Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 77: New Stuff
Following my intuition, I catch a brief glimpse into the future. I shift Momoyo from a piggyback ride, rolling forward as I let go of her and smoothly readjust her position. Then I plant my feet against the soles of her feet and, with a strong, well-timed push, launch her up into the air with a solid boost.
Then I roll backward and quickly get back on my feet, my eyes tracking the battlefield as Rion and Sakamoto charge in from my left and right. At the same time, I sense that Alucard has already relocated behind Ryuji's group, a grin spreading across her face as she prepares to strike from behind with a sneak attack.
The Cards of Blasphemy appear behind me. Without even looking, I reach back and draw the Wintry Blade into my hand. Then I raise my free hand for a brief moment before slamming my palm down against the ground, my eyes locked on Ryuji as I speak in the Language of Foulness and cast Slowness. The curse takes hold at once, dragging at him and making him sink as his movements begin to slow.
Both Rion and Sakamoto seize that brief moment of weakness to strike. Rion fires a couple of well-placed shots, each one aimed with deadly precision, while Sakamoto pulls out a coin and uses it as a projectile, flicking it with his thumb hard enough to send it flying like a bullet. Every one of their attacks is aimed at Ryuji's vital points, leaving little room for him to evade.
At that moment, Ryuji lets out a roar of rage, clearly ready to unleash his deadliest countermove. But nothing happens. No last technique, no sudden reversal—only helpless shock as his body is riddled with bloody holes. He coughs up blood, staggers for a brief instant, and then collapses to the ground, dead.
I watch in disappointment as Alucard kills all of my cousins, going so far as to absorb their bodies into herself. Then she follows up by taking Ryuji as well. It all happens just in time for me to see Momoyo land nearby, her face blank as she looks around at everyone in silence, making the whole scene suddenly awkward.
I quietly return the Wintry Blade to the Cards of Blasphemy, once again unable to make proper use of it in a fight. Then I walk over, and the rest of us simply look at one another in speechless silence. Well, almost all of us. Alucard is still grinning, slowly licking her lip as if she had just enjoyed a particularly satisfying meal.
"I thought your uncle and cousins would put up a bigger fight." Rion looks at me with a frown. "I saw enough paths to end his life, but I still expected it to take more effort, even with Sakamoto and you backing me up. Sure, you said something I couldn't comprehend—something that made my skin crawl—so I figured it was some kind of curse that suddenly slowed your dead uncle down, if I had to guess. But I didn't think it would be so strong that he'd die without being able to do anything at all. Your cousins' deaths, though, I can understand."
Then Rion glances over at Alucard, who lets out a soft giggle.
"Chikao, you're not going to get into trouble with your family over the deaths of your uncle and cousins, are you?" Momoyo asks, looking at me with clear concern before blinking a few times. "Wait, what am I even saying? Of course, this is going to be a problem for you. Your family members were killed, and you even helped kill your uncle…" She hesitates for a moment, then speaks up again. "Should we go find my grandfather and ask him for help?"
"Well, if Kawakami Tesshin gets involved, then things would become much easier for Nagumo here." Sakamoto slowly nods. "The real question, though, is whether he'd actually choose to step in."
"I'm sure he would. After all, Nagumo here is going to be his grandson-in-law once he marries Momoyo." Rion rolled her eyes at Sakamoto as if the answer should have been obvious. Sakamoto simply nods in agreement, while Momoyo only smiles at the remark, looking far too pleased to deny it.
"In any case, I don't think we should bother Momoyo's grandfather with this. Not because of some manly pride nonsense, but because my family doesn't follow a normal or logical way of thinking. In fact, their minds are extremely unstable, and because of that, nearly everyone in my family is born with a natural talent for espionage." I shake my head as I look at the others. "Anything that can sharpen the family's skills as spies tends to push them to extremes. The only reason I didn't follow the same path was because, back then, I was too lovesick over Integra to think about anything else."
I pause for a moment, my expression darkening slightly.
"And the curse I brought on myself in the past has finally caught up with me, corrupting my mind into something entirely different from the person I used to be."
That sends a jolt through everyone's minds as they remember what had been happening before Ryuji and his group showed up.
"Holy shit! Your curses are real!" Rion blurts out, her eyes widening in alarm. "Your dead uncle and cousins showed up ready to take you down, and it's only because all of us are good at what we do that we managed to deal with them so easily! Wait…!" Her gaze darts around the area, scanning for any sign of movement. "Does that mean we're about to get hit by another wave of unexpected enemies?"
