Mirror World.
Through the boundary between illusion and reality, Ayanokouji quietly watched the world-ending behemoth, now frozen solid in a posture of twisted agony.
Beneath the glow of the flames it shimmered with a gorgeous, cold light. 'A truly spectacular sight.'
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka delivered his silent verdict.
But after mulling it over for a moment, Ayanokouji turned away without a shred of reluctance.
Slipping past the few shadow ninjas standing guard beside him, his form passed through the mirror's surface and returned to the ravaged real world. He hadn't chosen to stay for the final subjugation of Godzilla.
The reason was simple...
To Ayanokouji, even frozen, Godzilla was still a ticking nuclear bomb that could detonate at any second.
If the beast forced its way out of the ice and went berserk, or if Chris and the others triggered an uncontrollable energy detonation during the final execution... For Ayanokouji, who loathed pointless risks, gambling his precious life count on such a low-probability event was obviously the height of foolishness.
In any case, the front line wasn't short one pair of hands right now.
By comparison, Ayanokouji figured.
It was about time he went to rescue his long-unseen old father.
Of course, this had nothing to do with some sudden fit of filial devotion at a long-awaited reunion.
It was simply that, during their brief earlier exchange, Ryuuen had let something slip to him.
The official command room had already been forcibly seized by him, and Tsukishiro Tsunenari and Ayanokoji Atsumi were both there.
As the current deputy chairmen of the Advanced Nurturing High School, and given that they were also beings capable of granting every examinee S Points...
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka reckoned these two old foxes were at least worth something for the time being.
It would be a bit of a waste if some teleportation mishap later got them caught in the crossfire and killed.
Watching from outside, the Alien Mefilas saw this and judged it a fine opportunity to make contact.
Meanwhile, at the absolute center of the battlefield, at the feet of the ice-encased Godzilla.
With a flash of blue light, Sakayanagi Arisu, who had resolutely sacrificed herself earlier to freeze Godzilla, reappeared at Chris's side.
The instant she landed, she tilted her head back to gaze up at the towering, sky-spanning glacial colossus before her.
"Such intoxicating power..."
Undisguised longing glittered in the girl's eyes. "Sooner or later, I'll master might of this caliber completely, too."
"Sakayanagi-san, we can't let our guard down yet."
Ichinose Honami folded the wings at her back and descended from midair to land beside her, warning gravely, "The Black Sphere's chime still hasn't sounded... which means Godzilla isn't dead yet."
"To end this exam for good, we have to kill it completely!"
Hearing this, Ryuuen walked over too. He looked up and swept his prosthetic eye across Godzilla.
The data it fed back wiped the ease from Ryuuen's face in an instant.
"Well, damn it all..." "The nuclear reactor inside Godzilla hasn't fully shut down?"
"Could it be that Godzilla evolved so fast just now that the coagulant we mixed couldn't fully sync with the [Demon Essence] to land a lethal blow?"
Chris stepped forward, Enma Blade in hand, and asked, "So what exactly is its condition right now?"
Ryuuen drew a deep breath.
"It's frozen solid for now, but there's no telling when it'll adapt to the extreme cold and break free of the ice."
"And besides... look over there at its tail!"
Following the line of Ryuuen's finger, everyone looked up at Godzilla's massive tail, curled high into the air.
Through the semi-transparent ice, they could faintly make out something at the very tip of Godzilla's tail: a mass of strange, misshapen tissue had bulged out!
As if it possessed a life of its own, it even twitched and squirmed faintly beneath the ice.
"See that? Those are the offspring Godzilla split off and spawned at the last second, when it sensed a threat to its life before being fully frozen."
Ryuuen snorted coldly. "Sitting at the very tip, they took the least of the freeze. But their cells are identical to the main body's. They may even have evolved a form better suited to the current environment."
Chris pondered a moment. "So you're saying... their evolutionary ability matches Godzilla's, and if we leave them alone, they could break out of the ice at any time and turn into a swarm of mini-Godzillas?"
Ryuuen nodded firmly.
