Campione: Strongest# 410: The Crawling Chaos

Darkness had fallen over Misaki City, blanketing it in an oppressive atmosphere.

In the black sky, several silvery-blue bolts of lightning suddenly flashed, looking like ferocious claws raking across a veil.

A few seconds later…

Boom! Boom!

A colossal thunderclap echoed through the sky.

The roaring thunder, coupled with the dark sky, told every resident of Misaki City that a storm was imminent.

On a slope on the west side of the city, in the basement of the Tohno mansion, Haru sat in a silver folding chair. His expression was turbulent as he looked at the crystal resting on a tray on the experimental table before him.

Under the incandescent lamp above, the pale green crystal radiated a verdant light, plunging the brownish-yellow walls into a sea of emerald.

“What the hell is this thing?” Haru frowned, his tone laced with displeasure.

Upon returning to reality from the Root, he had immediately discovered this crystal on the ground beside him. The crystal that should have been in Alaya’s hands had appeared out of nowhere.

Even a fool would know that this crystal—or rather, its owner—had its eye on him.

This situation, where his adversary had the upper hand, left him exceptionally frustrated.

“The specifics are unknown. Three seconds after you left, it vanished right before my eyes,” Alaya’s ethereal voice echoed in the air.

“To vanish in a flash right in front of the Counter Force… it seems I’ve tangled with a troublesome entity,” Haru narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice.

“I suggest you seal the crystal in a pocket dimension for now. Gaia and I will join forces to investigate its history,” Alaya said, her tone grave.

Haru leaned back in his chair and gently tapped his temple with his left index finger. “That's the only option for now,” he said, his voice complicated.

At his word, the aura of the ‘Law’ suddenly descended. With a gentle hum, the crystal was sealed within a multi-dimensional space, its form instantly blurring.

Seeing the crystal sealed away without any resistance, Haru stood up and walked towards the door, preparing to leave the basement.

Just then, he froze, an astonished look on his face.

The next second, he closed his eyes and plunged his consciousness into his soul space.

Passing through a thick, white, chaotic void, a bare, brownish-yellow planet appeared in his mind’s eye.

It was the core of all energy and rules within his body. His target now was the most crucial part of that core: the star core.

In his own soul space, he was like a creator; his thoughts became reality. With a single thought, he arrived inside the star core and looked at the white, fluorescent sphere before him.

Shaped like an egg and about a cubic meter in volume, the sphere had instinctively named itself the Dirac Heart. It was what Haru simply called "the egg."

It possessed the ability to annihilate energy and deduce the world rules contained within. If the energy came from a living being, it could also read the spiritual imprint and deduce the ‘knowledge’ it possessed. It was his ultimate advantage.

It was the foundation of his power.

But now, the egg was broken.

Haru silently looked at the sphere. Several conspicuous cracks marred its elliptical surface, as if it were a real egg about to hatch.

What the hell!

Haru stared, dumbfounded, at the arm emerging from the cracked shell.

It was a pristine white hand, its skin pale and delicate. The bluish veins beneath the snow-white skin were clearly visible, like a beautiful, flawless work of art.

“A woman’s hand.” A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead. When the cracks had first appeared, he had sent a query into it as he always did.

The reply he received was: “System upgrading. Please wait, Master.”

“The situation I was most worried about has happened.” Haru’s face was grim as he watched the figure slowly break out of the shell.

Though system-like abilities were popular among transmigrators, Haru felt they were a manifestation of being at the mercy of others. Who knew if obtaining a special ability meant becoming an experimental subject for some great power?

He much preferred an ability with no instructions, one that he had to explore himself. Although most of his strength had been instilled by the egg, he was also the most wary of it. He had a deep-seated distrust of relying on powers he didn't fully control.

Now, the birth of a system avatar was not, in his eyes, a good omen.

Crack—!

Another pale, slender arm emerged from the egg, followed by a single, long silver cowlick that defied gravity.

Haru’s eyelid twitched, and his lip trembled as he looked at the meter-long strand of hair. He was so fixated on it that he completely ignored the face that was revealed afterwards.

“Good morning, Master,” a cheerful voice chirped, reciting the cliché words with genuine happiness.

The voice made him shift his gaze from the hair and look at the young woman who had emerged from the shell.

She had silky, silver-white, knee-length hair, just like his own. She also had mischievous emerald-green eyes, an exceptionally delicate face, and a seemingly silly smile that exuded a strange charm.

She wore a cute, black, lolita-style dress with a black-and-white checkered frill at the hem and a matching bow tied at the collar.

All in all, she was a silver-haired goth girl who looked remarkably similar to Kasugano Sora.

“Who are you?” Haru narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression grave. For some reason, the young woman was strangely familiar, and the soul-deep connection he felt to her was identical to the one he had with the Dirac Heart.

“Yes! To answer the Master's question, I am the system familiar, born after the Dirac Heart collected the rules of three great worlds!”

The silver-haired young woman swayed her hips fluidly, bringing her slender arms up in a flower-bud gesture to support her chin. Her fidgeting was comically exaggerated.

“I mean, what’s your name? And why are you appearing in this form?” Haru’s lip twitched as he suppressed his amusement.

“A name? I don't have one of those. Isn't that something the Master is supposed to give me? As for my form, I manifested according to the appearance within the Master's heart that you find most suitable,” the silver-haired young woman said, snapping into a playful, lopsided military salute.

A thoughtful look crossed his face.

No name, that fits with her just being born. And as for her appearance… I have a weakness for silver hair. That’s also normal…

Wait. She manifested according to the appearance that best suits her? This appearance?

Haru keenly sensed something was wrong.

His sharp gaze swept over her face again. The more he looked, the more familiar she seemed.

“Wh… what’s wrong? To look at me like that.” A faint blush appeared on her delicate face as she shyly met his gaze, then quickly looked away.

“…Nyarlathotep? No… Nyarlathotep?!”