Yuri Lannester, who had told me to leave everything to her and proceed upward, was now disassembled into five pieces, like Exodia. The sight filled me with an indescribable anger directed at a vague multitude, only for a sense of relief to follow shortly after.
Clench.
“...Mima?”
“...”
I hugged Yuri tightly for a moment.
If I hadn’t been beaten down by Dark Yuna , I would have found out about Yuri’s disappearance only after everything was over. That would have been an unbearable grief—for both Yuna and myself.
Afterward, I worked on putting her back together.
I welded her severed parts back into place as though fusing them with heat. But instead of sparks flying, it was little effects like star candies and hearts.
Yuri rotated her reattached arms in wide circles and remarked,
“Having all four limbs is truly precious. I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for their value.”
“Kyaaak!”
If only she could stop talking.
Well, now that I’ve rescued Yuri, it’s time to proceed step by step. First, I needed to claim the body of the kaiju.
I pointed at the massive kaiju floating in the sky with one of my claws. Yuri immediately caught on, dropping to one knee and cupping her hands together to create a makeshift foothold for me. It was like the stance friends take when helping each other scale a wall.
“Gek.”
Could I even reach that high?
“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? Of course, you could try jumping across the floating debris and objects to climb your way up, but by the time you reach it, the ‘Yuri Engine’ will have run at least ten full cycles.”
What even is a Yuri Engine , and how long is one cycle supposed to take?
Anyway, it didn’t seem like a bad idea, so I placed one of my slimy feet in her hands, preparing for the jump...
Shoooaaaak—!
With the added propulsion from Yuri’s arm strength, my body launched high into the air. My altitude increased rapidly, but it still wasn’t enough to reach the kaiju’s main body. I was only about halfway up and would start falling soon.
Should I switch to the straightforward method of climbing across the floating objects? But then how should I manage the landing? As I was contemplating my next steps, a crackling sound from the ground reached my ears.
Craaaaack!
Whooosh!
Yuri leaped up to my altitude, spinning her body midair like a top.
“Mima, guard.”
Guard?
Whirrrr—!
As she continued spinning, the centrifugal force sent her leg whipping toward me like a whip.
Ah, so that’s what she meant by guard .
I adjusted my gelatinous body, enhancing its elasticity to act like a bouncy ball, curling myself up with both my front and back limbs into a shape resembling a kaiju soccer ball.
Thwack!
“Graaaah!”
It hurt.
The extra force from Yuri’s kick propelled me even higher into the vast sky. The enormous body of the kaiju grew closer and closer.
Like a raindrop falling into a lake, I went plop and was successfully absorbed into the kaiju’s massive form.
Alright, I’ve taken control.
There were lingering thoughts or remnants of consciousness inside the kaiju , but as soon as I seized control of all its systems, they were erased as if they had never existed.
Buzz. Crash. Crash.
I experimentally moved the kaiju’s right arm. Being a 100-meter-tall giant creature, even a small movement caused widespread destruction. With this size, it seemed better to remain floating idly.
I’d need to find a way to compress this massive form into a human-sized body. Maintaining this appearance outside the Tower of Illusions would undoubtedly lead to endless trouble.
Why am I assuming this form will persist outside the tower?
Because this tower, due to Yuna’s sublimation ability, blurs the boundary between illusion and reality. I’ve already manipulated this property before, altering my species into an information-based lifeform in the holy city.
This means the power I’ve gained here can, to some extent, be used in reality.
Still, I won’t attempt to absorb all the information in the Erasure Domain to increase my strength. Consuming the food of the underworld could bind me permanently to this realm of Illusion .
While floating high above, I connected telepathically with Yuri, who was gazing up at me from below. This body came equipped with such features.
-Testing, testing. Can you hear me?
“Yes, loud and clear. It seems you’ve successfully taken control.”
-This body has quite a lot of features. Yuri, before coming here, I secured an escape route. We could leave right now if we wanted...
“Tell me the plan. I’m listening.”
Since this place seemed to be where things erased by Subtraction ended up, I decided to call it the Erasure Domain .
Long ago, in the distant past, Yuna had erased the discarded remnants of the Violet Magic Tower with her own hands. It’s highly likely she used Subtraction in the process.
