The classroom floor caved in, and a massive throne emerged from below. Tohka forcefully yanked the hilt of the sword embedded in the throne’s backrest. In an instant, a shockwave of terrifying force burst outward and swept across everything.
Shido squeezed his eyes shut at the sight of the shockwave surging toward him through the thick cloud of dust. It was a reflex to protect his eyes from the small fragments flying his way.
"Whaaaaat?!"
His feet were no longer on the ground. A floating sensation seized his entire body. Shido screamed as if he were on a ride at an amusement park. The powerful shockwave slammed into him and hurled him out of the building. From the scene flickering into view, he realized he was falling toward the ground.
Flinch—Shido, terrified, shut his eyes again. Then a jolt ran through his whole body.
"Ugh...! Wh-what... is this...?"
Thud! For something that had been launched from such a great height, the sound of impact against the ground was surprisingly light. Shido, who had caught a glimpse of the ruined school before closing his eyes, opened them with a dazed expression at the cold sensation on his face.
"Itsuka-kun. Itsuka-kun? Are you all right?"
"Huh, wha, wha...?"
Slowly opening his eyes, Shido stared blankly. Several people in uniforms were looking down at him, lying on the floor, with worried expressions. Seeing that, Shido muttered, "What happened...?" and looked around in confusion.
"Where am I...?"
"This is [Fraxinus]. When Itsuka-kun was hit by the shockwave and flung out of the building, we retrieved you with the transport device. Are you injured anywhere?"
"N-no. I’m fine..."
Listening to the uniformed crew member, Shido looked around the space he was in. It was definitely a place he remembered. The room with the transport device using a Realizer—the same one he had used just moments ago when he went down to the school to meet Tohka.
"A-and, by the way... what’s the situation outside right now?"
Shido asked the uniformed crew member, breaking into a cold sweat. He had been thrown from the building by the shockwave and was still rattled, but his head hadn’t been injured, so the memory of what had happened just before was still vivid.
If he hadn’t seen wrong, when the classroom wall collapsed under AST’s attack, Tohka had seen someone appear beyond the broken wall and charged at them with her sword. And that someone was a person Shido knew very well.
A foreign exchange student from Korea who had arrived ten days ago. He was definitely a student named Kang Haneul.
He had no idea why Tohka had suddenly attacked an ordinary student who wasn’t even AST. But a normal human being could never survive an attack from Tohka, the being called a Spirit. Imagining the horrific scene, Shido looked at the crew member and begged him to tell him.
"That... I think it would be better if you saw it yourself."
"Huh?"
Avoiding Shido’s gaze, the crew member wore a strange expression. Shido tilted his head at the crew member’s refusal to give a straight answer, but when the man gestured for him to follow, Shido had no choice but to say okay and go after him.
Passing through walls and floors with a cold, mechanical steel feel, Shido kept walking. When he reached the dead end at the end of the corridor, he stopped in front of the huge door right before him. The electronic panel at the top recognized him, gave a cheerful beep, and opened the door. The accompanying crew member left him with one last line: "Please go inside."
Shido stepped through the door.
"Damn it...! Why did something like that suddenly show up?!"
And inside, Shido could hear Kotori’s irritated voice.
"...Shin. You’re here?"
"Reine-san! What the hell is going on right now?"
Reine, standing in front of a panel, spotted Shido. Shido ran up to her and asked what was happening. In response, Reine silently pointed toward the large screen.
"Wh-what is that...?"
On the huge screen in the bridge, an unreal scene was playing out so vividly it felt like a movie. Seeing it, Shido gasped in shock and couldn’t close his mouth.
"No Spirit power is being detected from the target fighting Princess! Pattern Blue! Presumed identification name: Unknown!"
"Unknown...! So that’s what had been hiding in Raizen High School as an exchange student!"
"Ko, Kotori. What the hell is going on here? And what’s this Unknown thing supposed to be...?"
Hearing the crew member’s shout, Shido caught one noun in the middle of it and turned to Kotori with a question. The atmosphere on [Fraxinus]’s bridge was just as restless as Shido was after seeing the screen.
Identification name: Princess. Spirit Yatogami Tohka. On the screen, she was fighting someone who had suddenly appeared on the scene. That someone was flying at a speed comparable to Tohka’s while riding a giant dragon skull.
Summoning several dragon skulls about the same size as the one he was riding, the figure fired beams at Tohka. The sudden appearance of this being left not only the crew members but Kotori herself flustered.
"What on earth is going on—"
"...Unknown. That’s the identification name given to a humanoid life-form that suddenly appeared ten days ago and then vanished without a trace. Since we couldn’t detect any Spacequake or Spirit wave response, we couldn’t determine whether it was a Spirit or not, so we gave it the identification name Unknown, meaning an existence so mysterious we know nothing about it."
"Ten days ago...? That was definitely..."
"That’s right."
Kotori cut Shido off and spoke.
