Whose personality mask's power comes from the heroic spirit?

When Oishi Kurato said this, his eyes unconsciously looked in the direction where the Sonozaki Group used to be.

In the catastrophe ten years ago, the head couple of the Sonozaki Group and their second daughter escaped because they were in Xing Palace.

Eight years ago, the couple had not yet recovered from the pain of all the villagers being killed by poison gas, and the dam project that had been shelved for several years was put on the agenda again.

The head of the Sonozaki clan suddenly disappeared, leaving only the head of the Sonozaki family, Sonozaki Shion, and her mother Sonozaki Akane to fight on.

But this time, the weak Sonozaki family could not withstand the pressure, and a few months later, the dam project was approved.

It was also at this time that Oishi Kuran finally gave up his suspicion of the Sonozaki family after witnessing their powerlessness.

But he was also keenly aware that there was a deeper problem behind all the strange things happening in Hinamizawa. However, as he had lost his public office, he no longer had the opportunity to investigate further.

Of course, he didn't dare to check any further.

Otherwise, the past of the Sonozaki family will be the future of Oishi Kurato.

He is not afraid of death, otherwise he would not have dared to track down the Sonozaki family under the pressure of the witch.

But he was afraid that the other party would implicate innocent people. After all, he still had a lovely grandson to take care of!

But the other side was so cruel that they killed thousands of people.

Afterwards, he was even able to confuse the public by making a big fuss about the local swamp in Hinamizawa and putting all the blame on natural disasters!

Chapter 2: The Disappearance of Furu Te Hane

Floating above the water, the Shadow Mage looked down at the dam that submerged the entire Hinamizawa. The half of his face revealed under the hood was without a single curve.

Perhaps because he had swallowed up the resentment of that alien who had powerful abilities but had no idea how to use them, the Shadow Mage, who had been freed from the constraints of time, couldn't even say exactly when he had set up the barrier covering the entire Hinamizawa Dam.

The only thing that is certain is that the time interval from today is not short.

He originally thought that it might be troublesome to deal with the little guy with some problems, but he didn't expect that the other party was a pessimist who gave up very easily.

He just showed a little bit of the 'power' he had at hand, and she was so 'Ahhhhhhh' that she wanted to give up.

If it weren't for the instigation of the little human with some special characteristics who followed her, perhaps he would have swallowed the other person directly when they met for the first time.

But it’s not bad.

After all, it was all thanks to that little human devil. Not only did he easily devour the 'Ahwuahwuahwu' alien, he also gained the cognitive ability to escape from the time cage, strengthened himself and could roam freely in the world of time fragments, he even discovered an extremely special seed in the fragmented time.

The potential of that seed even surpasses all the cards Shadow Mage currently has in hand.

If he had not been worried that the seed would "devour its master" after germination, he would not have sealed it in the barrier immediately after realizing that the seed was about to "evolve" as soon as he brought it out of the world of time fragments.

But now he doesn't need to worry.

Because someone who can solve this worry for him appeared.

No matter whether the human body kills the seed, or the seed kills the human body, Shadow Mage will have the chance to reap the benefits in the end.

However, this seed is still in its embryonic stage and is not enough to cause harm to the human body, so the Shadow Mage has to find a way to strengthen her.

Monsterization?

No, no, no, that would be too boring.

It was definitely not that the Shadow Mage was worried that the seed would quickly absorb his energy faster than he expected and turn against him.

Now there is only one way left... to create a new time fragment world, and then throw the human body and this seed into it!

However, in this time's world of time fragments, the 'Awoooahwooo' alien did not appear.

……

"Hmm - my head hurts... Yuiri, bring me a glass of red wine." Covering her head and sitting up on the bed with her arms, Rika Furude murmured sleepily.

But the 'Ahhhhhh' sound that would have been heard immediately afterwards in the past was not responded to this time.

The room was silent, as if there had never been a person named 'Yu Ru'.

After being stunned for a moment, Rika Furude threw back the quilt, struggled to stand up in her pajamas, and walked out of the bedroom while holding onto the wall.

"Hyuuri? Where are you?" Rika Furude was feeling uneasy, and she loudly called out the name of this 'old acquaintance' who always had to apologize to her every time she entered reincarnation.

But still no response.

After walking around the entire house and confirming that the "ghost" that was always hovering around her was not around, Furude Rika knelt in front of the entrance in a daze, looking forward with lifeless eyes.

