Multiverse: Invasion of the 2D Heroines

Huh?

What's going on? Is this thing broken?

Satania stared at her glasses, realizing something was wrong with the data they were transmitting.

Name: Yoru Moonshadow, height…

The initial data appeared normal, but it flashed by so quickly that Satania couldn't make it out.

Then, the name field started to glitch, constantly refreshing with names in strange, unreadable characters. Even if she could recognize them, the speed was so fast that her sluggish brain simply couldn't keep up.

She shifted her focus to the Good and Evil meter, curious about the Evil Value.

Huh? The Evil side of the display was going berserk. The digits were wildly fluctuating, a ridiculously long string of numbers that kept changing at every digit.

"What the heck?"

Muttering to herself, Satania pressed the glasses' button again and accidentally triggered the absorb evil value function.

The next second, she felt a cold shiver run through her entire body, like something had just licked her skin. An instant later, it was as if she had stepped barefoot onto absolute zero ice, the chill shooting up from her feet to her brain.

The person she was observing through the glasses had disappeared, replaced by a figure engulfed in thick, black flames.

In the blink of an eye, endless darkness spilled out from this figure, twisting and writhing like a chaotic abyss that wanted to devour her whole. Her entire body broke out in goosebumps, and she was drenched in a waterfall of cold sweat.

What the hell is this?!

Sparks crackled violently from the glasses on her face.

"Ahhh, my eyes"

Before she could finish screaming, the glasses exploded with a loud bang.

"Ugh"

Letting out a pitiful cry, Satania collapsed with her eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth. Her face was charred like coal, her hair puffed up into a comical explosion.

Meanwhile, the target she had been observing Yoru Moonshadow felt a little confused. Something had felt off a moment ago, like something was about to be forcibly pulled out of his body.

When he glanced at the others, they didn't seem surprised by Satania's condition at all. It was as if this kind of thing happened all the time.

Raphiel, the girl he'd mockingly called "piglet," was poking Satania's cheek with a stick she had pulled out from who-knows-where.

Vignette just sighed helplessly, her face the perfect picture of gentle frustration.

As for that useless flat chested Gabriel, she was casually picking her nose and muttering, "What a waste of money buying that junk. She should've just given me the cash to spend on gacha games."

"Manager, I'm heading home."

The sunlight outside had already softened, losing the piercing brightness of midday, turning into a warm, golden hue. The sun would be setting soon. Yoru Moonshadow packed up his things and went to pay the bill, greeting the manager on his way out.

"Take care on your journey!"

The farewell came from Gabriel, her voice completely disinterested. It sounded less like sending off a customer and more like sending off the dead.

"Sigh, probably even the smallest bra size is too loose for you."

Tilting his head slightly, Yoru Moonshadow's gaze swept below Gabriel's neckline. He sighed and offered her a look of pure pity.

Before she could even react, his legs were already moving like they had rocket boosters attached. He shot toward the door and vanished in a blur, leaving behind a teasing parting shot.

"Bye-bye, washboard~"

"You bastard!"

From behind him, the angel café echoed with Gabriel's furious, murderous roar.

Time to head to the supermarket and grab a few things.

...

In another phase space, located at the same coordinates near Muten Prefecture, another version of Earth existed the Inner World.

Aside from the absence of buildings like those in the surface world, the terrain was nearly identical.

Boom

A figure slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, like a slab of concrete dropped from the rooftop of a multi-story building, leaving a small crater on impact.

The figure was shrouded in pitch-black, nauseating energy. Its limbs were unnaturally long and thin, its fingers and toes curved like sharp claws. Its head was twisted, with a pair of clouded, blood-red eyes, a mouth split to the ears, filled with jagged, uneven fangs. Decayed, bat-like wings stretched from its back. The creature looked like it had crawled straight out of hell.

"Ice of the void, spirit of snow, grant me your breath, form a silence colder than death"

The voice that rang out was as clear and melodious as a mountain stream. A few meters away stood a girl with long, straight, purple-red hair and emerald eyes, beautiful as if crafted by a master artisan.

While chanting her spell, she traced glowing lines in the air with her fingertip. The light around her seemed to dim, as if it had been absorbed into her body.

After she finished drawing three lines of runes, she flicked her finger lightly.

In an instant, unseen cold air surged forth. The moisture in the air rapidly crystallized into countless sharp ice shards that shot toward the monster like bullets.

Thud thud thud

In the blink of an eye, the monster was pierced like a pincushion and simultaneously frozen into an ice sculpture. The next moment, the ice statue crumbled into frosty debris.

"Phew"

The girl exhaled in relief.

Her name was Shizuno Urushibara. About half a year ago, she had begun to awaken fragments of her past life's memories as a hero a sign that she was a "Savior." Since then, she had been undergoing rigorous training. By next spring, she would be eligible to enroll in the academy specifically for Saviors.

Technically, she could also enroll in the Hero Academy, but students like her were often shunned or bullied there it was a more combative, exclusionary environment. The Savior Academy also welcomed modern-day heroes, but it was rare for them to choose to attend.

Strictly speaking, Shizuno's current habit of hunting otherworldly monsters that had invaded the Inner World of Earth was against the rules. It was an extremely dangerous act. Most Saviors her age wouldn't even know how to properly wield their powers yet, let alone fight monsters. For most, this would have been a suicide mission.

Even though she was a prodigy among Saviors, her actions were still prohibited. This time, she had snuck out on her own. She just happened to come across a monster that seemed manageable, so she decided to eliminate it. On top of that, she had recently learned that the Hero Academy would soon welcome a particularly outstanding new student a girl named Kuzuha Kurumegi who might become her future rival.

Having eliminated the monster, Shizuno quickly ran toward a nearby building. Whenever a monster appeared, the fluctuation would soon be detected, and people would arrive to investigate. If she didn't get out fast, her unauthorized actions would definitely earn her a severe reprimand.

She entered a building that should contain a passage connecting to the surface world.

She stepped into what appeared to be an ordinary elevator. The moment she entered, an unnatural sensation washed over her. Her magical powers were completely sealed, and she felt like an entirely ordinary person. This was due to the overwhelmingly strong physical laws of the surface world, which rejected supernatural forces. It was a restriction rumored to have been established by the gods of Earth to prevent beings like heroes and Saviors from interfering with the surface world's balance.

As the floor indicator steadily ticked down to the ground floor

Ding.

The elevator doors opened, and Shizuno walked out into what appeared to be a normal shopping mall. Shoppers bustled about, none the wiser.

She casually walked away, watching as normal customers entered the elevator she had just used. But they would never reach the Inner World. For them, it was just an ordinary elevator.

Suddenly, her expression changed. She looked down at her shoulder bag.

A cloud of black mist was escaping from it.

It was a monster she had failed to fully exterminate, and she had no idea when it had latched onto her bag and crossed over into the surface world.