Nanomancer Reborn - I've Become A Snow Girl?

Gritting her teeth, Aria could feel the invasion of the black goo in her consciousness. As she stumbled back, Shiro quickly grabbed hold of her arm and helped her stand.

Shiro wanted to ask if she was alright, but hesitated since they both knew that Aria's time was up.

In choosing to help Shiro, her final moments will be filled with pain from fighting against the black goo.

Helping Aria sit down next to A boulder, Shiro tried her best to soothe the pain but her methods were ineffective.

"Don't bother. Just treat it as your enemy getting everything she deserved." Aria muttered while clutching her arms to hold back her cries of pain.

Furrowing her brows, Shiro had a complicated expression on her face as she didn't know what to feel in this situation. She hated Aria and rejected her way of doing things. But it doesn't change the fact that she had just saved her life right now.

"Stop looking at me like that. I accepted the evils I would commit in my bid to keep the realms safe. Those who desire to change the world should be ready for the consequences that come with it. I'm merely suffering the consequences right now." Aria lectured as Shiro nodded her head.

"My final advice for you is to find out the secrets behind this world that we're in. ***** mentioned this realm holding a glimpse of the truth. Though judging by your expression you didn't hear what I just said did you? Despite losing faith in you she still stops you from finding out the truth." Aria laughed bitterly.

Organising her thoughts, Aria sat up a little before looking at Shiro in all seriousness.

"I will try to tell you what I know about her though my information is limited. Plus I need to work around the censors she's put in place. Her true identity is someone we know very well. As for her role in all of this… I suppose you can call her Order. She was originally created by Chaos to regulate the universe. She wasn't 'Order' in the beginning. It was something she developed into. Well… that's my own speculation." Aria said slowly while trying to think of ways to tell Shiro as much as she could without the information being lost to the censor.

"Wait… So you're telling me she's Order? Chaos' counterpart?" Shiro asked as Aria smiled.

"Sounds like you heard what I said." Sighing relief, Aria flinched as her body started to break apart rapidly.

"Just promise me you'll save the realm." Aria squeezed out while clutching Shiro's sleeve.

"I promise."

Hearing the response, Aria smiled contently as Shiro bit her lip and stood up. Watching Aria dissolve into a pool of black liquid, Shiro gave her final thanks and farewell before turning to the rest of the realm.

'Order told me to look deeper into this realm so that I might find the truth. I only got a glimpse so far but if the truth is here, I need to look even deeper.' Shiro thought to herself as she jumped up into the sky and conjured several scouting drones. She wanted to find the edges of this realm and see how far it stretched on for.

She needed to hurry since Order had created a God Beast that was making its way towards her world. With it being injected with the black goo, it's going to prove to be a tough enemy for Lyrica and the others.

Taking a deep breath, Shiro flicked her fingers and all of the scouting drones she sent started to transform into large pillars that drilled into the land.

'With my new powers, I should be able to comprehend everything behind this realm.'

Attempting to form a tier 10 magic circle once more, Shiro gritted her teeth in annoyance as the best she could do was tier 9. Each of the pillars started to 'inject' foreign code into this realm. The purpose of the foreign code was to navigate through the realm and dig up the deepest secrets for Shiro to see.

The barrier from tier 9 to tier 10 was something so thin yet indestructible. Shiro didn't know what was barring her way but it was like a thin veil. She could see the other side yet she's still separated.

Setting aside the fact that tier 10 was still unreachable for her, Shiro started to comprehend the code.

However, just like before, there was no new information to the truth that she found out. Her reality was just one of many, all simulations by Order's hand.

'Error, are you there?'

[Yes mother?]

'Can you help me pinpoint the very start of the codes? The moment of conception. I want to witness the start of everything.' Shiro asked as Error was silent for a short moment.

[It may take a while and I'm not sure if mother can digest all of the information.]

'Condense them down to images so I don't have to read lines upon lines of code. Unless there's something different within the codes, I don't need to read it.'

[Understood.]

Feeling her mana reserves depleting slowly, Shiro was surprised since the amount of mana Error was using outweighed her mana regen. Though considering the fact that he was reading the history of this realm and condensing it down to images, Shiro could see why it would take a lot of mana.

Suddenly, countless images started to flash before her. Key moments from every cycle that has ever happened.

Her meeting with her friends, her fights, her anguish. It has all happened before.

Even the fight between her and Aria has happened before. The same choices, the same results. What she thought was her own choices, her own will, was nothing but a mass produced hoax.

Countless sentences rang out in her ears, Aria's final words and her own promises.

But considering that she was here, she failed to fulfill them before.

Stumbling back, Shiro took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Even for her, it was a daunting task. Millions of 'Shiro's' made it to where she was and none of them succeeded.

Biting her lips, Shiro continued to watch the scenes. No matter what happens, no matter what she finds out, she wasn't going to stop.

Even if a million failures looked her dead in the eyes like now, she will not stop.

'The other me's were faced with the same choice. They saw everything that had happened before and they never stopped. All of us know that even if it seems futile we still have to try to the bitter end.' Shiro reassured herself as her heart calmed down.

[Mother… I think I found the beginning.] Error said hesitantly as Shiro raised an eyebrow.

'Something wrong?'

[There's nothing wrong. Just that… the beginning is another cycle. Though there's some differences so it might actually be easier for me to show you.]

Tilting her head in confusion, Shiro closed her eyes briefly and saw that her mind had been transported into a simulation of Error's doing.

'Where am I Error?' Shiro asked curiously as the world around her was slowly being built from the ground up.

[A simulation of the 'first cycle'. It's easier for mother to process the information if you experience it yourself. From what I could see of the 'first cycle' from within the codes, it's the only one that's majorly different from the others and for good reason too.]

Hearing this, Shiro nodded her head slowly as she wondered what could be different.

[During this simulation, you will not be able to control your body as you are merely reliving what has already happened.]

As the scene cleared up, Shiro noticed that she was floating around like a ghost while there was another 'Shiro' sitting beneath her.

She looked a little older than what Shiro looked like at this moment and wore an elegant black dress adorned with silver jewellery.

In the distance, a woman could be seen running over with a wide smile on her face.

"Sister!"

It was Aria. Compared to the Aria that Shiro knew, this one seemed more lively and cheerful.

Hugging 'Shiro', Aria grinned happily as 'Shiro' patted her head.

"What is it? Has mother finished what she was planning to do?"

"Yep! She wants you to come over and have a look. She's calling it the Garden project." Aria nodded her head.

"Garden project? Is she planting flowers?" 'Shiro' raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You'll find out when you come with us!"

With no other choice, 'Shiro' shrugged and followed behind Aria.

'The garden project? By mother, does Aria mean Chaos?' Shiro thought to herself with a frown as the scenery started to change. The fact that she was seeing all of this means that Order had wanted her to find out the truth when they fought.

She had a hunch that the truth lies behind the Garden Project and when she finds out, she'll understand why Anima lost her mind.

###

Sitting in her own realm, Order leaned back and sighed.

"Disappointing like the rest... I got my hopes up for nothing." She muttered while glancing towards the myriad of realms on the brink of destruction thanks to her actions, her feelings already numb to what she's seeing.

"I'll let things play out I suppose... The Garden Project was a failure and I'm here suffering for it." Order smiled bitterly as tears started to form around her eyes.