The sterile, recycled air aboard the Stardust Weaver hummed with tension thicker than the nebular dust outside the viewports. Merus's declaration, "This means war!", still echoed in the cramped common area, a stark counterpoint to the fragile hope that had lingered moments before. Plans scrolled across holographic displays; trajectory vectors through the multiversal lattice, energy signatures of known Saganbo outposts, the chillingly precise path Kokuto was carving towards Universe 3523 with his captive.
"We need to refine the approach vector through the Heliosian Corridor," Kuro murmured, fingers flying over a floating interface, manipulating complex stellar cartography. "Saganbo's suppressed energy field creates unpredictable gravitational tides near the 3400 mark. A direct jump risks being shredded."
Kagaya, nearly brushing the ceiling with his towering frame, slammed a fist the size of a small asteroid onto his thigh. "YAHOOO! LET'S GET THEM NICE AND QUICK!!!" The deck plating groaned in protest. His tribal markings pulsed emerald with his excitement, casting shifting shadows. "SMASH THE SWORD GUY! RESCUE THE SUNSHINE BOY! YEEHAW!"
Netsudo, huddled on a reinforced bench wrapped in his fungal-insulation cloak like a terrified burrito, flinched violently. "Hey! Calm down already, Kagaya! Why are you screaming?! My ears are ringing! And my nerves... they're already frayed enough without you shaking the ship apart!" He pulled the cloak tighter, amber eyes wide. "This isn't a festival!"
Kagaya beamed, utterly oblivious. "I'M JUST EXCITED!!! IT'S TIME FOR ACTION! BIG SMASHING ACTION!"
A rare, almost imperceptible smirk touched Kuro's lips as he adjusted his layered goggles. "Statistically improbable as it seems, Kagaya's enthusiasm aligns with mission parameters. Speed is of the essence. Kokuto's transit velocity, as calculated from the residual void-shear signatures, suggests he'll breach the 3390th universe barrier within the hour. Delaying increases the probability of Shinji's permanent neural degradation by 17.8%. So... yes. Excitement is warranted." He paused, glancing at the towering warrior. "Though perhaps expressed at a lower decibel level."
X, a figure cloaked in non-reflective grey that seemed to absorb the ambient light, stood unnervingly still near the viewport. His presence was less seen and more felt – a spatial anomaly. He turned his featureless hood towards Miryoku, who sat quietly, twisting a strand of her spun-starlight hair. Her violet eyes, usually holding cosmic calm, were clouded, fixed on the swirling colours of Universe 3404 outside but seeing none of it.
"What is it?" X's voice was toneless, projected directly into her mind, bypassing sound. "Are you worried?"
Miryoku jumped slightly, startled out of her reverie. She looked at the grey silhouette, then down at her hands. "Oh! Yeah... For sure... I mean..." Her voice was small, barely audible over the ship's hum and Kagaya's restless shifting. "I'm way too weak for this. I faced a Monarch before... Nirvana... and I let Kuro fight alone. I froze. My light... it felt useless against that darkness. What can I possibly do in this assault? Against Kokuto? Against... him?" She didn't need to name Saganbo; the memory of her talk with the others about him.
X's hood tilted slightly. Then, a sound like dry stones grating together emerged – a laugh. "Haha!! Well, you surely might find Monarchs statistically overwhelming based on raw power output. As far as quantifiable metrics go." He paused, the grey fabric seeming to ripple. "But you possess something infinitely rarer, Ooka Miryoku of Luminara. A resonance that defies quantification. A warm and kind heart. You stand here, not for conquest, not for power, but for the sake of trillions upon trillions of living beings whose names you'll never know, whose light you'll never see. That conviction, that harmony within you... it is a power Saganbo cannot comprehend and Amado cannot calculate. Do not diminish yourself, little miss. In the coming chaos, that light, that heart, may prove the most crucial variable of all."
Miryoku stared at him, tears welling in her violet eyes, not of sorrow now, but of a profound, unexpected warmth. A fragile smile touched her lips. "Yeah... Yeah, that could be true." She wiped her eyes, her spine straightening. A flicker of her inner light, warm and turquoise, pulsed softly around her. "We will definitely save Shinji!"
