The corner of Sora's mouth twitched the moment he heard that name.
Wait, wait, wait. Wasn't that from the wrong franchise?
That did not sound like an enemy he should be running into on this set at all.
Then let me ask this: if you give this guy that name, are THEY going to fire a D4 Ray?
At the very end, will some doofus shouting "Ultra-something" have to show up and save the day?
No matter how he looked at it, that seemed pretty unlikely.
Although this place did have a Galactic Alliance, that did not mean there was some Land of Light with an absolutely terrible defense system in this universe.
To put it another way, if a place like that really existed, why would Sora have ended up in such a sorry state before?
Someone should have come out and solved those problems long ago. How would things ever have fermented to the point where he had to go out and solve them himself?
So no matter how he thought about it, this name really did not fit the production he was currently in.
Which brought up the question…
"How did you two come up with a name like that for this thing?"
Sora asked Clockie and Misha.
Listen to what the AEON of ORDER had been called before. It had been things like "the Great Septimus" and "Sunday."
But the moment these two were put in charge of naming, THEIR name turned straight into this.
If nothing else, they could have called THEM "Stillness Day" or "Sabbath." The meanings were more or less close enough.
"I came up with it!"
Faced with Sora's question, Clockie put his hands on his hips and declared this proudly.
But if anyone asked why he had come up with that name, Clockie could only say, "The name just naturally popped into my head!"
Great. So he was an inspiration type.
Although the name felt extremely wrong to Sora, everyone else seemed to accept it rather readily.
Especially Momotaros. The instant he heard the name, his eyes lit up.
After all, the cooler the enemy's name, the more it would reflect his own greatness when he defeated THEM.
When the time came, saying "Kamen Rider Den-O defeated DESTRUDOS" would definitely make a whole bunch of people's jaws drop.
"Very good. I acknowledge you!"
Momotaros said to Clockie, "From now on, you're naming every enemy I beat!"
"A new friend? Clockie loves making friends most of all!"
As Clockie replied, he hopped onto Momotaros's shoulder.
The two of them immediately radiated a cheerful atmosphere.
However, that cheerful atmosphere only existed over there. Everyone else, after all, understood the gravity of the situation.
Especially Sunday. Right now, his head was lowered, his brows drooping, and his entire person seemed to have sunk into a closed-off gloom.
There was nothing to be done. Anyone who heard what Misha had just described would probably feel a sense of powerlessness rising from the depths of their being.
In Misha's description just now, Sora and Robin had not come out to interfere.
ORDER's dreamscape had been completed perfectly. In other words, his ideal had truly produced a dream in which everyone could be satisfied.
And yet, in the end, he had still met that kind of conclusion.
DESTRUDOS had been born from within him and devoured him.
The dream that could satisfy everyone had become a dream that brought everyone stillness.
Even without anyone interfering, his ideal had failed to come true in the end.
Failure.
Those two words pressed close to him once again.
It made him feel as if he were just a grain of sand in the desert outside.
He had clearly seen success before him, only for everything to collapse in an instant like scattered sand.
"I…"
Sunday no longer knew what he was supposed to do.
Compared with Sunday's self-imposed isolation, Urataros was paying attention to even more things.
Because he had noticed more details.
Sora had already gained the qualities of a Singularity Point through Ryotaro Nogami, so normally speaking, they should not have arrived in this place.
They should have returned to the point in time where Robin existed, not to the point after Sunday's failure.
But reality was not like that. Not only had they arrived here, they had even encountered DESTRUDOS face-to-face.
Based on everything that had happened before, Urataros formed a highly likely guess.
"Our situation just now was like having two stations at the terminus. We headed toward the other station and stopped there. From a factual standpoint, we did return to the future."
"What kind of fact is that? The two are completely different."
Sora voiced his doubt. There was no DESTRUDOS on his side at all.
"How can you be sure there isn't?"
Urataros's counterquestion made Sora pause.
"Didn't little Misha say that the satisfying dream lasted for several days before DESTRUDOS appeared?"
So why were you so certain DESTRUDOS would not appear in the original future as well?
When Sunday heard that his sister might possibly come into contact with DESTRUDOS, he immediately lifted his head.
That kind of firepower coverage, and without Sora, this bastard, there…
The instant Sora thought of that possibility, his gaze sharpened.
If that was really the case, then he had to hurry back.
"And that's not the only problem."
Urataros spoke with difficulty.
"Is there another effect?"
Sunday could no longer afford to keep sinking into his own thoughts.
