Kalina’s crossbow was trained on the Egotist in front of her. To be quite honest, it was quite troublesome to be fighting alongside the squad, Toolbox, and Tam. It always was with a mana disparity.

  ‘61%, that’s how pure mine is. Not enough to kill any of them, but certainly enough to hamper them.’

  Kalina had to suppress her own mana when fighting alongside the squad, which weakened her abilities. While mana purity contributed to one’s power, it was not the be-all end-all. Multiple filtration techniques existed that allowed one to fight effectively despite the mana purity, though they were originally invented for use in travelling in pure environments. Regardless, it was yet another thing one would have to spend mana on in the midst of a battle. To constantly spend your mana on filtering the opponent’s mana was folly. Their mana was already more powerful than yours and having to constantly use your mana so you don’t fall sick as well placed you at a major disadvantage. Faced with such a disparity, one would need supreme technique and skill to overcome them.

  ‘Or… overwhelming power.’

  Kalina had an arrow that could burn the Egotist up, but she would need time to set it. Despite her Barrier Aspect, she was not capable enough of protecting everyone here. And anyway, the Egotist was carrying Tam beside it.

  Tam had been fully wrapped, but he was still struggling. Either the Egotist couldn’t ‘digest’ him, or, and Kalina feared this might be the case, it was using him as a hostage. If it really was the latter, then it had learned far faster than she had thought.

  Tam’s struggling slowed. It was plain to tell that he was suffering from the mana disparity. Being in such close proximity to it exacerbated the issue and mana sickness was already setting in.

  ‘I can’t risk anyone dying, so I can’t use my artefact arrow. For a controlled shot, I would have to use my own powers. I’ll have to risk letting that information get out.’

  Kalina took a deep breath. She had already stopped suppressing her mana in preparation for this shot. The time had to be now.

  ‘What’s…’

  Kalina was distracted by a glint of flowing light in the distance. It was shaped like a blade, and on closer inspection, it was mostly purple. It was just that several colours shone through the purple as well.

  “Ma-“

  In a flash, the purple blade cut through the strands holding Tam. Its wielder arrived next to Kalina and dropped Tam on the floor. The blue bandages around Tam had been entirely shredded.

  “-chia.”

  “Sorry I’m late,” Machia spoke aloud. He put mana into his voice when he spoke, to ensure that everyone could hear him.

  “It’s my fault again,” he admitted. “But I’m here now and…”

  Tam gathered himself just in time to see Machia take out two daggers. He watched as Machia’s mana flowed into the daggers. The mana turned purple and extended from the daggers, turning into long blades. But Tam could tell, anyone could tell, it was far from stable. Within the purple mana were a myriad colours, all clashing into each other, threatening to break the purple blade. Yet Machia held the blades steady.

  ‘Just how many dimensions are in each of those…?’ He wondered.

  “I won’t hold back anymore,” Machia declared. “Machua, this spell is called Kaleid Blade.”

  With a small hop, Machia dashed forward with lightning speed. The Egotist shot its blue bandages at Machia, but he could speed past every one of them. The bandages could not keep up with him and though it tried to predict his movements, Machia was always a step ahead.

  ‘So fast! Carmine wasn’t kidding. And his filtration technique is superb!’ Kalina couldn’t help but praise.

  Machia’s movements brought him right behind the Egotist and he slashed at its neck. Unlike Carmine or anyone else’s attempts, his blades cut clean through the Egotist. At least, it looked like it. In reality, the cut was anything but clean. The cut was rough, like a hundred, no, a thousand blades had cut through it together. The interlocking dimensions that Machia had gathered in his sword clashed with each other as they cut through the Egotist, which had allowed him to sever its head from its body.

  But at the very next second, the blue bandages that formed its head came crashing down around him. In response, Machia stepped into the air, and spun. His hands were a flurry of motions, and his kaleid blades swung through every angle around him. The Egotist, in its surprise, jumped back from the spinning blade ball that was Machia. It commanded its blue bandages to reach for the other members of the squad.

  “Kalina, I need your help!” Machia shouted as he landed on the ground. “Encase us in a barrier!”

  With another hop, Machia severed and tore through the blue bandages reaching for Machua, and then he rushed over to handle the ones reaching for Toolbox and Plue. At that point, Kalina’s arrow had almost reached them.

