Non-Administered World #97, Star Rail Universe…
[Anyways, I still need a little more information before I can finalize the plan,] Herta added as her attention returned to Hayate. [That's why I need your analysis. Once I know exactly how Dormammu's influence has attached itself to the ley lines and the planetary consciousness, I can iron out the remaining uncertainties.]
"Haaa… okay?" Hayate answered, still looking slightly overwhelmed by how quickly Herta had gone from declaring Elysia their trump card to demanding her data.
[Then I'm counting on you, Little Commander. Tell me when you're done.]
Hayate's eyebrow twitched. "…You're really going to keep calling me that, aren't you?"
[Obviously.]
[Looks like Hii likes you, Hachan,] Kiana commented with a grin. [She immediately gave you a nickname.]
[Little Tuna, I can hear you.]
Kiana's grin immediately twitched. [Why am I still Little Tuna?!]
[Because you keep reacting to it.]
Sirin burst into laughter while Elysia giggled beside Kiana. Even Hayate could not stop a soft laugh from escaping, though she quickly returned her attention to the Tome of the Night Sky as Reinforce Zwei began assisting with the analysis. Herta, meanwhile, had already stopped caring about the conversation and returned to studying the information flowing across her screens.
Noah could not hold back his own amusement and laughed with them. Hearing everyone talking, arguing, and teasing one another again made him feel at home in a way he had desperately missed. He shook his head before looking around as everyone began preparing for their assigned tasks.
Then he noticed the crater not far from them.
Noah blinked.
"Ahh… that's right." He scratched his cheek. "Can someone check on Voldy?"
Everyone in the communication channel stopped almost at once and stared at him with bewildered expressions.
"Voldy?" Hajime raised an eyebrow. "You mean the guy I just black-holed?"
"Yeah."
[Why do you want someone to check on him?] March asked from Starblazer's screen. [Hajime already turned half of him into cosmic paste.]
[That is an unnecessarily descriptive way of putting it,] Himeko commented.
[But not wrong,] Caelus added.
Dan Heng glanced toward the crater through Starblazer's external feed. [Are you concerned that he survived?]
"Knowing our luck, I'm guessing the answer is yes," Hachiman sighed from Hyperion's hull.
"…Not exactly."
Hajime's eyebrow twitched. "You're telling me that thing survived Event Horizon?"
"Well…" Noah's expression became awkward. "Survived might be a generous word considering what you did to him, but destroying his body isn't enough to permanently get rid of him."
That immediately caught everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Sirin asked.
"During our first run, while I was… you know…" Noah paused awkwardly, and several people immediately understood what part of the previous future he was trying not to describe. "…having my time with him, I learned about something preventing him from fully dying."
Hachiman stared at him. "That is an extremely questionable way of phrasing what happened."
"I'm trying not to revisit that part right now."
"Fair."
Noah cleared his throat and continued. "They're Dark Arts artifacts called Horcruxes. Basically, Voldemort deliberately tore pieces from his own soul and sealed those fragments inside separate vessels. As long as even one of those fragments remains intact, his main soul stays anchored to the physical world. You can destroy his body, vaporize it, crush it, or apparently feed half of it to a miniature black hole…"
Noah slowly turned toward Hajime.
"…and he still won't properly pass into the afterlife."
Hajime stared at him for a moment before glancing toward the crater. "…That is incredibly annoying."
"Welcome to dealing with Voldemort."
Marisbury's expression became considerably more interested. [Soul division used as a form of externalized immortality.]
[An exceptionally crude form of it,] Herta commented without looking away from her research. [Repeatedly damaging and dividing one's own soul would naturally create greater instability. It only functions because the separated fragments serve as redundant anchors.]
Noah nodded. "Pretty much. Murder tears the soul apart, and the appropriate Dark Arts can be used to separate one of those damaged fragments and bind it to a vessel. Once that vessel becomes a Horcrux, the piece inside continues anchoring its creator to this world even if the original body dies."
Hayate looked visibly disturbed. "He deliberately did that to himself?"
"Multiple times."
"…How many?"
"Five proper Horcruxes are currently in play."
Several expressions across the communication screens immediately soured.
[FIVE?!] March exclaimed.
"Voldemort was so obsessed with defeating death that apparently one wasn't enough for him." Noah began counting them off with his fingers. "The first is his diary. The second is Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Third is Salazar Slytherin's locket. Fourth is Helga Hufflepuff's cup. And the last one is Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."
