With only Tohka left, I was facing the shadow I had summoned with the Fire Keeper and Ren’s help.
"Hmm... can you understand me?"
-....
Maybe communication was impossible, because the shadow didn’t answer my question at all and just stared at me.
"...Ah, if you understand, nod."
-nod.
As soon as I told it to nod if it understood, the shadow nodded immediately.
Thankfully, communication itself didn’t seem to be a problem.
"Good. Then want to try these on?"
When I took out the Ring of Favor and Protection and the Dark Clutch Ring, which I use whenever I transform into a woman, the shadow equipped both rings on its hands.
Then its body began to waver like heat haze.
Soon, the shadow’s appearance became that of a woman.
"It works normally..."
Relieved to learn that the rings’ abilities worked on the shadow, I let out a breath.
If they hadn’t, things would have gotten a little inconvenient.
"Why the rings?"
Mayuri, who had been watching me test whether the rings worked on the shadow, asked while looking at it.
The reason was, well...
"There’s no way I’d want to watch myself kissing Itsuka-kun."
Even if I wasn’t the one doing it directly, I didn’t want to watch a version of me kissing Itsuka-kun.
It’d be like watching BL or something.
"Ah... right, I guess that makes sense."
Mayuri nodded in understanding at my explanation.
-!
"Hmm? What is it?"
While I was talking with Mayuri, the shadow suddenly started moving.
It looked around and crept away little by little, clearly as if it were wary of something.
Just as I was wondering what that was about—
"I smelled Darling here!"
Miku appeared.
"Miku?"
"Eek! Two Darlings? Is this heaven!"
I had deliberately summoned the shadow in an empty room on [Fraxinus], thinking it would avoid bothering anyone else.
But Miku somehow sniffed it out again and charged straight at my shadow.
-!!!
Seeing Miku coming, the shadow immediately turned and ran.
"...Wait, was that reaction just now because it was wary of Miku?"
"Looks like it."
So that was why it had been watching the surroundings—it had been wary of Miku approaching.
As expected of something made from another me, its instincts in that area were terrifyingly sharp.
-!!!
It wasn’t speaking, but the shadow looked at me with eyes that clearly said, save me.
Miku kept chasing it, and the shadow seemed to know exactly what would happen if Miku caught it.
Well, it was made based on me, after all.
"Haa... Miku, stop."
With a sigh, I grabbed Miku’s arm from behind and stopped the chase.
"Aah! Darling! I almost got to feel another Darling!"
-....
As if relieved now that Miku had been stopped by me, the shadow patted its chest.
Seeing a creature that acted so much like me was weirdly unsettling.
Still, thanks to that shadow, I’d avoided the disaster of actually kissing Itsuka-kun myself, so I was inwardly grateful as I asked Miku,
"Cut the nonsense. Why are you here?"
Even if Miku was obsessed with women, she wouldn’t have come all this way for no reason.
Thinking there had to be a reason, I asked, and after a moment Miku delivered shocking news.
"Ah! Shido collapsed!"
"...What!?"
-!
The news was that Itsuka-kun had collapsed.
******
At the news that Itsuka-kun had collapsed, I hurried out of the room and ran to the command room, where everyone was staring at the central monitor with serious expressions.
"What happened!"
"Hi! You’re here!"
"Shido suddenly collapsed!"
At Marina’s words, I turned my eyes to the monitor, and on the screen I saw Itsuka-kun sprawled on the floor while Tohka checked his condition.
"...Earlier than expected."
"Huh? What do you mean... wait, could it be a rampage?"
The only thing Murasame-san could have meant by earlier than expected was a rampage.
So I asked that, and as if my guess was right, Murasame-san nodded.
"A rampage already..."
The spiritual power rampage had started earlier than the expected time of noon.
Because of that, wind began swirling around Itsuka-kun, who had been lying face-down on the floor.
[Eek!]
Tohka was blown away by the sudden gust and separated from Itsuka-kun.
Having forced Tohka away from his side, Itsuka-kun staggered to his feet and then settled into a stance.
