Fate/ I Am Humanity Last Hope!?

With caution consuming his heart and imagination about numerous dark futures absolutely possible in mind, he went to the wardrobe to change his clothes, putting on his own "mystical code," which was his usual outfit: a tight short-sleeve shirt, loose beige sweatpants with a woven black stripe at the waist, and black martial arts sandals, topped with a Japanese overcoat, something like a kimono, and a black scarf.

Mystical Codes are basically magical items. There are many different types of functions and forms for them, but they are generally divided into two types. The first are those that complement the Magical Energy of a Mage when they use Magecraft. The second are those in which the mystical code itself has a predefined effect and a function that activates that effect when used.

His outfit had enormous durability and resistance against extreme environments.

The wardrobe was not far from the infirmary near the Command Room, so after dressing, he quickly returned to the Rayshift Coffins.

At this point, twenty minutes later, the preparations had finished, and almost everyone had entered their coffins. Mashu waved at him as she entered her pod, but he barely registered her actions.

He looked at his coffin and noticed something... magical bombs that could be triggered remotely. For a moment, he thought the universe would explode or something like that, but if that were the case, with [Limitlees] active, he didn't need to worry.

But what about the other people? His apathy towards everyone around him didn't even allow his mind to question saving them.

Let them rot, he wasn't a hero and never would be.

Despite thinking about it, memories of his past life haunted him. How he was different before everything started to go wrong in his life. He lacked the courage to regain those moments; however, he thought it best not to strive to reach them.

The image of the girl he met earlier that day dominated those memories and appeared in his mind. He clicked his tongue in irritation. He had been so close, but suddenly was overwhelmed by the same disjointed emotions that plagued his heart, present and past merging in a whirlwind. He decided to do the right thing and save at least the girl from earlier today...

Stepping away from his coffin, he noticed Olga Marie on the platform he had used for the earlier briefing; she seemed to be looking at the team entering the coffin with a complex and determined expression.

She noticed his withdrawal and seemed irritated, predicting some stupid sermon... The girl was going to come in his direction, but it was too late...

Fire and heat exploded everywhere; his eyes darted toward Mashu, and he thought about teleporting there to save the girl, but he lowered his hands ready to make a "mudra" and manipulate space for that. He had no obligation to save her. Did he consider the possibility of saving her because the girl had called him the same way his treacherous ex-girlfriend used to call him in school? Wouldn't it be disgusting to save her just for that? And being like Chizuru, wouldn't she betray him at the first opportunity? He watched his own imminent destruction from the explosion being stopped by his [Mugen], not even moving from his spot.

His moment of hesitation and internal struggle was enough for that girl to experience the pain of the explosion; he could feel her life signature indicating that she was still alive; he should feel regret for his decision, but all he felt was his chest tight with disgust and apathy in a chaotic mix.

"Why is it so hard? Between saving other people and moving on. I get stuck in aversion and the past..." the boy thought as he pursed his lips.

These memories haunt him so perfectly that it was as if he were still there.

"I feel sick just thinking about getting attached to other people or trusting them because I know it will end the same way it has before, with me trapped in an experiment room or being violated, not to mention that she might just kill me while I'm trying to save her, just like what happened with those child soldiers. Did I make the right decision to leave it in the hands of fate?"

He continued his disjointed thoughts in his broken mind, watching the explosion fade. He raised his eyes, which had been fixed on the ground during his internal war, and observed what was left of the Command Room.

Fires spread around him, alarms blaring red, putting him into hyper-focus.

He could sense another signature of life rushing toward Mashu. Like the vast majority of prominent magicians, he was very sensitive when someone was directing their "intention" toward him. If he didn't have that capability, he would have died like many of the lesser mages who often become the ingredients used in the experiments of dishonorable magicians.

He had strengthened this sixth sense to the point where he could sense life signs from miles away; all he did was use his knowledge of medicine and a bit of magical energy to create this sensor. Although he didn't need it, since he had his Mystic Eyes always active, it was still an extra layer of protection.

That same signature he felt entering this hell screamed.

"Here! I need help!"

Ryusei quickly went toward the voice he heard. It was near the coffin that Mashu had entered. He found two people there.

The red-haired girl, Ritsuka Fujimaru, who had been late for the orientation, and the owner of the coffin: Mashu Kyrielight. She didn't look well. In fact, it wouldn't be too difficult to call her dead. She was buried under the rubble, a glance was enough to tell that the lower part of her body had basically been crushed or exploded to the point where there was blood everywhere.

She could hardly speak, and as he approached, she could only signal to him with her eyes to get Ritsuka out of there.

But contrary to her wishes, as soon as the girl saw him, she screamed.

"Please help me get this off her!"

Suddenly, [Chaldeas] emitted a strange sound and changed color.

"Chaldeas... turning dark red... no, this is---" The eyes of the girl crushed by the rubble widened.

[Warning: All observing staff. The current state of Chaldeas is changing. Observed data from Shelba in the near future is being replaced.]

Announcements rang around him, but Ryusei didn't pay them any attention. He approached and crouched in front of the buried girl.

"W-We need to dig her out if we want to treat her wounds..." Ritsuka, although clearly nervous, put Mashu's well-being first and proposed a course of action.

"Alright, just get ready to hold her wounds to stop the bleeding; leave the rest to me."

