Variable

"How is there snow here even though we're underground..?"

"Don't know. Maybe some of it's leaking from the Overworld and making its way down here."

With the feeling of crunchy snow pressing underneath them, Stelle was still curious even after hearing Yuuto's brief guess.

Rigid rock structures covered in a thin blanket of snow were the sight that she saw alongside the others who followed Sampo to the settlement where Svarog occupied the majority of the time.

"Now, my fellow customers! The structure right before you is the infamous robot settlement where big boss Svarog resides."

Sampo showcased his signature smile as he twirled around to impress the people behind him.

"As your devoted guide, where honesty and trust bloom within me, I can assure you that—"

"Ugh, Jeez! Can you just shorten your sentences where you don't butter us up and continue showing us the way?"

"Of course, missy! Just follow closely!"

March narrowed her eyes when she saw Sampo flawlessly change his pace to fit her request and wondered why this person was designated as their guide. She figured that having someone such as Natasha would be a good replacement.

Unfortunately, March found out that Sampo was the only one who had the most information on the route and rules regarding the area Svarog was in and reluctantly agreed.

'Seems like Sampo has a way to rile up March despite not actively doing so.'

Yuuto stifled a laugh seeing the energetic March clinch her eyebrows after her interaction with Sampo and silently followed behind. 

As he continued to walk, he felt the corner of his clothes being tugged and noticed that Cyrilla had a small bundle of snow in her hands.

"Look! I made a snowball!"

"Great, now you can make another smaller one and eventually build a mini snowman."

"Mhm!"

Cyrilla nodded her head energetically and placed the snowball she made on the ground while scooping another layer of snow in her hands.

Yuuto felt a smile grow on his face seeing how childish she acted but this was something he personally liked seeing.

Considering the environment she grew up in and eventually being the cause of her death. He wanted her to at least act like a child whenever she could.

"After this, I should be able to bring her to see her sister…" 

As he planned to leave the Underworld a day early in hopes of making the fight against Cocolia easier, Yuuto made sure to fit some time in to bring Cyrilla to the location where Cyrille was located.

Uniting the two sisters who had an unfortunate separation together.

"Everyone! We are here!"

Bringing him back to reality, Yuuto quickly caught up to the others while ushering Cyrilla to follow him.

A large metal gate attached to steep rocky walls obstructed their path to the internal structure where Svarog lives.

"It is unfortunate for me to say this but beyond this gate is unknown territory that not even Boss-ki knows all too much about." 

"Boss-ki?"

"Ahem, it's just a nickname a few call yours truly."

"Right.."

Strange gazes landed on Sampo who was unfazed by their stares as if he was used to it. "But–! Mr. Boss-ki would be considered a fraud if this was all he knew!"

Sampo clicked his tongue and began to explain a few things that he found about this gate.

First, it needed to be opened with certification which was held by Svarog's scavengers. As they brought mechanical remnants for Svarog to fix, each one of them held a sort of 'key' to open this gate.

As Sampo continued to explain, Yuuto tuned his voice out considering he knew this information already, and scanned his surroundings for these so-called scavengers.

'There's one.' Finding a small robot glitching near the stone wall near him, Yuuto approached the mechanical creature.

Being within arms reach of the robot, Yuuto noticed that it didn't flinch and continued to stand near the wall as if it were dismissing his presence.

"My feelings are hurt."

Yuuto said before placing his hand over the robot and letting a faint white glow escape his palm. A series of information in the form of memories began to appear in his mind as he used [Archive] to capture the internal structure of the robot.

This included the parts it was made from and even the information embedded within it.

"Just a level 1 certification huh…" Digesting what level this certification was, Yuuto felt disappointed by its low level but didn't feel all too down about it. "I still have the memory of the encryption key Arlan had ages ago."

Figuring out his decision to [Archive] that key at the moment was worth it as it saved him tons of time from needing to collect all 3 levels of certification from these scavengers.

Gathering these two memories in his mind, Yuuto willed the threads from these two fragments to connect. Seeing that the connection was strong, he made his way to the terminal that was connected to the gate.

"Can't I just break this gate down?"

"I would rather you not."

