Inside the underground transfer hub, listening to Clockwork speak.
Sakayanagi Arisu glanced at the crowd of refugees trembling not far off, then turned her gaze to the phantom masks that had appeared in Ichinose and the others' hands.
Livid-faced and fanged, they radiated an ominous, cold chill.
"Chris."
Sakayanagi Arisu nudged Chris's arm lightly with her elbow.
"Chris, hurry and bring it out. Now really isn't the time to be wasting a single moment."
She was referring, of course, to the [Myriad Realm Illustrated Guide].
That item had originally been bought with points by Horikita Suzune, who'd entrusted Karuizawa Kei to pass it along to Chris.
Though it had briefly passed through her hands before, Sakayanagi wasn't the sort to pocket some low-grade item like this. So after using it last time, she'd returned it to Chris exactly as it was.
How to put it — call it "like-new, borrowed by a girl."
The scent she'd left on it could even count as a bonus.
Chris paid no mind to her little gesture.
With a flip of his wrist, the Item Illustrated Guide appeared in his hand, aimed straight at the phantom masks Ichinose and the others had just redeemed.
"Beep—"
A translucent screen of light unfolded.
[Target: Phantom Masks (Niga, Razo, Bat)]
[Description: After the age in which the Eight Great Demons ruled the Earth came to an end, seven righteous warriors of Japan defeated Tara, leader of the Dark Shadow Legion, and his nine Ghost Generals, sealing the souls of the nine generals into nine separate masks.]
[Traits: Wearing a mask comprehensively enhances physical ability and allows unlimited summoning of its corresponding exclusive Phantom Legion;
the Niga Legion corresponds to standard black-clad ninja, agile assassins;
the Razo Legion takes a slender demonic form with mantis-like claws, skilled at slicing and climbing;
the Bat Legion possesses a bat form, skilled at aerial combat.]
[Note: The mask releases the darkest evil thoughts buried in the wearer's heart, gradually eroding the mind until it fully turns to darkness; summoning a legion accelerates this corruption. Those of firm will can only delay it, never fully resist. Should all nine masks gather, they will unleash ultimate darkness upon the Earth, devouring everything.]
Having read the warning on the screen of light.
Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't particularly surprised, only knitting her pretty brows a little as she propped her chin on one hand. "Corruption that can't be resisted… so cheap goods really are never any good, hm?"
"Granted, once we return to the school, the Black Sphere will most likely forcibly strip away a dangerous curse like this. But our exam this time isn't exactly short."
Sakayanagi shot Ichinose Honami a pointed look. "And if this mask… were to actually corrupt our great angel here inside the exam, that would be nothing but trouble for us."
At this, Ichinose Honami's delicate brows drew together, and she was about to say something.
But Chris raised a hand first, cutting her off. "Sakayanagi's right — that risk is real. And besides…"
Chris paused, his gaze sweeping past Ichinose to somewhere not far off.
There, hundreds, even thousands, of refugees were looking up at them, stealing trembling, pleading glances at this band of "outsiders."
"Ryuen's seized the official networks and command systems, true, but in the end that's only a takeover on the information level."
Chris drew his gaze back and looked at Ichinose, speaking earnestly. "If we really want to calm these several hundred thousand people and steadily push the evacuation plan forward, I'm afraid it still comes down to you, Ichinose."
"At an apocalyptic moment like this, pairing your [Myriad Soaring Wings] with an 'angel' descending to save the masses… plus the [Love-Love Fruit] that makes people instinctively feel trust and infatuation — that's absolutely the most useful hook we've got right now, isn't it?"
Hearing this.
Amanatsu Kazuha obediently removed the [Myriad Soaring Wings] and handed it right back to Ichinose Honami.
"Senpai's right, Madam President." Amanatsu Kazuha said with a bright smile. "Compared to me, right now you really are the only one fit to play this 'messenger of the gods' role."
Ichinose Honami mulled it over for a moment, then finally took it back, accepting Chris's arrangement.
"Understood. Leave calming the people to me."
Ichinose immediately asked, "Then what about my Bat mask? A flying Bat Phantom Legion has strategic value in rescue work — it'd be a shame not to use it."
Chris spread his hands noncommittally. "No rush on that. Let's wait and see how Shiina and Horikita test the waters first."
