Tokyo Psychic

Page 297

The person who made the voice could not be seen at all.

In Jingqin Rencai's vision, it was just an infinitely twisted and entangled black flame.

Homura Akemi raised a dagger in her hand—the same dagger that Serina Izumi could easily recognize, the one that Akira Kurusu always kept tucked into the waistband of her phantom thief outfit.

The dagger that the phantom thief used for close combat, in the hands of this devilishly beautiful girl, seemed unlikely to easily defeat an enemy whose form could not even be determined by sight.

Homura Akemi seems to have realized this as well.

The next moment, countless rays of light, like thorns, spread along her palm, conforming to the dagger and extending forward and backward, quickly transforming it into a giant scythe.

They realized that the demon was ready for battle.

The things that were originally twisted and entangled with flames quickly materialized into physical forms.

It was a human figure whose face was still indistinct.

His attention quickly shifted from Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname to Nina Igarashi and Judas in the classroom ruins.

Especially Judas...

In just a moment, He understood why Judas had appeared there.

It is clearly an evil god who cannot sense any "human" element.

But the celery-flavored vegetable sensed it so clearly...

That was a fury that seemed to transcend the universe.

But they didn't give Judas any time or opportunity to interrogate him.

Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname had already seized the moment when He was distracted.

This battle has completely exceeded Serina Iza's comprehension...

She had no idea what was happening.

But everything that could be seen, whether people or objects, had disappeared.

Only the back of my right hand felt a subtle warmth.

Jing Qinrencai turned her head to look at Judas beside her.

They discovered that the evil god who had just been wreaking havoc in front of them had now become illusory.

He said, “We can stop here.”

"......?" Izuru Rina had no idea what had happened in this timeline.

Judah's voice remained cold, "I will do what I have to do, and as for what comes next... I'll leave it to you, Nina."

As soon as he finished speaking, Judas vanished.

In the broken classroom, only Iori Rina sat behind the podium, looking down at the classroom floor in front of her that was rapidly being reassembled.

Then, her thoughts were once again stripped away from the flow of time.

This time, however, the soul did not dissolve.

It seems that the individual named "Jingqinrencai" has been incorporated into some very amazing cognitive concept.

......

A battlefield beyond time.

The evil god who called himself "Nyarlathotep" looked at the universe that had been completely annihilated in this timeline and felt no sense of accomplishment, only extraordinary anger.

Because just now...

Judas betrayed them.

Although I had long anticipated that this guy, who could betray even the mind thief who saved my life, would eventually turn against me again.

I just never expected this moment to come so unexpectedly and so suddenly.

She has clearly achieved godhood that transcends the rules of the universe.

They also acquired the conceptual-level power to reset all cause and effect of events to zero.

A wicked god who has betrayed all friendship, family, and love, and who keeps making mistakes just to survive, has suddenly chosen to sacrifice himself?!

Nyarlathotep found this both laughable and infuriating.

But soon, He realized... that He had generated many human emotions.

Everything that Ferremont and the man named Suoh did was not in vain.

Even though Nyarlathotep escaped the seal on the other side of the world with the help of Narukami Yu, it was still inevitable that he... began to become like a human.

When a true deity loses its transcendent status and becomes tainted by human perception, the seemingly insurmountable barrier rapidly shrinks to a level acceptable to the collective subconscious of humanity...

In other words, Naya could fall into the Impression Space at any time and suffer an irreversible "demotion".

But after all, He is an extraterrestrial god who was successfully brought into existence in reality through meme infection, bearing the surname "Cthulhu Mythos".

Even if they are forcibly dragged from a realm inaccessible to humans into the collective subconscious of humanity, and imprinted with the concept of "humanity"...

Even though Ferremont paid a terrible price for this, and even with the sacrifice of the Velvet Room contractors, he managed to do all of this.

even so......

"Nyarlathotep" still possesses the ability to break free from the cognitive shackles of being "human" and continue to transcend time.

But just now, all of His plans collapsed.

Judas, in that instant, burned away his existence.

This moment of brilliance at its peak is a "state of affairs reset" at the level of the multiverse and in terms of rules.

He sacrificed himself to ensure that Nyarlathotep could never reach the truth that would shatter the shackles of cognition.

Nyar could not understand Judas's reasons for doing this.