"That stance is..."
A stance I felt like I’d seen somewhere before.
He spread his legs and brought both hands to one side of his waist, a pose that looked like something straight out of a manga.
[Suuu... Shuu... Gooo... Booo... PAAAAH―――!!!]
Right, it was the one from that embarrassing footage that got transmitted to everyone as black history when Itsuka-kun was playing that weird dating sim he made on [Fraxinus] and failed.
More specifically, it was the technique he had used in the video of his own special move, the one he hated and was most embarrassed about—the one he was now actually using while rampaging.
Shunsen Goubakuha.
The peak of Itsuka-kun’s black history had come into reality, and the spiritual power gathered in his hands fired off as a straight beam, smashing the ceiling of the building Ratatoskr had prepared.
Then Itsuka-kun flew through the hole in the ceiling and headed off somewhere.
"...I never thought I’d actually see that."
Even if his spiritual power had rampaged, I never expected to see that in real life, so I stared blankly at the screen when urgent voices rang out.
"Shido-kun is releasing an abnormal spiritual wave from his entire body!"
"Spiritual power readings, all categories beyond measurement limits!"
"All other emotional readings are unmeasurable! He’s rampaging!"
"Spacequake alarm! Maximum alert!"
"At this rate... the damage will exceed even the Great Disaster from 30 years ago!"
The Eurasian Great Disaster that happened 30 years ago.
At the words that a spacequake even larger than that one, which had been so massive it changed the world map, might now occur because of Itsuka-kun’s rampage, I snapped back to my senses.
"Let’s go."
What I had to do now was subdue Itsuka-kun and make sure those connected by the path could kiss him.
Knowing that, I spoke to the shadow.
-nod.
The shadow nodded too, agreeing with me.
"Ren!"
"I’m already ready."
Ren, who was among those who needed to kiss him, had already finished preparing by manifesting in limited form.
I gave Ren a small nod, then took any armor from my inventory and tossed it to the shadow.
-?
"Put it on for now."
-nod.
It looked puzzled, but the shadow apparently decided it would be better to wear it and nodded before equipping the armor.
Given the state Itsuka-kun was in right now, wearing armor would probably help.
Even if he was immortal, it still took time to revive, so reducing the damage he took was the right call.
Since I’d thrown it a Havel set by chance, it couldn’t be helped that it looked a little extra chunky.
"Good, let’s go now."
Now it was time to go catch the rampaging Itsuka-kun.
******
While Hieta and the other spirits went after Shido, Itsuka Kotori remained inside the building, holding a switch in her hand and preparing to press it.
The switch was the device Ratatoskr had prepared to activate [Dainsleif] in order to kill Shido if he rampaged.
If she pressed the button, the Dainsleif existing outside the Earth would accurately target Shido, and Shido would die.
"I’m sorry, Onii-chan..."
Kotori, who had to activate with her own hands a weapon made for the truly worst-case scenario—one that would kill her own brother—muttered as she was about to press the button.
"...Origami?"
Origami grabbed Kotori’s hand and stopped her.
"I won’t let you use that. We can all figure something out together."
Knowing exactly what Kotori was about to activate, Origami decided to persuade her.
Right now, Shido’s rampage was a problem of spiritual power.
Which meant that if they could just stop him and succeed in making him kiss, there was no need to kill him.
"Origami is right."
Tohka also agreed with Origami and tried to stop Kotori.
"Kotori isn’t alone. I’m here, Origami is here, Rinne is here, Ren is here, and Hieta is here. If everyone works together, we can definitely save Shido!"
"Tohka... Origami..."
Kotori lifted her head at the two of them and looked up at the sky.
There, Shido was heading somewhere, while those chasing after him were engaged in a pursuit.
Everyone else was working so hard for Shido—so why couldn’t she do the same?
After all, Dainsleif was only the last resort. There was still time left before giving up.
"...Okay."
And so Kotori, Tohka, and Origami also began chasing after Shido.
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