And, as usual, I have no clue if this thing's undercooked or burnt to a crisp straight from the author's kitchen
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(Kael Rukmono - October 4, 2011)
"Holy fucking ROOT... what kind of Eldritch Zaza are Nasu and his team huffing over there?"
That was the only sentence my brain could formulate as I stared at my laptop screen.
I was currently tunneled into the internet of my original world or at least, a functional approximation of it. It had started as a casual whim to refresh my memory on the Grand Order timeline via Reddit and many forums like Spacebattle and QQ, but the news on JP Server FGO regarding the end of Act 2 had just shattered my world.
"So, all this time..." I whispered, the light of the monitor reflecting in my widened eyes. "What I thought was just a branch of the Stay Night timeline... it's actually Lostbelt 0."
I knew there was something strange about the only Holy Grail War here because it was going quite "Too Well"
Marisbury Animusphere didn't just want to "Make Humanity become Worst enemy to Universe", he wanted a "Fix-Fic" to Humanity
He hated the hidden depths of the human soul, the messy, profound layers that make people well people. He wanted to drag everything into the light, to make the internal external, until humanity was as transparent and shallow as a surface-level.
"…and MARIS-CHALDEA was his answer to realizing that dream," I muttered, scrolling through a Reddit post. "But that AI in CHALDEA misinterpreted his goal. It thought 'hollowing out' every living being, making the surface and the inside equally empty, like a cream puff with no filling was the objective. Which is… utterly heretical."
and the ending.....
Yeah, I'll wait a little longer for confirmation.
"Incredible," GLaDOS's voice droned, though the usual sarcasm was replaced by a sharp, vibrating frequency of genuine scientific intrigue. Her chibi-Caroline avatar was leaning so close to the digital edge of the screen she looked ready to dive into the data. "A world that is being 'perfected' into a hollow shell, He's turning the human race into a series of 2D characters so they're easier to manage. No depth, no growth, no soul. Just... surface. I almost admire the efficiency of his madness."
"To think Shikikan was born in this world..." TB's avatar flickered, "I guess we really have to find a way to escape from here huh..."
"And my presence here," I said, leaning back in my chair, "is definitely something he never could have imagined, right?" The fact that I now carry memories from a previous life, complete with 'extra mysteries' because why not, coupled with access to the Chaos Gacha system, left me utterly confused about what the future might hold.
"Correction," GLaDOS hissed, a grin appearing on her chibi face. "You are the Glitched Variable. Marisbury wanted a world where everything is predictable and shallow. But you?"
She leaned in, her voice whispering.
"You are the Virus or Cancer, Depending on how much we decide to break things."
"You know," I said, closing all the browser tabs with a series of swift clicks until only my laptop's homepage remained, "I think I've had enough internet for today. I need some fresh air."
I stepped out of the mansion's heavy oak doors, the cool autumn air of the Boston suburbs hitting my face like a splash of cold water.
The "Lostbelt 0" revelation was still rattling around my [Library Mind], being cross-referenced against every scrap of Nasuverse lore I know.
If this world was indeed a "Fixed Fiction" by Marisbury, then every person I saw on the street was essentially a walking shell, their internal depths being slowly harvested or suppressed.
I pulled out my [Omni Phone],the screen flickering to life with a thumbprint scan. "TB, give me the local news digest. Filter for anything... unusual."
"Understood, Shikikan," TB's voice whispered through my earpiece, sounding more focused than usual.
"Strange, there has been a 15% increase in missing persons cases over the last ten days."
"That's not good, can you provide more clear information TB"
"All disappearances occurred between 5:30 PM and 9:00 PM. Witnesses report a 'heavy, cloying fog' before the victims vanished, and on average victims is women aged 14 to 20 years"
"Unbelievable, now there's a Magus or serial killer on the loose here."
"Or a hungry Dead Apostle," GLaDOS's voice cut in, dripping with clinical boredom. "Though, given the efficiency, I'd wager on a Magus conducting 'unauthorized research.' Probably harvesting mana-rich organs to supplement their failing circuits. It's so... cliché. Organics truly have no imagination when it comes to get more power."
"can't blame the average Magus for being narrow-minded"
I looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, painting the clouds in bruised purples and oranges. It was almost 5:00 PM.
"Sooner or later the Moonlight side of Nasuverse will arrive."I mutter, pocketing the phone. "I want to see what kind of 'Surface-Level' horror Marisbury's world is trying to throw at me."