And just like that, everyone starts looking around us. Hell, even I begin scanning the area myself, but my Spirituality still hasn't warned me of anything yet.
"Alright, I'm going to perform a ritual to check whether any new enemies are going to appear before us today. Momoyo. Alucard. Explain to Rion and Sakamoto what I'm about to do." I said to the two.
I didn't wait for anyone's response. Instead, I walk off to the side and begin raising a wall of Spirituality around myself, isolating the space before starting the ritual to enter the Sefirah Castle.
Once inside the Sefirah Castle, I begin a new series of Computational Divinations. By the time I finish, I find myself once again in awe of the Sefirah Castle and the other Sefirot. More and more changes in the future are set into motion simply because I entered one of the Sefirot. Most of all, I can feel how everyone's futures are shifting, while my own remains hidden away beneath the protection of all the Sefirot.
I tap my fingers against the table, thinking for a brief moment. Then, right there on the spot, I activate the rest of the Non-Standard Pathways: Patriarch, Tail-Devourer, Everlasting, Second Law, and Sublunary Eye. One after another, they come alive at my command.
At first, nothing happens as the Cards of Blasphemy hover around me in silence.
Then, a second after the last Pathway is activated, everything changes.
I see. I do not see. I hear. I do not hear. I feel. I do not feel. I think. I do not think.
Everything spirals out of control, yet somehow remains within my control at the same time. I see the future. I see the past. I see the present. I see countless realities unfolding over one another. I see innumerable lifeforms. I see endless things beyond reason. I see countless parallel versions of myself. I see my future, my present, my past, my death, my afterlife, and even the outer boundary of existence itself.
For one impossible moment, I see everything.
Then I see nothing, and I forget it all.
I blink and look around me, then blink again, still trying to gather my thoughts.
"Holy shit… is this what happens after you stop being high?" I mutter to myself, my voice low and full of disbelief. I glance around again, trying to make sense of my surroundings. "What the hell happened? Did I just black out?"
I shake my head, then turn my attention to the Cards of Blasphemy, checking to see whether any new features have appeared after activating all of the Non-Standard Pathways. After all, that was how it happened with the 22 Standard Pathways; their activation had been what unlocked the Non-Standard Pathways in the first place.
So far, nothing has happened.
That only leaves me more confused. To make sure I am not missing anything, I use Computational Divination to check whether something new has changed in the future. But even after that, I find nothing at all.
And now I am even more confused than before.
I will the Card of Wheel of Fortune closer to me and study it more carefully.
As I infuse Spirituality into it, the card responds at once. Various wheels emerge from its surface, turning and locking into one another until they form a palm-sized illusory book. Its pages begin to flip on their own, revealing portraits of me that look almost lifelike. In each one, I am standing before a bright light that casts a heavy shadow over my body, leaving only my outline clearly visible, along with the faintest glimpse of part of my face in different angles.
Instead of just 10 pages covering Sequences 9 through 0, where each page holds a Sequence name, a vague description of its acting method, a potion formula, and an advancement ritual. The book contains far more. There are so many pages that, if not for the need to spend my Spirituality to turn each one, I might have tried to find out whether this illusory book even has an end.
In any case, every page also includes detailed explanations of how to use each Sequence's abilities and traits. It goes even further than that, offering guidance on how each power can be applied both in combat and outside of it, making the illusory book feel less like a mere record and more like a complete manual for mastery.
"Well, I've got to say… this... this is a lot more useful for someone in my position. At least now I'm no longer forced to stumble around blindly and just hope for the best." I smirk to myself, pleased by the discovery, but the expression quickly vanishes the moment I realize my Spirituality is now too low to even flip to the next page.
And not even a second later, the illusory book reverts back into the Card of Blasphemy, as if the brief glimpse of deeper knowledge had been cut off the moment my Spirituality ran too low to sustain it.
I let out a quiet sigh, then exit the Sefirah Castle.
I tear down the wall of Spirituality and walk back over to everyone. Even now, they are still on edge, their eyes moving across the surroundings as they keep watch for any sign of potential enemies.
"Seriously, you look like your soul got sucked right out of your body." Rion says bluntly before I can say anything, her eyes narrowing as she gives me a hard once-over. "I'm curious about who gave you these curses of yours."
I just let out a small laugh.
I'd like to know the answer to that, too, but I'll keep this to myself.
"Come on, we should keep moving. There's no point in sticking around here." I smile at everyone.