Chapter 160: Parallel World Visit

My projects began piling up for the rest of the week. The vacation with Mashiro and Bochci-chan is something I appreciate, more so when I am preoccupied with making preparations towards the coming end.

{Goshujin-sama. The parallel world transportation spell is prepared.}

"Alright."

Canceling the simulation that I made for a successful dream organ creation for sorcerers, I went to the designated room.

It was the same place where I went to the world of [Apocrypha]. This is a specialized room that made it easier to interact with spatial coordinates—foreign worlds in general.

One thing that wouldn't be too far for other worlds is mathematics. The constants might be different, but mathematics would always exist. 

That'd mean each world has a certain [special coordinate]. Those coordinates can either be measured with a known world as a basis… or luck.

Fortunately, what I am going to do is to travel to a parallel world.

Not only are there known studies about it already, the constant is the same as our world.

The most important thing was Miku's connection to it—to all parallel worlds.

{Transportation to the fifteenth special Hillbert Space… Confirmed.}

{Are you ready, goshujin-sama?}

"Yes."

{Placing space anchors… completed.}

{3}

{2}

{1}

Just like any other world travel, I felt my entire body being sucked into another space.

*****

A bright blue sky.

No difference could be seen between the world prior to its end and the world who surpassed its end.

'A mountain.'

Nobu immediately locked his location down to a mountainside in Kamakura. There were no people around him, but he could faintly hear the bustling city from afar.

'...It's expected.'

This place used to be one of the most famous tourist spots in Japan, but not now.

Out of the thirteen 'calamities', the one known as the 'Seven Suns' appeared in the Kamakura Temple. It is the twelfth calamity that descended the world as a form of eschatology.

Its power is simple yet destructive: to destroy the world with seven suns.

The last thing Nobu could remember was its defeat in the hands of Suimei and Reiji. The power of seven suns were fended off by the stored energy of an entire universe. The enhancement given off by Lapis Judaicus is absurd enough to be able to pull it off.

However, many casualties occurred on the sorcerers' side.

Since it occurred in their home base, they dealt with it first, leading to the demise of the entire Zen'in Family. Only a single survivor emerged—the current holder of the Heavenly Restricted Body, Maki Zen'in.

'Was it a cursed place or a historical site?'

Buzz-!

Sparks flew around Nobu as his body became slightly transparent.

'Even with my real body…'

For the second time, he faced the difficulties of going against the rules of the world.

He planned to mimic what he did on the seventh singularity back then, but the other Nobu implicitly told him to visit this world with his real body.

'[Camelot] doesn't work… nothing works…'

Currently, he is relying on the grail's sheer power to retain himself in this world. Despite all the solutions he thought and tried, nothing worked.

'...Mahoraga's adaptation?'

Mahoraga's skillset came to his mind. It was able to adapt to any attacks as long as it didn't 'kill' it. It wasn't particularly threatening to full-powered gods and Magisters, but its potential was there.

'Analyzing Mahoraga's composition… a set of histories powered by an anchor and cursed energy…'

Slowly, a wheel with eight directions appeared on top of his head.

Tick.

Immediately, the wheel turned around. With each and every rejection of the parallel world, the wheel made a turn.

The moment it made five entire revolutions, an unexplainable feeling swept through Nobu. Something fundamentally changed on his body.

'It succeeded.'

Although he still felt a sense of rejection, it didn't affect him as much as before.

'It's temporary.'

Nobu had an intuitive feeling that his 'adaptation' would disappear the moment he cancels his dreamland. It placed a considerable burden on his dream organs in their [Infinite Conversion] state, signifying how 'broken' it was when it comes to defying rules.

'Long-term battles… it'd be useful in protracted battles.'

With the current issue resolved, Nobu walked out of the temple he was in.

Tick.

Although he saw it from inside, he was still surprised by the sight of the blue sky.

"It's… different."

From his [Correspondence] spell, he noticed the abundance of cursed energy as well as magical energy on the surface.