"Let me give a simple example…"
Normally speaking, a planet would only have one docking port, because that allowed resources to be used most efficiently.
But now, on one planet, along the same route, two docking ports had appeared.
And your planet's resources were limited. They could not support the burden of two docking ports at all.
What should be done then?
"Of course, the two ports should be merged into one."
The future was the same. Right now, both stations were headed toward the same future.
Because DESTRUDOS existed in both futures, the future had converged on that point.
So, in order to reduce the waste of resources, what would the timeline do?
Sora thought for a moment, then his expression suddenly changed.
"Don't tell me…"
"That's right. Because they share an identical point, in order to reduce unnecessary waste, the timeline will…"
"The two futures will merge."
Sunday was still frowning. "Isn't it a good thing if the futures merge?"
Would that not mean they could return to the timeline where Robin was?
Although his body was now in ruins, if he could offer this broken shell to save his sister… then he was willing!
"Birdie's so dumb!"
Ryutaros opened his mouth to mock him.
"Just because the futures merge doesn't mean some things will disappear."
Sora pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Normally speaking, your past self should have become that skeleton. But what happened?"
Sunday had seen the hanging remains.
The future would merge, but some things—or rather, certain special existences—would not necessarily merge with it.
Sora looked at Sunday and said in a heavy voice, "That's what happened with you…"
So, the entity born from Sunday's failure…
"DESTRUDOS is the same."
Sunday's face changed instantly.
If that was the case, then after the two futures at the same point in time merged—
"There will be two DESTRUDOS?!"
After Sunday said that conclusion aloud, he looked completely unwell.
Dealing with one was already extremely difficult. If two came at them together, what kind of scene would that create?
Two?!!!!!
Sunday suddenly thought of the legend surrounding the AEON of ORDER.
TWINS OF THE ORDER.
The AEON of ORDER existed in the universe in the form of twins.
If the futures merged, DESTRUDOS would become two.
That would, in turn, verify this origin.
And most importantly, no point of divergence could be found between the two DESTRUDOS.
ENA and THEIR sibling, Sunday and Robin—the two pairs of twins of the Order had both produced divergences.
Because each side was an independent living being.
But DESTRUDOS was different. The two of THEM were identical existences.
In other words, once those two entities merged together, THEIR power would surpass both him and the ENA of the past…
And such a powerful being would very likely be able to devour XIPE, whose Path overlapped with THEIRS.
After all, ENA had fallen in that very way in the past. And now, DESTRUDOS, with the twins merged, could very well turn around and swallow HARMONY.
"The futures must not be allowed to merge. Absolutely not!"
If that happened, would his sister not fall into eternal stillness?
That Robin would never again be able to sing beautiful music!
"I know. The problem now is how to stop the futures from merging!"
Of course Sora understood that. But what lay before them now was not something that could be solved just by saying it.
"The point of divergence!"
Urataros looked at Misha and said, "He has already told us what caused the point of divergence."
As long as they made the same thing happen in both futures at the same time, they would be able to strangle the other DESTRUDOS in THEIR cradle.
And that point of divergence had been in what Misha had just said.
Sunday suddenly fell silent.
Because his face hurt.
...
In a quiet office, Hubert Reed was silently waiting for someone's visit.
The entire office was decorated in a very warm style, and on one wall, one could see the various honors he himself had received.
Those honors filled the wall, and if any one of them were spoken aloud, it would be enough to drive all the arts students of Penacony Paperfold University College mad.
Unfortunately, to Hubert, those things were not worth even a few extra glances.
The only reason he had displayed them there was so that certain fools would have some self-awareness before opening their mouths.
Compared with those things, what Hubert Reed cherished most was something he always kept on his desk.
It was a special item he had obtained after leaving Penacony and visiting an artificial-life researcher of the Intelligentsia Guild.
As the saying went, if one explored music alone, it would not be long before one ran into a bottleneck.
Hubert had once encountered such a thing himself. After hitting that bottleneck, he had chosen to dabble in other disciplines.
He used that to deepen his understanding of music.
Since music was meant to act upon living beings, he had once attended a lecture at the Intelligentsia Guild on biology and psychology.
After the lecture ended, the other party had gifted him a signed book.
And the contents of that lecture remained deeply etched in Hubert Reed's memory even now.
Because what that lecture discussed was called: Death Instinct (Destrudo).
The lecturer had explained the death instinct from the shallow to the deep, as well as its effects on the individual.
"The death instinct influences human behavior through every aspect of life. It can even ferment within human society in group form, producing distorted creations such as cults, terrorism, and extremism."
