The setting sun cast an orange-red glow across the campus, bathing everything in warm colors.
The corridors of the school building stood empty, and not a single student could be seen on the athletic field. The only sound was the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Genichi stood before the school gates, calmly studying the academy that had been abandoned for years.
Haruno stood beside him, holding the documents in one hand with a slight frown on her face.
"This is the place. Yurigaoka Girls' Academy, the school Kanade and Yuri attended before they died."
After a brief pause, she added, "It's been abandoned for several years. Apparently, declining enrollment and the deteriorating condition of the buildings eventually forced it to close."
Genichi nodded without speaking.
His gaze swept across every corner of the campus.
The three-story classroom building had several shattered windows, leaving dark, hollow openings behind. Weeds had overtaken the athletic field, the basketball hoops were covered in rust, and moss had spread across the bronze statue standing at the center of the campus until its face was no longer recognizable.
Everything looked ordinary.
Everything appeared normal.
Yet Genichi could sense that something was wrong.
A faint disturbance permeated the air, almost too subtle to notice. It felt as though something was breathing and pulsing beneath the silence.
The sensation was so weak that an ordinary person would never have detected it. To Genichi, however, it stood out as clearly as a firefly in the darkness.
"So, what do we do now?"
Haruno turned to look at him.
Genichi didn't answer.
He closed his eyes, and the shadow beneath his feet began to writhe as though something were about to emerge from the darkness.
One shadowy figure after another separated from it and silently spread in every direction.
The shadows had neither faces nor definite forms. They were nothing more than indistinct masses of darkness, yet each one radiated a suffocating pressure.
They passed through the gates, crossed the athletic field, and entered the school building.
They searched every corner, every classroom, and every flight of stairs.
Like liquid mercury seeping through the smallest cracks, they penetrated every part of the campus and relayed every detail back to Genichi.
Several minutes later, he opened his eyes.
The corners of his lips rose into a satisfied smile.
"I found it."
"Found what?"
Haruno moved closer, her eyes filled with curiosity.
Genichi didn't answer. He simply started walking deeper into the campus.
Haruno hurried after him, the sharp clicks of her high heels ringing against the gravel path.
They crossed the athletic field, circled around the classroom building, and reached the deepest corner of the campus.
An isolated structure stood there.
It appeared to be an old chapel, with red brick walls, arched windows, and a crooked cross atop its roof.
The doors were tightly shut, and the chain wrapped around them was covered in rust. It was obvious that no one had visited the place in a very long time.
Genichi stopped before the chapel and raised his hand, lightly tracing his fingers through the air.
He could feel it.
The disturbance originated here.
Something beneath the chapel, somewhere far deeper underground, was calling to him.
"Wait here."
Genichi lowered his hand and turned toward Haruno.
She blinked.
"You're going inside? Alone?"
Genichi nodded.
"I'm going to investigate the alternate dimension."
"An alternate dimension?"
Haruno's eyes widened.
"You're saying there's an entrance to another dimension here?"
Genichi didn't answer. He crouched down and began drawing something on the ground.
His finger moved across the surface, leaving red lines in its wake.
The winding lines intertwined to form an intricate pattern.
At its center was a circle containing another circle. The space between them was filled with runes Haruno couldn't understand.
It was a magic circle used by the devils of the High School DxD world to connect with alternate dimensions.
Genichi had been deeply interested in alternate dimensions during his time there, so he had deliberately asked Rias to teach him about them.
She had shown him how to draw the magic circle, channel magical energy into it, activate the formation, and establish a connection with another dimension.
He had only learned it out of curiosity.
He never expected to actually use it.
Haruno crouched beside him and watched as he drew the formation, amazement filling her eyes.
"When did you learn how to do this?"
"While I was in the High School DxD world," Genichi replied without looking up. "Don't distract me."
Haruno pursed her lips but said nothing else.
Of course she knew who Rias was. Genichi had already told her about the red-haired devil princess, the heiress of the Gremory Family, and his master.
A trace of jealousy stirred within Haruno, but she quickly suppressed it.
