064 If You Love Her, Dig Up Her Grave

PS: I totally forgot the Dragon Ball storyline, but thanks to some comments pointing it out, I looked it up online. Turns out, without Piccolo Jr., Goku might have serious trouble later on… So, I've added a small fix in this chapter.

This novel won't be focusing on Dragon Ball, so just skim over the patch and don't take it too seriously.

...

Master Roshi circled around the completely frozen King Piccolo (Pikkoro Daimao) a few times.

Piccolo's face was still frozen in a wide, maniacal grin, making Master Roshi feel like the whole situation wasn't real.

And it wasn't just Master Roshi—Souta himself also found it hard to believe.

A boss this powerful… was taken down so easily? Even he had trouble accepting it.

It just proved that Kurumi's Angel combined with his Unlimited Time ability created a ridiculously overpowered combo.

Of course, it wasn't without flaws.

The more time Kurumi infused into a bullet, the longer it took to prepare, making it unsuitable for real-time combat.

And since she only had two guns, she could only pre-load two bullets at a time.

After that, Master Roshi successfully sealed Old Piccolo using the Mafuba (Evil Containment Wave).

Kurumi then manifested her Angel again and crafted another Four Bullet to restore Master Roshi's weakened body.

And with that, their Dragon Ball heist was officially over.

But just before they left, Souta had a long conversation with Master Roshi.

In summary—he explained his identity, convinced Master Roshi he was legit, and then urged him to go find this world's Kami (Guardian of Earth) and have him remake the Dragon Balls before summoning Shenron to create a new version of Piccolo Jr.

After all, Piccolo Jr. was a critical character later in Dragon Ball.

Without him, Goku might not be able to handle Raditz when he shows up, which could lead to major problems for Earth.

After repeatedly stressing the importance of this issue, Souta finally left the Dragon Ball world with Kurumi and the others.

"Re:CREATORS" World

At the entrance of a cemetery.

Souta, Kurumi, Shinobu, and Altair stood on the cement pavement, seemingly discussing something.

It was already deep into the night. Beyond the cemetery gates, rows of tombstones stretched out before them.

Each gravestone had a picture of the deceased embedded in it, with smiling faces frozen in time.

The atmosphere was eerie…

But the conversation Souta and the others were having completely ruined the mood.

"...Do we really need to dig up the grave?"

Altair's expression was complicated, her face conflicted—clearly, she wasn't thrilled about this.

"The Dragon Balls we took are from early Dragon Ball, so I'm not 100% sure if we need a body for resurrection. I've forgotten most of the details."

Souta insisted, "So, let's dig it up. If we recover the ashes and restore them, it's a good backup plan."

"I agree with grave-digging," Shinobu said, looking at Altair. "Once your creator is resurrected, her grave loses its purpose. Why are you hesitating?"

"Yeah, we should dig it up," Kurumi also agreed. "Resurrection is more important than superstitions about graves."

Altair hesitated for a long moment before finally clenching her teeth and nodding.

"Fine… Let's dig!"

That said, Souta and the others didn't lift a finger—they left the job to Altair.

With her 48 military swords, her grave-digging speed was actually quite impressive.

About five minutes later, Altair walked out of the cemetery hugging a cremation urn.

Her face carried the expression of someone who had just committed a grave crime.

Souta was honestly a bit confused.

Why didn't Altair just use her Holopsicon – Representation Exposition to alter the grave's material composition?

Like… turning the tombstone into a flower or something and then effortlessly retrieving the ashes?

Of course, he didn't ask.

Bringing it up would totally kill the mood.

And possibly get him punched.

Altair wordlessly handed the urn to Kurumi.

Kurumi, unfazed, took it and got to work.

"Reversing three months' worth of time means I need to load quite a bit of time into the bullet. Give me a moment."

Kurumi said as she manifested her Angel.

The clock in her eye began spinning at an insane speed.

This process lasted about a minute.

Then, Kurumi lifted her antique pistol and absorbed the number 4 from her giant, clock-like Angel behind her.

"Let's begin."

She opened the urn, poured the ashes onto the ground, gathering them into a pile, and then fired a Four Bullet into them.

Watching this, Souta suddenly recalled a moment from Date A Live.

In Kurumi's battle against Kotori on the school rooftop, Kotori had severed one of her arms—

But Kurumi immediately shot herself in the head with a Four Bullet…

And her severed arm flew back to her, reattaching itself perfectly as if nothing had happened.

This was likely what she meant earlier—when reversing time on a body, missing materials would be automatically summoned back.

Sure enough, as the bullet's power took effect, Setsuna's ashes began to accumulate and expand.

Particles of matter drifted in from all directions, continuously merging with the ashes, restoring them toward their original state.

Gradually, Setsuna's physical body started reconstructing itself.

From skeleton… to organs… to flesh and blood…

Honestly?

Not a scene for kids.

The pile of ashes slowly transformed into the nude body of a teenage girl.

As the smooth skin started forming, both Altair and Kurumi suddenly turned toward Souta and stared at him.

"…?"

Souta scratched his cheek.

"Am I not allowed to look?"

"Of course not," Altair stated flatly. "Even if you are my benefactor, you don't get to see Setsuna's body."

"Souta, peeking at a girl's body is very impolite~"

Kurumi straightened her posture, deliberately blocking his view.

"As your friend, it's my duty to keep you in check."

…You're only saying this now? I already saw almost everything.

Souta felt speechless.

Altair and Kurumi's priorities were seriously weird.

Seeing a skeleton rebuild itself with muscles and blood was fine…

But as soon as the skin formed, suddenly it was inappropriate?

Logically speaking, the former was way more disturbing, wasn't it?

"Alright, alright. I won't look."

Souta turned his back to them.

A moment later, Setsuna's body was fully restored.

Altair quickly dressed her in the clothes she had prepared beforehand.

At the same time, Kurumi retrieved the Dragon Balls from her shadow space.

As the seven orbs gathered together, they began glowing with a brilliant golden light, pulsating rhythmically.

When summoning Shenron, daylight turns to night.

Luckily, since it was already nighttime, it wouldn't cause too much commotion.

"I think the chant was… 'Come forth, Shenron!'"

Souta stepped forward and called out.

Instantly, golden light from the Dragon Balls shot into the sky, piercing through the darkness.

The radiance was like a golden lightning bolt, ripping through space-time, linking to a place beyond this world.

The sky twisted and warped—

And then, a massive dragon bathed in golden light appeared!

Souta turned to Altair, giving her an encouraging smile and gesturing for her to step forward.

Altair looked at him with gratitude before shifting her gaze to the enormous four-clawed dragon suspended in the sky.

Her expression was filled with overwhelming emotion.

The moment had finally come.

Facing Shenron's imposing presence, she took a deep breath—

And spoke her wish…