Konoemon's expression became grave. [Artifacts connected to Hogwarts' founders…]
"Apparently, yes. Voldemort likes trophies, especially things with historical or symbolic importance. The diary is more personal, but the others fit his obsession with bloodlines, Hogwarts, and proving how special he thinks he is."
"Of course the genocidal narcissist made his immortality dependent on collectibles," Hachiman muttered as he rubbed his temple.
Noah snorted. "That is surprisingly accurate."
March stared toward the crater where Voldemort had fallen. [Okay. So we find these Horcrux things and smash them.]
"Carefully," Noah corrected immediately. "Very carefully. Horcruxes aren't ordinary enchanted objects. They contain actual pieces of Voldemort's soul, and some of them can defend themselves, curse whoever handles them, manipulate someone's thoughts, or even try to possess them. Nobody touches one directly unless we know exactly what protections are attached to it."
March's enthusiasm disappeared almost instantly.
[…Right. No touching the creepy soul jars.]
"Also, destroying a Horcrux requires damaging the vessel beyond magical repair. Magic capable of doing that is rare under normal circumstances, but considering the people gathered here, I'm less worried about whether we can destroy them and more worried about finding and containing them safely first."
Caelus crossed his arms. [And until all five are secured, we keep Voldemort's current body from disappearing.]
"Exactly." Noah nodded. "If we finish him now, whatever remains of Voldemort could escape again and hide while the Horcruxes keep him attached to the world. I would much rather keep whatever is left of him somewhere we can watch."
Hajime stared toward the distant crater before returning Event Horizon to its holster. "Fine. I won't shoot him again."
Noah released a relieved sigh.
"Unless he moves."
"…Oi."
"Or talks."
"Hajime."
"Or breathes irritatingly."
"Calm down, you Demon King!"
A few laughs spread through the channel despite the situation.
Himeko finally stepped closer to Starblazer's main display. [Then leave Voldemort to us.]
Noah looked toward her. "Miss Himeko?"
[March, Caelus, Dan Heng, and I will guard him and make sure he cannot escape or cause any more trouble.]
March immediately nodded. [Works for me. After everything that creep did last time, I want to personally make sure he stays down.]
[I'll go too,] Caelus added. [If he somehow still has enough strength to fight, the four of us should be more than enough to restrain whatever Hajime left.]
Dan Heng gave a simple nod. [We will avoid destroying the remaining body until the Horcruxes have been secured.]
"Thanks." Noah smiled. "And seriously, be careful. Half-dead Voldemort is still Voldemort."
[Understood,] Himeko replied.
With Voldemort's immediate situation taken care of, Noah turned his attention back toward the larger problem. "VA."
[Already compiling everything we have on Horcruxes,] Void Archives answered.
"You really do know me too well." Noah smiled.
[Unfortunately.]
"Share all available information with Hyperion, the Express, Chaldea, the TSAB, the Clock Tower, Mahora, and every crew member joining the recovery operation. Include descriptions of all five objects, known magical protections, identifiable soul signatures, and anything useful for containment."
[Processing now.]
Five images appeared across the shared communication network, each accompanied by everything they currently knew about its history, appearance, and magical properties.
Noah then looked toward Lumine. "Lumi."
She immediately understood from his expression that he had another task for her. [What do you need?]
"Previously, I used Trailblaze to summon those Horcruxes directly to me before destroying them," Noah explained. "Which means…"
Lumine's eyes widened as she reached the same conclusion. [We could use Trailblaze to trace the paths leading to wherever they're hidden!]
Noah smiled. "Exactly. Aside from me, you have one of the strongest connections to Trailblaze among us. You might not be able to summon them the way I did, but you should still be able to trace the paths connecting Voldy to his soul fragments."
A smile gradually appeared on Lumine's face as she understood exactly what Noah intended.
[And once we locate them, we can go there and secure the artifacts!]
"Exactly."
[I'll head toward Miss Himeko and the others now! Once I'm close enough to Voldemort, I'll use his remaining connection to trace the Horcruxes!]
Lumine immediately hurried away from Hyperion's bridge toward the hangar.
"…And there she goes." Noah chuckled.
Tobio stepped into the display Lumine had just abandoned. [Then Team Slash/Dog will accompany her for the retrieval operation.]
Sae, Natsume, Kouki, and Shigune were already standing beside him.
"You guys sure?" Noah asked.
[Captain, we crossed universes because all of you needed help,] Natsume replied, placing both hands on her hips. [We're not going to sit inside Hyperion while everyone else does the work.]
[Besides, hunting cursed soul containers sounds interesting,] Kouki added with a grin.
Sae gave him a strained smile. [Please never describe it that way again.]
