Cassell College.
Inside the Valhalla Conference Room.
Principal Angers sat at the head of the long table, Vice Principal Flamel beside him. Around them were senior professors and researchers from the Equipment Department. The room was silent and tense, as if an invisible weight pressed down on everyone present.
Norma's projection flickered softly as her analysis concluded.
"This event is highly likely to be a Dragon King level scheme," Norma stated. "The hidden symbol in the lower right corner resembles a binding contract."
The Head of the Equipment Department, Akadula, slammed his hands on the table and stood up abruptly.
"If that's the case, then I propose that I sign it. I'll sell my soul if that's what it takes."
The professors exchanged glances. No one looked surprised. Akadula had always been dramatic, and the Equipment Department was infamous for attracting people like him.
Before anyone else from his department could join in, Professor Schneider spoke in a low, firm voice.
"This sudden interface appearing out of nowhere has all the hallmarks of a Dragon King's manipulation. The Greenland Ice Sea disaster ten years ago should be warning enough. Cassell College is the backbone of the Secret Party. We cannot allow an experiment like this to happen here."
His stance was clear. This risk was unacceptable.
"Yes, the risk is enormous," Angers replied calmly, breaking the silence. "But Cassell College exists precisely for moments like this."
He slowly rose to his feet.
His silver-white hair was neatly combed back, and beneath his aged features, his silver-gray eyes gleamed with sharp, golden light. The frail appearance of a man over a century old vanished in an instant. What stood before them now was a predator awakening from a long slumber.
"Our students are ready," Angers continued. "And more importantly, I am ready."
He straightened his posture, his voice steady and resolute.
"I will activate it myself, within the deepest alchemy array of the ice cellar. I will face the Dragon King's will directly."
"If this is a trap, then either I will walk over its remains, or it will walk over mine."
The refined old principal now felt terrifying, like a man who had clawed his way out of countless battlefields soaked in blood.
Not long after, Angers sealed himself alone in the depths of the ice cellar and pressed "Yes."
System binding complete.
Dragon bloodline extracted.
Interface unlocked.
Angers' identification number appeared as 009876. His balance stood at 1,000 points.
Prepared for a life-or-death confrontation, the old man instead found himself staring at a brightly lit system store in the pitch-dark cellar.
There was no time to hesitate.
With his Dragon bloodline removed, Angers' aged body rapidly lost vitality. At Norma's urgent warning, he immediately purchased the 100-point transformation into a God of Death.
He followed it with a basic Zanpakuto, Asauchi.
Every remaining point was spent on high-speed movement abilities: Shunpo, Shunshin, Soru, Geppo, and related techniques.
When Angers finally stepped out of the ice cellar, his appearance remained unchanged. Silver hair, aged features, and a frail frame.
But the weakness was gone.
His body felt light, responsive, and alive. Only a faint trace of confusion lingered in his expression.
He looked at the gathered staff and spoke quietly.
"Everyone… press 'Yes.' I don't believe this interface comes from the Dragon King."
Elsewhere, inside an opulent private suite.
A youthful-looking man swirled red wine in a crystal glass. His elegant composure shattered in an instant as his expression twisted in shock. The glass slipped from his hand and shattered against the floor.
Mei and Su Enxi, seated nearby, rose to their feet at the same time.
"A dialogue box just appeared in front of me," they said almost in unison, their voices tight with alarm.
The young man was worse.
The veins on his forehead bulged as he stared into empty space, his refined features contorting into raw hysteria.
"My brother… his presence is gone. Not even a cocoon remains. Who did this? Odin? Jörmungandr? You traitorous subjects…"
His body began to lose substance, shifting from solid flesh to something translucent.
Deprived of a vital source of power, his ability to turn dreams into reality collapsed.
Rage gave way to grief.
As his form faded, sorrow poured out of him, ancient and overwhelming.
"Brother… are we doomed to fail every time? Restarting the world again and again, tens of thousands of times, never reaching an ending that belongs to us…"
His gaze suddenly fixed on a distant point, in the direction of Lu Mingfei.
He froze.
"Wait… that presence. He's still alive. But why…?"
Confusion flickered across his face, then realization.
Joy followed.
He laughed, the sound growing louder and more unrestrained.
"So that's it. Someone from outside this world. The hope hidden within countless restarts. An outsider…"
As his body became fully transparent, he forcefully pressed "Yes" on the panel before him.
"I confirm. I confirm it all."
System binding successful.
His balance displayed a staggering 300,000 points.
Without hesitation, he purchased the God of Death transformation, followed by the abilities associated with Aizen, Yhwach, and others.
In the next instant, he vanished completely, leaving Mei and Su Enxi staring in disbelief.
Far away, within a Nibelung hidden in the Siberian Arctic Circle, a boy crucified by the branch of the World Tree suddenly opened his eyes.
In another Nibelung, beneath a Beijing subway station.
Xia Mi jolted awake as something massive nudged her.
She opened her eyes and recoiled instinctively.
"What are you? Wait… that appearance. Are you the Nine-Tails from Naruto?"
Before her stood a massive crimson fox, nine tails swaying behind it.
The fox lowered its head, studying her.
"Sister, you really don't recognize me?"
"Don't call me your sister," Xia Mi snapped as she scrambled to her feet, then froze.
A dialogue box hovered before her eyes.
"Truly alive? What nonsense is this?"
"I clicked it," the fox said eagerly. "I bought what it suggested, and now I can move freely."
Xia Mi stared at it, disbelief written all over her face.
"You're… Fenrir?"
"Yes," Fenrir replied, tails wagging happily.
At his insistence, Xia Mi hesitated, then pressed "Yes."
In that instant, she lost her Dragon bloodline completely.
The so-called shame of the Dragon Kings collapsed to the ground, crying and striking Fenrir in frustration, oblivious to the number glowing on her system interface.
Balance: 10,000.
At the same time, the Nibelung began to crumble.
Moments later, Xia Mi, her body glowing gold and transformed into Nine-Tails mode, burst out of the abandoned subway station and shot into the sky.
Tokyo. Genji Heavy Industries Headquarters.
Shuichi Gen and the other family heads were in the middle of a closed-door meeting.
Deep within the building, behind layers of sealed metal doors, Uesugi Erii sat quietly in a miko outfit, playing a game.
A dialogue box appeared before her eyes.
"Do you wish to truly live? Do you wish to understand the world as it truly is?"
Her hands continued moving for a moment as the screen of Samurai Shodown II flashed the word KO.
She gently set the controller down.
For the first time, a bright light appeared in her usually vacant eyes.
She raised her delicate finger and pressed "Yes."