"In that case," Sakayanagi Arisu proposed at just the right moment, one hand propped against her chin, "before Chris-kun uses the Enma Blade to finish off Godzilla's main body, why don't we first try using the Y-GUN's laser tethers to bundle those disgusting little things up together with Godzilla and teleport the whole lot into the other dimension?"
But Ichinose Honami looked worried at that. "Would... would that even work?"
"Back when we faced monsters the size of the Decepticons, they shook off the Y-GUN's tethers with ease. Against Godzilla, whether we can even wrap it up completely is another question."
"But..." Ichinose took a careful look at the bulges on the tail. "Since Ryuuen-san says those are new lives it split off from itself, if the system judges them as independent entities, then it might actually be possible to target them and send them away."
"Worth a shot." Chris waved a hand, unconcerned.
"You lot try dealing with the tail down here. I'll head up to the top of its head and see whether I can end this monster by destroying its brain directly."
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't dawdle either.
She simply raised her wrist, spent 10 S Points, and exchanged for a brand-new Y-GUN from the Black Sphere Watch's portable shop.
Leveling the gun, she stepped slowly to a safe distance directly beneath Godzilla's tail and trained the muzzle on one of the bulges under the ice.
Beep. As a red locking frame appeared in the center of the screen, Sakayanagi Arisu pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Zzzt!" Three laser tethers shot out and wrapped around that humanoid mass of tissue through the thin ice.
Sakayanagi Arisu arched an eyebrow. "So it can only lock onto one target at a time..."
"I wouldn't have guessed that even frozen into one solid mass, the system's judgments would still be this rigid. No flexibility at all."
Watching this, Ryuuen stroked his chin. "Since the Y-GUN can lock on, then let's test whether cross-dimensional teleportation works within the Mirror World."
Sakayanagi Arisu let out a soft laugh. "I hardly need Ryuuen-san to remind me of that."
By the time the laser tethers were ready and the trigger could be pulled again to teleport, she'd already completed the operation.
As the scanning beam swept across it, that bulge began to vanish from top to bottom.
Watching the two of them methodically clear away the hazard, Ichinose Honami felt no urge to step in and claim a share of the kill points.
After all, in the girl's eyes, the one who should have "sacrificed" a life count for the team this time was really her, Ichinose.
As one of the leaders who consumed the most resources and carried everyone's highest hopes.
Not only had she racked up two hundred points in the earlier Darkness Devil instance, but barring surprises, this exam would also lock in a revival slot for her in the advance test.
Yet against Godzilla, aside from playing kite up in the sky, she felt she hadn't actually done anything of any real importance...
In the end it was Sakayanagi Arisu's life-bought berserk Imperial Arms that had quelled the disaster.
Given Ichinose Honami's habit of shouldering all the responsibility herself, she was naturally berating her own uselessness without mercy.
'We'd agreed I'd protect everyone... I'm still just too weak.'
Broadly speaking, if she were wearing the [Phantom Mask] right now, it would take only a few whispered words of temptation. Ichinose's obsession with protecting her companions put her squarely in the danger zone: easy to fall into darkness, easy for the mask to erode.
Still, considering the Phantom Mask worn over the face... it really did ruin anyone's looks, no matter who they were.
Once he got back, he'd just add an accessory system to the mask in the shop.
Let the Phantom Mask exist in a form like a Varon-style tattoo, or turn into a mark... so it could grant the ability without ruining one's looks.
Even the rule that required an All-Purpose Capsule just to use items struck him as a bit redundant.
Just like in a game: pull it out of your inventory and use it directly.
Chris laid these plans out to himself.
Ichinose Honami had already spread her wings and flown to his side.
The girl slid her hands under Chris's arms, lifted him off the ground, and carried him smoothly up onto Godzilla's head, broad as a mountain peak.
Because the girl was so preoccupied with her self-reproach, she was in no mood at all to notice the ambiguous closeness of their bodies pressed together in that moment.
Naturally, she also failed to notice the meaningful glance Chris shot her in midair.
