After hearing her na, Tsutsumi didn't recognize it. But there was sothing about Acheron, so vague, hard-to-pin feeling, that bothered him. He ignored it for now and glanced toward the wall of layered security systems surrounding their cell.
"Azu," he called in his mind.
"I've already begun hacking the system, Master," Azu replied imdiately. "Progress is at forty-six percent. Their firewalls are far more advanced than most worlds we've encountered. Fortunately, they lack an AI capable of matching ."
After listening to Azu, Tsutsumi paused and began thinking...
Won't it be better to just break out directly?
He probably could do it in under a minute… but it would draw too much attention.
And honestly, he preferred the idea of Azu taking full control of the facility first. If they broke out after that, watching the staff panic once they realized their "perfect" security ant nothing would be more satisfying.
After all, they are so confident about their security system that they didn't even bother having guards stationed outside their cell. So Tsutsumi wants Azu to fully take control of this place first, only then, when they broke out, it would be more satisfying to see the horror in their faces once they realized they are powerless against him.
Of course, since this is so kind of jail, he couldn't freely release everyone; so might be imprisoned for a proper reason, while he didn't even know why he was in prison to begin with.
His eyes moved to Acheron again.
She didn't feel hostile. But she was a stranger. And Mom always told him the prettier the woman, the better she was at lying.
So he wasn't going to trust her yet. Not completely. Not until he knew the full story.
"So, wanna play sothing to pass the ti?" he asked, casually pulling out a deck of poker cards.
Acheron looked like she wanted to say they should focus on escaping, but with her sword gone, she couldn't even cut the barrier. She let out a small sigh and nodded.
"Sure. Better than staring at the wall."
They sat across from each other, playing quietly. No tension, no urgency, just the shuffle of cards. After so ti playing together.
"So where do you live?" Tsutsumi asked as he plucked a card from her hand. Ten of Spades. He placed it down along with his Ten of Hearts.
"That's not important anymore," she answered. She pulled a card from his hand, a Joker. "My holand was swallowed by the Shadow of Nihility a long ti ago."
"Yet you still beca its Emanator?" he asked, dropping a 2 of Diamonds with his 2 of Hearts.
"I didn't wish for it," she said simply. She took the 9 of Clubs from his hand and paired it with her 9 of Hearts. "I stepped into IX the Nihility's shadow by accident. After that… I lost my purpose."
"I see." Tsutsumi pulled an Ace of Spades from her hand and set it down with his Ace of Hearts. His hand was empty.
Acheron stared at the Joker left in her hands. "…I lost again."
Before he could respond, Azu's voice echoed in his mind.
"Master, I've fully hacked their system. Access complete. Would you like the arrest details?"
"Tell ."
"According to the record, Acheron's arrest ca from the fact that she is an Emanator of Nihility; the people who tricked her wanted to turn her into their weapon. And Master is just a test dummy to help gaze and gain her trust, making her easier to manipulate and control."
"Plus, they already suspect you to die during this task and have already set up your replacent the mont Acheron snaps and kills you." Azu's amused voice rang through his mind.
Tsutsumi blinked. "…Wait, what?"
"And," Azu continued, amusent in her voice, "they already predicted you would die during this task. They had your replacent prepared for the mont Acheron snapped and killed you."
Tsutsumi: "..."
So this is why security is so bad... the previous him was a spy planted to gain Acheron's trust. Previously, she ignored him because she didn't trust him or have any interest. Then, Decade Tsutsumi appeared in this world, becoming one with this world original Tsutsumi.
With the identity of the Destroyer of Worlds, he was gazed upon by Terminus, the Aeon of Finality. Becoming the Emanator of Finality.
During his chat with Acheron, Tsutsumi discovered how one would normally beco an Emanator in this world. Although he dislikes the idea of becoming soone who is forced to watch the end of worlds, and watches new worlds be reborn.
He really didn't have much of a choice in this, like how Kadoya Tsukasa, even after traveling to different worlds and helping the other heroes out in his journey. In the end, he is still being called the Destroyer of Worlds.
And Tsutsumi Ryoko, being the next Destroyer of Worlds, no matter how much he tries to run or avoid it, he would eventually beco the Destroyer of Worlds.
Tsutsumi slipped the card away and exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he stood up. "Alright then, let's leave this place."
He reached into his belt, pulling out a Rider Card with a casual flick of his wrist.
Attack Ride: Earphone Jack!
With the sa ease as plugging into an outlet, he stabbed both jacks into the wall beside the barrier. A pulse of violent, rippling sound tore outward. The forcefield flickered, then the wall detonated with a sharp boom. The light curtain collapsed instantly.
"Let's go. The people here want to use you as their weapon." He stepped through the smoke without a second glance.
Acheron blinked, sowhat taken aback by how easy he could have destroyed the cell wall, plus what he had just revealed to her. What adds even more confusion is that the alarm didn't go off the mont their cell walls got broken.
His ear returned to normal as they walked into the dim hallway.
"How did you even know that?" Acheron asks, still confused.
"I have a partner who hacked into their system and transferred the data to... ." Tsutsumi paused, turning back to find that Acheron had disappeared.
"Damn it, I didn't an to." He murmurs to himself, seeing that his track record of disappearing on others has made him drop Acheron sowhere.
"Azu," he muttered.
"I've already located her, Master," the AI responded smoothly in his mind.
Acheron scratched the back of her head with so embarrassnt. "My apologies, I'm rather directionally challenged and don't know the way."
