|3rd POV|
Zelretch watches from his Observation Room, where the Book of Kaleidoscope floats before him. He is currently observing the marching machines advancing toward the Fortress of Chaldea. He hums quietly and watches the battle with interest.
After arriving in this worldline, his magic connected to the local Kaleidoscope, allowing him to see the future.
However, because of Ryan's presence, he cannot see that future directly. Instead, he must create models that include Ryan. Ryan is a blind spot to him and to his magic. That is one of the reasons Zelretch enjoys following him around.
He cannot see Ryan's future or past. He is a blind spot when Zelretch tries to gaze forward in time, and there is an omnipotent being watching over him whenever he tries to look into Ryan's past. He can see the future of this universe—but only futures without Ryan in them. Whenever Ryan remains in the timeline, Zelretch sees the closest alternate universe instead.
This means he must work around that limitation, creating simulations and models to predict what kind of future Ryan may obtain—and that excites him. The discovery of the unknown and the satisfaction of predicting the correct outcome are feelings he has not experienced in a long time.
Combined with the fact that Ryan allows him to visit other worldlines… it makes him more than willing to follow the young man and even join him in war. It makes him feel alive, as if he has only now received his magic for the first time.
Take this battle, for example. Zelretch is observing over ten thousand timelines of this event, and this is the closest scenario that returns hope to the androids. He uses Ryan as a model and constructs a scenario in which these events unfold.
The result? An 84% chance of the androids receiving a better future. A 10% chance of them reawakening their hope, rejuvenating, and fighting harder. The details of those futures fluctuate depending on their decisions afterward, but all are better than the main timeline dictates. Only a 6% chance leads to a bad-end timeline, where the androids fall into despair and ultimately result in their extinction.
Zelretch glances to the side and sees a peculiar group of androids attempting to breach the bubble he created around this timeline. He chuckles softly and lets them be. They are androids created by the last human alive before his passing.
That person had been capable of combining magecraft and technology to create something that granted a portion of Kaleidoscope's power. It allowed him—and anything he created—to enter alternate universes and fix the problem that caused their own world's destruction.
Sadly, he died before fully exploring that breakthrough, and his creations continued following his final order:
"Fix the Timeline."
But instead of helping the past or preventing the apocalyptic event, they chose to ensure it happened. Their programming cannot handle the idea of disappearing should they fix the past and create a loop.
If they prevented their own timeline, they would never exist.
Their programming forbids such a result, so they ensure the main line unfolds, allowing only minimal branching.
Zelretch understands their logic. He knows the fear of non-existence, and it is the reason he has not erased them. However, he cannot allow them to accelerate the Heat Death of the Universe.
This worldline differs from the one he comes from, but one thing remains the same: the one fear he always carries. The heat death of this universe is caused by the uncontrolled branching of timelines.
Unlike his original worldline, where the universe prunes timelines that stagnate or grow too quickly, this world does not prune at all. By his calculations, this worldline was meant to host only around three quintillion timelines—enough to last a very long time, long enough for its inhabitants to die and be reborn anew multiple times.
However, because these androids continually add new timelines, the number of timelines has increased dramatically. If they fixed problems before they escalated, those timelines would become stable, and the worldline would need only a small amount of energy to maintain them.
The group is called Accord, and they are attempting to manipulate the timeline.
Sadly for them, Zelretch is a special existence. He is the Magician of the Second Magic and a Prime Soul, in addition. This means his magic can claim a timeline and protect it from tampering by entities like Accord.
In the Type-Moon worldline, this ability enables the world to designate a timeline as significant and preserve it with a constant flow of energy. That is why he rarely claims timelines and usually only visits them—the risk of feeding the wrong timeline could cause significant issues when that timeline turns out to be something that consumes too much energy.
However, he is more than happy to claim this one because it receives out-of-context assistance in the form of Ryan. Ryan is someone who solves many problems, including those in Zelretch's own worldline.
He might not know it, but Ryan helped his Gaia recover a small fraction of energy from the worldline's reserve. It is small, but enough to prolong the worldline's lifespan by a hundred years.
Zelretch smiles as he watches Ryan roar and lead the androids into battle. He grins wider as the battle unfolds.
== Line Break ==
With a roar, Ryan swings his sword at the incoming machines. Flame dances around him as he moves across the battlefield while machine lifeforms attempt to kill him with their weaponry. He moves with incredible speed, blocking bullets with his swords and even redirecting them into nearby machines.
He exhales slowly, feeling his body grow stronger with each breath. Each inhale draws in a small portion of natural energy, further increasing his physical strength.
He makes sure not to enter Sage Mode yet; he does not want to exhaust the planet of the natural energy he purifies. The planet is only beginning to recover from a critical condition, and he does not want to push it back into danger.
For the first time in a long while, Ryan focuses entirely on his swordsmanship.
