Chapter 725: I, Misaki Shokuhou, hate Misaka Mikoto!!
"Ooh-hoo…"
Daedalus, her lips parted, leaned weakly in Ren's arms, panting heavily. Her face was flushed with a crimson hue, her eyes misty and unfocused.
She deeply and infatuatedly breathed in his scent, as if it were the oxygen she needed to survive.
After a good while, stabilizing her chaotic heartbeat.
She reluctantly pulled away from the embrace that felt like the entire world.
Her gaze swept over Icarus, Nymph, and Astrea one by one.
Her eyes held undisguised joy.
"It's truly wonderful; you're all here. My daughters…"
Then she looked at Ren, her expression turning pleading as she tugged gently on his sleeve. "Ren, can you not kill them?"
Daedalus was referring to the hundreds of Angels suspended in the sky, motionless and silent.
"When I was born, it was on Synapse. I discovered that this Synapse was fake—a hollow replica—but the artificial Angels within it were real. They are real artificial Angels with functioning variable wings and cores."
She paused, her voice trembling slightly. "However, they seem to have a hard-coded directive to eliminate everything in sight. Please give me some time to change this directive. I can rewrite their code!"
She was very fond of artificial Angels.
It was as if each one was her own daughter, born from her intellect and dreams.
After all, Daedalus was a very powerful scientist, perhaps the greatest mind of the Synapse civilization.
"Heh heh, I never said I was going to kill them."
Ren stroked her hair gently.
These Angels were not the minions of the Sky Master Minos as set in the original story. They weren't the cruel executioners she feared.
They were just a group of artificial Angels created for no reason by a chaotic fluctuation in reality.
Moreover, as Ren looked up at the floating stone continent, his eyes narrowed. He had already sensed an extremely familiar aura radiating from the core of this fake Synapse.
"What an old friend from a long time ago."
Ren couldn't help but sigh. The sound carried a complex mix of nostalgia and cold murderous intent.
This Synapse thing actually had the aura of a long-lost old friend—the Doomsday Game!
The Doomsday Game, huh.
The memories flooded back. He clearly remembered those early days. He had started from nothing, a mere mortal struggling in the mud. He remembered killing zombies in the ruined streets, scavenging for supplies, and relying on the warmth of the days he spent with Yukino to keep his sanity intact.
Later, as he grew stronger, he even met Chika, Marin, and others within that cruel system.
He hadn't expected that, without realizing it, the weak self who once had to follow its rigid rules and complete its quests could now grasp its aura just by standing here. He had grown larger than the system that once contained him.
However, this aura vanished in an instant.
It wasn't because Ren couldn't detect it anymore.
But because it ran away.
Like a frightened rat sensing a tiger, the presence severed its connection with the fake Synapse and fled into the void between dimensions before Ren could lock onto its coordinates.
Ren raised an eyebrow, looking at the empty spot in space. "What is it trying to do by bringing out a Synapse at this time?"
He couldn't understand what the person or entity behind the Doomsday Game wanted to do. Was it a test? A lure? Or just a random glitch?
But since It showed Itself now.
Then it was probably not far from appearing again. The prey had revealed its trail.
"I really want to see your true face; I hope you won't make me wait too long."
He thought this in his heart, a cold smirk playing on his lips.
Then he raised his hand and gently clenched it.
Snap.
Space distorted. The massive floating continent of Synapse and all the Angels in the sky disappeared simultaneously. They weren't destroyed; they were captured, compressed, and stored away in his personal dimensional storage, all taken by him in a single motion.
[Ding! Detected that the doomsday factor has been resolved by Ren, Doomsday Companion ends!]
[Ding! Ren gains 5 million doomsday points, Misaki Shokuhou gains 100,000 doomsday points!]
One could only say it was trash among trash, better than nothing. The points were negligible for someone of his stature.
And seeing the massive Synapse disappear instantly.
Nymph rubbed her big blue eyes, her twin tails twitching in disbelief: "Synapse… it's… gone?! Just like that?!"
Daedalus also looked at Ren in shock, her mouth slightly open: "Was that the power of space manipulation just now? So powerful! Even the technology of Synapse requires massive generators to move the continent, but you…"
"These are all minor things. If you want it, I can give you this power too."
Ren said with a faint smile, pinching her cheek.
"Eh? I can too?" Daedalus wasn't very confident. She lowered her head shyly.
She only loved Ren with all her heart. She was happy just being near him and didn't dare to desire anything extravagant like god-like power.
"You are my person, right?" Ren asked, lifting her chin.
"Of course! Daedalus will always belong to Ren."
She answered without hesitation, her eyes sparkling with absolute devotion.
However, after looking at the eager Nymph and the simple-minded but hopeful Astrea, she added another sentence.
"And… and all the artificial Angels I created belong to Ren too. They are my dowry!"
Immediately, Nymph and Astrea showed happy smiles. Astrea even did a little victory dance with her wings fluttering.
"If that's the case, then of course there's no problem, just like Icarus."
Ren took Daedalus's small, trembling hand. He guided it towards Icarus, who was standing quietly nearby.
He placed Daedalus's palm directly on Icarus's chest, over the location of her core.
He smiled and asked, "What can you feel?"
Daedalus blinked. The softness of the skin she felt didn't catch her attention—she knew the texture of the bio-skin she designed.
What she truly noticed was the rhythmic thumping sensation beneath her palm.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
That was not the mechanical hum of a Uranus System power furnace. That was not the vibration of a cold fusion reactor.
It was a heartbeat. A warm, living, biological heartbeat.
"!!!"
Daedalus's eyes widened to the size of saucers. She pressed her ear against Icarus's chest, listening intently.
