Date A Live

"Aaah, mouuuuu…! Annoying annoying annoying! How is a mere human able to take me for a fooooooool!"

Within the restaurant of a high-cla.s.s hotel near the Tenguu Square, Miku pounded her table impatiently.

After the attack on Tenguu Square by s.h.i.+dou and the mysterious Spirit, Ai Mai Mii had suggested to head out for some food to calm her down, as they were worried about the restless Miku.

Needless to say, the hotel"s staff and guests, were all chased out of the hotel after coming under Miku"s control. The restaurant was basically bought out by Miku, as she sat at the table, with a luxurious spread of food in front of her.

But, no matter how delicious the cuisine, or how cute the girls accompanying her were, they were unable to ease Miku"s temperament.

"O, onee-sama… please calm down"

[Yeah--. Wouldn"t it be a waste of such a cute face if you keep on being angry?]

Yos.h.i.+no and [Yos.h.i.+non] standing behind Miku said so, as she removed the stains on the table caused by Miku hitting her table.

"Indeed. Aneue-sama is the one absolute existence approved by the G.o.ds. There"s no need to get so riled up because of the words of one such as s.h.i.+dou."

"Affirmation. It is best to forget about such people. There will not be an end to things if you continue to mind them."

Kaguya and Yuzuru placed their hands on Miku"s shoulders.

"Eh, ehhh… that"s right. That"s right. I don"t need to bother about such an insignificant person like him."

Miku said so as though to a.s.sure herself, as she nodded her head repeatedly.

But, in the next moment—

(--because Tohka, is extremely important to me)

s.h.i.+dou"s voice sounded again in her mind and Miku could not help but pound her table again. The gla.s.sware began to sound, and the beverage from her cup began to spill onto the tablecloth.

"Important…? What does he mean by important. Is he an idiot… he"s only engrossed in his own feelings! Ahh, mouuu, thinking of it just makes me feel sick! Humans… especially inferior beings such as men, how can they view someone else as more important than their own life! This is impossible…!"

Miku placed her cutlery back on the table, and began to ruffle her hair.

--indeed, the praises of man, were mostly for show. It was impossible to have mutual trust. Humans were merely incapable of sustaining their own existence. It had to be so. There was no other way.

"If it"s not for them, I—"

"Onee-sama…?"

Hearing Yos.h.i.+no"s worried voice, Miku returned to her senses. She pretended that everything was fine, as she waved her hand and turned around to the girls in maid outfits behind her.

"…ne, you girls, you are in the same school as s.h.i.+dou-san and Tohka-san, right?"

Then, Ai, Mai, Mii, and the Yamai sisters nodded. Yos.h.i.+no looked at [Yos.h.i.+non] on her left hand, and then spoke.

"Um, um… I"m, not. I"m sorry"

"But, you know about the two of them, right?"

"Ye, yes…! Of, of course!"

"There isn"t a problem then."

Miku turned her chair backwards, straightened her legs, and then looked at the girls in the maid outfits in order.

"I hope you will answer me truthfully… what is Tohka-san"s relations.h.i.+p with that man called s.h.i.+dou? Is it true that he feels that Tohka is important to him?"

"……."

Against Miku"s question, the girls looked at each other thoughtfully.

Then, they nodded to each other, and turned to Miku.

"Ah--, he"s such a frivolous man. Saying things like I like you, you"re important to me, as though it"s as natural to him as eating and breathing. He even regularly flirts with me"

"That"s right. His mind"s so linked to his lower body, you might as well say that his mind is his lower body"

"Yeah, he"s not empathetic to such things. He must have been just saying things about Tohka-chan. You don"t need to mind about it, onee-sama"

"……"

Miku listened to the obvious bluffs of Ai, Mai and Mii, before sighing and continuing.

"…I believe I said that I wanted you to answer truthfully? I"m happy that you"re considering my feelings, but I don"t like children who lie"

Miku held her head upwards as Ai Mai Mii"s shoulders began to s.h.i.+ver in an obvious manner.

Then, they sighed resignedly.

"Itsuka-kun and Tohka-chan"s relations.h.i.+p… hm. Um, to be honest, we don"t know. They don"t seem like lovers, but they don"t seem like ordinary friends either…"

"That"s right. Ah, but it is true that they are always together. Tohka-chan looks extremely happy and often smiles when she is with Itsuka-kun."

"Mm. Itsuka-kun is also extremely fond of Tohka-chan. He always places Tohka-chan"s interest in everything he does. They have such a close relations.h.i.+p"

"Hmmm… is that so?"

She half opened her eyes, and looked towards the Spirits.

"Then, if one had to risk their own life to save Tohka-san… what do you think s.h.i.+dou-san would do?"

Miku asked specifically. Yos.h.i.+no looked as if she was trying to hide something.

"Thi, this… onee-sama, can… I mention something?"

"Sure. As long as you tell me what you know about s.h.i.+dou-san"s circ.u.mstances."

"I feel… yes. I feel that if it"s s.h.i.+dou-san… he will definitely not hesitate to rescue Tohka-san. Even… even, if he were to… die as a result."

"……"

Miku bit her lips as she heard Yos.h.i.+no"s answer. Noticing this, Yos.h.i.+no let out a pained "hii" cry.

"…Are the rest of you of similar opinion?"

As she said so, she looked at the Yamai sisters. They began to think as they placed their hands below their chins.

"Hm, right, it would definitely be the case if it was s.h.i.+dou. I could even make a bet with you. That idiot won"t think twice about risking his life. Because of that, I was able to survive with Yuzuru."

"Affirmation. To put it bluntly, he is insane. He will ignore everything if it was to rescue Tohka."

"…"

Miku"s expression worsened.

(--of course)

s.h.i.+dou"s words ringed in her mind.

(--that would be because, Tohka is extremely important to me)

"Ku…"

Miku restlessly clenched her fists, as she roughly stood up from her chair. She scratched her head, and heaved a sigh.

"…I"m tired today. I"m heading back for a shower. Please help to prepare my room."

"Ye, yes!"

"Onee-sama"s orders…"

"…will be carried out!"

Ai Mai Mii immediately stood upright, and walked in front of Miku to open the doors for her.

Miku slowly began walking, and turned back just as she was about to walk out of the door.

"…let the residents continue searching for s.h.i.+dou-san"s location. If they find him, it doesn"t matter if I"m asleep, inform me immediately."

"Eh…? This is…?"

Ai Mai Mii widened their eyes. Miku"s vision instantly sharpened.

"Of course we have to punish him! Don"t question, just do as I say!"

Miku called as she crossed over the corridor.

The hands of the clock had just crossed the peak, and had begun moving downwards for 2 hours.