It is simply inconceivable to think of it before.

'The aftermath… it's bigger than I thought.'

It isn't wrong to say that this world's state surpassed Gekai's. It is a little short of being into another Age of Gods.

'There should be stronger people after this, then…'

Nobu continued musing as he walked. It didn't take long before he encountered a few people walking around on sorcerer uniforms. They walked past Nobu, as if they couldn't see him.

"I see…"

He might have adapted, but the world itself prevents everyone else from being able to perceive him.

In short, he became a ghost.

Left with no choice, he began wandering around with no direction. Some things align with the memories given to him by the other Nobu, but there are a lot of unfamiliar things as well.

Wandering around Tokyo…

It is inevitable to meet several acquaintances.

Similar to him, a girl remained undisturbed by the people around her. Everybody walked past her. The girl's golden hair swayed now and then due to the wind.

In front of her is a semi-finished canvas. Somehow, it held a strange charm that made him unable to look away from it.

Just then, the girl looked in his direction.

Shock.

That was the first thing she felt. It became evident to her eyes. Seeing the familiar man with an eight-turned wheel on top of his head froze her entire body.

"..."

Nobu couldn't speak. Rather, no words came out of his mouth. It felt much worse than fighting against the twelve gods of Olympus—or even his clash with Goetia.

His entire body felt as if it was hit by a truck a thousand times.

What would he say to someone he abandoned?

Although Artemis and Hephaestus accompanied the other Nobu to their final battle, many people were deprived of this liberty.

Just as he was about to say something, a conspicuous black crack appeared out of nowhere.

Unlike him, many people noticed it.

What came out is something familiar to them.

A heavily-armored knight riding on a horse received their gazes. Its cold and calculating gaze sent shivers to those unfortunate to meet it.

Everything seemingly froze before people started to panic.

"Conquest! It's conquest!"

"How? How?! HOW?!"

The first calamity that came out during the 'end', the one responsible for the initial chaos the world felt. It is the one responsible for prompting every world leader to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles to each other.

Although they were prevented, millions died.

The golden-haired girl was even more startled by its appearance.

"Hu…"

Amidst all of this, Nobu directed his attention to it.

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

With a gesture of his hand, the stored nanites in his storage space flew out. It formed a huge flood that covered the entire sky of Tokyo. It enclosed the knight as it experienced another baptism of light.

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

Thousands of magic circles appeared and surrounded the agent of Conquest. Its cold gaze turned into a surprised one as thousands of lances threatened to turn him into tattered clothing.

Buzz-!

Hum-!

Conquest's strength lay in its ability to manipulate people. It was able to command world leaders to let go of their hidden nuclear reserves. As such, it wasn't able to come out unscathed.

Its armor was fragmented. The horse it was riding on lost consciousness and was about to fall to the ground when the black wave caught it.

Each nanite emitted anti-magic properties, thus it didn't take long before the horse vanished into thin air.

As for the knight…

"Knight of conquest… It truly is an ironic title."

Knights are supposed to be noble beings who are ready to die for their cause. However, the existence of this knight who sought nothing but chaos and disorder tainted this belief.

"...secare adventus ad finem." (...shall cut the looming end.)

Nobu, who is now walking in air, faced the emotionless knight. With the sword in his hand, he served as an executioner towards the irregularity in front of him.

For a moment, the skies are dyed with blue light.

By the time it was over, everything felt like an illusion. The slightly chaotic people calmed down at the sight of the mystical light that covered the sky. The knight of conquest disappeared among the blue light. Its entire existence crumbled down in the face of absolute power.

'Another parallel world…'

Nobu frowned as he kept the lapis Judaicus to its former wristwatch form.

'Is this the result of going against the rules of the world? A glitch…'

"...Nobu."

"..!"

The call of a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.

"It is really you."

"...Mashiro."

A stuffy feeling appeared on his chest.