[It'll be alright, Captain,] Shigune said gently while holding Poh in her arms. [This is basically our job anyway. Investigating Dark Magicians and hunting down whatever dangerous things they created is well within our field.]
Tobio nodded. [So rest assured. This task is within our capabilities.]
"Alright." Noah gave them an appreciative smile. "But nobody opens, wears, reads, drinks from, talks to, or otherwise interacts with any suspicious object you find."
Kouki blinked. [That sounded strangely specific.]
"Knowing Voldy's insanity and how cautious he can be, he must have prepared something nasty to protect his trinkets," Noah answered seriously.
[Captain has clearly been traumatized by Voldemort,] Void Archives remarked.
"I prefer the term experienced."
Noah looked back toward Tobio and the rest of Team Slash/Dog, intending to add something else, but several younger voices suddenly interrupted him through another channel.
[Then we'll join them too!]
Noah's eyes widened as he turned toward the source. On one of the Alliance screens stood Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, and Hayate-chan. The younger counterparts of the Aces stared toward the display with unmistakable determination.
"Nanoha-chan? Fate-chan? Hayate-chan?"
[If those things are dangerous magical artifacts, having more people who specialize in barriers and sealing magic will help,] Nanoha-chan said firmly.
[And if their hiding places are protected, we can help clear the way without anyone needing to touch the Horcruxes directly,] Fate-chan added.
Hayate-chan raised one hand. [I can help with the analysis and containment too.]
Before Noah could answer, several more people stepped into view behind the younger Aces. Noah Schweinorg appeared alongside Olga Marie, Arisa, Suzuka, Reines, and Gray.
Noah Alden stared at his younger alternate self.
"…Don't tell me."
[What? You didn't think they were going without us, did you?] the younger Noah replied with a shrug. [If Nanoha-san, Fate-san, and Hayate-san are heading somewhere dangerous, there's no way we're being left behind.]
[You of all people should know better than to expect otherwise,] Reines said with an amused smile.
[As magi of the Clock Tower, we can also help with containment,] Gray added gently.
Olga Marie crossed her arms and gave the younger group a pointed look. [And someone has to make sure this entire operation remains organized instead of becoming a race to see who reaches a Horcrux first.]
Arisa looked toward Nanoha-chan and the others before giving Noah a cheerful grin. [We're family. Of course we're going together.]
Suzuka nodded beside her. [We'll stay with the retrieval teams and follow your group's instructions.]
Noah stared at all of them for several seconds before releasing a helpless laugh.
"Why did I even bother trying to ask?"
[Exactly.] His younger counterpart grinned.
Chrono rubbed his forehead from another screen. [Fine. But everyone participating in the Horcrux recovery operation follows containment procedures without exception. Nobody improvises around a soul fragment.]
The Schweinorg family looked at one another before turning back toward Chrono. Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, Hayate-chan, and Noah Schweinorg all opened their mouths at once.
Chrono's eyes narrowed.
[Is that clear?]
All four immediately stopped.
[Don't worry, Admiral. We'll make sure they follow the instructions properly,] Olga Marie assured him.
[And I'll personally bonk them if they try anything funny,] Arisa added with a sweet smile.
Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, Hayate-chan, and the younger Noah all shuddered.
[Now that is reassuring,] Chrono said with visible satisfaction.
[We can follow instructions, you know!] Nanoha-chan puffed her cheeks.
Fate-chan hesitated before looking away. […Most of the time.]
[Fate-chan!] Nanoha stared at her in betrayal.
[You're supposed to be defending us!] Hayate-chan protested.
Noah Schweinorg sighed beside them. [I feel like we're being judged for crimes we haven't even committed yet.]
[Yet?] Chrono's eyes narrowed again.
The younger Noah winced as he realized what he had just said. […Poor choice of words.]
[See? You just proved exactly why we have to do this.] Arisa smiled sweetly behind them.
The four shuddered again.
With the assignments finally agreed upon, the enormous coalition surrounding Mahora began moving almost immediately. Himeko, March, Caelus, and Dan Heng approached the crater where Voldemort fell. Lumine joined them shortly afterward and began using Trailblaze to trace the paths leading from Voldemort toward his Horcruxes, while Team Slash/Dog, the younger Aces, Noah Schweinorg, Olga Marie, Arisa, Suzuka, Reines, and Gray assembled nearby in preparation for the retrieval operation.