"It's fine, just follow ." Tsutsumi replied, he didn't mind this since he is already used to helping others in need.
Although he didn't know what an Emanator of Nihility was or what she could do.
But he knew that turning a living being into a weapon is wrong in many ways. The consequences for letting her go, he would have to deal with it later.
His long tail coat suddenly broke off, turning into a jacket; the detashed pieces moved behind his neck, turning into a scarf. Seeing this, Acheron reached out and held on to the scarf before Tsutsumi began to walk, with her following behind.
"Where are we going?" she asked as she followed behind him.
"To get your weapon back. Azu already found the location."
He summoned the Naless. The guards stationed throughout the hall noticed them imdiately.
Before they even raised their weapons, Tsutsumi pressed his thumb onto the scabbard's biotric seal. It clicked.
Acheron paused, staring at the sword he drew.
Drawing the Naless out, he held the broken blade in his hand.
Acheron: "?"
She was confused, seeing that the blade he drew out was just a handle and hilt; the little tals on the blade couldn't even count as a small knife.
Blue spiritual fla spread out from the scabbard as the pieces of the Naless flew out, slowly piecing themselves onto the sword. Forming into the true form of the Naless.
Twisting the blade in his hand, Tsutsumi wiped the blade with his palm before pulling out a card.
Attack Ride: Slash!
Swinging his blade, the pieces of the Naless extended outward, spreading further out as he swung, and the afterimages of the extended blade followed. The wide range of attacks tore through all the guards in one motion.
As their body fell, falling on the ground, the pieces of the broken blade flew back into his scabbard, then he sheathed his blade. Tsutsumi continued moving forward, ignoring the corpses lying around him and Acheron.
The security doors finally activated, slamming shut before they even reached it.
With Azu in full control of the system, every reinforced door behaved like a trained guard dog.
The mont Tsutsumi stepped within range, it slid open instantly, obedient, seamless, almost reverent.
To everyone else in the facility, it looked like he owned the place.
Panic swept through the command room like wildfire.
"Damn it! What is Number 453145 even doing!?" the head of the facility roared, slamming his fist onto the tal desk hard enough to dent it. He glared at the monitors as Tsutsumi calmly walked side-by-side with Acheron.
"Has he been chard by that woman!?" Spit flew from his mouth as he turned on his operators. "And who keeps opening those doors for them!? CLOSE THEM! NOW!"
The workers scrambled, fingers flying across their keyboards, but they were hopelessly outmatched.
Azu didn't just block them. She humiliated them.
The mont anyone tried to input an override, the key arrangent reshuffled. Letters swapped places. Numbers traded positions. Command sequences scrambled.
So workers tried to relearn the layout, painstakingly typing with one hand while mapping with the other, only for Azu to reshuffle everything again exactly five minutes later.
They were trapped in a digital maze controlled by an AI far beyond their comprehension.
One worker scread, "I-I can't even type my own na anymore!"
Another slamd his forehead into his keyboard, defeated.
Azu's voice echoed calmly in Tsutsumi's mind. "They are attempting to resist, Master. It is adorable."
Tsutsumi ignored the chaos caused by her as he and Acheron moved deeper into the facility. They passed rows of observation windows, each revealing grim shapes inside.
Creatures, people, mutated beasts, artificial life of countless races. All strapped down, chained, or caged.
"Azu?" Tsutsumi murmured.
"Those are the other living beings currently being experinted on," she answered."Foundation V intends to convert them into weapons. Their internal files refer to this as 'Optimization.'"
Tsutsumi's jaw tightened.
Before he could say anything more, a set of heavy reinforced doors slamd open ahead of them, this ti not by Azu.
Dozens of monstrous figures spilled out, mindless, malford, all with spiked tal collars burning into their necks. They dragged iron chains across the ground, so limping, others convulsing.
Acheron clenched her hands by instinct.
Tsutsumi simply pulled out a card.
Attack Ride: Tranquility!
His vision washed into grayscale, every detail quiet. Around each creature, petals of color fluttered softly, revealing their emotions.
Pain, anger, rage, confusion, sadness, and lastly emptiness.
Not a single speck of joy.
Tsutsumi closed his eyes for a mont. Then opened them with resignation.
"So that's how it is…"
He knew what needed to be done.
He drew another card.
Attack Ride: Unlimited Blade Works!
Blue flas erupted in a perfect circle around them, consuming the hallway.The world shattered beneath their feet.
A blinding white light consud everything.
And then…
Snow.
Soft, cold snow drifted from a star-filled sky. The moon lood full and pale overhead, bathing the barren field in ghostly light.
Stretching endlessly in every direction were swords and weapons, countless, impaling the ground like grave markers. Weapons from every type, age, every world, every battle.
Acheron stared, her eyes wide.
This wasn't just a battlefield.
It was a graveyard of endings.
Seeing his subspace ability, she was reminded of the Horizon of Existence she wielded.
He simply raised his left hand.
Swords trembled, then tore free from the ground, rising like a steel storm.The monstrous creatures looked around, sensing sothing in the air, sothing ancient and final.
Tsutsumi lowered his hand.
The blades descended.
Steel rained upon the creatures, piercing flesh, tal, bone. Their screams filled the sky, echoing through the snow-laden wasteland. So crawled desperately. Others simply accepted their fates.
One by one, they fell silent.
Acheron watched without flinching.She rely whispered under her breath:
"So this… is the power of an Emanator of Finality."
Tsutsumi didn't look at her.
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