I could just ignore this and go back to my mansion, but on the other hand, I must also take action to deal with this.
But I couldn't dwell on cosmic horror while the local news was reporting a spike in missing girls.
"I can't go out looking like a NEET if I'm going to play hero or executioner," I muttered. I headed back to the mansion.
Shizu was already there, holding a garment bag with the kind of reverence usually reserved for holy relics.
A few days ago, Shizu Delta successfully mastered the Seamster skill.
So, on a whim, I asked her if she could make me a costume for a cosplay event.
And man, it seems Shizu is getting closer to becoming the best Maid.
"Master, I have completed the tactical attire," Shizu stated. "Based on the data you provided regarding the 'Commandant' from the Punishing: Gray Raven archives. It is optimized for mobility, heat dispersion, and, as you would say, 'Maximum Drip'."
I changed into the gear: a sleek, high-collared tactical coat in charcoal grey, reinforced with carbon-fiber weave, layered over a form-fitting black combat suit with gray accents.
She also made a mask to protect my identity.
"Shizu," I said, checking the seals on my gloves. "Can you enter my Familiar Dimension? I might need you if things get... messy."
"Understood, Master," she replied.
Her form blurred into motes of light, retreating into the pocket space, a handy feature of the Chaos Gacha I had discovered a week ago while viewing Entries on the Chaos Gacha website.
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It wasn't easy, but following the testimonies from witnesses reported to the local police, I eventually found the source: an old, abandoned greenhouse on the outskirts of town.
The glass walls were choked with moss, and a strange, sickly glow filtered through the cracks. As soon as I stepped inside, a slow applause and a male voice exuding false courtesy greeted me.
Clap... clap... clap.
"Ah, a guest! Welcome to my humble place" The eccentric-looking man bowed exaggeratedly. "I am the renowned Gentleman Alchemist, and I have been waiting to explain that we should not fight, for I have come to bring peace to the world."
"Peace..." What is this madman talking about?
The alchemist smiled fervently. "Don't you know?" He spread his arms as if preaching to an imaginary audience. "If all the girls in the world had huge breasts, the goodness in their hearts would overflow! And men's dreams would take flight! Flat girls are criminals! A world for huge jugs! Tits and peace!"
".....Tits and peace? Are you... are you actually brain-dead? You're a Magus. You're supposed to be reaching for the Root, and you're out here playing 'God of breast implant ?" I blinked. My [Library Mind] tried to categorize the statement, but it just kept returning a 404: Logical Not Found error.
"Oh, you'll understand when you see my masterpiece!" With a dramatic gesture, he threw a flask to the ground. The liquid spurted out, and from the damp earth sprouted a twisted plant with greenish scales, dragon-like fangs, and swollen fruits that looked... well, a bit too obvious.
"Meet my Breast Chimera," he said with sick pride. "It feeds on the essence of the most bountiful breasts, and with its fruits all flat girls will have the blessing of abundance!"
"How... disgusting," GLaDOS's voice hissed in my ear.
I couldn't have agreed more.
I didn't reach for a spell. Instead, I activated the [Unknown Dictator] In a heartbeat, scrap metal from the greenhouse's old heating pipes flew toward my hands, rearranging itself with the screech of shifting atoms. Within seconds, I was hefting a Karasawa Laser Rifle from the Armored Core series
"I don't know what's more disgusting," I said, the barrel glowing as it charged. "Your 'Peace,' or your pet."
"Oh my," the Alchemist sneered, his smile twitching. "The Servitor from Atlas seems to have come to seize my masterpiece. No matter! Eat him, my beautiful creation!"
The creature roared with a sticky sound and launched sharp tendrils at me. I quickly dodged to the left, firing an uncharged shot from my laser rifle. The greenhouse shuddered with each blow from the chimera, and the air filled with glowing pollen that threatened to confuse my senses.
The fight was chaotic. The creature released clouds of sleep-inducing pollen and whipped its tendrils with murderous intent. Every time I tried to line up a shot on the perverted Magus, the Chimera lunged to protect him.
It was time to bring out the big guns.
"Shizu, I need you now!"
Immediately, motes of light coalesced and Shizu Delta appeared, ready with her Magic Gun. She unleashed a volley of shots at the Chimera.
"Shizu!"
"Yes, Master."
"Give me 15 seconds of cover fire. I'm taking this to full charge," I said, the Karasawa humming with immense power as I began the final charging sequence.
