Chapter 448: Two Enemies Become Friends

Chapter 448: Chapter 448: Two Enemies Become Friends

Chapter 448: Two Enemies Become Friends

"Really?"

Yuuki Asuna’s face immediately lit up with excitement.

She quickly approached Sakurakawa Rikka and asked eagerly,

"Is there really a way? A way to make sure he can..."

"Hey, hey, hey. Don’t get excited yet."

Iwanaga Kotoko grabbed Yuuki Asuna by the sleeve, rolled her eyes, and spoke impatiently.

"Can you stop acting like you’re in some dramatic scene where the wife desperately chases after her doomed husband? He’s not dead yet."

"We’ll obviously do everything we can and try every possible method to avoid the worst case scenario."

Her gaze shifted toward Sakurakawa Rikka.

A complicated expression appeared in her violet eyes.

"Even if it means..."

"Even if it means abandoning my position as the God of Wisdom."

"It’s the same for me."

Sakurakawa Rikka looked calmly at Iwanaga Kotoko.

Then her lips parted slightly.

"For him, I can give up everything."

"Huh?"

Yuuki Asuna froze.

Kaguya Shinomiya froze.

Hayasaka Ai froze.

Even Fujiwara Chika, the self proclaimed Love Detective who was usually somewhat scatterbrained, stared at Sakurakawa Rikka in complete disbelief.

Why had this suddenly turned into a confession?

And right in front of all of them?

"Hmm?"

Sakurakawa Rikka, who had caused the entire situation, remained completely calm.

"Why do all of you look so surprised?"

"I have special feelings for him. Isn’t that obvious to anyone with eyes?"

"Uh..."

Fujiwara Chika laughed awkwardly.

"Miss Sakurakawa, having special feelings is one thing..."

"Saying them out loud in front of everyone is something completely different."

"Why can’t I say it?"

Sakurakawa Rikka seemed genuinely unable to understand Fujiwara Chika’s point.

She frowned slightly.

"If you have those feelings, then say them."

"It’s not something shameful."

"Everyone, calm down for a second."

Asagiri finally interrupted the increasingly bizarre development.

He smiled helplessly.

"I’m supposedly about to use the Great Seal and end up hanging on the moon, and you’re already performing a love triangle in front of me?"

"At least wait until everything is resolved before doing that."

He paused.

"No, actually, don’t do it even after everything is resolved."

"I can seal Nyx, but I don’t think I can seal a terrifying love triangle."

"Mm. Business first."

Iwanaga Kotoko was the first to regain her composure.

She looked at Yuuki Asuna and the others.

"You should continue training as usual."

"Rikka and I are only conducting investigations and research for now. I’ll keep all of you informed if we discover anything concrete."

"Okay."

Yuuki Asuna, Kaguya Shinomiya, Hayasaka Ai, and Fujiwara Chika nodded before leaving.

Since clearing the previous Dungeon, each of them, along with Kato Megumi and Yamauchi Sakura, had been undergoing intense special training.

Iwanaga Kotoko and Sakurakawa Rikka were gathering and analyzing information related to Curses, hoping to discover a method of completely eliminating Nyx, a purely conceptual existence, without forcing Asagiri to use the Great Seal.

Meanwhile, although Miwa Ashikaga’s personal combat strength as a Player was only average, she was doing everything possible to coordinate with the Shijo and Fujiwara Families, trying to gather as many Players as possible before the final decisive battle.

Everyone who knew that Nyx was coming...

Everyone who knew Asagiri had obtained the Great Seal...

Was doing everything they could to find a way to destroy Nyx without sacrificing him.

...

"So..."

Asagiri walked along the street beside Sakurakawa Rikka and Iwanaga Kotoko.

He smiled.

"What exactly is this method?"

"Since Nyx can draw power from death..."

The corners of Iwanaga Kotoko’s lips rose.

Her confident demeanor as the God of Wisdom returned as she spoke slowly.

"Then why can’t the System, as the collective will of our world, draw power from humanity as well?"

"Power that could oppose Nyx."

"Or at the very least, power that would allow the System to support us more effectively."

Hearing her idea, Asagiri showed no obvious reaction.

Instead, he asked,

"Is that just a theory based on how Nyx gains strength?"

"Or do you have something more concrete?"

"We don’t have much time left. There’s very little room for mistakes."

"We can’t guarantee it completely, but we do have some confidence."

Sakurakawa Rikka took over the explanation.

"By combining Kotoko’s knowledge of Cursed phenomena with the Sakurakawa Family’s research and accumulated data on the origins of Cursed power..."

"And adding my ability to observe and interfere with the future to a limited degree..."

"We’ve gained the ability to guide events toward an entirely new future."

