Chapter 4 - Hanakawa Finale

1st Saga - The Balance

Hanakawa Arc

[ Your system is being updated ]

“It’s a pleasure to meet you”

The voice was both ominous and comforting, as if this person had known me my entire life and beyond. No, not a person. I had a sneaking suspicion on the identity of this figure based on the messages I had just received.

I turned around. Despite his status and imposing presence, his appearance was rather plain and simple. He sported casual garments that would be expected of common folk, yet the sheath of a sword at his left hip was what stood out to me most. A swordsman? That couldn’t be. In none of the texts I read was Aeolus a swordsman. 

His light gray eyes followed my gaze and realized what I was looking at. 

“Ah, right. There is some explaining for me to do, so please, take a seat”

He chuckled at my bewildered expression, then made a small gesture with the flick of his wrist. A brief wind gathered before us before parting and revealing there were now seats and a table. How he did this in my mind, I had no clue, and whether or not we were even still in my mind was a larger uncertainty. The long, white hairs that fell to his waist swayed with each step until he sat down, motioning for me to do the same.

“You have heard of the story behind The Great Uprising, correct?”

I nodded.

“Good. I’m glad your father was willing to spare the time”

I stared at him with a blank face. The legend of The Great Uprising and World Zero’s creation was one told to us many times when we were toddlers by our dad, yet how did he know? Could the gods read minds?

“How do you know about that?”

“Ahah. Don’t worry, your father and I were friends for some time, but that is a story for later when we have more time”

“Friends? How?”

My dad could never have left Hanakawa as far as I knew, and the gods were not a presence within World Zero. Now that I thought of it, how was one of them speaking to me right now? Despite suspicion, I went along with his explanation. It still made no sense, though. 

“As I said, that is a story for another time. The reason for my presence however, can be explained now”

He was definitely reading my mind.

“About that… we are within your mindscape right now, so I am capable of hearing some of your thoughts”

Well, that answers my previous question about where we were. Perhaps he intended to answer it.

“Now, if you know the story behind The Great Uprising, you remember the ‘hero’ of the story, correct?”

How could I not? The hero of legend, Hayato, who stole a powerful weapon from the Realm of Gods and used it to single handedly turn the tide of battle, then used his power to create the entirety of World Zero as a safe haven for humanity before the descent of the gods’ wrath in the World chain. 

After I ran through the story in my head, Aeolus nodded and tapped the sheath at his hip. The realization struck me.

“Oh”

“Precisely”

Questions began piling up in my head, some of which had to be asked out loud.

“Wait, wasn’t Hayato a human?”

“That was never confirmed in the legend, it just stated that Hayato fought on the side of humanity”

He was right.

“Wasn’t Hayato sealed away at the end of the legend?”

“I’ve only just appeared after nearly eight centuries, haven’t I?”

“And that weapon! You should surely-”

He raised his hand to signal me to stop, to which I complied. 

“That sword I stole was the Key of Creation. The Keys are a physical manifestation and extension of a god’s very will itself, and using such a powerful weapon was why I was able to turn the tides of the war. However, every Key has its limit, especially when used against other gods. After creating World Zero, it shattered”

“So that shard my dad used was…”

“Correct. That shard was one piece of the Key. Before vanishing from the physical world, I had sealed what was essentially my consciousness into the shards of the Key. My original intent was for the shards to be reunited so my consciousness could be reformed as a whole, but now, I am merely a fragment of my former self”

I sat in contemplation.

“Don’t worry. I had previously told your father to wake me when the need came. This was a risk I had chosen to take”

“Where did you get to know my dad?”

He seemed ready to tell me it was a story for another time once again, but this time, something changed.

“I… don’t remember..?”

He made a perplexed expression.

“This is likely a side effect of having just a fragment of me unsealed”

“So I’m assuming you now need to reunite with the other shards, right?”

“Yes, and I’m hoping to make a deal with you to do such a thing”

The idea of sharing my body with a god was slightly unsettling. Naturally, I had never interacted with one before, and I remember reading that a vast majority of them were unsavory and only pursued their goals regardless of their effects on mortals. Well, the last time a god had interacted with a human in World Zero was centuries ago, so it was very well possible that things could have changed. However, most importantly, there was one factor that trumped the rest in making the decision.

“I’m dead”

“That can be changed. You’re still conscious, no?”

He was right. Despite the fact that my body was most likely turned to ash or crushed under rubble right now, my consciousness was still fully functioning in this mindscape.

“What your father did at the end there, he wasn’t attacking your physical body with the shard, but rather, liberating your metaphysical self from it”

“So I’ll become a free floating consciousness like you?”

“No, that shard will become your new body. It should finish anytime now”

Then, a realization hit me. If I was the one who had been ejected from my original body, that meant Koharu was still inhabiting it.

Aeolus gave a solemn nod.

“Alright then, I’ll give you my full cooperation so long as we work towards both our goals”

“I sympathize with your story, so it's a deal”

A minute or so later, the message arrived.

[ System update complete ]

[ A physical vessel has been prepared. Beginning the transfer process ]

He smiled at me. 

“See you on the other side”