Episode 7: The Silent Aberrations

* * *

I—Luna—had been assigned to monitor the venue during the Representative Battle.

(I'm made of thinking thread. If I stretch myself thin enough, I reach over several thousand kilometers in total length. If I form light receptors every few meters, I can watch every corner of the arena.)

I barely affected the R-value that people in this dimension observed, which was kind of a convenient feature of my setup. It'd be tough for anyone to find me even with Anti-Reality methods.

(I've seen all kinds of sketchy people. Guys making shady deals, idiots planting bombs, dumbasses digging holes with shovels to perform Anti-Reality rituals deep underground.)

But most of them got nabbed by the Three Great Academies' campus security. Figures—the Apocalypse Stagnation Committee had some seriously capable people gathered here.

(There are plenty of students with abilities like X-ray vision or far-sight. In a setup like this, assassinating Master-chan while he sat in the competitors' box would be pretty much impossible... though...)

Normal methods wouldn't pull it off. The problem was the real psychos—the ones who were so completely unhinged that no normal approach could touch them.

* * *

"—So. What're you doing in a place like this? Rep."

There was something off about this girl.

I gathered my thread body and arranged just the surface to make myself look normal, then appeared in front of her.

"You're... Luna-san, right?"

"'Right' is funny. We're actually classmates, y'know. Me and you. Yeah, Rep?"

Pham Thi Lan. The class rep for 1-F normally carried herself with such refined composure and beautiful posture. But here she was, looking oddly exhausted, hanging around in an alley dozens of meters from the arena.

"So. What're you doing here?"

"Um, nothing really. Don't worry about it."

"Look, I've been monitoring this whole area. I noticed you—a student from the Three Great Academies—wandering around the arena like that. ...That's weird, yeah? I watched you guys for like an hour—and you're moving in this really regular pattern. All together. Like a group."

A dozen-odd students from the Three Great Academies stood at equal intervals around the arena, moving at the exact same speed in an irregular but rhythmic pattern, then stopping for set amounts of time.

"You guys—"

I was made of thread. I had confidence I could observe this city accurately from above.

"—you're drawing a magic circle. With your footsteps. The pattern your bodies make."

Most types of Anti-Reality that dealt with iconography weren't super common. Usually they were ancient curses or belonged to Parallel Law. From my experience, this one was probably...

"You're trying to summon something. Someone from another dimension. A demon, an angel, a god—I don't know what you'd call it. But whatever, some kinda shitty group like that—"

"Luna-san, you're really imaginative, huh? If I'd known that, I would've tried to get closer to you. I kept my distance because you seemed scary and intimidating."

"People are ninety percent looks, but that last ten percent has a little treasure that sparkles, you know? You gotta try to see it. That beautiful heart inside. Don't you know the story—'Beauty and the Beast'? Some ugly person wrote that—"

Anti-Reality users leaving footprints to trace icons that would summon something from another dimension. That was clearly some kind of ritual. And if it was a ritual, you needed a price.

"So like—can I do a body check on you? Just real quick?"

"..."

"It's totally fine if you say no. I don't have the authority anyway—I'd just be poking around illegally."

I started stretching thread all around as I talked, wrapping it around her carefully, like a spider's web, making sure she couldn't escape.

"Huhu."

The rep laughed. It was the first time I'd ever seen her smile.

"Luna-san. Have you ever thought this? 'This world is wrong.'"

"Like, some loser with no talents spouting conspiracy theories and trying to get their pathetic life back together?"

The rep frowned like she found that unpleasant. ...Yeah, she didn't look like the type to laugh at that kind of joke. But she quickly softened her expression into something cute, then kept talking.

"I hate people like you. Someone's trying their absolute hardest, pouring everything into it, and all you do is sneer and mock them. A coward. Because you can't do anything yourself—"

Huh, interesting. So she could talk back. If I'd known that earlier, maybe we could've been a little closer. But still.

"...Trying their absolute hardest?"

I laughed at what she said.

"—You don't understand even a fragment of what that word means."

I remembered my master's face. The little boy who was desperately hugging me while his entire body was full of holes, because he wanted to protect me. He was always trying his absolute hardest.

"'Hound.'"

A beautiful flintlock-style gun appeared from the rep's sleeve.

She was actually gonna do it. Her move was faster than I expected.

"Luna-san! I've woken up. We were wrong. We were being controlled. By language! ...Ah, these goddamn, disgusting words! I should've realized! I...—what words have I been speaking? What language are we talking in right now?"

