206. Black Bullet : War Against Scorpion and Tokyo Area Government. (End)

At this very moment, Kaito's words genuinely send a chill down anyone in the room, sending a signal that he was about to do something terrible. Aika feels that she needs to stop whatever Kaito wants to do, as she feels partially guilty for making Kaito become like this.

"K-Kaito... what are you going to do?" Aika asked with concern, "You won't kill him, are you?"

"Don't worry, I know that I have promised the world that we won't kill anyone anymore." Kaito answered, then smiling sinisterly,  "But the world consciousness does not forbid me to give him a torture experience that I feel is going to be far worse than death."

...!!!

"...Are you going to turn her into cursed children, master? like all of your other victims?" Sakuya guessed. As a qualified maid, she has already investigated what Kaito has been doing recently

...!!!

""You can do that?!"" Aika, Tendo Kikunojo, and Seitenshi exclaimed in shock at the same time.

Although Aika knew Kaito could change people's shape on form, she didn't know Kaito could do that, which she turn people into literal children.

"You can't do that to me!" Hearing that, Tendo Kikunojo strangled fiercely and threatened, "I won't turn into something I hate. I would rather kill myself!"

"I do." Kaito nodded sinisterly, "But I won't do that to you."

"What... What do you want to do?!"

Kaito sneered at him and answered, "Just killing you. That would be too easy to give you that kind of punishment for wanting to kill all my family."

"You... get away from me... You devil!" 

"Well, you are right, I am a devil! HAHAHAHAHA!"

...!!!

"KAITO!"

"What is it, Aika?"

"Kaito, calm down... maybe... maybe we should talk with everyone about what to do with him." Looking at Kaito more like a villain than a hero right now, Aika is feeling bad and concerned about him. 

"No." Kaito tightened his choking for the old fogey's neck, "Have you heard the Zeno Paradox, Aika?"

"...The concept that suggests motion existence is impossible, related to space and time?" Aika frowned, confused why Kaito suddenly came up with such a question, "Why are you suddenly asking such weird questions?"

As someone who had read many books on philosophy and theory, Aika naturally had heard of that paradox before, in which the concept attempts to deny a concept of motion entirely. 

It states that-- before the object reaches a destination, one must cover half the distance. 

Before covering the half, one must cover half of that half, and so on. 

It creates an infinite series of distances that must be traversed, suggesting motion becomes impossible.

(A/N: It's a way of working more or less the same as how Infinity in JJK works)

In common sense and how reality works, the Zeno paradox isn't real, but Aika couldn't help but be curious why he suddenly talked about it out of nowhere. But that's in reality... in fantasy, Aika knows that anything might be possible.

...

"About that... Inspired by that concept, idea, and system, I managed to think of a new ability involving soul perception and time."

*Shine*

...!!

"A bracelet?"

While still holding Tendo Kikunojo by his neck, a dark plain bracelet suddenly appeared on Kaito's right arm. "Yeah... This bracelet is helping me to insert 'time' into my specific ability, third method, aka soul manipulation."

"Zeno's Paradox was a theory about motion and distance. But what if I implement that concept into time perception and time dilation for the perspective?"

?!?!?!

"Kaito! That's going too far!"

Hearing Kaito's explanation, Aika's eyes suddenly widened in shock as she immediately realized what Kaito wanted to do. Others are still confused about what Kaito was currently being talked about, but Aika completely understood immediately. Aika has read a lot of books about science and philosophical matters, and she also understands how Kaito's thought works.

"Kaito..." Aika fell to the floor in pure horror and shook, "Y-You want to imprison him in time forever?!"

"W-What..?" (Tendo)

"Imprison in time?" (Sakuya)

"What's going on?" (Seitenshi)

"I know you can guess it correctly, Aika." 

Kaito nodded cheerfully and explained, "Yeah, with this 'time bracelet' and soul manipulation to affect perception, I manage to create the ability to stretch someone's perception of time from their soul perspective... from 1 second to whatever I want." 

"A second in our real time has passed, but for anyone who gets affected by this new ability, they could experience 1 year in that very 1 second moment. Think of it as dreaming for 100 years in 1 second, except it's too real."

"Also, it could be 1 sec to 1 week, or even 1 billion years. Just think of it as much more advanced Tsukoyomi, more or less... Terrifying, isn't it?"

...!!??!!

*Gasp*

Now, everyone understands what Kaito wanted to do; they admit the torture method is worse than death... Because it means the victim could get imprisoned for "eternity" even though in reality it's only 1 second has passed!!

Now understood what Kaito wanted to do, Tendo Kikunojo, in horror, struggled as much as he could to escape, because he knew there was no way he could endure such a long time and still stay sane!

As people say, time is the worst punishment; otherwise, why would people be afraid of getting imprisoned?

Unfortunately, Kaito wouldn't let him escape; he genuinely thinks this would be the perfect time to test his newest trump card and punish this old man altogether.

"Wait, swordman, let's talk about this!"

"Shut up! [Soul Manipulation: Zeno Time Paradox]!

*DING*

[The ability is now activated]

...!!!

