"Absolutely isolate any means of investigation other than direct visual observation!"
Yuuya breathed a sigh of relief. He finally understood why Shokuhou Misaki's attempts to use her Mental Out ability on him had failed—and why she had resorted to petty bullying instead. It was all thanks to the system's passive protection.
[Host, would you like to open the Unique Treasure Chest now?] the system's voice rang in his mind.
"Of course. Open it immediately." Yuuya's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
In an instant, a treasure chest radiating the brilliance of a galaxy appeared in front of him. With a soft click, the lid lifted.
Inside, a blinding, destructive ball of light—visible only to him—pulsed with raw power. As the light slowly faded, the treasure within was revealed: a multifaceted trophy in the shape of a dodecahedron (a twelve-sided star).
An invisible force shook his mind and spirit instantly. It was a beauty so profound that those who saw its brilliance for the first time would find their minds frozen in awe.
Yuuya was truly unable to describe what he was seeing; it was as if he had just witnessed the creation of all things, the birth of a universe compressed into a single object.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for opening a Unique Treasure Chest and obtaining the Unique Item: The Star Grail (Suniaster).]
[The Star Grail: Originating from the "No Game No Life" universe. It is an omniscient and omnipotent conceptual miracle. Obtaining it grants the user supreme authority to surpass all things in the universe and rewrite the laws of reality.]
"It's the Star Grail! Wow... System, you're amazing! This instantly puts me at the ceiling of power!" Yuuya's eyes widened, feeling like his heart was about to give out.
The Star Grail. The supreme conceptual weapon. The God of Play, Tet, was born from this. Possessing it allowed one to dominate the universe, or even recreate it from scratch. Even the slightest ripple of its power surpassed any matter in this world.
He was starting with a divine artifact. He was practically born with god-tier gear. Even in a hellish world like A Certain Magical Index, he would be incredibly stable.
"Does the Host wish to fuse with the Star Grail?"
"Of course! Hurry up!" Yuuya urged smugly.
[Ding! Initiating fusion.]
The Star Grail suddenly slammed into his chest, dissolving into light and entering his body. His consciousness blurred instantly.
In that split second, an invisible force capable of easily rewriting the rules of the universe spread out, enveloping the entire world in the blink of an eye.
Somewhere in the Hidden World (The Layer of the Magic Gods):
Countless terrifying beings were awakened from their slumber.
They felt a power that transcended everything they knew. Originally, a single thought from them could change the world, adding or removing "Phases" like layers of paint. But under this unknown power, they felt their authority to create the universe slip away.
Shock rippled through the pantheon.
"What is this? It's a power beyond our reach. How could a power we don't know about exist in this world?"
"I cannot locate its source."
"We must find it."
At the same time, those who stood at the pinnacle of the Magic Side felt the rules of the world shift.
Vatican City:
"What on earth is going on? Has the world become so distorted that it's unrecognizable even to me?"
A young man with fiery red clothes stood in the Vatican, looking up at the sky. Fiamma of the Right. He possessed the power of the "One Above God," yet the rules of the world had suddenly become completely unfamiliar to him. This made him very anxious.
"It seems I need to speed up the plan. Otherwise, it's impossible to predict what this world will become."
London, England:
Inside St. George's Cathedral, a stunningly beautiful woman with floor-length blonde hair paused in the middle of brushing it.
Archbishop Laura Stuart.
Her beautiful face showed rare shock. Had the rules of the world been altered by those arrogant Magic Gods again?
"This power is so strong... it truly lives up to their reputation. It even makes me feel powerless," she muttered, before her expression shifted back to a charming, lazy smile. She yawned.
"However, none of this concerns me yet. The gods wouldn't even notice my existence, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't bother with a human like me."
The thoughts of deities were truly unfathomable.
Academy City, The Windowless Building:
The entity closest to Yuuya sensed the changes most acutely.
The "King of Science," Aleister Crowley, who had been hanging upside down in a test tube for decades, opened his eyes. His usually calm gaze revealed a rare look of disbelief.
Others might be mistaken, but he—who knew the world, the magic, and the abyss perfectly—would not be mistaken.
This power had subtly surpassed them all. This rule was not a "Phase" applied to the world. It was something else entirely.
It surpassed the rules, rewriting everything directly from the root.
"I understand this world perfectly... so what exactly is this power? Is there some other variable hidden deep within the Abyss that I failed to calculate?"
A divine, golden light appeared behind the upside-down human, shimmering like a spirit. The Holy Guardian Angel, Aiwass.
"This is not the power of this world, nor a Phase," the angel's voice resonated without sound. "It does not come from the Kabbalah, nor does it seem to be a newly born Tree. It is... alien."
The bubbles appearing from Aleister's mouth and nose as he hung in the red liquid proved that he was not as calm as he appeared.
"There really are worlds beyond this world. Interesting. Is it power from another dimension? Hehe... I'm getting more and more excited."
The power to change the world gradually weakened. The source was never found by the terrifying beings, but the event stirred up a storm in their hearts.
What shocked them even more was that no matter what magic they used, they could not remember the specific feeling of the newly emerging rules. It was as if their minds were being wiped.
Yuuya slowly opened his eyes, completely unaware that the mere trace of power leaking from the Star Grail had driven the world's elite into a panic.
He now felt a star-shaped dodecagonal celestial cup radiating dazzling light within his consciousness. His entire soul seemed to become clear.
"Now that I've merged with the Star Grail, do I have the authority to control all things?"
Yuuya was incredibly excited and confident, but also had some doubts.
"But... why do I feel like I'm no different now than I was a minute ago?"
[Ding! Host, the Star Grail operates on the concept of 'Godhood.' It can only be actively wielded by a God.]
"What? You mean I can't use it yet?!"
Yuuya felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, extinguishing the burning flames in his heart.
"Does this mean I can only look at the Star Grail and can't use it right now? What a rip-off!"
Where was the amazing starting gear he was promised? It looked good but was unusable. So frustrating.
[Ding! Although the Host cannot actively wield the Star Grail as a human, the passive power of the Grail remains. No power can harm the Host against their will. Note: This applies to both Science and Magic phenomena.]
"Super damage reduction passive!" Yuuya's frustration vanished instantly.
Although he couldn't use it to reshape the universe, it still put him in an invincible state.
It was understandable. He was still an ordinary human. The Star Grail was a device that regulated the concepts of a universe; mortals couldn't become omnipotent just by touching it.
He was like a caveman holding a nuclear launch code—completely clueless about how to input it.
'Oh well, it's not like I can't obtain other powers anyway. Academy City is full of treasure chests.'
'There's also a Top-Tier treasure chest next door that's the easiest to get.'
Having tasted the sweetness of the first treasure chest, Yuuya looked enviously at the wall separating his room from the next. The seven-colored icon on his map was taunting him.
He had to take it. Now.
Without saying a word, Yuuya got dressed, put on his shoes, washed his face, and brushed his teeth.
Then, he marched out of his room, ready to kick down the door of his neighbor: Kamijou Touma.
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