Chapter 140: Making This Decision Is Based on Principle

Misono City.

"Good morning, Mrs. Sakai, sorry to disturb you."

In the kitchen, Sakai Chikusa, a housewife preparing breakfast, turned her head with suspicion, but found nothing— as if what she had heard were merely an illusion.

A ghostly figure walked openly down the stairs into the study, which had been the exclusive room of the household's master, Sakai Kanta, but since he was mostly stationed overseas, it was usually empty.

But today was an exception.

…

Sakai Yuuji, male.

Fifteen years old, first-year student at Misono High School.

Having lived an utterly ordinary human life… until that moment, Yuuji had believed his daily routine would last forever.

Suddenly, a grotesque monster, like a "fatty baby," attacked the peaceful streets, and everything began to burn.

The sky turned red; motionless people began to burn—first as small as campfires, then swelling to bonfire size, then shrinking from torches to candle flames, continuously growing smaller, smaller…

Then, it was himself…

—Mistis.

That was the name the mysterious girl— who had suddenly appeared at the last moment, slain the monster, and restored everything—called him; her certain yet complex gaze, he still remembered vividly.

Then came the dizzying explanations of the world's underlying logic: "Red-World Apostles," "Flame-Haze Warriors," "Free Magic," "Sealing," "Phantasm," and so on.

Sakai Yuuji, as if suffering from Flame-Haze Reality Shock Syndrome, could not accept the truth, and returned home in a daze, forcing himself to believe it was all just a dream.

"Regrettably, you… are already dead."

Alongside the girl from yesterday, a tall, black-haired figure seized him as he was about to go to school and dragged him into the study, then uttered those words.

When those words fell, Sakai Yuuji felt a sudden, inexplicable heart palpitation— like hibernating squirrels, silent snakes and insects, awakened in an instant by disaster, trembling from instinct, yet unable to flee.

Not good, not good, not good! This feels like a death sentence— as if the next second I'll see the little star beside the Big Dipper.

Cold sweat poured profusely.

"You're a Mistis, but still just a torch."

The girl in the trench coat, looking sharp and elegant, added with slight annoyance.

"How can that be? I'm standing right here, perfectly fine!" the boy, whose heart carried a dark premonition, couldn't help retorting.

Jia Ji, seeing Sakai Yuuji's clueless, dumbfounded expression— unaware that he had already been consumed by an "Apostle" from the "Red World" and its "Phantasm"— slapped his forehead and turned to the girl beside him: "Hey, Xia Na, isn't this how you handle his mental conditioning? How are we supposed to proceed with our next plan like this?"

The girl turned her face away awkwardly, silent, pretending to be aloof.

At this moment, Xia Na had been tracking an Apostle of the Red World and, without realizing it, followed the original plot to Misono City, where she happened to save Sakai Yuuji.

But because she knew the future in advance, she did not know how to treat this boy.

Should she continue her duty as a Flame-Haze Warrior, inheriting the title "Flame-Haired, Burning-Eyed Exterminator," or should she actively accelerate the emergence of the new world, "Nothingness," which would end the Flame-Haze Warriors' mission?

Even as a Flame-Haze Warrior, Xia Na was merely a girl barely old enough for high school, who had never even attended classes; caught between her former values, lifelong pursuits, and the ideal, beautiful ending, she was torn.

Jia Ji had told her the future, and she knew the right choice—but the power to decide the fate's direction now rested in her hands, and the crushing pressure nearly suffocated her.

Conflict was unavoidable.

Around the artifact within Sakai Yuuji's body, the "Zero-Time Labyrinth," countless battles would erupt across Misono City, like a massive gravitational field drawing every Flame-Haze Warrior and Red-World Apostle to this place— this city beneath their feet would become the largest struggle vortex ever seen!

If today she spoke even one wrong word, it might lead to the death of a Flame-Haze Warrior or the consumption of a hundred human existences— how could she dare act lightly?

If Changmen Youxi and Bayun Zi from the group had intervened directly, perhaps they could have created a new world where all hatred and suspicion vanished, and no one was sacrificed?

The girl's torment was this— she might have been infected by someone else's idea— wanting a perfect ending.

But unfortunately, the only one who could advise her at this stage was the End-of-the-Century Idea King: the Iron Masked Man.

Jia Ji's expression was equally striking; aside from marveling at the sheer power of the plot— which had still brought Xia Na to Sakai Yuuji's side despite his interference— he could only sigh that being a Flame-Haze Warrior was truly damnably troublesome and hopeless.

Fortunately, he wasn't a Flame-Haze Warrior, or he'd be screwed.

"What?! The artifact inside this Mistis is the 【Zero-Time Labyrinth】?"

Alaraster from Mars was so excited he floated upward.

"Overreacting—it's just the Zero-Time Labyrinth, not some Lost Child…"

"After all that, who exactly are you…?" Sakai Yuuji remained utterly confused; this mysterious man didn't seem to be a Flame-Haze Warrior, yet he acted as if he knew him intimately, overly familiar.

"Stop asking that question!" Xia Na hurriedly interrupted, but it was too late— her peripheral vision had already caught Jia Ji's trigger word activated, and he was about to—

"Hahaha, I am Jia Ji, the true heir of the Northern Dipper Divine Fist!"

Xia Na stepped two paces aside, pretending not to know this man, but after two seconds, she couldn't help asking:

"So… what should we do?"

"Don't rush— isn't that exactly why you called me here? Faced with this U2 boy, I've made a decision based on principle…"

Jia Ji pointed a finger at Sakai Yuuji, his expression solemn:

"Either way, he's going to burn— a torch is ash, ash is a torch! And you, who possess the 【Zero-Time Labyrinth】, are practically immortal— I'll get you a little leather shield right away…"

He turned his gaze to Sakai Yuuji, radiating immense pressure and allure, and extended a large hand.

"So… boy, will you carry the flame?"

(End of Chapter)