Under the faint glow of the moon and the stars, s.h.i.+dou and Kurumi looked at the tower in front of their eyes.

"Tohka is… right here"

He said in a low voice as he looked at his surroundings.

The current location of s.h.i.+dou"s group was a corner within the office street of Kagamiyama City, east of Tenguu City. Because few people were out at that time, the buildings were illuminated with a faint light, letting out a mysterious pressurising aura.

Looking up. At the end of the road s.h.i.+dou"s group was on, was an extremely ma.s.sive building.

"Have you noticed it?"

Noticing s.h.i.+dou focusing on the building, Kurumi, who was standing beside him, asked.

"From here on, everything are facilities belonging to DEM. All those buildings that you see, are offices and research facilities."

"All of them…"

s.h.i.+dou looked to the side, and swallowed his saliva. Yet he did not feel afraid. Tohka was right there, somewhere.

"...then, where is the first office?"

"Mm, it is the gigantic structure in the middle of these buildings. But unfortunately, I do not know specifically her location within the building."

"So that"s the case..."

"There is nothing to talk about if we can"t get there. Let us advance without being noticed – then"

Kurumi turned around to have her back against the wall, facing s.h.i.+dou as she spoke.

"From now, I will be infiltrating DEM territory with s.h.i.+dou-san – before that, let"s discuss about our plan."

"How?"

"Eh. The plan by itself is simple. Firstly, s.h.i.+dou-san and I will head to the first office building of DEM"s j.a.pan branch. Are there any issues prior to this?"

"Ah"

"Even so, this is the main focus of DEM in j.a.pan. It is impossible that there are no precautions."

"...true."

s.h.i.+dou awkwardly nodded his head. Their enemies were the makers of the Realisers, DEM. Although it was currently night, and hence near impossible for a battle of a large scale to happen on an empty street, it was also impossible to take their opponents lightly.

"So, after arriving at the target block, I will summon [us] within their territory, and begin attack on the other facilities."

"I see... to infiltrate among the chaos produced. But, if we were to go overboard, and then accidentally fortify their defences, what do we do next? DEM will definitely have preventions against people trying to retrieve Tohka."

Listening to s.h.i.+dou"s words, Kurumi lightly nodded her head.

"Indeed, Tohka-san is the most valuable sample that they have within their premises. If their premises were to be attacked, they would immediately fortify their defences against Tohka-san, right?"

"Yes. Hence—"

"Indeed so. It is virtually impossible to enter the building that Tohka-san is contained in without being noticed. Hence, it is not a bad idea to divert their attention. No matter how important Tohka-san is, there is no way that they would sit and watch their own facilities get destroyed."

"Umu…"

s.h.i.+dou placed his hand below his chin and nodded. While it was simplistic, it was also an extremely effective means. No matter what, only Kurumi was capable of having thousands instantly appear at the scene, and finish this unlikely plan.

"I understand, then, let"s do it as planned."

"It"s a pleasure to be trusted by others – then, let us move."

"Oh…"

s.h.i.+dou clenched his fists and encouraged himself. Together with Kurumi, they moved towards the DEM building.

But – the instant they entered DEM"s premises.

s.h.i.+dou and Kurumi frowned simultaneously and looked at each other.

It was a familiar feeling. Although it was slight, it felt like an invisible brush was brus.h.i.+ng over their body.

"Oi, what was"

s.h.i.+dou was about to speak to Kurumi—before he stopped.

No, to be precise, it was covered by a louder sound.

—WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—

At the same time s.h.i.+dou"s group entered DEM"s premises, a sharp sound began sounding within the surroundings.

Instantly, s.h.i.+dou thought it was an alarm used to detect intruders. But… that was wrong. He had heard this sound before.

"A s.p.a.cequake warning…!?"

s.h.i.+dou scowled. Indeed. This was an alarm indicating the imminent disaster that occured when a Spirit appeared – the area alert for a s.p.a.cequake.

"A Spirit has appeared!? In this area!?"

It was an unbelievable moment. s.h.i.+dou hurriedly looked around. The workers and convenience shop employees working overtime were all surprised and began to evacuate. The entrances of the underground shelter were opened, and the city was immediately transformed into one defending against a s.p.a.cequake.

"No, it does not seem so."

Kurumi said with her eyes slit.

"I don"t feel the spatial movement from when a s.p.a.cequake occurs. At least, I don"t think it"s a Spirit crossing over to this world from the other one."

"Then, this alarm is…"

"…This is merely my hypothesis. I believe it is DEM who has sounded the alarm. s.h.i.+dou-san should have felt it earlier, the feeling of when you are being touched by a Wizard"s Territory."

"Eh…? But, this is a s.p.a.cequake alarm… isn"t it?"

s.h.i.+dou did not understand DEM"s intentions. At least, this alarm wasn"t activated from within the DEM facilities. Even if they could activate the s.p.a.cequake alarm, it would have been overreacting to activate it because of trespa.s.sers.

"That is correct. There are a few possibilities, such as—"

Kurumi began to consider as she placed her hand below her chin, and then she suddenly grabbed s.h.i.+dou"s collar, and began to leap backwards towards the right.

"Kuu…eh….!? You, what are—"

s.h.i.+dou, whose collar had been suddenly pulled by Kurumi, began to argue—before stopping.

The reason was simple. The spot where they were standing earlier was. .h.i.t by a piercing torrent of light, inducing an explosion, creating a large crater within the ground.

"Wh, wh, wha…"

"—it seems that they are trying to raise a commotion with the intent of removing witnesses."

Saying so, Kurumi looked up towards the sky.

Following her line of sight, s.h.i.+dou"s face began to perspire.

In the sky, against the moon and the buildings, were a few silver marionettes in CR-Units floating in the air.

Heads covered in a helmet resembling a motorcycle driver. Over-developed arms, and legs that were the reverse of human anatomy. s.h.i.+dou remembered that shape.

"That is – …!?"

Just as s.h.i.+dou said so, the had aimed the barrel of their laser cannons at him, and fired the trigger without delay.

"Uwah!"

"Tsk—"

Kurumi grabbed s.h.i.+dou underneath her arms, and jumped up into the air. The magic light ray from the exploded on the ground, igniting a small explosion. The evacuating employees gave a look of amazement, before quickly entering the shelter.

"[Us]!"

Kurumi called as she landed with s.h.i.+dou in her arms. The shadow beneath her feet instantly widened. From there, nearly a hundred Kurumis appeared, and began jumping towards the .

[Kehe, hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe!]

It was a marvellous sight.

