One-way traffic

An old man, dressed in the same black robe but with the body of a normal human.

"That person is not dead yet. Rather, if you provoke him here, you will be the ones who die."

"Ugh—roar—!!"

"Don't assume that someone who has already died once won't 'die' a second time."

As soon as those words were spoken, a completely different aura pressed down on the space.

"Close the seven doors and go back to fulfill your duty as guards of the cage."

Bang! ! !

It was not First Path that manipulated the vectors to achieve the desired effect.

Like a pure aura, that thing exploded directly from the old man's body.

The spirits then dissipated at a single point, and the entire space returned to a deathly silence.

Only the old man and Yifang Tongxing remained in this place.

"So... you don't seem to be in cahoots with those guys from before."

This time, Accelerator turned his attention to the old man.

It is certain that the other party is not someone I know, and could never be.

"...You are not dead, yet you still appear in the underworld as a living being."

The underworld...

It was that kind of vocabulary again. The first person felt a little surprised, but not particularly astonished.

This is the Age of Gods. Since there are already so-called gods, it is not surprising that there are places like heaven and hell.

I just have one question.

"Since those guys are all dead, why would I be in a place where only the dead should show their faces?"

Although Accelerator is certain that he has taken countless lives, he is still alive.

The old man did not reply.

However, after he glanced at the first person's body for a moment—

"...So that's how it is. Your body is already somewhere between a god and a human, about to cross the boundary between life and death?"

"what?"

The first person frowned deeply at the words he had just heard, which he couldn't understand at all.

"Can't you guys speak in a way that a normal person can understand?"

"It's alright. In any case, this is not a place for you. You just need to leave as soon as possible."

The old man raised his hand, and golden light flashed above the head of the person in first place.

Everything in front of me became increasingly blurry.

However, at the very last moment, he still heard the old man's final words.

"—Never forget that when they face the Mother Goddess who gave birth to life in the future, your power will be the key to them resolving all of this."

—

The sounds of Uruk at night reached my ears.

When Accelerator opened his eyes again, he was still lying on the edge of the wall where he had been before.

Looking up, judging from the movement of the clouds... about three hours should have passed.

But he still understood one thing very well.

"What just happened wasn't just a dream..."

It was precisely because he had fully grasped the vector of the spirit that Accelerator was able to determine this.

Whether it's entering that place called the underworld, encountering the dead, or that old man... it's all real.

In other words, during the time he closed his eyes and fell asleep, his consciousness entered the land called the underworld.

The underworld... even he himself didn't know where it was located, so how did he get there?

And then there were the last things the old man said.

"This is such a hassle..."

The first one twisted his neck to wake himself up, having overslept a little.

At the same time, he looked directly at the area leading upstairs.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

If nothing unexpected happens, it should be close to midnight by now.

So who would come looking for me so late at night?

"..."

The person walked silently onto the roof.

Even Accelerator himself was somewhat surprised when he saw who had arrived.

"...The food that Hatsune-san and Siduri prepared for you has been heated up and is downstairs."

"Oh, it was you who came to see me."

Anna, a petite girl draped in a black robe.

It was something Accelerator had never imagined that a girl with such a withdrawn personality would come looking for him.

However, he did not experience any significant emotional changes as a result.

"So... you came to see me not just to talk about this kind of thing, right?"

"...You said that yesterday, didn't you?"

Anna walked slowly to Accelerator's side and sat down on the edge of the house.

“You’ve experienced more than one world like that.”

"so what?"

Accelerator asked, while Anna... spoke in a low voice.

"Could you... tell me more about worlds like that?"

Chapter 598 The Task Requested by the King

It's about half an hour past midnight.

Besides Accelerator, there was one more person remaining on the rooftop.

That petite figure, a girl draped in a black robe.

"That's basically it, the so-called Third World War."

"...!!"

Accelerator lay on the edge of the house, while Anna sat on the other side, listening intently to his story.

Seriously... what am I doing right now?

"Is this alright? You persistent jerk."

I spent half an hour telling stories to this little brat... That's a joke!

Accelerator was filled with this displeasure. Although he knew that Anna in front of him was a Servant, an incarnation of a Heroic Spirit, and that even though she looked like a naive little girl, her inner self was definitely more than that.

Even knowing this, he still couldn't do anything about it.

Accelerator certainly didn't want to tell any stories, and he had absolutely no intention of doing such a wicked thing.

The first in Academy City was acutely aware of the trouble that brats could cause him, after all, he already had such an annoying brat in his own home.

…But it is precisely because of this that we understand exactly what the troublesome thing is for the kid.

You can't hit her, you can't scold her. This little girl named Anna is definitely not as naive as ordinary kids, but Accelerator still can't change his perception of her.

Upon seeing her petite appearance, he immediately felt an irresistible urge to refuse.

To put it simply, I'm afraid that if this kid develops any conflicting feelings, others might think I've bullied her, leading to even bigger trouble.

Accelerator knew perfectly well that he wasn't staying in this place because he genuinely wanted to tell stories to a brat like Anna.

"Wow... the war on this planet was started by humans, and it was also humans who brought it to an end..."

"Pretty much. Although this war was caused by some crazy reasons from beginning to end, there's no way around it. Most of the guys who have the power to change the world are crazy."

For example, himself.

What he told Anna was about the Third World War that happened in her original world.

The story revolves around a war sparked by the Right Flame, which led Russia to challenge places like Academy City, causing turmoil in both the science and magic worlds and ultimately triggering a global upheaval.

…and, in the end, all of this was stopped by a man with a unique right hand.

"Power capable of saving the world... does such a thing truly exist?"

"I told you not to ask me. Do I look like someone who understands this kind of abstract stuff?"

The first one casually put his hands behind his head.

"Who cares what really happened? Anyway, a bastard like that can't possibly win in the end. You can probably guess that even if I don't say it."

"So, it really was you who stopped him?"

Ignoring the seemingly imminent risk of falling, Anna continued to ask.

"…No."

However, Accelerator denied this.

It is clearly the strongest monster that makes the world tremble, and can plunge the whole world into destruction if it unleashes its full power.

Accelerator spoke the next words with a peculiar expression.

"It wasn't me who did it, it was someone else."

"Eh?"

"How should I put it... that kind of guy is a freak who would shatter even the wonders of the world itself, a freak so bizarre it's beyond belief."

The first person probably has no idea what kind of expression they had when they said those words.

Although his expression showed obvious displeasure, as if he had thought of something troublesome, it revealed much more than that.

Based on just this one sentence, Anna could tell how Accelerator viewed the person he was talking about.

"Is that person stronger than you?"

"Maybe so. That guy always calls himself an ordinary high school student, even though there's not an ounce of ordinary about him."

"So, you two are... friends?"

"How could that be?"

With an air of absolute certainty, the first person ruthlessly interrupted Anna's train of thought.

But this tone... doesn't seem convincing at all.

"An ordinary high school student, huh..."

Although I'm not quite sure what "high school student" means.

However, based on Accelerator's previous explanation, Anna could deduce that the so-called high school students were probably just underage boys and girls.

But if you say it like that, it's completely wrong.

"That's so strange. According to what you've said, high school students... shouldn't they all just be a group of minors, children who should only be enjoying their ordinary lives?"

It was indeed rather strange that Anna, who was not even as tall as Accelerator, was saying these words.

But that is indeed the truth.

It's impossible for an ordinary high school student to do something that could change a world-class crisis.

And someone capable of changing the entire world is even less likely to be a so-called 'ordinary high school student'.