Multiverse Cross Ex

Infirmary.

Mitsuya had carried Aine here. Well—more like Reiri had made him do it.

And, since he was the reason she was in this state, he had done as he was told without much complaint.

"Hngh…"

Aine whimpered as her eyes slowly opened.

"Hey, don't move too much."

Mitsuya said casually, barely glancing up from the book he was reading.

"I overdid it back there, so it's best if you stay still for now."

In truth, the puncture technique he had used on her was imperfect.

Perhaps having only partial knowledge in that field had caused this.

"…I'm sorry. I kinda went overboard back there—"

Yet, even as he said that, the reality was that, he hadn't gone all out.

If he had truly wanted to, there would have been no exchange of blows.

He would have simply ended it from the beginning.

But doing so would have only exposed more of his abilities.

And besides—he couldn't maintain both his powers and the constant calculations they required for too long despite Navi creating Mythos.

It was more like he couldn't handle most strain using his ability brings.

"I… lost…"

A moment of silence. Then—Aine gritted her teeth, her gaze shifting toward him.

Slowly, she parted her lips to speak.

"…How?"

Mitsuya blinked.

"Hmm?"

"How did you get this strong?"

Aine said that, softly balling her hands into a fist.

Hearing that, Mitsuya fell silent. At first, it had all started from a wish.

A wish that, in hindsight, could be considered overpowered.

But it wasn't until he had actually lived with it that he realized that even though he had wished for these powers, they came with a price.

And more times than he cared to count, he had been on the verge of a vegetative state.

It wasn't humanly possible to calculate the exact coordinates to fire a beam from «Cross» and have it precisely hit its target.

No—it wasn't just piloting. Piloting «Cross» wasn't as simple as "get in and start moving with some controls and joystick."

Because, at first? That was what he had thought.

And the first time he had piloted «Cross», he had realized just how wrong he was.

His entire body was paralyzed. His brain, overloaded with an overwhelming flood of information.

The result?

He had been left completely out of commission for days.

If not for his personal assistant, Navi, who now assists him with the calculations, he might not have been able to use «Cross» at all.

"…Even with «Territory», I still struggle, you know. You did well. You should just accept that gratefully."

Mitsuya said with a grin, making her frown, turning her head over to the sides.

However, he didn't miss the slight tinge of red on her face.

Now additionally, now that Mitsuya thought about this. He was all alone in the infirmary with a girl wearing a suit similar to that of a swimsuit with the cleavage part being opened.

At this point, even he had to admit, she was quite sexy. And, if this were the case, then—

'Perhaps I should try Navi's theory?'

[Navi suggests the master give it a try.]

Naturally, he'd feel bad doing this, but this was for Navi's sake.

He'd come to naturally trust Navi over the course of the years, as the AI had assisted him in everything.

In a way, him being able to pilot «Cross» was thanks to Navi.

But it was the same with Navi too. Without Mitsuya, the AI cannot pilot «Cross».

That was how it was made.

"Say, Aine, do you want to get stronger?"

"H-huh?"

Slowly, Aine weakly turned her head to look at Mitsuya, who had a different expression on his face.

From what he remembered, when it came to getting stronger, Aine was the type to do almost anything.

"I'm serious. However, uhm, it's a slightly inappropriate—"

"... Do it—"

Aine said as she struggled to get up, and seeing this, Mitsuya couldn't help but release a sigh.

"Alright then, give me your hand."

"Fine."

Aine nodded, outstretching her hands towards him, as he held them.

"Navi. Do your thing."

First came Navi's analysis of Aine's core.

By coming into contact with her, Navi should be able to run a full diagnostic—analyzing the composition of her body.

After all, they couldn't be classified as normal humans. Not with those cores inside them.

Navi had speculated that the cores had altered their biological makeup in some way—perhaps subtly, perhaps significantly.

And this was why they were here. To analyze a core. Or, if possible, to obtain one themselves.

[Neurological anomaly detected. Navi has identified irregular brainwave patterns indicative of an artificial memory suppression mechanism present in individual Aine.]

'You can detect that too?'

[Navi has conducted a full neural waveform analysis using «Cross»' primary diagnostic systems.]

'Then, what's the assessment?'

[Memory decryption is feasible. As theorized, the suppression is artificial in nature. Furthermore, preliminary reconstruction of individual Aine's encrypted memory has yielded partial data. Most notably, a key term has been extracted: Machine God.]

Mitsuya remained silent for a moment before his lips slowly curled into a smirk.

'Navi. Verdict?'

[Further observation is recommended, Master. Navi proposes an extended analysis to evaluate this world's Machine Gods in comparison to «Dimension Cross».]

'We really do think alike, Navi.'

[It is an honor, Master.]

All these had happened within the span of seconds. And like Navi had theorised, with her help, Mitsuya was controlling the energy that poured into him.

Even though it was but a droplet of energy, like a droplet of water, it was still enough to weigh him down.

'Are you kidding me?'

It was more the quantity of the energy that overwhelmed him.

However, he couldn't also exactly just push everything into Aine. Hence, gritting his teeth, he slowly fed the energy to her.

If he were to force the energy onto her like that, it might have an adverse effect on her.

Hence, he had to do it like this.

And for Aine. Slowly, she felt this. A warm energy, entering her, spreading to every inch of her body.

However, what both Navi and Mitsuya didn't expect was that the energy transference process was like a drug, and it was easy for the gears to get addicted to.

But then, it doesn't start off strong. Regardless, at this moment, the warmth that coursed through her body, Aine was hooked on it.

She had slowly opened her eyes, and if anyone looked closely, they would see a shade of pink in her eyes.

"Mhm."

Mitsuya, on the other hand, after finishing the transference process, immediately got up and dashed out of the infirmary straight to the nearest male toilet.

He coughed out a trail of blood onto the sink.

"As expected, that was really dangerous. My innards almost got rearranged."

Mitsuya said such, wiping the trail of blood from his lips.

[Apologies, Master. Navi did not anticipate this level of strain on Master's body.]

'Don't dwell on it.'

[Notice: If Master could obtain a Machine God, it may be possible to alter Master's bodily structure using its composition.]

'Eh… What's this? Trying to make me a god now?'

[Master, though possessing supernatural strength, is still human. «Cross»'s strain on Master's body has reached critical levels. Navi is concerned—]

'Yeah, I get what you mean, Navi. Don't worry. Our journey is just beginning. I won't let it end this early.'

[Understood, Master. Navi will remain with you—until the very end.]