Kagaya roared, pumping a massive fist. "HELL YEAH! THAT'S THE SPIRIT, LIGHT LADY!"
Netsudo, momentarily forgotten as Kagaya celebrated, squeaked as the giant's enthusiasm shook the bench again. "Shirou! For the love of whay you love, stop him! Or at least hold him still!"
Shirou leaned against a bulkhead, meticulously cleaning the barrel of his monstrous rifle, the Whispering Wind's namesake. He didn't look up. "I actually have no business with you guys anyways." His voice was cool, detached.
The statement landed like a dud shell in the room. Everyone – Miryoku, Kagaya, Netsudo, even Kuro paused his calculations – turned to stare at the sniper. Merus remained impassive, observing. X was an unreadable monolith.
Shirou finally glanced up, meeting their confused gazes with his own sharp, gold-flecked red eyes. "After all," he continued, polishing a scope lens, "I simply agreed to help for some Space Dust from Merus. Two thousand units, to be precise. A lucrative contract, given the... entertainment value." He smirked, a flash of white teeth. "Risk assessment indicated acceptable parameters for the payout."
Kagaya's emerald glow flared dangerously. He took a step towards Shirou, the deck groaning ominously. "HEY! WOULD YOU CUT THE CRAP ALREADY?" His voice was a physical force, making Netsudo whimper and clamp his hands over his ears. "THE ENTIRE FATE OF THE MULTIVERSE IS ON THE LINE! WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS?!"
Shirou winced, rubbing his ear. "Would you please stop shouting? My eardrums are calibrated instruments, not blast shields." He holstered his cleaning rod with a sigh. "And I'm 'acting like this' because it genuinely isn't my business. I'm a simple problem-solver. A sniper. A contractor. I deal in targets and payments, not cosmic destinies or multiversal salvation. My business begins and ends with the terms of the contract."
Miryoku stepped forward, her light pulsing gently, a counterpoint to Kagaya's fury. "Then why are you risking your life for it?" she asked softly. "You fought Gorogilians. You're here now, about to jump into Saganbo's backyard. For Dust?"
Shirou met her gaze, his usual flippancy momentarily absent. "Because," he stated plainly, "it simply is an offer worth risking your life for. Two thousand Space Dust buys a lot of quiet retirement on a beach world with no gods, no monsters, and definitely no shouting giants." He shrugged, the mask of detachment sliding back into place. "And let's be honest, I haven't exactly been pivotal. Gorogilian plasma? Useful, maybe. But hardly a game-changer against what's coming."
Merus moved then, his cerulean form seeming to solidify the space around him. "That's not true, Shirou." His ancient voice held a quiet weight. "The Gorogilian bio-plasma you retrieved is more than a component; it's a key. You have helped. Significantly." He inclined his head slightly. "Your cooperation, regardless of motivation, is valued."
Shirou held the God of Creation's gaze for a long moment. His expression remained unreadable, but a flicker of something – surprise? assessment? – crossed his features before he looked away, focusing intently on his rifle's safety catch. "...Hmph."
X shifted, the grey cloak seeming to ripple like disturbed water. "The temporal window narrows. Shall we enact the transit? My singularity warp is primed."
Merus shook his head, his eyes scanning the holographic map. "Not yet. Jumping directly to the intercept point risks detection the moment we materialize within Saganbo's energy field. We need a staging ground. We divert to Universe 3403. Its quantum signature is chaotic, a natural dead zone. Saganbo's suppressed energy doesn't permeate there. We'll regroup and launch the final phase from its shadow."
Kuro's head snapped up, his obsidian eyes widening behind his goggles. "Suppressed energy? He's consistently emitting across multiple universes? What's the range? The energy density required for that..." His fingers flew, recalculating frantically. "The power drain alone would destabilize a Class-3 singularity!"
Merus's expression was grim. "The field extends from his throne at Universe 3523, encompassing 118 universes coreward and 118 universes spinward. A sphere of 236 universes saturated with his presence, even in its passive state."
