Chapter 10: Patch Notes Ver. 1.10

As light hit Kyo's face, he gasped and opened his eyes. Where is this? What's happening? This isn't the afterlife, right?

"Oh, look who decided to join us." Kurumi laughed as she twirled her flintlock. "You really did a number on yourself. It took three hits of [Dalet] to bring you back, you know."

Kyo groaned as he shifted into a sitting position against the wall, his entire body aching with a chilling pain. Glancing around the room, he noted the crumbling infrastructure: dilapidated walls, crushed furniture, and a single cracked mirror. The source of light that awoke him, the accursed sun, shone through a lone broken window. "Thanks, Kurumi. Say, where are we?"

"One of my hidden bases in Tengu City. My apologies for the clutter, but I really wasn't expecting any guests."

Kyo winced at the implication. "Yeah, sorry. I underestimated the extent of the Nihility's power."

"You're getting old, Kyo. I can already see white streaks in your hair." Kurumi mocked while shaking her head pityingly. 

Turning to face Kurumi, Kyo raised an eyebrow. "You're one to talk. What's with your new color?"

"...I didn't think you were this kind of person, Kyo." Kurumi smiled with what Kyo could only describe as a mix between amusement and offense.

"You think I wouldn't notice you switching the entire color palette of your eye? Speaking of which, I didn't even know you could do that."

"Whatever do you mean?" 

The two looked at each other blankly. Kyo's right eye twitched.

"You... mean to say that you didn't turn your clock eye gray?" Kyo asked hesitantly.

"What an interesting idea. But no, I have not."

"...what color is that desk over there?" Kyo pointed to a crushed gray desk in the corner.

"Pale blue," Kurumi answered, furrowing her brows. "Did you turn colorblind?"

"I can still very much see your red dress and eye, so... conditionally, yes?" Kyo sighed. "Gradually losing oneself seems to be a natural drawback of drawing power from the Nihility." Well, at least this is better than losing my memories. Glancing back at Kurumi, who seemed to be slightly relieved at something, Kyo bowed his head. "[Dalet] was the only reason I just lost one aspect of my sight on this mission. I owe you, Kurumi."

"I'll be sure to remember that then," Kurumi said with a smile that promised a sinister fate.

"Ahem, I owe you within reason and decent morality," Kyo coughed, causing Kurumi to fake a pout. "Anyway, how's Nia?" 

"So you did already know her name, huh," Kurumi yawned. "She hasn't awoken yet. It's been about two days since we broke her out, if you were curious."

"I see-" Kyo attempted to stand up before a crushing pressure sent him stumbling straight back down. Distinctly, he could feel that chill again, but this time it bore down on him like the weight of a black hole. It felt as though his body was in an active state of atrophy, being unmade with every passing second of existence. "Fudge! [Origin]!" Kyo shouted instinctively, but nothing manifested. It's blocked off? Shoot...

"[Naught]!"

Kurumi jumped back with readied guns, eyes widened in alarm, but Kyo paid her no attention. [Naught] trembled in his hands as he attempted to utilize Reiryoku to reinforce his body. Hold on, I can feel two separate energies within [Naught]. Hastily guiding the power that he felt was less dangerous, Kyo felt the pain slowly subsiding. So tainting myself did come with at least one benefit: being able to separate my Reiryoku from the power of Nihility. 

"Are you still sane?" Kurumi called from the other side of the room, guns still pointed at Kyo.

"Sane enough," Kyo sighed. Reinforcing my body is taking up a huge chunk of my Reiryoku reserves. Combat just got a whole lot more painful, didn't it. Propping himself up with [Naught], he slowly stood up and gave his arms and legs a shake. Satisfied, he turned to Kurumi. "So, know any good restaurants around here? I'll treat us to a meal." Courtesy of the wallet I 'borrowed'.

"Sure, but don't complain if it's not to your taste~" Kurumi said lazily as a shadowy portal oozed into existence behind her. Kyo followed her inside, still clutching [Naught].

——————I am the dividing line that skips time——————

"God is dead," Kyo bitterly spat as he ate his rice bowl. 

"I thought you said you wouldn't complain about the food?" Kurumi asked with evident dissatisfaction. 

"There's nothing wrong with the food. I just seem to have also lost my sense of taste," Kyo muttered as a single tear welled up in his eye. [Naught] clattered beside him, periodically emitting small sparks of red lightning and drawing Kurumi's wary eyes. Goodbye, good food. I'll miss you. Stuffing the rest of his tasteless meal into his mouth, he stormed off to pay. 

——————I am the dividing line that skips time——————

"Any sign of Nia waking up yet?" Kyo asked, leaning against the crumbling wall of Kurumi's base. 

"None at all," Kurumi replied.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if we should've taken her to Ratatoskr instead of a generic hospital..." Kyo grumbled. "Sleeping for nine days straight is not normal. Even if Ratatoskr's crew all have some screws loose somewhere, they do still have the best tech available. I wouldn't be surprised if the hospital has already classified her as comatose and given up."

"My, how very grumpy you are today. Do you need to blow off a little steam?" Kurumi teased.

"I'd really rather not fight anymore." Kyo had previously tested his limits in private. Due to needing a huge amount of Reiryoku to keep his body from annihilating itself, the amount of Reiryoku he could spend in combat had essentially been halved. His previous speed of near-imperceptible movement was no longer possible under normal circumstances. However, [White] was still usable, and Kyo had developed a couple of new tricks too. But the most important thing is to only use [Naught] while sheathed in combat. After all...

——————I am the dividing line that flashbacks——————

Kyo slowly began unsheathing [Naught]. However, as soon as two inches of the blade were released, his vision went completely dark and he lost any feeling in his arms. Immediately, he sheathed the blade, but the side effects didn't go away. A cold sweat formed on the back of his neck. Holy Wubbaboo, please don't tell me I just permanently broke my arms and blinded myself.

—————I am the dividing line that flashes forward—————

How fortunate that I was able to recover the next day. Kyo smiled bitterly to himself. "It seems as though I'll need to shelve any plans of world domination and aim for a quiet life..."

"Since when did you have plans of world domination?" Kurumi laughed. "But a quiet life, huh? How do you expect anyone to believe that when you haven't dismissed your Demon King since you resummoned it?"

"Hey, I'm a little self-taught here. Using Reiryoku is way easier when I have my weapon as a conduit. I'm only able to move thanks to this sword. Thus, this is a Demon King of peace!" Also, [Naught] is my only source of the power of Nihility, he thought whilst giving a peace sign. Looking at the hilt embedded with an obvious evil-looking red eye, Kurumi smiled mirthlessly. But before she could respond, another Kurumi appeared from the shadows.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything, me," the clone greeted as she gave a slight bow.

"Not at all, me. What do you have to report?"

"[Sister] is finally awake."