Galala——

The sudden noise startled Rika Furude.

That guy relies on himself being a 'ghost' and always goes through walls without opening doors.

The person who opened the door was...

"Oh, you're awake, Rika-chan." A little girl in lumberjack clothes with a muddy face was standing outside the sliding window, taking off her shoes and greeting Rika Furute.

"Did you go to the mountain to make traps again, Satoko-chan?" After hundreds of years of reincarnation, Furude Rika, who was already able to change her facial expressions in an instant, smiled as brightly as a child. However, the reality of losing the trace of Yuri still disturbed her reaction nerves, so that she delayed her catchphrase for a moment before uttering it, "Meepah~"

"Hehehe! I don't know why today, I suddenly felt like my ideas were flowing like a spring, and I made a few traps that even shocked myself with my own talent!" The little girl named Hojo Satoko answered proudly with her hands on her hips.

"By the way, Rika, why are you kneeling in front of the entrance?" Hojo Satoko walked through the reception room and came to the corridor, looking at Furutte Rika in confusion and asked.

"…Rika was scared because she couldn't see Satoko-chan, and when she reached the entrance, her legs went weak and she sat down. Meow~"

"Oh, hehe, Rika-chan really loves to act like a spoiled child. I really don't know what I would do if you left me. Oh, hehe!" Hojo Satoko smiled proudly with the back of her hands covering her mouth.

Having successfully calmed herself down, Rika Furude smiled without saying anything.

She remembered that the last time she was reincarnated, she and Satoko had a falling out for some reason.

He even picked up a bench in the classroom and smashed it on her several times.

As for why we broke up...I can't remember anymore.

This reincarnation situation is very bad.

Not only did Yu Ru disappear, but even his original characteristic of only losing his memories before death began to become vague, so that even his memories other than those before death began to become ambiguous.

Could it be that Yu Ru's power has declined to this point after that extraordinary performance?

As for the possibility that she would no longer be able to see Yuru's existence, Rika Furude would never consider it.

After all, that was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes after he was born.

Taking advantage of Satoko's tendency to lose her mind when she becomes proud, Rika Furude successfully figures out the time of this reincarnation.

There is still more than a week until the 'Cotton Festival'.

In terms of time, as in the past, it is not loose, but it is not imminent either.

But Yuru's disappearance made Furude Rika a little uneasy.

After all, the reason why she was able to carry out this infinite six-month cycle was mainly due to Yu Ru's power.

Without Yu Ru, can he enter the cycle of reincarnation again?

Just as I was thinking about this, a stabbing pain like a needle suddenly spread from my brain.

Rika Furude slammed her head against the floor.

Before Satoko, who was frightened by Rika Furude's sudden self-harming behavior, could scream, Rika Furude took the opportunity to scream in pain, even rolling on the floor and crying loudly.

"Rika-chan! Are you okay?" Hojo Satoko, whose attention was diverted, ignored her good friend's abnormality and squatted down worriedly, trying to support Furute Rika.

Chapter 3: June of Infinite Reincarnation

"Is this the current Hinamizawa?" Standing on the edge of the cliff, looking at the vast water outside the guardrail with an expression of amazement, Taiyi couldn't help but shook his head with emotion.

Although she can't remember which chapter it was, Ryuguin Reina, who survived to the end, was standing here at that time, exchanging information about the past with Oishi Kuratō, who had already retired by then, and Akasaka Mamoru, another old acquaintance of Furude Rika.

"That's right." Oishi Kōto, who had quit smoking after retirement, walked up to Taichi with a lollipop in his mouth and answered, "Hinamizawa, where the bones of thousands of people who died tragically are buried, is right under this dam."

"What was the reason for the annihilation of all the people in this village?" Taiyi turned his head and asked Oishi Zangren.

"At first, it was said that poisonous gas erupted in the Onigashi Swamp, killing more than a thousand people in the village." Oishi poked the stick of the lollipop and continued, "However, this conclusion was overturned half a year after the incident, because the air quality test results showed that there was no poisonous gas in the air in Hinamizawa."

"So, the gang changed their story and claimed that some highly effective poisonous food was mixed into the festival that was being held at the time."

"Later, even the health bureau and some microbiology academic experts came out to endorse them."

"In short, in order to implement this dam project, those people really have no shame at all."

