Aberrants.
For all sorts of reasons.
They are 'creatures' that Espers transform into after being corrupted by a source of contamination, a high-level Aberrant, or even a Catastrophe Beast.
They feed on human despair and ruin.
Heartless beings that trample life without a second thought.
Ever since the first Catastrophe Beast tore open the sky and descended upon the world seven hundred years ago.
The war between Catastrophe Beasts, Aberrants, and humanity has never ceased.
But... why would an Aberrant suddenly appear in the city?
Doubt bloomed in Su Yuzu's mind.
A dark red domain spread out, dyeing most of the combat practice grounds a grim, crimson hue.
This was an Inherent Ability belonging to Aberrants or Catastrophe Beasts.
「Catastrophe Domain」.
Within a Catastrophe Domain, the damage conventional weapons could inflict on Aberrants or Catastrophe Beasts was negligible.
The more powerful the Catastrophe Beast or Aberrant, the larger the range of the Catastrophe Domain they could deploy.
It was said... that when the Valkyrie from Imperial Capital University fell...
...the Catastrophe Domain she deployed covered an entire town in a mere instant.
To this day, that Catastrophe Domain still wanders the land like a curse branded upon the earth, a testament to its master's terrifying power.
「The Abyss of Eternal Smiles」.
That was the title of the former 「The Empire's First Archer」 as an Aberrant.
And also... the most difficult world boss to defeat in the game.
Thump~
Thump-thump-thump-thump!!!
As the crimson Catastrophe Domain unfurled, the game's battle music began to play.
The flow of time itself seemed to freeze in that moment.
Before Su Yuzu's eyes, annotations appeared one by one, like a tutorial trial from the game.
[The Catastrophe Domain will continuously drain the Operator's stamina.]
[Once an Operator's stamina is depleted, the Aberration process will begin.]
[...]
The so-called Aberration process, in the game, was represented by the Operators' defeat CGs.
All Su Yuzu could say was... they were very useful.
After all, most of the Aberrants in the game were alluring girls with tempting figures.
Just like the female monsters in most mobile games or eroge, the Aberrants' outfits became progressively more eye-catching and seductive.
And... the higher an Aberrant's level, the more seductive their attire.
A first-sequence Aberrant... would be almost entirely wrapped in a black, silk-like Aberrant material.
This material would cover them all the way to their face.
Like a full-face mask, it covered the nose and mouth, leaving only a pair of dark gold, slit pupils exposed.
But a sixth-sequence Aberrant... like the queen who resided in the abyss.
Aside from the black angel wings unfurling from her waist and a thigh-high boot on her right leg... there was barely any fabric left on her body.
[Please select your weapon—]
[Practice Combat Gloves]
[Practice Kodachi]
[...]
[Girl's Umbrella]
Icons for various weapons appeared before Su Yuzu.
Sensing the gloomy, despairing, and ruinous presence behind her...
...Su Yuzu directly chose the strongest among them, the Girl's Umbrella.
Even the weakest Aberrants were first-sequence.
For Su Yuzu, who hadn't even reached the first sequence yet, this was already a formidable enemy.
What's more... she had to protect Saotome Yukina.
She forcefully pulled Saotome Yukina up by the arm, scooping the girl who had collapsed limply on the ground a second ago into her embrace.
Su Yuzu wrapped her left arm around the girl's waist.
Behind her, the Aberrant's blade was less than a foot from her shoulder.
The next second... a snow-white paper umbrella materialized in Su Yuzu's hand.
The canopy snapped open in an instant.
CLANG—!
The sound of metal on metal echoed throughout the combat practice grounds.
In Su Yuzu's arms, Saotome Yukina could only stare blankly at her senpai's profile.
"S-Sen... pai..."
Su Yuzu, still holding Saotome Yukina's waist, was knocked back by a tremendous force, stumbling several steps.
She closed the paper umbrella.
Su Yuzu took a moment to glance at the canopy.
The spot where the blade had struck was completely unmarked.
But the web of her own thumb was numb from the impact.
"So..."
Su Yuzu turned to face the Aberrant.
Unlike a typical first-sequence Aberrant, this one... had what looked like the remnants of diamond-shaped chain marks on its Aberrant material.
Furthermore, a large portion of the material around its waist and abdomen was missing.
The girl's fair-skinned waist and stomach were exposed, revealing clear abdominal lines.
On her lower abdomen, black and purple lines formed the pattern of an open eye.
And her golden eyes weren't the usual slit pupils of an Aberrant.
Instead... they looked hollow and unfocused.
[Level 10 - Aberrant · Puppet].
Even if it was just the lowest level of the first sequence, as a mere Level 1 Psychokinesis User, Su Yuzu had to be extremely careful.
But thankfully... it was a lowest-level, first-sequence Aberrant.
It didn't seem to be a complete Aberrant yet.
Not yet at a level where Su Yuzu would be completely powerless to resist.
Time froze once more.
The Aberrant girl, who had just stepped forward to swing her blade at Su Yuzu, was also frozen in mid-air.
Around her lower abdomen, four arrows formed a targeting reticle, indicating the Aberrant girl's weak point to Su Yuzu.
—That eye.
Plucking the kodachi from Saotome Yukina's hand,
Su Yuzu advanced instead of retreating, stepping toward the blade in the Aberrant girl's grasp.
Saotome Yukina stood frozen in place, stunned.
In her eyes, within this crimson world, only the girl with short hair like spilled ink was in motion.
Her figure was slender.
Her neck was fair and long.
Aside from its excessive brute strength, the Aberrant Puppet before her seemed to have no other abilities.
Still... she couldn't let her guard down.
But in the Aberrant girl's eyes... the Su Yuzu of this moment looked completely different.
The girl's form was seemingly delicate.
But her crimson eyes shone with a brilliant light.
Fervent, and brimming with excited killing intent.
Even as an Aberrant Puppet with little reason,
a thought of retreat actually surfaced in its mind at that moment.
The white umbrella deflected the path of the longsword's slash.
The kodachi in her right hand plunged straight into the Aberrant girl's abdomen.
The price... was that the longsword, wreathed in faint black lightning, would inevitably strike her on the shoulder.
The Aberrant's breathing echoed in Su Yuzu's ear.
It was chaotic and intense.
As if it was feeling pain and fear.
A first-sequence Aberrant still had a chance of being restored.
Naturally... the girl locked within the Aberrant's mind could also clearly feel that pain and fear.
The girl before her was definitely an 'abnormality' even more abnormal than herself.
Spinning gears burst from the girl's back and then shattered.
The black and purple eye-like totem peeled away from the Aberrant girl's body bit by bit.
The Aberrant material covering her body dissolved into motes of black and purple light, leaving her fair skin completely exposed to the air.
But... the blade slashing down toward Su Yuzu's shoulder did not change its trajectory.
Su Yuzu stared at the dark purple blade just inches away.
She felt she had never been as calm as she was right now.
Her crimson eyes widened.
Ting—
A crisp sound.
Just like the first time she had bent the aluminum spoon at the Su family home—
The blade that had extended from the Aberrant's body... was forcibly... bent into a 'mosquito coil'.
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