Silence descended, heavy and cold. Netsudo whimpered, pulling his hood completely over his head. Kagaya's exuberance faded, replaced by a look of profound, primal unease. Miryoku's light dimmed slightly. Kuro stopped typing, his face pale.
"Two hundred... thirty-six..." Kuro breathed, the numbers tasting like ash. "The energy density... it would sterilize all complex life. Incinerate planetary cores. How... how can mortals exist even ten universes away?"
Merus met his horrified gaze. "They don't, Kuro. The universes within that sphere... they are voids. Graveyards. Saganbo's domain is built upon annihilation. What you perceive as 'suppressed energy' is merely the lingering echo of countless extinguished realities."
Netsudo let out a choked sob from within his cloak. The scale of the horror was incomprehensible. The multiverse wasn't just threatened; vast swathes of it were already dead, consumed by the God of Destruction's mere presence.
Merus continued, his voice low and terrible. "Understand this: the energy you sense radiating across those 236 dead universes? That is Saganbo restrained. Holding back. A fraction of his true potential. If he ever chose to unleash his full power, to truly radiate..." Merus paused, the implication hanging heavier than any words. "It wouldn't just engulf the known multiverse. It would bleed beyond its boundaries. Into spaces beyond."
X gave a single, slow nod, his grey form absorbing the horrified silence. "As expected of the man himself. A walking extinction event."
"Then... then the staging area..." Miryoku whispered, forcing the words through her dread. "Universe 3403... it's outside this... this sphere of death?"
"It is," Merus confirmed. "A sliver of neutrality amidst the encroaching shadow. From there, we intercept Kokuto as he transitions between the 3395th and 3396th universes. He must pass close to 3403. We confront him. We demand he release Shinji's neural seal. Only the one who cast it can safely undo it."
"And if he refuses?" Kuro asked, his voice tight.
"Then," Merus stated, his cerulean eyes hardening like frozen stars, "we take Shinji by force, seal and all, and pray Kuro can reverse-engineer a countermeasure before Shinji's mind dissolves. X will open the retrieval portal the instant we have him, or the instant Kokuto is neutralized. We jump immediately to the pre-designated safe haven in Universe 3642 – the farthest edge of Saganbo's suppressed reach."
"Understood," X intoned. He raised a grey-gloved hand. Space before him didn't tear; it unfolded, peeling back layers of reality to reveal a swirling vortex of compressed starlight and quantum foam – the entrance to his Absolute Singular Warp. "Destination: Universe 3403. Transit initiating... now."
One by one, propelled by necessity and dwindling hope, they stepped through the impossible gateway: Kagaya with a determined roar, Netsudo trembling but resolute, Miryoku taking a steadying breath, Kuro analyzing the warp's harmonics even as he entered, Shirou checking his rifle one last time with professional detachment, Merus radiating ancient purpose, and X, the architect of their passage, stepping in last. The vortex snapped shut behind them, leaving only the humming silence of the empty Space adrift.
Universe 3403: The Staging Ground
They materialized on a fractured asteroid plateau floating amidst a nebula of iridescent gas and dying stars alongside the Stardust Weaver. The silence here was profound, a vacuum that seemed to suck at sound itself. The chaotic quantum signature Merus described felt like static on the skin, a disorienting buzz in the mind.
X stood perfectly still, his hooded head tilted as if listening to the void itself. "I detect residual spiritual energy signatures... approximately four universal transitions coreward. Powerful. Focused. Void-aligned."
Merus hissed, a sound like escaping steam. "Kokuto. He's breached the 3395th threshold already? Faster than projected!"
Netsudo wrung his hands. "Amazing, X! You can sense energy signatures across universal boundaries? That's... that's beyond any scanner I've ever theorized!"
Before X could respond, his entire form snapped rigid. Every sensor in Kuro's visor spiked with catastrophic overload warnings. Miryoku gasped, her light flaring defensively. Kagaya instinctively shifted into a combat stance, muscles coiling like tectonic plates. Shirou's rifle was in his hands before anyone could blink. Merus's cerulean skin darkened, ancient power coiling tight.
