shiki suddenly transformed into Ryougi Shiki. At that moment, Haruto and Ryougi Shiki just stared at each other.
Ryougi Shiki exploded on the spot, immediately opening the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—a classic knife move, cutting Haruto's Lines of Death.
Unfortunately, even as Haruto's body "collapsed," he suddenly healed.
A voice echoed in Haruto's mind.
[Ding! Attacked by conceptual death. Evolved to be immune to the concept of death. Defense increased. Lines of Death removed.]
Then Ryougi Shiki was stunned; Haruto recovered instantly, and the Lines of Death disappeared. He then directly subdued her.
Haruto sipped his tea and said to SHIKI: "Come, follow me to the Clock Tower, and we will go to the Einzbern house in a few days."
Upon hearing about the Einzbern house, SHIKI blushed and said, "Hey, why should I go? In the end, it's not what you think." After thinking about those things, she spoke again.
"What are you considering? Can you explain it to me?" Haruto looked at the shy SHIKI with a playful expression.
"Humph" SHIKI turned her head away from Haruto. However, her body still leaned against him.
Even though she said nothing, she had missed Haruto over the last two days and allowed herself to be held by him.
Haruto held SHIKI in front of him, suddenly took off, and flew toward the Clock Tower.
A white light and shadow stretched across the sky above the Ryougi house.
The people of the Ryougi family raised their heads one by one. They were no longer surprised. The servants of the Ryougi family knew how influential the eldest daughter's boyfriend was.
SHIKI's father was very satisfied with his son-in-law.
During the flight, the voice in Haruto's mind suddenly sounded.
[Ding! Update successful. Sign-in function and task function have been opened.]
It was the long-lost voice of the system; the damn system was finally back online.