The world was destroyed.

Well…

That might sound redundant. To say something more useful: It was destroyed, but not entirely wiped out.

In this parallel reality, nearly the entire population had been vaporized. The only remaining "humans" were just a few dozen.

Interestingly enough—

They survived in the Tokyo Area.

Right in the epicenter where the Blacklight Virus first erupted.

And the way they survived was…

Rentaro Satomi!

Oh right, also Hiruko Kagetane.

The two of them were genuine humans.

So when they stood in the way of the Blacklight Virus organisms—The infected creatures would try to avoid them or just give up.

Those few dozen survivors—

Had all hidden inside a secret underground bunker in the Tokyo Area.

The place was extremely cramped.

With an entrance that only allowed one person at a time. So they placed either Rentaro Satomi or Hiruko Kagetane at the entrance.

And the other mingled among the crowd.

That way, the infected creatures wouldn't be able to do much to them.

Basically, they glitched the system.

What? You're wondering why Hiruko Kagetane helped these people?

That lunatic's reason for stealing the Seven Stars Relic—

And provoking the Stage Five Scorpio—

Was ultimately to change the world.

Though he kept saying it was to destroy the world…

That wasn't the truth.

What he really wanted was to destroy the so-called peaceful world where everyone cowered behind monolith barriers.

Simply put, he's a madman traumatized by war—And he wanted to create a world with war.

To prove his own worth through it.

Now?

The situation aligns with his ideals. Everyone depends on him to survive. He's living for that feeling of being needed.

Just that the method is different from actual warfare.

Kagetane is very satisfied.

As for Rentaro Satomi—

He's struggling desperately to protect the last of humanity. He has to stay cooped up underground the whole time—

Cramped together with a bunch of people—

And cooperate with one of the culprits who destroyed the world.

At this point, Rentaro can no longer say anything about justice or protecting the ones he loves.

The truth is:

He's just someone going with the flow.

Even though he knows this situation is unsustainable—He keeps torturing himself, body and soul.

Ignoring the obvious future.

Pretending not to see it.

Well…

That's just like Rentaro.

From high above, Haruto stood silently.

Sensing the scene in that Tokyo underground bunker. He didn't bother interfering with this bug-exploiting survival trick.

If they could convince Hiruko Kagetane and Rentaro Satomi to help them survive—

That in itself was a form of ability.

Let them live, then.

Although the protagonist Rentaro would suffer for it later.

As for Hiruko Kagetane—Haruto had never intended to do anything with him from the start.

A disposable tool.

Let him live or die on his own.

Although technically still human—

Kagetane was long since insane.

He'd killed many Cursed Children.

Even if brought back to the main world, he'd either be dissected for research or treated as a D-Class.

And to be honest—

This world's technology wasn't even up to par. The only thing of value was Varanium—a completely new material.

As for this world's prosthetics or Varanium tech—

They held no reference value.

And the Foundation didn't need one more D-Class.

So let the lunatic run wild.

Oh, and as for Kohina Hiruko—

Haruto did take her with him.

She was actually quite happy when leaving. Though separated from her "father" Kagetane—She understood the kind of madman he was.

Before leaving, she even told Haruto:

"Isn't it great? 'Papa' finally got his wish!"

Pure understanding.

Back to the main point—

Haruto shifted his gaze from the underground Tokyo Area—

And looked elsewhere.

Right now, the world was overflowing with twisted monsters. The Gastrea Virus was the strongest virus-type anomaly Haruto had encountered thus far.

Even a nerfed version of the Blacklight Virus couldn't fully consume it.

Thus, using this Gastrea world as a blueprint—The Blacklight Virus underwent massive evolution.

Now, it had surpassed its initial outbreak phase.

Haruto raised a hand.

From across the world, every creature infected with the Blacklight Virus—Had a drop of blood drawn from within them, flying skyward.

It looked like a reverse rainstorm of blood.

Endless and overwhelming.

The sky turned crimson with the blood forming a massive lake.

Yet the moment it entered Haruto's hand—

It all vanished.

Haruto closed his eyes.

Carefully processing the harvested Blacklight Virus samples. The complexity of the genes inside had multiplied exponentially.

Genes intertwined, forming new ones.

Without such a massive template and countless organisms—This kind of development would've taken Haruto countless eons.

But the effect was clear.

By absorbing these samples—The evolution level of Haruto's Blacklight Virus surged rapidly.

So much so that quantity became quality.

Even his very "rank" began to shift.

The Blacklight Virus Haruto wielded wasn't the ordinary original version. Just like Kamui, Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, and The World—

These powers were all expressions of concepts.

They were made manifest in ways Haruto could understand.

Even those Reincarnation Temple puppets—If they stole these abilities in worlds like Naruto, Fate, or JoJo—

They still couldn't compare to Haruto.

Because the essence was completely different.

And this was something Haruto only realized—

After raising the world's level.

The Blacklight Virus's evolution skyrocketed.

Yet unexpectedly—

Kamui also began evolving.

This caught Haruto off guard.

But thinking back to the original system description—It made sense.

The power source of Kamui—

Was Haruto's own energy.

So with the Blacklight Virus evolving—It was like upgrading both the fuel and engine of Kamui.

Naturally, the eyes benefited too.

No one knew how much time passed—

Until the lake of blood was completely devoured by Haruto.

It was hard to imagine that the vast, sky-covering lake—All entered Haruto's comparatively tiny body.

He stood in the air, eyes shut.

Then suddenly, a terrifying aura erupted from within him.

At that moment, every creature in the world—

Shuddered in fear.

Like prey before their apex predator.

Haruto opened his eyes at last.

"A fruitful harvest. The Blacklight Virus has advanced to 'Divinity.' As expected of using an entire world as a petri dish. And an unexpected bonus—Kamui is nearing Divinity too, though it's difficult to break through."

The Blacklight Virus had officially stepped into the concept of "Divinity."

And Kamui was close behind.

Unfortunately, to truly shatter the limits of Divinity—He would need spatial evolution. Only then could Kamui transcend into the divine.

As for Supreme Divinity—

Across the entire multiverse—

There were only a handful of beings corresponding to that tier.

To attain that—

A single world wasn't enough.

It'd require action on a multiversal scale.

Hmm… he might even run into the Scarlet King or the Sevenfold Destroyer.

Well, that's a problem for another day!

After fully digesting the unexpected rewards of this anomaly purge—Haruto was ready to leave. He had no intention of managing this world anymore.

Let the Blacklight Virus continue evolving on its own.

Maybe after enough time passes—He'd return and collect some new surprises.

As for Rentaro—

One must respect others' fates and let go of the savior complex.

Haruto never forces other humans to do anything. (Well… unless memory wipes are involved.)

Since Rentaro made his choice—

He's an adult.

He'll have to live with the consequences.

That's only fair.

A red gleam flashed in Haruto's eyes.

Kamui space activated.

After its evolution—

Kamui's range, speed, and spatial tearing power—

Had drastically increased.

In the blink of an eye, Haruto vanished into it—

Returning to the main world.