"If each person can only summon three to five phantom soldiers, then our disaster-relief efficiency might end up worse than the official rescue teams out there."
Ichinose Honami saw the sense in it and said no more, turning to look at Horikita Suzune and Shiina Hiyori.
Under everyone's attentive gazes.
Shiina Hiyori pressed her lips together slightly, lifted the somewhat ferocious-looking Razo mask, and slowly fitted it over her face.
As the mask's edges extended as if alive, wrapping around her whole cheeks, Shiina Hiyori let out a soft gasp. "How amazing… my body suddenly feels so light, and strength is surging up inside me…"
Horikita Suzune prompted from beside her, "Try summoning a Phantom Legion and see?"
Shiina Hiyori nodded and, in the manner of meditation, called out inwardly.
"Come forth, soldiers of the Phantom Legion!"
Before her voice had even faded.
The shadow beneath Shiina Hiyori's feet began to writhe. Soon a pitch-black ninja — legs slender and tapered, nearly two meters tall, hands turned to sharp claws — rose slowly from the shadow and knelt respectfully on one knee before the girl.
However…
After a long wait, the shadow settled back into stillness.
Ichinose Honami stared at the rather underwhelming scene, momentarily stunned. "This monster… gives off about the same menace as an ordinary vampire."
"But… there's just the one?"
Seeing this, Horikita Suzune frowned as well.
Refusing to believe it, she grabbed the Niga mask, decisively put it on, and likewise began attempting to summon.
The dark shadows surged again.
"Shff! Shff! Shff!"
Though Horikita Suzune's summoning made far more commotion than Shiina Hiyori's, all that emerged from the shadow were six or seven standard black-clad ninja.
Against a disaster-stricken population of over a hundred thousand, this handful of hands could barely keep order at a single intersection, let alone carry out rescues.
Just as Horikita Suzune looked at these few ninja, anxiety mounting inside her.
Sakayanagi Arisu pressed a hand to her jaw, a look of dawning realization crossing her face. "Heh heh… so that's how it is."
"Since these are masks that represent darkness, I'd imagine the cap on how many they can summon is directly tied to the wearer's inner 'degree of darkness,' don't you think?"
Chris nodded and went along with it. "Both wore a mask for the first time, yet the number Horikita and Shiina summoned is completely different."
"I'm afraid that's exactly it. Before the mask fully draws out the evil within them, this is already the level they can summon as normal people."
At that, Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze drifted naturally to the side.
Her eyes flicked, faint and fleeting, toward Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Yagami Takuya, and Amanatsu Kazuha standing at the edge.
As people who'd walked out of the "White House," so-called selfishness was long since carved into their bones.
When it came to the darkness within, this bunch was innately deeper than ordinary high schoolers raised in a greenhouse!
Not to mention, they were currently operating under the righteous banner of "saving the world," which made it even harder for ordinary students to conjure dark thoughts.
Noticing Sakayanagi's gaze, Chris spoke up at just the right moment. "Ayanokouji's got a whole set of equipment on him right now. Are you sure you want him to put this thing on? If he corrupts and goes berserk out of control… with us not around, who's going to stop him?"
Sakayanagi Arisu muttered under her breath and let out a somewhat regretful sigh. "True enough. It'd be far too dull if the supreme masterpiece turned into a madman who knew nothing but slaughter."
"Then the only suitable targets left now are Amanatsu Kazuha, Yagami Takuya, and…"
The girl deliberately drew out the end of her sentence, her gaze drifting airily toward someone hiding at the back of the crowd.
"…Kushida-san?"
Named out of nowhere, Kushida Kikyo felt a jolt of panic.
She had no idea how Sakayanagi Arisu had sniffed out her two-faced nature.
But at the very least, before most of the people here, she was maintaining a flawless "little angel" image!
A phantom mask was hardly some irreplaceable, life-saving power item.
Why on earth would she expose her dark inner nature just for this thing?!
Even as she cursed Sakayanagi Arisu inwardly, Kushida Kikyo hurriedly waved her hands, putting on a flustered, delicate air as though overwhelmed by the honor, and refused again and again.
"Me?! I can't do it!"
"I—I think I'd better pass after all. Sakayanagi-san, don't joke around — anyone can see I'm just not the dark-hearted type!"
