Chapter 1278: Tier 10

As the party was finishing, everyone was helping with packing up while Shiro called Nan Tian over.

"What is it?" Nan Tian asked, sitting down. He could tell the atmosphere near the end of the party was a little off but that was likely due to everyone knowing that Shiro wasn't going to stay around.

"I know it's pretty bad of me to ask you this after everything we've been through, but I hope you can look after Asharia with Lyrica and the others. Here's something that might help." Shiro smiled as she placed an orb next to her.

"I was planning to do so since you treasure this place anyways. But care to tell me what this orb is?" Nan Tian raised an eyebrow.

"It's just something that contains all my knowledge regarding nanobots, this city and other blueprints that might be helpful. There's also a program on it that'll allow you to make new blueprints so long as you give a good description of what you're looking for. This entire place is basically a glorified factory for nanobots if I was to put it crudely. If you ever need the help from that, then this orb will assist you all the way."

Hearing this, Nan Tian furrowed his brows before nodding his head.

"Alright. I don't want to say anything like you should take care of it yourself when you get back, but how do you know you're not coming back from this?" Nan Tian asked as Shiro sighed and leaned back.

Looking up at the ceiling, she opened her mouth.

"Imagine yourself standing at the edge of the cliff. You don't have any mana and all you can do is look down at the ocean below. The land you're standing on is slowly crumbling away and you know that once you jump, there's no going back up. That's the feeling I'm getting." She smiled softly while raising her hand towards the ceiling.

"Perhaps it's a price that must be paid, for reaching a realm beyond chaos. Tier 9 is the limit for gods and mortals alike, but tier 10 is something else completely you know? In the time I was gone, I understood what it takes to become tier 10."

Staying silent, Nan Tian looked down at the floor.

"So you're disappearing no matter what?" He asked as Shiro nodded her head.

"Yep. Once I meet Anima, I can't come back. Naturally that also means whether or not I win no longer matters in terms of me coming back. If I win, I essentially take her place. If I lose, she'll continue to do as she pleases. Forever repeating the same experiments and having another Shiro appear that can challenge her. So I want to make sure I have no regrets before I go. If you have anything to ask, ask away." Shiro offered with a smile.

Clenching his fist, Nan Tian nodded his head.

"I have all the answers I need, don't worry. Well there is one more but it's a rather selfish one." He laughed.

"Pft, I got an idea of what you want to ask. All I can say is you did have a chance. I suppose it was in favour of you until I saw Lyrica spending so long alone just in hopes of finding me. At that point it became a matter of whoever came to me first. Not a very good answer is it? As a fighter I know everything I must do. But as a woman and a normal person when it comes to romance I'm clueless. I can't even make a choice and left it up to whoever approached first." Shiro chuckled.

"Some people are just like that. It shows you're flawed like the rest of us. Knowing I had a chance is good enough for me. I can only blame myself for being slow, but know this. My promise to you still stands, my reason for being is to protect you. It doesn't matter if you are in a far off realm fighting Anima or not, I will fulfil my promise to you." Nan Tian smiled before standing up.

"Seems like you've made your mind up about something."

"Mnm, I need to verify a few theories of mine. As long as you don't give up, things will be fine." Nan Tian reassured, before standing up.

"Well I suppose I have something to look forward to then." Shiro joked as she watched Nan Tian help out with cleaning the place up.

"Seems like you finished your talk with Nan Tian."

Glancing to the side, Shiro could see Lyrica walk up and sit down next to her.

"Yep. Just asking him to take care of a few things rather than saying goodbye. I was never good with farewells ahaha, doesn't suit me." Shiro chuckled.

"I assume you heard what I said earlier."

Nodding her head slowly, Lyrica could sense that Shiro's body was already breaking apart and slowly disappearing. She couldn't hold back her ascension for much longer.

"I'm sorry for having to leave so soon." Shiro apologised but Lyrica shook her head.

