“I’ll borrow him back for a moment, Shido.”
“Burn, [Sandalphon]!!!”
The commander summoned a massive angel in the form of a halberd—specifically, one whose blade was engulfed in roaring flames.
“Now, let’s start our date.”
The moment the commander landed, several Tokisaki clones rushed her at once. With a single swing of the halberd, she incinerated them all in a wave of fire.
Then, she slammed the weapon down. Fire raced across the ground, purging every Tokisaki surrounding me, Itsuka-kun, and the other two.
Taking advantage of the brief opening, the commander reached Itsuka-kun’s side.
“Kotori, this is...”
“Stay still, Shido. You’d die far too easily in your current state.”
“Kihihihit! Not bad~ But did you really think this was the end?”
Tokisaki aimed her gun at the commander once more and pulled the trigger.
“Commander! Watch out!”
Tokisaki vanished from sight, reappearing instantaneously above the commander.
She swung her weapon down with lethal intent, but the commander blocked the attack and leaped back.
“Itsuka-kun. Take this.”
“This is...?”
“It’ll save your life once.”
While Tokisaki was occupied with the commander, I pressed the [Ring of Favor and Protection] into Itsuka-kun’s hand. Its effect was simple: if the wearer suffered a fatal blow, the ring would shatter permanently to prevent death once.
“Haa... Then I’ll have to get serious too.”
Once I confirmed Itsuka-kun had the ring, I steeled myself. Until now, I had remained in the [Ember] state. Now, it was time to enter the [Incarnation of Kings] state.
Thud
“Hieta?! What are you doing?!”
I drove the Spiral Sword deep into my own chest. Itsuka-kun looked horrified, but there was no other way. This was the trigger for [Incarnation of Kings].
Ignoring his shout, I pushed the blade further until it completely pierced my body. Then, I activated the weapon art: [Ember].
My body ignited, and within seconds, I was blazing with a fierce, blinding intensity.
“Hoo...”
As I exhaled, the flames flickered. This truly wasn't something a sane person should be doing.
“Hieta, y-your body...”
“Don’t worry about it. I can’t feel pain in this body anyway.”
I tossed a quick reassurance to the worrying Itsuka-kun and lunged toward the commander. This state had a strict time limit—ten to fifteen minutes at most. Once it expired, an overwhelming wave of fatigue would crash over me. If I pushed beyond that limit, my body would collapse, and even after reviving, I’d be forced into a coma-like sleep for two days.
“Wonderful! Wonderful! As expected of a spirit who can manifest an angel! I’m so excited! So excited!”
“If you’re that excited, then play with me too!”
Shifting the Spiral Sword into the form of a curved sword, I swung violently at Tokisaki.
“Tch!”
Tokisaki dodged, though the strike left a shallow cut across her skin.
“Hiki, you...”
The commander’s eyes widened at the state of my body. But with the enemy right in front of us, she knew there was no time for concern; she tore her gaze away from me and locked back onto Tokisaki.
“I didn’t know Hii-san could use flames too. [Zaphkiel]—[Zayin]!”
[Zayin] was the bullet that froze the target's time. In that instant, I had only one option.
“Sorry, Commander!”
I lunged forward, grabbed the back of the commander’s neck, and yanked her to the side. Fortunately, the bullet missed her.
“What are you doing all of a sudden?!”
“It’s an emergency, I had no choice—!”
Suddenly, my body froze. More precisely, the time within my body stopped. Damn it. She had fired another shot.
“No matter how strong your power is, it’s meaningless if you’re stopped.”
Despite the time stop, her voice echoed clearly. The commander had been hit as well, her body frozen in place. Then, several Tokisaki clones materialized around us and began spraying bullets at me.
“Well then, goodbye~”
Tokisaki approached, pressing one gun to the commander’s head and another to mine, and pulled both triggers simultaneously.
“Kihit! Kihihit! Ah, ah~ It’s over~ They were such rare, strong opponents, too. How heartless. How heartless~”
“What are you talking about?”
There was no way a simple shot like that would kill me. I shifted the Spiral Sword into a spear and cast [Miracle: Great Heal]. After mending the commander’s wounds, I thrust the blade toward Tokisaki.
“That won’t work~”
We'll see about that.
Boom
“Ghk!”
The thrust had been a mere feint to close the distance. The real attack was [Force]. Struck full-force, Tokisaki was sent flying, coughing up blood.
“That’s some seriously nasty shooting.”
The commander had recovered by then. Tokisaki looked at us—both of us standing tall despite being shot—wiped the blood from her mouth, and summoned her angel once more.
“[Zaphkiel]!!! [Aleph]!!!”