  But before it could activate, Machia tossed his dagger in the air and grasped the arrow with his hand and then plunged it into the ground. The dagger fell into his hand as it activated. A domed barrier formed, but this time, it was not a perfect dome. It was a dome composed of hexagons.

  ‘He modified my enchantment in the brief moment he grabbed the arrow and plunged it into the ground!’ Kalina almost said aloud in shock.

  Machia took a deep breath and laid his body against the side of the dome. His mana seeped out and coloured the hexagons he touched purple. He tapped his foot on it again, and an extra colour was added to it.

  Machia then stomped onto it hard and rocketed forward. Multicoloured shards followed his movement. His blades swung, taking with it the Egotist’s arms, but it was unfazed. Machia quickly arrived at the other end of the dome, coloured the hexagon he touched, and jumped off of it.

  Machia’s movements would then become a flurry of colours. He shot from hexagon to hexagon and coloured each one as he did so. His kaleid blades swung with such speed and intensity, that amidst the bright colours, it was difficult to even see them. In that dome with an Egotist that far exceeded his mana purity, Machia was absolutely shredding it into pieces.

  Finally, Machia stepped onto the ground and made one final hop and one final swing.

  [Shattered View of a Thousand Colours]

  Machia skidded onto the port ground as the dome shattered behind him. The hexagons all collapsed and shards of ‘light’ shot in all directions. The shards were nearly as sharp as his blades and its sheer quantity shredded anything that would have been trapped inside of the dome. When the colours all died out nothing was left. Just a ground that bore countless scratches.

  “You really were fucking holding back,” Carmine snapped, having just returned. “You could have killed Dalan easy. Bet your blades could even cut through his.”

  “And you don’t have Severance as an Aspect. Your dimension technique is simply that sharp,” Rasa observed.

  “I created it with a friend who I consider the world’s greatest swordsman,” Machia answered without looking.

  Kalina and Tam had gone to Machua’s side to tend to her while he was shredding that Egotist to pieces. He didn’t have to worry about her. Instead, he was looking at Toolbox, who could stand and was being supported by Plue.

  “You did it, Machi! Wow, I didn’t know you were so strong,” Plue praised. She didn’t feel the slightest anger at him hiding this power.

  “There are lots of monsters that eat humans,” Machia began suddenly.

  Everyone watched him in confusion. Toolbox stopped in her tracks. Meanwhile, Machua, supported by Kalina and Tam, walked to her brother.

  “But Egotists specifically need to eat humans to survive. They eat humans, not because they are carnivores, not because they need the nutrition, and not because we have mana, magic, or Aspects. They have a distinct and specific need to consume humans.”

  Machua bit her lip as she made her way closer to him. Her legs strained against the ground, and though Kalina had done her best to help her heal, she was still hurting.

  “Centuries ago Idealich City conducted an experiment. They found that even if an Egotist liked eating large quantities of meat or plants, they would begin to starve to death if given only their preferred foods. Nutritionally, they had more than enough for their body to function, but they were still ‘starving.’”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Toolbox looked away and to the ground.

  “But then, they changed their diet to only humans. And they found they could subsist only by eating humans. It differs per Egotist, some only needed one body a month, while others needed to eat upwards of a dozen per day. Egotists needing to eat humans aren’t based on nutrients, or maybe even hunger. It’s almost like a higher need, a desire to devour them.”

  Machia strode up to Toolbox. No one tried to stop him.

  “When humans evolved nearly a millennium ago, beastkin evolved extra ears to emulate animals. They function like ears do, but they can’t even hear as well as their animal counterparts. Their primary purpose is to control mana. But if a monster evolves into a humanoid form as an Egotist…”

  Machia swiped some of Toolbox’s white hair away. In the spot where she should’ve had human ears, there instead was… none. No ear hole, only skin covering the area where it should have been.

  “Then they have no need to evolve useless extra ears.”

  Toolbox looked up to Machia with a teary gaze. Her emotions had been bubbling this entire time, threatening to spill out. Her dada had rejected her, she was hurt so badly, and now, all of her secrets had been spilled. Secrets that would have surely gotten her killed if she ever revealed them. Everything was going wrong, nothing in her life had gone right ever since she was kidnapped. She had put on a brave face all this time, but now it was over.