"This is a heart! Icarus has gained a heart?! A real, biological heart?!"
She looked up at Icarus's face. The Alpha Angeloid smiled back, a genuine, emotional smile that her original programming deemed impossible.
Daedalus could feel that Icarus was still a mechanical construct in structure, retaining her immense power, yet she now possessed a human-like heart and the capacity for chaotic emotions. It was the fusion of machine and soul that Daedalus had only dreamed of in her wildest theories.
"???"
Nymph and Astrea also hurried over, crowding around Icarus.
"A heart? Is it really a heart?" Nymph poked Icarus's side.
"Let me hear! Let me hear!" Astrea pressed her head against Icarus's back. "Whoa! It's beating!"
"Did you do this too, Ren?"
Daedalus looked at Ren with burning eyes, filled with intellectual curiosity and deepened worship. To a scientist, he had just performed a miracle greater than creating a universe.
"This is also a small matter, we'll talk about it later. I have many ways to evolve you all. Let's take you all home first."
He then looked at the petite girl standing to the side, adjusting her beret.
"Iwanaga Kotoko. You should move in too from now on. It's safer, and you can stop bothering me with phone calls."
Iwanaga Kotoko nodded like a pecking chick, her single eye gleaming with excitement: "I definitely want to live there! I've already packed my bags mentally!"
"Then let's go."
Ren snapped his fingers.
"Wait! I haven't agreed—!"
Misaki Shokuhou was taken away at the same time before she could finish her sentence.
...
[Location: Ren's Villa - The Living Room]
The transition was instant. One moment they were on a rooftop, the next, they were standing on plush, expensive carpets.
"…"
Ren had been there for a while, settling Daedalus and the others.
Misaki Shokuhou sat on a sofa, clutching a teacup, feeling a bit numb.
Her brain, usually capable of controlling dozens of minds simultaneously, was currently short-circuiting.
Because so many, many women appeared one after another.
And they were all... terrifyingly high-spec.
"Oh? Master brought back more sisters?"
A maid with horns and a dragon tail—Tohru—walked in with a tray of snacks. The aura radiating from her made Misaki's instincts scream 'Dragon! Apex Predator!'
"Ara ara, Ren-san really has no restraint."
A girl in a black gothic lolita dress—Tokisaki Kurumi—emerged from the shadows, her clock eye ticking ominously. She looked at Misaki with a predatory, teasing smile.
Every one of them would flirt with Ren when they came before him, seeking a head pat or a kiss. The atmosphere was thick with affection and pheromones.
The key was that none of them treated her as an outsider.
Some even tried to touch Ren's pants right in front of her.
"Hey, Ren, did you miss me?" A blue-haired goddess (Aqua) draped herself over him.
"Master, are we having a feast tonight?" A silver-haired glutton (Artoria) asked with sparkling eyes.
Then they would turn to Misaki, their gazes assessing but welcoming.
"Is she a new sister?"
"Do you want to join the bath later?"
Misaki Shokuhou really wanted to escape.
She was the Queen of Tokiwadai! She was the Fifth Ranked Level 5! But here? She felt like a small rabbit thrown into a den of mythic creatures. The sheer density of beauty and power was overwhelming.
She even forgot that she could choose to return on her own. She was frozen in social paralysis.
"Why aren't you drinking your tea? My Yukino's black tea is very good, it's getting cold now."
Seeing her dazed, staring into the amber liquid as if it contained the secrets of the universe, Ren reminded her.
"Oh, oh!"
Snapping back to reality, Misaki Shokuhou flinched. She quickly picked up the teacup and elegantly took a sip, trying to salvage her crumbling dignity.
Elegance was a quality she had cultivated over a long time. It was her armor.
Even though she was greatly shocked by Ren's family here—a literal pantheon of goddesses, dragons, and spirits—she still maintained her basic composure.
The black tea… was indeed very good. It was rich, calming, and warmed her freezing hands.
Ren sat opposite her, looking relaxed. He suddenly spoke without a change in expression, piercing through her facade.
"You seem very eager to gain doomsday points. Are you disappointed by the 100,000 doomsday points?"
…
Misaki Shokuhou lowered her head, hiding her star-shaped eyes behind her bangs.
100,000 doomsday points wouldn't give her an upgrade. It wasn't enough to change her fate or protect the people she cared about.
She didn't care about making a fool of herself this time; she really wanted to become stronger. She needed to be strong enough to never be used again.
"In the Chat Group, you said it was because you envied Misaka Mikoto, and that you wanted to surpass her."
Ren's voice was calm, stating facts rather than judging.
"Hmph!"
Misaki Shokuhou snorted coldly, placing the teacup down with a sharp clink.
The mention of that name broke her melancholy.
Thinking of Misaka Mikoto's smug, swollen appearance after just gaining power made her irritable. That electro-master walked in the light, oblivious to the shadows that Misaki had to navigate daily.
"That girl is simply a brainless idiot; she has no idea how dark Academy City is."
She complained, her fingers tightening on her lace gloves. "She runs around shocking vending machines and fighting delinquents, thinking that's all there is to being a hero."
"If I hadn't kindly advised her via private message, she would have already exposed the power she just gained and would be trying to become Academy City's No.1 publicly. She would have been targeted by the Board of Directors instantly!"
"Idiot! Muscle-brained savage!"
If she, Misaki Shokuhou, could obtain such power, everything could be achieved beautifully. She could rewrite the memories of the Board, save Dolly, save everyone without firing a single shot.
Everything was Misaka Mikoto's fault for being so lucky and so stupid!
She, Misaki Shokuhou, hated Misaka Mikoto!
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