An impossible pressure descended. Not from a direction, but from everywhere. It was the crushing weight of a collapsing galaxy, the silent scream of entropy given form. It permeated the very fabric of Universe 3403, making the asteroid tremble and the nebula recoil.
X whirled, his toneless voice cracking with unprecedented urgency. "DODGE! NOW!"
It was already too late for the universe.
Space behind X didn't just rupture; it shattered. Not a tear, but an erasure. From the impossible null-point, a single, bare blue foot extended. It moved with languid, inevitable grace, yet faster than thought, faster than light, faster than causality itself.
It touched the fractured plateau of Universe 3403.
KRA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The impact wasn't sound. It was the universe itself breaking apart. The asteroid platform vaporized instantaneously. The iridescent nebula flared blinding white, then imploded into absolute darkness. Stars within light-years winked out like snuffed candles. The very laws of physics screamed and twisted under the violation. A shockwave of pure, annihilative force radiated outwards, not through space, but as space, erasing everything in its path.
X moved. His grey form became a blur of impossible motion. Not teleportation, but a warping of proximity, folding the space around his allies towards him and away from the epicenter of oblivion. He grabbed Miryoku's arm, Kuro's shoulder, yanked Netsudo and Kagaya by their cloaks, hooked a hand under Merus's arm, stomped hard on the Stardust Weaver as if catching it with his foot and somehow snagged Shirou's rifle strap. Then, with a grunt of effort that vibrated through their bones, he wrenched.
Reality folded again, violently. They tumbled through searing non-space, the afterimage of Universe 3403's death throes burning their retinas – a silent, expanding sphere of perfect, hungry blackness.
They slammed onto another barren asteroid, this one in the marginally calmer void of Universe 3404. The transition was jarring, brutal. Netsudo retched. Kagaya groaned, shaking his head. Miryoku's light flickered erratically. Kuro scrambled to his feet, visor scanning frantically. Shirou checked his rifle with frantic speed. Merus stood tall, but his cerulean form flickered, strained.
X leaned forward, hands on his knees, the grey cloak shimmering with spent energy. "That... was close," he projected, his mental voice strained. "The margin of error was practically 0.3 picoseconds or lesser."
Kagaya, shaken but awestruck, bellowed, "NOT ONLY THAT YOU ARE GREAT AT TELEPORTING AND SENSING, BUT YOU'RE EVEN THIS FAST?! MAN, YOU'RE PERFECT!"
A figure coalesced from the lingering cosmic dust where Universe 3403 had been. Amado. Drowned-moonlight blue skin absorbing the weak starlight of 3404, eyes like frozen event horizons fixed upon them. His lipless mouth curved into something resembling amusement.
"Well well," his voice vibrated unpleasantly in their skulls, bypassing ears. "Didn't expect such a fascinating mortal anomaly among your little troupe, Merus. Capable of perceiving my approach... barely. And escaping the initial consequence. Intriguing."
X straightened, his grey form radiating cold defiance. "Oh? So it's this 'Amado' entity. The designated servitor of Saganbo?"
Merus stepped forward, placing himself slightly ahead of the group. "He is. The architect of ruin. The hand that executes the will of destruction."
Amado inclined his head, a mockery of courtesy. "Flattering. And accurate. My current directive is simple: ensure Kokuto's uninterrupted transit with the asset. Your retrieval operation... ends here. Consider this asteroid your final vantage point." He raised one hand, fingers splayed. The void around them grew colder, denser, pressing in like a physical force. "Observe the futility."
Kagaya's emerald markings blazed. "WHY DON'T WE JUST TEAM UP ON HIM? SIX – SEVEN OF US! WE WILL SURELY WIN!" His roar held bravado, but a tremor of doubt lurked beneath.
Merus didn't take his eyes off Amado. "I surely hope it would be that easy, Kagaya. But hope is a poor shield against primordial power."
X's hood turned towards the giant. "Sorry to temper your enthusiasm, warrior, but his energy signature... it occupies a dimensional stratum beyond conventional conflict. Engaging him directly is statistically suicidal."