"I'm worried that if I put it on I won't even summon a single soldier, and I'll just waste everyone's expectations…"
Watching her comically strained attempt to cover herself.
Sakayanagi Arisu simply smiled, with no intention of exposing her in public at a moment like this.
"Since Kushida-san isn't willing, then never mind."
Sakayanagi turned to Amanatsu Kazuha, who was watching the show with relish. "So, as Ichinose's junior classmate, I'd imagine you wouldn't think easing your class president's burdens is a bad thing. Right, Amanatsu, my dear junior~"
Amanatsu Kazuha's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Senpai really does think highly of me~"
"But… if the class president doesn't mind, then naturally I've no reason to refuse."
After all, the final reward for this advance test would be distributed according to each person's "contribution value" in the rescue.
With Ryuuen now controlling the network hub and Ichinose about to transform into a great angel delivering the suffering…
those two were locks for the top two spots, no question.
But for the two remaining places, if she could secure command over a Phantom Legion, it wasn't as if she couldn't put up a fight for one.
And she wouldn't even have to spend her own points on the mask — wasn't that pure profit with zero investment?
Listening to the two of them trade thinly veiled barbs.
Ichinose Honami was a little puzzled.
She didn't understand why Sakayanagi Arisu had suddenly linked this to Kushida Kikyo.
But considering Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have some hidden connection with the school authorities and might know inside information that couldn't be said aloud…
Ichinose ultimately chose to trust Sakayanagi's judgment and tacitly accepted the arrangement.
Sure enough.
When Amanatsu Kazuha casually slipped the Bat mask onto her face.
"Hee… come out and play, little ones."
With her utterly untroubled murmur, the shadows across the entire shelter seemed to come alive.
One after another, bat ninja with fleshy wings sprouting from their backs welled up out of the darkness like a gushing spring.
It sent quite a few who didn't know the truth into a panic.
Even Ichinose Honami found herself silently clicking her tongue.
'What on earth… is this child repressing inside her…'
Just as everyone was heartened by this show of force.
"Bzzt—"
The phone in Ichinose's pocket suddenly buzzed.
"Huh?"
In this otherworld, could Advanced Nurturing High School's custom phones really communicate across worlds?
Puzzled, she tapped the screen — and there was Ryuuen.
He seemed to be inside some laboratory filled with high-tech instruments, with Katsuragi Kohei and Kouenji Rokusuke at his side.
Ryuuen wasted no words and launched straight into an explanation.
"Just now Kouenji and I used the Knight card box on Katsuragi to open a passage through the [Mirror World] and appear directly in the outside world."
"We collected the tissue that got blasted off Godzilla, and we've now successfully analyzed the Coagulant compound to use against it."
"Consider it one more layer of insurance for your plan."
Ryuuen paused, then went on. "But making the Coagulant takes time. And the nuclear energy inside Godzilla is still at overflowing levels — charging in headlong is suicide."
"After this I'll mobilize the Self-Defense Force drone swarms across all of Japan to keep harassing it, drawing it into burning off energy and creating an opening for you."
"Before that, you'd all better get yourselves ready in advance."
Ichinose Honami's expression turned serious, and she immediately put forward her request. "Ryuen-san, since you've got control of the networks… could you open me a full-spectrum broadcast channel?"
"I need to reach and address as many of the trapped people as possible!"
"That way we avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and a second wave of panic."
Ryuuen didn't refuse. "Fine. I've granted your phones access — just tap it open. Every screen in Japan with a connection will cut to your feed."
"Once Godzilla's energy is worn down enough, I'll notify you to prepare for the final battle."
With that, the screen went black — Ryuuen had decisively hung up.
Watching all this, Chris marveled. "Swift and decisive… in the time it took us to have a chat over here, he's practically finished the analysis."
"That template of his seems just a little too convenient."
"Still, since Ryuen's side has already begun, it's about time we got started over here too."
Chris turned his head and glanced at Horikita Suzune and Shiina Hiyori, who stood with eyes shut in concentration, channeling their inner darkness — which kept the number of Phantom Legion soldiers around them steadily climbing.
He rubbed his chin and pointed out, "Since the Phantom Legion has the ability to move through shadows…"
"If we have them carry mirror shards through the shadows, and then we go through the [Mirror World], wouldn't that let us pull off ultra-long-range rescues with zero casualties?"