  “I didn’t want any of this…” Toolbox wailed. “I didn’t want to become an Egotist!”

  “I was happy! I didn’t have to think about what to eat, how to make money, how to get back home. I didn’t have to do all these things!”

  Toolbox’s voice grew quieter. “My family took care of all of that. I could just lay in the sun and take a nap. I could play with them and help them destress after work. They loved me…”

  Machua grasped Machia’s hand and looked at him with pleading eyes. He nodded back at her.

  “But now, now I have so many thoughts in my head! I hate it!” Toolbox’s voice grew again. “Why am I so worried, so anxious!? I can’t explain anything! It almost feels like nothing changed, but everything did!”

  “What are all these colours in my head!? What are all these words!? How can you humans live like this!?” Toolbox grabbed her head and began shaking. “I want to go back so much…”

  Toolbox’s voice then grew almost as quiet as a whisper. “The worst part is… My collar doesn’t fit me anymore…“

  “Toolbox,” Machia said, “Humans and Egotists are incompatible.”

  “I know! You don’t have to rub it in! My dada rejected me because of that. It’s the worst thing ever…”

  “I don’t think that’s all of it, actually,” Machua spoke with a gentle tone.

  “How…?” Toolbox asked. Her hope had already been shattered, but somewhere deep in her heart, she yearned for an answer.

  “Let me ask you a question,” Machia said. “Have you eaten human before?”

  Toolbox grimaced at the question. She grew silent, not wanting to answer.

  “… Once. One time and never again. I was still a cat back then. Dwyn did the same experiment to me as the one you talked about.”

  Everyone took the time to digest that answer.

  “But before and after that, I’ve never eaten human meat.” Toolbox added. “And anyway, I’ve always felt full after that. Especially after I met you guys and you gave me free food at that restaurant. I was so full.”

  “How long has it been, Toolbox?” Machua asked gently. “Since the last time?”

  “I don’t know. But I think it’s been a few months?”

  “A few months. If you’re telling the truth, you’ve broken the record for Egotists living without human meat,” Machia stated. Only Machua would have caught it, but it sounded like he was almost hopeful.

  “Maybe you’re special and you don’t need to eat humans. You’ve gone way past the record after all. But your parents don’t know that,” Machua pointed out.

  “Scias isn’t dumb. He must know you’re his Toolbox. He probably rejected you because if he did take you back, then he wouldn’t know how to feed you,” Machua said. “He’d have to kill other people just to feed his daughter. But now that we know it’s different, you can explain it to him and he’ll definitely take you back. I know he wants you back.”

  “Really? You really think they’ll take me back?” Toolbox asked through teary eyes.

  “Definitely. And if they don’t understand, we’ll make them understand. We’ll try over and over and we’ll show them humans and Egotists aren’t incompatible.”

  Machia huffed slightly. He helped Machua approach Toolbox and in no time at all, she had Toolbox crying and hugging her.

  The squad would sneak back out of the port, report sounds of fighting to the Bureau, the actual events to Elize, and then enter themselves into a hospital.

  ———————————————————————

  “A hero always arrives late, hm. Can’t say I approve this time, though,” S spoke.

  Machia was leaning on the balcony of a building. He was in casual wear and had a can of Everclear Jasmine Tea in his hand. On the railing was also another can of the same tea.

  “Thanks for looking after them for me. I know you would’ve jumped in if you needed to.”

  “You’re my other half after all~” S swiped the can and opened it. “I’ll always be there to look after you. That’s what Mystrail told me to do.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  The two sat in silence as they drank from their cans. For Machia, he had a while to rest. The squad was going to be stuck in Aramaya until all of them recovered. As for S, they had all the time in the world. That was to say, they had until their next semester started.

  “By the way, Mother’s Day is coming up soon. Did you get Mystrail a gift yet?”

  “Wha-No,” Machia instinctively responded. “Mother’s Day isn’t for a few months yet.”

  “What? It’s next week, though.”

  “Maybe in Arcadia it is. But not in Erelier.”

  “So you do know my real identity!”