Hinokami Kagura: Dance
He swings his sword downward, continuing into a flowing series of slashes as he runs along the top of the wall while machines climb its thick surface. While cutting through them, he spots a massive machine approaching the fortress—one he must destroy before it fires.
Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky
He leaps down from the wall and swings his sword, unleashing a spinning 360-degree slash, flames trailing behind him. His attack cleaves through the machines below and melts the ones nearby.
"White! Take care of the machines here! I'll handle the big guy!"
"Sir!"
Ryan ignores her reply and dashes forward.
Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun
He roars, cutting through incoming bullets as he runs. Each slash bisects a machine as he charges deeper into enemy territory. He narrows his eyes as the machines form a shield wall to block him.
He exhales and takes a stance.
Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun
With a slash, he releases a spiraling torrent of fire toward the shield wall. The roaring flames slam into it, melting it within seconds before driving into the machines behind it.
But as he continues forward, something enters his sensory range. He performs a backflip just in time to avoid a massive lance that crashes into the ground. A tall machine wielding the lance stands before him.
Hinokami Kagura: Setting Sun Transformation
While airborne, he swings his sword downward, releasing a horizontal torrent of fire that decapitates the machine. As he lands, a group of machines charges at him.
He takes a deep breath, flames flickering from his nostrils and mouth. His body feels hot—the technique and the natural energy enhance each other dangerously well.
Hinokami Kagura: Solar Heat Haze
Ryan dashes through the machines, his sword moving so quickly that it becomes a blur, like a heat haze concealing its true length and speed. He slashes, stabs, and kicks, mowing down machines left and right.
He stops and leaps aside as flying machines fire their bullets at him. He breathes deeply, dashes toward them, and jumps at the last moment.
Hinokami Kagura: Beneficent Radiance
He spins in midair, releasing a massive disk of flame that slices through the flying machines. They explode like fireworks.
As he lands, a shadow looms overhead. He rolls aside just in time to avoid another massive spear. A machine holding a shield and spear stands ready.
Hinokami Kagura: Sunflower Thrust
He exhales, then launches himself upward like an arrow. The flames around him form a spear that punches through the machine's torso. Ryan twists mid-air—
Hinokami Kagura: Fire Wheel
—and performs a frontflip, releasing a flaming disk that bisects the machine.
He exhales again and dashes toward the massive Goliath. It glows briefly before firing beams of light.
Hinokami Kagura: Fake Rainbow
Ryan dodges the incoming attacks, leaving afterimages that fool even basic scanners. Gritting his teeth, he exhales sharply and takes a stance as a massive beam charges.
For this attack, he draws on both his Dragon Slayer Magic and Senjutsu.
Hinokami Kagura: Flame Dance
He swings his sword upward, unleashing a massive torrent of fire that collides with the Goliath's beam. The clash generates a powerful shockwave that scatters smaller machines. Ryan roars, channeling mana and natural energy into his attack until the beam collapses.
The moment it stops, Ryan sprints forward at full speed to exploit the machine's cooldown. Red flames engulf his sword as he charges into the gathered machines.
Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance
The androids on the wall watch in awe as Ryan cuts through thousands of machines alone. Only a few thousand remain to attack the fortress—something the androids handle easily.
9S orders his Pod to record everything, and he stores the memory in his core. This event is something that he wants the others to see and remember for the rest of their lives.
In their minds, Ryan truly deserves the title of "God" they have given him. He is strong, kind, and brave.
And now he fights thousands alone. Flames form the shape of an Eastern dragon around him—Ryan looks like the dragon itself, devouring every machine in his path.
They watch him slowly getting near the massive Goliath-class machine and see him fly into the air. He dodges all the attacks the large machine throws at him and reaches in front of its head. Ryan flares his mana, senjutsu, and even chakra into this attack.
Hinokami Kagura: Supernova
He swings with all his might. The moment his sword touches the machine's head, a massive explosion erupts. A pillar of blue flame spears into the sky from the center of the desert.
This is his secret technique—an expansion of the Sun Breathing style.
It combines all the energy within his body and releases it alongside Sun Breathing's fire. Used at full power, Yasaka said it could even kill a God.
The spectators feel a mix of worry and awe. They are worried about his safety and awe at his show of power. They do not know that the attack does not hurt him and that he is safe. If they could breathe, this sight would take that breath away.
The pillar of flame lasts a few seconds before fading, revealing Ryan standing atop a vast pool of molten glass created by the blast.
The world falls silent. Even the machines halt their mocking chants, as if waiting for him to act.
Ryan inhales, raises his sword, and lets out a roar that shakes the battlefield. The roar awakens something deep within the androids—something that makes their souls stir. They witness a miracle, and their determination is set ablaze because of it.
They are now fighting not as androids who fight for empty promises, but rather as androids who fight for hope that appears in front of them.
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