“Ow, ow, ow…
I’m really in?”
So this is how you enter the TV World?
By falling from a great height?!
Kiana looked around, trying her best to get a clear view of her surroundings, but a thick fog completely obstructed her vision, making it impossible to see even a meter ahead.
Everything around her seemed to have been swallowed by this heavy mist; even the path beneath her feet was blurred and indistinct.
She wanted to open the group chat to contact Chiaki and ask what to do next, but the surrounding fog suddenly began to shift.
Within the haze, the phantom of a human figure appeared, and a voice echoed from all directions.
“Kaslana?
How laughable.
You truly know nothing of the sins you carry.
Kiana, you’re just a pitiful orphan, abandoned by your father, who has never even seen her mother’s face or known her name.”
“Who are you?
Are you the ‘other me’ that Chiaki mentioned?” Kiana frowned.
This other self was incredibly rude.
It made her want to punch it.
The phantom ignored Kiana and continued speaking to itself.
“That girl…
her name is Raiden Mei, isn’t it?
Such a lovely girl.
You must think you’re in love with her.
But are your feelings for her truly love?
And not some other, more vile emotion?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Raiden Mei looks even more pathetic than I do.
Just like me, she’s lost her parents, all alone and helpless.
And the irony is, the moment she’s away from me, she can’t do anything.
She can only barely hang on with my help.
That helpless look of hers…
she’s even more ‘pitiful’ than I am.
Without me, she’d probably have trouble breathing.
That’s why I truly like her.
I like how she’s so powerless without me, right?”
“No!
What do you know?!”
“No, I know everything.
I am you, and you are me.
I am fully aware of all the dark thoughts you’ve buried deep within your heart.”
“What a joke!
A thing like you could never be—”
Kiana roared, trying to deny that this thing in front of her was her.
But in the next instant, a scream came from directly above her head.
“AHH!!”
Kiana instinctively looked up and saw Raiden Mei plummeting toward her head.
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Not good!
Run!
Her instincts screamed at her to dodge, but her reason told her—No, Kiana, don’t run!
If you dodge, Mei will slam right into the ground!
She can’t take a fall like that!
So!
It was time for Hero Kiana to make her appearance!
She planned to execute a cool jump, catch Raiden Mei in mid-air, and pull off a stylish heroic rescue.
But she had forgotten one thing: humans cannot defy gravity.
And so, the very moment she prepared to leap…
THUD!
Raiden Mei crashed down from the sky, landing squarely on Kiana, who was still in a crouch preparing to jump.
The impact knocked her flat on her back, stars circling her vision.
And it wasn’t over.
Raiden Mei was just the vanguard.
More screams were already echoing from the air above.
With no time to think, she shoved Raiden Mei off of her, and then…
Thud, thud, thud, thud, CRACK!
“Holy crap!
Who is this?!
So heavy, at least 330 pounds!!!”
Kiana felt like her spine was about to snap.
There were at least five people on top of her.
If one more person landed, she was really going to die.
Please, for the last one, don’t just free-fall!
As if hearing her inner plea, after stuffing all the group members and Raiden Mei into the TV, Chiaki dashed into the TV World himself.
His body cut gracefully through the air, and after a 720-degree spin, he landed steadily on both feet with a soft thud, without the slightest wobble.
After his smooth landing, Chiaki turned to look at the pile of group members.
“What are you guys doing?
Making a human totem pole?”
“My back…
My back is breaking…” Kiana gasped, a small soul slowly floating out of her mouth.
Chiaki snatched it, stuffed it back in, and then pulled her out of the pile like a radish.
The Herrscher of the Void, hiding in the fog, made a sound of annoyance.
“Tsk.
Kiana, did you really think having companions would keep you safe?
Hmph.
I will be the one to extinguish this foolish hope of yours.”
She had been so close.
If Kiana had just broken down completely, she could have taken over her body, returned to reality, and snatched the Gem of Conquest from Raiden Mei’s body.
That would have restored about a tenth of her peak power, and then she could have shown humanity the true terror of the Herrscher of the Void.
She never expected her plan to be interrupted by this mob.
But no matter.
Kiana’s mental defenses were already at their limit.
All she had to do was hit her with one more shocking truth, and everything would be fi—
“Fog that obstructs the truth, be swept away!
Myriad Truths!”
The Herrscher of the Void, who had planned to hide in the fog and thoroughly mess with Kiana’s mind, suddenly saw the silver-haired youth summon a silver figure that used its “propeller” to clear all the fog away.
Her true form was exposed to everyone.
“….”
“….”
For some reason, the atmosphere instantly fell silent.
Then, the members of the chat group exploded like water on a hot pan.
“Is that thing the Herrscher of the Void?”
“Whoa!
A magical girl!”
“Crap!
An enemy!
Enemy!
Get her!”
“That’s Kiana’s other self, right?
Is it really okay to just hit her?
Don’t we need some special kind of therapy?”
“What other kind of therapy is there?!
If she won’t listen, just keep beating her until she does!”
All-Out Attack!
Wham, bam, crack…
Chiaki, Talulah, Seele, Hiiragi Utena, Kiana, and Artoria swarmed forward, descending upon the Herrscher of the Void in a chaotic group beatdown.
“Eat my Kaslana Kick!”
“I have no quarrel with you, but for some reason, you remind me of Koschei.
So I’ll use you for some practice before I get to him.”
“Oooh~ That little skirt looks just like a magical girl’s.”
“Utena, what are you doing?
Why are you taking off her skirt?!
Huh?
You’re going to whip her?”
“Calm down, Sirin.”
“Calm the hell down, my ass!” the Herrscher of the Void screamed internally.
Who the hell beats someone senseless while telling them to calm down?!
These people were absolute monsters!
“You lowly…
AHH!
I am a messenger of God!
How dare you step on a god with your…
AAAAAAHHH!!!”
And why is someone whipping my butt?!
For crying out loud, Kiana!
This is your face, too!
Why do you keep kicking me in the face?!
Don’t you feel any pain?!
Bringing up the rear, Raiden Mei and Toyokawa Sakiko watched the five of them unleash a frenzied beatdown on the Herrscher of the Void and fell into deep thought.
“So, what was the point of us coming here?” Sakiko asked.
“I don’t know.
I just followed them when they came down,” Raiden Mei replied instantly, her eyes sparkling with clarity.
“You two can play some music.
Be the atmosphere squad.” Chiaki took a moment to come over and hand Sakiko and Mei an instrument each before returning to “persuade” Sirin.
The two remained silent for a moment, then figured since they had nothing better to do, they might as well play.
With music, everyone’s perseverance has increased??.
The Herrscher of the Void, who might have only needed to endure an hour-long beating, was now subjected to a solid two.