Is that enough for the Phantom Thieves or magical girls to defeat Him?

Even if he is branded as "human," he can no longer surpass Ferremon, who represents the collective consciousness of all humanity, in terms of power...

But this obviously doesn't mean that magical girls or Personas could defeat Him.

Even magical girls possess the concept of being "human".

Even monsters like Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname, even with the cycle of reincarnation halted and unable to continue, have not completely escaped the realm of human perception.

This means that they themselves are also unable to surpass the total amount represented by Ferremont...

This so-called "total amount" refers to the maximum upper limit that the Sea of ​​the Mind can expand to, which is the entire universe.

As the cycle of reincarnation has progressed to the present day, the total amount of a universe is no longer enough to kill Nyarlathotep—moreover, neither Homura Akemi, Madoka Kaname, nor Haruhi Suzumiya who chose to seal herself to ensure the existence of the Sea of ​​Hearts, nor the Phantom Thief of the Mind who was uniquely confined to the distant future, have ever touched the upper limit of this total amount.

Nyar couldn't understand what Judas was thinking to make such a meaningless self-sacrifice.

Then, He realized...

I just spaced out again.

The demon and the goddess have joined forces and are approaching, trying to force Him back to the "present" of the future.

......

When exactly did my senses return?

I've completely forgotten about the celery and celery.

Only when she is able to think.

The world before my eyes was now a black and white scene.

A deep blue butterfly hovered on her shoulder.

Ahead, there was a boy she knew all too well, dressed as a phantom thief, confronting the evil god.

Immediately afterwards, the devilish girl that Ishigami Rina had seen before appeared on her right.

The demon seemed to want to brand the back of Igarashi Renna's right hand.

However, the action that had been planned was frozen in place.

Izayoi also followed the gaze of "Akami Homura"... or more precisely, the gaze of a phantom that Akami Homura left in this fragment of time.

A magnificent and intricate pattern had appeared on the back of my right hand without me even realizing it.

I've seen it before... on the back of An and Subaru's hands.

But now it's in my hands...

It seems that they sensed Jingqin Rencai's feelings.

Homura Akemi, who had maintained a cold expression, slowly raised her head and looked at the figure that had appeared behind Akira Kurusu.

There was nothing there originally.

At that moment, a pale white shadow appeared out of nowhere.

This is how it all began.

She entrusted the power of time reversal to Iori Rencai.

However, Jingqin Rencai went astray and became the evil god symbolized by regret, who spans the past, present, and future.

Fortunately, this regret has finally come to an end.

Judas is dead.

The celery and celery returned to the starting point of all cycles.

Now, she will bring this vast and immeasurable destiny into a closed loop.

As for the cost...

Judas did not explain to Jingqinrencai.

But just by looking at the mental thief who was besieged on all sides, Isaura immediately understood what she had to do.

Without any hesitation, she asked the witch beside her.

How can I help him?

Homura Akemi was stunned for a long time, then a smile appeared in her eyes.

"Jingqin, you'll die."

Jingqin Rencai's previously resolute expression immediately crumbled.

For an ordinary high school girl, death was far beyond what she could bear.

Homura Akemi did not urge her.

They simply remained silent, calmly awaiting Jingqin Rencai's reply.

At this moment, the butterfly hovering on Izana's shoulder slowly fluttered its wings, as if trying to convey a comforting feeling to her.

279. The time spent traveling in both directions (combined into one)

What does death feel like?

The origin of the herb "well celery kernel" is unknown.

The closest she ever came to "death" was when she was seriously ill with a high fever, and encountered the murderous "Akechi Goro" in the Impression Space.

There is no escaping it, no way to avoid it.

But that boy... the handsome boy whose relationship with her wasn't particularly harmonious at first, dressed like a mysterious phantom thief from a comic book, walked from the platform where the train was passing by and stood in front of the scythe of death without hesitation.

In fact, at that very moment, Igarashi Renna had already thought about it...

Meeting this guy might have used up all my luck...

I wish I could stand behind him without looking so pathetic.

Or she might stand by his side, pitifully clutching her sleeve, like the heroine in a tokusatsu drama rescued by a Kamen Rider...

......

A black-and-white, desolate palace of the mind, stripped of the flow of time.

This place should have been a factory of despair, where witches were mass-produced.