She simply folded her wings gently, landed beside Chris, and reminded him softly, "Senior, why don't we make our move after Sakayanagi-san and the others finish clearing the hazard on the tail?"
"It won't take them long," Chris replied casually. "Let's wait a bit more."
"Honestly, if this Godzilla weren't totally uncontrollable the moment it wakes up, I'd have been tempted to spare it and keep it as a permanent point-farming spot."
Chris looked down at the enormous ice sculpture below, half-joking. "Judging by those split-off individuals on its tail... even unformed, each one's got to be worth a fortune."
Ichinose Honami let out a slightly helpless sigh at that. "Senior, it's precisely because it's uncontrollable that we have to make absolutely sure nothing goes wrong!"
"If something really did slip through, with Godzilla's absurd evolution speed, there's no telling whether the condensing agent and Demon Essence would even work on it a second time..."
Chris nodded and said no more.
In truth, in his original plan.
He'd meant to let Godzilla, cornered and frozen, force one more berserk surge on the residual nuclear energy in its body, breaking through the seal to cause more casualties, thereby giving him a plausible pretext to trigger his [Demon Possession] berserk Dragon Transformation.
But considering that in the original "Shin Godzilla," there actually already existed a solution that used a coagulant to freeze Godzilla.
And besides, with Chris and his group's current loadout, even if they truly couldn't win, using the Mirror World or the Combat Suit's high mobility to escape the battlefield and survive for the moment would be no problem at all.
More importantly... if you actually tallied it all up.
At this point in time, Ichinose Honami still held a full four lives, Sakayanagi Arisu had three, and even Ryuuen, who always loved charging out front, had a two-life margin for error thanks to his stacked rewards.
To force a plot-kill wipe just to manufacture a chance to flaunt his own Dragon Transformation? The whole direction felt way too cringe.
It would look, instead, as if he, the lofty presiding god, had developed unnecessary, "superfluous feelings" for this swarm of ants.
Not to mention, in Godzilla's earlier dance-of-death sweep, the casualties on the students' side had already been quite severe.
Yamada Albert, Hashimoto Masayoshi, Housen Kazutomi, Hirata Yousuke... even Morishita Ai, Kushida Kikyo, and two nobodies from Ryuuen's class had all lost their lives in that area bombardment.
That's right. Even Morishita Ai and Kushida Kikyo, who were always so good at clinging to survival, hadn't escaped this time.
Apart from Kushida Kikyo, who had a thick health bar and still hung on with one life to spare.
The others genuinely hadn't had time to react to Godzilla's dishonorable saturation strike, and were vaporized outright into points of light.
Honestly, when he saw the list, even Chris had been a little surprised at the time.
But his interference with the [Book of Ages] had always been about setting the broad direction and the final outcome; he never scrutinized minor details like exactly who would die.
If their luck was bad, then it was a natural progression of the plot, not exactly hard to understand.
In that case...
Chris looked down at Godzilla below, quietly running the numbers.
He'd originally planned to bind Shiina Hiyori as his ghost slot, so he could indulge in a bit of up-close boudoir mischief.
Though he'd given up on that later, it seemed making Morishita Ai the candidate for the ghost slot wasn't a bad idea either.
Since she was dead and couldn't die a second time anyway, having her as a strategist offering commentary from the sidelines didn't seem half bad, right?
After spiriting Ayanokoji Atsumi and Tsukishiro Tsunenari away alone from the official shelter without any resistance.
As expected, on the way back, Ayanokouji ran head-on into the Alien Mefilas, disguised as an Earth resident.
In fact, back when Mefilas had been tailing him covertly earlier, Ayanokouji had already detected the other's presence.
After all, he had the initial observed impression to go on.
Coupled with the superhuman perception enhancement he'd gained from injecting Provisional Compound No. 5, pinpointing an alien who clearly gave off an off-kilter aura within a crowd wasn't actually difficult.
But he hadn't chosen to expose him on the spot.
Beyond not wanting to needlessly provoke a powerful enemy amid that chaos.
