"What? Pfft... Hahaha! I see. That's hilarious!"
Kakine Teitoku laughed as he looked at the tablet, his voice echoing in the soundproof room.
"It's rare to see Aniki laughing so happily. What could be so funny?"
A high school student with a zombie-like, expressionless face asked. He wore strange goggles that resembled Saturn's rings around his head.
Yobou Banka. The psychometric sniper of SCHOOL.
"I guess the mission is something to laugh about. It's a direct order from the Board, after all."
A petite girl in a gorgeous gothic lolita dress sat nearby, checking her makeup in a compact mirror.
Kaibi Gokusai. The "Girl in the Dress."
"It's really interesting," Kakine sneered, tossing the tablet onto the coffee table. "The Number One Level 5, Accelerator, was actually defeated. By a high school student."
Yobou caught the tablet, his dead eyes widening slightly.
"Huh! The Strongest was really defeated? And the one who did it... is a Level 2 Pyrokinesis user?"
"A Level 2 beating a Level 5? That sounds fake. Or the intel is incomplete," Kaibi said without looking up from her mirror.
"Heh. Of course it's incomplete. I'd be a fool to believe the Board's report."
Kakine's face turned gloomy.
"The guy who defeated Accelerator is definitely more than just Level 2. Those bastards in the Board treat us like errand boys. They expect us to clean up their mess without giving us the full picture. That's why the commission is so high."
He paced around the room.
"If someone can defeat Accelerator, their ability must interfere with calculations or AIM fields. 'Pyrokinesis' is likely a cover story."
"His true ability might be similar to Takitsubo from ITEM—AIM field interference. Otherwise, Accelerator's reflection wouldn't have failed."
As the Number Two, Kakine knew many secrets. He knew that the rankings weren't about strength, but about utility to Aleister's plan.
"So troublesome. You're making me do the recon again, aren't you?" Kaibi snapped her compact shut.
"Yes. I'll have to trouble you this time. I'll give you a bigger share of the reward," Kakine promised.
"Fine. I'll give you an answer tomorrow." Kaibi stood up, smoothing her dress.
"But... are you really going to rebel against the city, Aniki?" Yobou asked quietly. "Even Level 5s get suppressed. I don't want to die fighting the Board."
"Of course. No matter how powerful we become... we are still just lab rats to them."
Kakine looked out the window, his gaze fixed on the distant, windowless monolith in District 7.
"In this city, only those who have the right to meet Aleister Crowley have a chance to escape."
"The Board Members think they have power. But they are just pawns. Aleister controls everything."
Kakine clenched his fist.
He had discovered the truth recently. Aleister had a Grand Plan. The entire city was just a foundation for it.
And the core of that plan was Accelerator.
Kakine was just the "Spare Plan." The backup. If Accelerator failed, only then would Aleister look at Kakine.
"It's infuriating."
"My Dark Matter has infinite potential. I can create matter that doesn't exist in this universe. Yet he chose a vector manipulator over me?"
"I will force Aleister to meet me. I will prove that I am superior to Accelerator."
He turned to Yobou.
"Yobou. Go test that guy's abilities first. Don't engage fully. Just see what he can do. If you can't beat him, run."
"Understood." Yobou nodded, memorizing Yuuya's face from the tablet.
"Then the meeting is adjourned." Kaibi walked toward the door.
Kakine turned back to the window, his reflection staring back at him with cold ambition.
"Aleister... I will prove that I am the true core of your plan."
...
District 7. The Windowless Building.
This monolith looked like a tombstone without doors or windows. It was calculated to withstand a nuclear impact. Inside, it was a space where magic and science fused.
In the center of a vast, dark room, a tube filled with red liquid hung from the ceiling.
Inside the tube, a human—neither male nor female, adult nor child, saint nor sinner—floated upside down.
Aleister Crowley.
"The spread of the AIM diffusion field is being affected," a mechanical voice synthesized from the tube.
"Though not as disruptive as Imagine Breaker... this new variable is accelerating the manifestation of the Imaginary Number District—Kazakiri Hyouka."
A holographic screen appeared in the air. It displayed Yuuya's profile.
"I noticed the 'extra light of life' entering this world eighteen years ago. But I never expected it to manifest so blatantly now."
"Aiwass," Aleister spoke to the empty air. "Do you believe there are humans who leave no trace in the Phases?"
A golden light shimmered behind the tube. An entity that was not of this world—a Secret Chief—manifested its presence.
"Heh. Aleister. Don't you already have the answer?"
Aiwass's voice resonated directly in the mind, bypassing sound waves.
"If something exists without leaving a trace in the Akashic Records... then it never originated from this world. It must be an entity from the Outside."
"Takahashi Yuuya. His existence is linked to the anomaly from fifteen hours ago. The rewriting of the laws."
"He is an 'Alien' who descended upon this world. Or perhaps... he is a being from a different narrative entirely."
"This is getting interesting, Aleister," the angel mocked. "He interests me more than you do. Perhaps he holds the key to the New Aeon. With him around, your plans will shatter."
"It doesn't matter," Aleister replied calmly.
"I don't care about the process. Only the result. Plans are not immutable. If the variable is useful, I will use it."
The upside-down human looked at Yuuya's image. For a brief second, the stoic face in the tube seemed to smile.
"An alien life form has descended. Let us see if you are a god or a human... and whether you can become the tool I need to destroy the Magic Gods."
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