Guilty Crown: ROB's Wheel c67 (Patreon)

Inori looked at the food on the table with an array of emotions she had no words for.

Her eyes would widen, her lips twitch, and a gulp followed.

“Let's try it out—first dinner in another dimension.”

“Technically not true. But I see your point.” Julis jokingly nodded.

“Don’t get into semantics. This is the first time we went to a place of our own choice.”

She stiffly nodded. However, this was not true. She recalled THAT meeting where she chose to come to Alex’s word.

Regardless, everyone started to eat. The pair looked at Inori, who knew how to use chopsticks. Well, that much should not be a surprise; eating is essential, and she should know.

After getting their fill, the trio went over to watch some TV. The White Dragon Emperor wanted to see what was on it. How much propaganda can he notice?

“Oh, it appears it's about us.”

“Huh? Are they talking about our escapades?” Julis proceeded to listen.

“Terrorist activities at the Headquarters of GHQ in Ward 24th have been dealt with. It will take a few days to reorganise and determine the full extent of the damages done to the operational system.”

“Some banking and government-related functions are currently offline; please be patient while we fix the issue.”

“Oh my, we have been dealt with. I didn't know that.” Alex casually commented as he hugged his girlfriend.

Julis proceeded to lean into him more, then commented as well.

“Me neither.”

Seeing how cuddly the pair were, Inori followed after and used Alex's other shoulder.

The older pinkette's eyebrow slightly twitched, but she eventually caved in and didn't say anything.

“...Why are they lying?” Inori asked curiously.

“To preserve the image and keep the peace. At this moment they are, in truth, freaking out, as the damage we did will take days, if not weeks, to fix. We fried all their infrastructure.” He explained to her as his other hand hugged her as well.

The younger pinkette aimlessly nodded as she cuddled without care in the world.

After watching some propaganda, he proceeded to switch through the channels.

That was until he stumbled upon a music channel.

“...Hnnn.”

“Want to watch this?”

“...Yes.”

“Alright.”

As Inori was watching this, Alex proceeded to pay attention to his girlfriend, who watched the TV for a bit before looking at him.

“You should give her Falna. This place is dangerous for her, and if we are to return to THAT place, no doubt those greedy devils will find her interesting as well.” Julis commented, her voice turning annoyed the moment she mentioned the devils.

“...I accept. If it means I can stay with you, I accept anything.” The younger pinkette said that to Alex, making Julis pout.

“...H-Hey, I was the one who pulled you out from that thing!”

“...Hnnn…”

Inori ignored Julis’ comment and looked at the White Dragon Emperor.

“...Fine. For this, I need your back; lay down on your stomach.”

“...Okay.”

Alex and Julis got up from the couch. Inori moved and lay down on her stomach.

*Sigh*

“Let me help you with this.” The older pinkette moved in and lifted the girl’s shirt.

“The ritual is magic branding. This power allows you to accumulate power through actions like fighting and training.” Julis explained to the girl.

“...Okay.”

As the pinkette explained to fellow pinkette, Alex cut his finger with his lightning blade.

Blood started to gather in one spot, condensing, becoming magical.

Once he was ready, the blood dropped on Inori’s back.

The girl’s eyes trembled for a second; she felt strange; something started to happen to her back!

While Julis looked closely at how the tattoo started to form, it was a two-headed eagle with a pair of crowns.

“The marking is done. Now let's see your stats.” Alex placed his hand on her back and copied the text, then pulled out a piece of paper from his inventory and ‘put’ the text there.

Slowly, letters started to form.

[Inori Yuzuriha?]

[Lv 1]

[STR: I 0]

[VIT: I 0]

[END: I 0]

[AGI: I 0]

[MAG: I 0]

[MAGIC:]

[SKILL: PATIENT ZERO

APOCALYPSE VIRUS

CRYSTALLOKINESIS (Virus)]

“...Wow, she starts with three skills from the get-go!” Julis was impressed as she was poking her head over Alex’s shoulder.

“Yeah, however—” The White Dragon Emperor noticed the question mark on her name, and she shared Patient Zero's skills with Mana.

But that's just that. Alex needs to train her before Mana awakens.

“...Hmm…” Inori slowly got up and fixed herself before looking at the paper.

“You want me to explain?”

