For now, I was the only one who knew that Itsuka-kun had gone missing, since the commander had asked me not to tell the other spirits and cause a panic.
And now, as school had ended and we were heading back to the spirit mansion, a sudden spacequake alarm started blaring.
"What is it?"
"Is it another spirit showing up?"
"If the alarm’s going off, we need to evacuate properly!"
"Miku!?"
Before I knew it, Miku had appeared beside us and said that, and then a voice came from the other side.
"No need for that."
"Tobiichi Origami! Why are you in a place like this!?"
"There won’t be any spacequake."
Everyone was still reeling from Tobiichi’s sudden appearance when her claim that there would be no spacequake turned that shock into confusion.
"What are you talking about? Everyone’s evacuating right now!"
"I asked for this alarm to be sounded. In reality, neither a spirit nor AST will appear."
"What!? Then why in the world would you do something like that!"
At Tohka’s question, Tobiichi pressed down on a black card-like thing resting on her palm.
The card unfolded, revealing a purple screen, and Tobiichi brought it to her forehead and said,
"To bring you all down, right here!"
Tobiichi changed.
As the light pouring off her gradually faded, our vision cleared, and her transformed outfit was the DEM CR-Unit we had seen before.
She had really come here grinding her teeth, determined to wipe us out.
Once Tobiichi equipped the CR-Unit, she immediately summoned a massive cannon and fired at us.
"That crazy bastard!"
There was still a normal human here, and now Tobiichi had launched a sudden attack. Cursing under my breath, I scooped up the Fire Keeper and ran for the nearby woods.
The other spirits seemed to have the same idea, since none of them wanted to damage the city either.
Tobiichi flew after us.
"What the hell are you doing all of a sudden? There’s a normal person here too!"
"I told you. I’m going to bring you all down—spirits!"
There was a poisonous edge to Tobiichi’s eyes.
More precisely, it was the look of a revenge-obsessed avenger.
"I really can’t forgive you, you piece of shit."
She had attacked even though there were ordinary people around.
And on top of that, one of those people was someone I knew.
There was nothing about Tobiichi that I could forgive.
Even if Tobiichi had lost her parents because of spirits, that still only applied to spirits. She was attacking even with ordinary people right there?
"Tobiichi. Try enduring this."
If she wanted a fight with spirits that badly, then she’d have to get through me first.
Crackle-!
A lightning bow formed in my hand, using the catalyst I had obtained by sealing Natsumi—more precisely, the catalyst gained from sealing Natsumi.
The weapon I got from sealing Natsumi was a weapon shaped somewhat like her staff.
Its power changed shape depending on what the user wanted, making it usable as any kind of catalyst.
And the ring on my hand right now was the black ring I had gotten from sealing Miss Maria and Marina last time.
In other words, my lightning attack power had shot way up.
"Miracle—[Lightning Arrow]."
As an arrow made of lightning shot from my hand toward Tobiichi, a crystal spear flew beside me as well.
"Sachi?"
The one who launched the crystal spear was the Fire Keeper.
Looking at me with eyes burning with resolve, she said,
"I can’t keep being a burden forever."
At the Fire Keeper’s words, the other spirits’ attacks all rushed toward Tobiichi at once.
******
While Hieta and the others fought Origami, things were being watched aboard [Fraxinus].
"Tobiichi Origami!? Why is she in a place like that!?"
"Her magical power reading is enormous! It’s not even comparable to before! For Tohka’s group, without fully manifested spirit forms..."
[Don’t worry. Higa’s over there, isn’t he?]
Marina’s voice flowed through the speakers inside [Fraxinus], answering Kawagoe’s anxiety.
In reality, the situation on the front line was very unfavorable for Origami.
Tohka’s slashes came flying from the air, and the Yamai sisters’ close-range attacks struck at the openings created when she blocked them.
On top of that, from below, arrows made of lightning and spears of blue crystal kept flying toward Origami.
Rinne and Mayuri were shooting down Origami’s attacks so they wouldn’t damage the other spirits.
Even without Rinne and Mayuri joining in, the spirits were overwhelming her.
"[Fraxinus], full speed ahead! Deploy [Yggdrasil Leaves] and move in for support!"
In that situation, Kotori chose to support Hieta’s group.
A choice made to bring Origami down faster.
Just as the crew was about to operate the devices all at once under Kotori’s orders, a powerful impact suddenly shook [Fraxinus].
Wiiing-! Wiiing-!
"What’s going on!?"
The siren blared loudly, announcing an emergency, and Kotori jumped to her feet in a panic.
[We’re under attack from outside! Territory reduced by 30%! Another aerial ship has appeared at three o’clock!]
It was Marina who answered Kotori’s question.
"What!?"
"I-it’s true!"
One of the crew members brought up footage from the camera filming outside on the central monitor.
What appeared on the screen was a massive white aerial ship.
Its name was [Getia].