  “Anyone can guess you study at Bifrost Uni. It’s not like it isn’t the most prestigious magic university in the world or anything. I haven’t gone through the effort of figuring out which enchantment bachelor student you are, because unlike a certain someone I keep my promises,” Machia explained with a bit of ire.

  “Gagh!”

  Machia sighed just a little this time. “You know, that tea was meant for Kalina.”

  “Wait, really!? I need to go, I don’t want to intrude on your alone time!”

  S took off instantly. A few minutes after, Kalina arrived. Machia tossed her a new can, which she caught without any issue.

  “You made it obvious, but you are D, aren’t you?” Kalina asked as she opened her can and sipped from it.

  Machia took out the DS business card and turned it to show its front to Kalina. Instead of the pink border, it had a black border and barely visible figures of D and S. Neither of them struck a pose. The ‘DS’ in the centre of it was the exact same font as the other one.

  “DS Phantom services, willing to steal and gather any info you want,” Machia said in a singsong voice, almost like reciting a slogan.

  “Is retrieval of lost goods an official service DS offers now?” Kalina asked.

  “Nope, that’s reimbursement for personal failings. Mind you, we don’t do this for anybody, only when we feel really bad.”

  “Haha. If you feel really bad, then you owe me 12 dinners.”

  “Twelve? I can’t pay for that, I’ll go bankrupt!”

  “Sorry, this customer is particularly difficult.”

  Machia and Kalina chuckled for a bit after their jokes. It was like nothing had changed between them. Though, Machia was well aware that everything had changed. This moment they shared was unique to him and the Kalina of this timeline. The person he was talking to was not the Kalina he once knew. It was someone who was willing to joke with him but was wary of his capabilities. Unsure about his intentions, why he’s here, and whether he could be trusted. Her trust was always hard-fought to earn, but to the him of the past, it wasn’t a problem. He would have to build this trust again, that was all he could.

  “Machia. I’ve talked to the rest of your squad now,” Kalina prefaced. “So, I know a bit about your history with them.”

  “Your mana purity isn’t anything special, but your skill and technique reach far beyond what you should be capable of. While purity and combat skill can differ greatly, it’s rare for one to surpass the other by this much.”

  “As you train, you naturally hone the purity of your mana to fight stronger foes, but for you it feels like your purity has yet to catch up to your own skill level,” Kalina explained.

  Machia didn’t make a sound other than drinking his tea.

  “But that isn’t much of an issue for you. You’re very seasoned against high purity foes, your filtration technique is superb. I can only barely understand the details behind it, but it was good enough to let you fight in close-quarters with someone whose purity was enough to kill you. And you didn’t even fall sick after that.”

  “I used your dome to shut down the mana of the Egotist. Whenever I jumped, shards of colours scattered, which I used to defend myself against the mana,” Machia explained.

  “That’s also another element of it. Modifying my barrier in mid-air into something suitable for fighting a higher purity enemy in is also indicative of your preparations.”

  Kalina walked close to Machia and looked directly into his eyes. Her own eyes were as resolute as ever.

  “I have to wonder who you’re preparing to fight against.”

  Machia stared back with the same resolution in his eyes. “Qliphoth. That’s who I’m fighting.”

  “I see. That organisation. I don’t know much about them. That said, I will look into them if they really are so dangerous.”

  “… Thank you. It’s good to know a Clockhand is taking my warning into account.” Machia gave her a soft smile.

  “I am a responsible person after all. Now, my next questions are purely for my own curiosity, but you seem to know an awful lot about Egotists.”

  “Too much for my own liking, to be honest,” Machia sombrely admitted.

  “Hm. Were you ever trained in Idealich City?”

  “I’ve never been an Ego Eater if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve held an Ego Arc before though. If it’s training then I’ve spent maybe a week there? But, to be honest, it’s a hellscape over there. I don’t want to go back if I can help it,” Machia answered.

  “That’s a bit harsh for a City, but I suppose if you had to choose one, it would be Idealich,” Kalina commented. After seeing that it didn’t get a rise out of him, she continued.

  “It’s funny. I thought you’d have spent longer with how strong your beliefs about Egotists are.”

  “I’ve spent a lot of time fighting Egotists. That’s all really.”

