My youth story cannot be a knight war

"Does your family buy personal safety insurance for you?"

"Huh? Why are you asking this question all of a sudden?"

Fukube Richi was stunned by his incoherent question, but still replied.

"My family bought it for me? What's wrong?"

"What about you? Ihara, did your family buy anything for you?"

After getting the answer, Oreki ignored Chitanda who was standing right in front of him and looked at Ihara Mayaka who was standing beside him and asked the same question again, which also confused her.

"Why are you asking this? My family bought some for me."

"Really? That's good..."

"Oreki-san, why don't you ask me?"

Feeling ignored, Chitanda was very unhappy. She puffed up her cheeks and glared at him angrily. Oreki glanced at her silently, then turned his head away and said.

“…Because there’s no need to ask you.”

"Oreki-kun~!"

"Hotaro, what did you find out?"

Unlike the other two, Fukube Rishi, who knew Oreki better, keenly sensed something strange in his questions and immediately frowned in confusion.

"..."

Oreki silently looked up at Fukube Rishi. His eyes were so deep that even his long-time friend felt inexplicably uneasy.

"...Because later on, we might all need this insurance."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Speak human language, Oreki."

Ihara Mayaka twitched the corner of her mouth in dissatisfaction and yelled.

But Oreki ignored her questioning. He lowered his head, his drooping hair obscuring his eyes and leaving only a shadow on the upper half of his face.

“Some things are not something that hasn’t happened yet, but something that has already happened… but we haven’t noticed it, and it’s impossible for us to notice it.”

He murmured, recalling every scene he had just seen on the light screen. A bone-chilling chill surged through Oreki's bones.

"So this is... 'Ultimate Darkness'."

For the first time, Oreki Houtarou felt what true fear was in his heart.

"No, it's not contradictory, Zaimokuza-san... because 'Kikiru' was created to deal with this situation, and this isn't the first time it's been held."

Miou's gentle voice echoed in the light, carrying a kind of peace that could soothe others' hearts, and also answered Zaimokuza's doubts.

"If only one 'Ultimate' existed, it would be meaningless. However, it is precisely because there is already an 'Ultimate' that 'Kikiru' exists."

"That's why Daguba didn't kill Gamio, but only sealed it away."

A flash of lightning shot through his mind, piercing through all his doubts. Zaimokuza lost his voice in shock.

"Is Zero planning to use it as a sacrifice to bring about the 'Ultimate Darkness'?!"

"Indeed, anyone who has reached the 'Ultimate' state can be sacrificed. So, as long as the conditions are met, even if it's not you, it's fine."

Miou nodded, her clear eyes darkened, and her voice deepened.

"Originally, Daguba, who defeated Gamio in that battle and became the new King of the Gurongi, could have fulfilled this condition... but he gave up this power."

"Why? Since Zero was already able to bring about the 'Ultimate Darkness', why didn't he do so?"

Zaimokuza feels completely bewildered. Since they had already completed all the necessary preparations to bring about the "Ultimate Darkness," why did they choose to give up? This has led to the Gurongis who have awakened in the modern era to once again hold the "Kikiru." What's the point of this repetitive cycle?

[“Because… He wants to fight.”]

【"ha?"】

[With her left hand tightly gripping her right wrist, Miou recalled everything that had happened and spoke softly.]

"Even in the entire history of the Gurongi clan, Daguba is a very unique existence. Unlike other Gurongi, who have many thoughts, everything he does is simply for the sake of fighting and enjoying the process of fighting."

"He is a monster born purely for battle, never harboring any distracting thoughts. His will to fight is incredibly pure, so strong that even after reaching the 'Ultimate', the resulting darkness cannot erode his heart in the slightest."

"And He wished to enjoy battle more, so He gave up on inviting the 'Ultimate Darkness'... Perhaps He felt that if He completed this ritual, He would never again be able to enjoy battle as fully as He once did."

"Is that the only reason? Then why continue to hold 'Kikiru'? If Zero doesn't intend to bring about 'Ultimate Darkness', why does this ritual continue?"

This reason truly surprised Zaimokuza. Giving up all the dreams that Gurongi had always dreamed of, just to enjoy fighting? What kind of crazy train of thought is this?

"You're wrong, Zaimokuza-san... That's why Daguba holds 'Kikiru' time and again."

A thick haze flashed across Miou's eyes, and her voice trembled slightly.

"Because Daguba knew that participating in 'Kikiru' would make the Gurongi stronger, and only Gurongi that became strong enough would be worthy opponents to fight him, he has not yet invited the 'Ultimate Darkness'... He did this to give the remaining Gurongi the motivation to become stronger, so that opponents worthy of satisfying his desire to fight would always appear."

"For Him, the ultimate joy is to be able to enjoy eternal battle. Everything else, including the wishes of the Gurongi clan and even His own life and death, is of no concern... Even in its incomplete form, in all the 'Kikiru' events held from the past to the present, no Gurongi other than Riku has ever been able to defeat Daguba, and therefore the 'Ultimate Darkness' cannot be summoned."

“This is the main reason why ‘Kikiru’ has continued to this day.”

