The Strongest Eriri in History

Eriri approached the little girl and her younger sister. The younger sibling also had long silver hair but appeared to be about two or three years younger than her elder sister.

At that moment, the younger one blinked her large, pretty eyes in curiosity as she looked at Eriri, her right hand tightly clutching her sister's.

"Hello, little ones," Eriri greeted with a light laugh, gently pinching each of their small cheeks.

"Hello, Onee-san. Thank you for giving us food."

The blind little girl with her eyes bandaged, the elder of the two sisters, bowed deeply to Eriri with a grateful expression. Her younger sister mimicked her actions, bowing in turn.

Through earlier conversations, the children had learned why Eriri had brought them here. Because of this, every one of them was immensely grateful to her.

"No need to thank me," Eriri said with a warm smile, patting the sisters' heads. "What are your names?"

"I'm Kazane Hiiro, and this is my younger sister, Fuka Hiiro," the blind girl, Kazane, said softly.

"So it's Kazane-chan and Fuka-chan. Such lovely names," Eriri said tenderly.

Her gentle tone filled the sisters' hearts with warmth, a kind of care they had never experienced before.

Taking Kazane's left hand in hers, Eriri gently ran her fingers over the bandages covering Kazane's eyes. "Do your eyes still hurt?"

Cursed Children possessed remarkable regenerative abilities. Under normal circumstances, even injuries as severe as damage to their eyeballs would heal quickly. However, the lead she had poured into her eyes had obstructed this process, and the initial adaptation must have been agonizing.

"Ah, it doesn't hurt anymore. Thank you for your concern, Onee-san." Kazane held Eriri's hand in return, smiling softly, her demeanor calm and mature beyond her nine years.

She didn't seem puzzled by how Eriri knew about her eyes but instead accepted her concern gratefully.

"Do you want to regain your sight?" Eriri asked.

"Yes, I do!"

Kazane nodded resolutely. Losing her vision had caused her significant difficulties, and she deeply regretted her impulsive decision to blind herself.

If she could see again, she would be better able to take care of her younger sister.

Hearing that her sister's eyes could be restored, Fuka excitedly grabbed the hem of Eriri's dress, her bright eyes filled with hope.

"Can my sister really see again?"

"Of course!"

Eriri gently placed her palm over the bandaged eyes of Kazane and, with a delicate motion, brushed her hand away. The entire process took no more than a second or two.

Kazane immediately sensed a change. The lead that had clogged her eyes had disappeared entirely.

As Eriri's hand moved away, Kazane could already discern the white bandages that had covered her eyes.

"I can see! My eyes are really healed!" The return of her sight left the usually composed Kazane overcome with emotion.

She hurriedly removed the bandages around her eyes, only to squint against the brightness of the sunlight.

But she quickly forced herself to open them despite the discomfort, eager to see her sister and the savior who had restored her vision. Her ruby-like eyes sparkled as she fixed her gaze on Eriri, as if wanting to engrave her image into her memory forever.

"Onee-san, you're so beautiful!" Kazane exclaimed in awe.

Though the other children had told her about Eriri's beauty, seeing it with her own eyes brought the descriptions to life in a way she hadn't imagined.

"And you're absolutely adorable," Eriri replied with a grin, ruffling Kazane's silvery hair.

At that moment, Fuka threw her arms around Kazane excitedly. "Sister, you can see again! This is amazing!"

The two sisters, who had always relied on each other, shared a deep bond. Among the two of them, no one was happier about Kazane regaining her sight than Fuka.

"Fuka, you've grown so much in this past year," Kazane said warmly, taking in her sister's lovely face with satisfaction.

All of this was thanks to Eriri. The sisters' gratitude toward her surged to an immeasurable degree.

Not long after, the group of children who had gone to fetch their friends, along with Enju, returned. This time, they brought another dozen girls along with an elderly man.

The man, who looked to be in his sixties, wore a pair of round, rimless glasses and carried a kind and gentle expression.

This old man had appeared in the original story, a volunteer who came to the Outer Area to care for the cursed children. He was one of the few in this world who harbored no prejudice against their kind.

Both Eriri and Ruri Gokou held a favorable impression of him.

The newly arrived children, numbering in the hundreds, caught Enju and the others by surprise.

It didn't take them long to realize why Eriri had created so many stone tables earlier. They now understood her preparations had been meant for all these children.

As for how Eriri had gathered so many cursed children in such a short time, no one found it strange.

After all, they knew Eriri was someone even more powerful than a god. For her to do something like this was only natural.

By now, Enju had become close friends with the girls who lived in the sewers. Laughing and chatting with them, she walked over to where Eriri and the others stood.

When she was about ten meters away, Enju suddenly left her new friends and sprinted toward Eriri.

As she approached, she leaped straight into Eriri's arms.

"Eriri, I'm back!"

"Welcome back!" Eriri hugged the small-framed Enju tightly, chuckling softly.