Tokisaki used [Aleph] to accelerate herself and the surrounding clones. Half of them vanished, reappearing behind Itsuka-kun, while the other half charged me.
“Tch.”
The commander immediately sprinted to rescue Itsuka-kun, leaving me to handle the clones alone.
“I don’t have much time left.”
It was time for the final sprint.
I slammed the Spiral Sword into the ground and gathered every ounce of my strength. Just as the clones reached me—
KWAANG!
With a thunderous explosion, a colossal blaze erupted around me. This was the second phase of [Incarnation of Kings], its final form. My Spiral Sword transformed into a massive greatsword.
Bzzt!
With the crackle of electricity, a spear made of pure lightning materialized in my hand. It was the miracle [Sunlight Spear], the most devastating attack in the lightning series.
I hurled the [Sunlight Spear] high into the sky.
Rumble!
With a crash of thunder, the spear split into multiple bolts that rained down upon Tokisaki’s clones, impaling and obliterating them instantly.
“Rend—[Sandalphon]!!!”
It seemed the commander had handled her side as well. I let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed where I stood.
“What exactly are you people?!”
Yeah. I don’t really know myself. That’s a very profound question.
“[Zaphkiel]! [Dalet]!”
The bullet that rewinds time. I watched as the wounds on Tokisaki’s body closed and vanished. The commander taunted her as she watched the recovery.
“Already done? You could show a little more skill.”
“You’ll regret saying that! Zaphkieeeeeel!!!!!”
“That’s not happening...”
The moment Tokisaki summoned her angel, the commander suddenly staggered and collapsed.
Damn it. My time limit was running out too.
“Kihihit! Your luck has finally run out~!”
“Kotori! Are you okay?!”
Just as Itsuka-kun and I scrambled toward the commander, she forced herself back to her feet.
“[Sandalphon]. [Megido]!!!”
The commander’s halberd began to shift. The blade vanished and the spiked tip retracted, transforming the weapon into a massive cannon.
The flames surrounding the commander began to condense, swirling violently inside the barrel.
“We’ll do it!!!”
Sensing the danger, Tokisaki summoned a wall of clones to shield herself.
“Turn them to ash! [Sandalphon]!”
A beam of concentrated fire erupted from the cannon, incinerating Tokisaki’s clones and even scorching a portion of the angel itself.
Seeing that, and knowing my time was up, I figured the commander could handle the rest and canceled the transformation.
“Haa...”
As I exhaled in relief, a plume of black smoke rose from my mouth. Well, [Incarnation of Kings] literally burns the user's body, so it made sense.
However, as I looked at the commander, something about her eyes was wrong. They weren't her usual eyes; it looked as if she had been swallowed by madness.
“Pick up your gun again. The struggle isn’t over yet. The war isn’t over yet. Come on, let’s fight a little more, Kurumi. Isn’t this the battle you wanted? Isn’t this the conflict you craved!”
Despite the commander’s provocation, Tokisaki kept her head lowered.
“If you can’t point your gun at me anymore, then die.”
“Kotori! Hey, Kotori! If you go any further, she’ll actually die! Wasn’t [Ratatoskr] supposed to solve problems without killing spirits?!”
Even as Itsuka-kun tried to stop her, the commander continued to charge the cannon.
“Fuck!”
The situation had become so surreal that the curse slipped out on its own. The commander was completely consumed by madness; she couldn't hear a thing.
That cannon was going to fire. Not probably—definitely. And right now, my body was so exhausted I could barely move. The only way to react in time was to enter [Incarnation of Kings] once more.
“Kurumi!”
To make matters worse, Itsuka-kun stepped in front of Tokisaki, making the situation critical. Without thinking, I re-entered [Incarnation of Kings], equipped Hikinon in one hand, and blurred in front of them.
“Hieta?!”
“〔Oh! Master! You finally took me out—AAAH! What is that?!!!〕”
The cannon fired, and I immediately activated Hikinon’s weapon art: [Ice Shield].
KWAAAANG!
The moment the beam slammed into the ice shield, Hikinon screamed.
〔Aaaagh! Fuck!!! It’s so hot!!! Master, you bastard!!! Fuck! This isn’t right!!! Send me back to the inventory!!! I want to go back!!! Fucking send me back to the inventory!!!〕
“Shut up!!! You chose your master! Endure it with grit and guts!!!”
〔You bastard master!!!!〕
Thankfully, the beam was blocked. The only side effect was a massive chunk of ice being blasted back toward the commander, though she would likely dodge it on her own. I no longer had the strength to even keep my body upright.
〔We did it! Master! We blocked it—Master?! What’s wrong?!!!〕
“Hieta!!!”
With those two voices as the last things I heard, my vision faded to black.
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