"As for what that future will ultimately become, we still can’t say."

"We’re missing the most important piece."

"What kind of thoughts must the people of this world generate in order to provide power to the System, which itself is formed from the collective will of the world?"

"And although the System is a manifestation of that collective will, we still can’t say with complete certainty that it can gain power through conceptual forces in the same way Nyx does."

After Sakurakawa Rikka finished, Iwanaga Kotoko added,

"Either way, it’s worth trying."

"There are risks too, aren’t there?"

Although their theory might have sounded abstract to an ordinary person, Asagiri immediately understood what they meant.

After all, his Personas themselves were born from powerful conceptual forces.

"Following the most obvious logic, the System represents resistance against the fate of destruction embodied by Nyx."

"So if the people of this world learn about Nyx and develop a powerful collective desire that it must never be allowed to descend, then theoretically, those thoughts could strengthen the System."

"But if even one step goes wrong..."

"Instead of strengthening the System, people could begin fearing destruction and death."

"And that would only accelerate Nyx’s invasion."

"Exactly..."

Sakurakawa Rikka murmured thoughtfully.

"It’s not difficult to influence a portion of people into developing a particular belief."

"But something on this scale, involving all humanity across the world..."

"That’s far beyond what I can control."

"If something goes wrong, then even if I glimpse the resulting future, I may be unable to change it."

Sakurakawa Rikka’s ability, like that of Sakurakawa Dan, whom Asagiri had fought before, only allowed her to glimpse possible future developments.

The future could be changed.

But not arbitrarily.

Although being able to see possible futures gave Sakurakawa Rikka an enormous advantage, she was not omnipotent.

Only by gathering the necessary causes and placing them in the proper positions could she guide events toward the desired effect.

For example, if Sakurakawa Rikka suddenly attacked Asagiri right now, then among all the futures she could observe, there would be no possibility in which she defeated or killed him.

Her current strength simply did not contain the necessary cause that could produce such a future.

No matter how many coincidences occurred or how extraordinary her luck became, an impossible result would remain impossible.

That was the limitation of her ability.

And a future involving the collective will of the entire world had already far exceeded the limits of what Sakurakawa Rikka could control.

Once this plan began, even she could not predict exactly what kind of future would emerge.

"Damn it..."

Iwanaga Kotoko clenched her fair hands into fists.

For the first time, intense frustration appeared on her delicate face.

She gritted her teeth and murmured,

"If I understood humans better..."

"If I weren’t the God of Wisdom governing Curses, but some kind of God of Humanity..."

"Don’t say things like that."

Asagiri reached out and ruffled Iwanaga Kotoko’s hair.

He smiled.

"The way you are right now is already perfect to me."

"Besides, doesn’t a God who exists purely for humanity basically become a System?"

"I might like mascot girls, but a God without even a physical body who can’t do anything intimate with me is completely unacceptable."

"I’m a devoted believer in the God of Wisdom."

Iwanaga Kotoko’s pretty face immediately flushed.

She raised a hand and wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes before smiling.

"Since you’re the one who brought up intimate things..."

"After everything is over, you’d better reward me properly."

"Sure. No problem."

Asagiri smiled.

Then his expression gradually became more thoughtful.

"If we simply announce that Nyx is about to invade our world, and show everyone what happened to the Blackwatch world, then ordinary people will naturally feel despair and fear."

"But what if..."

"We give them hope?"

"What if we make them understand that Nyx can be defeated?"

"That this world can win?"

"Hope..."

Sakurakawa Rikka softly repeated the word.

Her expression remained calm.

"That might work."

"But Nyx is still an overwhelmingly powerful conceptual existence capable of destroying an entire world and reshaping it according to its will."

"For ordinary people, who aren’t Players, to genuinely believe that something like that can be defeated..."

"The person giving them hope would need to be equally powerful."

"And human..."

Halfway through her sentence, Sakurakawa Rikka noticed Asagiri’s expression.

Then she understood the most important part of his idea.

The nine Players, including herself, who had already defeated Nyx’s Incarnations...

Were exactly the kind of people who fulfilled those conditions.

Players themselves could not become stronger simply because other people believed in them.

But if humanity’s hope strengthened the System, the manifestation of the world’s collective will, then the System could suppress Nyx to some degree.

And if they could gain enough of an advantage to force Nyx into a desperate situation...

Asagiri could finish it with Supreme Magic Bullet.

"Now there’s only one question left."

Asagiri stopped walking.

He looked toward the bustling crowd moving along the street.

Then he spoke softly.

"How do we make everyone in this world understand that we possess enough power to stop this ending?"

"No..."

His gaze sharpened.

"Enough power to completely eliminate the root cause behind it?"

....

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