Reality snapped back together as everyone appeared inside the facility. Blood in different colors spread across the metal floor, running between panels like thin streams. Corpses were scattered everywhere, silent and untouched.
Tsutsumi and Acheron walked forward without slowing down, ignoring the thick metallic smell hanging in the air. Their footsteps echoed as they approached the large metal door. The door's locks disengaged one after another, then the heavy slab began sliding open.
Inside was a single ōdachi, wrapped in multiple layers of chains. Energy bars formed a cage around it, humming faintly. The sword sat in the center, completely still, sealed from every direction.
Tsutsumi activated Tracing on the weapon.
The moment his eyes focused, memories rushed into him, the sword's name, Naught, and the history tied to it.
Acheron's origin unfolded clearly.
Come from the beautiful planet named Izumo, which is also in a star system with another planet named Takamagahara.
One day, Yaoyorozu no kami descended from Takamagahara to destroy everything. To fight back, the Izumo people forge twelve blades from the body of the Sovereigns sent by Kami.
But even those weren't enough. More enemies came, and the planet was pushed closer to ruin. With no other choice, the survivors broke the twelve blades and reforged them into two new ones: Origin and End.
Acheron comes into disagreement with her friend Shiraga Oni on how to save Izumo. So they fight, with Acheron wielding the Origin, while Shiraga Oni is wielding End. While in the fight, everyone on Izumo turns into Oni form over exposure to Kami powers; only Acheron and Shiraga Oni retain their sense of self.
The fight ended with Acheron killing Shiraga Oni with both of their blades broken.
However, all their effort would mean nothing in the end.
Izumo and Takamagahara were already doomed. The star they orbited, thought to be a black hole, was actually IX, waiting to consume them. Their fates were sealed. They would die without even reaching Finality.
At that moment, Acheron accepted Nihility completely. She used the last of her life force and the fragments of Origin to create one final blade: Naught. With it, she launched her final attack on IX, trying one last time to save her people.
She failed. Everything was lost.
Tsutsumi opened his eyes slowly and let out a small breath. He turned toward the sealed sword just as Azu finished disabling the locks.
"You should take it," Tsutsumi said.
Acheron stepped forward. She didn't hesitate. Her hand reached toward the blade. Then Tsutsumi lifted his camera, snapping a picture of her reaching for the sword and capturing this memory.
After leaving the sealed chamber behind, the two made their way toward the nearest docking bay. Acheron walked beside him, swinging her sheathed blade casually. Every time a guard tried to block their path, she simply sent them flying or dropping them with one clean hit.
"This is really troublesome…" she muttered, brushing dust off her shoulder as another group rushed in.
"They're weak, but there are too many. Like ants," Tsutsumi said. He kicked one guard so hard the man skidded into a metal wall, leaving a large dent. Without even looking, Tsutsumi lifted his sheathed blade and swatted down the bullets fired at him, metal clinking harmlessly against the scabbard.
These weren't artificial monsters or engineered weapons, just regular station guards. Underpaid, undertrained, and completely unaware of what an Emanator even was. They kept charging anyway, either from courage or stupidity, and neither Tsutsumi nor Acheron saw any point in killing people like that.
"Still troublesome," Acheron repeated, knocking another one unconscious. She grabbed a gun from one guard and threw it at another. The weapon embedded itself into the wall beside the poor man's head, and he fainted on the spot.
"At this rate," she said blankly, "I suggest we start killing."
Tsutsumi stepped forward, parrying a bullet and flicking away another guard with an elbow strike. "There's no need. Whether they die now or later doesn't change anything. Their efforts are meaningless, but that doesn't mean we have to cut their stories short."
Then he reached out and took Acheron's hand.
The scarf she was holding onto dissolved instantly. His jacket disintegrated next, both breaking apart into thousands of glittering Cluster Cells. The swarm shot forward, forming a living wave of metal grasshoppers tearing through the guards' weapons and armor. They didn't touch the guards themselves, just shredded their equipment and used the scraps to grow bigger.
Acheron watched the mayhem for a second, then glanced at Tsutsumi. She didn't argue. She simply tightened her grip on his hand, and the two walked through the chaos without looking back.
They reached the best ship Foundation V had in its docks. As soon as Tsutsumi stepped inside, Azu's voice crackled through the speakers, and the entire metal swarm poured into the ship.
Instead of tearing it apart, the Cluster Cells wrapped around him and reformed into his long coat, bulkier now, lined with a synthetic white metal fur around the collar.
"So this is the 'companion' you mentioned…" Acheron murmured. After hearing Azu's voice, she gave Tsutsumi a side glance. "Are they here?"
"Somewhat," Tsutsumi replied.
Acheron just nodded. Silently placing "Azu" into the category of some genius hackers similar to Silverwolf, that Stellaron Hunters.
A moment later, the galaxy map projected across the bridge. Countless planets lit up, each one marked with data Azu had prepared using the ship and facility's records.
"So," Tsutsumi asked, "where are you heading?"
"If possible, drop me at a planet called Penacony. I have something to take care of there." She sat down, crossing her arms as she scanned the map.
"Penacony…" Tsutsumi murmured. Azu pulled up the location, far, far away.
"Boss," Azu reported, "travel will take at least one month at normal speed. One week if we use Warp Jump. Also, fuel will run out mid-route. I'm calculating possible refuel stops now."
Tsutsumi turned to Acheron. "That fine with you?"
She nodded. "Also… can your friend locate a planet with someone holding invitations to Penacony? I can't get inside without one."
"So you're trying to crash the place," Tsutsumi said flatly.
"You could say that," she replied without hesitation.
"Reason?"