"Why..? Just one swing and this thing is gone." Stelle looked at Dan Heng with an expression that matched one of a kid who didn't get what they wanted.

"It's a heavy gate too… Wait, usually, gates such as these are opened with a quick spell right?"

"But Sampo already told us that—"

"Opennnn sesame~!"

"Not you too.."

While Yuuto was working on the terminal, Dan Heng was near the gate trying his best to control the impulsive Stelle who was itching to use her bat.

And March who had a unique thought in opening the gate blocking her way.

–CLINK

"Ah!! It actually worked!?"

March was about to lower her hand in disappointment when she heard a metallic click and noticed the gate open right in front of her.

"That childish password worked..?"

Dan Heng felt his mind go blank when he saw March's way of opening the door work. He looked around to see if any other explanation was within sight and saw Yuuto near the terminal.

The latter noticed his gaze and showed him an innocent smile while briefly explaining what he did.

Dan Heng let out a sigh of relief figuring that Yuuto had opened the door and not March.

"Herta briefly taught me some hacking skills when I was with her." Yuuto hid as his mind sorted the memories he used back into his library.

"Madam Herta did?"

"Of course. Despite her looks, she's pretty kind to me."

Other than the amount of knowledge he had gotten about crystals, he felt that Herta was pretty kind to him. Other than her attitude sometimes showing differently.

However, Yuuto did remember her 'kind' act of giving him a hefty amount of credits which was not at all done by him cheating her.

Not at all.

"Anyways let's head inside."

Leading the way towards a narrow bridge, Yuuto kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary before eventually reaching another metal gate. Compared to the last gate, this one truly felt like a pause before a huge boss fight.

'Should I use the [Encryption Key]..? No, I should probably use that as a last resort.'

Thoughts began to form on the paths Yuuto could take. But thankfully he didn't need to think for so long as the tall metal door opened.

"Mister and Cyrilla…"

Through the small gap, Clara peeked her head to see who was outside and noticed Yuuto and Cyrilla a few meters away from her.

"Uhm, is there something you need mister..?"

"Yes, we actually want to have a small meeting with your guardian."

"Guardian…"

Yuuto didn't want to waste any time and was upfront with their reason for coming to their location. Clara alternated her glance between Yuuto and the people behind him who were quietly waiting for her answer.

"W-Well… I can pass on the message if you want…"

"No, It's important that we do it directly. It involves the people in both the Overworld and Underworld."

Clara's eyes trembled when she heard this and felt like this would be a huge situation considering how protective Svarog was when it came to keeping the wellbeing of the Underworld people safe.

Noticing the tremble within her eyes, Yuuto kneeled and spoke in a soft voice trying to reassure her that they meant no harm.

"Do you remember the orb I gave you?"

"...."

"That is just a glimpse of what we're trying to help create for this world."

Even if Clara was not saying anything, Yuuto knew that she was listening to his every word.

"Something is preventing us from making that scene a reality and we need Svarog's help." 

"....."

Clara tightened her mouth together as she already knew that the people in the underworld were suffering and she tried her best to do what she could. 

Whether it was fixing their ripped clothes or finding medicine that could help with their illnesses. But reality is often crueler than what it appears to be.

Constant conflict and battles between Wildfire and the vagrants grew with each passing moment showing that her contribution was just a little drop to the fire that grew.

She wished that she could do more but in order to do so, there was a chance for more people to be hurt in the process. Something she didn't want to happen.

"I–..."

[That is enough Clara.]

Before she could speak her thoughts, a large metal hand gripped onto the gate Clara hid behind and a humanoid mechanism began to walk in front of her.

"M-Mr. Svarog!"

[An abnormal amount of time has passed which was suspicious considering the task]

Svarog's singular red eye began to glow as he scanned the people in front of him. Yuuto quickly stood up and created some distance while the people behind him also tensed up.

[Analyzing…Analysis result: Singular member of Wildfire and… unknown personal… Background: Unknown… Objective: Unknown]

Svarog's robotic voice ushered a cold judgment for the people in front of him and stared menacingly towards each person.

[Breaching location with unknown pretext. Hostility rating…65%..]