Elsewhere, Hajime activated his Authority and began connecting himself to the surrounding leylines while Euphyllia, Ingvild, Villhaze, and Rossweisse guarded him. In the sky, Kiana, Nanoha, and Fate took defensive positions around Noah, Sirin, Hayate, and Reinforce Zwei near the corrupted World Tree. Hachiman continued maintaining his enormous Geo barrier from Hyperion's hull, while Chaldea, Mahora, the Arthra, and the remaining Alliance forces combined their readings into a single operational network.
What had once been a desperate battle fought by scattered groups was rapidly becoming something entirely different.
Everyone now knew what had happened in the previous future.
And this time, they intended to give a different answer.
—---
Hajime landed between Hachiman's barrier and one of the largest leylines running beneath Mahora City. Euphyllia, Ingvild, Villhaze, and Rossweisse remained nearby as he prepared to use his Authority to connect directly with the world.
The ground beneath them looked ordinary at first glance, but Hajime knew better. Through the information shared by Chaldea and Mahora, he could already picture what existed far below their feet: countless channels of natural energy stretching beneath the continent and connecting into a massive planetary network. Dormammu had infiltrated that system through the World Tree and was now using it to spread his corruption farther with every passing minute.
"Alright…" Hajime crouched and pressed his right hand against the ground. "Let's see how bad this really is."
Blessing of Terra answered.
The instant Hajime's Authority connected to the earth, intense pain tore through his entire body.
"GAAAAHHH!"
"Hajime-sama?!" Euphyllia immediately stepped toward him.
"Hajime-kun!" Ingvild reacted at the same time.
"I'm… fine." Hajime raised his free hand before either of them could rush closer, though the pain running through his body made the reassurance considerably less convincing than he would have preferred. "I-I just didn't expect the feedback to be this intense."
"Then what happened?" Rossweisse asked with a worried frown.
Hajime did not answer immediately.
He could feel it now.
Not merely the corrupted mana detected by their instruments or the foreign energy spreading through the World Tree. Blessing of Terra had connected him directly to the planet, and through that connection he felt something far more visceral than numbers on a screen could ever convey.
He felt the world's pain.
Dormammu's corruption had forced itself into the natural flow of the leylines and twisted everything it touched into something foreign. Channels that had once carried the planet's life energy now burned with dark-purple contamination, while the surrounding network struggled desperately to compensate. Whenever the corruption advanced, the world itself pushed back instinctively, only for more of its natural flow to be consumed piece by piece.
Hajime clenched his jaw.
"So this is what you endured last time…"
"Hajime-sama?" Euphyllia had heard him.
"…It's nothing."
Another wave of pain reached him. His own body was not actually being injured, but Blessing of Terra made the sensation intimate enough that every instinct screamed at him to break the connection and pull away.
But he refused. Instead, one thought immediately came to mind.
'That idiot carried all of this last time.'
Hajime closed his eyes as the previous future returned to him. By the time they had reached this universe, Dormammu's corruption had already consumed almost the entire planet. Noah had stood at the center of it, forcing himself to continue even after Hayate, Sirin, and Reinforce had fallen, still trying to protect a world whose suffering had been pouring directly into him through the Force and his connection with Gaia.
And somehow, that idiot had endured it.
Hajime's free hand clenched at his side.
'…You really are an idiot.'
There was no real insult behind the thought. Only anger at what his friend had been forced to carry and a grudging understanding of just how much Noah had hidden from everyone.
"Your Majesty, are you certain you can continue?" Villhaze asked after noticing the change in his expression.
Hajime took several deep breaths before opening his eyes and looking toward the four women surrounding him. "Yes."
"Okay, but if you start feeling worse, you have to stop," Ingvild insisted, still looking worried.
"And absolutely do not force yourself beyond what is necessary," Euphyllia added.
A faint smile appeared on Hajime's face. "Don't worry. Compared to what someone else already endured, I've got no right to complain."
"Hajime-sama…"
"I'll be fine." His tone softened when he realized none of them looked remotely convinced. "Really. I know what I'm doing. Just make sure nothing interrupts me."
Euphyllia studied him for another moment before finally stepping back into position. "Very well. But if your condition worsens, I will stop you myself."
"You and everyone else, apparently."
"Fufufu. It seems you understand your situation quite well," Euphyllia replied with an elegant laugh.
"Yeah, yeah." Hajime rolled his eyes, though a small smile remained on his face.
After taking another moment to compose himself, he turned his attention back toward the planet and closed his eyes.
This time, instead of recoiling from the pain, Hajime followed it.
He allowed Blessing of Terra to spread farther, tracing the planetary network until he could distinguish the world's natural leylines from those Dormammu had already corrupted. Inside his perception, the structure gradually became clearer. Healthy channels carried the natural flow of life throughout the planet, while contaminated sections twisted between them like dark-purple roots, constantly trying to force their way into untouched territory.
