The world where time was paused was black and white, stripped of all color.
Walls collapsed, dust sprayed out like a downpour, but they instantly solidified in mid-air, combining with a host of silent and solemn divine and demonic figures and the surrounding floating flames, together forming an epic and magnificent ukiyo-e.
The protagonist of the ukiyo-e was at the very center of the painting. The young Phantom Thief surrounded by massive guns, the formless humanoid figure enveloped in a substantial white light that resembled ink and washed over its surroundings, and the man draped in pure white cloth, seemingly cast from a single piece of silver, approaching the Phantom Thief from behind with a dagger in hand...
All of this was presented motionlessly before Awa Subaru's eyes.
A blue butterfly rested on the back of her right hand.
"Please remain calm and composed."
A void-like voice echoed in her heart.
Awa Subaru wanted to ask its identity, but she was startled to find that she couldn't utter any words at all, only making futile mouth shapes.
Then, that voice once again transmitted into her mind, "How fortunate, that we found a new variable before the Phantom Thief was completely locked into the outcome of death."
The butterfly flapped its wings and flew around Awa Subaru, "This is the consequence of arbitrarily altering time. Even the smallest changes to the past will have earth-shattering effects on the original future."
"Why me?" Awa Subaru suddenly found she could speak.
"Because I chose you," a clear, cold female voice sounded behind her.
Awa Subaru stood up and found it was a girl of similar height, also with long black hair and purple eyes, and wearing a high school uniform. The difference, however, was that compared to Awa Subaru, this girl's appearance was more youthful, like a middle schooler.
The blue butterfly slowly landed on her hair, and it was visibly dimming at a speed perceptible to the naked eye.
At the same time, the three figures confronting each other in the distance were gradually regaining their original colors in the black and white world.
The sudden girl looked at Awa Subaru in front of her with a cold expression, "There isn't much time left. Next, with Philemon's help, I will bestow upon you the power of 'Time Reversal.'"
"Do not think of abusing this 'privilege,' because due to various influencing factors, its activation conditions are extremely strict. Moreover, each time it is activated, those few who call themselves gods will follow you back to the corresponding time point and pursue you at all costs."
She looked at the somewhat bewildered Awa Subaru, "If you are unwilling to accept this power now, once the time flow in this space returns to normal, you will immediately be crushed into a puddle of flesh by the aftermath of their battle."
"To survive, you will henceforth have to act with that Phantom Thief and make good use of this power to assist his every decision."
"Why not just give 'Time Reversal' to him? …I'm just an ordinary high school student, I definitely can't…"
"Then, in this current timeline, you will soon be killed by unimaginable power… Are you willing to accept that fact?"
Awa Subaru fell silent.
The girl stared at her with those identical deep purple eyes. "This power must not be given to Amamiya Ren."
"Because those who control the power of 'reincarnation' cannot defeat 'reincarnation' itself. By the same token, those ensnared by fate cannot resist fate's every arrangement."
It was such a perplexing and profound explanation.
Even Awa Subaru, who was well-versed in various shonen manga, was completely unable to decipher what kind of vision this mysterious girl before her was trying to convey at this moment.
In the world where everything was still, the grating sound of the gun's firing pin rubbing against the bullet's primer was incredibly clear.
Kurusu Akira, who was surrounded in the distance, suddenly became more vibrant in color, as if he was about to break free from this black and white world at any moment.
The black-haired, purple-eyed middle schooler saw this scene, and a vast and complex emotion immediately welled up in her eyes.
"Time's up," the void-like voice reminded.
"I know," the girl's figure began to become transparent.
Then she took out a dagger identical to the one Kurusu Akira used from under her skirt, held it to her lips, and whispered an indiscernible secret incantation.
The moment the time flow of the entire world returned to normal, this dagger instantly transformed into a deep purple stream of light and drilled into Awa Subaru's left hand.
And the girl and butterfly that had just appeared were erased as if by an eraser, leaving no trace of their existence.