"And if it becomes severe, the death instinct lodged within a group can even affect a planet's civilization."
Because once an uncontrollable death instinct spread, not only would people's lives be threatened, but the communication between you and me would be torn open in an instant, leaving a huge, bloody rift.
Kindness and trust would be replaced by suspicion and betrayal.
What spread between people, more than care, would be uncontrollable hostility.
By that point, a planet's civilization would be driven by the death instinct onto the express train toward destruction.
Not only civilizations. One could even say that most powers in the universe collapsed for that reason.
"Of course, some forces in the universe do not need to worry about such things. For example, within the Family, there will never be a situation where a group is swept up by the death instinct…"
The lecturer had even made a joke at the time. Under the Family's HARMONY, something like this truly would not appear.
But at that moment, Hubert remembered that someone seemed to have raised a different perspective.
"What if there were an AEON whose Path represented exactly that?"
The entire lecture hall had fallen silent, and the other party then threw out several questions in succession.
"After all, didn't the instructor just say it? During the activation of the death instinct, one obtains indescribable pleasure…"
"Then if—if an AEON were born from that, what would happen?"
AEONS represented a part of the truth of this universe. So no matter the topic, discussions ultimately could not escape such beings.
Then came the question.
If an AEON became entangled with the death instinct, what would happen?
None of the students in the lecture were stupid. After this perspective was raised, they began to imagine it.
But once they imagined those scenes, for some reason, they all felt as if cold sweat had broken out down their backs.
And Hubert Reed also startled awake because of the cold sweat seeping from his body.
"Why did I suddenly remember something from the past?"
Hubert shook his head, burying the memory in his heart once more.
Then he glanced at the time, and then at the pitch-black sky outside.
"It seems I won't be waiting for Miss Robin today."
The time had come. The night had grown late.
It seemed he would not be able to have a musical conversation with Miss Robin today after all.
But that made sense.
Hubert stood beside the office glass and looked down at the restless students below, shaking his head helplessly.
With such a huge scandal breaking out, coming here in spite of the danger would truly not be worth the loss.
Tomorrow, he would go to where she was currently staying and invite her himself…
Hubert turned and left the window. What he did not see was that the stars revealed in Penacony's sky were disappearing one by one.
...
Penacony's sky was slowly being swallowed by darkness.
And yet no one in all of Penacony knew of this phenomenon.
They were all immersed in sweet dreams, immersed in the satisfaction those dreams brought.
The only ones who seemed to know of the darkness were the pitch-black crows flying between the high towers and vaulted roofs.
Or perhaps this darkness itself had been brought by them.
One by one, the stars in the sweet dream were devoured by darkness. Black birds flew and circled above a silent place.
After everything scattered, a figure walked out from within.
He wore a black suit, his attire refined like that of a classical nobleman.
His black hair was like ink, devouring and covering all other colors.
What drew the eye most, however, was his expression. His narrowed eyes made him seem indifferent to everything in the world.
The faintly lifted corners of his mouth also conveyed a certain divinity, as if anyone who begged him for forgiveness could obtain eternal release.
And his true identity was Gopher Wood, who had been flying between the buildings all along.
While Sora's subordinates and the Astral Express were not in Penacony, he had come here on purpose.
In his hands, the Stellaron was pulsing ceaselessly like a heart as Gopher Wood held it.
Gopher Wood carried it as if carrying some sacred relic, walking forward step by step.
With every step, the Stellaron gathered a trace of some inexplicable aura.
When that aura churned, the wind around him rang coldly, as if composing some kind of music.
At first, the sound was very faint. But as Gopher Wood continued forward, it became audible to the ear.
By the time the first movement was complete, Gopher Wood's expression, which had not changed much all this time, suddenly twitched twice despite himself.
It was as if some emotion were surging in his heart. The desire for cruelty and thoughts of violence constantly circled through his mind.
Under such circumstances, he chose to continue walking forward.
The farther he went, the denser and more intricate the music became.
The thoughts echoing in Gopher Wood's ears also grew more and more numerous. Everything he had once experienced burst forth at this moment.
The failure of his plan, the incomprehension of others, the humiliation of lying dormant…
All the things of the past now turned into blades hacking into his body.
And amid the powerful destructive impulses and self-destruction brought by that past, Gopher Wood actually felt, in a daze, a thread of tranquility.
That also caused the movement floating by his ears to change its tune.
It was no longer the Black Sunday that made him display his urge for destruction, but the Lord's Day that allowed his soul to fall silently into stillness, and also…
Resurrection Day!
