125 Chapter 124: One Minute

Nanami-san…

To be honest, he became my friend the moment we realized our similarities.

That is, us being grounded in reality.

More often than not, Sorcerers have an eccentric trait, ranging from slightly weird up to total derangement.

Kenjaku's belief, at one time, was considered to be the latter.

Nanami-san is one of the few sorcerers who is grounded in reality. He worked long enough and retired for years that he is 'more reasonable' for most stuff.

Of course, it would be a different story if he was angry.

"You are…"

"Akasaka Nobu. I'm… Satoru-san's acquaintance."

"Oh."

He briefly nodded as he reciprocated my handshake gesture.

"With the way he described you, I immediately knew it was Nanami-san."

"...I could see it."

"Anyways, it's a coincidence that we met here."

I looked at the baker who returned with a cake box.

"Here's your order, Nanami-san."

"Thank you."

After passing the box to him, she turned to look at me.

"Welcome! What would you like?"

Perhaps it was because I already bought here several times, she recognized me.

"The blueberry cheesecake, please."

After some idle talk, I bid farewell to the straight-faced Nanami-san.

'Without Shinjuku…'

Those were the moments I felt helpless. I was too weak to make any change. For three times, he was killed by Mahito—someone who is currently sealed by me along with his friends.

'Perhaps he'll no longer need to return to the other side…'

Just as I kept contemplating, I noticed the girl who could see cursed spirits behaving rather strangely.

It reminds me of…

Bocchi..?

Then, it dawned on me. My holy magicka is passively working at all times. It is a sort of a dry run I planned in order to realize the "passive fortress" plan.

Long story short, I would have the same defense as Satoru-san once I completed it.

'Since the girl could see ghosts, he could see this…'

What's more strange was her lack of strong cursed energy.

Every human contains some amount of it, but only when you pass a certain threshold would you be able to see curses.

This girl, however, could see them clearly despite not passing this threshold.

'A new person…'

I began to experience the wonders of being strong enough.

Simply, new possibilities began to appear in my sight.

*****

'What is this..?!'

Miko could not describe what she saw. Everywhere the man walked, it was filled with white light. It was frighteningly blinding—to the point it incinerated every ghost that came across it.

It is similar to her orange-haired best friend's aura but far stronger. It completely suited his golden pupils which exuded the same aura.

As if noticing her gaze, the young man turned to look at her.

"It seems like your orders are quite a lot, miss."

"Ah… Yes. I bought six boxes of cupcakes for my friend…"

She pointed to her orange-haired friend who was busy eating several donuts at another table.

"That is to be expected. After all, those haunted spirits are feeding on her."

"..Ah..?"

Clearly not expecting for their conversation to take this turn, her words were halted.

"You could see them, no? Those entities you would commonly refer to as ghosts."

"..!"

Her eyes widened before she hastily asked:

"Mister, are you an exorcist?!"

Her anxious look from an hour ago was long gone, replaced by a faint trace of hope—one that might enable her to live without the fear of being discovered by those 'ghosts'.

"I could be considered as one."

Nobu reminisced about the times he served as a teacher in Jujutsu High. Although he and Nanami were two of the sanest people out there, it is still memorable to him.

Seeing him take the box of cake, Miko knew he was about to leave. At this point, she rushed to ask questions.

Nobu saw all of this as he was reminded by a certain guitarist.

'Another Bocchi… '

He placed his hand inside his pocket and stealthily opened his storage space. He took out one of the magic items he made within the Singularity.

It was a silver box without any patterns.

"This should help. They won't be able to bother you again with this around."

Not minding the strange looks the orange-haired girl gave him, Nobu walked out of the bakery.

Miko glanced between his disappearing back and the silver box on her grasp. She continued processing everything until she arrived at her friend's table.

"What did he do? Did he do something bad?!"

"It's not…"

Despite her best friend's cheerful appearance, she was alert when it came to practical matters. Seeing a stranger give her friend something was enough to warrant such suspicions.

"It's… It's like the charm we bought that time."

"Oh?"

Miko began telling their interaction, minus the supernatural part.

"He's an off-duty exorcist? The kind that fights demons with their guns?!"

"I think that's the wrong exorcist…"

Their talk inadvertently spiraled into a completely irrelevant topic. Still, there was one thing Miko could feel at this moment.

'They're really not here…'

For the first time, she felt a peace of mind.

*****

Going to and fro Kyoto didn't take much toll on me. I was able to spend time with tou-san and kaa-san as well.

"Well…"

I smiled wryly at the thought of their words from earlier.They kept asking about my two girlfriends. They didn't seem adverse to having multiple lovers. They are eager to meet the two of them, in fact.

What I didn't tell them was that…

They might not be the end.

The moment I make my formal reappearance in Gekai tonight, I know I would simply face this kind of trouble—that is, my relationship with other girls.

Opening the window to my room, I felt the cold night breeze brush my cheek. I am able to see the hundreds of stars in the sky despite the light pollution, mainly due to my connection with them.

'There are many worlds akin to stars… That prospect doesn't sound too bad."

Currently, I have only traveled through two worlds—Gekai and the Singularity. If each world contains their own stories and faces their own enemies, then that could only mean reality is truly a colorful place.

