Chapter 279: Undeniable Possibility

If one were to be asked about IJN Akagi, it would be her fearsomeness... or it would be correct to say it is "craziness". On the battlefield, she could easily sacrifice someone to meet an objective. This is on top of her intelligence, which made her one of the Sakura Empire's leaders. She could be ruthless to her enemies, enough for them to be extremely wary.

Yet, she has a soft spot—Azur Lane's Shikikan.

Everybody knows how much she loves him. Most of the time, she would get into fights with the other "crazy" women inside the base such as Roon, Taihou, and Dido. Sometimes, their fights would go as far as firing shells and bombarding each other.

'I know she won't do such things from the past, but...'

From the moment Akagi became his wife, her 'strong' personality slowly mellowed down. Over the years, she became more "civilized" in doing things. However, it is somehow different this time.

"It was a long time, dear."

"...It is."

Clinging into his right arm, Akagi began her skinship. The dark robes could not prevent her advances as her garb—a dark-red yukata—pressed over him. He felt her big breasts which could compete for the top spot with the women that he knew.

"Let's go to a more lively place first. Staying in this place made me remember some unpleasant memories."

This dark space was the same as the one in their memories. Whenever leviathans invade, they bring this "domain" of some sort along with them. It is the primary cause of cities' destruction, second only to the Leviathans' collateral damage.

While connecting the two spaces, Shiro asked:

"How... how long did you wait?"

"It wasn't a long time. Around a few thousand years or so." She replied with passion. "It means nothing as long as I could be with you."

Unlike his previous stances, Shiro was passive in his relationship with Akagi. No matter what, her love comes out as the strongest during their time.

"So, what about the other girls? I believe their count has been increased."

For a moment, Shiro fell silent. Part of it was guilt, but there were also a few of his worries that Akagi's past self might relapse. This change was noticed by his wife.

"Fufu. Had we not talked about it before? As long as you accepted them, I would not bother them."

"...They did. Besides Altera, Euryale, and Musashi, there is an addition..."

As they stepped inside the crack created by Shiro, they conversed about everything they missed out.

"That sword-wielding woman... I came across her twice."

"With Musashi? Isn't she traveling to countless worlds?" He asked.

"It was a coincidence. In the first one, I met her inside a world where Outer Gods prospered. It has a 'hero' who called himself 'The Hunter'. She offered her help to slay an outer god that has a moon as its attribute. As for the second time, it is inside a world where Godslayers thrived. It has a pitiful future. Perhaps that is the reason why she offered some of her help."

Hearing her tales of going to other worlds made her experiences reminiscent of his travels with the chat group. Sadly, he could not even use it as his world is extremely fragile; one unidentified foreign object was detected and it would go ham until it destroys itself. After all, the chat group required the acceptance of the world's will before conducting missions.

How could his world's will accept its request when it could not even properly function anymore?

"A chat group? It sounds interesting. Having a connection despite the gap between worlds is something enviable."

'Actually—'

Shiro cut off his thoughts of telling the chat group's true nature. For now, he does not like to make Akagi needlessly worry.

Just as he thought of shifting the topic, he heard someone yell.

"You—"

Under his hood, he caught sight of a KANSEN. She wore a black trench coat and white uniform similar to the navy's pure white uniform. Her hair was tied by a white ribbon. Her golden pupils embodied the lack of hope and numbness to despair.

"Oho~?"

"You... aren't Akagi."

At first glance, Ember noticed Akagi's irregularity.

"You're not the Akagi of this world..!"

"I didn't know you possess such sharp eyes, Takao."

For a moment, Ember fell silent.

"Don't call me that... I THREW IT A LONG TIME AGO!"

Hearing that scream made Shiro explain what was happening. Shiro placed [Infinity] around them before he did so.

"She went through many things... Partly, it was caused by my ineffective planning. Her sister... she was sacrificed back then."

"...It wasn't surprising. Back then, you are the only person whom I trusted."

"Even Anzeel?"

"Yes. She's the type of woman to sacrifice something when needed. In a sense, she is like me."

Akagi knew herself the best. She knew that her previous attitude on the battlefield should be feared by her comrades, yet they did not. At that time, her decisions were the only viable option left.

It is similar to the situation currently, where Ashes were forced to sacrifice their selves to have a winning chance at this fight.

Cancelling [Infinity], Shiro went ahead of Akagi and spoke.

"You shouldn't throw your identity easily." He said. "That defines who you are. If you already lost yourself, how would you continue your fight?"

"You know of nothing... of what we had gone through."

Her voice started to be filled with anger. A stranger has no right to comment on their hardships, or so she thought.

"...I know everything. How they all died that meaningless death. How greedy humans are for survival. Ironically, they were wiped out and the people deemed as destructive weapons lived."

"..!" Ember's eyes widened as they are something only known by those in Ashes. "How did you know about that?!"

"Now is not the time for everything. You will know everything once the right time comes. Though, it is fine if you came to a conclusion yourself."

Akagi took out the ceremonial red dagger within her chest and swung it into thin air.

Hum.

Space easily parted on its edge. It did not damage the already fragile world nor interfered with its rules. Simply, it rewrote reality and imposed two spaces together, making it 'natural' for this brief duration.

"This brief reunion has been well." Akagi said before pulling Shiro to the other side.

After she did so, the partition on the space closed.

"Akagi... How is someone from a different—" Her pupils trembled as she caught a small detail. "She wouldn't be clingy with everybody else... except for one person."

She recalled the information that they knew about Nimitz. They knew that Nimitz is a recently-summoned KANSEN by a faction. 'She' did not conform with all the factions present and mysteriously destroyed several Arbiter bases alone. 'Her' aircraft were strong enough for a single one to take out several dozen enemies.

"This is impossible..."

It was already unbelievable that one of the versions of Akagi escaped her timeline and went here. Moreover, the abilities she exhibited were not similar to those when she was a carrier or a battleship.

Hence, it would be impossible for 'him' to be the KANSEN known as 'Nimitz'.

Then again, Ember could not dismiss such possibility. This remained inside her mind until someone came to her.

"What happened?"