To become a king and a magician

“But this is good too,” Artoria said. “If the remaining fragments of power gather into one, it means that as long as we destroy that meteorite, everything will end, and we can leave this world of consciousness and return to the real world.”

"Yes, that's correct. But how do you plan to counterattack?"

"Of course it is..."

Xia Chuanhu, who was about to answer subconsciously, stopped halfway through his sentence—this time... it seems he can't hit the meteorite?

According to the news, the meteorite is still flying near Jupiter. Even if he wanted to intercept it, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't fly that far. Not to mention, even if he did fly up there, it's unknown whether he could unleash his full power in space. After all, he is an Earth spirit, and it's uncertain whether he would still have his current power if he left Earth.

Does this world of consciousness truly exist within the universe?

“After the meteorite enters the atmosphere, we’ll shoot it down in mid-air… What do you think of that, Master?” Artoria asked. “Although this will have a huge impact on the surrounding area, this isn’t the real world, so we don’t need to worry about the consequences.”

"A meteorite being struck within the atmosphere... Hmm, that should be fine."

Whether it's elven armor or the liberation of the holy sword—Natsukawa Torato does have methods to shatter the meteorite, though he doesn't know if he can actually do it. But even if it doesn't work the first time, he'll probably succeed after a few more tries.

After hearing the two of them finalize their plan to intercept the meteorite, Ayaka Sajou stood up and said, "It seems there are no problems. However, it's still a bit early to talk about this now. It will probably be another day or two before the meteorite actually falls to a place where you can intercept it. We still have things to do before then."

"Is there anything else to do? What is it?"

“Going to school.” Sajou Aika pointed to the clock on the wall. “If we don’t hurry up and leave, we’ll be late.”

"You don't need to worry about Ai Ge, we won't be late."

As he spoke, Xia Chuanhu continued eating: "Even if we dawdle for another ten minutes or so, we can still get to school before the gates close, so don't worry about that."

"Huh? But it takes several minutes to walk there, right? If it's more than ten minutes later... then it'll be too late!"

"Aigo, have you forgotten how I used to go to school with Grey?"

before?

Saya Aika tilted her head slightly.

.......

A few minutes later, on the rooftop of Fuyuki City.

Holding Natsukawa Torama in her arms, Sajou Aika looked at the buildings around her receding into the distance and understood what Natsukawa Torama had meant earlier.

"That's true, isn't it? Back when we were still at the Clock Tower, you took Gray to class there like this. You did the same thing to Ayaka in the parallel world, didn't you?"

"So, this is how it's done? Won't this have some negative impact on the surrounding area, Master?"

On Natsukawa Torato's back, with her arms wrapped around his neck to keep herself from falling, Artoria looked back as she bounced up and down. On the roof of every building the three of them had landed on, she could see a pair of indentations the size of a foot.

It was all caused by Natsukawa Tora stepping on it.

Thank goodness this is in the realm of consciousness; if we did this in the real world, we'd definitely be criticized, right? And judging from what Sajō Ayaka just said, it seems that the Master has been doing this for a long time?

"Master, have you been reprimanded for doing this before?"

"Well, if I had to say, Gray and Ayaka both scolded me, right? Either they said I would cause trouble for others, or that I was too fast and made them uncomfortable—you two can accept the current speed, right?"

“You can go even faster!” Aika Sajou laughed. “I also want to experience what Ayaka and Gray went through.”

"I just..."

Before Artoria could even finish speaking, Natsukawa Torama's speed instantly surged. The two of them felt a tremor, and then Natsukawa Torama carried them flying through the air! The jump height reached nearly a hundred meters in the air!

The panoramic view of Fuyuki City at dawn immediately came into view of the three of them. Undoubtedly, it was a sight that could make one lose their sense of time for a moment. However, this view only lingered in their eyes for a moment before the whistling wind filled their ears, and the feeling of weightlessness as they fell from a hundred meters in the air enveloped them tightly!

