Chapter 152: The World Has Collapsed
"In the name of the chosen one, I offer blood. May the moonlight gather here, seek out the starry vault of the dark night, and correspond to the truth of heaven and earth. In my name, I summon!" Yun Xuan said in a low voice.
The summoning array flared brightly, emitting a dazzling radiance as a young man materialized within it.
"I come in answer to your summons. My name is Juzo Suzuya, a Class 2 Investigator from the CCG." Beneath the moonlight, the white-haired youth wore a smiling expression, somewhat morbidly twisted.
"Why is the one I summoned not a cute anime girl?" Yun Xuan's mouth twitched slightly.
"Are you my master? You look rather weak." Juzo Suzuya jumped down from the summoning array and stared intently at Yun Xuan.
"Starting from today, you are a member of the hunting squad. Murasaki will handle the specific details; you only need to obey orders." Yun Xuan felt no fear, for those summoned were incapable of harming the caster, and obeying commands was absolute—impossible to refuse.
Unless they possessed intelligence like Bai's, becoming the dominant force of the team.
Juzo Suzuya clearly did not fall into that category; he was suited only for slaughter.
"Murasaki? Is she a ghost?" Juzo Suzuya asked, looking with curiosity at Murasaki floating in mid-air.
"Follow me, Captain Juzo Suzuya," Murasaki said.
Juzo Suzuya followed Murasaki away, and the summoning array reverted to mere stone carvings, unusable by anyone other than Yun Xuan.
"Although he is Tier 5, having a trap and a boy around is still somewhat..." Yun Xuan was not accustomed to having crossdressers or young boys in his vicinity.
...
The next morning, Yun Xuan glanced at Kuai beside him, gently stroked her cat ears, and stepped out of bed.
Naturally, nothing untoward had happened between Yun Xuan and the cat-ear girl; they had simply slept. Yes, it was a very pure and innocent night of sleep.
Standing by the window, he drank a glass of juice from a fantasy world, then clicked to time-travel. This time, he did not bother saving his progress.
...
Research Institute No. 258.
Yun Xuan checked the time. Nearly two months had passed in the fantasy world, while only a little over two days had elapsed in reality. It was now precisely noon.
Yun Xuan walked out of the research institute, drove his car, and arrived at Xuanxun House.
"Boss, this invitation was just delivered." Changmai saw Yun Xuan and retrieved an exquisite invitation card from the counter.
"An invitation?" Yun Xuan opened it and took a look.
"Yun Xuan-kun, tomorrow is my birthday. I am hosting all my classmates at Qiuwei Tower, and I hope you can come." The invitation bore a simple sentence, signed by KANON Horie.
"That idol?" Yun Xuan shook his head and tossed the invitation aside. Upon returning to reality, he still had to hunt dark battle princesses every day.
The following night, Qiuwei Tower.
Kanon Horie looked around at all her classmates, but Yun Xuan was nowhere to be seen.
"Yunsue-chan, is Yun Xuan-kun really that busy?" Kanon Horie inquired.
"I haven't seen older brother these past few days. He even took a leave of absence from school. He must be busy with Qiuwei Tower or cooking-related matters," Yunsue thought for a moment and replied.
"Researching new dishes?" Kanon Horie murmured to herself.
...
Europe, a certain estate.
"Summon!" the mysterious Holy Lord shouted loudly.
The summoning array flared brightly, and two demons appeared within the formation.
"My name is Satanichia MacDowell!"
"My name is Vigne April!"
"Welcome, two great demon lords, to the mortal realm..." the Holy Lord bowed deeply and said.
...
"Ding-dong, the number of summoned individuals in the world has exceeded seven. System balancing initiated!" x3.
Yun Xuan in his laboratory, the Demon King Mengmeng deep beneath the ocean, and the angel high in the sky all received this message.
"What is the meaning of this?" Yun Xuan asked with a bewildered expression.
"Because the number of summoned individuals has exceeded seven, a collapse phenomenon has been triggered. According to the laws of the system, a repair procedure is being executed. As compensation, the host's system has been upgraded to Level 3, and Main Quest 2 has been cancelled," the cat-ear girl Meow Meow quickly provided an explanation.
"Why does this feel like a bug in a video game?" Yun Xuan had a persistent bad premonition.
...
Island Nation, on a mountain behind Gourmet Academy.
Two figures appeared.
On the left: a silver-haired natural perm, holding a wooden sword, blood dripping from his body.
On the right: a purple-haired man, blood flowing from his shoulder.
"Gintoki!"
"Takasugi!"
"Plop." The two charged at each other, blades crossing, completely unaffected by the changing environment around them.
"What is going on here?" Not far away, a young man opened his eyes wide, waking up from the ground. He looked at his intact body as black particles drifted off him.
At the same time, by the seaside.
"What is this place?" A handsome man extended his hand, dressed in green garments that resembled wings.
Silver-gray long hair fell past his shoulders as he smiled at the sea surface.
"Um, excuse me, which way is Academy City? What place is this?" A girl's voice came from behind the man.
"Actually, I am lost as well. I just woke up and found myself standing here." The silver-gray-haired man turned his head and offered a warm, gentle smile.
"Kuroko, it's all your fault! Using spatial teleportation actually brought us to a place like this. This must be outside Academy City. If we don't go back now, the dorm supervisor is going to get mad again," a tea-haired girl wearing a school uniform said to the twin-tailed girl beside her.
"Well, since we've rarely made it outside Academy City, Onee-sama, let's go find a place to stay. It's already late anyway, so we might as well not go back. That way, the dorm supervisor might just think we've been asleep all along," the twin-tailed girl said with a smile.
"Fine," the tea-haired girl sighed.
"Etsu..." A voice echoed from behind the three of them.
All three turned simultaneously. A white-haired youth wearing black combat armor had one red eye, down which tears were streaming.
Clutched in his arms was a blond young man, also clad in armor, clutching his abdomen as his body trembled.
"Kaneki... let's go back..." The blond young man extended a hand and smiled.
"What is... going on here?" The tea-haired girl and the twin-tailed girl wore bewildered expressions.
The blond young man's hand dropped, and his entire body began to dissolve into golden light, vanishing completely.
"Etsu..." The white-haired youth reached out in agony, but grasped nothing at all.
"Human life ultimately vanishes, so you need not grieve. I shall send you to meet him," the silver-gray-haired man approached and said with a smile.
The next second, the silver-gray-haired man vanished.
"Clang." When he reappeared, his long sword collided with the ukaku kagune protruding from the white-haired youth's back.
"Interesting ability. Are you also an Amanto?" The silver-gray-haired man smiled, stepped back, and looked at the white-haired youth with rapt interest.
"What do you think you're doing? As a Judgment officer of Academy City, I will never permit anyone to commit violence in my presence," the twin-tailed girl spoke up from the side.
"Hmm? I have matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave." The silver-gray-haired man looked off in a certain direction, seeming to sense something.
"Kuroko, follow him," the tea-haired girl commanded.
"Understood, Onee-sama." With a flash of movement, the twin-tailed girl vanished into the distance.
"What is your name?" The tea-haired girl turned her gaze toward the white-haired youth.
"Ken Kaneki." The white-haired youth glanced at the tea-haired girl.
"My name is Misaka, Mikoto Misaka." The tea-haired girl smiled and extended her hand.
Ken Kaneki glanced at Mikoto Misaka's hand, ignored it entirely, stood up, and walked off in the direction the silver-gray-haired man had taken.
"Something feels rather wrong..." Mikoto Misaka took out her phone, checked the time, and froze momentarily.