Unfortunately, no matter how he begged, Kaito was already consumed by anger because Tendo Kikunojo had insulted and told his family to die (chat group), something that Kaito would never tolerate in any capacity.

The moment he spelled the keyword of activation, the black bracelet immediately activated... It glows in red and then assists Kaito, granting him a temporary time concept that could be integrated into soul manipulation.

By stretching the time in his soul perception, Kaito successfully activated this new ability on the old man-- Tendo Kikunojo, stretching the seemingly short 1 second in reality into 10.000 years in Tendo Kikunojo's experience!

>>>>>

{1 - 5 years}

During the stretch, in the first few years of getting frozen, Tendo Kikunojo still managed to hold his sanity. He had enough time to reflect on what he had done and realize all his wrongdoing in this world. 

In the first 5 years, Tendo Kikunojo swore he would change into a better man the moment he got freed from this... torturous experience. Unfortunately, Tendo Kikunojo Kaito stretched his time way longer than a mere dozen years.

{10 - 50 years}

After a decade, Tendo Kikunojo has started to become crazy. The only advantage is that Tendo Kikunojo couldn't feel hungry, thirsty, sick, sleepy, or any biological reaction during all of this perception time. 

But not mentally.

He only feels never-ending loneliness without being able to feel any pain whatsoever. This, however, is way worse than a prison... but Tendo Kikunojo can think about something as long as he wants.

It feels similar to a never-ending dream, but he can't move whatsoever.

{100 - 10000 years}

The more years, dozens of decades to come, hundreds, slowly reaching thousands, Tendo Kikunojo's mind degraded... became crazy as he could only talk to himself for that long.

Yet he was still stuck in the same damn position, place, for a long time.

Humans, especially normal humans, are not designed to live that long, yet he's experienced way more than the time he spends in reality in his real life.

After feeling despair that one possibly couldn't imagine staying alive, but feeling nothing but loneliness for hundreds and thousands of years... the old man's mind at one point eventually broke down, and he simply stopped thinking.

At the same time, in reality, one second after Kaito touched him, the old man suddenly became lifeless... his eyes empty, and Tendo Kikunojo felt like a doll that the strings had cut off-- motionless and just an empty husk of the arrogant man he had been a second earlier.

>>>>>

Seeing how Tendo Kikunojo, who was previously energetic, suddenly limped down and was lifeless after Kaito's ability affected him, everyone was naturally anxious and nervous about what had happened. Everyone in the room is really afraid of him, even Seitenshi knows what Kaito did is way, way worse than death itself.

"Kaito... Did it work?" Aika stood up and asked him nervously, with a hint of fear in her voice, "A-Are you okay?"

"..."

"Kaito?"

"That... Umm... He..."

"...Kaito?"

"I... I am sorry."

Kaito hesitantly answered, releasing his grip (his hand is shaking), putting lifeless Tendo Kikunojo back into the seat. "I... will revert his state using points...."

????

After that, Kaito just stared at his shaking hands, truly realizing how scary his new trump card is... after being affected by the ability itself after having it to Tendo Kikunojo. He didn't expect his newest ability would have such a malicious side effect. After Kaito cast this ability, for some reason, he achieved the memory of Tendo Kikunojo's mind in his last moment before completely shutting down (as a side effect of soul manipulation).

Such side effect ability was a bit too much for Kaito, so much so that Kaito is now afraid of himself-- forget about others.

"..."

"What happened?" Aika noticed there was something wrong with Kaito after using that ability... his whole body shaken, like he had just been exposed to his worst trauma.

"T-There's a side effect of this ability... w-where a small part of the experience during the time in Zero Paradox gets transmitted to me."

"Is it that bad?"

Although she has not experienced the memory itself, seeing that Tendo Kikunojo seems to stop thinking entirely after getting affected, she concludes that the memory should be something way worse than she'd ever imagine.

"Y-Yeah... It's really.... eye opening..."

"Kaito..."

"I did... something even more unforgivable."

To say Kaito was terrified is an understatement; he's completely traumatized just by the short memory he received. The side effect of receiving the memory was a bit too much for him to handle, and it almost scared him to death. Even if Kaito could remove such side effects using the chat group point, it still does not deny how cruel this ability truly is.

The despair.

The craziness.

The depression.

Every negative thought Kaito could think of pitched into maximum and mixed into one, it was indescribable pure horror; probably similar to watching eldritch horror being directly.

However, although the side effect is completely malicious (either because of his bad luck or the system), Kaito is grateful for that.  Otherwise, he wouldn't know what the victim would experience after being affected by such an ability... which a way worse than death itself.

No way he would use this ability ever again, at least not that long. He was too stupid to imprison someone that long... 10.000 years in loneliness, no human could endure it. Kaito, blaming himself for being stupid, as he should start doing it in 1 year first... not directly jumping to 10.000!

"I am sorry... I am... so sorry..."

"Kaito..."

"I am so sorry... to scare you all... I am so sorry..."

Looking at Kaito, who felt remorse and constantly apologized to them, Aika sighed in relief, albeit also feeling sorry for him. At least with such terrifying side effects, she doesn't think Kaito is willing to use that kind of ability anymore.