"Yes. This is the perfect music of ORDER that I heard!"
Within that music, Gopher Wood's eyes filled with tears. He released the sacred relic in his hands and, unable to help himself, pressed his hands together in prayer.
However, the sacred relic he released did not ascend toward the position of the divine in the sky. Instead, it fell straight down along the cracks of the dreamscape before him.
What was contained in the depths of that dreamscape was precisely what Sunday had so desperately wanted to exclude when he had previously become ORDER.
It was… death!
It was a negative emotion in which death and countless other things were intertwined.
Because everyone in ORDER's dreamscape had to exist in a state of satisfaction.
Thus, these things had been rejected outside the dreamscape at the moment of its birth and had lodged themselves between the cracks.
Now, this dreamscape had already passed through thousands upon thousands of years, and the power accumulated within it had taken on an inexplicable form after the Great Septimus's earlier revival.
That was the divine resonance of ORDER.
ORDER's movement was tainted by these emotions, and ultimately came to possess a concerto different from the Great Septimus's.
Normally, these things should have been born inside the Embryo of Philosophy, possessing and devouring it.
But because some accident had occurred, the music they were playing now could be heard by no one.
"What a tragic thing this is. Music that can grant people salvation should be heard by more people!"
Gopher Wood knelt on the ground, tears falling drop by drop from above.
But now, everything from the past should come to an end.
After the Stellaron fell, a certain melody, accompanied by an ominous aura, enveloped all of Penacony.
The inexplicable melody echoed indiscriminately in the ears of everyone in Penacony.
There was no need to think to understand what it contained.
Because deep within everyone's heart lurked a factor of violence.
It was only that, under ordinary circumstances, because of the rules established by civilization, everyone tacitly buried this instinct deep within their bodies.
And now, whether intelligent machines or humans, all of them received this inexplicable melody without distinction.
The instinct buried inside their bodies turned into a ferocious beast, surging and roaring as it devoured everyone's reason.
The beast sleeping in every person's heart began to awaken.
In an instant, the world of sweet dreams was filled with destruction and turmoil.
The darkness was thick as ink, as if it meant to devour everything.
The stars that had once glittered in the sweet dream had disappeared, replaced by endless gloom.
The black birds seemed to be cheering for this disaster. They flew wantonly between the high towers and vaulted roofs, letting out cries that made one's heart tremble.
On the streets, people were like beasts that had lost all reason. Their eyes were bloodshot, filled with brutality.
They swung their fists and smashed everything around them, whether people or objects.
Even the roadside billboards joined the melee.
Some people wielded clubs and other objects, attacking those around them madly.
Blood flowed across the ground. The injured groaned in pain, but that did not stop the others' frenzied actions.
People seemed driven by an uncontrollable power, sinking into endless violence and destruction.
Vehicles charged wildly through the chaos, letting out piercing sounds of braking and impact.
Windows shattered. Shards of glass fell like rain, striking the ground with crisp sounds.
The flowers and plants that had once been beautiful were trampled beyond recognition. Trees were snapped, and branches lay scattered all over the ground.
"This is the Omen Tone!"
Through those Family members, Gopher Wood saw this scene of chaos.
But at this moment, not only did he not act to stop it, he continued to enjoy the turmoil here instead.
Because he had already felt the heartbeat coming from below!
He had clearly sensed the revival of a god.
So the current destruction and chaos were merely the omen of life's revival.
To be able to offer everything for the revival of a god was their honor!
In an instant, Penacony's Twelve Hours had all fallen. Conflict and turmoil occurred in every corner.
Under such actions, the black fog in the sky grew even denser and deeper.
Before long, it welcomed its first transformation.
A smear of black light slowly rose from below, illuminating the Moment of Serenity like a sun.
Under the glow of that black light, the sounds of turmoil within the Moment of Serenity gradually faded away.
Everyone within turned toward the rising black sun, revealing tranquil faces.
Were it not for the bloodstains on their hands and the broken earth, perhaps no one would have imagined that these people could ever reveal such expressions.
But the truth was exactly that, because the one and only sun had finally risen at this moment.
Accompanied by the tranquil melody ringing in their ears, they could not help kneeling on the ground and murmuring, "The void is deep and dark; the silent cadence flows forever. Dead stillness sings praise to the supreme rhythm…"
At first, there was only one person, but soon everyone began to chant together.
"The void is deep and dark; the silent cadence flows forever. Dead stillness sings praise to the supreme rhythm."
There was no tone of celebration. There was only obedience to the call of tranquility.
