Hold over Myriad of Worlds

Leaving the archives of Rhodes Island, I started walking toward the exit to the city of Lugmen. On my way, I was joined by a person I didn't know.

-"You are that visitor who stayed in archives for over four days, right? Man, you become a legend! How can you survive that long in archives?"

-"I wouldn't call it long. May I know who you are?"

-"Call me Nian. I'll join you for now. I'm bored here, and you can become a perfect actor in my next movie. I have an idea for romance this time, so you won't be losing!"

-"I'll pass on the role. I'm Yue, by the way."

-"Boring! But you seem to be carrying something interesting. Give me it!"

-"Calm down. I'm going to test it somewhere. You'll be able to see it then."

-"More reasons to follow you. Are we going shopping?"

-"Sigh. I hope you and Elysia won't cross paths."

-"Elysia, who's that? Her name sounds nice."

-"My wife."

-"Pfff... Right. If you don't want to tell me, then don't."

We walked out of Rhodes Island and arrived in the city. Walking around, I could see people living good lives, yet there was a visible shadow hiding in those smiles.

A large number of military personnel hurrying around didn't help with lowering the tensions. There was no combat on the streets, but I could feel that this peace was unstable.

-"So what are you looking for?"

-"Infected in the last stage. One on the brink of combustion."

-"Wow, heartless."

-"I'm not a savior. Why should I care about all living beings everywhere? If I can help, I would. Sadly, I can't do anything for them."

-"You are not wrong, but you also sound like those who pursue something no matter the cost."

-"Who knows."

-"You are interesting. I think my sister would like to drink with you."

-"You have siblings?"

-"Yup. Eleven more Nian-likes are in this world. What about you?"

-"I don't have parents, and as such, no siblings."

-"No parents? Are you an orphan?"

-"You can say that."

-"Then I'll be your family!"

-"I already found my family."

-"That 'wife', right? Well, my proposal still stands."

-"Sigh."

-"In the end, where are we going?"

-"To the slums."

-"You really wish to seek infected."

-"Did you think I was joking?"

-"Who wouldn't? Those inflicted with Oripathy are avoided by everyone. After all, even operators of Rhodes Island hide their infected status to not be discriminated against."

-"And why should I stoop to that level? Do you think that they deserve it?"

-"Nah, what infected you or who you were born shouldn't define who you are."

-"I agree. Let's go. I don't want to waste time."

Nian and I walked to a checkpoint, and we were stopped by a woman of race known as Lung.

-"Stop! Why do you want to enter the slums?"

-"I want to gather some Originium and perform experiments on infected."

-"Yue, I think hiding your purpose would be better."

-"They have a crisis on their hands. Lying would only make it worse."

-"Another unscrupulous researcher? Whatever, but you have to have a guard with you to monitor your actions."

-"I don't mind. Who will accompany us?"

-"Me."

I nodded and started walking into the slums. Nian started her chatter with the officer, who introduced herself as Ch'en. The combination of two dragon-like girls, one constantly blabbing while the other shuts her down, was an interesting show.

The slums were deserted as terrorists were running here and there. Picking a route to avoid them, I was able to find the hiding place of a few Infected in the late stages of infection.

As luck would have it, crystals on one of the people hiding there started glowing, indicating his demise. Ch'en and Nian started trying to isolate the area to prevent further infections.

-"Yue! Move away if you don't want to be infected."

-"No need to worry about me."

-"What are you trying to do?!"

Ignoring the commotion, I isolated myself and now the dead body that started disintegrating. The sudden appearance of a barrier surprised Nian, who tried to destroy it from the outside to no avail.

I crouched and started performing experiments on airborne particles of Originium. Testing prototypes we prepared in the workshop, I gathered enough data to allow us to prepare better tools next time.

After gathering the remaining Originium and condensing it into a crystal, I lifted isolation. As the barrier was opaque, one couldn't see inside from outside, so Nian and Ch'en were on guard.

What surprised me was that Amiya, the Doctor, and the rest of thier team were here.

-"Hmm? Did something happen?"

-"You happened! What have you been thinking?! Medic! Quickly check his COA and BOCD."

-"No need. I'm not infected."

-"Yue, let them. I don't know why you did what you did, but they won't be able to calm down."

-"Sigh. You can scam me to detect Originium. Nian, keep this for now."

Giving Nian the Originium crystal, I waited for the medic of the Amiya team to finish scanning me. When the results came, they all were relieved but also stupefied.