She screamed the words out.

For just a second I could see inside her mouth. There was something that should've been there.

(—her tongue)

Half of her tongue, the front part, had been cut off. And yet she kept talking like nothing was wrong. That was the price of the ritual. She'd sacrificed her tongue to something.

"This world is WRONG!"

The rep fired the bullet. It flew in the completely wrong direction at first, but it curved through a big arc and came flying straight at me.

"The world doesn't have mistakes. All there is, is your standards."

I gathered my thread into a silver rapier and batted the bullet down. —Or at least, I thought I did. But the bullet passed right through the rapier and went straight through my heart.

"Gah—"

I got hit in the heart and fell down. Red blood flowed out and soaked my clothes.

"...I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."

She turned away from me.

"I just wanted to do the right thing. I just wanted to correct what's wrong."

Rep Lan walked off. She didn't even glance at my body. She had such a sad, determined look on her face. —From behind, I trapped her hands and feet.

"What!?"

"Yeah, sorry. See, I don't actually die from getting shot in the heart."

I coiled her limbs up tight with silver thread. I rolled her onto the ground and took a breath.

"Alright, caught. Let me turn you over to the security guards."

"Wait! I have an important mission! If I don't do this, people will stay slaves forever! I know you won't understand, but please, just understand!"

What was this group trying to do? Honestly, who cares. What mattered was that Master-chan was working his hardest in that arena.

(That kid is doing his absolute best to make a place for himself.)

I'm a pretty lazy person, so I think he should loosen up a little. But I'm rooting for him anyway. Because I'm his servant, his maid, his moon.

"...Though I dunno who I'm supposed to contact about this. I don't really know many people—"

I thought maybe I should tell Koito-chan about it.

Looking back now, I should never have let my guard down for even a moment.

Because I didn't understand what I was actually facing.

* * *

"—Are you a chain?"

My heart froze.

A heavy pressure pushed down on me, and my knees almost buckled.

(What's behind me right now?)

All I could understand from that presence was one thing: —that it was some kind of absolutely monstrous creature.

"...I'm sorry... I couldn't be more useful, Maestro...!"

The rep screamed with a voice on the edge of tears.

"There is no need for apologies. Words are filthy. All you need do is pray and wish. I shall understand with true language, precisely and accurately."

I hurried to pull my thread back in.

Every time the creature behind me spoke, the R-value was changing in a terrifying way.

This guy was in a different weight class from normal monsters.

(Probably a being far above the Guardians we fought before!)

I calculated the odds. My odds of surviving from this moment on. At least what I knew for sure was that facing this head-on was pointless. I should run away at full speed.

"Your body will become stone."

The Maestro gave the order in a voice that was chillingly cold and direct. Just from that, my body froze up like stone. Even the thread I'd stretched out wouldn't move an inch.

"Pleased to meet you, Luna-san. A chain from a different world. What an honor to finally meet you."

* * *

[No. 819-Z: "Maestro"] — Stage 7: Devastatio

○Nature — Immortal. Sorcerer.

○Origin — Founder and guide of Los Devotos del Silencio Eterno. Information is scarce.

○Details — Serves the "King of Revelation" and is trying to bring about true silence.

* * *

Words controlling the world. That was the same nature as the Sorcerer that Master-chan had faced when he went to the Viscera Apartments before. —Los Devotos del Silencio Eterno! The Maestro himself!

(Stage is around 7, right? That's basically god-tier, isn't it?)

...But why did Rep follow the Maestro? Had she been brainwashed or something?

"...What a pity."

The Maestro leaned in and looked directly at my face.

"...Huh? What's up with you—!?"

His expression was kind and gentle. For just a moment, through the gap in his eyelids, I saw his eyes. There were countless tiny eyeballs there, packed in tight like insect eggs.

"You don't even understand what you've been corrupted by. Even though it's obvious. How pitiful. You really are all such pitiful people. ...But take comfort. Chains must be severed."

The Maestro reached toward my head.

(Oh no.)

If he touched me even a little, I'd break apart in an instant. I understood that on an instinctive level.

(This is bad! Something real bad is about to happen! Something blasphemous—something that would make it so I'm not even human anymore! I gotta run! Gotta run—)

—I'd die. I had a clear vision of nothing, and yet I only saw that one thing.

"You too should understand. The world's wrongs."

His voice got closer.

