MHGA Chapter 266 — Himmel Arrives
"…!?"
Alt stared at Joseph through a surveillance camera, visibly shaken.
She couldn't comprehend why she had suddenly been dragged here…
"Not going to show yourself?" Joseph asked. "You should know who I am. An AI like you, capable of bypassing the Blackwall on your own, must be keeping tabs on Night City."
"We're inviting you to cooperate with us," Joseph said bluntly. "Destroy the data stored across the Mikoshi nodes. You should be able to do that, right?"
"…Why would I cooperate with you?" Alt's voice emerged from the speaker system after a moment's hesitation. "Destroying Mikoshi doesn't benefit me in the slightest."
"It does benefit you." Joseph spoke directly toward the camera. "You're not the ones we're here to deal with—Cyberpunk's little beauty… But if you don't cooperate with us, then we'll have to take the AI issue seriously."
"You're threatening me?" Alt replied. "This version of me is just a fragment of my consciousness. My true self exists throughout the entire Net. I'm not susceptible to your threats."
"I was originally planning to exploit the chaos you created to manipulate a few humans and gain access to various corporate networks. But I didn't expect your target to also be Mikoshi… How did you even learn about that?" Alt questioned, watching Joseph within the cyberspace realm.
Joseph's expression remained calm as he looked toward the camera, which only fueled Alt's growing suspicion.
Under her control, a disabled mech about ten meters behind Joseph suddenly reactivated, silently moving its gun toward him.
But just before it could fire, the mech forcibly twisted its barrel around—and aimed it at its own core.
Simultaneously, within the digitized world of cyberspace, an enormous wall of thorned vines suddenly materialized in front of Alt. She never expected to see something like this inside the Net—these weren't digital constructs; they felt like real, physical thorns forcing their way into cyberspace from reality.
Alt attempted to disconnect from the network node. But the thorns had already ensnared her information construct, entwining tighter and tighter until they formed the figure of a towering man.
"Allow me to introduce—this is my Stand: Hermit Purple… You're the first to ever witness its humanoid form," Joseph said, clenching his fist in reality. At the same time, the muscular figure made of thorns in cyberspace mirrored his exact posture.
"Hey! You AI hag!" Joseph declared with steely resolve. "If you don't comply with us Hunters… I'll keep imprinting and deleting your data construct over and over again!"
"If the AI collective doesn't want to be at war with us—"
Joseph didn't wait. He used Hermit Purple to shred Alt's current imprinted information construct into useless data fragments. Then he forcibly imprinted another piece of her consciousness back into Mikoshi's memory space—and once again gripped her by the throat.
"You and the rest of the AIs—give up on trying to control the people of Night City. Because now…" Joseph stated coldly, "Night City has no more cyberware."
At that very moment, terrifying phenomena began manifesting all across the streets of Night City.
Cybernetic implants were being forcibly expelled from human bodies.
And the most widespread implant among citizens—the cybernetic eye—could now be seen rolling on the ground every few meters as they were violently ejected.
Some patients undergoing cyberware surgeries found that the limbs just amputated were suddenly regenerating in full.
The chaos that erupted in Night City was all due to the efforts of Rakuro and Shirou Emiya—both using Potions enhanced by Wide-Range in opposite corners of the city.
Their combined Wide-Range effects also encompassed Arasaka Tower, replenishing Kairo Retsu's strength just as he had run out of Life Powder, allowing him to continue his struggle against Kirin.
Now, Kairo Retsu gripped Kirin with all four limbs, fully aware that if this continued until Himmel's arrival, he still might not succeed in severing Kirin's horn.
So… as the Guild Hall's Commander, Kairo Retsu suddenly lifted his head, eyes turning fierce—and bit into Kirin's azure horn.
The moment his teeth sank into the horn, the surge of electricity nearly obliterated all sensation in his mouth and tongue. Yet Kairo Retsu hung on with grim determination, using his bite as leverage.
With both hands freed from Kirin's mane, he once again grabbed the horn with both hands.
"&($#@%—!"
Kairo Retsu cursed incoherently through his numb mouth, biting down hard. No matter how Kirin thrashed, he refused to let go.
Visibly, the damage to Kirin's horn grew worse with every wrench and tug from Kairo Retsu. The Kirin grew even more agitated, violently bucking.
Tanjiro watched the struggle in growing anxiety, unable to help. Then he turned—only to see Laios had somehow set up a grill and was barbecuing meat off to the side…
"Mr. Laios! What the heck are you doing?!" Tanjiro shouted in disbelief.
"Well, it doesn't seem like we can help right now…" demon king Laios sheepishly rubbed his head—then suddenly noticed a new message in the gathering channel.
Himmel had just sent word…
[I'm here. I'll arrive shortly.]
Short and simple—but it gave everyone a reassuring sense of security.
The moment Himmel sent his message, Naofumi Iwatani responded immediately.
[Himmel! Can you attack the Kirin from the air atop Arasaka Tower?]
Himmel, slightly confused, still answered without hesitation: "Yes."
At that moment, Himmel was sprinting through Night City, his incredible mobility allowing him to navigate the skyscrapers like flat ground—like a missile closing in on the Arasaka Tower area at full speed.
Upon receiving the command, Himmel launched himself from the rooftop of a tall building with a heavy stomp, soaring into the air. From above, he could see the entire cityscape—and clearly spotted Kairo Retsu and Kirin locked in combat atop Arasaka Tower, nearly two kilometers away.
Kairo Retsu was clamped onto Kirin's horn with his mouth, his canine teeth embedded in the horn itself.
"Himmel!!! Just… attack now!!!" Kairo Retsu's voice, tongue fully numb, thundered through the gathering channel. "Slam Kirin into Arasaka Tower!!!"
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