"Understood."
Shizu moved with the mechanical grace of an apex predator. While her Magic Gun spat out constant, suppressive fire, she began weaving through the Chimera's lashing tendrils as if they were moving in slow motion. Each shot she fired didn't just impact; it detonated with magical precision, severing the "Breast Fruits" and cauterizing the pulsing, scaly vines.
"Threat level: Negligible," Shizu stated tonelessly, her eyes glowing with a cold, crimson light.
As I held the Karasawa, the weapon began to vibrate so violently it felt like it wanted to phase out of reality. The blue light from the barrel turned a blinding, ultraviolet blue and purple, the air around it ionizing into ozone.
The Alchemist's face went pale, his "Peace" rhetoric dying in his throat as Shizu literally walked through a cloud of his sleep-inducing pollen, her passive resistances rendering his alchemy useless. She caught a massive tendril with her bare hand and, with a sickening crack, ripped it out of the creature's main stalk.
"Master," Shizu's voice cut through the roar of the monster's agony. "The path is clear. Execution is authorized."
"Charging at 100%," I growled, the Karasawa vents hissing with steam.
I pulled the trigger.
A massive bolt of plasma tore through the greenhouse, vaporizing everything in its path. It struck the Chimera center-mass. The creature didn't just die, it disintegrated.
The alchemist fell to his knees as a single, surviving fruit tumbled to his feet. "No! My work!" He grabbed the fruit and held it toward Shizu, who had him cornered at gunpoint. "Wait! Eat this! Your beauty will multiply! You can be an angel of—"
Thwack.
Shizu didn't even blink. she slammed the butt of her gun into his temple, knocking him out cold.
"Disgusting," she remarked.
I collapsed the Karasawa back into scrap and stowed it. "I think I've had enough fresh air for today."
"Master, what are we going to do with him?" Shizu asked me, seeing that the alchemist had been unconscious for a long time.
I could have said to kill him on the spot, but ever since my battle with Chimera, I felt like I was always being watched.
"Whoever you are out there, I think you're smart enough to let us finish your dirty work."
A woman in dark, immaculate Church garb stepped from the shadows of the doorway.
An Executor of Holy Church
"Oh my. I think I arrived a little too late." She scanned the scorched remains of the greenhouse.
"for the Executor of Holy Church I think you guys are a little slow in getting this done."
"Be Peace Magi of Atlas, I must thank you for taking care of this," she said to me. "But it's unusual for ATLAS to leave their workshop to go out for a walk."
"Is it wrong to make sure the public doesn't know what we're doing to maintain the masquerade?" I replied.
"Maintaining the masquerade is a shared burden," The Executor said, with a polite, practiced smile on her lips that didn't reach her cold, assessing eyes. She was a woman of stern bearing, her dark Church garb immaculate despite the dusty, plant-matter-strewn surroundings. Her gaze swept over the unconscious alchemist, the scorched earth where the Chimera had been, and finally settled on me and Shizu, her expression unreadable. "Merely... unexpected. Your methods are more direct than the typical Atlas alchemist's."
She knelt beside the prone magus, checking his pulse with detached efficiency before binding his wrists with a strand of scripture-inscribed rope that gleamed with a subtle light. "This one has been a nuisance. His... aesthetic deviations were drawing attention. The Holy Church thanks you for your intervention." She rose, dusting off her knees. "Might I have the name of the one to whom thanks are owed? For our records."
"K," I said shortly.
"Just 'K'?" she asked, a brow arching. "A bit minimalist, even for a even for the Pit."
"It's all the depth you're getting today," I replied, my tone flat
"That's all you need for your records. He's your problem now." I gestured to the alchemist. "I trust the Church's... rehabilitation facilities are equipped to handle his particular brand of heresy."
The Executor's eyes narrowed slightly, but she gave a slow, conceding nod. "They are indeed. Very well... K. Your contribution is noted." She hefted the alchemist over her shoulder with surprising ease. "Should your path bring you to clean up others... irregularities in this region, do try to inform us beforehand. We do so hate to be left out of the loop.
It was a warning, thinly veiled as professional courtesy.
"Noted," I replied flatly. "But I don't make promises."
With that, I turned, Shizu falling into step beside me. I could feel the Executor's gaze on our backs until we passed through the shattered greenhouse doorway and melted into the gathering twilight of the suburban evening.
I think this is enough fresh air for me