"Thump—!"

I could feel a heavy tremor coming from under my feet.

The next moment, less than a second after landing, Artoria and Ayaka Sajou were carried up to a height of 100 meters.

(So ​​this is what acceleration means?)

Feeling the rapid movement of their journey, Ayaka Sajou and Artoria exchanged glances, both seeing the same meaning in each other's eyes.

—Let's not let the tiger (Master) advance any faster from now on.

26. I'm going to have a brief meeting with the end of the world.

The current Suiqunyuan Academy and Junior High School doesn't have many students.

Because of the two monster attacks a week ago, Fuyuki City is now basically considered a dangerous area.

Although in this world of consciousness, cities automatically recover after being attacked by monsters, and memories related to monsters are corrected, the fact that Fuyuki City suffered two major destructions in a short period of time remains unchanged and cannot be altered.

Therefore, in order to avoid being affected by another sudden disaster, some students and their families have left Fuyuki City. That being said, there is nowhere for them to escape in this world of consciousness, and if they leave Fuyuki City, their very existence will disappear.

However, in terms of results, the number of students in Suigunhara Academy has indeed decreased. Now, in Natsukawa Tora's class, there are only about ten students left.

In addition, due to the two previous attacks, a considerable number of refugees have appeared in Fuyuki City. In order to accommodate them, Homurahara School has also set aside a part of its area to serve as a relief station.

"It's like a scene before the apocalypse."

During the break between classes, sitting by the window overlooking the long lines below for supplies, Natsukawa Tora sighed softly: "Although this is a dreamlike world, and it will disappear and shatter when the meteorite is destroyed, it's still not a very pleasant sight to see."

"Do you want me to rewind this world?" Ayaka Sajou asked. "If Torato wants, I can rewind the settings of Fuyuki City to before the first appearance of the monster."

Sajou Aika is capable of doing this. In fact, she was responsible for modifying the damage caused by the monsters and correcting people's memories. Completely restoring the city is not something she cannot do; she simply did not completely restore the world in the past for the sake of sufficient realism.

"No, no need. It'll be over soon anyway, there's no need to do anything unnecessary."

Turning his gaze away, Xia Chuanhu took out his phone and opened the browser. As expected, the internet was filled with news and information about meteorites. In the morning, the meteorite had only been observed to exist, but now the latest intelligence showed that it was heading towards Earth and it was almost certain to collide with Earth within 24 hours.

The impact point was precisely in Japan. And given the size of the meteorite, if it were to hit, the resulting tsunami could very likely submerge the entire country.

The message that "Japan will sink within 24 hours" has reached everyone's mind. If you go to the port of Fuyuki City or the highways leading out to it now, you should see crowds of people and congested vehicles.

I don't want to sink with Japan; I want to leave Japan.

Whether at the port or on the highway, everyone had the same thought: those who were unwilling to leave Fuyuki City and those who were unable to leave were the only ones still in Fuyuki City.

For example, people who have lived here for decades, or people who have come to accept their fate after realizing that the end of the world is coming.

Natsukawa Tora had seen this scene countless times before, even though it was on television.

"Am I destined to save the world? Whether in a parallel universe or the real world, why do I always have to do this kind of thing in my dreams?"

"Who made you the Holy Sword Wielder, Master? Whether it's by choice or by force, when the world faces a crisis, you, who wield the Holy Sword, will always be the one standing at the forefront," Artoria said with a smile. "Even in the world of consciousness, it's the same."

"I know, it's just something I felt compelled to say..."

[Ring ring ring!]

Just then, the urgent bell rang in the classroom, and the students who had gathered in twos and threes in various parts of the classroom returned to their seats. Soon after, Fujimura Taiga rushed into the classroom from outside—

"An urgent announcement for all students—!"

As always, he seemed to have inexhaustible energy; even in this apocalyptic atmosphere, Fujimura Taiga was excessively optimistic.

"The world is about to be destroyed!"

