Chapter 461: The Miracles They Wrought

Chapter 461: Chapter 461: The Miracles They Wrought

Chapter 461: The Miracles They Wrought

"Summoner..."

Yuuki Asuna gritted her teeth.

Under the terrifying pressure released by Nyx, every step felt as though her bones were being crushed.

Faint cracking sounds came from her body as it approached its limit.

Her head throbbed violently, as though it might split apart at any moment.

"My body is so heavy..."

"It hurts..."

Even Yuuki Asuna, whose willpower far surpassed that of ordinary people, felt her consciousness beginning to fade beneath the pain threatening to tear her body apart.

"But..."

She clenched her teeth even harder.

Yuuki Asuna stabbed the tip of Shining Starlight into the ground and used it to support herself.

One step.

Then another.

She forced herself toward the black gun shaped summoner lying ahead.

"As long as I can reach it..."

"Asuna..."

Kaguya Shinomiya and Iwanaga Kotoko watched Yuuki Asuna drag herself forward through the overwhelming pressure.

Both desperately wanted to stand and help her.

But just like Yamauchi Sakura and the others, they could barely move.

Nyx was releasing everything it had at the cost of destroying itself and the entire world.

Under that pressure, simply remaining conscious was already difficult.

"Just a little more..."

Yuuki Asuna’s breath came in ragged gasps.

"Still can’t reach it..."

Only two meters remained.

Yet that short distance might as well have been an impossible abyss.

Her body refused to move any farther.

Yuuki Asuna stared at the summoner lying so close before her.

Unwillingness flashed through her eyes.

"Just..."

"A little closer..."

Her voice trembled.

"Asagiri..."

"If you can still hear me..."

"Please."

"Come a little closer to me."

...

At the same time, inside Nyx’s giant eye.

A space formed entirely from spirit.

"So this is where your true body is."

Asagiri slowly opened his eyes.

Before him floated an oval sphere resembling an embryo.

It radiated an eerie crimson glow.

The scenery around it twisted and shifted endlessly.

The platform beneath Asagiri’s feet was constructed from countless human skeletons.

Every skull seemed frozen in an expression of terror and despair.

From between the bones, innumerable arms stretched upward.

Their hands clawed weakly through the air as though desperately begging for salvation.

"My equipment can’t enter this place..."

Asagiri looked down.

His Hunter’s Windbreaker was gone.

The Shura Fan had vanished as well.

It appeared that external equipment and rewards granted through the System could not exist inside this conceptual space.

"Persona."

Asagiri raised his hand.

Five phantom Tarot cards appeared.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

"Alice."

"Mita."

"Hoder Franklin."

"Walrider."

"Ruiner Nergigante."

One after another, his Personas appeared behind him.

"Big Brother..."

"Player..."

Asagiri turned around.

Alice stood there in her little girl form.

The various Mitas had gathered together.

Hoder Franklin, the terrifying blood stained caregiver, looked toward him with unmistakable concern despite her horrific appearance.

Ruiner Nergigante lowered its enormous head and gently rubbed against his shoulder.

Walrider floated silently in the air.

Asagiri looked at them.

Then he smiled.

"This is the end."

He turned back toward the crimson embryo.

Dark red, lightning like patterns began spreading around his body.

"It’s over."

"Great Seal..."

Then...

A faint voice reached him.

"Come a little closer to me..."

"Please..."

"If you can hear me..."

"Just a little closer..."

Asagiri froze.

"Asuna..."

He immediately recognized Yuuki Asuna’s voice.

Yet when he looked around, she was nowhere to be seen.

Logically, that was how it should have been.

This was a conceptual space.

Only beings such as Nyx and Asagiri, who possessed the primordial power of death, should have been capable of entering.

But...

Yuuki Asuna’s voice had crossed a barrier that should have been impossible to penetrate.

Her will had reached him.

"A little closer, huh?"

Asagiri closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Then he took a deep breath.

"I understand."

...

At the top of the black tower.

Yuuki Asuna stretched her right hand forward with everything she had.

But the two meter gap remained impossible to cross.

She had no idea what else she could do.

Then...

The black gun shaped summoner suddenly trembled.

Yuuki Asuna’s eyes widened.

The weapon slowly rose from the ground as though responding to someone’s will.

It floated gently through the air.

Straight into her outstretched hand.

"Did my will..."

"Reach him?"

Before Yuuki Asuna could feel relief, an overwhelming sensation of terror surged through her body.

It felt as though she had come face to face with death itself.

As though some bottomless darkness was trying to drag her into an eternal abyss.

Her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

She knew this feeling.

The first time she had entered a Dungeon, Asagiri had allowed her to touch this exact summoner.

As the medium through which he summoned Human Asura, it carried mental pressure no ordinary person could withstand.

Simply holding it was agonizing.

Pointing it at one’s own head and pulling the trigger was another matter entirely.

"Haa..."

"Haa..."

Yuuki Asuna’s fingers trembled.

Every instinct in her body screamed at her to let go.

But she couldn’t.

She wouldn’t.

Sweat covered her face.

Her vision trembled.

Then she looked toward the giant eye hanging above them.

Determination returned to her gaze.

Slowly...

Yuuki Asuna raised the summoner.

