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The Spirit of Origin and the past were obsessions Kurumi had no choice but to confront.
They were also the driving force that kept her going, even if it meant killing tens of thousands and carrying all that sin on her back.
Kurumi would never forget what the Spirit of Origin had done.
She had once been just an ordinary young lady, living an ordinary young lady's life.
Until, one day after school, she was attacked by an unknown monster—and then saved by the Spirit of Origin.
That woman called herself an "ally of justice," claimed that Spirits were evil beings, and asked Kurumi to help her eradicate Spirits together.
Naive, mentally immature, and more than a bit chuunibyou, Kurumi believed her without much resistance.
And so—the Spirit of Origin granted her a Sephira Crystal.
From that moment on… Kurumi became an Spirit, and obtained the Angel of Time—Zafkiel.
After becoming a Spirit, she continued assisting Mio Takamiya in eliminating several Spirits.
It wasn't until she destroyed the previous Flame Spirit that she discovered…the Flame Spirit was actually her friend.
Only then did she realize that every Spirit she had wiped out had once been a human. Realize that she had killed her closest friend. Realize that the Spirit of Origin had been deceiving her all along.
When she first learned the truth, Kurumi almost snapped—but she used the Fourth Bullet in time and restored herself.
Once her sanity came back, she also learned the Spirit of Origin's true goal.
The moment she tried to press Mio for answers again, the Spirit of Origin sent her into a neighboring world.
She didn't know how much time had passed. When she returned to the real world, all of her memories were gone. She didn't know who she was, and everything around her was unfamiliar. The only thing she knew was that she possessed the Angel of Time, Zafkiel.
When AST attacked her, she escaped by diving into the shadows. She kept running until she reached one place, where she used the Tenth Bullet to restore her memories—and finally remembered everything she'd gone through, and the fact that the Spirit of Origin had deceived her.
From that moment on, she decided she would change the past, no matter the price.
Now, she lifted her gaze, eyes serious as she watched the livestream.
The sky-piercing walls of water had blocked out the heavens; the three of them stood between towers of sea.
The seafloor was laid bare in the massive path carved through the ocean. The seabed there was slightly bulged, and in the center a huge circular vent was spewing thick smoke, shuddering violently. The eruptive energy building inside it really was enough to destroy the world.
Tatsuki closed his spread fingers, then flipped his hand over. In an instant, a square, lava-colored cube appeared in the center of his palm.
The moment that cube appeared, the undersea volcano went completely still.
"Spatial power…"
Saiki felt the overwhelming pulse of space. It was a level of power he couldn't even get close to.
"Yeah. All the energy in the volcano's already been transferred into this. No need to worry about it erupting now."
Even so, the Apocalypse Chat Group didn't give any completion notice for the Apocalypse Journey.
"Looks like we still need to completely deal with this volcano itself."
Gluttony.
A crimson abyss opened and swallowed the cube of compressed magma energy in one bite.
It was all power that had seeped out from the planet's core.
"Ch'en, lend me your sword for a second."
Still reeling from the shock of seeing the vast ocean split open, Ch'en answered without thinking: "Oh…"
She wore two sheaths at her waist, one black and one red. Tatsuki didn't bother being polite—he simply reached for the red scabbard and drew the blade.
The moment his hand wrapped around the hilt, Ch'en snapped back to herself and realized he was about to draw it. She hurriedly tried to stop him:
"Don't, that's—"
Clang!
A clear sword cry rang out.
The blade slid free. The crimson sword-body gleamed brilliantly, and even Tatsuki, who didn't know much about swordsmanship, couldn't help but praise. "Now that's a fine sword."
"Chi Xiao…"
Her late attempt to stop him only left Ch'en staring, dumbfounded.
Chi Xiao had been pulled free that easily?!
How was that possible? Every time she tried to draw it, Chi Xiao resisted her with all its might. How had he drawn it like it was nothing?
Tatsuki didn't linger on it.
His Mystic Eyes of Death Perception opened and the world shattered into a web of cracks in those prismatic eyes.
He locked onto the death-line of this specific phenomenon—the volcano—And casually swung the blade. A crimson sword aura howled forth.
[Ding! Apocalypse factors have all been eliminated. Apocalypse Journey complete!]
[Tatsuki gains 400,000 Apocalypse Points, Saiki gains 100,000 Apocalypse Points, Ch'en gains 10,000 Apocalypse Points!]
[Ding! The world-ending volcano has been erased by Tatsuki. The Apocalypse has been resolved!]
[Tatsuki gains an additional 500,000 Apocalypse Points, Saiki and Ch'en each gain an additional 20,000 Apocalypse Points!]
"All done."
Tatsuki sheathed Chi Xiao in one smooth motion and slotted it back into its scabbard.
At the same time…
The undersea volcano crumbled into dust from the summit down. Even the trench beneath it was wiped flat.
The concept of that volcano had been killed. No matter what happened from now on, it would never again become a volcano.
With a thought, Tatsuki let the sky-high walls of water collapse back down.
All the fish and sea creatures in the separated channel were completely unharmed.
To keep the returning ocean from causing tsunamis along the coasts he used Vector Manipulation to guide the flow of seawater. It returned calm and orderly, without producing any extra waves or shock.
In the blink of an eye, the split ocean was once again one vast, endless expanse.
Ch'en's hand remained wrapped around Chi Xiao's hilt.
If not for the excited tremors running through the sword, she might have thought she'd imagined everything that had just happened.
"This apocalypse was pretty easy to handle."
He'd made an easy 900,000 Apocalypse Points. Honestly, Tatsuki wished more apocalypses could be solved with this little effort.
"Ch'en, Saiki, I'm heading out."
As soon as Tatsuki said it, his figure flickered and vanished.
"Hey—!" Ch'en nearly had a heart attack.
She thought she was about to drop but when she looked down, her body was still floating steadily in midair.
Not only that, when she reached out and pressed down, the air around her had a tangible, solid feel to it.
Saiki glanced at her confusion and explained, "Tatsuki used something like psychokinesis a while ago. He formed invisible walls of air around you. You won't fall."
"…Huh?" Ch'en was stunned.
If he could do that… Then what was all that princess-carry and giant-baby nonsense for just now?!
"I'm going too." Saiki tapped himself lightly. The rips in his clothes and the dust on his face vanished.
Then he teleported home as well.
Only Ch'en was left, hovering in the air as she tried to sort through the mess in her head.
After a long moment, she grabbed at her hair in frustration and chose to return.
Her vision blurred and Ch'en found herself back in her office.
The first thing she saw was Hoshiguma's puzzled face.
"…How long was I gone?"
"Hah?" Hoshiguma Arashi arched an eyebrow. "Did you fry your brain? You've been sitting in that chair the whole time. You just told me you found Talulah. So where is she?"
"…"
I've been here the whole time? Was that travel just a dream? Ch'en frantically opened the chat.
She scrolled up—the Apocalypse Journey notifications were all still there. In the present messages, everyone was still discussing Tatsuki splitting the sea and in her personal status page, there were 30,000 more Apocalypse Points than before.
Her hand went to Chi Xiao's hilt. The sword's excited hum still hadn't faded.
So it wasn't a dream. She really had just traveled.
....
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