-"No trace... You are not infected. But how can this be?"

-"I'm a little special."

-"More than a little, but I can see you don't want to speak about it."

I nodded at Nian.

-"Can you cure it?"

The Doctor's question made all the people present look at me.

-"I can't cure it, but I just confirmed that it can be extracted from a person."

-"Extracted?"

-"Perform operation taking out every last trace of Originium from the body."

-"Is this possible?"

-"Yes, but not at this moment. I'm not a doctor of medicine."

-"But there is truly a possibility to end Oripathy?"

-"Operating on every infected is not feasible."

This revelation dampened the mood of everybody present. 

-"Now, can you explain why everybody is gathered here?"

-"We are about to pursue forces of Reunion. Can you help us?"

-"I don't mind. Just give me some Originium later as repayment."

-"OK."

Together with some other teams, we started pursuing the enemy. During the fight, I used divination techniques to defend my allies from attack, preventing them from getting hurt by using barriers.

On Hold's side, I relayed the results of the experiments to help us with the research. Crucial to our progress was understanding why Originium affects living beings like that.

Bringing Ruan Mei and Mobius to help, we were able to find that Originum and Honkai are extreme opposites of each other. When Honkai enhances and being it infects, Originum devolves it into pure energy. Both are inorganic in nature but can only exist in symbiosis with living.

The first breakthrough comes in the form of reactant binding Originum more strongly than living tissue. The cost of production of this material is not great, and it can prevent leaks from the world of Terra.

Having done the first step, we now need to gather energy that has already scattered. Calamities that they encounter on the surface are only minor side effects of the true problem.

Until an unstable equilibrium is kept, there is no danger, but if something happens, as a greater amount of energy exists in one place than the other, calamities occur. If we were to cleanse only one place or stop dissipating energy unevenly, we could create a calamity great enough to end the world.

The amount of energy on Terra right now is greater than all impacts that created Herrschers combined. Having a careful plan of action is necessary.

-"With no foot on the ground, performing an undertaking on such scale is impossible."

-"I'm aware of that, Tsubaki. The problem is that the risk of sending people in is too great."

-"How many people can we dispatch while you protect them?"

-"With the puppet, I can take care of no more than two people. If I went there with my main body, it wouldn't be a problem to take the whole ship from Hexafleet."

-"Then let me join you there!"

-"Allow me to also sign up."

-"You sure, Vill-V, Aranyani?"

-"With you taking care of us, where can we be safer?"

-"Good. Get the equipment you need ready. I'll take you there when I prepare the corridor."

-"You should go and talk to Nobunaga about sending more people later."

-"Tsubaki is right. Vill-V and I will prepare. Meanwhile, speak with your wife about the next plan of action."

-"I'll go look for her then."

Leaving the laboratory, I wrote to Nobu.

Yue

Nobunaga

Yue

Yue

Nobunaga

Calling Sakura to accompany me, I left the Palace and flew to Zhuming. As a ship of Hexafleet, Zhuming right now is the headquarters of Ember Knights, which are led by Nobunaga as a direct leader.

Arriving on deck, I walked to the bridge where Nobu, Yelan, and Katou were discussing something.

-"Why are you looking for me, Yue?"

-"I'll need assistance from Domination in the near future."

-"Hou? Did natives of that world prove uncooperative?"

-"No, while there are some troubles, I meet quite a nice bunch."

-"Nice bunch, huh? How many sisters are you going to give me this time?"

-"Am I really a person who woos women everywhere?"

-"Are you not? Every third woman in Hold has feelings for you. Sigh. It's a waste of words. So what do you need assistance with then?"

-"We have a feasible way to start stabilizing the world of Terra, but to do so will require a lot of manpower."

-"Can't you do it on your own? You know, using that Aeon powers."

-"Impossible. I can destroy that world, not save it. Controlling every particle on the planet is beyond my powers."

-"If you say so. What will they have to do there?"

-"Establish points where filters will be located and defend them later."

-"Then Lapis Knights will be best for the task. I'll call their commander here."

-"From what I remember, their commander is Kenshin."

-"Yup. She'll be here soon. Can you tell me something about what is going on there?"

I explained some common sense and general knowledge. In the middle of my story, Kenshin joined us. With her present, I explained the purpose of bringing Knights there.

-"To sum it up, we'll just have to establish some posts around the world and make sure no one interferes with them."

-"Yes."