In other words, something—or someone—might still be here.
Perhaps one of the two individuals who led those experiments, the former master of the Violet Magic Tower.
-I don’t know if that person is still conscious or even intact, but the data itself should remain. If we recover it, it could help us conquer the Tower of Illusions .
Not to mention, I’d also get the chance to tear apart the person who tormented Yuna.
“I understand. Since there’s nothing above, I suppose we need to descend.”
-Yeah, I’ve looked up, and there’s nothing there. It’s probably structured like a stack, with the earliest erased data buried at the bottom.
Together, Yuri and I began exploring the Erasure Domain .
We pushed aside and navigated through objects swallowed by Subtraction . These included discarded portions of leftover sessions from the Tower of Illusions and remnants of Aisha’s fractured dragon scales.
All sorts of debris floated around in disorganized clusters, forming the terrain.
By observing these fragments, I could estimate the time period they came from. The sections we passed through seemed to originate from the time Yuna lived happily with us.
Filtering out irrelevant session resources, we focused on examining items that appeared related to Yuna. However, there wasn’t much of significance to be found—just trivial things like:
“Mima, I found an adult magazine.”
-Why is that here?
“It features tall, well-endowed women as models.”
-That explains it.
A glimpse into Yuna’s hidden jealousy toward big and tall beauties .
-I also found something... but for the sake of privacy, I won’t read it. Yuri, leave it untouched. Let’s pretend it never existed.
“What is it?”
-A poem...
Amateurish poetry expressing the stormy emotions of adolescence.
In short, all we found were light, insignificant things. Perhaps this was because we were still in the shallower layers of the Erasure Domain .
Yuri smiled, seemingly satisfied, after hearing my assessment.
“If there’s so little erased from the time she spent with us, it means Yuna was happy. That’s something to be proud of.”
-You think so? Was that really it?
“Yes. If she hadn’t been happy, there would have been much darker things here, don’t you think? But... Mima. We’ve reached the bottom. There doesn’t seem to be any further path down. Is this the end?”
Tap.
Yuri stepped onto a flat surface.
As she said, there were no more stairways or gaps leading further down. Yet something about this being the bottom didn’t sit well with me.
We hadn’t uncovered much data, and this surface—something about it felt oddly familiar.
Oh.
-I understand now.
“My feelings?”
-I’ve known about those for a while. I meant the floor. Look, there’s one resource from the Stellaria session that hasn’t appeared yet.
“ The Kaiju showed up, and the ruined city fragments were here, but the one thing still missing is...”
The giant robot, Meteor .
Slide.
I extended one of my massive forelimbs, placing it on the floor. I could feel it—this was a makeshift manhole cover crafted from the crushed remains of the giant robot.
Carefully, I extended a tentacle to pick Yuri up and gently placed her atop my head for safety. Then, raising my claws, I prepared to break through the cover and descend further.
Just as I was about to strike, a whisper of temptation tickled my mind.
“Why not absorb the giant robot too?”
No! As tempting as it was, I had already considered the risks. If I devoured everything I came across, I might become permanently bound to this realm of Illusion .
Besides, I already had the power of the Kaiju . Was there any point in adding more?
Leaving now would be enough to beat Dark Yuna . If Aisha and I combined forces, we could handle her just fine.
“But... wouldn’t you become an Armored Kaiju if you absorbed it?”
Oh no.
I caved to the devil’s whisper.
Clank, clank, clank! Grind, grind—!
I absorbed the giant robot’s information. My 100-meter-tall Kaiju body expanded to 150 meters, and armored plates from the robot covered my form like a shell.
More importantly, I acquired the Magic Engine .
Vrooooom—!
A deep, resonating engine hum reverberated through my body as magical energy flowed to every corner. Yes, this was it! I basked in the return of my magic, twisting and bending it just to relish the feeling.
Butterflies fluttered around me, flowers bloomed, and rainbows arched across the sky—all conjured by my newly recovered magic. It felt as exhilarating as getting your phone back after military service.
Yuri, perched atop my head, rapped on my crown and spoke.
“Mima, I believe we’ve found the target. Look below.”