Two consecutive gunshots, followed by boundless light, as if reaching heaven and earth, rapidly expanded in Awa Subaru's vision, and her perception of the entire world rapidly receded—
So painful...
A clear burning sensation suddenly came from the back of her left hand, as if it had touched a red-hot pot bottom, about to sizzle.
Immediately after, this pain spread from her palm to her entire body.
Awa Subaru instinctively clutched her left hand, and the intense agony, as if her entire body was being completely torn apart by some sharp blade, utterly killed her ability to think.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, her blurry vision filled with flickering noise and light spots. She could only instinctively gasp for air, her heart pounding. Lying on the bed, she writhed and struggled like a river shrimp being roasted on a hot griddle, her feet kicking and curling. Her delicate, pale feet forcefully struck the foot of the bed, leaving a vivid red mark on the smooth, slippery sole, yet she seemed oblivious to it, merely hugging herself tightly, sobbing uncontrollably in helplessness and despair.
As the agony, worse than death, receded, it was immediately followed by an indescribable nausea, as if her internal organs were about to be vomited out. She could only desperately cover her mouth and throat to avoid completely losing composure.
Thump.
Awa Subaru, dressed in a white nightgown, unconsciously fell out of bed. The cold sensation from the floor brought a sliver of rationality to her muddled thoughts.
She raised her left hand and found a line of enchanting and eerie textual symbols arranged in a circle on the back of her hand.
Time reversal... it's real.
Awa Subaru, her face streaked with tears, gasped, her chest heaving violently. She struggled to her feet and stumbled into the washroom.
The faucet in the washbasin was turned on. After the gushing sound of water, Awa Subaru looked at her exquisitely pale, sickly face in the mirror and let out a near-sobbing whisper.
"I survived..."
Was that level of combat truly something humans could handle? Facing such an attack, even a well-equipped Self-Defense Force would be completely annihilated in an instant, wouldn't they?
Awa Subaru felt the damp discomfort from her sweat-soaked nightgown. After several deep breaths, she opened a drawer, took out a neatly folded bath towel, and entered the bathroom.
Amidst rustling sounds, her plain underwear and thin nightgown were casually tossed onto the floor.
At this moment, the phone placed beside her pillow lit up, displaying today's date.
[April 26, 2022.]
...
"Huh? Ren and Nina are going to Kawasaki City with their classmates tomorrow? Doesn't that mean band practice will be delayed again!"
Ijichi Nijika wailed in the recording studio.
"Since it was agreed upon beforehand, there's nothing we can do. We'll just use the weekend to practice our parts in the song," Kawaragi Momoka tried to comfort her.
"Hmm, as expected, Amamiya-san, having gained a band identity, is becoming a super normie no less than 'Uzumaki Naruto'. I'm afraid he'll capture countless girls' hearts on this trip," Yamada Ryo, holding her bass, sat cross-legged on the sofa after taking off her shoes, making such a remark.
Kurusu Akira leaned against the wall, looking at the girls in the recording studio, and felt a subtle sense of familiarity.
It seemed he had heard a conversation like this before, at some point?
The Phantom Thief tugged at his collar, pondering with some vexation.
Since it has been confirmed that the enemy possesses "time reversal" ability, perhaps time has reversed without his knowledge?...
"Amamiya, can you record the accompaniment for this section today?" Kawaragi Momoka had already approached Kurusu Akira, who was lost in thought, with the sheet music.
Kurusu Akira tapped his foot on the floor, then went to the guitar stand nearby to pick up his electric guitar. "No problem."
After a steady and smooth performance, he sat on the sofa with his phone. Yamada Ryo, holding her bass, shifted her butt to the other side of the sofa, making more space for him.
Kurusu Akira connected his phone to the charger, about to steal some leisure time to farm skill upgrade materials for the cute "Saber" in "FGO", when a Line friend request suddenly popped up at the top of the screen.
It was named... [Pleia]? The user's avatar was a large tin can from "Warhammer 40K".
He saw this nickname and avatar, and his eyes flickered... that unsettling sense of familiarity surged up again.