"It's fine… You do what you have to do for this world that we live in. Some people are just born into a role they cannot change. Yours being one that goes against everything Anima has done." Lyrica smiled bitterly since she knows nothing she says will change what was happening.

Shiro's ascension is inevitable.

"Yeah…" Shiro sighed as she grabbed Lyrica's hand.

Without saying anything, the two sat while watching their friends talk, bicker and laugh with each other. They simply spent this time in silence.

"Would there be any way for me to reach you?" Lyrica asked, sensing that time was running out.

"I don't know. Even for me, this is a state of being that I know very little about. Even Anima was only able to manifest herself through proxies in a world teetering on the edge of destruction. When stability no longer matters. And even then, there seem to be countless rules she must abide by as a being that has reached the state of tier 10."

Holding Lyrica's hand tightly, Shiro stood up.

Thinking about it, she wondered if she should leave them any final words. She wanted to tell Yin to not eat too much, Attie to help protect everyone, Lisandra to be their supporting emotional pillar… But she knows that if she was to leave final words behind, it'll be akin to agreeing to her death.

As selfish as it was, she wanted to hope. Hope that she could come back. She didn't want to cut their connection with final words.

Biting her lip, she tapped her finger lightly and paused time within the room.

"It's better this way I suppose." She muttered as the last goodbye might cause her to falter. Shaking her head, she walked to the door and glanced back at everyone that she knew. Burning this scene into her mind, she teleported away with renewed determination.

As time resumed, everyone stopped what they were doing while Lyrica sat on the seat alone, clenching her fist while stopping tears from falling. She bit her lips until blood started to drip in order to not make a single sound.

"She's left huh… Not even a single goodbye." Madison smiled bitterly as she sat next to Lyrica and hugged her friend tightly.

###

Teleporting away from the city, Shiro's destination was one of the satellites that orbited the world. Looking down at the planet with fondness, she summoned Error.

"Seems like it'll just be me and you for a while." Shiro smiled as she tapped his head.

[I'll follow you wherever you go.]

"Alright."

Taking a deep breath, Shiro clasped her hands together and allowed the ascension to happen.

She understood the truth of tier 10. If tier 9 was the realm of the first beings that appeared within the universe, then tier 10 was the universe itself.

It was a manifestation of universal laws, the foundations of the original reality. Chaos helped Anima achieve this feat when she cursed Anima to forever repeat this experiment until satisfactory results were obtained.

For her, there was only one way for her to achieve tier 10. With her scope of knowledge already exceeding that of tier 9 and her body being one that was akin to the origin of this universe, she had fulfilled every condition.

A tier 9 magic circle appeared around Shiro as she activated Error's power.

Tears in space slowly appeared around her as circuits crawled out before stabbing into Shiro's body.

[In order for you to finish your ascension without going into a limbo, you'll need to establish a universal law mother. Anima's universal law is to repeat the Garden Project until a satisfactory result is observed. What will be your universal law?]

"My universal law? It's rather simple." Shiro smiled. Opening her mouth, she spoke the law she wished to establish as the circuits broke apart into countless shards before converging towards Shiro's location.

Little by little, they connected with one another as a final fractured 10th circle was formed. Within that instance, the world seemed to halt as a surge of energy pulsed out before completely disappearing.

Standing in the void motionlessly, Shiro could see a world that was split in two. Similar to her own domain, one side was purest of white while the other was the darkest of blacks. Splitting the two was a single mirror-like surface that she was standing upon.

One moment she was standing on the side of light and in the next, the side of dark.

In the reflection of this mirror-like surface, Shiro spotted a familiar shadow. The figure of Anima as she sat upon a throne with her body bound by chains created from Chaos' curse.

"Should I apologise for being too late?" Shiro called out with a smile as Anima shook her head.

"No need. But I suppose I should congratulate you on achieving the rank of tier 10. Welcome to the conceptual world, the world of universal laws."