【“…”】

Zaimokuza silently clenched his hand into a fist, his head bowed. Over and over again, the tragedies inflicted by the Gurongi over the past year flashed before his eyes, along with the grieving faces and blood of the victims.

If every "Kikiru" is so bloody... then how many lives have been lost in the many repetitions it has been held so far?

"...What exactly is 'Ultimate Darkness'? Why do those Gurongi insist on summoning it?"

The sound of bones cracking echoed from his fists. Zaimokuza suppressed the rage surging in his chest and restrainedly asked Miou.

This is something that must be understood. Everything else is now clear, but this one thing, the cause of everything, is still a mystery. However, its shadow exists in everything.

[“…It was just a force.”]

[After taking a deep breath, Miou said with a pale face.]

"After all the Gurongis were sealed by Riku, our clan began investigating their legacy. Over the years, we have come to understand the truth behind their "Kikiru" and the true nature of the "Ultimate Darkness."

“‘Ultimate Darkness’ is, in essence, just a force… but this force has never belonged to this world.”

"You mean—'Ultimate Darkness' isn't a product of this planet? It's something that comes from outside the Earth we live on???"

Zaimokuza was stunned, looking at the silent girl in front of him in disbelief.

"So, 'Ultimate Darkness' is an invader from outer space?"

"No, it's not that simple... 'Ultimate Darkness' has never belonged to our world."

Shaking his head, Miou rejected Zaimokuza's idea and said quietly:

"And the world I'm talking about refers to the entire universe we know."

【“…”】

Zaimokuza's mouth dropped open. This answer was beyond his imagination. "Not from this universe?" What did that mean?

The implications of this answer are terrifying enough to make one's scalp tingle. What is a power that doesn't belong to this universe? What lies beyond the universe?

["...parallel world?"]

He pursed his dry lips, exhausting all the knowledge he had learned in his life, and uttered this term that appeared in countless scientific magazines and works of art.

“It’s close, but still a little different from the real thing.”

[Miou looked at Zaimokuza and spoke again.]

“‘Ultimate Darkness’ existed before the beginning of this universe, dormant in an unknowable realm that we can never comprehend, a power that conceals eternal darkness.”

"If we use the knowledge of your time, Zaimokuza-san, to explain, the world we humans know and the entire observable universe are all within the concept of three-dimensional space. Beyond these three dimensions, there is also a fourth dimension, which we can only understand through knowledge."

[…If we consider the entire world we humans can perceive to be a low dimension, then the ‘ultimate darkness’ lies even higher than this concept.]

[“That is what is called—higher-dimensional existence.”]

43. Story Observer (4K)

Miou's voice echoed in the empty classroom, and the only audience here had a blank expression and no reaction at all.

“…It’s terrible.”

Looking at the truth told by Mi Ou on the exclusive light screen floating in front of him, Xu Guoliang slapped his hand on his face and exhaled deeply.

The worst guess became reality at this moment.

As for what the "ultimate darkness" actually is, he had actually discussed this question with Kousaka Kyosuke and Zaimokuza Yoshiki in countless previous world line simulations. Their speculations ranged from metaphysics, science, and even theology, but they had not come up with an answer that could withstand strong empirical evidence.

Perhaps later, when the "ultimate darkness" descended upon the ends of those world lines, someone would have gotten the answer, but unfortunately, Xu Guoliang didn't know it at all.

Because he died too early, basically every world line ended with him dying midway, and at the latest he was eliminated around the time of the battle in Sotogaba Village. He didn't even make it to the game stage of the strongest trio of "GO" group players, let alone the final decisive battle.

Basically, he only knew the development of the thread up to the middle stage. He was completely confused about the most crucial second half and was almost clueless.

Now Xu Guoliang thought about it carefully and found that this matter itself was a suspicious point. It could be said to be a coincidence once or twice, but he had left the stage at similar time points so many times, which could not be explained by simple chance.

Were his counterparts in those worldlines not strong enough? His earlier observations might have been so, but his later observations revealed that, aside from lacking the six ultimate gear, he was simply a maxed-out, experienced player who'd read the scenario guide and returned to the Novice Village to fry fish. He'd saved Kousaka Kyousuke and Zaimokuza Yoshiki from dire straits countless times, even achieving a brilliant feat of defeating the elemental-powered Gurongi of the ZU Group by simply transforming into his normal nascent form right after acquiring the Yamadam.

Even Kousaka and Zaimokuza, who have reached the final stage in this world line, may not be able to possess this level of combat power, but Xu Guoliang in those world lines still goes to his death time and time again, and there are always various dangers in the later stages that exceed his own ability limits and are enough to put him to death.

But no matter how much we learn from our mistakes and take preventive measures, unavoidable situations always happen, and in the end, we can only blame it on our luck.

But if it was really just bad luck, then Xu Guoliang felt that he might not even survive the first ten years of his life, because the misfortunes of those in the later world lines were comparable to Kamijou Touma.

To describe it as choking to death while drinking cold water could even be considered a compliment. Going to the hospital seven times a day was just the norm. This hospitalization efficiency left the two old friends who were frequent visitors to the ICU far behind. This was simply bad luck that no human being could have.

