The Tome of Revelation couldn't possibly have made a mistake.
But if it failed to produce the desired answer, then that could only mean one thing—
The subject being investigated was beyond the specifications of the Tome of Revelation.
Just like in the original story, when Homura Yua tried to query information about Tokisaki Mio, and nothing was revealed at all.
"So you're saying that Altair status in this world is equivalent to Tokisaki Mio's status in the Date A Live universe?"
Natsumi Kyouno frowned slightly, realizing that this situation was becoming rather difficult.
In the original stories, Tokisaki Mio ultimately ascended to become the consciousness of the world, and Altair likewise gained the ability to create a world in the end. Judging by that, their power levels should be comparable.
"No… that's not right."
Then, as if realizing something, she quickly denied this hypothesis.
After all, in the original story, when Homura Yua investigated information about Tokisaki Mio, Tome of Revelation revealed nothing at all.
But now, Tome of Revelation had indeed provided an answer—but that answer was obscured.
"The Military Uniform Princess must have some sort of anti-detection mechanism."
Tachibana Konami thought for a moment, then offered her theory: "Since the Tome of Revelation was able to access information about her, that means she's not beyond its capabilities. However, she possesses abilities on par with the book's to obstruct the investigation—thus resulting in what happened."
"Damn it! Then doesn't that mean all the effort we've put in over the past few days has gone to waste?" Matsubara Takashi, also sporting dark circles under his eyes, complained unwillingly. "Is there any other way?"
"Of course there is." Natsumi Kyouno replied calmly. "Since Altair is also a creation, then there must be someone in this world who knows her true identity. If we can't directly obtain information about her, then we can search for someone who knows about her, and investigate them instead."
"Yes, that's indeed a viable alternative."
Meteora slowly nodded in agreement. "Then we'll leave it to you, Natsumi."
Natsumi Kyouno immediately picked up the pen and wrote a new question.
This time, just as everyone expected, the answer provided by Tome of Revelation was not obscured again.
However, the name revealed on the page still left everyone momTachibanarily stunned.
Because written in bold letters on the page were four characters:
[Sōta Mizushino]
Almost simultaneously, all eyes turned toward the pale-faced boy in a school uniform amidst the group.
Sōta Mizushino looked flustered and even took a few steps back, his body visibly unsteady.
As one of the few who knew about the creations descending into the real world, Sōta had naturally been invited to this stronghold to discuss countermeasures with everyone.
He simply hadn't expected that the protagonist of this entire gathering would turn out to be himself.
"Sōta, what the hell is going on?"
Selesia furrowed her brows deeply, her tone laced with accusation, even if unintentionally. "You knew the Military Uniform Princess's true identity this whole time? And you kept it from us?"
"No! It's not like that!" Sōta quickly tried to explain. "I only recently confirmed the Military Uniform Princess's identity myself. I was planning to tell you all, but…"
As he spoke, he seemed to recall a painful memory, and his expression turned gloomy. "But… I didn't know how to begin…"
Seeing him like this, Meteora stepped in and stopped Selesia from questioning further. She spoke gently, "I believe Sōta didn't mean to hide it. We're not blaming you. But this matter is too important—since you really do know about the Military Uniform Princess, then please, you must tell us everything."
Encouraged by Meteora kindness and understanding, Sōta's face gradually eased up.
There was no point in hiding it any longer.
Since Tome of Revelation had already exposed him, Sōta could only confess everything he knew to everyone present.
The Military Uniform Princess's real name, her backstory, and her creator…
At first, Sōta was hesitant and stammered a lot.
But as he continued speaking, his pace quickened—as if finally releasing emotions that had been pent up for a long time.
Five minutes later, after listening to his confession, no one spoke right away.
The Military Uniform Princess, real name Altair, was a derivative character based on a female fighter from the game Border World Arena. She was re-imagined and re-created through fan works.
And the person who created Altair was a girl named Setsuna Shimazaki.
Because of her immense talent, Setsuna quickly gained popularity—but that popularity also drew in jealousy and resentment.
Dark-hearted people spread countless rumors, leading the public to believe that all of Setsuna's works were plagiarized. A wave of online bullying ensued.
In the end, unable to bear the pressure, Setsuna chose to take her own life.
And Sōta Mizushino was her only friend.
"…And yet I didn't appear at Setsuna's side when she needed me the most."
Sōta let out a bitter laugh, unable to hide the guilt and torment in his heart. "Just like those who envied her talent, I too… I too envied her brilliance. That's why I pretended not to see what was happening to her. I was also one of the murderers who drove her to her death. That's why I've kept this from you all… Sorry. I guess none of you can understand."
"No… I understand it completely."
Natsumi Kyouno expression turned pensive and melancholic. "It's that sense of inferiority, right? When you see someone who shines so brightly, it just makes you feel even more worthless. And because of that… you start to hope they'll fall—so they'll sink down to the same depths as you."
"That's… exactly it…"
Sōta Mizushino glanced at Natsumi Kyouno, as if seeing someone of his own kind.
Although they had started from roughly the same point, the other person's talent far surpassed his own, easily leaving him in the dust.
A once-close friend had become out of reach; the more successful the other became, the more of a failure he himself seemed.
He increasingly felt like a useless person.
And so, Sōta Mizushino chose to run away.
At the moment when she needed comfort the most, he chose to stand by and do nothing.
And deep in his heart, he hoped for her to fall, to come crashing down to his side again—so that they might once more relive the pure happiness they had shared in the past.
But Setsuna Shimazaki's eventual fall had ended in death.
"…This isn't your fault, Mizushino-san."
Mamika Kirameki wore a complicated expression, but still offered words of comfort.