"Wasn't this already discussed in the morning meeting, Tiger?"

"Don't call me a tiger!"

Fujimura Taiga almost retorted reflexively, but this time she didn't get angry. Instead, she quietly glanced at the remaining students in the class, and then, unusually, she put away her usual naive demeanor and smiled very seriously.

"But that has nothing to do with us. Even if the world is going to end, we shouldn't despair. What we should do now is to make the most of our remaining time before the world ends, shouldn't we?"

"Due to the school's arrangements, after teaching this last class this morning, I have to go downstairs to help out, and you all have to go home after school. Logically speaking, continuing to teach at this time is unnecessary, and that's what the school says."

"But I am a teacher. Teaching students and imparting knowledge is my duty as a teacher! So now—everyone, get your books out! We'll continue from where we left off last time, so that even if we get killed by a meteorite, we can go to the next life without regrets... Wait a minute, where were we in the last lesson? By the way, where are my notes!"

"teacher....."

"tiger....."

......

Fujimura Taiga's unusually serious demeanor surprised the students in the class, and some couldn't help but laugh when they heard her last sentence.

"Tiger, you can't possibly forget your handouts for the last class?"

"Get serious, Tiger! All the atmosphere we worked so hard to build up is gone!"

"By the way, last class was about Japanese history, and this class is math. Tiger, you should at least figure out what class you're supposed to be in."

"Ugh, so annoying! Shut up, all of you! Let's study for now while I rush off to get my lecture notes!"

Before he could finish speaking, Fujimura Taiga had already disappeared from the classroom in a flash, and the rest of his sentence was still being heard from the corridor.

Seeing this somewhat dramatic scene, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't help but chuckle, "As expected of Taiga, she's still the same even as the world is about to end. Although it's a manifestation of my memories, I think she would have done the same thing in the real world if she were in the same situation."

"Speaking of which, Tiger, you and Fujimura-sensei are old classmates."

“Yeah, we were high school classmates, but we haven’t seen each other since graduation. I haven’t been able to see each other during my recent trips back to Fuyuki City either, mainly because I haven’t had the opportunity or the time.” Natsukawa Tora said as he stood up. “However, after all this, I’m actually thinking of seeing some old friends.”

"Where are you going?"

"In the sky."

Pointing upwards, Natsukawa Tiger laughed and said, "I'm going to go into space to have a go at that so-called 'end of the world'—leaving it unattended isn't my style."

27. A massive jet of water calls for a miracle.

On the rooftop.

After glancing at the real-time news updates on his phone and the ever-shortening intervals between possible meteorite falls, Xia Chuanhu put away his phone and looked up at the sky.

"Are we going now, Master?"

Behind him, Artoria, who had just entered through the door, asked, "This is so sudden. Didn't we say we'd wait until the meteorite entered the atmosphere before launching an attack? It's still outside the atmosphere, isn't it? Can we intercept it?"

"It should be possible to give it my all, but I'll probably only have one chance." As Xia Chuanhu spoke, a strong vortex began to rise around him. "By using the possession of the wind spirit to control the atmosphere over a vast area, I can send myself into outer space. Reaching the universe is possible, but that's all I can do. I can't go any further in the vacuum of space."

"Then what about fighting back?"

"Making the fantasy a reality, by throwing the moon directly at it. Although we don't know if it can actually be destroyed, we have to give it a try."

"Is it in such a hurry?" Artoria continued to ask. "There's still plenty of time for the meteorite to enter the atmosphere. We can still make some preparations during that time, such as setting up some magic. There's no need to rush, is there?"

As Artoria said, there's no rush to intercept a meteorite. It's actually better to make thorough preparations before it falls and destroy it all at once once it's within range.

There's absolutely no need to be in such a hurry like Natsukawa Tora.

Natsukawa Tiger smiled and nodded: "Yes, there's no need to rush, it's just that I want to do it this way—didn't Tiger just say that we should do our best to make our time meaningful?"