Trinity General Academy · Terrace Overlook
"You're incredible, Mash. Building the Paradise Agency, uniting Gehenna and Trinity… a treaty far brighter than Eden's. I truly respect you," Seia Yurizono said, chuckling softly, sipping tea from a cup on the table in her dream world.
"This place… we'll part for a while. Long yet short. Why are those cream puffs still here? Oh, right… Mash's fault."
When Mash visited, their dreams connected, leaving a mountain of his cream puffs—enough to cause heartburn just looking at them.
"But that dream Mash saw… and the other one, with that mysterious voice. Different interpretations…"
Seia pondered the cryptic voice in Mash's dream, too vivid for mere fantasy. She'd kept silent, feeling it wasn't the time to tell him.
"That voice… too real for a dream—"
The world darkened. Everything vanished except Seia herself.
"!?"
Falling, she bruised her tailbone. Looking around, she saw only darkness—her form clear, but nothing else. Shock and confusion gripped her. Then, footsteps and a voice echoed behind her.
"Greetings."
"!?"
Not human. Cold air, chilling voice, an overwhelming presence—like a void that could swallow her forever. An abyss.
"No need to fear, lovely dreamer. I just want to talk."
(Don't turn around… I'll be consumed!) Seia's body trembled, even in her dream.
"Show me your face… sleeping princess."
Crouching, ears down, hugging herself, Seia steeled her courage and turned.
"!!?"
"Greetings. I am Innocent Zero."
"Innocent… Zero?"
"From the world of the man you call Sensei, Mash Burnedead."
A faceless being—no ears, eyes, hair, or features. Seia shivered at its alien nature.
"Sorry, I teased you. Your reaction was amusing." Its face morphed into long silver hair, two clock-hand marks under its left eye. "I'm Innocent Zero, Cyril Marcus—Mash's true father."
"What…?"
"This won't do for a conversation. Tea?"
Innocent Zero conjured a table and chairs, seating Seia and offering her tea.
"It's safe. No poison—your world's rules prevent it, don't they?"
"Why invade my dream?" Seia demanded.
"My magic—technically, a byproduct of my research. A forbidden spell, Nightmare, lets me manipulate dreams across worlds."
"Magic?"
"Oh, you don't know magic? Wonderful, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about? Can Nightmare interfere with other worlds? What's your goal?"
"So many questions, Seia Yurizono."
"You know my name…"
"Let's start with my world."
Innocent Zero explained: long ago, gods granted magic, creating the magical world of Mash. His Nightmare spell allowed him to invade Seia's dream.
"Why could I reach this world? Curious?"
"Yes."
"Simple. Magic."
"Even that?"
"But don't misunderstand. My interference here ties to a certain entity connected to Kivotos."
"Who?"
"I can't say. It'd harm me."
"How did you learn of Kivotos?"
"Decades ago, pursuing the 'perfect life,' I discovered it."
The background shifted, projecting Innocent Zero's past like a silent film.
"You were… quite loved by your parents," Seia noted.
"Wait, what?"
"Wrong scene?"
"Ignore that."
"Continue."
"I studied countless forbidden magics—sealed grimoires, dark arts, alchemy—amassing knowledge."
The projection showed him researching, even killing. Seia's opinion of him plummeted to zero.
"I found Dimensional Search, a spell revealing multiverses. I trembled at the possibilities and used it."
"With sacrifices?" Seia asked coldly.
"Success demands sacrifice, like the corpses fueling your world's science. Necessary losses."
Unapologetic, he saw killing as trivial. His sacrifices enabled him to glimpse Kivotos—its mystical girls, halos akin to magic's proof, advanced weaponry absent in his world. It thrilled him.
"When did you start spying?"
"Decades ago, a few times. Then I stopped."
"Why?"
"Something appeared."
The background blurred, but its alien presence lingered. Innocent Zero's face shifted slightly.
"A power too vast. I tried to harness it but was nearly consumed. A true taboo, like a temporal disaster."
"You feared it and stopped."
"Strategic retreat. It's beyond magic or mystics."
"Then why come to me now?"
"Because he—Mash Burnedead—is here. While he's in Kivotos, that entity stays dormant. So I can talk to you."
Sipping tea, he revealed Nightmare combined with Dimensional Search let him invade minds. But Seia wondered: why not target Mash directly?
"With that entity dormant, why not come here?"
"My Dimensional Search is incomplete. I can only peek, not cross."
"Why not invade Mash's dreams?"
"Pointless. I tried breaking his spirit, but he countered every time. Utterly ineffective."
"Even in dreams, Sensei's strong…"
"Finding out Mash was alive was enough. I thought my son was dead."
"Tell me—are you really his father?"
"Absolutely."
Grinning, he projected baby Mash and his six identical siblings.
"My sextuplet sons, all supremely strong. My treasures."
"You don't seem to care for them."
"Servants handle that. Kids grow on their own."
"Why would someone like you, obsessed with yourself, want children?"
"They're vital—for me. To become the perfect life."
"Perfect life?"
"Forbidden Creation Magic: combine six hearts of the same blood into an immortal heart."
Seia realized his plan: he sired children to harvest their hearts for immortality.
"For that… you'd kill Sensei?"
"I despaired when he couldn't use magic. But his body—realizing I could use it, I couldn't stop smiling."
"You'd kill him for your dream?"
"Of course. Magicless, worthless except for strength. Serving me is his honor."
"Don't mock him!" Seia slammed the table, glaring like a feral fox. "Kill that kind, gentle boy!?"
"I care only for myself. Everything else is a tool."
"He's your son! No love, no affection?"
"Love is useless for immortality. I want his heart, nothing more. Same for the others."
"You're a monster!"
"The highest compliment, Seia. I've taken countless lives—a fitting title."
Laughing, he changed the background to scenes of slaughter—men, women, children, experiments' remains. He reminisced coldly, unfazed.
"You're inhuman!"
"I'm the most human, driven by endless desire. Speaking with you… satisfied one."
"Why appear before me?"
"To warn you about that entity. And a piece of advice."
"What?"
"I've interfered here, but so has she—in my world."
"She?"
"Beatrice. She appeared once via mystic miracles. I sent her back."
"!?"
"I gave her a stolen staff. She lacks magic, but mystics let her wield it easily."
"What's your goal?"
"Who knows?"
"!"
"To clarify, I've no intent to invade Kivotos deeply. But I won't stop meddling."
"You're despicable!"
"My interference linked our worlds. As long as that holds, I'll keep pressuring him."
The darkness faded, Innocent Zero vanishing. Seia reached to strike him but missed.
"I warned you, Seia. What you do next is up to you."
"Wait!"
"Will Mash lead Kivotos to ruin or become its savior? I'll watch closely. Farewell."
"He won't lose or bring ruin. We'll protect him. He's our… comrade!"
Light overtook the darkness. Knowing Mash's father and fate, Seia vowed to support him, no matter the misfortune.
She awoke from her long, endless dream.
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