Chapter 284: Progression

Out of every single possibility faced, he did not expect that the one that he dismissed as a mere dream would end up being actualized into reality.

"That dream... It is not as simple as it seems."

Out of all the KANSENs that he knew, there are several who has peculiar abilities. Bismarck's leadership ability, Enterprise's specialized bombardment (Lucky E), Unicorn's healing ability, and so on.

It was categorized as a kind of "specialized aspects" that were derived from the ship's history.

Bismarck led the Kriegsmarine, Unicorn served as a repair ship, and Enterprise was known through her service as a carrier who sunk many ships.

Then again, this occurrence was something that he had not encountered before.

"Nagato might know something about this, but..."

Knowing that she was now their potential enemy, he was left with no one to explain his situation.

In the end, he reached a conclusion.

"If it was really me... He must have a purpose in doing everything."

*****

"He caught on quickly."

Fiddling with the [Genesis Cube], Shiro noticed that the parameters for this world's acceptance towards him became higher. It was not to the point that he could suddenly reveal his identity, but the movements that he could do became a lot less restricting.

"Hm... I can finally use it."

As he stretched his hand, the surrounding space rippled before returning back to normal.

Right now, [Mysteries] and his [Aurora Curtain] were now working without the need of his identity as a KANSEN.

"I can help her remotely."

This morning, Akagi left to deal with a matter that suddenly appeared. That is, the KANSENs from the [Ashes] faction.

...who were also the ship girls that I led in the past.

A translucent screen popped up from the [Genesis Cube], showcasing the current situation.

"Ara. You have changed."

"...You are not from this world." 'Ash' said.

"So, what of it? You are not from this world, too."

The two began their quarrel.

"That is not the problem." The white-haired woman replied. "How did you arrive in this place?"

"Guess."

Seeing her familiar smile, Ember asked:

"I ask you of something, Akagi-san. Are you our enemy?"

Akagi's reflection reached tot he surface of the blue sea. The three KANSENs stood still in the shore until Akagi closed her paper umbrella.

"I am not." She spoke with a thin smile. "Unless, you decide to become one. My partner wants to fix this world."

"...That's dangerous."

In each of the timelines that Ashes travel into, they make sure to not interfere with it much, lest it'll attract the watchful eyes of the Sirens. In the end, they would be prompted to interfere and seek for the 'variables' that they need. Moreover, it could also attract the presence of 'leviathans', thus the reason why they do not mess up with the said worlds.

At this point, Ember became tense while Ash gestured to nearly summon her bow.

"You do not trust our capabilities? How regretful..."

Knowing that these two would not believe in her words easily, it is impossible to convince them that Shiro is in fact the one responsible for the destruction of Siren bases, more so when they had not gone back to their headquarters yet.

"Until the time comes..."

The sounds of rotors rang into their ears.

Shiing-!

A flash of light was sent upwards, which struck the bombs above their heads.

Boom-!

"You really are the Akagi that I know." Ember commented.

"Perhaps I am. Perhaps not. I changed a lot compared to the past."

With her mechanical compound bow fully drawn, Ash sent a serious look towards Akagi.

"I warned you."

The rays of light converged at her fingertips. Unlike her previous attack—

Crash-!

Sou-!

—it directly sent an impact of an artillery's to Akagi. However, before it could even hit her, a transparent wall blocked it, prompting its explosion.

In the end, Akagi came out unscathed.

When the flames and smoke cleared up, it revealed the figure of a black-robed person beside Akagi. Strangely enough, he did not speak and instead looked at Akagi as if saying 'Some trouble came up.'

"I can handle this by myself, Dear."

Nodding, the black-robed man disappeared from his spot.

As it happened, Akagi took out a sheathed ceremonial blade from her chest. It was adorned with golden marks on top of its blue color.

It looked reminiscent to a wakizashi.

"Nimitz..."

"She did not look like a KANSEN."

While Ember wondered about her guesses, Ash felt something more complex. Like a sense of deja vu had struck her.

Meanwhile, Akagi muttered something:

"You have a sharp sense."

For a moment, she grasped the future that might ensue once she and Shiro meets.

*****

There was a reason why one keeps out of peculiar dimensions. For once, they do not conform to the laws and mechanisms of the normal world.

The dark sea—river of time—as an example. It serves as the gap between two worlds as well as the entry point of the "anomalies".

"This is..."

Despite her blind eyes, she was extremely familiar with her surroundings. The rusty smell in the air, the warm humidity, the sound of remnant flames crackling...

"A ruins..."

The small purple-haired girl began exploring her surroundings. As a META, her senses were enhanced to their limits. Even with her vision gone, she could perfectly detect her surroundings. Moreover, her physical prowess without her rigging was enough for her self-defense.

Soon, she arrived at the only intact building. It was oozing with familiarity as she went to the elevator. If her worries were true, it would lead to that place.

Unicorn tiptoed until she reached the button for the lowest floor.

Ding.

When the elevator door opened, coldness entered it due to the air conditioning inside the room. The air inside was wrought with coffee, biscuits, and cookies—as if people used to exist in this place.

"December..."

Her senses caught onto a man sitting on a table, mumbling random phrases of location and time.

Although she could not see him, just his voice was enough to let her know of his identity. It was proven true once the man stopped talking and looked at her.

"W-what..! Why are you still here?!" His panicked tone resounded to the room filled with solace. "Shit. Everyone else should've evacuated already! How did Illustrious and Her Highness leave you here?!"

"Onii-chan..."

"Damn..."

He immediately ran to her as he thought of a solution.

"Listen, Unicorn. Once you get out of here, escape as fast as you can. Remember, do not look back. Got it?"

Shikikan's most remarkable ability was his semi-quantized state, which allowed him to twist the laws of physics to a certain extent. One of them was teleportation, but it was limited in range. He had already used it to escape along with the other KANSENs, but he got the short end of the stick this time.

The sudden attack caught him off guard, prompting his sacrifice in the end.

"No... I don't want to be separated again..!"

"Unicorn..!"

She hugged him as tightly as she could. His presence was something that she had not felt for a very long time. Sure, she met several versions of Shikikan, but it only reminded her that their Shikikan was already dead.

"There's no buts this time." He patted her head as he ruffled her hair softly. "I will entrust you with the others. They won't neglect you."

'The others took care of me... That was right. But, I don't want to lose you either!'

Determined to protect him, she forcefully activated a good portion of her [META] state.

"Anzeel's experimental cube?!"

Realizing what was going on, Shikikan did not dilly-dally any longer. Before Unicorn could exert her strength, she was forcefully sent away by him along with a 'command' inputted to her [Wisdom Cube]. It helped that he was familiar with it, lest she might have overwhelmed him.

"I'm sorry..."

His last words drifted to her ears before the space she was in became fuzzy.