Attack on Titan.
The setting sun dyed the Walls of Maria blood-red as the treetops of the forest swayed gently in the evening breeze. Reiner lay on his back on a thick tree branch, hands pillowed behind his head, gazing at the scene on the Celestial Screen through the gaps in the leaves.
"Duke Inferno…" Reiner clicked his tongue and suddenly spoke. "Since this guy is so powerful, why didn't the Stellaron Hunters take him out along with the Jepella Brotherhood back then? With SAM and Blade's strength, it shouldn't have been difficult, right?"
From a higher branch came Annie's icy voice. "Are you so sure the Stellaron Hunters could beat Duke Inferno? What if they couldn't?"
"How is that possible?" Reiner narrowed his eyes slightly. "Have you forgotten how Kafka toyed with those animal-brained guys from the Jepella Brotherhood?"
"The Jepella Brotherhood could stand toe-to-toe with the Eternal Fire Mansion within the Annihilation Gang, which means their strength and influence were comparable. Yet one was casually wiped out by the Stellaron Hunters. How much resistance could the other put up?"
Annie nodded slightly. After thinking about it carefully, it did seem to make sense. Back then, Kafka entered the game as "prey" and ended it with "toying." From beginning to end, the Jepella Brotherhood couldn't even put up a fight.
Being able to go back and forth with those guys also indirectly exposed the strength of the Eternal Fire Mansion.
Bertolt beside them hesitated. "Is it possible the Stellaron Hunters clashed with Duke Inferno? But he escaped? After all, with the ability of phase teleportation, it wouldn't be that easy to kill him completely…"
"Do you think Kafka and Blade would make that kind of mistake? If the Stellaron Hunters decided to kill Duke Inferno, they would never let him use his ability to escape."
Annie leaned against the adjacent tree trunk, her fingertips playing with a leaf. "I can only judge this way: perhaps in Elio's eyes… it is not yet Duke Inferno's time to die. He is more useful alive than dead."
——
[Both of them returned to the closed cabin segment and told Asta and Screwllum everything they had gathered in detail.]
[Among them, one clue was particularly critical — the phase-shuttling flames recorded in the booklet, said to be capable of [burning all realms and leaving behind numerous flame offspring.]]
[Screwllum guessed it immediately upon hearing this. "It is the [Phase Spirit Fire], the creation of #29 Sizzlakar. She was a remarkable Genius — intelligent, kind, and humble."]
["But unfortunately, by human standards of time, she only lived for a short twenty-nine days. The Phase Spirit Fire transformed into another phase the moment it was born. By the time it returned, Sizzlakar had already passed away. After that, it kept changing phases and became nearly impossible to capture."]
["Someone once accidentally caught a glimpse of the Phase Spirit Fire's trace and captured a cluster of its offspring fire. Herta took it in and lent it to Ruan Mei for research, but the spirit fire seed was lost because of this. If Ifrit is also an offspring of the Phase Spirit Fire, the full picture of this matter becomes clear."]
[Ratio said coldly. "As its offspring, Duke Inferno possesses abilities similar to the Phase Spirit Fire. I'm afraid he cannot achieve [phase transformation], but he can perform a degraded version of [spatial transfer]. This is the truth behind the spontaneous human combustion: the crew members did not disappear — they were [transferred]."]
[Although the whereabouts of the victims remained unknown for now, the Duke's plan was already clear. He wanted to create chaos through "disappearances," then secretly push the crisis to the forefront and wait for it to take root and sprout.]
["And the next step, snap — is to ignite the spark. Look at these missing crew members. If their common point is discovered, what will be the consequences? I don't need to say more."]
——
Bleach.
Byakuya Kuchiki stood on a flying eave in the Seireitei, his silver-white haori fluttering slightly in the night wind. He quietly listened to Professor Ratio's conclusion, his brows furrowing imperceptibly.
"…Boring."
Toshiro Hitsugaya walked over from behind, the hilt of Hyōrinmaru gleaming coldly under the moonlight. "What? Disappointed?"
"No wonder Duke Inferno will never receive the gaze of [Destruction]… [Destruction] should be about facing the end of all things directly."
Byakuya shook his head with a face full of disgust. "Yet now he hides his head and shows his tail, using flames to transfer ordinary people. In my view, this is nothing more than scratching an itch through one's boots. It is still far from true [Destruction]. Other than angering a few Geniuses and the Aeon, what other meaning does it have?"
"But wasn't Phantylia doing the same thing back then?" Hitsugaya chuckled lightly. "Stirring up chaos in secret and ultimately bringing about destruction… Maybe Duke Inferno's teacher was Phantylia."
"But Phantylia's target was a Xianzhou ship and an Emanator of The Hunt… what she wanted to destroy was an entire civilization." Byakuya crossed his arms and said coldly. "But since the matter has already been exposed, shouldn't he show himself and fight like Phantylia?"
"Hehe, how is that possible? The space station has Screwllum, a Genius, stationed there. Who knows what methods this robot has? These technology people can always pull out all kinds of weird things."
Compared to General Jing Yuan, who was an Emanator, Hitsugaya felt that scientists like Screwllum and Herta were more oppressive.
Jing Yuan was strong, but at least all his methods were out in the open. As for Screwllum and the others, technology seemed to give them the ability to create countless trump cards and countless ways to deal with enemies. That was the feeling Kisuke Urahara and Mayuri Kurotsuchi gave him… no matter what, never stand on the opposite side of "science."
——
[At this moment, Stelle's group chat notification rang again. Sure enough, public opinion in the group was gradually spiraling out of control. Someone had already begun to suspect that the disappearance cases were self-directed and acted out by the management to eliminate dissidents.]
["Justice may be late, but it arrives. The management must step down!" — The group was almost entirely filled with such messages.]
[Asta immediately panicked and looked helplessly at Stelle. "T-This…"]
[Screwllum lowered his head in thought. "…No, it's not enough yet."]
["Correct. It still lacks one more spark." Ratio nodded.]
[Asta looked at the professor in confusion. "What do you mean?"]
["If it stops here, you still have room to argue. If it were me…" Ratio crossed his arms, his gaze sharpening. "…I wouldn't give you that chance."]
[Before he finished speaking, Asta's pupils suddenly contracted — azure-blue flames shot up from under her feet without warning and instantly engulfed her entire body.]
["F-F-F-Fire…!" Asta looked in horror at the flames leaping across her body.]
["Asta!"]
[Stelle almost instinctively rushed forward, reaching out with her right hand — but her fingertips only futilely brushed past Asta's fingers, touching a wisp of scorching air.]
[Right before her eyes… Asta disappeared.]