  Kalina wryly smiled at Machia’s tone. It was clear to her that he really had gone through a lot. He didn’t seem to want to go in-depth into that though, so she decided that was enough of that.

  “Do you want to talk about movies, perchance? One of my favourite franchises released a new movie recently.”

  “Oh, come on,” Machia rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry to say this, but Franko Banko: Marine Machine is trash.”

  “How’d you even know I was talking about Franko Banko!? And anyway, how is it trash? It’s a great action movie-“

  “It totally destroys his character!” Machia allowed himself to get caught up in the emotion of the moment. “Franko’s a guilty man who cares about each person he has to kill! Not a guy who’d blow up a submarine on a whim!”

  “He didn’t have the time to grieve! There was so many things going on, he didn’t have the time to let out his feelings! He cried in the final fight even though he was winning because he knew it was all over!” Kalina explained with just as much enthusiasm.

  “He had days of rest in between missions! He didn’t even caress the picture frame of his old team!”

  “He did it in the after-credits! And also, he personally dug graves for every person he killed and prayed for them! That prayer was so haunting I still think about it sometimes!”

  “Why’d they hide that in the after-credits!?”

  “I don’t know!”

  “… Heh.”

  After realising how stupid their argument was the two laughed for a good while.

  “We’ll have to continue this again sometime. You live in Erelier right? I’ll make some time to visit,” Kalina softly spoke.

  Kalina and Machia gave each other a genuine smile. This was a moment only the him now and the Kalina of this timeline shared. Machia opened his mouth to continue, but he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Seeing that, Kalina took her leave, and Machia was left alone again. Well, as alone as someone who was on a call with an irritated little sister could be.

  “I’m gonna strangle you when I get better. Just you wait. We’re all gonna be discharged when the Mobile Conversion Festival’s gonna start.”

  Aramaya City was originally a stationary City, but after it used up all of the resources nearby, the then-mayor decided to convert it into a Mobile City. This was a controversial decision, but ultimately resulted in Aramaya flourishing. Every year, the entire City held a 3-day festival to celebrate this change.

  “That’s right, it is coming up. Shame we have to go home after the first day though.”

  Earlier that day, after everything was reported to Elize, she and Lemuel made the decision to call them back early as the situation had escalated. Not only had the squad gone through two dangerous fights, but with the information they had collected, a counterattack could now be mounted. The details couldn’t be given over call, so they were told to go home as soon as they could. Though Lemuel was convinced to let them enjoy one day of festivities.

  “We’ll be back anyway. So, for that day, we’re gonna party hard, and then I’ll beat you up. Okay?”

  “You sound like Carmine.”

  “Don’t compare me to her. I have a good reason. You were way too mean to Toolbox.”

  “… You’re a little right.”

  “A little?”

  “Just a little.”

  “I’ll make you see stars.”

  “Hah. I actually want to ask you a question.”

  Machua silently assented.

  “You must have realised Toolbox wasn’t human a long time ago, right?” Machia asked pointedly.

  “… I had a weird feeling about her when we first teamed up,” Machua admitted. “I wasn’t sure about it, but… She was hungry. I wasn’t going to ignore her.”

  “Keep on doing that, Machu. It’s a good thing.” Machia hung up the call.

  Despite being the one to hang up, he looked at his phone wistfully. Machua was still Machua. He wouldn’t have done the same thing as her. If he knew she was an Egotist, he might have attacked her right then and there. The current situation could only happen because Machua was Machua.

  Machia’s thoughts then drifted to the mission at hand.

  He did mess up, it was true. He should’ve arrived earlier. He could have left that guy for later but delivering him separate from the knocked out guards would’ve been suspicious. So, in the moment, he thought that he had to get everything he could out of him. It was his fault that Machua and Toolbox got injured. Toolbox couldn’t even go to a hospital, Kalina was busily healing her. Though, Toolbox, being an Egotist, did have a stronger body than Machua, so she bounced back relatively quick.

  “This month has already changed so much…”

  Things were coming to a head. The final clash with Chimaera was coming soon, and he knew what he had to do. With this much power, with this much foresight, all he had to do was bring this conflict to a conclusion he knew was practically destined.

  ‘Galas. Lemuel. Reina. Sienna. All eyes on me.’