"Uwah! It suddenly turned dark!"
When Mamika Kirameki was pulled out from Van Gogh's shadow, she glanced up at the murky night sky, letting out a small cry of surprise. Meteora, who heard this, immediately took note.
"If Mamika-san is saying that, does it mean it's already daytime outside?"
It was Van Gogh who answered her.
"Yes, right now outside is around seven in the morning. Although winter only recently passed, it's already sunrise time. This shadow world we're currently in is fixed—if you observe carefully, you'll see the positions of the stars and moon never change, and daylight never comes. You can think of this shadow world as a giant painting. While the canvas itself can be torn or burned, the scenery depicted will never change."
Van Gogh explained it that way, but still… a "painting" copied from reality at a one-to-one scale seemed a bit excessive, didn't it?
It was hard to grasp... but right now, they had no choice but to force themselves to accept it—or perhaps give up thinking entirely. Life might become easier that way.
In the world of High School DxD, the devils had developed a technique called battlefield space creation, which replicated reality at a one-to-one scale in the dimensional gaps. Van Gogh had adapted that same technique to suit her own abilities and "painted" this shadow world within her own shadow.
The flowers and grass here possessed no real life—they were merely brushstrokes in the painting.
This could be considered a special type of Reality Marble: an alternate dimension created by overwriting reality through imagination, or in other words, the "manifestation of an inner world." The only difference was that it was vastly larger. In the Type-Moon universe, Counter Forces would swiftly repair reality overwritten by Reality Marbles, making them extremely costly in magical energy and short-lived. But in this world, the planetary consciousness and collective human unconscious were entirely occupied handling the Outer God, leaving no time or energy to intervene. Plus, they might actually need Van Gogh's help against the Outer God, so they deliberately turned a blind eye, allowing her to create this colossal shadow realm successfully.
Unfortunately, the world's consciousness was only "turning a blind eye," rather than actively cooperating—otherwise, it wouldn't merely be a Reality Marble, but true Marble Phantasm. Actually, now that she thought about it, if she ever went to another non-Type-Moon world and acquired Arcueid's Saint Graph, could she use Marble Phantasm too? Probably, right?
Since Mamika had missed Van Gogh's earlier explanation, they had to explain the whole thing again, one-on-one.
After hearing about Shimazaki Yuna's situation, Mamika immediately offered to help save her from the Outer God, without hesitation.
As the protagonist of a children's magical-girl anime, Mamika hated suffering and tragedy. Though possessing formidable combat power, she'd always disliked fighting—this was exactly why she hadn't joined the previous battle, instead waiting at a distance.
In fact, if Altair and the others hadn't explained clearly that their battle with Selesia's group was necessary to save the world, Mamika would've stepped in to stop them.
Van Gogh's plan was to first send Selesia's group out to meet Matsubara Takashi and Kikuchihara Aki, let them report their safety, and briefly explain the situation. Afterward, she would gather all the Created to launch their rescue of Shimazaki Yuna.
"Isn't that completely unnecessary?"
Altair, her mind wholly focused on rescuing Shimazaki Yuna immediately, displayed clear impatience. "What good will telling them do? They have no power and can't help at all. Wouldn't it be simpler to solve this crisis entirely first, then find them afterward? Or just tell me Yuna's location—I'll go alone, and you all can catch up once you're done with your errands."
"And what exactly can you accomplish by yourself?"
Van Gogh showed no fear, looking straight into Altair's eyes. "The power you take such pride in—Holopsicon—comes entirely from Yuna, from the Outer God. Are you planning to fight the enemy using the very strength they granted you?"
"I…"
Altair was silenced immediately, and the others present stood stunned for a good while.
It felt extremely weird seeing such an assertive Van Gogh… Was this really not split-personality? The difference was enormous.
"According to what Van Gogh said, we Created, and our worlds, were all created by the Outer God using stolen power from the collective human unconscious—Alaya," Meteora spoke at this point, redirecting everyone's attention. "Then logically, no matter how strong we are, we shouldn't be able to threaten the Outer God or Shimazaki Yuna, who has become its vessel, correct?"
"I will handle that issue."
Van Gogh opened her lips slightly, speaking softly yet with inexplicable confidence. "When the battle starts, I'll use my own power to protect you from the Outer God's corruption, allowing you to unleash your full strength. I'll also enhance your abilities; otherwise, most of you wouldn't make it past the first few obstacles Yuna has set up."