Contrary to expectations, she remained calm in front of him… or not.

She didn't care about the tears that fell on her eyes. She took the initiative to hug him, burying her face on his shoulder.

Nobu heard her sobs every now and then, feeling guilty with his choices.

He couldn't simply reason out with this one.

 "I'm here… even if it isn't for long."

Despite those words, Mashiro nodded. Perhaps she sought another chance of meeting him. Now that she received it, she wouldn't let it go.

"It looks like I came at the wrong time."

An embarrassed voice interrupted their moment together.

When Nobu faced its source, he saw another familiar friend. His countenance is far more mature than in the past. In a sense, he is more similar to Lord Nettesheim whow weathered through thousands of years in wait for the aforementioned apocalypse.

"I wouldn't bother you any longer. You… came from another world. You should have something to do here."

"...Let's talk later, Mashiro."

"Mn."

Suimei opened up a 'portal' that directly led to his office. Nobu followed in his footsteps, creating a sight of two invisible magisters walking in the crowded sidewalks of Tokyo.

"Short distance teleportation… I told you it wasn't that hard."

"Heh. I feel dumb thinking about my former self. That huge battle is a slap to my face."

Suimei used to belittle himself, touting his talent as 'slightly above average', when in fact he is the most talented magician in the contemporary era.

"How was it going in your end?" Suimei asked.

"It's not much different. It's just that… I went into another world, killed all the gods of Olympus, and met the Abrahamic God Himself."

"That's a lot."

"Maybe."

Suimei's current office is actually a 1:1 replica of Lord Nettesheim's office. The smell of old well-preserved books is evident along with a relaxing scent of oil.

"You look like an old man now. Where's the neat and simplistic design that you mentioned before?"

"This is more relaxing. You know, after…"

"..."

The twelfth calamity, Leviathan.

It is a creature within the Book of Revelations. Its size is larger than the Earth itself—a concept engraved within it. Thus, it could expand infinitely until Earth becomes a tiny dust in its eyes.

In reality, it is a creature spawned by the "End" from the concept of humanity's nemesis. Its existence is an antithesis to the concept of [Heaven] itself as it serves to 'hunt' down 'righteous people'. 

Another side of its legend is its story of being 'food' for the 'righteous people'. It could either be the 'end' of humanity or the 'food' of humanity.

In the end, it was the one who spawned a massive vitality that completely changed the world itself.

As for the person who sacrificed his life to end it…

"I wouldn't let it happen in my world."

"You really…" Suimei looked at him in exasperation. "Don't repeat our mistakes. We made far too many."

"...I won't."

"That's good."

Suimei sighed in relief.

"Now, to the main point… You couldn't exist here for too long."

Nobu's existence within this parallel world is an anomaly in and of itself. The world would continuously attempt to fix it by instinct.

During this 'fix', there might be 'bugs' that cause a parallel world to overlap with another one.

"In my opinion, you should've gone for Akashic Records first to prevent this kind of mistake. Why did you come here first?"

"Because the other person told me to do so."

"...I see."

"I'm not sure why he asked me to do it, though."

"The world's corrective measure. My best guess is that he wanted you to experience it yourself. As for the overlapping scenarios that might occur… yes, it'll happen around the anomaly itself."

Nobu saw a mysterious connection coming from Suimei.

"That… Are you connected to the Akashic Records?"

"Yes. It's quite convenient."

'Connection…'

Just then, Nobu thought of something.

'Miku. A great miracle… connecting every parallel world…'

"..!"

"I could ask the Akashic Records to stop this occurrence but… you realized something, didn't you?"

Taking a deep breath, Nobu stood up from his seat and asked him:

"Where's Miku? Is she still within Laplace's Box?"

"She's not there. Her last contact with us is during the time she ventured into the other realms. What's left here is her clone."

"I see. Don't stop these occurrences. I think I know what to do now."

Suimei processed everything in an instant and recalled something.

"The great miracle… it's her."