When the cruise missiles were 400km from impact, several Aegis-Class Cruisers and Destroyers managed to make it, and they launched one anti-air missile after another in hopes of taking down the cruise missiles, but most of them only managed to blow up the sea.
Water pillars rose, and most of the cruise missiles broke through unscathed.
There was no way that these things could possess emotions, but the way the cruise missiles passed by them made it seem as though they were gloating.
『 What’s with those movements? What kind of guidance system are those equipped with? 』
As the ships failed to intercept the missiles, a shadow dropped his shoulders in dejection.
Still, their attempts hadn’t been a complete failure, and they were able to take out two missiles, bringing the 10 missiles down to 8.
Frire’s intuition was right. Roughly 300km from the coast, where neither the united nations nor the defense forces were, was indeed a mass-of-black shaped like a human standing in the air above the ocean.
『 They came as scheduled, but… 』
It would’ve been better if the UN forces were able to take them down instead.
But now that the situation has turned to this, he
Just by looking at the declaration of Masquerade’s existence and his display of power, it was evident that intercepting the missiles for an unknown existence such as himself was all too easy.
The problem was how he could convince them that a third-party had interfered.
Precisely because he was unknown, there was a chance that Earth might judge him to be with the Garestonians.
Hence, he had to choose carefully how to attack the cruise missiles.
He had several methods at hand, and from the moment he sensed them, he was confident in being able to destroy every missile.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t use most of the methods he had.
The first solution that would come to mind would of course be his spells, but from a spectator’s perspective, they didn’t look that much different from skills.
If so, then there would be no meaning in intercepting the missiles as a third-party.
Mana Attacks were also unusable for the same reason. Visible or invisible, if people were to investigate the area later, they would surely find traces of
The Earthlings will just think it’s a new weapon from Garesto, and again his actions would end in futility.
The crazy weapons he acquired just recently were also technologically Garesto’s.
Besides, picking a fight with warheads filled with who knows what was just too reckless even for Shinichi.
If it were just one missile, he could teleport after taking it out, but there were 8 missiles.
Unless he was one-hundred percent certain in being able to take them out all at once, he wouldn’t take on such a risky gamble.
This was different from fighting a legion of shikionis, after all.
As such, there were no other methods left.
Falandia’s spells and Garesto’s weapons were both unusable, and the only options were left the unreasonable sort, such as taking the missiles on in a melee.
『 I never thought that I would be able to use it after coming back. 』
And such unreasonable options were out of the question.
He may be reckless, but he never moved without a plan.
There was one weapon left.
The strongest among all of the powers at his disposal, a sword so great that it was hard to use against people.
He had already come up with the idea since he was in Falandia, but it was impossible for him to provide the necessary amount of mana alone.
There were also no situations that necessitated or made it possible to use.
『… 』
Quietly, he raised his right arm toward the heavens, and with his left hand equipped with three weapon terminals, gently touched it, and then… He devoured the energy from the three photon crystals.
Not a hint of regard for the limitations of the terminals, Quick Extract wrung every bit of photon from them, and fed that dense stream of photons into his right arm, toward his small claw, quenching Orol Crystal’s thirst for
The thirst quenched, Orol Crystal emitted a
It grew by the second, and before long, it had already expanded past 50 meters.
『Unbelievable… The moment I think of announcing my existence to the world, this is what happens. Hopefully, it ends with just people fearing me… 』
But of course, that’s impossible, he wryly smiled.
Besides, he would be troubled if things ended on such mild note.
『Now, then… I’ve gone out of my way to make this flashy, so make sure you get a good look! Earth! Garesto! Behold! Here exists a power you don’t know!! 』
The powerful light was fueled by mana, but gradually, that mana transformed into a different ‘power’.
When the pillar of light had expanded past 100 meters, Shinichi’s whole body began creaking in the presence of that powerful force field.
The energy was so ‘heavy’ that – at any moment – he could fall down.
But he didn’t go this far for this to end in such comedic fashion, so he steeled himself and stubbornly held on as he raised his voice.
But…
Even if his yells reached no one, that light was so powerful that the eyes of the two worlds that had gathered because of the cruise missiles, both legal and illegal, have already been turned toward that majestic pillar of light, not knowing that that was exactly what the boy holding the light intended.
『 O two worlds! Tremble in awe, fear, and dread to your soul’s fill! I am the new
Declared the boy as though to excite himself or to reveal his true nature.
Brought to the limits, the power of that light could already make all of creation prostrate before it.
If
And even his peaceful days as a mere boy might come to an end.
『Hah───! 』
Such thoughts flashed through his mind, and he laughed scornfully as though to ask if this was really alright.
The members may have changed, but after so long, he was finally able to experience a harmonious family.
And although it was far from the normal sort, he was finally able to witness a vibrant school life from the side.
That was likely the life he yearned for once upon a time… In fact, even now.
And yet…
『────The fact I’m not hesitating even a little is what makes me so unlovable. 』
But even if he did, he would have just found it disgusting.
Shinichi bragged as though he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, then he swung down his right arm.