Against the in the sky, a large amount of Kurumis had began charging at them, using their hands to decapitate their wings, guns, hands, legs, and brains. If the possessed human emotions, it would undoubtedly be feeling fear right now.

Of course the would not go down without a fight, and they fired their laser cannons and missiles, and although they hit the Kurumis" brains and chests, they were simply outnumbered.

The safety lights on their heads flashed red, and alarms sounded as though they were crying out as they perished – the last located in the middle became a pile of sc.r.a.p metal as it fell to the floor.

"In, incredible…"

"This is not the time to be amazed. Reinforcements are approaching."

Kurumi looked inwards towards the worksite without relaxing.

It seemed the earlier were defensive mechanisms. From within the buildings ahead, more and Wizards appeared. There was nothing to mention about the entrances, as the walls of the building could be modified, and the walls around them began to reveal entrances as the Wizards within revealed themselves. While exact numbers were unknown, at the very least it exceeded five hundred.

"Wha…!?"

s.h.i.+dou let out a dismayed sound. Although it was expected that there would be reinforcements, it was unexpected to be of this degree.

"Muu, we do not have a choice. s.h.i.+dou-san, it is time to change our strategy."

"Eh?"

s.h.i.+dou had just reacted to Kurumi"s words, before the ground which had been stained black unknowingly, began to sp.a.w.n Kurumi"s clones. Twin guns in their hands, they began to sortie against the incoming onslaught of Wizards.

"—Leave the marionettes to [us]. Let us use this opportunity to blow through the defences!"

"Al, alright…!"

There wasn"t another option. s.h.i.+dou nodded his head forcefully.

"Then—I am going to go full speed ahead. Please hold tightly to me and don"t fall! Zafkiel – Aleph[The First Bullet]…!"

Kurumi whipped out a gun, held it to her temple, and fired.

At the same time, the DEM Wizards began their fierce battle with Kurumi"s clones. The laser cannons and missiles fired from the Wizards, crossed fire with the bullets fired from the Kurumis" guns, causing a large explosion.

"—!"

s.h.i.+dou was being held by Kurumi as they crossed through the battlefield at a high speed.

The intense gravitational pull, and the various explosives igniting within the vicinity. The resulting sonic booms were enough to nearly induce a state of unconsciousness.

"Ku…!"

s.h.i.+dou clenched his teeth as though he was about to bleed, as he forced himself to stay awake.

In a while, they had pa.s.sed what could be the centre of the battlefield, and Kurumi ceased her high speed escape. At the same time the effects of Aleph[The First Bullet] began to fade as Kurumi"s speed returned to normal.

"Are you alright, s.h.i.+dou-san."

"Ah, um, I"m alright"

As he said so, he began to manage standing on his own feet. Although he was still dizzy, there wasn"t time to bother about it. s.h.i.+dou slapped his cheeks, and clenched his fists to vitalise himself.

"Our time is short. Let"s go, Kurumi"

"Eh. The first offices should be—"

—at the moment Kurumi pointed her index finger to denote the direction. s.h.i.+dou thought that her entire body had turned black.

"Ah—"

Faint, it was a faint sound. The Kurumi, who had been conversing with s.h.i.+dou, had her brain thrown into the sky.

"Eh…?"

It was sudden, and s.h.i.+dou didn"t understand what had happened in that moment, aside from a low sound.

Then, the place where Kurumi"s brain was supposed to be, began to spray out blood like a fountain, staining s.h.i.+dou red. At that moment, s.h.i.+dou"s brain finally registered what had happened.

"Uu—uwaaaaaa!?"

s.h.i.+dou screamed loudly as he fell to the ground. At the same time, Kurumi"s body fell to the ground like a lifeless puppet.

"Ku, Kurumi! Kurumi!"

It was clear that there was no hope, yet s.h.i.+dou continued to run towards Kurumi. The brainless body continued to convulse as it created a red puddle on the floor.

At that moment, s.h.i.+dou noticed who was standing behind Kurumi. There was a leg that was wrapped in a metallic material.

"Ah—"

It was without question a Wizard"s CR-Unit. It was… a Wizard from DEM.

—he had to run. Even if his heart knew that, his legs would not budge. s.h.i.+dou held his breath and looked ahead.

It was an unknown unit with a green-black colouring. A weapon with a large barrel on the left hand, with a sharpness that reminded people of a wolf.

"This is it—at last I"ve found you."

But, the instant he heard the Wizard"s voice, s.h.i.+dou"s eyebrow twitched as he looked upwards at the face of the individual.

With hair combed into a long ponytail, and energetic eyes, as well as a mole beneath the left eye. And a face that resembled s.h.i.+dou.

"Ma, na…?"

Yes, it was the girl who claimed to be s.h.i.+dou"s blood-related sister – Takamiya Mana.

A few months ago, she had sustained critical injuries against Kurumi, and she should have been in a state of complete recovery. From the looks of it, she had recovered while s.h.i.+dou was unaware.

But, s.h.i.+dou didn"t have the time to be surprised by an unexpected reunion, as he tensed up again. Mana was originally a Wizard deployed to AST by DEM. Hence she should have come to eliminate the enemy infiltrating DEM – s.h.i.+dou.

But, at the instant Mana and s.h.i.+dou met face-to-face, a stern face immediately relaxed as she rushed ahead to hug s.h.i.+dou.

"Nii-sama! I"m glad you"re alright!"

"Wa, wah!?"

s.h.i.+dou felt the feeling of Mana"s uneven CR-unit in shock as he confirmed his surroundings. Then, he calmed down, held Mana"s shoulders, and then pushed them slightly.

"Ma, Mana… it is you right? Are you injured?"

"Yes! Mana is feeling alright now!"

Mana bent her arms as if to show off her muscles. Her cheery tone was a direct contrast to the current conditions as s.h.i.+dou temporarily forgot about his nervous emotions.

"Th, then, Mana? You are a Wizard of DEM right? So you are here to eliminate me…"

"No, I"ll explain the details later. But for now, I"m no longer working for DEM"

"Eh…? But, your equipment…"

"Ah, this is from [Fraxinus]. I"m now under the care of [Ratatoskr].

"Eh… eeeeeeh?"

Repeatedly listening to the new information, his mind was now in a whirl. Why was Mana in [Ratatoskr]…? Wasn"t [Ratatoskr] an organisation with different values than AST and the DEM?

"But, why did you attack Kurumi…"

"Ah, it looked like Nii-sama was being attacked by [Nightmare], so I had to help."

Listening to Mana"s words, s.h.i.+dou twitched. That said, Kurumi, who was a.s.sisting s.h.i.+dou now, was indeed a man-eating Spirit against Mana. That meant if the two were to meet, Kurumi would have simply been mistaken as an enemy.