I tried to scream, but my throat had turned to stone too.

* * *

"—Maiden of Gévaudan!"

A pure, maiden-like voice rang out through the alley.

"Wha—"

A line appeared at my feet and split open. I fell through it and was caught in thin arms.

"Run! Come on, get up! I can't escape from that thing by myself!"

—It was a girl with beautiful silver hair.

"You're...?"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me up with surprising strength, then started running.

"Explanations later! Come on, hurry!"

"...Y-yeah! Okay!"

I ran with the silver-haired girl wielding the chainsaw, sprinting through the underground otherdimensional space.

* * *

And so Luna and the silver-haired girl fled.

"...Was that all right, Maestro?"

I got to my feet and asked the question. He smiled while stroking my head with his large hand.

'Doesn't matter, comrade Lan. They are chains. Fragile and unreliable ones at that.'

Yes, time was running out. Touched by his massive hands, I felt the blessing of an angel, and I began to prepare for the ritual.

'Are you afraid? Are you prepared to step freely into your own heart?'

I shook my head in silence. The Maestro smiled contentedly.

(Ah, I'm so glad I was born. I must have lived all this time for this moment.)

Wrong world, please take back your pure form.

"Farewell, comrade. Beautiful soul."

"Yes, Maestro."

Wrapped in joy so overwhelming it nearly made me weep, I drove my fingernails into my own neck.

"...──"

As skin split open, a beautiful sound rang out—guchari. I tore the muscles around the bone and crushed my vocal cords from between the bones. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

(Ah, angels...)

Something warm wrapped around my body. I was certain this was the right thing to do.

And so I died, and a black angel was born into the world.

* * *

When we came to, the battle was already over.

'...Huh?'

The confusion was shared not just by the spectators, but by the commentators in their booth as well.

'W-w-what!? What on earth is happening!?'

Inside the Square, only the scars of fierce combat remained. In the grassland scorched and laid waste, only Wu Xihan and mALEEa sat there, covered in wounds.

"...Huh...?"

mALEEa stared blankly at Wu Xihan sitting beside her.

'What exactly happened!? I have no idea! No idea at all! The judges are sorting out the situation now!'

In that instant, Wu Xihan rolled over on the spot. She was already unconscious.

'──Wu Xihan is unable to continue! The winner is mALEEa! mALEEa is the victor!'

There was no cheer at the announcement of the winner. No one in the arena could understand what had just happened. Not even her opponent, mALEEa.

"...Phew, sorry about losing, aru!"

When Wu Xihan came back to the players' section after removing her simulator, even we teammates had no words for her. Only Koito and the seniors were pale-faced and teary-eyed.

'That was one of the Four Fierce Beasts (Megalomania), Abracadabra (Qiongqi)'s ability, ♡'

But there was one more girl who understood everything about the battle.

'What exactly happened? President Amelia?'

'Wu-chan's "Abracadabra (Qiongqi)." Its ability turns everything upside down!'

'...Upside down, you say?'

'Up becomes down. Fast becomes slow. Bright becomes dark. Non-human becomes human. World becomes non-world. And that ability is something even Wu-chan herself can't control at all! In other words, a completely random space!'

'That sounds... rather unreasonable.'

'And──we were all inside the Abracadabra (Qiongqi) range too. That's why we don't remember anything.'

Wu Xihan went back into her futon without seeming disappointed, laughing nonchalantly. It looked like she was going to sleep right away. Mef and I trembled at how impressive she was.

'Now, let's look at the records! So, if you'll forgive me, I──'

The dark-skinned girl who was commentating drew a silver khopesh from her waist.

"──All-Alarm!"

* * *

[All-Alarm] [Slash]

A Slash that "imprints memories." The silver khopesh belonging to Isis Hareed. She records everything within 500 meters of her into a recorded world. Only Isis can move freely within the recorded world. The recorded world can be projected onto monitors. A recorded world can be preserved for up to one year.

* * *

Isis appeared on the monitor above the Square. She held a camera and filmed herself and her surroundings. The monitor displayed the time from 10 minutes ago—right before Wu Xihan and the others fought.

'Can you see it? Here is the record from 10 minutes ago! Let's fast-forward until the match starts! ♪'

Like a video on fast-forward, the world inside the monitor spun along with whirring sounds. Only Isis moved at her normal pace, completely unaffected.

'Stop here! Wu-chan is activating her Abracadabra (Qiongqi) ability. Let's take a look!'