"The Unknown that suddenly appeared back then slammed straight into [Princess], who was at the scene. And that was also the first time you encountered [Princess], Shido."
"...!"
At Kotori’s words, Shido widened his eyes in shock and recalled the memory from ten days ago.
The place where a Spacequake had occurred and everything had been destroyed. Standing nobly in the center of the massive crater, Tohka swung her sword toward somewhere and unleashed a huge slash. And immediately after that, Tohka was sent flying into a building as if she had been struck by an invisible attack.
"No way, that was..."
"...I really never expected this."
Crunch—Kotori bit down on the candy in her mouth and frowned.
In the sudden situation, everyone on the bridge wore troubled expressions. Still, if there was one good thing, it was that Shido had succeeded in getting a date promise from [Princess]... no, from Tohka.
If Unknown had barged in during the middle of the conquest, things would have gotten messy. Kotori let out a relieved sigh that Unknown had only intruded at the point where the conquest was nearing its conclusion.
"What about AST?"
"They’re keeping their distance and standing by. A small number of them charged at [Princess], but they were intercepted by the Angel and neutralized!"
"So they’re flustered too. Well, if we’re flustered, AST probably isn’t any different."
At the crew member’s report, Kotori quietly watched the screen.
"Still, if Unknown managed to live through school life without any trouble for ten days, that means he can at least talk to people, right?"
In one corner of the screen, Unknown’s profile was displayed as he fought Tohka. It was data secretly pulled from the database of Raizen High School, where the Korean exchange students who had come to Japan ten days earlier were registered.
"Kang... Haneul...? I see. So that’s Unknown’s name. Shido, do you know anything about this Korean student named Kang Haneul?"
"You’re asking me that all of a sudden...? Aside from the occasional weird stunt, he was just normal..."
"What was his personality like? Was he violent, eccentric, or maybe the kind of guy who couldn’t even hold a normal conversation?"
"Not really. Kang Haneul was... just a normal, kind person."
Shido racked his brain and desperately tried to recall the information he had about the person from his memory. Fortunately, the impression Kang Haneul had left on him wasn’t all that bad. Though there was also the time he suddenly declared himself one of the school store’s Four Heavenly Kings and appeared with the other four in a bizarre pose, so Shido had also come away with the impression that he was a pretty unusual guy.
But that didn’t mean Shido thought badly of him. He simply said aloud exactly how he had seen Kang Haneul.
"I see. Then at the very least, he won’t attack us first."
Kotori muttered that as she watched the battle between the two figures on the screen.
○○○
A crescent-shaped slash traced through the air. I dodged the razor-sharp attack, and it struck the ground, causing a massive explosion. Another slash came flying at me. I hurriedly summoned a [Gaster Blaster]. Thick white beams tore through the air with a thunderous roar. Five beams pierced through the incoming slashes and flew straight back toward Tohka.
"Th-this isn’t right...!"
I had fired them only to cancel out the slashes. Since the attacks were coming at such terrifying speed, I thought the firepower might not be enough, so I summoned five more. But contrary to my expectations, the five beams did more than cancel the slashes—they went on to attack Tohka as well. Fortunately, Tohka dodged my attack, but since this was my first time fighting while continuously summoning [Gaster Blasters], it was hard to judge the exact power of my attacks.
"This is driving me insane, seriously...!"
While muttering "This is ridiculous" over and over in my head, I kept intercepting Tohka’s attacks. I wanted to use teleportation and get out of here right now, but the problem was that I still wasn’t good at using it, so I needed some preparation time to activate the ability. But with slashes flying nonstop like this, there was no way to prepare.
I could only keep using my abilities to block Tohka’s attacks as best I could.
"Haa... haa..."
I was out of breath. I had no idea how many times I’d used [Gaster Blasters]. Even when I tried to grab her with telekinesis, it wasn’t working well anymore, as if she had adapted.
I realized my situation was extremely dangerous. Fighting with Sans’s power consumed a tremendous amount of stamina. And I was starting to hit my limit.
In manga, protagonists would somehow survive situations like this by saying they’d already thought of their next move, but I was in my first real battle and my mind had gone completely blank. I had no room to think about anything like that.
I wished AST would help me...! But after Origami and several AST members charged Tohka and got knocked down, they had only kept their distance and watched.
"Haaaaaah──!!"
Another slash made of massive light cut through the air and came flying at me. I managed to dodge it, but the [Gaster Blaster] I was using as a foothold was destroyed. I summoned another one and climbed onto it.
What do I do...? Is there no way...? If I squeezed out every last bit of stamina I had left and summoned a ton of [Gaster Blasters], then fired them all at once, I’d definitely be able to beat Tohka.
But I was fighting to defend myself, not to kill Tohka. And even the idea that I could win was only a guess based on my strongest attack. If Tohka’s durability was stronger than I thought, or if she dodged with that incredible speed of hers, then everything would be for nothing.
More than that, if I did something like that, the city would be completely wrecked. If that really happened, I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on even if AST nearby showered me with bullets.