The first few obstacles Shimazaki Yuna set up?
"You mean those monsters?"
"Those monsters are troublesome for you all, but pose no threat to me... I'm talking about Charon-san, Alicetaria-san, and the others."
Van Gogh frowned slightly, her expression grave. "Yuna showed them that painting, causing their minds to warp and their Saint Graphs to ascend into divine states. Through that painting, they glimpsed the Outer God's shadow. Now, those who vanished have become guardians protecting Yuna as she nears her bloom... I apologize. Everything ended up like this because of me. I will take responsibility and rescue them unharmed."
Seeing Van Gogh apologize so solemnly, Selesia and the others couldn't utter a single word of blame.
It was true Van Gogh's existence had drawn the Outer God's attention, bringing calamity to this world—but she was clearly remorseful, clearly trying to fix things.
Besides, if someone had to blame Van Gogh, it should be someone from this world originally—not the Created. Without Van Gogh bringing in the Outer God, they and their worlds might have remained mere fantasies, unable to exist.
The one who had the greatest right to blame Van Gogh was Altair herself, since her Creator was chosen as the Outer God's vessel due to Van Gogh's arrival, resulting in the current situation… yet, Altair remained silent.
Thus, they decided to meet Matsubara Takashi, Kikuchihara Aki, and the others first, then head out to rescue Shimazaki Yuna. Even inside her shadow world, Van Gogh had kept constant watch over the outside world.
"Um… uh… okay. Van Gogh has already placed an exit shadow near Matsubara-san and the others. You can exit simply by going through this shadow..."
Seeing Van Gogh stammering nervously again, quickly averting her pale-blue eyes whenever their gazes met, Selesia and the others understood—Van Gogh had reverted to her timid self.
Looking down at the shadow swirling beneath her feet like black sludge, Hoshikawa Hikayu's mouth twitched slightly.
Even though she'd just seen it clearly when Van Gogh brought Mamika inside, and even personally experienced it once—though she was unconscious at that time—now, carefully staring at it at close range was an entirely different sensation.
The longer she stared, the deeper the black mud seemed to become, and the nausea grew stronger, twisting her stomach with vertigo.
"Um…"
Hoshikawa Hikayu slowly raised her head, forcing a stiff smile, looking pleadingly at Van Gogh. "Ah… um… excuse me, but is there another exit?"
"J-just...imagine it as diving, you know—imitate a diver: whoosh and then 'splash'! That's it, very simple… Sorry, actually Van Gogh doesn't know much about divers…sorry for being arrogant…but—but! Van Gogh does know a lot about jumping off things! Because...I've done it many times before...so I'm very experienced...ehehe..."
I never wanted any experience with jumping off things in the first place! And isn't this completely different from diving?!
Hoshikawa Hikayu felt internally broken. Her expression was worse than if she'd been crying—utterly hopeless.
Soon after, Hikayu, Mirokuji Yūya, Selesia, and Meteora left temporarily, leaving only Blitz Talker, Altair, and Van Gogh behind.
Blitz moved some distance away, discreetly lighting a cigarette, smoke soon curling around him.
Altair stood alone, staring blankly at the sky, murmuring softly:
"The stars and moon here really don't change... No wind either, as if time itself is frozen."
Behind her, Van Gogh cautiously approached, face conflicted, staring intently at Altair's back, clearly wanting to speak but unsure how.
"Is something bothering you?"
Altair spoke first, causing Van Gogh to flinch slightly. As Altair turned, she saw Van Gogh trembling anxiously, clearly projecting the words "easy to bully."
"Ehehe...Van Gogh was just a bit curious…"
After a sinister chuckle, Van Gogh tilted her head and looked at Altair seriously. "Your memories...now, how are they? Do you recall clearly what happened back at Sunshine City?"
"Yes...my memories had been altered," Altair replied quietly. "The Outer God used false memories to overwrite the real ones, making me believe you summoned those monsters. But now…I've remembered clearly. It wasn't you—it was Master. She lost control..."
Altair turned gently, silver hair cascading gracefully around her.
"Within me now, there are fragments of Master's own memories... I understand clearly how important you are to her. Even now, seeing you pulls strongly at my heart. So—I won't hate you. I'll rescue Master and bring you to her."
"As long as you exist, Master's world won't face destruction."
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