"N, no! Kurumi was helping me out!"

"Help…?"

Mana had a face of surprise. Then, the shadow on the walls of the building began to widen, revealing Kurumi"s crooked smile. At the same time, the fallen Kurumi"s body was absorbed by the shadows.

"Kehehe, your greeting style is as unrefined as ever"

"Kurumi…! Are you alright!?"

"Eh. It cannot be, do you think that something like this would be enough to kill me?"

It seems she has exchanged places with her clone. Kurumi smiled as she touched her hand with her finger. Mana let out a "tch" in spite.

"It is indeed unfortunate. I was so close to getting rid of such an unpleasant face."

"Did I not mention this before? You cannot do it."

"Hah, would you like to try? If your bullets could even hit me."

"Kehe, hehehehehehe! For someone to speak such words, especially when they survived because of my carelessness. Or had you lost your memories because you were too scared?"

"Ah, so our battle-hungry and murderous maniac is still speaking? Do you not have the energy to fight me any longer?"

"Ufufu, no one can help you this time. Maybe I shall savour your tongue after cutting every limb off your body?"

Mana and Kurumi glared at each other with eyes full of hostility and killing intent, speaking such dangerous words. s.h.i.+dou, who was between them, could only feel the feeling of cold sweat on his back.

"Wait, wait a bit, the two of you…"

Even as s.h.i.+dou said so, Mana continued to glare daggers at Kurumi. Kurumi then sighed.

"Alright, how about this – I still have other business at DEM, so I"ll separate from you guys here. You would be alright with Mana-san here, right?"

"Oi, oi, Kurumi…?"

"Please relax. [Our] accompanying fight will still continue. –Then, let us retreat."

Kurumi closed her eyes and then retreated into the shadows. Then, her shadow immediately disappeared from the wall.

"Kurumi! Kurumi!?"

There was no response no matter how he called. It seems she had indeed left. s.h.i.+dou scratched his hair.

"Hm, although I"m not sure what kind of agreement it is. But I"ll let it slide this time. Requesting such a monster, I wonder what kind of condition she would hold you to."

"Mana, you…"

"Compared to that. –excuse me, nii-sama."

Mana didn"t seem to bother where Kurumi went as she looked at s.h.i.+dou"s face. And then felt his chest for a while. Then, she sighed as though she was in relief.

"Oi! What, what are you doing!"

s.h.i.+dou couldn"t help but shout loudly. Mana spoke in a conflicted voice.

"That, when I watched Nii-sama"s footage while I was still recovering in [Fraxinus], Nii-sama was in a cute getup. I thought in the short period of time that I was away from you, Nii-sama had developed a strange interest."

"No way!"

"Eh, I"m relieved then. It seems you weren"t operated on… what happened down there, I suppose it wasn"t removed?"

"Of course not… what do you think I am…"

"That"s alright, Mana is very forgiving. It"s fine if you just like women"s clothing. Let"s go shopping the next time."

"But…"

s.h.i.+dou sighed heavily. Mana pressed her ear as she frowned. It seemed a sound was coming from the headset that she was wearing.

"Ah… that"s right – nii-sama, this is for you."

Mana took out a small electronic device from a pocket-like extension at her waist, and handed it to s.h.i.+dou.

"This is… an earphone?"

"Yes, please handle it carefully. There is a circuit inside."

He took the earphone from Mana, and placed it in his right ear. He connected it for a while, before hearing an awkward voice from the earphone.

[…s.h.i.+dou, can you hear me?]

"Kotori!? Have you returned to normal!?"

There was no need to question who was the other voice. The owner of the voice is s.h.i.+dou"s little sister, the commander of [Ratatoskr], Kotori.

Kotori should have heard Miku"s performance over the speaker, and like Yos.h.i.+no and the Yamai sisters, become one of Miku"s loyal fans.

[Eh, yeah, I suppose so.]

Kotori said so as she continued while seemingly feeling awkward.

[That, I"m sorry. That… wasn"t my intention.]

"Eh? What?"

[Well, um… that, go to h.e.l.l with that. Although… I don"t remember anything, there was still some footage, um, so I said…]

As she said so, s.h.i.+dou nodded as though he understood. Kotori did indeed mention bad things about s.h.i.+dou while under Miku"s control.

It seemed that she was mindful of it. s.h.i.+dou couldn"t help but laugh.

"I understand about things like that."

[Um…]

Kotori lowered her voice in embarra.s.sment.

"That said, how did you free yourselves from Miku"s control?"

As s.h.i.+dou questioned, Reine replied over the speaker.

[…we had them faint temporarily, then afterwards began purifying the area using Mana"s Territory. While everybody was controlled, Fraxinus"s communications were thrown into chaos. It took us some time to recover, so we couldn"t contact you until then. My apologies. I"m glad that you are alright.]

"No, it"s alright…"

[…but, please relax. The earphone that was pa.s.sed to you, has an automatic filter that filters out sound out of a selected area. Miku"s performance won"t be able to spread to this side anymore.]

"I see…"

[Now, on to the main point.]

Listening to s.h.i.+dou"s words, Kotori coughed as she resumed speaking.

[s.h.i.+dou, why are you in this area? And with Kurumi too.]

"Ah, that was because…"

s.h.i.+dou briefly explained the events that happened after Kotori"s group was controlled. Ellen having abducted Tohka, as well as Kurumi helping s.h.i.+dou rescue Tohka, and—Tohka possibly being in the facility.

Kotori, having heard this, kept quiet for a while before—

[…no, this is too dangerous. I will not approve of this.]

A heavy voice came from the earphone. s.h.i.+dou was dissatisfied with the unexpected response.

"Wha, what are you saying!? Tohka was taken away! Aren"t DEM a dangerous organisation that wants to kill Spirits! Who knows what they would do to Tohka!?"

[Do you think I won"t know of something like that…!]

"Then, why!?"

[How am I not supposed to prevent my brother from infiltrating such a dangerous organisation!? Have some self-awareness! You never consider about your own safety!]

"Bu… bu, but, we can"t just abandon Tohka!"

[I didn"t say something like that! But, we need to prepare first—]

"This is not the time to say things like that! Right now, Kurumi is helping us to delay the Wizards! We won"t get a second chance like this!"

[This…]

"I beg you, Kotori! I… I will definitely bring Tohka back! So…"

[…ah, you"re annoying!]

Listening to s.h.i.+dou"s pleas, Kotori impatiently banged her table.

[Besides, there"s no point in me stopping you…]

"…you know me very well."

[I have been your sister for over ten years, after all]

Sighing in a relenting tone, Kotori continued.

