Initially, Freya had assumed a death crisis was a catastrophic event that truly threatened her life—or rather, wouldn't anyone interpret the words 【Death Crisis】 that way?
Yet now, it seemed things weren't nearly as straightforward as they appeared on the surface.
Freya glanced at the system. The next death crisis had shifted to nine months from now. That duration was neither particularly long nor short, but as Freya pondered it, a sudden realization struck her.
Remember when Euphy had forcibly upgraded the “system” for her? After that upgrade, the death crisis had abruptly dropped from one year to six months. Back then, Freya had wondered whether the existing death crisis had been moved up, or if a completely new one had appeared.
Looking at it now, it had likely been a new one, because by the timeline's math, this “nine months” aligned with the original “one year” death crisis.
As for why a “death crisis” that didn't feel all that threatening to Freya had suddenly cropped up just because of a system upgrade, she had no idea.
As she pondered, Freya examined the changes brought about by this latest system upgrade. First and foremost, she had gained another save slot. Not counting slot 00, her main body, she now had five slots in total.
Besides that, the maximum simulation time had expanded from three months to six months, doubling in length. Overall, they were all upgrades she had expected.
Freya quickly looked away and jogged over to Victor and David. The two of them were still staring blankly at the shore and up at the sky, seemingly unable to process the shock from moments ago.
She tapped them both on the shoulder. “Stop daydreaming. We need to get out of here right now. The Special Service will be here any minute. Do you really want to be dragged in for questioning?”
Only then did Victor nod in belated realization. “Right. Let's go, fast.”
David, on the other hand, froze when he saw Freya. “You're not dead!?”
The corner of Freya's mouth twitched slightly. In an exasperated tone, she said, “What, were you hoping I was?”
David waved his hands frantically. “No, no, no! I meant it's wonderful that you're okay! If you had died because I dragged you along to tail Cyril, I would've felt guilty for the rest of my life!”
“All right, all right, let's just get moving,” Freya urged.
As they spoke, the three swiftly made their departure. Along the way, however, David noticed that Victor didn't seem surprised in the slightest by Freya's safe return. Furthermore, it suddenly dawned on him: after separating from them, Freya had faced Tarik, one of the Four Great Protectors, all by herself. How on earth had she managed to escape unscathed?
After hesitating for a moment, David spoke up, “Wait, Freya... you're not an extraordinary too, are you?”
After all, Victor and Freya had seemed to know each other from the start, and despite being an extraordinary, Victor was surprisingly obedient toward her. David hadn't paid attention to these details initially, but looking back now, they were glaring anomalies!
Freya shook her head, however. “Nope~ I'm just an ordinary person.”
David wore a skeptical expression, clearly unconvinced. Freya thought about it for a second and added, “However, I do belong to a genuine extraordinary organization. That red-haired girl who tore through the Holy Blessing Society is one of our members. She was the one who rescued me after we got separated earlier.”
“She was already investigating the Holy Blessing Society, so it was quite the lucky coincidence.”
Victor went without saying; Freya had already promised to recruit him into the 【Wheel of Destiny】. As for David, seeing how deeply he yearned for supernatural power, Freya figured it was better to guide the current than build a dam—she might as well let him step onto the extraordinary path for real.
If she didn't offer David this opportunity, he would inevitably keep searching for extraordinaries on his own, which would only be far more dangerous. Besides, judging from this incident, the guy was genuinely decent: he cared about his companions, had a sense of responsibility, and possessed plenty of guts. Taking him in as a subordinate might not be a bad idea.
David stared in shock for a moment before stammering, “R-Really!? C-C-Can I join you guys?”
Freya spun a casual lie: “I'm not the head of the organization, so obviously I don't have the authority to decide. But I can recommend you two.”
Victor chimed in, “Thank you so much!”
After all, he had wanted to join the organization since their last encounter. Still, he couldn't help stealing a glance at David. It made sense for him, an existing extraordinary, to apply for membership in an extraordinary organization, but David was merely an ordinary person. Could an ordinary person really join as well?
Naturally, it never crossed Victor's mind to wonder whether the 【Wheel of Destiny】 was some bogus, bottom-tier outfit that accepted just anyone. Instead, he began to ponder: could David possess some unique quality?
Freya said, “How about tomorrow? It happens to be Sunday. I'll arrange for you to meet with 【Nicadori】—the red-haired girl from earlier. As for the rest, you can discuss the details with her in person.”
In reality, what Freya was actually thinking was that she needed to head back tonight and properly hash things out with Euphy, improvising some lore and organizational details for the Wheel of Destiny on the fly.
...
Not long after the trio departed, the Special Service finally arrived at the docks. It wasn't that the Special Service was slow; rather, the battle had unfolded far too quickly. From the total collapse of the Holy Blessing Society's stronghold to War Freya hauling its leader into the sky toward the capital, barely three to five minutes had elapsed in total.
The Special Service had already rushed over at maximum speed. Crossing half the city in five minutes—how could that be considered slow?
Staring at the devastated battlefield before him, Nolan couldn't help showing a look of utter shock. He immediately realized that this incident—and the enemy behind it—was definitely far beyond his ability to handle.
Yet another question immediately followed: Where were the people responsible for all this destruction? Where did they go?
Nolan looked around, his gaze ultimately coming to rest on the collapsed ground. He ordered the sibling pair, Miles and Reina, to immediately return to the Special Service and call in the Mobile Squad. As for himself, he planned to dig around; perhaps something remained buried underneath.
With the culprits behind this devastation nowhere to be seen, lingering here was undeniably perilous. It was precisely for that reason that Nolan chose to investigate alone.
...
Shifting perspective back to Freya: after agreeing on a time and place to meet with Victor and David tomorrow, she returned to Euphy's rented apartment. In addition to fleshing out the lore for the Wheel of Destiny, there was one more thing she wanted to verify.
...
Rate on N.U.