[“Taiyi, I detected it!” Axe’s voice sounded excitedly in the meeting in his mind, “The magnetic field of the village ruins called Hinamizawa under the dam is extremely unstable! Moreover, it seems that something was sealed there before, and there are remnants of special energy that can correspond to the energy fluctuations of the Shadow Mage!”]

What did the Shadow Mage seal away in the ruins of the village?

Taichi blinked when he heard the answer, having a bad feeling.

"What is that?" Oishi's face suddenly froze, and he pointed to the center of the dam reservoir in surprise, pushed Taichi's shoulder and asked, "My eyesight is not very good, I can't see it clearly, can you help me take a look!"

"...whirlpool?" Taiyi tilted his head in confusion. "It seemed so peaceful before, when did a whirlpool appear so rapidly? Could it be that someone is pumping water underground?"

While speaking, Taichi was already pulling Oishi Zangren backwards.

Generally speaking, with the presence of a shadow mage and such a unique scene, there is a high probability that something like a monster or a super beast will emerge from underwater.

But this time, nothing came out of the vortex.

Instead, Taiyi, who was sitting in the car and preparing to lead everyone to evacuate the place, noticed that the car was being sucked forward by something before it even started.

"...I really didn't expect this." Oishi Zangren looked at the car's dashboard in a daze, then looked at Taiyi and explained, "But don't you plan to try to start the car and struggle again?"

"It's useless." After realizing from Aix's reminder that the car could not take them out of the vortex's suction range within a minute, Taiyi, who chose to play badly, shrugged and replied, "This is not a natural phenomenon. We are being targeted. There is no chance of running away."

"Being... targeted?" Oishi Zangren asked blankly, "Being targeted by what?"

"I don't know, maybe it's a monster?" Taiyi replied with a blink.

"...Do you have a cigarette? I suddenly feel like smoking one." Looking at the guardrail getting closer and closer, Oishi Zangren reached out to Taiyi for a cigarette.

"I don't smoke, so there are no cigarettes or even lighters in the car." Taiyi had asked Aix to use telekinesis to cover the entire car and protect the car and the four people inside. He smiled and said, "I plan to go down to the water to explore. I don't feel comfortable leaving you three behind, so I have to trouble you to come with me."

"Oh, it's not a good idea to be humorous at this time." Looking at the guardrail that was easily knocked open by the car, Oishi Zangren couldn't help but close his eyes and murmured in a low voice, "I still want to see my great-grandson be born..."

There was a dizzying moment, followed by a sudden jolt.

Oishi Zangren, who was a little dazed by the bumpy ride, opened his eyes.

But the scene before their eyes was not the underwater scene they were supposed to fall into.

It is a dense forest.

The sun hanging high in the east makes the people of Oishi feel as if they are in another world.

After all, it was almost dusk when they were pulled into the whirlpool.

"Are we already dead and in the afterlife?" Oishi Zangren asked with a blink of an eye. "So there is a sun in hell? It's so bright."

"We may not have come to hell." Taiyi had already unbuckled his seat belt. "I didn't close my eyes when the car fell off the cliff, so I saw it very clearly."

"Before the car even hit the water, we jumped directly into the middle of the woods with the car and people."

"Besides, judging from the terrain, we probably landed on a hillside."

"... jump?" Oishi Zangren didn't quite understand the word Taiyi said.

"...Everyone, we may not only have jumped through space, but also through time." Yukinoshita Yukino in the back row took out her watch from her bosom and took a look at it, then said, "This watch is a gift from my sister. It can check the time directly through satellite signals."

"Now is the time. It is June 18, 1983."

Oishi Kuratto turned his head excitedly and looked at Yukinoshita Yukino with red eyes.

"You just said, June of what year!"

"Nineteen eighty-three." Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Oishi Kuratō calmly and answered.

"June 1983..." Oishi Zangren slumped back down as if he had lost all his strength, "It was two days before the annihilation incident."

"In two days, everyone in this village will die."

"So... do you know something?" Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Taichi and asked.

"Yeah, I know." Taiyi nodded and replied, "But before I tell you what I know, I need to do some research first."

"After all, details determine the direction." Taiyi scratched his hair with a headache and sighed.

Although it is not clear why the four of them were pulled into the vortex, and how they traveled through the fragmented timeline to 1983.

But in order to prevent the 'great disaster' at Hinamizawa, action must be taken.