[We won"t be able to communicate within the office building due to Territorial interference. We also can"t provide reconnaissance. All Fraxinus can do is to provide external support.]

"Mm, that"s enough… I"m sorry, Kotori."

[Ugh, to have such a disobedient brother, we sure have it hard, Mana]

Mana shrugged at Kotori"s words.

"Yes, but, if nii-sama were to be a useless fool who flees with his tail tucked between his legs, I won"t admit to ever having such a brother."

Kotori sighed a few times at Mana"s response.

[…alright. Since we are going to do it, there will be no giving up halfway. Rescuing Tohka, as well as ensuring s.h.i.+dou and Mana"s safety. We won"t have it any other way]

s.h.i.+dou nodded in response to Kotori.

Kotori then energised herself, and began.

[Then—let us begin our]

"Then—let us begin our"

s.h.i.+dou and Kotori said at the same time.

[Date]

"Date"

At that, s.h.i.+dou turned towards the first offices.

Few hours ago, at two o"clock.

Occasionally clenching and unclenching her fist on the hospital bed. Origami let out a sigh.

Right now a lingering pain was still in her brain. Even though she had accepted the hospital"s treatment of Realisers earlier, her body was just able to move. But the doctor had told her to rest. How was she going to find s.h.i.+dou?

"…"

She silently turned her head right, there.

"Unu, O, Origami-san… you have already committed a criminal offense…"

Beside Origami"s bed, Mikie was sleep talking in a rather rude manner.

There shouldn"t be any problem since she was in such a deep sleep. Origami sat up silently.

She needed to immediately confirm s.h.i.+dou"s safety. Although Jessica"s group, which was targeting s.h.i.+dou and Tohka, had been betrayed by Mana, she was more concerned about the revolution that Ryouko was speaking about. As long as s.h.i.+dou was safe—

As she walked off the bed, Origami stopped as she was wearing her slippers.

That"s right. Origami, who had been sent to hospital in a wiring suit, had no change of clothes.

What to do… just as Origami was considering, Mikie sleep talked again.

"Origami-san… no… if you eat that you"ll spoil your stomach…"

She silently looked at her. She was now in her high school uniform.

"…"

Although the size was slightly different from hers, it was better than a hospital gown. Mustering all her speed, Origami placed Mikie on the bed, undid the ribbon in front of her chest, and unb.u.t.toned her blouse. She then pulled down the zipper of the skirt, without alerting Mikie, as she was about to finish stripping her.

Then, at this point.

—WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—

A sharp sound came from outside.

"…A s.p.a.cequake warning…?"

Origami"s hands had already removed Mikie"s skirt as she frowned in suspicion.

"Mm… uuun… What is that noise…"

Mikie then woke up. She yawned as she rubbed her eyes. She looked at Origami sleepily.

"Ah… Origami-san. Good morni—hyaaa?"

She noticed her getup while greeting. Her body shook as her face went red and she took a blanket to cover her chest.

"O, o-o-o-Origami-san!? May I ask what are you doing!?"

"I"m stripping you."

There was no point in hiding it any further. Origami admitted to it. With that, Mikie"s face turned redder than a tomato.

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? What are you planning to do after stripping me!?"

"After stripping you… of course, I"m stripping my clothes as well."

"Ah, aaaaaaaaaaaaaahyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

Mikie let out a rate animalistic cry as she used her hands to press her cheeks.

Did she really hate her clothes that much. It felt like she had done a bad thing. Origami lowered her head as she returned the skirt on her hand to Mikie. Mikie"s head shuddered for some reason.

At that time, a faint vibration came from the skirt returned to Mikie. It seemed that Mikie"s terminal was picking up reception again.

"Ah, yes, yes."

Mikie hurriedly searched the pockets of her skirt, retrieving the terminal.

"Yes, Okamine here. …Ah, yes…yes…eh, eeeeh!?"

Mikie widened her eyes in shock. After a few exchanges, the line was cut off.

"What happened?"

"Ye, yes… that, DEM"s j.a.pan branch, was attacked by… a Spirit, and an accomplice. AST members are to deploy immediately, to reinforce DEM."

"Attacked…? What is the codename of the Spirit?"

"Ni, [Nightmare]…"

"…! Tokisaki Kurumi…?"

Listening to Mikie mention the name, Origami"s vision immediately sharpened. That was the name of the Spirit that had transferred into Origami"s cla.s.s.

"Then, her accomplice is…"

"Thi, this…"

Mikie looked away at a loss of words. Origami held her face with her hands, and looked at her eyes.

"Tell me."

"Ye, yes… that… it"s, Itsuka s.h.i.+dou…"

"s.h.i.+, dou…?"

Origami muttered the name in shock—

"…!"

Then, in the next instant, with a PA sound, she rushed towards the door of the ward.

"O, Origami-san!"

But she couldn"t make it in time. Mikie had managed to grab her left hand.

"You, you can"t go! Don"t you know what circ.u.mstances are you in now!?"

"It"s alright. Although I"m not sure what happened, but as long as s.h.i.+dou is there, I have to help him."

"Wha, what are you planning to do!"

"…, go to AST"s warehouse. They should have spare equipment."

Listening to Origami"s words, Mikie shook her head violently.

"Impossible! Origami-san"s ID has already been frozen! You can"t use the equipment!"

Origami frowned, as she stopped and turned to Mikie.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly as it says! Now, don"t mention about a CR-Unit, Origami-san isn"t even allowed to use a wiring suit anymore!"

"…"

Origami clenched her teeth. It was indeed as expected. Having used equipment without permission multiple times, exceeding the limits of her brain to execute actions. There were more than enough reasons.

"…Then, it"s fine even with normal equipment. I can still take away a handgun."

"Are, are you insane!? Walking into a battlefield between Wizards and Spirits without a Territory, is akin to death! Please calm down!"

"…that place, the most important person to me, is there. Hence… I must go there."

"Ku—"

Mikie"s grip on Origami"s hand tightened.

"Is that person… really that important?"

"Yes."

"Even more… than your own life?"

"That"s correct."

She replied without hesitation.

"He is, the last spiritual solace for me, one who has lost everything. If he is to die, I will no longer be myself—so please, let go."

As Origami said so, Mikie"s eyes sharpened.

"If I were to say, if you go, I"d kill myself by biting my tongue?"

Origami looked at Mikie"s eyes before responding.

"You won"t do that."

"…! Don"t look down on me. For Origami-san, I can—"

"You know that if you do that, I will be very upset."

"…"

Mikie widened her eyes—and lowered her head. Then, she held her hands to her face as though she was wiping her tears.

"…I"m so jealous… so jealous of that person. Who is able to convince Origami-san to this extent."

