The moment Eishi's sight landed on them, he knew they are the ones he was looking for. Memories related to their ACG resurfaced in his mind.
'I was wondering where she was.'
The blonde-haired girl's status appeared in his eyes.
[Eriri Spencer Sawamura]
Innate Talent: Artistic Succubus (S, First-order)
Non-exclusive Talent: Spirit Boost (B, First-order), Constitution Boost (B, First-order), Mental Storm (S, First-order)
Life Level: First-order, Four-stars
Strength: 47
Agility: 50
Constitution: 45
Spirit: 111
Eishi was already used to 'mediocre' status panels like these. In fact, Eriri was already at the top percentile of the esper population. Having an SS-rated talent and an S-rated non-exclusive talent were something most could not obtain. Still, she paled in comparison to his confidantes, all of which are in the third-order at minimum.
They made up the minority of the group, with the most being at the fourth-order. Spamming second-rank fruits worked even while they were at the fourth-order. The forecasted ineffectiveness would only come at the fifth-rank or so.
The system's pragmatic evaluation came as usual.
[Eriri Spencer Sawamura]
Appearance: 98
Figure: 94
Temperament: 93
Purity: Intact, Can be bound
Overall Rating: SSS
'Appearance… no wonder it's that high.'
Mahiru is the most perfect example. She bore the looks of a half-Japanese and half-European despite not being one. The world resulting from the fusion of the ACG world is that unreasonable. Eriri, however, is a true half-and-half. Her father was European while her mother was Japanese.
Eishi's gaze inadvertently went towards the girl beside her. When he saw her name, his mind paused momentarily.
'Is she… her mother?'
Pushing aside her mediocre status, what was surprising was the '99, 97, and 96' on her three attributes. If it wasn't for the [Purity: Broken, Cannot be Bound], Eishi would've chosen her with no question asked.
'Is this a trend..?'
He could only laugh inside his mind. The fact that the mothers of his two potential confidantes having higher ratings was something that caught him off guard. He didn't know if it was a matter of a 'manufacturer' being superior to the 'product' or whatnot.
His thoughts were fleeting. His spirit-attribute was high enough for his thought speed to accelerate at an inhuman pace. Eishi regained his previous bearing in an instant, his eyes scanning everyone else inside the room.
Unfortunately, there wasn't anybody else who met the requirements. The highest one aside the mother and daughter duo was SS-rated. Even then, her Purity was broken. Eishi doesn't desire to engage in any potential drama. The only reason why he accepted Mrs. Yuigahama was her lack of a partner. He also couldn't resist her charm… and her body.
The fact he retains his relationship towards her, even earning his sincere affection, speaks volumes about her. He wouldn't mind adding another one into his list of confidantes despite her purity being broken.
After scanning, he didn't let anyone wait.
"The rest will have to leave except for the pair of sisters right there."
Sayuri jolted visibly as she was called a 'sister'. Her reddened eyes widened. Her feelings remain unknown as everyone inside the room gave them an envious look. Some even bore malicious looks, but the moment they remembered Eishi was present, their hearts were chilled. This was the same man who killed hundreds of espers in his campaign!
Once only the three of them were left, he immediately asked them a question.
"Are you certain about this choice?"
The two of them were caught off guard. They never expected him to carry out a 'confirmation' of sorts.
"Both of you must be aware of… well, my multiple girlfriends. I won't be able to spend all of my time with you. There are times I might neglect you, though I prefer if you would approach me yourself if that was the case…"
Eishi carried out a series of disclaimers towards Eriri and Sayuri. He was keen enough to notice the emotional turmoil between the two. He would have taken advantage of it before, but not now. He has to stick to a certain bottom line, lest he devolves into someone he hated in his previous life.
Seeing their lost looks, he decided to leave them be for now. Eishi didn't leave openly, instead stopping time to move elsewhere. He didn't want all sorts of rumors to fly over their heads.
Using his ability to fly, he soared a thousand meters above Yokohama City. He projected his mind externally, scanning more than half of the city in one go. It was reminiscent of a radar implanted inside his brain. Despite not seeing things with his eyes, Eishi was able to obtain the 'image' of his surroundings. He saw people walking down the streets. There are also laborers who continued constructing the external perimeter wall of the city. Finally, there were speedboats and naval vessels patrolling the nearby waters.
'Three more weeks… I won't bet on that.'
Eishi turned his gaze towards the deep sinkhole. It was the place where the 'Zerg Vanguard' crash-landed. More than a kilometer of its vicinity was blockaded by city hall espers and his camp's combat teams. Nobody was stationed within 500 meters of the sinkhole as it would be sending people to their deaths.
The importance of the blockade wasn't to prevent early attacks, but to notify the others about it as fast as they could. The faster their reaction time, the lesser the damages would be.
Eishi once deliberated whether to send a part of his confidantes to Tokyo but chose not to. Although it was a shelter under his name, he treated it merely as a 'production base'. Compared to his girlfriends with whom he has had deep relationships with, the others are 'sacrifices' when situation dictates it. The best Eishi could do is to treat his subordinates well. Everything else is up to fate.
After all, he cannot truly revert to his past self with the apocalypse's reckoning. There are things he must sacrifice when shit goes down—and they surely wouldn't be his confidantes. Taking care of them by giving them resources was the best investment he could do.
