Seitenshi's new law referendum caused a massive stir throughout Tokyo Area.
Those who despised and twistedly hated the Cursed Children cast "no" votes without a second thought, and some took to the streets with banners to campaign against it.
Meanwhile, a small fraction of people who felt some goodwill toward the Cursed Children were too scared to vote "yes" – because it was a real-name public ballot – so they opted to abstain.
So, twelve hours later:
Seitenshi gazed at the final tally, falling into an unprecedented silence:
[Yes]: 0.03%
[No]: 83.21%
[Abstain]: 16.76%
In this vast Tokyo Area, a mere 0.03% of people were willing to voice their support for the poor Cursed Children.
For the first time, Seitenshi felt the bitter chill of a callous society.
"Sigh…"
Miyori Shiba found it unfortunate. Those who were locked into their twisted hatred, and those too afraid to take a step forward, would head straight for an unknown death.
Although to this day, none of them knew exactly how Rei Ao planned to "cleanse" humanity, Miori herself felt little concern – she'd confirmed her own family had voted "yes," so they wouldn't be in danger.
With Velzard and the others returning, this world was ready to meet its final ending.
"Three million Cursed Children, plus nine thousand selected individuals, are all in my labyrinth now."
In sprite form, Ramiris perched on Rei Ao's shoulder and proudly thumped her chest.
"You did well,"
Rei Ao praised, then glanced around. Quite a few of them had leveled up by fighting the Gastrea.
"In that case, this world's existence is no longer necessary. You can all head back; Ramiris, stay with me."
Everyone else chose to return to their own worlds, not wanting to cause trouble. Two people, however, did not make a move: Yukinoshita Yukino.
[Name]: Yukinoshita Yukino
[Level]: 12
[Abilities]: "Dragon Force", "Law of Ice and Snow", "Rei Ao's Blessings", "Inherent Device: Ice Queen"
[Equipment]: [God-Freezing Sword]
From level 1 to level 12 – clearly she had gone through plenty, shedding her immaturity and gaining a faintly chilling maturity.
Even Haruno couldn't maintain her usual "big sister" stance before Yukino now, who had also spotted something amiss with Haruno – hence she hadn't left yet.
"Rei Ao, is something the matter with my sister?"
Rei Ao replied, "She was just shaken from seeing someone die. But don't worry, dear sister-in-law, I already consoled her; she should be fine."
"I see…"
Yukino relaxed her worries. That was part of her development. Before, if she heard about someone dying, she might have reacted no better than Haruno.
Now, it was like hearing something mundane. What mattered most was that she trusted Rei Ao. If he said it was fine, then it was fine.
"May I stay?"
Yukino asked. She wanted to witness firsthand how this twisted world would end – the same world that had transformed her completely.
"Of course."
Rei Ao gave a small smile. "Then let's watch the finale of this world together."
…
"Hey, how'd you vote on that Cursed Children Rights Law?"
"I obviously voted no! I've heard that Cursed Children can turn into monsters at any moment. I don't want them living alongside us as equals – one day they might eat us!"
"Exactly – they're just Gastrea."
…
By the roadside, people were huddled in idle chatter about the Cursed Children law. Races of sweat trickled down Rentarou Satomi's face as he hurried along, exhausted.
He had tried every connection he had, but still no sign of Kisara Tendou or Enju Aihara. Listening to the bystanders, a possibility arose in his mind:
"Could that Cursed Child have mutated into a Gastrea, attacked Kisara-san, and then fled…?"
It might sound paranoid, but how else to explain the two of them disappearing under his nose?
Once the thought took root, he couldn't shake it. Reaching for his phone, he considered casting a vote – reflexively tapping "No," only to receive a prompt that voting had ended. It meant the 12 hours had passed.
The rest of Tokyo's people hadn't taken it too seriously. But then, something unexpected happened.
The midday sky… went dark.
"What's going on?"
"Is it about to rain?"
Rentarou, like everyone else, looked upward, only to discover a darkness so complete he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
Simultaneously, every sunlit region of Earth turned pitch-black, and the places under night sank into even deeper gloom, as though all light had vanished from the world.
This bizarre change provoked alarm. People rushed out with candles, flashlights, crowding the streets, bewildered. The best guess was a solar eclipse. That was the only logical explanation for such an event.
"A solar eclipse? Today?" Rentarou frowned. He'd heard nothing about any solar eclipse in the news.
The motions of large celestial bodies in the solar system can be predicted by telescopes and satellites – a forthcoming eclipse would have been calculated, announced, and widely reported.
Yet no such news had appeared. Why would a sudden eclipse occur?
Just then, faint light surfaced in the heavens.
"Look! The eclipse must be passing!"
Someone shouted excitedly. A huge crowd craned their necks. Many raised their phones to capture the phenomenon.
The sky showed a crescent-shaped glow, seemingly signifying the moon was sliding away from the sun. But abruptly, everyone noticed something strange. Rentarou's eyes narrowed.
"Why…are there two of them?"
Instead of one crescent clearing the sun, there were two! That shouldn't be possible. There was only one sun. How could there be two crescents? Could there be…two suns?
~~~
700 Powerstone Bonus Chapter