Sighing, Mikie raised her head.

"…there"s no point in me stopping you, right?"

"There is no point."

"You would go even if you"re empty-handed."

"Yes."

Listening to Origami"s words, Mikie laughed in sadness—as she fixed her appearance and got off the bed.

"…I understand. With this realisation, I won"t stop you—but, I cannot see you die without accomplis.h.i.+ng anything… although I"m not sure if it"ll work, I know another method. Please come with me."

"Method…?"

Origami tilted her head in amazement.

As the DEM wizards and fired their magic cannons and mini missiles, they managed to hit some of the Kurumi clones in the surroundings, as well as the tiled ground and buildings around it. With every explosion, a shrieking laughter could be heard, as the shape of Kurumi"s body was thrown about everywhere like debris.

But, in the midst of the explosion, black bullets were fired towards the sky, hitting the wizards in their units and the in the brains.

It was an unimaginable and complicated fight. The wizards used all their strength, descending into the rain of million bullets at once, fighting against the limitless incarnation of a nightmare from the shadows. Both sides continued their slaughter mercilessly. If s.h.i.+dou were to step into this fight, it would be difficult trying to put his body together for a funeral.

"….."

To imagine of the worst. Flying low with the help of Mana"s territory, s.h.i.+dou couldn"t help but suck his tongue at his incredible imagination.

[—it"s right here, s.h.i.+dou]

Kotori"s voice came from the earphone. s.h.i.+dou raised his head. Mana, like s.h.i.+dou, looked towards the same direction.

What was there, was a skysc.r.a.per that was taller than the buildings around it. It was at least 20 stories in height. The entrance should be the object that looked like a door. Because of the emergency, it was closed tightly by a shutter.

"Please wait."

As she said so, Mana landed on the ground. At the same time, s.h.i.+dou"s body which was surrounded by the Territory, began to slowly descend downwards as though gravity had returned.

Mana put her hand on the shutter, and gripped while letting out a small sound.

Then, the roughly 30-millimeter thick shutter was crushed easily, opening up a path wide enough for a human to cross.

"Alright, let"s go."

"You are still as strong as before…"

s.h.i.+dou laughed bitterly as he followed Mana through the shutter.

"But, the building is indeed too big. If only we knew which floor Tohka was on…"

s.h.i.+dou said in a difficult tone. A sleepy voice came from the earphone – Reine"s.

[…if they were to imprison Tohka, they would need to have the required facilities to isolate Spirits. Do you remember the separating area onboard [Fraxinus]? Find a facility that is similar to that.]

"I see…"

At this time, s.h.i.+dou"s body was surrounded once again by a strange floating sensation. There was no question. It was Mana"s Territory.

"Mana? Why did you deploy your Territory—"

s.h.i.+dou didn"t get to finish. As though he was pressed by an unseen hand, his body was sent flying.

In that instant. The main entrance of the first office was twisted with a scrunching sound, and his vision was filled with light again – an explosion.

"Wha…!?"

s.h.i.+dou was swept up by the strong wind, rolling on the floor. The back of his head, which hit the floor, began to hurt.

But, there was no time to bother about that. s.h.i.+dou raised his head as he supported himself.

"Mana! Mana!!"

"…yes, I"m all right."

Following s.h.i.+dou"s call, Mana flew out from the thick smoke. It seemed that she wasn"t injured. She must had cus.h.i.+oned the blow with her Territory.

But her expression was not one of calmness, but rather, nervousness and anger.

"…you, it can"t be…"

Mana said in a low tone. At that point, as though cutting through a thick fog, in the interior of the research facility that had a large hole opened in it, stood a gigantic hulk of metal.

A large armed body the size of a large tree. It looked as bulky as a tank. And with it, a girl who was carrying all these on her back like some sort of military outfit.

s.h.i.+dou widened his eyes. He had seen a similar equipment before.

"That is… [White Licorice]…!?"

Yes. What appeared here, was the gigantic equipment of destruction used when Origami was trying to kill Kotori.

But there was one difference – compared to Origami"s snow-white armor, the one in front of s.h.i.+dou now, was as red as blood itself.

"…so you do know about that. But, this is slightly different. This is DW-029R [Scarlet Licorice], the sister machine of the test machine [White Licorice]."

Mana said in a disgusted voice, with a face of annoyance.

"Are you trying to change your image? You look way different from during the day. Isn"t that a waste of such a disgusting face – Jessica."

As she said that, she looked at the pilot of the [Scarlet Licorice].

A red-haired girl in her late twenties, her notable trait being a pair of fox-like eyes.

But, it was difficult to see the full appearance of that face. The reason was simple, her hands, chest, forehead and face were full of bandages.

"Aha! Mana. Mana. Takamiya Manaaaaaaa? So? So? Look at my [Licorice]? With this, I won"t lose. To you. Lose to you…!"

But the girl full of injuries – Jessica, laughed as she said in a stuttering tone.

"Do you know each other?"

"Former comrades. …This idiot."

As Mana said so, she stepped out.

"—Jessica! Stop the [Licorice] now! Do you understand!? You can"t use that!"

"Ahahahahaha! What are you talking about? I feel so good. Because—"

Jessica squinted her eyes, as she aimed her cannon at Mana.

"I can… finally kill you now."

"Ku—!"

She understood her opponent"s intention. Mana suddenly approached Jessica, activated the blade on her right hand, and began slicing at Jessica.

But Jessica had already pre-empted Mana"s action. Using her high-power laser knife on her left hand to stop the attack, while opening the missile pack on her back, she fired a ma.s.sive amount of missiles.

Several missiles detonated at point blank range. The area was full of the smell of gunpowder as her vision was filled with dust.

"Uu, uwaaaaaah!"

Still unable to balance himself, s.h.i.+dou was blown backwards. What he could see was a green shadow and a large red machine in pursuit.

The two wizards moved their battlefield to the sky, as they began to fight. Exchanging cannons and blade blows. The dark sky was filled with flashes of magical light flas.h.i.+ng like stars.

"Gu…"

Mana would have to handle Jessica. Even if s.h.i.+dou went to help, he would just be a burden.

After making up his mind, s.h.i.+dou immediately left the area, running towards the building.

[s.h.i.+dou! It"s too dangerous! Don"t act alone! Wait for Mana!]

Kotori howled as she scolded s.h.i.+dou. But, s.h.i.+dou didn"t slow down.

"They will only reinforce if we wait for her! I have to go now! Besides, it"s more dangerous being outside by myself, right!? I could be hit by a stray bullet, or be held hostage by Jessica or one of the other Wizards! I cannot burden Mana!"