The DEM aerial ship had been sent by Westcott to stop [Ratatoskr] from interfering with Origami’s battle.
"That’s DEM’s...! Of all times!"
"Incoming communication!"
"Communication?"
"A communication request has come in from that ship to [Fraxinus]’s line!"
"...Put it through!"
Hearing that [Getia] was requesting communication, Kotori hesitated for a moment, but she also knew that if she refused, there would be nothing they could do in this situation, so she accepted the call.
The line between [Getia] and [Fraxinus] connected, and the screen showing [Getia] switched to Ellen, the world’s strongest wizard.
[It would be polite to say it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for answering the call.]
"Ellen Mages!"
[You know me? I’m honored, Itsuka Kotori.]
"So what could the world’s strongest wizard possibly want? If this is an invitation to tea, save it for later. I’m busy right now. One of those rotten employees from an evil corporation is pointing directly at my kids, after all."
Kotori’s words were clearly meant to provoke Ellen, no matter who heard them.
But even so, Ellen’s expression didn’t change as she stated her purpose.
[I have two matters to discuss. First, I’ll give you three minutes from now. Those who value their lives should evacuate the ship immediately.]
At Ellen’s words, the crew stirred.
By that statement, one of Ellen’s goals was clearly to shoot [Fraxinus] down.
It was an unbelievable claim to make about the technological pinnacle created by [Ratatoskr], but there was one person who made it believable.
That person was the wizard Ellen Mages.
-That might actually be true. That ship called [Getia] is basically one giant CR-Unit. Ellen’s controlling it alone, and she’s dumping all the Realizer output into it. That says it all.
And as if to prove Ellen wasn’t lying, Marina—the one Westcott had created—sent a message to Kotori’s terminal.
"...Tch."
Normally, an aerial ship would be easier to control with multiple people handling it, but for one person to bear all of that alone, and for her brain to withstand the load, was absurd.
But with that absurdity sitting right in front of her, Kotori could only click her tongue.
"So what, you’re planning to shoot down [Fraxinus]?"
Still, as the commander, Kotori hid her agitation and smoothly kept the conversation going with Ellen.
[In the end, I can’t deny that possibility. By the way, [Fraxinus]... so it’s a “world tree.” The one who named it must have been Elliot, yes?]
"...!"
At the fact that Ellen knew the name of the founder of [Ratatoskr]—the man who even now supported Kotori and Shido’s activities—Kotori’s eyes wavered for a moment.
"So, what’s the other matter?"
[That’s right. For whoever survives this battle by fleeing, I would like them to pass a message on to Elliot.]
"A message...?"
Kotori couldn’t understand Ellen’s intent at all when she asked for a message to be delivered of all things.
What was she plotting now?
While Kotori was suspicious, Ellen spoke the message in a slightly angry voice.
[Elliot... Elliot...! You traitorous bastard! You backstabbing coward who turned your back on our vow! Prepare yourself! No matter where you hide, I will find you and cut off your head!]
So sudden was Ellen’s outburst that the atmosphere inside [Fraxinus] sank a little.
Since Ellen had been calm until just a moment ago, the crew’s reaction wasn’t strange.
[Ahem. That is all. Then I’ll wait three minutes from now. Please evacuate.]
After learning Ellen’s purpose, Kotori let out a long sigh and sat back down.
Then she asked the other crew members,
"So that’s how it is. What do you want to do? The enemy is humanity’s strongest. Or maybe now she’s second. Anyway, if you want to run, you can run."
Wanting to keep the crew from getting dragged into this if she could, Kotori’s words did not produce a single person who said they wanted to flee.
Instead, they spoke their minds.
"No way. If we were the type to run here, we wouldn’t have been serving under the commander from the start!"
"Exactly. Running and leaving the commander behind? How is that any different from dying?"
"That’s right! I don’t know if she’s humanity’s strongest or whatever, but let’s show her what we’re made of!"
"Please give the order, Commander. I’ve already written my will."
"I’ve set it up so the data on my home computer’s D drive will be erased if I die!"
"Of course! Hmm~! Running away and then getting punished by the commander later wouldn’t be so bad e—ghk!"
Kannazuki got his foot stepped on by Kotori after saying something weird at the end, but even so, there was no fear in their eyes.
"That’s what they say."
[I see. What a shame.]
"AR-008! Parallel drive from 3 through 6! Begin mana charging! Prepare [Mistilteinn]! Target: DEM aerial ship [Getia]!"
"Roger!"
Now, the battle between the two aerial ships had begun.
--------------------
[Witch]’s staff
A catalyst made from [Witch]’s spiritual power
It contains [Witch]’s spiritual power, which can change into anything
Normally, [Witch] can transform into anything, but this staff has degraded and can no longer do so
The combat art is “All Things in Flux”
A combat art effective no matter whether it is equipped in the left or right hand
When used, normal attacks change the form of the talisman
Heavy attacks change it into the form of a pyromancy flame
If no action is taken, it returns to a staff
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