Chapter 58: The Shadow and the Angel

Under the command of Yechen and the direction of Fumito Naoi, preparations for the graduation ceremony were proceeding in an orderly fashion. Although a few members of the front had voiced opposition, Naoi, having learned from Byakuko, easily persuaded them with his formidable eloquence. Simply put, most people were looking forward to the ceremony.

However, it seemed the Afterlife Battlefront was destined never to have peace. After Kanade Tachibana, there was Naoi; after Naoi was dealt with, a bizarre new shadow appeared, capable of invading others’ bodies and transforming living people into the equivalent of NPCs.

“What’s going on this time?! We’re about to graduate and leave this world, yet something still refuses to let us go! Is this God’s doing?” The way this new shadow spread was even more exaggerated than a zombie outbreak—once infected, one would become an NPC, and NPCs could in turn create more shadows, spawning endlessly. Yuri and the others began to revisit their theories.

“I am God! In this world, we’re like a virus, so the NPCs have turned into shadows, trying to make us like them. It’s like a game spawning an unbeatable monster to keep players from playing forever. That’s probably what’s happening!” As one of the few non-idiots in this world, Naoi quickly deduced the situation.

“Rather than be swallowed by the shadows and lose our souls, forever imprisoned here, it would be better to disappear on our own.” After considering Takamatsu’s circumstances, the others came to the same conclusion.

As Naoi spoke, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly changed, rising like black smoke to slowly envelop him. The group watched in horror as only two glowing points like eyes appeared behind him. Yuri shouted, “Watch out behind you!”

The shadow pressed down heavily. Naoi bent under the weight, struggling to escape. Hinata, TK, and the others drew their guns, aiming at the shadow, but hesitated to fire for fear of hitting Naoi. At that moment, Yuri reminded them loudly, “If you die, you can come back! But if you become an NPC, you’re finished!”

Upon hearing this, Otonashi and the others reacted immediately. Yechen, just entering the room, wasted no time; he darted to the shadow’s side, plunged his hand into the thick black mist, and pulled Naoi out with force. He then spun and shattered the shadow with an elbow strike.

“What exactly was that thing?” Yechen, still unsure, asked Yuri as Byakuko, Kanade, and Shiina entered the principal’s office behind him.

“Thank goodness you arrived, Yechen. Here’s what happened…” Seeing that Naoi was safe, Yuri breathed a small sigh of relief and began explaining everything she knew from the beginning. At the end, she asked, “Well? Do you think this has anything to do with God?”

“You’re overthinking it. That shadow felt a lot like Kanade’s Guard Skill to me. Most likely, someone tampered with the NPCs’ programming using a computer, which is why this is happening.” When Yechen had broken up the black mist, he glimpsed streams of binary code—zeroes and ones—hidden beneath it. With a little analysis, it was clear it was a program at work.

“That’s exactly right~” Rarely seen lately, and even busy with their own music studies, Ruoxing and Ruocheng appeared at Yechen’s side at that moment. “Someone has indeed modified the NPCs’ programs to target you all.”

“It’s you two! You haven’t been around much lately. If not for my daily music lessons at your place, I’d have thought something had happened to you.” Ignoring the strange looks from Otonashi and the others, Yechen greeted them naturally.

“What could possibly happen to us? Even that person who temporarily defeated you is no match for us. The reason we haven’t appeared is that your location in this world has already been discovered. Soon, a twelve-winged angel will descend—be ready for battle! This will be your final mission here. Defeat her, and you’ll be handsomely rewarded!” The twins spoke to Yechen, one after the other.

“The twelve-winged angel I saw that day? If I were still in my ‘Ye Xingchen’ state, I might have stood a chance. But now, there’s no hope. I’ll just have to give it everything I have!” Memories of the twelve-winged angel by Ye Ying’s side resurfaced. Even then, their powers had been close. Now, with his weakened strength, he stood little chance, but Yechen was not one to admit defeat.

“It’s not her true form that will arrive; otherwise, why do you think we’ve been so busy? Thanks to our efforts, only an avatar can descend—her level will be between 40 and 50, one rank above yours, but not unbeatable. Be sure to thank us!” Ruoxing declared, patting her chest proudly.

“Level 40 to 50? If I prepare well, I might actually win. Thank you, Ruoxing, Ruocheng,” Yechen said sincerely.

“No need.” “Don’t mention it, I’ve got your back!” Ruocheng replied with a gentle smile, while Ruoxing gave Yechen’s shoulder a hearty pat before returning to the Twin Swords of Fantasy, evidently still needing rest.

Yechen ceased his apparent self-dialogue, which only Byakuko and Kanade understood in part. Regaining his composure, he turned to Yuri and the others. “I have two pieces of news—do you want the good or the bad first?”

“Don’t keep us in suspense! Out with it already!” In this crisis, Yuri was in no mood for games, glaring at Yechen impatiently.

“All right, all right.” Unfazed by Yuri’s tone, Yechen explained calmly, “The bad news is that the shadows are indeed the result of someone reprogramming NPCs, intending to devour us and turn our soulless selves into NPCs. But since altering the program requires a lot of computers, we just need to find where computers have gone missing, and we can solve it.”

“And the good news?” Even though the bad news was ominous, at least there was a solution. They wanted to hear the good news as consolation.

“The good news is that you’ve always wanted to find God, haven’t you? Well, the subordinate of the person who killed me—a twelve-winged angel—seems to have found her way here. She’ll arrive soon and is probably a bit stronger than me. If you’re killed by her, it’ll be worse than being swallowed by the shadow—your soul and body will be utterly erased. But you’ll finally get to meet a true, legendary angel: the highest class, a twelve-winged angel.” Yechen delivered this ‘good’ news with studied indifference.

After digesting this, Yuri instantly exploded. How was this good news? It was clearly a worse disaster than before! “How is that good news? That’s way worse than what you just said! If she’s stronger than you, she could wipe us out in an instant!”

“That’s why I’m not joking this time. The best way for you to avoid total annihilation—body and soul—is to disappear on your own.” Yechen’s usual gentle smile faded, replaced by a rare, solemn expression.