"Even with that rating... I feel like fighting him is the only result since he looks like he's ready to fire some missiles at us…"

"We just need his help in sealing the Stellaron…"

[....Object 'Stellaron' has been verbalized by an unknown personal… Hostility rating reassessed…85%...]

Yuuto opened his palm and began to gather some mist to prepare for an inevitable fight since Svarog's eye began to glow an even brighter red with each second.

"Cyrilla, stand further back."

"Okay."

Following his instructions, Cyrilla moved away from Yuuto's back as she felt like something dangerous was about to happen. As she moved back, her eyes briefly matched Svarog's which made her tense up even more.

However, instead of passing his gaze, Svarog continued to stare at Cyrilla as if he saw someone who was not supposed to be there. 

[Analyzing… Database background match: Cyrilla Rand… Eighth Supreme Guardian Heir… Status: Deceased by unknown means….. Who.. are you?] 

"Uhmm–..."

Cyrilla began to shake as if she was caught up by a large monster and held onto Yuuto who was looking at Svarog strangely.

"Wait did Svarog say 'Rand'..? Bronya isn't that.."

"Yes, a surname given to individuals who are successors to the seat of Supreme Guardian…"

Seele tightened her mouth when she listened to Bronya's serious voice which carried a faint pause. 'So the things written in here were true…' Bronya felt the inside of her coat and touched a small book held within it

[Heat signature present… I'll ask you once again… Who are you..?]

"Okay, I feel like that should be enough."

Yuuto stepped forward and hid Cyrilla behind him as he saw tears begin to form in her eyes. Svarog wanted to press on for more answers as meeting with a presumed dead heir was not something within his calculations.

However, analyzing the expressions of everyone around him, he decided that he should take a different route.

[Since the disappearance of the 8th Supreme Guardian Heir, her sibling Cyrille took the mantle instead by the recommendation of Stefan Marquez.]

"My sister did..?"

Cyrilla's eyes widened when she thought about her sister taking her spot as Supreme Guardian.

[However that was all a guise for Stefan to take control and use her as a puppet. Bringing chaos to the people of Belobog and failing to do her role as a leader. Losing one of the most important tasks in the process.]

"Case 13175…"

[.....]

Bronya held her finger to her lip as she mumbled a few numbers which caught Svarog's attention.

"Case 13175... The task of finding a solution to destroy the Stellaron…"

[...Records have been erased since Cyrille 'The Fool' took place within Qipoth's Fort… How do you know thi—]

"The sanction of Alexandra Rand who was one of the most successful heirs who used her knowledge to the limit. I.. No, we found her vault that carried all her research regarding this case and all her insights along the way."

Bronya took the hard-cover diary she found within the vault during the time she went with Yuuto and looked at the book with some lingering shock but one other emotion was evident on her face.

Pride.

Pride that her predecessor was a person who had unwavering fortitude to put all her life's work on the chance that she could save the world from being destroyed by the Stellaron.

[...The records from years ago…]

Svarog's memory bank went into overdrive as countless variables began to form from the appearance of Cyrilla and Bronya's knowledge stemming from a lost vault made by one of the brightest Supreme Guardians Jarilo-VI has seen.

'This should be a good chance.' Yuuto felt that having these cards into play, there was a chance for them to bring Svarog onto their side without fighting.

He glanced at Clara who was at the side watching all of this and took a step forward.

"Your calculations regarding the disaster that this world will face were done based on circumstances years ago but currently other factors are being put into place."

[.....]

"We want to bring this world's disaster to a close. So allow us to use these new variables and change that fixed calculation you have."

Svarog stayed quiet as he tried to analyze Yuuto's intentions and took in all the prompts he wanted to show.

[...Intentions still unclear.. Request to reassess is denie—]

"Mr. Svarog…"

[..Clara?]

"...I want to trust them.." Clara, who was originally a spectator, tugged onto Svarog's long coat. "You said that scene within the orb had a very small chance of becoming real, right?"

[Correct.]

"But there is still a chance, right? Even.. if the world outside is not like that scene… I still wish to see it. Even if it's not beautiful, just knowing that there's a chance is something I want others to know." 

[.....] 

"And.. I feel like they can do it.." 