And with it, descended the pillar of light that had pierced through the heavens.
In the next moment, the ocean split.
Whatever guidance system the missiles possessed were irrelevant in the face of that light that spanned 700 meters.
And as that pillar of light descended upon them, the strategic-class weapons of Earth were too easily vaporized.
But the show would not end there, the pillar of light was not ‘merely’ that long.
His goal behind this attack was to shoot down the missiles and to show his power to the two worlds.
He wanted to tell them that someone who could do something like this lived in the same world as them.
Hence, the attack that split the ocean in the speed of light literally became an attack that split the world.
───They would never be able to forget the silence of that day.
For every ‘eye’, from every corner of the world, that beheld that attack, was left in shock.
After all, within that pillar of light, at the very base, supporting it, was a black mist.
A human shadow that stood out all too much within that bright light, and indeed that was on purpose.
To make them understand that what had brought this destruction was a mere human, or at the very least, an existence as small as one.
100km, 200km… Even as the distance kept increasing, the end of the pillar of the light could not be seen.
The spectators zoomed out to try and see how far the light reached, but no matter how far they zoomed out, the pillar of light kept extending, and before they knew it, they couldn’t zoom out any further.
Some refused to believe what had transpired with no basis.
Some denied reality and argued that the cameras were broken.
Some could not understand what they’d seen and simply stood in shock.
Some simply faltered in the face of such irrational power.
But just one, across two worlds, held her belly and laughed.
That one female teacher, who has been watching from the side, from the center of this storm, in Kutoria.
“Ahahahaha!! You’re the best! The best!!”
This person that was laughing with childlike innocence was none other than Natsumi Shirota.
Possessing a satellite of her own to watch from the sky, she was a mad scientist, and she has been watching from the start.
She watched as the boy led three classes to the goal, as he suddenly vanished and then returned to the fields, as he moved to the beach at an impossible speed, and of course────as he was clad in black.
“A Recognition Interference ability so effective it’s eerie, and a completely unknown energy wave! Just those would have left me in ecstasy, and yet you could actually go that far!?”
It was one thing for her eyes to sparkle as she analyzed that unknown energy, but those sparkling eyes were glued onto a different screen, a screen that showed everything happening on the ocean.
The video projected onto that screen was taken from the satellite; hence, the only thing it should’ve been able to show was the ocean, and yet for some reason, there appeared a rectangular-shaped hole.
「A human-sized entity split the ocean and created a hole that spanned
From the bottom of her heart, she laughed and hit her desk, then rolled onto the floor laughing.
Despite that her gaze never left the calm and composed black mist, or more specifically, Shinichi.
No matter how much destruction he created, he remained there on the surface of the ocean, just quietly standing.
“The number of things I want to learn have increased… Ah, what a wonderful day this has been! Just you wait, Nakamura-kun, one day I’ll study every part of you!!”
Though the greatest mind of the two worlds was immersed in glee, she was calmly calculating how she could study someone who possessed this much power.
Unbeknownst to the boy, it was in this moment that the worst predator had set her eyes on him.
Meanwhile, the person-in-question did not look as calm as he appeared.
The backlash to his body caused pain and numbness to spread all over, and he couldn’t feel his right hand at all.
It was only because he was wearing his black clothes, and his black clothes themselves were undamaged, that he seemed fine.
His fingers that weren’t covered with anything were completely black as though they’d been carbonized.
His burned arm was unfeeling, and it was a miracle that it managed to stay connected to his shoulder.
With his fingernails the only thing glowing from the excess mana remaining, it was a ghastly sight.
『This really hurts…』
And yet, he worded his situation in such a trivial manner.
She was right about one thing, though. Although his body wasn’t fine, he himself was indeed fine.
Without panicking, he held his left hand over his right hand and used the remaining photons to heal himself.
Although these were merely the leftover photons, it was still a vast amount as far as he was concerned.
Because of that the healing was so effective it was as though time had been turned back.
『Uwaah, this is so disgusting. 』
It was less the feeling of his body regenerating, and more the sight of it that he found disgusting.
This was one of the reason why he didn’t care too much about the damages he incurred. He could heal his body anyway, so it didn’t matter.
───But that’s not true. You’re an idiot, who would do the same thing even if you couldn’t be healed───
『…Can’t deny that. If Stella saw this, she’d definitely kill me. 』
As he uttered the same reply back then, he thought back to that expressionless face full of anger and wryly smiled.
This time, though, he wished she’d forgive his actions. After all, this was the best plan to avoid all the troublesome things.
And he wasn’t done yet.
『For the meantime, I seem to be able to move. 』
After confirming that there were no problems with the feeling of his limbs, he immediately started a magic formula.
『With this attack, the preliminary work should be done. I sent the nuclear submarines on their way too, so all that’s left now is to finish the job. Alright, let’s go threaten a world or two. 』
Ku ku ku, Shinichi laughed from the bottom of his heart as the light of teleportation covered him, and then he vanished.
It was only after this spectacle that the world would truly come to know the dreadfulness of the mask.
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