Enju seemed far more clingy than in the original story. From the moment she left with the children to the time she returned had been no more than ten minutes.

"Enju-chan, how could you only think of Eriri when you came back? Aren't you going to greet me too? My arms are open for you!" Ruri Gokou teased, spreading her arms wide and winking suggestively.

But Enju rejected her without hesitation. "No way! My heart and soul belong to Eriri. I wouldn't hug you even if you begged!"

"How could you say that?" Ruri Gokou exclaimed dramatically, feigning disappointment, prompting Enju to stick out her tongue and make a playful face at her.

Adorable!

After hugging Enju for a while longer, Eriri finally set her down.

At that moment, the elderly man who had arrived with a group of cursed children came over, accompanied by dozens of little girls.

"Hello, you must be Lady Eriri," the elderly man said respectfully. "My name is Matsuzaki. I'm responsible for caring for these children. Enju has told me about your plans, and I deeply thank you for helping these kids."

Matsuzaki carried himself with a gentle and kind demeanor. He was one of the rare few in the original story who volunteered to live in the Outer Area to provide aid to cursed children, earning him Eriri and Ruri Gokou's favorable impressions.

Before meeting her, Matsuzaki had harbored doubts about the children's tales of Eriri's abilities. After all, if someone so powerful truly existed, the Gastrea should have been eradicated long ago.

However, as he emerged from the sewers and saw the transformed landscape and the sheer scale of the gathering, his skepticism vanished.

His respect for Eriri was evident, and he approached her with deference.

Hearing Matsuzaki's words, Eriri glanced down at Enju, who tilted her head and flashed a cheerful peace sign with a brilliant smile.

"There's no need to be so formal. This is simply something I wanted to do," Eriri replied calmly.

Although she hadn't shared the full extent of her plans, she knew Enju had likely told Matsuzaki and the others about her ability to cleanse the Gastrea virus.

What they didn't know, however, was the rest of her plan—one that would result in the death of over ninety percent of the world's human population. If Matsuzaki were aware of this, Eriri doubted he would still feel so grateful.

To Eriri, it didn't matter. Even if Matsuzaki cared deeply for cursed children, he was still just another human being in this world—a world she intended to reshape. His approval or disapproval held no weight in her decisions.

With Enju's return, every cursed child in the Outer Area had been gathered.

The once-empty stone tables were now covered with a grand feast. Lavish dishes, desserts, and drinks that could rival the finest banquet halls were piled high on the tables.

The food, taken by Eriri using her spatial manipulation ability from multiple luxury hotels in the city, was far beyond what these children had ever dreamed of eating.

For these cursed children, many of whom had spent their lives scavenging for scraps, the sight of such a feast was overwhelming. They dove in with gusto, eating as if they hadn't tasted proper food in years.

"Don't rush; take your time. There's plenty for everyone," Eriri gently reassured a little girl sitting next to her.

This girl, who had long purple hair styled in an elegant princess cut and wore a beige dress, looked every bit like a proper young lady.

Perhaps she had once belonged to a wealthy family before being cast out due to her cursed child status. Even now, she clung tightly to a small white teddy bear, a cherished keepsake she refused to part with even while eating.

"Thank you, Onee-san," the purple-haired girl said, smiling sweetly up at Eriri with a pure and innocent expression.

Seated beside Eriri were the Hiiro sisters, Kazane and Fuka, while across the table sat Akino, Ophis, Liliana, and Ruri Gokou.

Meanwhile, Enju had joined a group of her old friends from District 39, where she had lived before being taken to the IISO.

Among the newly gathered cursed children were several who knew Enju, some by name and others only by face.

Even the black-haired cursed child from the original story—who had been left to die because Rentaro Satomi feared trouble, only to later be gunned down by laughing guards—was present.

Unlike her tragic fate in the original story, she now sat among friends, joyfully enjoying her meal with a radiant smile.

Time passed as the children ate, their once-hungry faces now filled with contentment. After about thirty minutes, the meal was over, and the children were finally satisfied.

However, the peaceful moment didn't last long.

Within five minutes of the meal's conclusion, the pursuit team dispatched by Tokyo's leadership arrived in District 39.

The pursuit force was no small gathering. It included dozens of civil police units and a fully armed self-defense force numbering 500 strong.

These soldiers bore military-grade firearms and were accompanied by five state-of-the-art main battle tanks.

Knowing their target, the units assigned to this operation were carefully chosen. Civil police units that had no prejudice against cursed children were excluded. Instead, the operation was manned by those who saw cursed children as mere tools or disposable assets.

These civil police had no qualms about sending their initiators to die for the sake of profit, knowing that replacements could always be procured from the IISO.

When the pursuit force spotted Eriri's group, the self-defense forces immediately surrounded them, forming a tight perimeter.

Each of the 500 soldiers raised their rifles, aiming directly at the group in the center.

Meanwhile, the five tanks positioned themselves strategically, their massive cannons locked on target, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

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