Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the female voice coming from Nana Hiiragi's phone. They all turned in unison to look at her.
Nana lowered her eyes to the screen. On it appeared the image of a green-haired girl with heavy dark circles under her eyes, exuding an otherworldly yet exhausted aura.
Nowadays, any phone or computer that connected to the internet would be attacked and controlled by an unknown virus.
And phones infected by the virus were constantly spreading information and videos of the military slaughtering superpower users.
"Nana Hiiragi?"
After seeing who was on the video call, Iselin paused slightly. "You killed Yohei Shibusawa, the one who could rewind time?"
The moment those words fell, silence descended.
The surrounding students looked at Nana with complex and guarded expressions, their gazes filled with suspicion and scrutiny.
"W-What nonsense are you talking about?!" Nana suddenly lifted her head, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. The abrupt accusation completely threw her off balance.
Kyoya Onodera frowned, his eyes sharp. "What's going on?"
Seeing Nana's reaction, Iselin already had her answer. "Are there any students from the academy among you?"
A superpower user who could return to the past was better off dead. Even if the limit was only one day, in the right hands, it was still troublesome.
"We are." Shigure Kira took the phone from Nana's hand. Her gaze swept briefly over Nana. She had long sensed that something was off about this girl.
Nana had been observing her constantly, occasionally even revealing killing intent.
"I'm from Chiba Academy."
"A student of Principal Diana?"
Susannah was just about to speak. "Our principal isn't—"
Rin quickly covered her mouth and leaned close, whispering, "Don't say anything reckless!"
Iselin let out a mocking chuckle. "Not bad. You're cautious. I'll keep it short. We're taking control of the Far East region, gradually eliminating the military and resistance forces. We need people."
"What?!"
Everyone's faces changed drastically, their eyes widening in shock.
Eliminating the military and resistance forces?
Had the government already fallen?
Shigure Kira asked in disbelief, "Wait! Aren't we here to establish a new social system?"
"If we don't remove the obstacles, how are we supposed to build a new system? By talking? Or do you have some special method to achieve the goal?" Iselin tilted her head, puzzled.
Shigure Kira fell silent.
She had been dragged into this so-called Will of Ruler examination in a daze. She had never expected things to escalate to this extent.
They hadn't been in this world for long, yet so much had already happened.
This was nothing like when she fought in the Second Honkai Eruption.
Sirin had always confronted enemies head-on. Even without these people, she could have turned the entire world upside down.
Nana stood silently to the side, her mind racing as she analyzed every piece of information in the conversation.
So the superpower users stirring up global chaos really were all on the same side.
She bit her lower lip, her nails digging deeply into her palm.
How could the military have fallen so easily?
"If you don't understand, then watch and learn," Iselin said calmly. "Protect yourselves. You don't need to worry about the rest."
She shook her head inwardly. This batch of freshmen was truly disappointing.
Suddenly, she changed the subject. "Oh, right. A reminder. The pitiful little mind reader beside you is a government-trained assassin, specifically raised to deal with superpower users."
Before her words had fully faded, Nana swiftly drew a dagger hidden in her sleeve and lunged at the nearest person—Inukai Mitsuru.
However, the moment she moved, Rin reacted like a hunting leopard. With a swift and precise grappling maneuver, she pinned Nana firmly to the ground.
"How is this possible..."
"She's an assassin!"
"Are we really the 'Enemies of Humanity'?"
"Have the adults been lying to us all along?"
Shocked murmurs erupted among the students. Only now were they beginning to take seriously the information online that they had previously dismissed as rumors.
Shigure Kira looked at the hatred burning in Nana's eyes and asked, "You called her a 'pitiful little thing.' What did you mean?"
"Her parents tried to join forces with others back then to expose the government's slaughter of superpower users," Iselin replied evenly. "They were silenced by the military."
"Impossible! You're lying!" Nana struggled violently, her voice nearly breaking down. "You monsters! I'll kill you all!"
Iselin glanced at her coldly. "She's been brainwashed for too long. Keeping her alive is a hidden danger. Killing her would be simpler. After everything is over, we can settle accounts properly."
Shigure Kira's heart sank.
She knew very well what "settle accounts" meant.
In the world of the Will of Ruler, death was no longer the end. Only eternal torture was true punishment.
"Did you contact us just to say this?" she asked.
"I originally wanted to find a few helpers, but..." Iselin looked Shigure Kira, Susannah, and Rin up and down. "You should go find Kiana instead. She might have use for you."
"As for the enemies attacking you, I've already taken care of them."
At that very moment, inside a military base in the Far East region, Iselin's fingers flew across a keyboard.
The world's conventional technology was not particularly advanced. With the small demon artificial intelligence virus she had developed, she easily infiltrated the communication systems.
With the final command entered, a nuclear strike order disguised as a drill was silently transmitted to a nuclear submarine lurking in the deep sea.
The soldiers aboard the submarine noticed nothing unusual. Following procedure, they entered the passwords and initiated the launch sequence.
They never imagined that this set of codes was not for a drill.
When the first nuclear missile burst through the ocean's surface, a war capable of reshaping the global order had already begun.
And the launch codes had been obtained from a classmate who had a fondness for so-called "decapitation strikes."