"It's… complicated. I'll explain later."
Tsutsumi shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind."
Her expression stiffened, as if she expected interrogation, not casual acceptance. Before she could ask anything, he lifted his camera and snapped a picture of her confused look.
"Although I might seem like someone who would cause death and destruction, no matter where I go. My true purpose is to record and retell the stories of others so that they won't be forgotten." He said, lowering his camera.
Decade is considered the Destroyer of Worlds because his existence alone was enough to cause the end of multiple worlds. Yet, Decade's true mission was to never destroy all the worlds or help them, but to be the one who would retell those stories so they won't be forgotten.
Terminus, the Aeon of Finality, also witnesses the end of a world and the rebirth of another; they, too, are the only ones who hold the memories and stories of that previous world.
This is also the true reason for Terminus to actually glance at Tsutsumi and make him into the Emanator of Finality. Both their role mirrored each other, with the only difference being how they are executing it.
Both their action that impacted the world meant little to none for both of them, as their original purpose was identical to begin with. Because once the world ended, and another is created, only they would be the ones who remember the previous world.
"I see... Thank you. If you need anything in the future, just ask. I'll help to the best of my ability." Acheron decided not to question and gave Tsutsumi a polite thank.
The other party has helped her so much and is willing to trust her; it makes her feel somewhat bad if she keeps troubling him without offering anything in return.
After Azu switched the ship to autopilot, both of them agreed to rest. There was only one bedroom onboard, so Tsutsumi let Acheron take it while he stayed in the cockpit.
The moment the door shut, Tsutsumi activated the Aurora Curtain and slipped out of that world entirely.
After realizing that under the influence of Terminus and the power of the Emanator of Finality, he has become more willing to play his role as Decade, which caused him to accidentally pull out the Kamen Ride: Decade card instead of his usual Form Ride: Decade, not just once, but twice.
Although now he is more willing toward his role as the Destroyer of Worlds, he still wishes to enjoy his life as Tsutsumi Ryoko and not Decade a bit longer.
Reappearing in his old world, Tsutsumi looks down at his hand, sensing that his Emanator's power has weakened.
"Figure..." He murmurs, already suspecting this after hearing about the Aeon from Acheron.
So, to sum it up, the Aeon can be viewed as god-like beings in that world, and they can grant a portion of their power to their follower or people who walk the same path as them.
By traveling back to his world, where the Aeon of Finality didn't exist, his power as the Emanator of Finality was also weakened to the point of nonexistence.
Heading back toward the training camp, Tsutsumi saw Class 1-A and 1-B scattered everywhere, each group busy with their own training routines. Some were doing strength training, some were practicing Quirk control, and some were just yelling and screaming like usual.
His eyes swept across the field lazily until they stopped on Midoriya.
The mosshead was still focusing entirely on upper-body training, forcing his arms past their limits, instead of trying to figure out how to use his legs properly to kick.
He stared for another second before deciding not to waste his breath repeating himself.
Midoriya still couldn't understand after being told directly to his face by Tsutsumi and All Might. Then it is not his problem anymore; he tries to help.
He turned away and found a comfortable patch of ground under the shade of a large tree. He lay down, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes like he was preparing for a long nap.
Naturally, the moment the students noticed him relaxing, they started complaining loudly.
The teachers only sighed and shut them down.
The Pussycats had already given up on trying to train Tsutsumi after the first hour, since they hardly could help him improve.
Aizawa then filled them in on Tsutsumi being emotionally unstable, so it's best that they should leave him alone for him to clear his mind first. Who knows what is going on inside that head of his?
By the time evening settled in, the extra-class victims from both 1-A and 1-B were dragged back to the facility, looking half-dead. The remaining students gathered around a large campfire outside the facility, enjoying the rare moment of peace.
And then Mandalay's Telepath hit their heads at full volume.
Villains are attacking the training camp! All students evacuate and gather inside the facility immediately!
Tsutsumi's eyes snapped open. The sky was already pitch-dark.
"Huh. Villains." He sat up and stretched like someone waking from a boring lecture. "How do they even know we're here?"
He clicked his tongue softly. The USJ incident at least made sense; the villains targeted a U.A. facility during the time All Might was rumored to be teaching at U.A., plus they had a weapon said to be able to kill All Might.
But this time?
This forest wasn't U.A. property. The Pussycats owned it. U.A. was only collaborating with them.
"They couldn't possibly decide to have a late-night picnic, and pick this forest of all places..." Tsutsumi joked, eliminating possibilities one by one.
Before he ended in one conclusion...
"…There's a rat in U.A.," he concluded flatly.
He stood up, standing alone in the forest.
"Azu."
His coat rippled and split apart. The fabric peeled away like fluid metal, gathering beside him and forming into the slender figure of a girl in a white, black, and red female business suit. Her appearance resembled Jiro's, but with longer hair, a red streak running along her left bang, and a sharper gaze.
She adjusted her red and black bow around her neck and smiled. "What's your order, Master?"
Tsutsumi pulls out a card.
Attack Ride: Ark!
His eyes flashed crimson. In his hand, a perfect copy of the Ark Driver-One and the Ark-One Progrisekey materialized. He handed them to Azu without ceremony.
"Go clean up the villains. And gather everyone back to the facility." His expression flattened, already bored. "Looks like I finally found a reason to cut this stupid summer camp short."
Azu giggled softly. The sound didn't match the looming threat of someone wearing Ark-One gear, but she didn't care. She slipped the Driver around her waist with a smile.
"As you wish."
Before fading into the shadows of the forest, she turned back briefly and gave Tsutsumi a playful wink.
A second later, she was gone.