Typically, before a monster appears, some strange phenomenon occurs. For example, before the angel showed up, there was a rainbow light glowing in the sky, and some people heard a voice that could grant wishes—if these signs appear, it's basically certain a monster is involved.
Now, watching the morning news on TV, Naoki instinctively glanced at Manaka. "A special meteorite suddenly observed, with surface properties indicating it's highly likely a kind of lifeform… Manaka, can your power fragments even manifest something like this?"
"Who knows? Though they're part of my power, I don't actually know what final form those fragments take, because after I shattered my own power, they no longer belonged to me."
Manaka laughed.
"But… a meteorite, that's really unexpected. As I suspected, after confirming the angel couldn't defeat you, the remaining power fragments decided not to fight individually but to combine for a single strike against you. Still, manifesting like this is unexpected."
"Your power fragments have their own consciousness?"
"No, I think it's just instinct."
An instinct to avoid annihilation, an instinct to oppose the Holy Sword Wielder… Something like that. In a sense, they could now be considered a kind of lifeform, and the instinct to survive is something every lifeform possesses.
They instinctively felt that continuing to evolve separately would only lead to being easily destroyed by Naoki. So, they united.
"But this is actually a good thing." Artoria interjected. "If the remaining power fragments combine into one, it means once that meteorite is destroyed, it'll all be over, and we can leave this consciousness world and return to the real world."
"Hmm, true. But how do you plan to deal with it?"
"Well, of course…"
Naoki instinctively started to answer but stopped mid-sentence—this time… it seemed he couldn't reach the meteorite?
According to the news, the meteorite was still flying near Jupiter. Even if he wanted to confront it, Naoki couldn't fly that far. Moreover, even if he could, it was unclear whether he could wield his full power in outer space, as he was an Earth fairy. If he left Earth, it was uncertain whether he'd retain his current strength.
Did this consciousness world really have a universe?
"Shoot down the meteorite in the atmosphere after it falls… What do you think, Master?" Artoria asked. "Though it'll cause significant collateral damage, this isn't the real world, so we don't need to worry about the consequences."
"Shooting down a meteorite in the atmosphere… Hmm, should be fine."
Whether with the Spirit Shield or the Holy Sword's Liberation—Naoki wasn't without ways to destroy the meteorite, though he wasn't sure if he could pull it off. If one attempt failed, a few more might do the trick.
Hearing the two settle on a plan to handle the attack, Manaka stood up and said, "Looks like there's no issue. But it's too early to discuss this. The meteorite might not fall to a place you can confront for another day or two. Before that, we still have things to do."
"Things to do? What?"
"School." Manaka pointed at the wall clock. "If we don't leave soon, we might be late."
"No need to worry about that, Manaka. We won't be late."
Naoki said while devouring his food. "Even if we delay another ten minutes or so, we'll still make it to school before the gates close. Trust me on that."
"Huh? But doesn't walking take a few minutes? If we wait another ten minutes… won't we have no chance at all?"
"Manaka, did you forget how I used to go to school with Gray?"
Back then?
Manaka's head tilted slightly in confusion.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A few minutes later, on a rooftop in Fuyuki City.
In Naoki's arms, Manaka watched the buildings around them rapidly recede. She finally understood what Naoki meant earlier.
"You're right. Back at the Clock Tower, you did carry Gray like this to class. And in that parallel world, you did this with Ayaka too, didn't you?"
"This way of traveling? Won't it cause a bad impact on the surroundings, Master?"
On Naoki's back, her arms wrapped around his neck to avoid falling, Artoria swayed as she looked behind. At every rooftop they landed on, a pair of foot-sized craters appeared.
All caused by Naoki's steps.
Thankfully, this was the consciousness world. If this happened in the real world, he'd definitely get scolded. And from Manaka's earlier words, it seemed Master had been doing this for a while?
"Master, when you did this… did you ever get scolded again?"
"Well, if I had to say, Gray and Ayaka did scold me, right? Either because it'd inconvenience others or because the speed was too high and made them uncomfortable—today's speed is okay for you two, right?"
"It could be faster." Manaka laughed. "I also want to experience what Gray and Ayaka felt back then."
"I—"
Before Artoria could finish, Naoki's speed suddenly surged. The two only felt their bodies tremble before Naoki launched them into the air. The leap reached nearly a hundred meters high!
The morning view of Fuyuki City unfolded before the three of them. Undoubtedly, it was a breathtaking sight that could stun anyone momentarily. But the view lasted only a moment for the two girls before their ears were filled with the roar of the wind, and the weightless sensation of falling from a hundred meters enveloped them!
*THUD!*
They felt a strong tremor from below.
Less than a second after landing, Artoria and Manaka were launched back into the air, reaching a hundred meters again.
(So this is the acceleration he meant?)
Feeling the exhilarating rush, Manaka and Artoria exchanged glances, seeing the same realization in each other's eyes.
—From now on, it's better not to let Naoki (Master) speed up his pace.