Chương 52: Worldline α: All-Out War: Historical Crossover

However, the situation allowed for zero optimism. Hijikata Toshizo's power as the spectral "Wolf" was beginning to utterly surpass the individual strength of the heroes. Backed by the massive processing power of the Spatio-Temporal Immune System, he was forcefully rebooting the fallen Shinsengumi squad members while expanding his own physical size into a looming giant.

"It is futile. You are nothing but past data. Defeated relics who have already finished their time." Hijikata's relentless blade was beginning to track and catch up to USHIWAKA's godlike sword speed.

"The ones managing this current era... is us!" To make matters worse, our own time limit was rapidly ticking down. 『Warning! Warning! 』 Gennai's desperate shrieking continued over the comms. 『Boss RYOMA's core temperature is breaching critical levels! He's burning way too much energy just maintaining the guest data! We've got five minutes... no, three minutes before everyone gets completely deleted! 』 The heroes' bodies began to violently flicker, pulsing with heavy digital noise.

PRINCE's geometric barrier grew dangerously translucent, and HIMIKO's lightning began to lose its voltage.

"Tch... Guess we can't overstay our welcome!" USHIWAKA clicked his tongue, executing a rapid defensive retreat.

"Kataru-kun, make haste." PRINCE pointed his ritual baton toward me like a tactical commander.

"We shall hold the line here. You and RYOMA must head straight for the main citadel."

"The main citadel?"

"Satsuma and Choshu," MURASAKI cut in to clarify. 『These wolves are nothing but system errors spawned by the "division" between those two men. If you don't delete the root source, they'll just keep spawning infinitely. 』 『She is correct, 』 HIMIKO nodded firmly. 『We will buy you time. You must...

"wash" those two clean. 』 Every single one of them was looking at me. The very heroes I had tried to save, the ones who had guided me through the dark—they were now entrusting the entire future to my hands.

"... Understood." I re-gripped my bamboo sword. A thick, white-hot emotion welled up inside my chest.

"Everyone, thank you... I'm going!"

"Hell yeah! Leave it to us, partner!"

"Just hurry up and get going already, you mediocre normie!" Side by side with RYOMA, I leaped down from the deck of the Irohamaru. Our target: Saigo and Katsura, who were on the absolute verge of restarting their mutual slaughter. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The moment our feet touched the dirt, a Shinsengumi detachment ambushed us. But the terror was completely gone.

"Out of the damn way—!!" RYOMA's dual revolvers spat roaring fire, and my non-lethal shinai violently carved a path forward. Behind us, the heroes were unleashing absolute havoc, utilizing their own unique historical skillsets to the absolute maximum. 【SIDE: USHIWAKA】"Hyahhaa! Look at that pretty boy Okita! He's fast! Fast as hell, but his trajectory is way too linear!" USHIWAKA was currently trading hyper-velocity blows with the Shinsengumi's genius swordsman, Okita Soji (now heavily feral-wolfed).

The Three-Piece Thrust versus the Eight-Boat Leap. A godspeed clash of blades that sent thousands of blinding sparks raining across the night.

"But bad news for you, buddy—I trained on Kyoto's Gojo Great Bridge! No one beats me when it comes to high-altitude railing action!" Kicking off a crumbling stone wall, USHIWAKA completely claimed the blind spot directly above Okita's head. 【SIDE: HIMIKO & MURASAKI】 『Hey, your toxic miasma is completely getting in my way. 』 『Your lightning is far too loud, girl. I cannot focus on my writing with all this racket. 』 HIMIKO and MURASAKI fought back-to-back, holding off a massive wave of incoming enemies.

Their personalities were an absolute mismatch. Yet, their combat synchronization was flawless. MURASAKI would write the character for [QUAGMIRE], locking the enemies' feet into the earth, and HIMIKO would instantly drop a precisely guided bolt of lightning right on top of their heads. 『... Hmph. Not bad, I suppose. 』 『You aren't half bad either, considering your sharp tongue. 』 A silent, magnificent co-op between the powerful women of ancient and medieval Japan. 【SIDE: PRINCE】"Prince Shotoku Beam!... Just kidding.

That was a lie." PRINCE was gracefully levitating through the air, utilizing a swarm of hacked bronze-mirror drones to oversee the entirety of the battlefield from a perfect bird's-eye view.

"The right flank is on the verge of collapsing. USHIWAKA-kun, rotate and cover. Left flank—HIMIKO-kun, increase the rainfall intensity and blind their line of sight." His legendary ability to "listen to ten people speaking at the exact same time" was manifesting as the ultimate multi-tasking processing matrix for battlefield command.

"Please, do not call me Prince Shotoku anymore. You may address me as... [Shotoku, The Supreme Commander]." 【SIDE: KATARU & RYOMA】 We ran. We sprinted down the exact path of light the heroes had carved open for us. Directly ahead, the Satsuma and Choshu estates came into view, completely swallowed by a howling tempest of red and blue digital noise. The conflicting energy radiating from Saigo and Katsura had amplified far worse than before, actively trying to rip the physical fabric of space apart.

"Pick up the pace, Kataru!" RYOMA roared.

"My internal systems are hitting their limit too! I've only got enough juice to fire one last Link Bullet!"

"One last bullet?!" I gasped in sheer panic.

"Saigo-san and Katsura-san... there are two of them! Who are you going to shoot?!"

"Neither!" RYOMA let out a wild, fiercely confident laugh.

"I'm gonna smack their thick skulls together and detonate the bullet right in the absolute center of their brains!... But to do that, you've gotta dive headfirst into the eye of that storm and drag them face-to-face!"

"That is completely insane!" But it was the only option we had left. Firmly leveling my bamboo sword, I charged directly into the screaming vortex of system noise. Just you wait, you stubborn bastards. This time, I'm going to forcefully pry open those closed ears of yours and wash your souls spotless!