[That, that… you may be right, but! Wait… s.h.i.+dou!]

s.h.i.+dou pa.s.sed the damaged door. In an instant, Kotori"s voice was drowned by static, and soon she couldn"t be heard anymore.

There was n.o.body in the wide lobby. What replaced was spread debris, interfering with s.h.i.+dou"s progress. Electrical wires were exposed from the broken ceiling, with the light hanging down. The occasional sparks were enough to cause one to feel weird.

According to Reine, there must be some facility isolating Spirits within the building. s.h.i.+dou began to head upstairs.

"Ha…, ha…a, ha…!"

Second, third, fourth, s.h.i.+dou ran up to the fifth floor in one breath. His legs began to feel tired, his lungs hurt, and it became difficult to breathe. But he had to continue on in spite of that.

—Tohka. Tohka was around here.

The girl who let herself be caught to buy s.h.i.+dou time to escape, alone, caught by an organization against Spirits.

—At that point, s.h.i.+dou didn"t have the time to complain about the pain his body felt…

"…!"

At that point, he didn"t know how far he had climbed. s.h.i.+dou heard a strange noise, and frowned.

In the corridor, were a man and a woman. They did not look like regular employees or researchers. Both of them were wearing unknown wiring suits.

Because they were inside the building, they were only carrying a light gun-like weapon, and a small laser knife – but there was no question, they were Wizards.

"Intruders!?"

"Oi, you, who are you!? How did you get in—"

"Ku…!"

s.h.i.+dou held his breath, and fled downstairs. The Wizards deployed their Territories, as they chased s.h.i.+dou at an unbelievable speed. At the same time as gunshots were fired behind him, the s.h.i.+ning magic bullets opened a few holes in the walls.

"Stop! Or I will shoot!"

"Aren"t you already shooting!"

s.h.i.+dou howled as he fled downstairs to avoid the bullets being shot into the walls, ceiling and floor.

But, the difference in speed was obvious. In a few seconds, likely having entered their Territory, s.h.i.+dou"s body was pressed by an unknown force, and pushed towards a wall.

"Gu…ga…!?"

"Really… is that it. This youngster is the intruder?"

"How could that be. But, we can"t just let him escape."

The woman continued to hold s.h.i.+dou as she raised his other hand, while the man aimed his gun at s.h.i.+dou"s brain.

"Ku…"

s.h.i.+dou clenched his teeth, and struggled, trying to break free.

"Tell me the truth… we don"t have a choice, let"s faint him first."

Saying that, the man raised his hand, and walked towards s.h.i.+dou.

"…! d.a.m.n…! How can I fail here…!"

s.h.i.+dou muttered as he clenched his fists and hit the wall repeatedly.

—what idea, what can he do.

s.h.i.+dou continued to think. If he was captured here, he won"t be able to rescue Tohka.

"Tohka…!"

Tohka"s face that was carved into his memory, appeared in his mind.

Tohka. Excluding the incident 5 years ago, she was the first Spirit that s.h.i.+dou met.

Tohka laughed with him when he was happy. Tohka accompanied him silently when he was upset. Tohka helped him when he was lost.

That naïve smile was the source of s.h.i.+dou"s courage. In fact, when Kurumi and the Yamai siblings appeared, when s.h.i.+dou was lost, Tohka was always by his side.

Tohka"s smile, may soon disappear forever.

At that point, a sharp pain erupted from s.h.i.+dou"s head.

"What kind… of joke is this—!"

A yell that nearly ripped his throat out. –in that instant

[Wha…!]

The Wizards let out a surprised sound as their vision was filled with light – at the same time, s.h.i.+dou felt the pressure on his body decreasing.

In an instant, as though separating s.h.i.+dou and the Wizards, he noticed a strange object floating in the air.

—A sword. Glowing with a golden radiance, a large sword.

"Wha… this is—Sandalphon…?"

That was right. Tohka"s Angel. The sword of great power Sandalphon.

Now, it was floating in front of s.h.i.+dou.

"Wha, wha what…!?"

"An, an, Angel…?"

In contrast to the shocked tone of the Wizards, s.h.i.+dou"s heart was a strange calm.

Of course, this was because he had already experienced summoning Sandalphon before.

But, with that in mind. Why would Sandalphon appear in front of s.h.i.+dou now. s.h.i.+dou could understand part of the reason.

"Ah—that"s right. Let"s go and rescue your mistress."

s.h.i.+dou muttered to himself. He held out his hand, and gripped the hilt of Sandalphon.

At that point, the Wizards moved their hands, and released the magic-imbued bullets.

But, those things were meaningless in front of Sandalphon. Before they hit the sword, the bullets vanished into the air.

"How could this be!?"

s.h.i.+dou raised Sandalphon without hesitation.

Of course, not to talk about swordplay, s.h.i.+dou was completely clueless on using combat tactics and weapons.

In truth, if someone were to hand him a gun and tell him "use this to kill the enemy", he would only know how to use it as a blunt weapon as he did not know how to fire it, and there was the possibility of accidentally killing himself due to misfire.

—But, in that world, there was only one sword in that world.

That would allow s.h.i.+dou to use as he wished.

(—Haven"t I said it before, the Sandalphon now was summoned from s.h.i.+dou"s wishes. The one that could use it now, is limited to only s.h.i.+dou.)

As he started to wield Sandalphon Tohka"s words ringed in his mind.

(Relax. And then think. What does s.h.i.+dou want to do. What is s.h.i.+dou"s wish. Forget everything aside from that. Wield this sword as you wish. —If you do that, the Angel will surely respond.)

There was only this wish in his heart. Stronger, stronger. The wish to rescue Tohka.

Hence, Sandalphon"s light shone even more brilliantly as it summoned his strength based on s.h.i.+dou"s wishes.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

He slashed with Sandalphon with a loud sound. Then, the radiant glow of the sword expanded, sending the Territory of the Wizards as well as the wall of the building flying.

"Gu, guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….!"

Following a spell of silence, one of the Wizards was thrown out through the wall.

But, there was still one more enemy remaining. The enemy intended on fighting to the end with s.h.i.+dou as he armed his laser knife and looked at s.h.i.+dou. [7C 1]

"Tch…!"

s.h.i.+dou raised Sandalphon with all his might, as he tried to block the attack. However, the Wizard clearly held the advantage in terms of speed. He suddenly lowered his body, and stabbed into s.h.i.+dou"s stomach with the knife, rotating it as though he was trying to cut deeper and right through his body.

"Ugaaaa…!?"

A scrunching pain came from his abdomen, as his eyes felt like they were burning with his brain.

But, s.h.i.+dou didn"t yield.