I shifted my gaze downward. Beneath the opened manhole cover lay a warped, tumor-like mass occupying the space with illusion magic. It resembled the patchwork nest of the Succubus Queen’s dreams.
Despite the commotion above, it didn’t seem to react. Perhaps its awareness was confined to the inside of that space.
Switching my view, I activated a filter to detect malice and scanned the area.
There, I saw it: walls of corrupted data, a dungeon of tangled information, and deep within—
A hunched old man.
The former master of the Violet Magic Tower, Scarab
, had dedicated his entire life to achieving a singular goal.To accomplish it, he spared no effort and entertained no scruples. He collaborated with black magicians, killed people, and conducted inhumane experiments.
His goal? To achieve the monumental feat of transforming illusion into reality.
Everything he did was for the sake of opening the Gate .
He hypothesized the existence of a virtual realm, the Illusionary World , and sought to create a gate linking it to reality, allowing him to summon anything he desired from within. It was the pinnacle of summoning magic.
If successful, omnipotence was guaranteed. In theory, anything could be summoned from within the Illusionary World : dragons, sublimated beings, or even creatures of fantasy that had never existed.
However, simply opening the gate posed tremendous dangers.
What if something catastrophic emerged? What if a deadly plague capable of exterminating all of humanity poured out of the gate?
Or worse, what if a malicious entity emerged solely to annihilate humanity? Such outcomes would render his efforts meaningless. Scarab’s research was about ruling the world, not committing suicide.
Thus, he decided to impose a restriction on the Gate . He gave it the property of a mirror. The Gate would only summon exact copies of whatever was reflected in it. For example, if an apple was reflected, it would summon an apple; if a staff, a staff.
This limitation made the Gate more difficult to use but significantly increased its safety. The summoner would have full control over what was summoned.
On the long-awaited final day, when his research reached 100% completion, the fully constructed Gate was ready.
However, instead of reflecting the prepared fragment of an evil god, it reflected something else entirely.
"Erase everything. All those involved in this experiment—erase them all."
Thus, Scarab’s experiment ended with the collapse of the old Violet Magic Tower.
And yet—he still lived. His dream was not over.
Swallowed by Subtraction and cast into the Erasure Domain , he devoured the falling fragments of information to strengthen himself.
The apprentices who had fallen alongside him? He consumed them long ago. He even devoured the data of the vile mercenary group slain by Yuna in the village of Sanjebi.
He waited, patiently, for the day he could escape. For the day he could exact revenge on the experimental subject who ruined his research—Yurensto.
And now, new prey had arrived.
Scarab, with his sunken eyes and ten flailing arms, addressed the pink-haired woman who appeared before him.
“Keek-keek-keek... A succubus, is it? The remnants of the Succubus Queen’s dream once fell here too. But your attire is surprisingly modest for a nightmare demon.”
“...”
“Are you afraid of death within death? Don’t worry. You’ll live on inside me for eternity. Let’s hope your tiny brain holds a clue on how to escape this place... Hmm?”
The pink-haired succubus didn’t reply. She merely pointed upward with a disinterested expression. It was a signal—she was transmitting the coordinates of this location upward.
Curious, Scarab tilted his head to look up.
And then, he saw something.
Some shape was rapidly growing larger.
There was no sense of interference from the nest’s barrier, meaning it was still too far away to have breached it. Yet, it was so massive that it was visible even from this distance.
Something enormous—something truly colossal—was approaching.
“What... what in the world is that?!”
“There’s no need for you to know its °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° name. But if you insist on calling it something, I can suggest a few terms: judgment, divine punishment, retribution, or...”
Karma.
Whoosh! Yuri Lannester ascended swiftly, using a pre-installed elastic rope to escape Scarab’s nest.
Moments later, it arrived.
Descending from the very top of the Erasure Domain was the Mad Wizard , in the form of the Armored Kaiju . His 150-meter frame, immense weight, and the acceleration of his fall culminated in—
“TAKE THIS! REVERSE HEAVENLY DEMON’S RAMPAGE, YOU BASTARD!”
A tackle.
BOOOOOOOOM—!!
There was no time to resist.
Upon the Mad Wizard’s impact, the nest was instantly obliterated. Scarab was crushed beneath the overwhelming mass, flattened like a pancake.