-"Can you give me a more detailed plan? I'll also need some more info about the planet itself. Maps and things like that."

-"I'll provide what I can."

We talked some more about the operation. Kenshin agreed to take Lapis Knights to the Terra, even though danger is not negligible. In seven days, the whole Xuling ship will be ready for deployment.

While Hold was preparing for the next deployment, my puppet, along with operators from Rhodes Island and Lungmen, were able to defeat opponent forces, killing their leader. Now, we were performing a cleanup, routing up remaining enemies.

-"Get a grip on yourself, Amiya!"

-"But..."

-"Don't let your emotions blind your purpose. Misha chose her path. Now, she is the opponent we have to face."

-"..."

-"Ch'en is right, Amiya. We can't risk casualties for the safety of the enemy."

-"I know... Nian, can't we do anything? Doctor, can you make sure that Misha is OK?"

-"..."

-"Yue? Please, you must have a solution."

-"You want to capture their leader? I can do this."

-"Yue, this is risky. Don't be rash."

-"No need to worry about me, Nian. You continue with the cleanup. I'll capture Misha."

-"No way, I'm going with you."

-"Do what you want."

-"Of course I will."

Leaving the main force, Nian and I moved toward the place where enemies were regrouping.

-"So, how do you plan to sneak inside?"

-"Keep close to me."

I used the path of Enigmata, obscuring our existence from the perception of others. Nian noticed the weirdness of power that surrounded us. Her eyes changed when she looked at me. If before I was someone to help her with boredom, now I've become someone she is interested in.

-"This power is not Originium Art. It is closer to Feranmut... Yue, are you one of them?"

-"Feranmut?"

-"You don't know? Beings that are considered gods on Terra, beasts with great power beyond that of Originium." 

-"No, I'm not. But you have to be someone associated with them, right?"

-"Why do you think so?"

-"This is the first subject that you seriously partake in, even in a fight you are playing."

-"You speak like you know me well."

-"I don't, but after spending a day with you, I can feel that it's not me who lacks a home. It's you."

This silenced her. She didn't speak for some time, in which we entered a cave where the leader of the Reunion was residing. Misha was kneeling next to a man who was the previous leader killed before. Her brother. Taking back the power of Enigmata, I waited for her to bid farewell.

-"Are you here to capture me?"

-"Yes."

-"Tell me, why infected have to suffer so much?"

-"Tell me, why do ants have to move for humans to step?"

-"What?"

-"Your question is nonsensical. What was done to you was not the will of a person but a mistaken belief of society. There is no singular reason for it. It may be fear, greed, or even anger. But can you take revenge on emotions?"

-"But we can kill those responsible!"

-"If so, why don't you commit suicide then?"

-"What?!"

-"Heh, now you only make infected more oppressed, as to not let them follow in your footsteps. You've become a reason for their suffering."

-"But if we don't help them, who will?"

-"If you want to help solve Oripathy."

-"Can this even be done?"

-"Who knows, but right now, you are not saving infected."

-"..."

-"Come out from the shadow. If you have something to say, then speak."

A woman with horns walked into our view.

-"Who are you to judge us? Did you do anything for the infected?"

-"No. After all, I'm not infected, why should I care?"

-"Then why shod we care about you?"

-"Because I'm stronger. Isn't this your philosophy?"

-"Haha. I like you. What do you want to do with us?"

-"Amiya asked for Misha to be spared. Luckily for her, no one but us knew she was an enemy. As for you..."

-"I'll follow you. I think that what you said just now was a lie."

-"Lie? If so, why follow me?"

-"You did help the infected, right?"

-"I didn't."

-"But you will. That's why I'll follow you."

-"Just don't be in the way."

After once again enveloping us four with the power of Enigmata, I lead the girls back to where the operators of Rhodes Island and Lungmen are. Before we entered, Nian grabbed my hand.

-"Can you give me a moment?"

-"Good."

I sent Misha and W to Amiya, after which I returned to Nian, who found a place a little further away and sat on a rock. I approached her and waited at some distance.

-"Would you like to listen to a story?"

-"I can lend you an ear."

I sat on a stone next to her and listened to the story of Yan past Sui and two fragments. Explaining how she came to be and what some others of her siblings want to do.

-"Do you think they are right? Am I Nian, or simply part of Sui?"

-"Who do you wish to be?"

-"Nian."

-"Then why do you care about the opinion of others? Just move forward."

Nian smiled at me.

-"Thanks, I needed that."