Let’s try another way...! Use the fact that I know Shido and somehow calm Tohka down!
"Tohka-san...!!"
My voice rang out desperately in the space filled with explosions and thunderous booms. Thankfully, it wasn’t swallowed by the noise around me and reached Tohka safely. She flinched, her shoulders jerking, and stopped the slash she had been about to unleash. Seeing that, I smiled in relief and tried to move toward her right away.
──────But then.
"Die─!!"
"Waaahhh─?!"
Tohka’s face twisted with even more anger than before, and she sent an even stronger slash flying at me.
"How do you know that name...! The name Shido gave me...!"
"I-I...! I heard Shido shouting that at Tohka-san just now! And I’m friends with Shido—" "Aaaah?! I-I don’t have any intention of fighting Tohka-san at all— aaagh?!"
I panicked and threw myself to the side at the ferocious slash. I immediately summoned a Blaster and counterattacked. An explosion erupted in midair. Narrowing the distance a little compared to earlier, I did my best to emphasize that I knew Shido and shouted loud enough for Tohka to hear.
But the plan of "You’re friends with my friend, so surely you won’t attack me...?" failed before I could even try it. If anything, it seemed to have made her even angrier, because Tohka unleashed her slashes with even fiercer momentum than before.
"Don’t lie to me─! Why would I believe the words of someone who tried to ambush me?!"
"Ambush?! I never intended to do anything like that...!"
"No questions asked! I’ll split you in half and kill you─!"
With a fierce shout, Tohka swung her sword.
Come to think of it, even if Tohka had attacked first back then, there was no way she’d just believe the words of the person who had slammed her into a building. If you believed that, you were just an idiot. I wouldn’t believe it either.
"Ugh...! What do I do now...?"
I kept dodging Tohka’s attacks while desperately thinking. But no good solution came to mind. I was getting anxious. And compared to me, whose stamina was steadily dropping, the power of Tohka’s attacks only kept increasing.
They were so powerful that even the slashes that missed me and flew into the ground shattered the surrounding earth and sent up thick clouds of dust.
..................Wait. Dust?
"...Dust?"
"Where are you looking─!"
The moment I saw the dust, an idea flashed through my mind. It hadn’t rained for a while, so the ground was dry. The dust scattered everywhere by the powerful shockwaves was incredibly thick. If a person went into it, they wouldn’t be able to tell where I was—it was less like dust and more like a smoke screen.
The blue flames in my left eye suddenly flared larger. I stretched out my left hand toward Tohka and simultaneously summoned several [Gaster Blasters], aiming them at the ground. Strong telekinesis shoved Tohka back. At the same time, several white beams struck the ground and exploded into pillars of light.
A far larger cloud of dust than before spread out like a smoke screen. I went deep into it, stepped onto the ground, and immediately summoned bones to raise a wall around me as if to enclose myself.
I had pushed Tohka back with telekinesis, but that was only to buy even one more second. Soon she would regain her stance and attack again.
But now it was fine. She wouldn’t be able to see me through the dust, so while she was blinded, I’d use teleportation to escape this place.
"Hurry...! Hurry...!"
Gathering my strength, I slowly shaped it into the form needed for teleportation. The image in my mind was the hotel where we were staying. I was about to use teleportation with that as my destination.
Boom! The bone wall surrounding me shook violently. Tohka’s slash.
Boom! A second hit. Cracks spread through the wall.
Boom! A third. Through a small gap in the wall, bright light poured in.
Tohka’s shout of "Haaaaaah──!!" grew louder and louder.
Snap. I snapped my fingers.
"Kh...?! I-I’m alive...?"
The bone wall surrounding me vanished from sight, and at the same time I felt as if I were dropping downward. A soft, cushioned sensation spread through my whole body. Lying face-down as if I had fallen forward, I hurriedly lifted my face from whatever cushion I had landed on and looked around.
It was the same space I had pictured in my head. At that realization, I let out a sigh of relief.
My room at the hotel. The situation had been so urgent that I’d worried I might have messed up, but thankfully the teleportation seemed to have worked without any problems.
"Ha... haha... I really thought I was done for..."
Had I hit my head in the fight with Tohka or something? It wasn’t funny at all, but for some reason laughter kept slipping out. Maybe it was the relief of having survived. I had shown my face in front of AST, earned Tohka’s full hatred, and, though not intentionally, even gotten myself wedged between Shido and Tohka. In that worst possible situation, instead of thinking, "What am I supposed to do now...?" the first thing that came to mind was that I was tired and wanted to sleep.
For now... let’s sleep and think later.
"Haaah..."
I lowered my head again and let all the strength drain from my body. My eyelids grew heavy with exhaustion. I could hear occasional booming sounds like explosions through the window, as if Tohka and AST were still fighting, but drowsiness was overwhelming me, and I muttered, "It’ll work out somehow..." before closing my eyes.
My consciousness sank straight into the abyss.
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