Ryusei hammered away at all his thoughts and the voices screaming in his mind. With his knowledge of medicine, he could restore someone's body to perfect condition in a few hours. So, he had a high chance of saving the girl.

Mashu tried to stop them with a weak voice.

"It's... alright... please don't save me now. More importantly, you need to hurry and escape."

The corners of Ritsuka's eyes became moist.

Ryusei didn't listen to the girl; he crossed his fingers and brought them close to his face in a gesture toward the girl, using the Flash Air spell to move the rubble instead of replacing it with something else nearby, as this Magecraft normally would.

Derived from alchemy, this Magecraft has the fundamental rule that the substitute will always degrade. Thought of as basic and low-level, very few use this Magecraft.

Giving the target arbitrary directive and altering it physically or conceptually by something nearby in an instant is common Displacement Magecraft.

In short, it's a mana shortcut for chemical and conceptual changes of the target. However, during the Displacement process, degradation of the target will surely occur. For example, if a spoon is continuously replaced by a fork, and a fork by a spoon, its form will become increasingly reminiscent of an ambiguous fork and, in the end, will turn into a warped metal spatula.

Due to his Origin, he could ignore this conventional rule and simply displace something to another place with just a glance; he could even move other people's souls to objects. He could change the space to teleport himself or even become intangible, displacing light and sound to become invisible, creating illusory copies, making the space around the illusions intangible to deceive opponents, projecting his own voice to be heard from places he isn't or becoming completely silent by displacing sound elsewhere.

He had countless uses for his [Flash Air (Shiba Version)].

The rubble atop Mashu vanished and reappeared on the other side of the Command Room, and the girl's crushed lower body came into view for both him and the red-haired girl, who stood in shock.

Mashu's lower half was a complete mess, with one leg twisted inside out and the other crushed. Additionally, it looked like she had almost been split in half...

[Warning: No traces of humanity detected on Earth in the next hundred years. Unable to confirm the survival of humanity. The future of humanity is not guaranteed.]

The announcement snapped Ritsuka out of her shock, and she quickly took off her jacket.

"Hurry!" Ritsuka shouted, placing her hands over a huge crushed gash at the girl's waist, using her jacket to prevent more blood from flowing: "We have to stop the bleeding."

"Calm down, she'll be fine!" Ryusei asserted indifferently as he crouched beside the girl. With a glance, he had noted the severity of her injuries and knew exactly what to do.

He used [Flash Air] to displace her internal bleeding out of her body, leaving her pale, but with that removed, he just needed to fix her internal organs. Moving his fingers, he created strings made of magical energy that entered her, focusing on the [Healing Magecraft] and slowly healing her internal injuries.

The [Healing Magecraft] was merely a means of using Magical Energy to increase the recovery speed of flesh and detoxify someone.

His words didn't do much to calm Ritsuka, who was in a panic, not knowing what to do properly.

The rubble was removed. They just had to keep her alive somehow, right? It was then he noticed what his companion was doing...

"What are you doing?" the red-haired girl asked, looking at the blue energy threads flowing into Mashu.

"Never seen a healing Magecraft? Well, even if you had seen it, mine is a bit special. In short, I'm healing her..."

His words echoed in the void, like small bells of hope amidst despair.

Ryusei furrowed his brow as he finished. He would need to touch Mashu to be able to heal her completely. He had managed to remove the risk of her dying from blood loss, but she had several other complicated injuries that could claim her life.

The idea of having to touch her made him dizzy, and his face paled.

"What's her condition?" Ritsuka asked worriedly. She thought it was because of her state that he turned pale...

"She'll survive; for now, we have to find a way out of here..." Ryusei said, swallowing the feeling of nausea that took over his body.

He wanted to get out of there and leave the girl with a medical team; for now, he had stabilized her condition.

Unfortunately, the next announcement ended his idea.

[Warning: Central barrier sealed. Initiating internal structure cleanup in 180 seconds.]

"... the barrier has closed. ... it's too late." Mashu said frankly, holding Ritsuka's hand.

"It seems so. Trapped here together..." Ritsuka held her hand tightly and said, "We'll find a way!"

Ryusei didn't understand her optimism; it was repugnant to have hope in this world. But he didn't express his opinion on it. He finished healing the most serious wounds inside the girl and pulled the magical energy strings back to himself.

"Done; her condition is stabilized."

He commented indifferently. His patient seemed less pale, and the bleeding appeared to be slowing down.

The red-haired girl looked relieved but continued holding her jacket against Mashu's wounds.

Mashu looked in her direction with a complex gaze. They seemed to penetrate her soul with how intense they were...

At that moment, several announcements echoed.

[Announcement: Unable to access the vital signs values of the coffin Masters].

[Announcement: Unable to reach the minimum number of people required for ray displacement. Searching for qualified Masters, qualified Masters discovered.]

[Announcement: Candidates number seven and forty-eight; Shiba Ryusei and Ritsuka Fujimaru have been redefined as Masters.]

[Cancel program, initiating.]

[Spiritron conversion, initiating]

[Rayshift beginning in 3...2...1.]

The boy felt a sensation of displacement; his vision was covered by a golden sea. But he wasn't in panic; he understood that this was the called Rayshift, so he didn't fight it.

Everything went dark...