"In any case, the Phantom Legion, being summoned entities, shouldn't really have any true concept of death."
Ichinose Honami nodded firmly. "Then before all that, let me first go and… say hello to the people of this world."
Seeing this, Chris pulled out his phone in perfect sync, opened the broadcast line Ryuuen had set up, and held the camera steady on Ichinose.
Ichinose Honami closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.
Then she turned and, meeting the countless gazes within the shelter — terrified, numb, even faintly hopeful — walked slowly to the very front of the crowd.
"Everyone, can you hear my voice?"
Silence fell in an instant.
The girl's gentle voice echoed through the shelter and, through Ryuuen's network hijacking, rang out in sync over the broadcasts of every shelter across Tokyo, and even from countless people's phones.
"I know everyone's very afraid right now, full of despair, with no idea what to do about the future…"
"But it's going to be okay! Please don't give up hope!"
"I — more precisely, we will protect you! We've come to save all of you!"
Ichinose paused briefly.
Seeing the crowd stir a little at the sight of this group of what looked like high schoolers, she didn't flinch; her voice only grew firmer.
"I believe some of you have noticed something's off… that's right, we don't come from the same world as you."
"We crossed the boundary to come here for one purpose — to save you all, and to bring down that rampaging monster out there!"
"I know that, next to the Godzilla outside, these words of mine sound a lot like empty boasting."
"But!"
"If we don't fight to survive, then wouldn't there truly be no hope left?!"
"Even if only the last faint glimmer remains, please hold onto it tight and never, ever give up! Let's give it our all together, all right?!"
As her words came to an end.
Pure white, sweeping wings spread open behind Ichinose Honami!
Suspended in midair, the girl looked like a true angel descended upon the world.
The once-panicked people fell silent at the sight of this miracle.
Ichinose, smiling, guided the camera down toward Amanatsu Kazuha, Horikita Suzune, and the grim Phantom Legion arrayed behind them.
To be honest.
When the holy angel and this Phantom Legion converged in a single frame.
The stark visual contrast really did make it easy to think in unwelcome mythological directions — "fallen angel," say, or "Judgment Day."
But.
At this moment, on the verge of drowning in the quagmire of death.
When someone was willing to extend a helping hand to you…
would you still care whether they were a demon or an angel?
As long as it saved your life, as long as you could keep living!
Even Satan's smile would be the most beautiful gospel in the world!
What's more, Ichinose herself carried the beguiling quality of the Love-Love Fruit.
Backed, too, by official endorsement.
Surely the Neon cabinet hadn't lost its mind at a time like this and teamed up with every TV station in the country just to mess with everyone?
As Ichinose delivered her speech.
Chris simply stood quietly in the shadows, carrying out his duties as the cameraman Shijo Kaguya had always dreamed of having.
He had no intention of stealing the scene.
As if he'd failed entirely to notice that, amid the dense crowd in the shelter, a figure in a suit — utterly out of place against the surrounding panic — flickered past.
That was the Alien Mefilas from the world of Shin Ultraman. He'd been dropped into this world by Chris not long ago.
They were all part of the same project anyway, so a cameo shouldn't be much of a problem.
But as an alien renowned for his gentlemanly wit.
When he accidentally glimpsed the mysterious shop Oriana had unfurled — and found that it actually contained the [Beta Box] —
even the ever-self-important Mefilas set aside his contempt for this planet.
Either the Ultramen of the Land of Light, or some advanced civilization from another star system, had intervened in his testing ground.
And so he decisively abandoned his original plan to approach the authorities and stir up trouble, choosing instead to conceal his presence.
He intended to slip away disguised as an ordinary victim, and slowly get a read on this group's true background before deciding his next move.
Unfortunately.
His disguise, which he believed to be seamless and perfect.
had still overlooked one thing.
Oriana had sensors, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had been granted superhuman perception by Compound No. 5.
Both of them had caught the abnormal sound of Mefilas's heartbeat.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood not far from Chris's side.
Watching the direction in which Mefilas had departed, he glanced down at the Y-GUN's radar.
'It wasn't there before… did it appear out of nowhere?'
—End of Chapter—
____
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