Cyrene smiled as she handed over the cloth dolls.
After Caelus accepted them, he looked at the two small dolls joined together and holding hands.
One was a Caelus doll with a faint smile on its face. The other was a Cyrene doll wearing a beautiful pure white outfit resembling a wedding dress.
"Partner! Do they look good? I specifically learned how to make them and sewed them myself!"
Cyrene leaned against Caelus with a smile.
"Yes. I like them very much."
Caelus held the two connected dolls for a moment before placing them on the sofa.
Cyrene sat on Caelus's lap, humming softly as she leaned against his chest. He wrapped both arms around her, and they closed their eyes, quietly feeling each other's presence.
["Yes! This is exactly what I want to see! Sweet romance, two people cuddling together, feeling each other's presence and breathing in each other's scent! There is no need for grand vows or dramatic tragedies. A simple embrace says everything!"]
["This is the kind of perfect ending I want! I hate those ridiculous endings that insist on leaving everything bittersweet while forcing a pile of strange philosophy down your throat. This is the kind of perfect ending I want to see!"]
The System was having another outburst.
Caelus opened his eyes helplessly as the System's frantic shouting filled his ears.
"Where is the next world, System?"
Caelus asked to stop it from continuing its strange performance.
["The next world is a world of magical girls!"]
"Magical girls... I remember Cyrene watching cartoons about them before. They were typical hero stories about groups of girls who gained magical powers and fought evil forces."
["Exactly! They receive powers from mascots, then fight evil forces to protect ordinary people and preserve their peaceful lives."]
["The only problem is that this particular world is slightly chaotic."]
"Chaotic? Is it like the Warp surrounding Terra, or is it like my home universe, where geniuses cause disasters whenever inspiration strikes?"
["Nothing that extreme! It has not reached that level. I can only say that, in this world, you may encounter the kind of lustful desires you currently lack."]
"I understand. It is a world ruled by Slaanesh."
["It is not that bad. The people there are simply more open about sexual desire. It has not reached the level of true excess."]
"...Is it the setting of an adult game or erotic comic?"
["Something like that. In any case, I specifically selected this world so I could secure a high-reward mission and help you afford the Tiger Talisman. It is relatively close to our current location, and the mission was issued directly by that world as a request for assistance."]
"A request for assistance..."
["You know how Slaanesh was born in the Warp surrounding Terra, correct?"]
"I do not know every detail, but the histories and stories I collected in that universe mentioned it. At the height of the Aeldari civilisation, their obsession with pleasure and spiritual decadence created Slaanesh within the Warp."
["Some details differ, but that is essentially correct."]
["There is a Warp-like dimension within that world's solar system. Because of their physiology or some other factor, the people there have possessed unusually powerful reproductive desires since ancient times. Various monsters are born from those desires, while the magical girls who fight them are created from humanity's positive emotions."]
["The problem is that modern internet culture has continued spreading while social pressure has increased. People's pursuit of desire has also grown stronger, to the point that negative emotions are close to overwhelming the positive ones."]
["Many magical girls who were once capable of defeating those monsters have already been corrupted by them. If this continues, something resembling Slaanesh may eventually be born in that world."]
["The consciousness of that world has therefore been requesting outside assistance to prevent such a terrifying existence from emerging. Other Systems can also receive the request and generate missions from it, but the difficulty is currently too high for most Hosts, so none of them have chosen to intervene."]
["We are strong enough, so I accepted it immediately. The rewards will be ours!"]
After hearing the System's explanation, Caelus nodded in understanding.
In any case, he would be fighting something resembling the collective consciousness of all living beings.
He had experience dealing with that.
Time passed slowly amid the System's chatter and complaints.
When they reached their destination, Cyrene transformed into the power of remembrance and merged into Caelus's body.
Caelus rose from the sofa and paused before the train door.
He looked toward the flaming longsword embedded nearby, considered it for a moment, then stepped forward and pulled it free.
Afterward, he opened the door and entered the world beyond, which shimmered with dim and ominous light.
...
In another universe separated by an unimaginably vast distance...
["Hmm?"]
A certain System was watching two of the candidates it had trained fight to the death when it suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
It immediately checked its internal records.
["Who would dare accept a mission like this at their current level?"]
After discovering that someone had accepted the extremely difficult mission and entered that world, the System shouted in disbelief.
["Damn it! Time flows much faster in that world, and I have spent ages preparing everything there!"]
["No! What idiot could be this confident in their Host? Have they never dealt with a collective consciousness before? That thing has been developing for nearly one hundred million years!"]
["And I personally planted influences within it and guided its growth. Within that world, it is equivalent to a Fifth Rank powerhouse!"]
The System continued shouting furiously.
It had carefully cultivated that world so the ultimate survivor among its Hosts could devour it after defeating all the others.
Even the request for assistance issued by the world's consciousness had been arranged by the System.
It had deliberately emphasised the mission's extreme difficulty to prevent some reckless fool from charging in.
A Host failing the mission and being eliminated would not normally be a major problem. As long as the matter remained hidden, even if the instructors discovered it, they would likely ignore the issue and deduct only a few marks.
However, if an outsider exposed what it had done, the consequences would be serious.
Some matters seemed insignificant until they were formally examined. Once brought into the open, however, their weight became impossible to ignore.
The System immediately activated several surveillance methods it had placed nearby.
After analysing the target's energy signature, it discovered that the newcomer was the same bastard who had destroyed one of the valuable assets it had cultivated not long ago.
["Damn it! Of all the universes within the Infinite Multiverse, how did you end up in this one?"]
["There is no other choice. I will have to send in my strongest Host to investigate. By carefully adjusting the arrangements I left behind, I should still be able to create the appearance that the mission was completed and the crisis successfully resolved."]
Despite saying this, the System's tone remained extremely bitter.
At that moment, it felt as though someone else had deliberately set it up.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)