In the past, she might have said things like "turning a blind eye is no different from being an accomplice," but after coming to this real-world dimension, she gradually understood that not everyone is pure, and not everyone can be a saint.
If one tried to measure everyone by the highest moral standards, then most of the world would be considered evil.
Besides Mamika Kirameki, the other creators and creations also gave some level of comfort.
But comforting words were just that—comfort. In the end, Sōta Mizushino still stubbornly believed it was his fault, and no one tried to convince him otherwise.
The one who tied the knot must untie it. But the person who tied this knot was already dead. If he couldn't untie it himself, then no one could help him.
Not long after, the topic shifted to the main issue.
"Although we've figured out the true identity of the Military Uniform Princess, to be honest… this information isn't all that useful."
Having pulled up online data regarding Altair, Meteora looked at the description, eyes filled with concern.
As a derivative character, Altair essentially had no weaknesses.
Because her creator didn't need to consider the plot, didn't need to worry about logic, and didn't have to think whether the character's settings would break the consistency of the world—anything that screamed "overpowered" was simply added in.
"All-encompassing powers?"
Looking at this ability, which was even more broken than the Replica Witch's copy skill, Gai Takarada said with a deadpan face, "Originally, I thought only Tachibana-senpai wrote settings with their feet, but it seems there's someone even more skilled. This one's heavyweight class."
All-encompassing powers—power over all things, the flow of all things, power to reincarnate the true world.
Unlike the Rasiel, which was limited by spiritual power, and unlike the Replica Witch, whose abilities had power constraints, this was truly omniscient and omnipotent.
"Don't be overly anxious. Altair can't be truly omniscient and omnipotent. There must be some kind of limitation," Meteora said. "Otherwise, she wouldn't need to go to such lengths plotting from the shadows. She could just use her power to achieve her goal directly."
"I agree with Meteora," Selesia added. "But what is Altair goal? Why would she pull us, the creations, into the real world?"
It was a good question.
And one everyone present wanted the answer to.
However, before they could dive deeper into this question, a phone call came through.
The closest person to the landline, Tachibana, pressed the answer button. The next moment, the projector turned on automatically, casting the image of Aki Kikuchihara onto the screen.
"Sorry for disturbing you all."
In the projection, Aki Kikuchihara tapped her fingers a few times, and an image resembling an electrocardiogram appeared in front of everyone.
"As you can see, we've got another problem on our hands."
Upon seeing this image, some people turned serious, some sighed, and others cracked their knuckles.
It was a geomagnetic field monitoring chart.
Among the otherwise stable magnetic fields, a sudden irregular fluctuation had been captured by the monitors not long ago.
This wasn't the first time they'd seen such a fluctuation, so they naturally knew what it meant.
Another creation had descended.
"Correct. Meteora, please get ready," Aki Kikuchihara nodded. "Once we locate the precise location of the newly arrived creation, it will be up to you to persuade them to join our side."
In the crowd, only Natsumi Kyouno eyes flashed with confusion.
This time period… wasn't it still the early part of the plot?
All the creations who were supposed to descend early on had already appeared.
Meteora faction, Altair faction, plus the two neutral, unaffiliated factions—eight creations in total—had all shown up.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Natsumi Kyouno instinctively sensed danger.
As expected, her existence as a transmigrator had altered the original story, causing the plot to deviate from its intended course.
"Could Altair be summoning a new creation at this time… to specifically target me?"
As that thought surfaced, Natsumi Kyouno brow furrowed deeply.
To Altair, she was undoubtedly a formidable threat.
Otherwise, Altair wouldn't have gone out of her way to engage in a full-scale confrontation just to deal with her.
And this newly summoned creation who didn't exist in the original story… was ninety-nine percent likely a result of the butterfly effect she had caused.
"Natsumi?"
While Natsumi Kyouno was deep in thought, Meteora call pulled her back: "Since the Rasiel still works, can I ask you to directly look up the identity and current location of the newly arrived creation?"
"Mm."
Natsumi Kyouno nodded, took up the Pen of Narration, and wrote a new query on a fresh search page:
[Tell me the identity and current location of the newly descended creation.]
As the final stroke of the query was completed, the Rasiel quickly gave an answer.
"…Huh? This book is definitely broken, right?!"
Standing beside Natsumi, Mamika Kirameki exclaimed in disbelief as she clearly saw lines of redacted text appearing on the book's pages once again.
Seeing the same situation repeat, Tachibana also furrowed her brow.
Could it be that there was a bug when she modified the settings?
"Natsumi, quickly use the Rasiel to check what color panties I'm wearing today."
To test whether the Rasiel was still functioning correctly, Tachibana threw out a question only she knew the answer to.
Natsumi gave her a disdainful look, but didn't refuse. She wrote the question on the search page.
[Pink]
The answer appeared shortly after.
"Correct answer. So the Rasiel isn't broken," Tachibana scratched her head. "Then why is this happening?"
"If it's not broken, there's only one possibility left."
Meteora expression was serious as she said solemnly, "Altair has summoned a creation who occupies the same level as her."
"…Hiss…"
As soon as these words landed, everyone drew a sharp breath.
Just one Altair was already enough of a headache.
Now, that woman had brought another creation of equal rank into the real world?
What the hell is she trying to do?!
Does she think this world isn't chaotic enough already?!
"…There's nothing we can do. Since the Rasiel can't provide any useful information, we can only wait."
With a helpless sigh, Meteora said, "Miss Kikuchihara, if you find anything, please inform us immediately."
"Of course."
Aki Kikuchihara also wore a grim expression.
"The task of protecting the order of the world… is now in your hands."