"The void is deep and dark; the silent cadence flows forever. Dead stillness sings praise to the supreme rhythm."
The notes of stillness had already rung out beside their ears. Any sound that sought to break that stillness would be met with their retaliation.
This was…
The [AEON OF ORDER — DESTRUDOS] born on this side.
...
…!!!
Mr. Trash Can's round body shuddered, as if he had sensed something, and he looked alertly into the distance.
The reaction that appeared on him also drew the attention of the people beside him.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
The Iron Cavalry looked over curiously, following the direction his body had turned.
But all they could see was Penacony in the distance, glittering with magnificent colors.
Other than that, they could see nothing else.
"It's nothing."
Realizing he had lost his composure, Mr. Trash Can shook his body and leapt straight down from the seat.
"I have some things to take care of on my end. If you need anything, come find me directly."
After saying that, he moved his two legs and sprinted madly in one direction.
From his swift figure, there was no hint of weak legs at all.
His figure was like the wind. It was hard to imagine that such a short body could kick up afterimages.
Just like that, he quickly ran through the town, weaving through street after street. Before long, he arrived at a remote place.
It was a small wooden cabin. Fallen leaves and dust by the cabin window seemed to tell of the absence of people here.
It seemed this place had not been lived in for a long time.
However, after Mr. Trash Can arrived outside the cabin, the door actually opened, and a rather surprising figure walked out from within.
"Yo, you're here."
Gallagher looked at Mr. Trash Can outside the door, a smile rising on his face as he greeted him with practiced ease.
But being able to see this guy at a time like this also meant one thing.
Gallagher looked toward Penacony in the distance. "So that means something's gone wrong over there?"
"Wasn't this the day we've been waiting for?"
Mr. Trash Can said nothing more and walked around him. "The day we've been waiting for all along."
"Yeah. It really is the day we've been waiting for all along."
Gallagher nodded in agreement. But when he also entered the room and closed the door, he discovered that the atmosphere inside was somewhat silent.
Because at this moment, aside from Mr. Trash Can, there was another person in the room.
It was Acheron.
Mr. Trash Can fell silent. Looking at Acheron before him, he did not know what to say.
Acheron, meanwhile, was reverently savoring the takoyaki in front of her, paying no attention to his arrival.
"Oh, her? When I came back from buying things, I found her wandering around nearby, so I brought her back."
As for how this person had ended up here, Gallagher did not need to say much for Mr. Trash Can to guess a thing or two.
"So tell me, with a route that simple, how did you still manage to get lost?"
Mr. Trash Can held his lid, at a loss for words.
If he remembered correctly, the directions he had given Acheron earlier had only contained two instructions.
The first was to go to the end of the road. The other was to turn left.
And yet even with instructions that simple, the person before him had somehow managed to get lost all the way here.
"When it comes to getting lost, you really do count as a kind of talent."
Mr. Trash Can spoke helplessly.
But since she had already come here, he would not do anything like sending her away.
"In any case, you'll have to lend some of your strength for what comes next."
Mr. Trash Can pushed the various paintbrushes laid out on the table to the side, revealing a circular recess.
The recess looked like a decorative part of the tabletop.
After all, there were all kinds of paintbrushes and drafts scattered in every direction. Even with an extra recess there, almost nothing looked wrong.
But Mr. Trash Can gently stroked the recess before him, and finally took something out from within his body.
It was a pocket watch. The hour and minute hands above continued moving without pause.
If there was one thing that had changed the most about the pocket watch, it was probably the number on the dial.
At the very beginning, the number on the dial had been "24."
And now, after so many days had passed, the number inside had already become "02."
No—after the hour hand moved once more, the number above had already begun its final countdown.
The large "1" on it seemed to be reminding them of something.
Perhaps when the countdown ended, something no one knew would happen.
But Mr. Trash Can, the owner of the pocket watch, said nothing after seeing the time on it.
He merely placed the pocket watch quietly into the circular recess.
With a click, the pocket watch fit perfectly and tightly together with that circular recess.
And at the moment this happened, from some place no one knew, there seemed to come the sound of a certain tremor.
"A god of ORDER, born from the death instinct and pursuing stillness."
After Mr. Trash Can finished all of this, he walked outside the house and looked into the distance.
A rail connected Penacony to this small town.
In the distance, Penacony was gradually being devoured by darkness. But on the other side, a radiance that had been dormant for so long began to give off a faint glow.
"Then let a failure like me, with my friends' help, come and face you…"
---
T/N: what.........