She pressed its muzzle against her forehead.

"I..."

"I don’t want to lose him."

Her hand steadied.

"Let my will become power."

"And reach his side."

Yuuki Asuna pulled the trigger.

Click.

At that instant...

Something awakened inside her.

Not a Persona.

She could not summon one the way Asagiri could.

But her unwavering determination itself transformed into power.

That power crossed the barrier between worlds of consciousness.

And reached Asagiri.

"Asuna..."

Iwanaga Kotoko watched her.

Then she took a deep breath.

Forcing herself upright against Nyx’s crushing pressure, she staggered toward Yuuki Asuna.

She took the black summoner from her hand.

Without hesitation, she raised it to herself.

Click.

Then came Kato Megumi.

Yamauchi Sakura.

Kaguya Shinomiya.

Fujiwara Chika.

Hayasaka Ai.

Sakurakawa Rikka.

One after another...

Each of them took the summoner.

Each transformed their unwavering will into power.

And each sent that power toward Asagiri.

...

Inside the spiritual space.

Eight phantom Tarot cards slowly appeared around Asagiri’s right hand.

Yuuki Asuna.

Iwanaga Kotoko.

Kato Megumi.

Yamauchi Sakura.

Kaguya Shinomiya.

Fujiwara Chika.

Hayasaka Ai.

Sakurakawa Rikka.

The cards circled his hand like fragments of light.

Asagiri slowly closed his fingers around them.

Then...

Alice.

The Mitas.

Walrider.

Hoder Franklin.

Ruiner Nergigante.

The Personas standing behind him also transformed into Tarot shaped light.

One after another, they entered his palm.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The crimson embryo pulsed violently.

Dark red light carrying the pure aura of death erupted from Nyx’s true body.

It surged straight toward Asagiri.

He did not dodge.

Asagiri merely raised his left hand.

With a casual wave...

The death power scattered.

"You have nothing left."

Asagiri looked directly at Nyx.

His right hand slowly opened.

The combined light of the Tarot cards gathered together.

Then...

It transformed into a black gun.

Behind Asagiri, the phantom of Human Asura appeared.

Its entire form compressed into a pitch black bullet.

The bullet loaded itself into the chamber.

Asagiri raised the weapon.

The muzzle pointed directly toward Nyx’s true body.

His voice was quiet.

"This is the power that ends everything."

"Supreme Magic Bullet."

"Universe."

Bang.

The bullet formed from Human Asura left the barrel.

Pitch black light swallowed Nyx’s true body.

The entire spiritual space began to tremble violently.

Yet there was no sound.

The world created from the power of death collapsed in absolute silence.

The countless human skeletons forming the ground beneath Asagiri began turning into light.

One by one...

They disappeared.

...

[Player "Yuuki Asuna," you have cleared the Death Game.]

When Yuuki Asuna regained consciousness, she found herself back at Tokyo Skytree.

Kaguya Shinomiya, Miwa Ashikaga, and the others who had entered the Dungeon with her were nearby.

Everyone looked as though they had just awakened from a long dream.

Confusion filled their faces.

"Did we..."

Fujiwara Chika murmured.

"Win?"

Iwanaga Kotoko froze.

Then her expression suddenly changed.

"Asagiri..."

"Where is he?"

"He couldn’t have..."

"He entered the Dungeon from a different location than us."

Seeing the girls’ expressions darken, Miwa Ashikaga immediately reminded them.

"If he returned to the real world too, then he should have appeared in my office at Shuchiin Academy."

Yuuki Asuna immediately looked up.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Let’s go!"

Iwanaga Kotoko and the others shared the same fear.

Had their will truly reached Asagiri?

Had he defeated Nyx with the power they had sent him?

Or...

Had he ultimately sacrificed himself and activated Great Seal?

"I want to see him."

Yuuki Asuna forced herself to stand.

She wanted to rush to Shuchiin immediately.

But the instant she put strength into her legs...

They gave out.

Yuuki Asuna collapsed to the floor.

Her body was completely exhausted.

She had fought continuously.

She had endured Nyx’s overwhelming pressure.

And finally, she had forced herself to use Asagiri’s summoner.

At this point, she did not even possess enough strength to stand.

"I want to see him..."

Yuuki Asuna repeated.

Then tears began flowing down her cheeks.

Normally, she was strong.

Competitive.

Determined.

But the possibility that she might never see Asagiri again shattered all of that.

For the first time, she cried helplessly like a frightened girl.

"Asuna..."

The atmosphere immediately became heavy.

Then...

Clink.

A small metallic sound broke the silence.

Everyone turned.

Asagiri stood nearby.

A chilled can of Coca Cola rested in his hand.

And on his face was the same familiar smile as always.

"If I’d known you were this desperate to see me, I would’ve come straight here instead of stopping to buy an ice cold Coke."

He slowly walked toward Yuuki Asuna.

Then he knelt on one knee in front of her.

Asagiri looked at her swollen eyes.

At the tears still clinging to her cheeks.

And smiled.

"But..."

"I guess I got something out of the delay."

"I got to see this adorable side of you."

"Eyes full of tears..."

"Trembling while you cry..."

"Not a bad reward at all, is it?"

....

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