——And many times, the word "luck" is just a modified usage of "fate".

At the end of those observed world lines, "fate" made all of Xu Guoliang's isotopes in different time and space fall before the decisive battle, and each time they missed the most important moment - Xu Guoliang could only draw one conclusion.

"Fate" did not allow him to know the truth.

Or to put it more bluntly, the "ultimate darkness" was preventing him from peeking into his own truth.

After so many bloody lessons learned, Xu Guoliang estimated that even if he took the Book of Controlling All Living Beings and personally went to this world line, the result would probably not be much better.

It is possible that just as one of your people went down, they "just happened" to appear in front of Daguba or Gamio, and had to face these two big bosses alone in a life-and-death battle without any backup. The reason for this situation is the extremely reasonable reasons such as "time difference" or "spatial dislocation".

Even if reinforcements arrived, by the time his two old friends noticed and arrived, his body would likely have been burned to ashes. Perhaps the only good thing about this was that they had no memories of their daily interactions with him in the previous observational world lines, so he wouldn't have to suffer the grieving of others at his grave after his death.

During these many repeated observations, Xu Guoliang discovered some suspicious points.

For example, he once tried to input the observation results and memories of the previous world line into the homologue of the next world line, giving him a monkey-like vision of the future, and deliberately trying to avoid the tragedy of the previous world line, constantly circumventing one factor after another that would lead to that outcome... But in the end, those things still happened.

For example, because the last observation, the mobile phone ran out of battery and missed the call for help from the light music club, which led to all of them dying in the porcupine massacre. So this time he carried nine power banks with him, but these power banks either ran out of power, malfunctioned due to poor quality, or were broken, which led to the tragedy of the last observation happening again.

Then, building on this foundation, Xu Guoliang continued to open a new world line. This time, the isotope not only brought power banks for himself but also forced Zaimokuza and Kousaka to bring power banks as well, nearly stuffing their windbreakers like snack bags. And to prevent further malfunctions due to poor quality, these power banks were sourced from all corners of the world, even including a military version that Kousaka obtained through secret channels.

And this time... the area where the three of them were located had a major malfunction due to the maintenance of the signal tower. The mobile phone signal was directly destroyed along with the body of the machine under the burst of radiation electron flow, and once again missed the call for help from the light music club, and the light music club continued to say GG amid laughter.

The timeline repeated three times with the same ending, resulting in the birth of three ultimate darknesses, and even the time was not far apart.

All these strange phenomena show that this is definitely not a coincidence. If everything Xu Guoliang's isotope did was to repair the world line observation memory in his brain, then this series of accidents was the world itself readjusting all his behaviors. No matter how it changes, the final development of things will always flow along the established trajectory.

Unlike those peers who only have a first-person perspective in the world line, Xu Guoliang himself also has an observer's perspective. With this dual perspective, he can discover many details that others cannot find.

The factors that make up the occurrence of these events in these world lines are highly repetitive. The connection of events is like a building block. It doesn't matter if you move insignificant parts, but if you remove the most critical modules that make up the existence of the event, a new factor module will immediately appear out of thin air to fill it in, piling it up towards the original event shape.

And his isotope is the most critical factor module in the "light music club annihilation incident". In the world line where Xu Guoliang's "module" exists, the ending of the light music club can only be death without a burial place. Even if they did not die at the hands of the porcupine in the last world line, they still died at the hands of the dead bat No. 3.

The isotope at that time was limited by information and was unaware of this, but the observer knew it.

Finally, Xu Guoliang, unable to bear it any longer, chose not to join the world line where he existed for observation. The light music club finally avoided the fate of death... or rather, they avoided death until the arrival of the "Ultimate Darkness", and went from dying before him to living after he was gone.

At that time, Xu Guoliang was certain of one thing, that he was not the only observer.

While the observer Xue Zhenping was leaving the field to join "Kikiru" in blowing the whistle, another observer took the referee's seat and micro-manipulated from the judges' seat to ban all his "foul" behaviors, maintaining the new "fairness" after the foreign players left the field, and the repeated deaths of the girls in the light music club were "punishment".

The only one who could do this was "Ultimate Darkness".

But at that time, Xu Guoliang only guessed that the "Ultimate Darkness" might have the ability to observe other world lines like him and inquire about the past and future of different parallel worlds, but he never thought deeply about the other party's actual position... or he didn't dare to think about it.

But until he saw Zaimokuza transcend the torrent of time and truly intersect with Gamio tens of thousands of years ago on the day of Gurongi's birth, his brain felt like it was hit by a sledgehammer, and he finally vaguely guessed what position the "Ultimate Darkness" was in.

Observe the world across the fog of time, and even communicate with people from the past and the future... According to the currently known information, he is the only one in this world who can do this because he possesses the book that controls countless living beings.

The world that ordinary humans can observe is only the three-dimensional space of "width, height and depth". However, Xu Guoliang, who has the book of controlling thousands of living beings, can observe the fourth abstract concept that ordinary humans cannot understand, that is, the fourth dimension of the world, time.

Even so, there is actually no essential difference between Xu Guoliang and Zaimokuza, and they can still be regarded as living beings in the same dimension.