Aika more regretted the fact that she didn't realize Kaito's mental state sooner; to develop such a cruel ability, there's something wrong with his head... probably thanks to all the terrible experiences he had constantly had in this world.

Struggle alone in Fate World;

Killing millions of lives;

Killing his sister indirectly due to a terrible decision.

Witnessing thousands of children being tortured;

Yet most of the chat group members expected his help, although he's the one who needs help the most, being chased by his bad luck curse that gives him terrible life experiences. 

At this moment, Aika also feels terrible for herself for not realizing this sooner, and she doesn't want to let Kaito continue spiralling down the path of no redemption.

Aika even has a terrible idea that the curse on Kaito has probably affected her; otherwise, how did Aika, as someone who could easily read people and care for him the most, not realize what happened to him?!

The thought alone sends a deep chill down her spine, realizing how terrible Kaito's curse is.

For now, their leader needs to take a break, and probably a decent, long one, until he remembers he feels much better and remembers his goal in the first place, to protect, not to kill people.

...

"Kaito."

Aika approached Kaito, who sat on the floor dejectedly, calmly, and then embraced him, "I think this world is affecting your mental health way too much. You should take a break now that we don't have anything to do with this world anymore."

"Yeah..." Kaito didn't even try to deny it.

Now Aika is aware that Kaito's mental state is not good, she has decided to exclude Kaito from all the upcoming chat group plans until his mental state is back to normal, both the rescue of all the remaining cursed children, cleaning all the Gastrea creatures on earth, and the upcoming war in Akame Ga Kill.

This also made Aika realize that she had to make sure, later, whether the rest of the chat group members' mental states were okay as well.

 "I am sorry, we should realize that we shouldn't burden you with everything."

"Thank you for everything you have done so far, leader."

...!!!

*Sob*

"Uwaaahh..."

Hearing Aika's words while being embraced by her, Kaito's tears suddenly came out without him realizing it, touched by her words.

Kaito realized that he might have tried too hard to the breaking point, and always forced himself to become stronger constantly because of the threat of the bad luck curse and the many chat group members who needed his help.

Not to mention, how much stress he has experienced in this world, the feeling of disgust, sickening of everything around him. Yet he has no place to vent about them..."

So it was not surprising, subconsciously, Kaito began to justify any means to become stronger, to the point of developing something he normally would not do... become something that he and other members do not like.

Although there is no such thing as good or bad power, it just depends on how you use it, Kaito doesn't want to be a cruel person and make his family sad. From now on, Kaito vows to be more open to his "family" in the chat group, to prevent himself from becoming something his family hates.

>>>>>

After that, Kaito fulfilled his promise, using the chat group point to restore Tendo Kikunojo to its original state. However, the chat group system does not seem to erase his memory and only restores his consciousness-- so when Tendo Kikunojo recovers, the old man, who is called the Tokyo commander, immediately kneels with fear and cries loudly before Kaito, apologizes, and vows to be a better person until the end of his life... as long Kaito didn't put him into such miserable experience over again.

The new Tendo Kikunojo also promises to enforce the cursed children law as soon as possible and even introduce benefits for everyone willing to adopt cursed children normally, but Kaito ignores it because the law will be quite useless after they take all the cursed children in this world. He was just told by Aika to capture all of the escaped officials who are also deciding on a nuclear bomb order, and punish them accordingly.

As for Seitenshi's punishment, Aika told her she would be getting kidnapped to their (base) world and asked to help lead and manage the cursed children they pulled from the Black Bullet world.

Later on, Kaito planned to build a city full of cursed children soon to accommodate all of the children, like how they do in the base of this world, albeit on a much larger scale, because there are way more cursed children that have been rescued.

At first, as the leader of the Tokyo Area, Seitenshi was unwilling to leave her subjects, but when Kaito promised that they would clear the Gastrea creatures in this world in the future, she finally agreed to come along later and atone for her sin as an incompetent Tokyo Area leader.

Well, at least that would benefit cursed children who refuse to join them in the base world (cursed children who choose to stay with their promoter in this world).

In a way, everything ends well, and the chat group business in this world is almost finished.

...

Only Kaito and Tendo Kikunojo becomes a true victim of the whole scenario. Although Kaito could ask the system to delete that terrible memory; Kaito refuses to do so.

He will remember this as a lesson not to abuse his strength to do anything he wants, even if he could do it.

After all, Kaito didn't want to become a monster who was consumed by the pursuit of strength and get hated by his friends and family.

As for Tendo Kikunojo, even though his memory got erased, the after effect is still there as Kaito never specified to get rid of the effect by the system help itself. Due to the torture experience were similar to dreaming for very long time, Tendo Kikunojo would become paranoid of sleeping. 

He is constantly paranoid of getting rest until he got weaker, weaker in his old age; slowly dying and he only last for 2 months before getting overwhelmed... and decide to kill himself to end his suffering.

He definitely experienced one of worst way to die, but Kaito and chat group members didn't know that.

>>>>>