217 Chapter 216: Decryption

"The 'shield' gets broken after the roles are discarded... this is an important point to look at."

"Something that requires the perception of the many, the collective subconscious. We should be dealing with a concept from fate."

"Right. The shield, however, signifies that we would be "shielded" away from "something" or "someone" in our case."

"If it's the latter... this mission would definitely be troublesome."

At this moment, the virtual blackboard were filled up by countless scattered information. It contained Shiro's and Cardinal's ideas as to what the emergency quest would be like. Delving deep into it, they managed to deduce many things from it—confirmation is the only thing left to do.

"The [Decryption] chance. It is the game changer for this current situation." Cardinal said.

"As much as my hands are itching to use it, we still have to wait for a day-" Shiro paused as he realized something. "...which should have passed by now."

The moment they woke up the day after the outer god incident, they immediately got into their scholar mode as they began collecting more information about the mission world. For now, they managed to guess a few things:

1.) The "roles" would not be broken as long as their "identities" were not revealed. This implies that the ones that would choose the [Creator] role would not lose their combat effectiveness. Still, the ones with the [Creation] roles can move more openly than the former.

2.) The information above implies the existence of human subconscious or something similar to it (implied by the need to act by the roles in the eyes of others).

3.) The world has a will that actively "rejects" the anomaly.

4.) The possibility of a formidable individual inside the mission world is high (implied by the "shielding" note and the possible destruction of that world).

Upon posting these in the chat group, the others were immediately surprised.

Romani: "You guys already worked hard on it? Our sleepless nights are not wasted, thankfully. I also arrived at the same conclusions that you two had."

Kuroneko: "I also have something to add. There is also a chance that the [Creators] and [Creations] can pertain to the same occupation that I have. Writers, mangaka, game creators..."

Cardinal: "I see. This explains more things. These terms are broad enough that we ignored this angle."

Touka: "Will they be similar to us? I recall that some of us has an "anime" in some worlds."

Shiro: "That possibility exists. By the way, did you guys make a decision already?"

Lelouch: "Yes. For starters, us newer members would not participate. If we do, we will be just liabilities due to our inexperience."

Romani: "For the roster, it should be Shiro and Touka for firepower. Madoka would be responsible for the defense while Shinji and Kuroneko is responsible for the 'covert' operations. Lastly, Kal'tsit will act as the intelligence officer."

These are the best arrangement that they could think of. Shiro can serve as a combat force with his various authorities while Touka's broke [Tyrant's Eye] grew even further, making it more broken. Madoka has the Reality Marble [Garden of Avalon] to act as their safe zone that can protect them against dangerous powers. As for Shinji and Kuroneko, they have the [Pancosmic Loner] and [Shadow Monarch's Inheritance], respectively. Interestingly, both of them are geared towards stealth operations.

[Pancosmic Loner] is self-explanatory and [Shadow Monarch's Inheritance] grants Kuroneko the authority over shadows such as the ability to switch between shadows' places. As for Kal'tsit, her [Great Sage] can help them procure various information and know more about it. She's also the one capable of swiftly creating a countermeasure through it.

Kouzuki: "We wouldn't be with you, but rest assured that we'll help you before the mission."

Shiro: "Are you okay with this, Kouzuki?"

Kouzuki: "I'm fine. I know that my strengths lie in mass combat against even or lower-leveled enemies. I'll be having a spike in my combat prowess once I reach the [Apostle Mechanic], though."

Romani: "We're both sitting out this time, so it should be us who should be worrying about you, Shiro."

Shiro: "Right..."

Madoka: "I'll be doing my best, Sensei!"

"Madoka... I planned to meet her after this matter but it seems like we'll be seeing each other—for a completely different matter, that is." Shiro mumbled. "Her god form is enough to deal with most troubles out there. I do wonder what's going on with the two Homu-homus..."

Shiro did not forget about the matter of two Homuras intersecting at the "one true world line" that he had made. It would be an interesting sight for sure.

"I'll deal with the decryption now."

"Um."

Cardinal nodded as she created another empty blackboard, seemingly pre-occupied with deducing more info for this mission. This did not hide her worries in Shiro's eyes as he planned to talk with her first.

"Worried?"

"I am." Unexpectedly, she directly affirmed his words. "After all, that one mission made us worry so much about you. This is an 'emergency' mission, Shiro. I don't know what you'll face there. That's why I'm doing this... This is the only way that I can help you."

He was stunned. He thought that he understood more about her, but her words made that seem like nothing but a farce. Shiro knew that he made Cardinal and the others worry when he disappeared back then. However, he never knew how huge of an impact he did until now. His injuries made them realize that he was the one who worked the hardest. He chose to sustain injuries—his habit picked up during his arduous times—and did not care much about it himself, though the others do not like seeing Shiro being harmed one bit.

Realizing this stupidity, he simply laughed inwardly at himself. He was proud of using [Blind Stupidity] on that foreigner yesterday, yet he's the one using it all these times.

"I'm sorry for making you worry."

This time, he learned that the memories inside his head may not be helpful at some times. He has to integrate it with his current life to become similar... nay, to become a better person in the next days. He is not just "Fenrir" or "Magus", but the entirety of the two. What he needs to do now is to assimilate both of their experiences to create what is truly his—the uniqueness of "Fukushiro Sakurai".

Seeing this, Cardinal smiled at him before turning her attention back to the blackboard. She then said with seriousness, "Shiro, I hope I am wrong with this far-fetching idea of mine. Because if it is... you might need to face someone entirely on a different level."

"I understand. I'll [Decrypt] for now and tell you what I'll get later."

[Decrypt has been used by the participant 'Shiro'.]

[Connecting link... Beginning interception... Interception success...

[Interception Rate: 15% (Limit)]

[The information has been updated to everyone's log.]

Beep-!

A message appeared in the chat group.

[Decryption]: Files has been separated into [Worldview] and [Roles].

Clicking the first one, a grandeur title greeted Shiro's sight.

[Worldview: The world of gods—a place where everyone can be a 'creator'. Their wills silently change their world. It is unknown if it is for the better or the worse, but it is the latter this time around. An 'anomaly' has been created....]

Shiro immediately went through the pile of texts and focused on the few keywords that made his heartbeat skip.

[Using her infinitely growing abilities, she had set her sights upon the destruction of every single worlds.]

Keywords: infinitely growing, destruction.

He does not know if the 'anomaly' is the equivalent of a 'creator', but if she is... If her infinitely growing abilities are stacked into the creator attributes...

"This is a huge fucking problem..."

*****

A/N: I finished Bocchi The Rock! in one sitting and gained enlightenment. It has that spark when I watched an anime for the first time. The laughs. The "I relate". Me being proud for their developments. Truly, a slice-of-life is what you need to take a break sometimes. Sadly, I skipped most of the anime in 2019 as they have too much slice-of-life lol...

Anyways, here's the fact of the day!

Fact #94: Did you know that Selesia Upiritia, the redhead swordsman in Re:creators, is directly inspired by Yuuki Asuna. We see her wielding a rapier, has the same hair style as her, and her ideals are very similar with Asuna's. Though, hers has a more realistic touch as she is in a war. She experienced enough deaths around her as well as near-death experiences, forcing her to adapt a more practical take in reality. Other than that, she's also inspired by Shana as evident in her flame abilities.