Deep down, Ayanokouji actually wanted to try conversing with these "alien monsters" within the exam grounds who were capable of intelligent exchange.
Hoping, through such indirect channels, to piece together more intelligence about the presiding god and the Black Sphere's operating mechanisms.
Now, once they were far from the crowd and Mefilas showed himself to block the path, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka naturally wasn't about to refuse this chance for exchange delivered right to his door.
Seeing that the youth before him, faced with being intercepted, not only showed not the slightest panic but didn't so much as waver in his heart rate.
The corner of Mefilas's mouth curved up. "Not bad. I do enjoy talking with clever children like you."
His tone was certain. "I trust you... no, to be precise, all of you. You'd noticed my presence long ago, hadn't you?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at him and, at just the right moment, let a flicker of confusion surface on his face. "And you are?"
Mefilas paused, then chuckled with a wry, speechless smile and bowed slightly, every bit the gentleman. "My apologies. I forgot to introduce myself."
"I am an Alien Mefilas, from a distant corner of the cosmos. My original purpose in coming to this beautiful blue planet was to bring civilization here."
"To be honest..." He glanced up toward where Godzilla had stood, a note of regret in his voice. "If your band of otherworldly visitors hadn't appeared, I'd have intended to step forward and help humanity, granting them the power to protect themselves in this cruel universe."
At this, Ayanokoji Atsumi and Tsukishiro Tsunenari, who had kept silent behind Ayanokouji the whole time, exchanged an imperceptible glance.
Of course, as seasoned schemers who had clawed their way through politics for years, they had a clear grasp of their current position.
Until they had a read on this alien's true nature, they naturally weren't foolish enough to cut in and assert their presence at a moment like this.
And Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had even less intention of puncturing Mefilas's high-sounding rhetoric.
He simply followed the other's lead and replied in a perfectly flat tone, "Then you'd be one of the rare kind-hearted aliens I've ever met."
The smile on Mefilas's face grew even brighter.
Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka knew full well he was spouting nonsense, how could Mefilas, who had lived untold ages, fail to see through Ayanokouji's perfunctory reply?
But more often than not, so-called socializing is itself the art of dressing up empty platitudes.
Unbothered, he turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the wreckage strewn everywhere, and said in a somber tone, "I've observed your group in secret."
"...You'll all leave this world sooner or later, won't you?"
"So then..." Mefilas turned back to look Ayanokouji straight in the eye. "After you leave, how are these Earthlings you've temporarily saved supposed to protect themselves?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't deny his conjecture, and said plainly, "Let's cut to it, Mr. Mefilas."
"You went out of your way to wait here for me. Surely not just to discuss all this."
Mefilas nodded in approval. "Sharp. In truth, I've developed a device capable of safeguarding peace across the universe. I'd meant to use Earth as a trial site for a mutually beneficial partnership with humanity."
"But after seeing the power you've displayed, I changed my mind."
Mefilas paused. "Young man, care to make a deal with me?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka gave a slight arch of his brow. But...
Before Ayanokouji could open up to probe for the deal's terms, the Black Sphere's electronic chime suddenly rang out overhead.
[Test concluded.]
[The victors of this test are: Ichinose Honami, Ryuuen, Chris, and... Katsuragi Kohei.]
Hearing that familiar voice, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka changed his words just as they reached his lips. "Sorry. You heard it too."
"Our exam is over. Before long the presiding god will forcibly teleport us away. This deal of yours... may have to die a quiet death."
Mefilas frowned at that, but quickly smoothed his expression, a smile returning to his face. "No matter. No deal, no harm done. Goodwill remains."
"Besides, who says a short time can't close a deal? Perhaps if we hit it off, we could strike a win-win bargain in these few dozen seconds before you're teleported away."
As he spoke, Mefilas slowly raised his right hand.
"So then... to show my sincerity in wanting to deal."
"Allow me to first demonstrate a technology of my own, as an equal."
He gave a simple snap of his fingers. And Ayanokouji's group of three, along with him, appeared beside Chris and the others, who had just emerged from the Mirror World.
____
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