----------------
At the same time.
In a high-end apartment in Kawasaki, Awa Subaru lay on the bed, nervously staring at her phone screen. She prayed that the Phantom Thief would accept her friend request soon.
'Ah, accepted!'
She saw the new contact named [The great cosmic being is so scary] in Line, somewhat fumbling as she clicked on the chat box and began typing on the numeric keypad.
[Pleia: Excuse me, are you Amamiya-san?]
[The great cosmic being is so scary: I am not.]
[Pleia:...Do you believe that superpowers like 'time reversal' are real?]
If it were a normal person, they might have immediately blocked her after seeing Awa Subaru's message.
But with such a topic presented to Kurusu Akira, he could indeed chat a few more sentences with interest.
[The great cosmic being is so scary: It's 2022, only chuunibyous would believe in such supernatural developments.]
[Pleia: Actually, I am a super-powered person who has mastered 'time reversal'.]
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Please tell me your story, and I will give you a corresponding score out of 100. I hope you will be satisfied with the final result.]
[Pleia: The story is too long, it's a bit hard to explain in a few words.]
[The great cosmic being is so scary: What? There's still 'a few words'? Can you briefly summarize it with keywords? I'm suddenly a bit curious.]
[Pleia: 'Phantom Thief', 'Palace', 'Persona', 'Arsene', 'Riot Gun', 'Sinful Shell'.]
In STARRY's recording studio, Kurusu Akira almost popped his eyes out.
[The great cosmic being is so scary: May I ask your name, honored one?]
[Pleia: Awa, Awa Subaru.]
Awa Subaru thoughtfully attached an artistic photo of herself.
Kurusu Akira looked at the photo of the sweet, gentle, elegant, and demure, yet cute and pure, idol-like beautiful girl, and fell into a brief silence.
'You know, I've actually admired the beautiful and lovely Awa for a long time. She has the superpower of "time reversal"; as a Phantom Thief, working with her would create a wonderful chemical reaction. As for Iseri Nina, who is bad at everything? I can only wish her success in her studies.'
The Phantom Thief sprang from the sofa, then strode out of the recording studio, and then stomped down the stairs, thumping out of STARRY.
At the same time, his fingers typed extremely fast on the screen.
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Is Awa in Tokyo?]
[Pleia: I'm in Kawasaki.]
Kurusu Akira was so emotionally agitated that he kicked a nearby fire hydrant. He looked up at the iron-deep azure sky, shouting inwardly, "The situation is settled."
Although he couldn't recruit the "omniscient" superpower user as desired, a superpower user with "time reversal" suddenly came to visit voluntarily.
Could it be that his empty Phantom Thieves of Hearts was finally going to have usable soldiers?
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Before you reversed time, were you stealing treasures with me in the 'Palace' in Kawasaki?]
He could already imagine how his counterpart in another timeline worked hand in hand with the beautiful superpower user.
Something's not right. If they were "working hand in hand," why would time still reverse?
'In other words, I actually didn't defeat Shinba Takakiyo? This is clearly impossible, after all, she even said the words "Sinful Shell"...' So most likely, Kurusu Akira didn't even confront Shinba Takakiyo, but instead fell directly into the enemy's ambush.
What happened in the other timeline?
The Phantom Thief gradually fell into an unbelievable self-doubt.
After about two minutes of hesitation, he picked up his phone again and asked the superpower user on the other side of the screen.
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Can I go to Kawasaki City?]
[Pleia: You will encounter assassination attempts there by enemies who claim to be 'God'... You have probably been assassinated by them many times, but they reset the timeline every time they fail.]
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Does that mean they've found a way to kill me?]
[Pleia: If time continues to reset, they're probably close to finding a way to 'die together' with you.]
At the same time, the latest weather report just popped up on the phone screen.
Kurusu Akira looked at the path map of "Typhoon passing through Kawasaki City and reaching Tokyo" and suddenly felt a bit of a toothache.
He really wanted to rush to Kawasaki immediately and blow those guys up.
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