Kuro's hands were already moving. With clinical precision, he drew the fractured obsidian shard of Nirvana's HeartDeath Rod from a compartment on his belt. Wires snaked from his tech-gauntlet, connecting to the shard. Energy crackled – not spiritual, but raw, amplified plasma drawn from the ship's reserves channeled through his suit. The shard glowed with a dangerous, unstable violet light. "Suicidal or not," Kuro stated, his voice cold and focused, "it remains our only statistically non-zero chance of achieving the primary objective. 0.8% is infinitely greater than 0% after all."
Miryoku drew a deep, shuddering breath. X's words echoed in her mind: *A warm and kind heart... the most crucial variable.* She wasn't a frontline fighter. But she was Harmony. She was Light. She raised her hands, palms outward. Not an aggressive stance, but a foundational one. Her inner light, warm turquoise and deep amethyst, didn't flare aggressively; it solidified, weaving intricate, resonant patterns around her and her allies. A shield, not of brute force, but of profound, stabilizing resonance. "For Shinji," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion but steady. "For everyone."
Shirou sighed, a sound lost in the oppressive silence. He raised Emerald, the barrel humming as it cycled to maximum yield. Emerald light gathered at its tip, casting sharp shadows on his face. "Two thousand Dust," he muttered, almost to himself. "Better be one hell of a beach." He sighted down the scope, targeting not Amado's core (impossible to pinpoint), but the space he occupied. "Emerald Tsunami primed. Firing solution locked."
Merus closed his eyes for a nanosecond, drawing upon the ancient wellspring of Creation within him. When they opened, they blazed with cerulean fire. Raw, divine energy, the counterpoint to Amado's negation, coalesced around him – not a weapon yet, but a promise of one. A wave of pure potential.
X didn't attack. He became the battlefield. Around Amado, dozens of miniature singularities snapped into existence – not portals, but spatial sinkholes, gravitational vortexes designed to tear, distort, and trap. His grey form blurred as he prepared to manipulate the very geometry of the engagement zone.
Kagaya roared, not in anger, but in pure, unadulterated challenge. His muscles swelled further, veins standing out like cables. Emerald energy, raw and volcanic, erupted from him, encasing his massive fists. He slammed them together, creating a shockwave that cracked the asteroid beneath them. "TIME TO SMASH!!!"
Netsudo, trembling violently, whimpered but thrust his hands out from his cloak. Tiny, superheated particles of condensed magma, glowing white-hot, swarmed around him like furious bees. "I-I c-can burn! I c-can help burn!" His voice was a terrified squeak, but the particles hummed with lethal heat.
Amado watched the preparations, his expression unchanging, those event-horizon eyes absorbing the light show. "Fascinating," he murmured, the word carrying the weight of a collapsing star. "A symphony of futility. Commence your final movement."
They attacked.
Kagaya led with a world-shattering haymaker, emerald energy screaming.
Netsudo unleashed his superheated magma swarm like a pyroclastic cloud.
Miryoku's harmonic shield pulsed, reinforcing their forms against the crushing void-pressure.
Shirou's Emerald Tsunami beam lanced out, a river of destructive light.
Kuro fired the amplified HeartDeath Rod shard, a bolt of unstable violet negation.
Merus unleashed a wave of pure cerulean creation-energy, a counter-flood to Amado's entropy.
X's spatial sinkholes snapped shut around Amado like cosmic jaws.
The convergence of power upon the single point Amado occupied was cataclysmic. Emerald met void, creation met destruction, magma met absolute cold, harmonics met silence, science met the divine. Space itself buckled and screamed. Light, sound, color – all concepts ceased to exist in the maelstrom of annihilating forces. A shockwave of pure impossibility ripped outwards, shattering the asteroid they stood on and carving a canyon of non-existence through the heart of Universe 3404, erasing stars, nebulae, and the fabric of reality itself for light-years.
Through the blinding, deafening chaos, Merus's voice, amplified by divine will, pierced the annihilation:
"NOW! RETRIEVE THE TRASCENDER!!!"