Crack-!
The sound of glass shattering took Kurumi's attention. She stopped in her footsteps as a result.
"Hm. It's familiar."
She is currently at the place where the fourth herrscher fell. It was the place where Aleph got 'marked'.
Kurumi knew most, if not all, of the abnormal events Aleph went through. Being a Spirit from another world helped too.
A vague feeling kept appearing after Aleph's departure:
She is with him.
Meaning to say, whatever happens to Aleph will happen to her. The two share the same fate as otherworlders.
As for the other Spirits she brought out, they seemingly did not have any feelings similar to it.
Clink-!
Kurumi used her gun's barrel to touch the crack.
Like a transparent mirror, a sensation of striking something solid appeared. The surface of the mirror rippled before turning 'translucent' once more…
"Hm?"
…or so it was.
Despite the similarities, she noticed it was somehow different from her surroundings.
Just then…
Click-!
Ring-!
Ding-!
Three different sounds of bells rang in her ears.
"Ain."
"You're about to break into another world."
A familiar voice appeared.
It was Aleph.
"There's some developments. I met with the parallel versions of Mobius, Mei, Vill-V…"
He swiftly told what needed to be told.
"Hee~? Are you enjoying life with those twins?" Her pitch became higher as she asked. "I thought you would be satisfied with me. Turns out, that wasn't the case…"
"...Sorry. I'll make it up to you."
Hearing those words, Kurumi's smile became lighter.
"I will remember it."
"Anyways, how are things? It's been… you know, a while." An audible sigh escaped from his lips. "I wanted to take you, but…"
It wasn't Kurumi's first time hearing his vulnerable side. She was the original psychological counselor for Aleph.
She dropped her small grievances and replied, "You did the right thing. Those two… they are crazy."
Kurumi began telling how out-of-control Mobius and Vill-V were. She had to check them out every now and then, giving reminders not to do things out of bounds.
Aleph was, in a sense, their restraints. He could stop them from doing something 'crazy'. Be it his strength or his position in their hearts, he can do just that.
Once he disappeared, the same destructive tendencies began to rise.
Mei alone wasn't enough in that case. Kurumi had to help just to check them out. It was tiring, to say the least.
"They should be fine now. Having updates is better than having none." Aleph's comforting words resounded. "It won't be long before I can meet you again. It's only Finality standing in the way."
"Finality… Just like the Spirit of Origin."
Ironically, Aleph now faces the exact same situation as Kurumi. The latter felt very helpless when facing her greatest foe. She knew she had zero chances of winning when facing her head-on.
The only way to "win" is to escape her world, which is exactly what she did.
"We'll win this time." Aleph stated. "I promise."
"..."
"I re-established the connection with the red strings. We should be able to talk like this every now and then…"
Aleph dropped some huge flags before moving on.
*****
The subsidiary under Project Soldier—Project Cataclysm.
It aimed to arm all humans with artificial stigmata. It would, in turn, enhance their strength against the honkai. It was also the 'perfect solution' connected with the Project Stigma.
The moment humans gain artificial stigmatas, they would all become eligible to be a part of the spiritual adam.
In short, everybody lives without the fear of honkai.
The first phase of the plan was created during the Previous Era. Mobius set off a virus using the twelfth herrscher, thereby enhancing humans.
Most of them died, but the rest who survived had their honkai resistances and adaptability greatly enhanced.
Fast-forward to fifty thousand years later, Mobius initiated the second and most important stage of the plan—to use the Cocoon's fragment to grant everyone artificial stigmatas.
Due to the first phase, everyone obtained one. Young or old, sick or healthy… everybody received a stigmata of sorts.
They only differed in quality. The ones who are originally talented received stronger stigmatas, while the ones who are unqualified barely received one.
Naturally, this caused a lot of chaos throughout the entire world. Though it did not matter to a certain twelve-year-old girl.
"Hm..?"
Kiana was dead-set on playing HOMU SmashBros when she found something surprising.
"Hehe. I can finally beat this stage!"
To curb her addiction to slacking off, Aleph set a requirement. Kiana has to clear all ten story stages before she is allowed to play multiplayer.
Every time she fails, she has to go back to studying. If she does not study and finish her homeworks, she won't have a chance to play again.
Unsurprisingly, this carrot-and-stick treatment worked very well. That was, until today.
Beep-!
Beep-!
Full of confidence, she chose to fight the next stage. Kiana was so absorbed with the game she did not notice the afterimages on her controller. Since she could not play other games outside, she did not know that these ten stages are something only Valkyries can clear.
That's right.
Throughout this year, Aleph planned for Kiana to not develop a tendency to slack off. Everything he said about clearing these ten impossible stages is a scam!
What he did not expect, however, was Mobius' sudden movement. Aleph was still fishing for Otto, Welt, and Kevin to take the bait. Resolving these 'Earth conflicts' came first before the Cocoon of Finality.
With the order of events messed up, this happened.
Fortunately, Aleph isn't the type of person to not develop several back-up plans.
"Huh..?!"
Kiana stared at the screen in a daze. The word 'K.O.' flashing on the screen was so unbelievable it made her doubt life. Her previous confidence was shattered.
'Is it really better to study first..?'
Just then, someone else inside her mind could not take it anymore.
"What an idiot. You are worse than a paramecium."
"Huh..?!"
"It is useless to speak to you. It's a waste of time."
The voice seemingly appeared only to spite her. Kiana's head bobbed back and forth throughout the room. She found no one.
"Tch."
Kiana stared at the screen in a daze.
"Are you… the spirit of the game?!"
"..."
"..."
Sirin felt how it was to talk to a brick wall.