Clara showed Svarog a steady gaze showing her faith in her decision. But her legs were a bit shaky, considering this was the first time she had requested something from him.

Svarog continued to stare at Clara who was standing her ground and images of her from the previous years began to flash within his mind.

[Request accepted… New variables have been taken into account… Authority has been transferred to outsiders…]

"Thank you Mr. Svarog…"

Clara smiled brightly and hugged the humanoid mecha who stood completely still. Trying not to hurt her.

"I thought we were going to tango with Mr. Robot over there." Stelle, who was near the two, gave out a sigh as she placed her bat away.

Being at the front where she noticed multiple instances of a fight breaking out she was on her toes the whole time. "But all that talking about variables and calculations made my brain hurt."

"How can your brain hurt if there's nothing in your head in the first place?"

"Anything else you want to say before I check that big head of yours?"

Yuuto grabbed the bat aimed at him and smiled back at Stelle who had a similar expression as him.

"Now that we have Svarog on our side I'll leave the Underworld to you guys." Yuuto brushed off the bat he held and looked at the Express members.

"You're going already? I thought we would leave tomorrow or the day after."

"I just want to make some preparations after I found some things that may cause us trouble later. There were also a few things Dan Heng said that made me go through with my decision." 

March was curious since it was planned that they would return to the surface if they found enough information in the Underworld. But Yuuto surprisingly said that he would go earlier.

"Do you need someone to come with you?" March was ready to offer her help but Yuuto shook his head.

"It's fine. I don't plan to do anything crazy and want to be hidden before you guys come up."

"Are you sure..?"

March was still worried that he would be overwhelmed but after a few words of persuasion, she agreed despite having a few worries.

Stelle also offered to join him but Yuuto convinced her that it was fine.

'Dan Heng is with Svarog probably gathering more information...' Finding him in a deep conversation with Svarog, Yuuto decided that he should leave and prepare.

"But there's still Cyrilla who's coming with me…"

After learning a few things that happened with her sister, Cyrilla was in her thoughts as she tried to understand just what occurred when she disappeared.

Yuuto didn't say anything and just urged her to follow him back to the hotel.

"Wait!"

"Bronya?"

"You're leaving to the surface already?"

Bronya quickly ran towards Yuuto who was about to leave and asked him after she heard what he was going to do. He wore a wry smile after hearing her request to join him.

He declined her in the pretense of needing to be a figure that the Underworld needed when they would join to help fight the crisis occurring on the surface.

She tried her best to argue but was shot down each time by him. 

Yuuto stared at her reluctant expression and some unknown thoughts began to form within his mind.

"Can I ask you something personal if you don't mind?"

"Personal? Sure."

Yuuto parted his mouth a few times before asking her his question. "How do you feel about Cocolia after all the things she's done?"

Bronya paused after hearing his question and thought about her experiences with her mother. The highs and lows, from her childhood to adulthood. She recalled all these memories.

"I still don't understand why she wanted to do something like this but…" Bronya thought about her mother's face and faintly smiled. "She's someone who I admire…"

Yuuto had a few emotions flash between his eyes but they all disappeared the second they emerged.

"I see… Thank you for answering."

"It was nothing much." Bronya shook her head as she was curious as to why he asked her that question.

"Just a small request but try to help Dan Heng control my two friends. They can be quite a handful."

"Them huh…" Bronya looked a bit awkward but she nodded her head nonetheless.

Yuuto smiled and patted her on the shoulder feeling a slight change beginning to form within her.

"You're looking better these days."

"...What does that mean?"

"You don't look as lost as before."

"...."

Yuuto stifled a laugh seeing her expression and patted her shoulder one last time. Leaving with Cyrilla who followed right behind him. 'I still need to collect some things before I go.'

Being left alone, Bronya watched Yuuto leave and felt some heat rise to her face before turning around. She took in some deep breaths and joined the others who were talking near Svarog.

"So that's what he meant…."

***

"Pela."

"Yes, Supreme Guardian."

"Inform all residents to stay within their homes for the next couple of days."

"...As you wish."

***

They were really cooking when they made the recent trailblaze mission. I loved how they portrayed Aventurine's backstory and Acheron is as badass as ever.