It was no longer possible to get chocolate.
That was because the fall of Europe had messed up the sea lanes, but most Jogen residents didn’t know this. The news was only showing the exploits of the Twin Star Heroes and the success of the Pseudo-Gate Operation nonstop, and that information was being strictly regulated.
Kuon was kept very busy with scouting missions towards European lines that had dropped out of contact, Jogen ocean patrols, and Air Force Cavalleria Fencing lessons. When he arrived home for the first time in a week, he found his parents waiting for him on their knees.
“Sit down,” they said with uncharacteristic solemnity. They had a form in front of them for withdrawal from his school. What followed was a complete breakdown of communication between parents who had only ever known peace, and a Hero who was on his second trip through hell.
“It doesn’t make sense for a thirteen-year-old boy to be kept away from home for an entire week!” his mother said, worried. “And if your heart stops again like last time, I will absolutely die!”
“Let’s move to the Capital,” his father said gravely. “If not there, Kyushu. You’ve worked hard enough.”
Kuon looked appalled. The Capital? he thought. Fukuoka? Don’t be ridiculous. They’re still extremely dangerous!
He’d been worked so hard this week his brain was barely functioning, and he struggled to find a way to convince them. Mom, Dad, we can’t; it’s too dangerous. Not just the Empire, but the entire planet, our entire world…and I’m just too sleepy.
Whatever, he thought. I’ll just show them the videos from Europe. He’d recorded these himself, but Fuji, Hanabi, and Rin had all seen the same thing.
What they showed was hell on earth.
The video started with them crossing the Mediterranean near the base of Italy’s boot. Even over the ocean, they could tell the land was on fire. The sky glowed red, covered by swarms of black mantas. One of those swarms saw them and attacked. You could hear Fuji reporting in to command. The screen was seventy percent enemies and thirty percent red.
His mother fainted during the mid-section. He kept it playing. It showed what happened after landfall in Sicily. It was awful. There were towers made of half-eaten humans. One of those “humans” was a land Jave in disguise, and one ally Cavalleria got too close and got the entire upper half of his body bitten off. When Kuon cut that Jave in half, a number of heads rolled out. That was when his father ran for the bathroom, his hand clapped over his mouth.
In the last and most extreme section, the Fuji Squad was forced to decide whether to abandon fifteen children standing right in front of them in order to rescue 3,000 refugees on an escape ship ten kilometers away. Hanabi, crying, was unable to make up her mind. Her DM dropped out, and she crouched down. Kuon, knowing full well this could get them all killed, proposed the stupid idea that they split the squad in two. Rin agreed with him, and Squad Leader Fuji accepted it. Since they couldn’t save the 3,000 refugees without Hanabi’s Servants, they left Kuon alone with the children. They spent thirty hours hiding, trying to avoid being found by the enemy, but by the time the rest of the squad returned, there were only six of the fifteen children remaining. While Kuon was watching this, his father came back from the bathroom, found Kuon crying his eyes out, and gave him a firm hug.
This was a mistake, Kuon thought. There was no need to show them this.
He’d lost count of how many times Hanabi had cried this week. On away missions, she spent all night with her arms around him, and Kuon learned how to rub her head in his sleep. During downtime, he often found Rin with her arms around her knees, staring at nothing. Fuji would have a window open and appear to be diligently writing a report. When Kuon realized he’d actually been picking a wedding dress for Nao, it was genuinely unsettling. No bride wanted an Oiran-style dress!
They laid his mother down in bed, put a damp towel on her forehead, and then Kuon finally ran out of steam. He remembered his father carrying him to his room and putting him in bed. In his dreams, Hanabi was crying and hugging him, so he rubbed her head.
Ultimately, closing Gates one at a time was meaningless. The Twin Star Heroes were winning battles, but mankind had been given a harsh reminder that their enemies were infinite. They had to strike at the root of the problem: their hive.
Reeling from Europe’s loss, the Alliance bet everything on a plan to send Tooka’s final weapon through the pseudo-Gate and destroy the Jave’s world. This weapon was called a Magical Black Hole and was explained to Kuon—who gave up on understanding it after three seconds—thusly:
First, two Gates with a Heavy Magic radius would be overlaid, creating a space where they would endlessly bleed into each other. Once anyone went inside, there was no way out, only an endless Gate interior. After it was activated, it would grow into a powerful gravity pull that would swallow up everything around it, and one second after the sixty-minute mark it would expand faster than the speed of light. The expansion area was relative to the Heavy Magic radius and, depending on settings, could grow large enough to swallow a solar system. Once it passed the critical point, it would collapse at the same speed it expanded and vaporize, leaving nothing behind.
If that black egg which was the Nürburg self-destructed, it could create an artificial black hole. It sounded absurd, but apparently this was humanity’s last hope.