Snapping my fingers, the outfit that I wore was replaced with a set of nanite armor. It retained its previous looks but its functions are way beyond it. In terms of versions, it would be the eighth version up-to-date.

Once Miku's [Laplace Box] is completed, I would be able to advance it by several versions.

As for the reason why it is still effective despite my Magister status…

[Lord of Machines]

-Grants 'rule' over mechanical and man-made constructs

-Grants a status buff while wearing the designated [Ruler's Suit]

*Ruler's Suit: A combat suit with special effects; attached to the skill itself.

-Grants the sub-skill [Army Commander]

*Army Commander: The greater the amount of controlled mechanical constructs, the greater the power granted.

-Improves progression through the technological tree

One of the most absurd skills that I received is none other than [Lord of the Machines]. That was the main reason why I used a huge portion of my mechanical army formed through nanites during the final battle back in the Singularity. That alone granted me increased status in the form of mystery distortion as well as empowerment of the said army.

As for the reason why I activated this…

"It's time to remove some scourge."

*****

Two and a half years.

That was how long it took Nobu to reach his current status. From a helpless Rank B Magician to one of the few Magisters, he avoided pointless battle and ended it efficiently.

However, he is quite unlucky when it comes to his opponents

When he was at level one, he fought and defeated Goliath, which is considered a Level Four.

When he was at level two, he had a close call with a peak level six, Valletta Grede.

When he was at level three, he fought the Demi-spirits who are at least level seven.

Withholding his other battles in Gekai, just his recent clash with Goddess Rhongomyniad and Goetia tested his limits once more. It pushed him to make swift decisions and catch his enemies off-guard.

This combat style remained evident even when he killed Kenjaku in one hit.

Simply, Nobu is the personification of efficiency; he only acts when he is sure of it.

"Are you sure about it?"

"Yes."

"I will be watching over you."

After being 'transferred' into another world, Artoria was tasked to watch over him. Nobu mentioned over the phone that he needed her help, in which she obliged. She didn't expect to travel through another world this easily, however.

In their world, it is nigh-impossible to travel within other worlds. Even Zelretch, one of the holders of True Magic, could only interact with parallel worlds, not other worlds. It is mainly caused by the inherent restriction of their world. Though, since the Singularity is an anomaly in and of itself, a single miracle was enough to go back.

Artoria saw him disappear suddenly. Her eyes could still track him as she saw Nobu becoming closer to a strong presence within the vicinity.

'He will fight it alone. It must be a personal matter.'

The reason why Artoria came with him is due to one thing: to act as a backup.

After all…

'It wouldn't be a difficult fight.'

…he is about to fight this world's strongest dragon.

*****

In the ninth iteration, I couldn't bear witness at the end that I caused. With that final strike, [Orionids], I should've been able to deal with it. If I didn't, there's still Bell Cranell's charged attack at that time.

Still, that wouldn't relieve this bastard from what he had done.

'Killing everyone in Orario… Hephaestus… Tsubaki-nee…'

"Infinitus Commuto." (Infinite Conversion.)

A strong psychic chill surrounded me. Most of the rocks within my vicinity turned into ice. The dream organs within my body unleashed their full potential, granting infinite amounts of mana.

"Omnis vires explicandam." (All forces deploy.)

Out of nowhere, a black flood appeared. It covered the entire ravine that I am currently stepping into.

Beneath it, I gazed at the entity hiding in this place.

"Veritas luceat id terrarum." (May the light of truth illuminate this world.)

Hundreds of magic circles were drawn out of thin air. These lances bombarded the bottom of this ravine, giving a sheen of holy light to this place for the first time.

Instantly, the influence of strong cursed energy was wiped off. The atmosphere no longer looked dreary but solemn.

On the other hand, most of the black flood turned into humanoid combat suits, energy turrets, ordinances, and magic cannons.

More than a thousand magic circles appeared, illuminating this previously-dreary ravine. The salvo made by them is enough to collapse this entire ravine to pieces.

BAM-!

BOOM-!

RUMBLE-!

The destructiveness of my army bared its fangs for the first time. The huge wave of white light took out the darkness at the bottom.

Briefly, they illuminated a huge scaly black dragon.

ROAR-!

As the entire ravine collapsed, I floated mid-air along with my army.

Instantly, a wave of black pillars of light came straight at us. It was swiftly followed by a black blur which attempted to dive straight into my army.

'..!'

I didn't opt to use my barrier magicka and instead let it dive straight to my army. More than a quarter of them were immediately shattered by the black blur's force. I felt another 'activation' of cursed technique as it did so.

This time, I chose to act.

"Obretio infinitus claustra." (Be trapped in this infinite prison.)

The existing army immediately shattered as they returned to their nanite forms. A huge magic circle was activated beneath the black dragon—something formed by the said nanites—before they encircled him.

In a similar manner as Jogo, the nanites turned into bounded black ropes which entrapped the Black Dragon. More than half of Nobu's nanite stock were summoned forth in this feat.

Unfortunately for the Black Dragon, its reaction time is not as 'instant' as its cursed technique. A fraction of a second had passed when it tried to activate its cursed technique, but to no avail. Something seems to have blocked it from being fully realized.

"Controlling the battlefield…"

At this moment, Nobu's golden pupils met the Black Dragon's gaze.

"You fell for it."

Within a minute, the Black Dragon was temporarily restrained by Nobu's mens.