“...Yes.”

~~~

After explaining as simply as he could to Inori, Alex returned to train his mana. There wasn't much for him to do but wait for the evening.

He wants to see how much the dungeon has changed now that they are in a different reality.

“Alex, aren't you interested in how her Crystallokinesis works?” But Julis wasn't that patient.

“It depends on Inori, you know.”

“...I want to know too.” Inori’s monotonous voice makes him turn around and look at them.

“Fine, then let's go.”

The trio left the building and walked towards the outskirts of the rebuilt settlement.

Tokyo has considerably shrunk from its previous mega-city status. Many of its districts are abandoned and have no people to speak of.

The rebels are using these districts as their outposts and mini bases.

One of these districts was where the main character acquired the Power of Kings.

And a considerable size battle took place. Alex is doubtful that any of the regular citizens even noticed what was going on.

“Well, well. It appears we can't just leave.” The teen commented as he saw a border-like checkpoint.

“We should have expected this with how authoritarian these people are.” Julis sighed when she saw the same thing.

“Leave this to me.”

The White Dragon Emperor kicked off and jumped, transforming into his Scale Mail. With his impressive speed, he disappeared and seconds later appeared at the checkpoint.

“Yo!”

“Huh?” The armoured guard looked at the source of the voice. The first and last thing he saw was an incoming slap.

*Smack*

The white armoured being sent the Anti-body soldier flying into a concrete wall.

“Hey!”

The other guard was about to open fire, but arcs of lightning assaulted him. The gun in his hands exploded like fireworks.

“Did anyone tell you that gunpower is combustible?”

The guy started to shake from all the current flowing through him.

“I guess he is not that talkative.”

[Maybe he could say something if you stop channelling that voltage through his body] Albion casually commented.

“Pair point.”

Alex stopped with Dragon Thunder, and the guy just collapsed on the ground with smoke coming from his body.

“Ugh…he is a barbeque.”

The White Dragon Emperor commented as he looked at the command centre.

With a casual jump, he blasted through the window and entered the room.

“Hiiii!!” The third and last Anti-body soldier rushed through the doors and ran away.

“That's just rude.”

The teen commented as he saw that; he turned around and saw the console. The soldier was writing an email to— command.

However, it was gibberish; the guy was terrified and couldn't write sentences correctly, and most importantly, he didn't send it.

*SCREECH*

A lightning blade stabbed the computer screen, making it explode. The overload of electricity fried the desktop as well.

“One of the best feelings. Just blowing things up.” Alex said that while dismissing his blade.

[Indeed, now you know why we used to cause chaos everywhere we went.]

Albion bragged about his glory days.

“Hnn...”

[Now you are just copying that girl.]

“Her ‘ignore face’ is amusing.”

After saying that, Alex destroyed any other electronics available in this place. He is confident that GHQ has cameras and other stuff in this place.

Once he finished destroying it, the girls walked over.

Ironi looked at the smoking and twitching guy on the ground.

“He is still alive?” She was impressed by the control of that destructive power.

“Alex’s control over his element is just right. Though I don't know much, he will be functioning after this.” Julis said with a shrug.

“Let's go and find a good spot to train.” Now that she had time to think, this place was amazing to train. They have so many targets!

So many districts of Tokyo are abandoned. All that concrete is just there, ready for destruction.

~~~

After finding a nice spot with enough space and several broken buildings, it was time to train and see what Inori could do.

“Do you have any idea how to wield your crystals?” Alex got right to bread and butter.

“...No.”

“Since its Crystallokinesis, it responds to your thoughts. Use your mind. Imagine crystals and try summoning.”

“...Hmm…”

She closed her eyes and tried.

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

“A mental trigger?” Julis pondered as she saw nothing happening.

“A possibility. This power is linked to a virus. So try to imagine crystals appearing from your body.”

The moment Inori heard that, her skin started to crystallise.

Opening her eyes, she looked at her hand and saw the purple crystals!

Panic started to rise as she didn't know what to do!

Alex swiftly appeared next to her and patted her head.

“Relax, take it easy. It responds to your desires. Try to control it.”

“...O-Okay.”

The girl calmed down and tried to control how it grew.

Slowly, the crystals retracted and instead came out from her fingers; they turned into a blade.

“...Someone is copying you.” Julis joked, seeing a familiar blade.

“Hmm, crystal blades do look cool.”

As Alex commented, Inori perfected the blade and turned it very thin and similar to his. It was slick and glass-like.

When Inori opened her eyes, her eyes were darker red and looked more serious.

‘If not for the fact that I am afraid of her losing IT, I would say she looks hot.’

“How do you feel?”

“...Strange, there is an— urge to—fight?”

[Destructive tendencies have been shown over the series when related to the virus.

Especially when it comes to Mana, the girl was slowly corrupted by the virus.]

Albion reminded him.

‘Mana has been infected since she was five. The virus corrupted her psyche.’

“Then come, let's train; try to cut me.”

Alex motioned her to attack him.

However, Inori had a reluctant look.

“Listen, you need to master your powers. If you don't, then it will consume you, so I suggest you consume it before it does it to you.”

He didn't need to explain more as Inori lunged at him.

‘Impressive speed!’

The White Dragon Emperor sidestepped and dodged her swing.

“Don't make such wide swings. Try making them short and swift.”

Inori swiftly learned from that, and her swings became much shorter and quicker.

This time around, Alex needed to pay attention to her movements.

‘What is with her speed? She is faster than those Heiresses!’ Julis was impressed by the sheer superhuman feat this girl can perform!

‘That virus she has not just allows her to control crystals but gets a boost in overall performance. I assume it affects at the cellular level.

If this is the case, it's more than just a virus; it's more like mutation.’

As Julis was thinking about this, the Inori already had a second blade, and her hair got wilder; her eyes were deep red, and her pupils turned into a rhombus shape.

However, she still couldn't land a hit. Instead, Alex caught her handblade between his fingers.

*CRACK*

The blade shattered as he squeezed between his fingers.

Inori’s eyes trembled as she looked at her handblade.

“...You are…strong…”

The girl was sure she tried her best. But nothing worked, nothing!

“First, you can't allow yourself to get carried away. While getting into a flow is essential. You can't let it carry you away.” He then broke her other hand blade and proceeded to pat her head.

That did the trick as her rhombus-shaped pupils retracted and returned to normal.

“...I understand.”