Isis approached the slowed-down Wu Xihan while turning the camera. She was holding a bazooka, and a terrifying monster—Abracadabra—had appeared.

'Right, Wu-chan is activating Abracadabra (Qiongqi)... mALEEa-chan's "Invincible Princess (Princess Brave!)" activates at the same time... Yes, and so──... Oh──wait!? What is this...!?'

The world inside the monitor shook violently. A terrible premonition ran through us.

'People! All people are melting! Melting into the darkness! Wu-chan, mALEEa-chan, both of them melting! Ah! Two creatures emerging from the darkness! ...Are those... legs? A human with legs where the head should be? Could that possibly be mALEEa? A heart protruding from the head growing out of the legs!'

It was truly horrible. The two humans had been stripped of their humanity—heads where legs should be, brains where hearts should be—as they wailed in non-linguistic screams.

(Did Wu Xihan and mALEEa get turned into monsters!?)

The two monsters began grappling and fighting. That battle was far from normal. In a world where gravity's direction changed freely, in bodies that kept transforming, they bit and killed each other—a denial of existence itself.

'Ahhhhh! It's not just the competitors! The people in the arena are transforming into aberrations too! Someone with a body like a fish's anus! A person with a gas-like body rubbing themselves against the aberrations! Someone sprouting devil horns and wings, beginning to devour their own arms! T-this is terrible!'

It was hell. Every living thing in the arena had transformed into grotesque monsters, destroying and loving their surroundings while screaming in a world of hazy, capricious laws.

'On the grassland, the two competitors—now monsters—are fighting! Wait, they're not just fighting? Their bodies are melting together... becoming one... separating, becoming two new beings!? Getting slower and faster, turning black and flying away! It's complete chaos!'

All of us watching the monitor had lost our words. Just moments ago, we had been part of those monsters. The camera caught our players' section for just an instant.

(Gyah! I've got nothing but eyes, and Mef's got octopus legs!)

Only Koito-senpai remained completely unchanged, face pale and tears streaming. Did her abilities really negate even this kind of indiscriminate power!? Unfairly overpowered as always.

'The two competitors, now just massive mouths, bite at each other... and one falls! Who's that? Ah, I think it's mALEEa-chan who collapsed! The winner is Wu-chan! Wu-chan wins!'

As Isis shouted, the recorded world warped back to normal in an instant. All the non-humans became human again, and the proper laws began to work. The Abracadabra (Qiongqi) ability had been deactivated.

'Humanity restored... and standing is mALEEa-chan! Abracadabra (Qiongqi) turned victory and defeat upside down! The winner is mALEEa-chan! That concludes our broadcast!'

When Isis swung her khopesh, she was back at the commentator's booth before anyone noticed.

(How is this crazy ability even allowed to exist?)

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, and everyone in the arena felt the same way. Crazy, inhumane, bewildering—so very Azure Academy. My head was spinning, and I couldn't keep my composure.

"...Uhhh... everyone got so grotesque, it was really scary..."

Only Koito-senpai was still half-sobbing, clinging to a drowsy Koshiba.

'As always, the Gunscar is terrifying, isn't it? Strong or weak, ally or enemy—it doesn't matter. Of course, winning or losing doesn't either. No one can predict the outcome. In a way, it's the strongest Gunscar there is.'

President Amelia murmured from the commentary booth.

(Wu Xihan's wish is for everyone to live their days in peace.)

If Hundun was a world that gives everything in peaceful harmony, then Abracadabra was the equalizer that destroyed everything. A world where everyone was a monster and no one could remember anything. In a sense, that was truly peaceful.

'A-anyway, let's get back on track! Azure Academy versus Corporations! With the second match over, the score is 1-1! It's a close match! Now for the middleweight battle—that's what we're watching for!'

I glanced to the side.

Mef, our middleweight, was in the middle of deep breathing, either from tension or something else.

"Mef. Relax and focus. I've got your back."

Koito and the seniors laughed brightly as they gently massaged Mef's shoulders.

"Come on, say something, Kotoha."

"You've got this, Mef. Come back with a win!"

Mef stared directly into my eyes. Pupils like obsidian—beautiful and without malice.

"...Kotoyorozu-kun, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself instead?"

"Ugh, that's... that's actually true!"

With a face as perfectly arranged as a model's, she smiled brilliantly like a sports drink commercial.

"Heh. But thanks. I'm heading out."