"Found you," Hajime muttered.
He pushed his Authority farther.
The ground trembled lightly as green Dendro Imaginary light flared from Hajime's Astral Emblem. The energy spread outward before disappearing beneath the soil, traveling downward until it reached the ley lines.
Hajime did not attempt to purify Dormammu's corruption.
That was not his objective.
Instead, he used Blessing of Terra to seize the natural structures surrounding every infected channel and began reshaping the routes around them. Healthy leylines bent away from contaminated ones, intersections closed, and new pathways formed to preserve the planet's circulation without allowing Dormammu's corruption to follow.
It was not like cutting infected veins from a body. Hajime was redirecting an entire river system around poisoned waterways while making sure the remaining land still received water.
"Come on…" Sweat gathered across his forehead as the operation expanded.
Dormammu immediately fought back.
Dark-purple energy surged through the infected channels, accelerating as it tried to outrun Hajime's restructuring and force itself into the healthy ley lines before he could separate them. The shaking beneath their feet intensified as the two powers fought for control of the planetary network.
"Everyone, be careful!" Rossweisse warned.
Hajime's mouth curled into a dangerous grin. "Well, aren't you energetic for something that's supposed to be dead?"
"Hajime-kun!"
"Hajime-sama!"
"Your Majesty!"
Hajime pushed even more Imaginary Energy into his Astral Emblem and Authority.
"But that still won't be enough to contest me!"
Green Dendro light raced through the world as the healthy and corrupted leylines began separating one after another at an increasing pace. Every connection Dormammu attempted to corrupt was severed from the planetary circulation before the contamination could spread further. Each time Hajime isolated another infected route, he redirected the surrounding natural energy through a different pathway so the planet would not lose circulation in the process.
Chaldea noticed the effect immediately.
Inside the Command Room, alarms sounded across several monitoring stations as CHALDEAS began updating faster than the operators could initially process.
"Director!" one of the Chaldean operators called through the shared channel. [The leylines beneath Mahora and the surrounding regions are being reorganized!]
"Reorganized?" Marisbury looked toward the readings in surprise.
[Yes! The corrupted channels are being separated from the unaffected leylines! They're losing their connection to the rest of the planetary network!]
Kirschtaria immediately enlarged the projection. Sections that had previously shown purple corruption tangled together with the planet's normal flow were now separating cleanly, the contaminated areas being cut away from the healthy network while new routes formed around them.
His eyes widened with genuine amazement.
[Is Lord Peverell's associate isolating the infection itself?]
Chaldea watched as Hajime continued diverting healthy leylines away from the corrupted regions. Before long, Dormammu's contamination had nowhere left to spread. Every nearby pathway had been redirected out of its reach, leaving the infected channels isolated from the rest of the planetary circulation.
Hajime remained connected for a while longer, carefully checking every boundary to make sure he had not accidentally left even one viable route for Dormammu to exploit.
Finally, he exhaled.
"Alright. That should do it."
[Thank you for your hard work, Lord Nagumo,] Marisbury said through the Alliance channel. [You have successfully prevented Dormammu from continuing to devour the planet from within.]
Kirschtaria checked the readings once again. [Confirmed. Approximately ten percent of the planetary leylines currently affected by Dormammu have been completely isolated from the remaining system.]
Another operator immediately followed. [There is no longer any measurable transfer from those corrupted sections into the unaffected leylines. The spread beyond the isolated zones has stopped.]
Relief spread across the communication network.
"So ten percent was already infected…" Hajime murmured thoughtfully.
His expression darkened as he looked toward the corrupted World Tree in the distance. That much damage had already occurred this early in the crisis. In the previous future, Noah had continued fighting while the situation became far worse.
Hajime remained silent for a moment before pushing himself back onto his feet. Euphyllia immediately reached toward him, but he waved away her concern with a faint smile.
"I'm alright."
She narrowed her eyes. "You said that earlier."
"And I was right earlier too."
"That remains debatable."
Ingvild released a relieved sigh while Villhaze finally relaxed her grip on her weapon. Rossweisse continued checking the magical readings surrounding them, though even she could not hide the small smile appearing on her face.
Hajime looked down toward the ground again.
The corrupted ten percent remained. Dormammu was still connected to those sections, and none of the damage had simply disappeared. But it could no longer spread through the rest of the world.
"That's one problem contained," Hajime muttered, his eyes returning to the World Tree. "Now let's see what plan our resident genius cooked up for getting that bastard out."
====== Chapter 246 END ======