Chapter 47: The Calamity of Women-4-
The Replacement.
The pivot that would become the center of a world. When the protagonist who led the story disappeared, the being that would take their place was named the Replacement.
“Looking at the data from the BB of another world, there was a movie that explained this in a similar way, you know?”
“Ah~ The one with the immortal who breaks the fourth wall and the hero with claws coming out of his hands?”
“That's the one. In it, they explain parallel worlds, and they describe each worldline like this: Each worldline has a central figure, and if that figure dies, the worldline is ultimately fated for destruction. Of course, it's not quite on that level here. However, the world judged that it needed a replacement to be its center. Yes, Eros sends a replacement, a walking mass of lust which is its very reason for existence, to maintain balance.”
“Isn't calling it ‘balance’ a bit of a misnomer? To be precise, it's a tool for a survival competition, right? To increase its own power and surpass the other Counter Forces. That's how you interpreted it, isn't it?”
“Yes. Eros's exact objective is a bit ambiguous, but at the very least, it desires to become the center that replaces the other Counter Forces. Gaia's power weakened due to the depletion of mystery, and while Alaya grew stronger with the development of human civilization, there were still gaps. Through those gaps, receivers of Eros like that man appeared, and through the Incineration of Humanity, Eros's power became the strongest, completing the current laws of the world.”
BB, who was creating something with Da Vinci, explained that the current laws of this world were fundamentally the work of Eros, aided by the Incineration of Humanity.
“With him at the center, the world gradually changed as if some kind of perceptual alteration had occurred. Of course, there was a certain range. It was a nascent Counter Force, after all, and the world wasn't that easy to manipulate. However, Alaya probably intended to use Eros. It likely tried to promote growth through competition via Eros and Ryuuji. But then, the Incineration of Humanity went poof in Chaldea~ In the end, the world turned out just as Eros wanted.”
“Alaya’s mistake for being careless.”
“Yes. In a world where the Incineration of Humanity has occurred, if the Demon God King's plan succeeds, the ultimate winner is Eros. That's why Eros created a Replacement to maintain its power. Using the Fae concept of a 'Changeling'.”
Changeling.
Commonly known as a prank by fairies, where they swap a human baby with one of their own.
When this Changeling phenomenon is maximized, beings from other worlds can even come to this one.
When Fae die, they become a part of this world, a part of the land, and a successor Fae is born.
So what then? Since a part of this world is Fae, it becomes possible to form the illogical concept that the world itself is a Fae.
The Counter Force that is the master of the current world is Eros.
Gaia, whose power is weak to begin with, doesn't care what happens as long as the planet itself remains, and Alaya is too busy trying to stop the Incineration of Humanity to even think about keeping Eros in check.
Taking advantage of that gap, Eros uses the Changeling phenomenon to select and bring over a being to replace Ryuuji.
“They call this ‘reincarnation into another world.’ In a way, that concept is easier to grasp.”
“No way, to think it would drag in such a common trope. It might have been different in the old days, but now it's so common it's become cliché.”
Da Vinci coolly dissed Eros's methods, calling the trope utterly stale.
“So, among all the Replacements you met after Ryuuji, who was the most troublesome?”
“The most troublesome and annoying one. There were two, but in terms of sheer annoyance, it was definitely that man. First of all, he was your typical fat guy. His face was always greasy because he didn't wash it, and he had acne and freckles. A fat man with greasy hair and glasses. He was a disgusting man.”
“That man… the hypnosis guy?”
Da Vinci asked, resting her chin on the back of her hand. BB sighed and nodded. You could tell just how much trouble she'd gone through by the exhaustion written all over her face.
“It got to the point where the Senpais were fighting each other. Well, generally, only Senpai (Sho) was the one getting hurt. Senpai (Ritsuka) was also affected, you see. Sho was by her side, constantly taking care of her, but she still caused quite a ruckus.”
“Wow, that does sound serious. To what extent?”
“He used the power of a Holy Grail to spread a wide-range hypnosis wave. The power he received from Eros was a hypnosis app. Thankfully, the fact that it was an app meant we could finally solve the problem by just breaking his phone.”
“Just hearing about him is disgusting. Were the other Replacements like that?”
“Each of them had different powers and personalities. Whether that was a good thing or not, I can't say. The point is, he's the most troublesome one. That's why we're preparing for him like this.”
What BB and Da Vinci were making were devices to counteract that very hypnosis.
“We’re building this based on the analysis and understanding of the hypnosis wave from that time, but I can't guarantee it will be effective. Even when we tried to use the analysis to replicate it ourselves, we were missing something fundamental and could only barely reproduce a weak suggestion.”
“For you to say that… I guess a Counter Force is a Counter Force, huh? Such a waste of power.”
“We haven't figured out which Singularity he'll appear in yet, but I really hope it's not Rome. America would be better. If we mishandle that thing in Rome, things could get difficult for us too.”
BB hoped that he wouldn't appear in Rome, at the very least.
And yet.
AD 60.
The Roman Empire.
“Haha, to think that now, of all things, I'd be facing an assassination attempt in my sleep from my own entourage.”
A group had invaded the emperor's bedchambers.
The captain of the Roman Praetorian Guard and the emperor's closest confidant.
“Locusta, you too.”
The emperor looked at the woman standing next to the guard captain, who was also scheming the assassination and had started the rebellion.
An assassin and a master of poisons, who had also been a confidant of the emperor's mother, the Empress Dowager.
Locusta smiled sweetly as she looked at the emperor.
“Lady Nero. Please, surrender now. We can all be happy. Please, surrender to him.”
“Locusta.”
“He can even cure your headaches, Lady Nero. You can finally be happy too! So please!”
“Locusta!”
The emperor drew her sword.
A sword forged from a piece of a meteorite that came from beyond the heavens, from space. A sword the emperor had forged herself, its burning flames reminiscent of the hearth fire of Vesta, called the heart of Rome.
“I asked if you have truly betrayed me! Simon died because of that man! Countless Roman citizens have died and been humiliated! My Rome, this empire, has been defiled by that man! And you tell me to surrender? To capitulate? That that is the path to happiness? And you still call yourself the Locusta who helped me kill my own mother?”
A betrayal from a confidant who had been by her side for a long time.
Perhaps this was how Caesar felt when he was betrayed by Brutus.
But she would not shed tears at the shock of betrayal. The emperor's life had been full of it.
“Haha! You are even madder than my uncle who was consumed by the madness of Diana! All of you, the Rome that I loved, has gone mad! In that case, as the Emperor of Rome, it is my duty to take it back.”
The emperor raised her sword and shouted at the rebels.
“Do not think that I, the great Emperor of Rome, will ever yield to the likes of you!”
The Second Singularity.
Rome was already distorted beyond recognition.
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