"S-Souta… you just pulled the entire starry sky down to the ground!?"
Tsugumi looked at the just-returned Souta, her voice trembling in disbelief.
"What's with all the questions? The situation's resolved, isn't it?"
Souta waved a hand casually, looking like it was no big deal.
"No, seriously! What you just did was way too much!!"
Tsugumi's jaw dropped so far a whole egg could've fit in her mouth.
Souta thoroughly enjoyed the expression of shock on her face, he stared at her for a few extra seconds, even feeling the urge to actually shove an egg into her mouth for the fun of it, while having a stiffy.
"Was it really that surprising?" he asked.
"This isn't about whether it's surprising. It's… it's… that kind of thing you only see in, like… once-in-a-lifetime-level stuff!"
Tsugumi stammered, unable to find the right words.
"Alright, alright." Souta ruffled her hair with a grin. "You weren't this shocked when I talked about making a moon, were you?"
In reality, all he'd done was use divine spark to wish for the satellite's destruction.
That wish had cost a ton of divine power, long-distance miracles weren't cheap.
Everything else from the lights, the cosmic illusion was just a divine illusion for theatrical flair.
At his current level, he couldn't literally pull down the sky and crush a satellite in his hand like a god of myth.
Now, if he had something like an Infinity Gauntlet with a Space Stone? Maybe.
But hey, he was here for the drama. Might as well go all out.
"Anyway, how's Inori?" he asked.
Tsugumi patted her cheeks and forced herself to focus.
"…Huh? Inori's no longer in Roppongi. She moved really fast!"
"Must've been Yuu's space transfer," Souta guessed.
"So that means… she managed to trick them?" Tsugumi brightened.
If she hadn't, there would've been a fight and Inori wouldn't have moved at all.
"Most likely. Keido's plan worked, meaning the virus has already broken out in Tokyo."
Souta peered through the wall and glanced at the chaos outside.
"Thanks to our pre-spread diluted vaccine, no one should die. Most will just progress to stage two of infection.
Now, let's go with the original plan. The entire Illuminati mobilizes, take the vaccines out for a public relief effort. Time to expand our reach beyond Roppongi."
"Got it! I'll tell Gai right away!"
Tsugumi nodded and sprinted out.
But at the door, she stopped and turned around.
"Wait, what about Inori? Are we just waiting for her to come back after sealing Eve?"
"Hmm… I'll go check myself. Might as well settle Mana's soul while I'm at it."
"Wait, weren't you supposed to save Mana?!"
Tsugumi looked stunned.
Souta gave her a flat stare. "I meant resolve the issue of Mana's soul, bring her back to normal. What are you, dense?"
"You're the dense one!" Tsugumi stuck out her tongue. "You just don't know how to talk properly!"
And with that, she dashed out, probably to avoid getting bonked again.
Souta looked toward the southeast, muttering:
"Yuu should be done by now… Time to go reap the rewards."
—While Souta was putting on a sky-bending show—
Elsewhere, Yuu brought Inori back to the top floor of GHQ's Tokyo HQ. Shuichiro Keido was already there waiting.
"Yo, Keido. Looks like you've got everything set."
Yuu secured the unconscious Inori onto a ceremonial apparatus.
"There were… complications," Keido's face was grim. "You went off to get the vessel, so you didn't see what happened. That god the Illuminati worships, he's not what I expected."
"Oh?" Yuu raised an eyebrow. "If he could surprise you, now I really want to meet him."
Keido shook his head. "If you'd seen it, you wouldn't be saying that. Still… I'm not entirely sure what I saw was real."
"So, did you run into resistance while capturing the vessel?"
"No. When I found her, she was alone," Yuu replied with a strange look. "Actually, she passed out by herself. I didn't even have to fight."
"She passed out on her own?"
"Yeah. She's used Void Genome and has the 'Power of Kings', but apparently she doesn't know how to use it. She tried to extract her own void to fight me, then just collapsed. I didn't even move."
"Hmm…" Keido analyzed. "Her power must still be in stage one."
"She didn't seem very smart," Yuu added. "Probably just developed her awareness recently. Emotional maturity of a toddler."
Keido shook his head.
"Let's get started before anything else goes wrong. Forget the Illuminati for now."
Yuu pulled out the virus essence and began summoning Mana's soul.
Inori's eyes slowly opened.
Those crimson eyes stared calmly at Yuu and Keido.
"The soul-binding ceremony can begin," Yuu said.
Virus crystals appeared in the air and, under the core's influence, shaped themselves into two wedding rings.
Keido put one on, and just as he reached for the second to slip it onto Inori...
The restraints holding Inori shattered and twisted, falling apart.
Yuu and Keido were stunned.
Inori raised her right hand toward Yuu.
"Advanced Thermokinesis," she said softly.
Water vapor in the air condensed rapidly.
Everything around them froze over.
In seconds, thick ice blanketed the entire hall.
Yuu, caught off guard and unprepared, was frozen mid-expression, encased like an insect in amber.
Inori turned her gaze to Keido, calm and unfeeling.
"You… how are you resisting the Apocalypse Virus?" Keido staggered back several steps.
How could Eve, under the Apocalypse Virus's control, still move freely?
"You're controlling Eve," Inori tilted her head, "What's that got to do with me?"
Before he could react—
A second ice sculpture appeared.
Inori felt Eve's will still struggling within her.
She strengthened her soul's suppressive force.
She turned toward the door.
Just then, a ripple shimmered through the air.
Souta materialized in the hall.
Their eyes met immediately.
He glanced behind Inori and spotted the massive frozen sculpture.
"Huh? It's already over?"
PS: Four updates for now. Been writing late into the night, energy's low lately. Also, this network/satellite stuff is dragging will wrap this arc up today.