For the time being, he did his usual patrol. He circled around the entirety of Yokohama without a hitch. As expected, he did not find anything out of the norm. He was about to return to the conference room when his head throbbed slightly.
Out of caution, he used his [Lucky Eyes]. A shocking sight entered his eyes.
'...What the hell?'
It originated from the deep sinkhole where the zerg vanguard rests. A noticeable crimson-red light emerged out of nowhere, becoming larger with each second. He sensed a black dot rapidly approaching him. The bright-scarlet red light grew bigger.
He didn't hesitate to pull off his trump card.
Click.
The world turned into the familiar pale gray. Chills went down his spine as he saw a human-sized beetle appear right in front of him. Its entire body was frozen in front of him, giving Eishi the time to examine it.
Its carapace is engraved with pale-blue veins. Though it remained frozen, Eishi surmised it was pulsating. Beneath its carapace lay its belly filled with tough shells. The pincers attached to its head emitted a pale white light. He didn't dare test its sharpness; he saw nothing but a dark crimson light coming from it. Out of its body, its pincers are the most dangerous!
'I can still affect it. That means it isn't too far off from me.'
Megumi's limitations became the basis for SSS-rated superpowers. It was all based on one's spirit attribute. It is a very subjective basis per se. When she was a first-order esper, Eishi was able to faintly sense her presence—he was in the third-order at that time.
Given his insane attributes, he was confident he could deal with fifth-order lifeforms… such as now.
He didn't hesitate to bring out his [Blood Meteorite Spear], a sixth-rank weapon.
Eishi felt no changes whatsoever. Only then did he realize his superpower. He had virtually stopped time for the entire world. That includes the Earth's core which was responsible for the planet's gravitational pull. Unless there was a stronger esper who could 'break' his superpower, Eishi is invincible.
He is the god of this world.
Just as that intoxicating feeling flooded his brain, he heaved a deep sigh.
'Being invincible at this time… it's more of being lured towards danger.'
He gripped the [Blood Meteorite Spear]. Its weightlessness allowed him to wield it with ease. His time stop allowed him to use weapons far beyond his current level.
Aside from its weight, the spear's most noticeable aspect was its sharpness.
Psshk-!
He drove it straight towards the beetle's head. The tip of the blade pierced through it with ease. Its bodily fluids froze midair as he thrust the spear to the other end of its body. Some droplets touched his attire, causing it to sizzle and burn at unprecedented pace. Fortunately, he had been guarding his body from it.
Eishi proceeded to cut it a total of five times. A brightly-lit crystal appeared on its dissected head. The undulations of the pale white light contained within produced deep craving from his body. He wanted to devour it badly.
'No…'
He snapped out of it, placing the corpse and the crystal to his spatial backpack. A sixth-order zerg unit died just like that. Yet, Eishi felt no trace of joy. The previous attack indicated that these zergs focused more on 'swarming' their enemies to death. That meant there would be a lot more zergs to deal with.
Hence, despite the fact that zergs on the same level are weaker compared to their human counterparts, they could gnaw them to death with numbers.
'Should I drop this spear?'
Eishi hasn't seen the spear's full power yet. When he brought it out, he instinctively used time stop. Its weight far surpassed that of his other weapons. It won't just be a dent or a crater on the floor; it might as well pierce through Earth's rock layers!
In the end, he shook his head. He didn't know the zergs' upper limit. If there was a zerg strong enough to 'break' his time stop, Eishi is doomed.
Taking out his phone, Eishi withdrew the time stop and called Haruno. The call connected soon enough.
"What's wrong?"
"Put out the highest-level alert. Ring it in both cities."
Just as he was speaking, Yokohama's ocean area surged into a tsunami. His [Lucky Eyes] revealed countless marine lifeforms riding along the waves. Underneath, there are several bright-red lights moving towards the city at a fast speed.
'Them too?!'
Eishi didn't doubt Amane's one-month deadline. His [Omniscient Brain] did wonders in regards to the zergs' and the animals' natures. It could only mean that there was a sudden and unforeseen event that pushed the timeline to now.
Maintaining his calmness, he transmitted the order.
"We are going to face the most dangerous time of our lives."
*****
Before Eishi's command could be transmitted, the entirety of the New Tokyo Shelter went into the highest-level alert. The sudden attack on the naval ships patrolling a kilometer away from Tokyo left everyone shocked. The flames of war rose high into the sky. The loud explosion sent shockwaves towards the newly-built ocean wall of the shelter.
All of the ships, without avail, sunk to the depths of the ocean.
As if that wasn't enough, countless zergs flooded the sinkhole. They are akin to cockroaches being flushed out.
Fortunately, the city's 500-strong second-order espers managed to hold them back. The combination of powerful physical strength, superpowers, and modern weapons allowed them to contest against the seemingly endless insect swarms.
"Something happened beyond my capacity."
Inside the Prime Minister's office, three people are present. Motoi, Hachiman, and Amane. The rest of the officials had long gone to mobilize the people beneath them.
"I need to find out what it was."
"The shelter needs your power…"
Amane shook his head at Hachiman's proposal. He pointed towards his head and said:
"My greatest value lay in my mind. If I could find out whatever that triggered it early on, we will have an edge against our enemies… even if it meant abandoning the city."