Several minutes later, the magic circle was complete.
Genichi rose and took a step back, studying the intricate pattern on the ground.
He lightly flicked a finger.
A stream of red magical energy shot from his fingertip and entered the center of the circle.
The magic circle lit up.
It began with a single point of red light at the center. The radiance then spread outward like ripples across water, following every line until it reached the edges of the formation.
The entire magic circle began to glow.
Its crimson radiance grew brighter and more intense, heating the surrounding air until it visibly distorted.
Haruno instinctively stepped back and raised a hand to shield her eyes.
The light was so dazzling that she could barely keep them open.
Genichi stood before the magic circle, staring into the red radiance with undisguised delight.
The magic circle would only light up if it had successfully established a connection with an alternate dimension.
That meant it had connected to an alternate dimension belonging to this world.
He didn't know what awaited him there.
He didn't know whether it was the Afterlife he had imagined, nor whether it could help him uncover the true origin of the spirits.
But he knew one thing.
He had finally found an entrance.
The light gradually stabilized.
A vortex appeared at the center of the magic circle, slowly rotating like a whirlpool on the surface of water while emitting a deep hum.
It was a passage into another dimension.
All someone had to do was step inside, and they would be transported to another world.
"I'm going to investigate the alternate dimension."
Genichi turned toward Haruno.
"Wait here for me."
Haruno opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a loss for words.
She looked at his calm face and into his deep eyes as complicated emotions surged within her.
She wanted to say that she would go with him.
She wanted to tell him that she couldn't feel at ease letting him go alone.
She wanted to say that she didn't want him facing the danger by himself.
But she knew those words would be useless.
Once Genichi made a decision, a few words from her wouldn't change his mind.
"Can I come with you?"
She still asked, a trace of hope in her voice.
Genichi looked at her and remained silent for a moment.
"I can guarantee my own safety, but I can't guarantee yours. Knowing that, are you certain you still want to come with me?"
Haruno's expression stiffened.
She understood exactly what he meant.
Neither of them knew what existed within that alternate dimension.
There might be spirits inside, or something even more dangerous. It might contain a threat that even Genichi couldn't handle.
If she followed him, not only would she be unable to help, but she might also become a burden.
Haruno wasn't afraid of dying.
What she feared was dragging Genichi down with her.
An awkward smile appeared on her face.
"On second thought, I'll stay here."
Genichi looked at her, the corners of his lips curving upward.
"Good girl."
He turned and walked toward the magic circle.
Crimson light flowed across his body as his mind raced.
He stopped at the center of the formation. The vortex slowly rotated beneath his feet, seemingly waiting for him.
Genichi took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Then he sank into it.
He didn't fall, nor was he instantly transported away.
Instead, he descended slowly and silently into the center of the magic circle, as though sinking beneath the surface of deep water.
The red light swallowed his ankles, knees, waist, chest, and finally the top of his head.
The formation flashed once before gradually fading.
Haruno remained where she was, staring at the dimming magic circle as an indescribable sense of loss welled up inside her.
She lowered her head and looked at the red lines on the ground, then at the formation that no longer emitted any light.
Genichi was gone.
He had entered a world she knew nothing about.
"You'd better come back."
Her voice was so quiet that only she could hear it.
Within the alternate dimension, Genichi opened his eyes and found himself standing in an unfamiliar world.
The sky was gray and white.
There was no sun and no trace of clouds, only an endless void.
The ground was dark gray and utterly barren, with nothing but scattered stones strewn across its surface.
In the distance, he could vaguely make out several buildings.
A classroom building.
A chapel.
A dormitory.
They were identical to the abandoned school in the physical world.
Yet everything here was gray and white, like a faded photograph stripped of all color.
Genichi stood still and sensed the aura of this world.
The air was saturated with magical energy, far more concentrated than anything found in the physical world.
Mixed within it was a kind of power he had never encountered before.
The power of death.
The power of souls.
The power of spirits.
The corners of Genichi's lips slowly curved upward.
(End of Chapter)
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