"You demons—don"t interfereeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

s.h.i.+dou gripped Sandalphon with a trembling finger, as he hit the Wizard stabbing in stomach with the hilt of the sword. Although it wasn"t the blade, the Angel itself was the manifestation of Spiritual energy. As Sandalphonended up hitting the Territory, it began to send out sparks everywhere.

"What!"

Not expecting the counterattack, the Wizard fell to the ground.

"Agah… uu, ah…"

s.h.i.+dou clenched his jaw as he retrieved the knife with his free hand. The resulting spill of blood tainted the ground red. The pain could not be stopped as his vision gradually began to blur.

"Kah, ha…"

But, s.h.i.+dou, whose face was filled with sweat, did not fall. The knife, having lost its magical energy, was thrown to the ground with a clang sound.

At the same time, bits of fire began to appear from s.h.i.+dou"s abdomen wound. With the protection of the Spirit of Fire, Kotori, the flame was able to let s.h.i.+dou"s wound recover by itself.

But, there was no time to wait for it to heal completely. s.h.i.+dou didn"t wait for the flames in his abdomen to die down as he resumed walking.

"Wha, what exactly is going on?"

AST"s captain, Kusakabe Ryouko, could not believe the sight in front of her.

Because, in the office street of Kagamiyama City, there were DEM Wizards, mechanical idols, as well as multiple similar-looking copies of the Spirit [Nightmare], engaged in a fierce battle.

In an instant, it was easy to forget that this was an office street in j.a.pan. Bullets were fired, explosions of magic. The street was nearly reduced to rubble.

—Earlier, AST who were on standby, had finally received orders to deploy.

But, it was not to subdue the Spirit that was controlling humans in Tengu Square, it was to reinforce the j.a.panese branch of DEM, which had been attacked by another Spirit.

To ignore the unprecedented revolution in Tengu Square, but to a.s.sist DEM instead. Although the orders were contradictory, they cannot just ignore the presence of a Spirit. Ryouko and the AST members on standby quickly rushed towards Kagamiyama City"s office street, where the j.a.panese offices of DEM were situated.

Ryouko breathed deeply to clear her mind, and ordered her members.

"Team, a.s.sist the Wizards from DEM, and eliminate the [Nightmare] on the ground… although I"m not pleased with this decision, this is an order. Do it well."

"Understood!"

Obeying Ryouko"s orders, the AST members in the CR-Units flew towards the sky.

For Ryouko, it was impossible to say that she fully trusted DEM. Because of them adding ten extra members without her approval and have them begun their fight while the citizens had yet to fully evacuate, her trust over them had deviated from what it was before.

Even if so, as long as these were orders from above her, she couldn"t ignore it. If she were to defy orders here, her superiors would have an excuse to punish AST. In the worst case scenario, DEM Wizards may replace the AST completely.

And, there was Origami. Knowing that Origami had defied orders completely—yet she understood how dangerously the third unit acted. Using this as her trump, she had managed to reduce Origami"s punishment from her superiors. At this point she couldn"t let anyone else find a way to take advantage of them yet.

Ryouko followed behind her members, activated her thrusters, and joined the battle.

Her vision enhanced by the Territory, and noticing the shadows flying in the smoke-filled air, Ryouko aimed the trigger of her laser gun.

"Kehe, hehehehehehe!"

But [Nightmare] dodged expertly, yet did not retaliate, fleeing to another location. It seemed that she was toying with her opponents.

"What is with them, these guys. What are they after…?"

At this point, she heard a strange sound. Ryouko frowned.

"Eh…?"

To make an a.n.a.logy, it was similar to a sound in a tornado. She came under the impression that a plane was flying past, but the sky was completely empty. And the airs.p.a.ce that had the s.p.a.cequake alert was closed off, except for the defense force.

But, in an instant, as something that looked like a self-aware tornado pa.s.sed, it raised a gust of strong wind, pa.s.sing through Ryouko"s line of sight in an instant.

"Wha…!"

She increased the intensity of her Territory without hesitation. As they were caught up in the tornado, a few Wizards and marionettes, as well as [Nightmare] were incapable of maintaining their balance and were sent flying.

"Wha, what was that, just now…"

In her confusion, she could not clearly tell what that was. Ryouko blinked.

But, the bullets from below sent Ryouko"s consciousness back into the battlefield. She used her high-intensity Territory to repel the bullets and aimed her laser gun towards the ground.

Although she was wondering about the true ident.i.ty of the tornado, the main priority now was to get rid of [Nightmare]. Ryouko activated her thrusters and re-entered the battlefield.

"Kuwaaaaaah…!"

The hand that was wielding Sandalphon emanated a searing pain. Then the feeling of heat began to envelop his wrist – healing the exhausted hand that would soon be unable to wield the sword.

As s.h.i.+dou advanced through the building, defeating the Wizards along the way, he used Kotori"s powers to somewhat mitigate the strain of wielding Sandalphon.

Using a supernatural power to sustain the cost of using another supernatural power.

But, this vicious cycle, if kept repeating, would only prove fatal for the body. Against the constant barrage of Wizards, s.h.i.+dou"s regenerative abilities were soon failing to catch up – and soon s.h.i.+dou was forced into a predicament.

"Ku…"

As he tried to wield Sandalphon, his hand was no longer able to muster strength. He didn"t release the sword but there was pain throughout his body, as his muscles had began to ache.

s.h.i.+dou bit his teeth and looked at his surroundings.

There were 3 armed Wizards in front of him. 5 enemy Wizards were behind him. In total, eight of them had surrounded s.h.i.+dou.

"You sure made us put in some work. But, this ends here."

The Wizards said as they held their guns. At the same time, s.h.i.+dou suddenly had difficulties breathing.

"Ah, gah…"

It seemed that they were either using the Territory to enclose and suffocate s.h.i.+dou"s body, or lower the concentration of oxygen around him. Even if they didn"t use their guns, it was easy to subdue a human at close range.

Even if s.h.i.+dou tried to resist, his limbs were too heavy to raise. He then fell onto the ground.

"Ku, ugaaa, ah, haaaa…"

His vision began to blur as his consciousness began to leave him.

"Toh, ka…"

—But, just as s.h.i.+dou"s consciousness was about to descend into darkness.

The area around the fallen s.h.i.+dou"s back had begun to sound with a cracking sound. In the next instant, the windows along the corridor began to shatter as its shards fell like rain.

"Uwaaaah!"

The armed Wizards let out a pained sound.

But, the unnatural phenomenon did not stop here. A large wind from the shattered window blew, blowing the three Wizards in front of s.h.i.+dou out of the window.

"Wha…! Im, impossible! The Territory has&mdas