Thanks to Kurumi, Itsuka Shido broke through the encirclement and entered Tengu Square.
He entered the venue alongside her.
Inside, countless people lay collapsed in the audience seats as if fast asleep, while Miku, Yoshino, and the Yamai sisters waited for them on stage.
“Miku!”
“Haa... What is that noise? Could you stop polluting my spirits’ eardrums with your filthy voice?”
He had only called her name, yet a barrage of insults flew at him without end.
Even so, Shido ignored her reaction and stated his purpose.
“Miku! Listen to me! I have to go save Hieta... the man who was kidnapped! So—”
“Shut up! [Gabriel]! [March]!”
Miku didn’t even want to hear Shido's voice; she activated her power, rousing the people collapsed in the audience.
“This is...”
“Amazing.”
Shido and Kurumi were stunned by the sight.
After all, Kurumi was currently utilizing the Castle That Eats Time.
In a situation where ordinary humans would have lost consciousness and collapsed, these people—strengthened by Miku’s power—remained standing.
“How is it~? Pretty amazing, right~? The power of my [Gabriel] isn’t just about captivating people, you know?”
Boasting proudly about her angel, Miku immediately issued an order to the brainwashed crowd.
“Now! Kill that man in front of me!”
The crowd rushed at Shido like a horde of zombies.
Shido was startled for a moment, but Kurumi, standing beside him, let out a chilling laugh.
“Kihihihit! That won’t do~ You think you’ve won with something so small~? You couldn't possibly beat me!”
Pale hands rose from Kurumi’s shadows, seizing the brainwashed people.
“Kurumi!”
“I know. I won’t kill them.”
Shido felt a wave of relief at her words.
These people were merely being used to the bone; there was no reason for them to die.
As the white hands transformed into Kurumi’s doppelgangers, the Yamai sisters launched their attack at Shido.
“[Raphael]! [El Re'em]!” “In response. [Raphael]! [El Nahash]!”
As they unleashed their angels’ power, a violent gale struck Shido.
He nearly toppled backward, but fortunately, Kurumi caught him before he could fall.
“Thanks, Kurumi!”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Shido steadied himself and looked ahead.
“Kaguya...! Yuzuru...!”
“You’ve come again, and still you don’t learn. I can never forgive anyone who harms my sister!”
“Warning. If you continue resisting, we will have no choice but to eliminate you.”
Along with the Yamai sisters’ warning, the Kurumis emerging from the floor were suddenly pierced through by blocks of ice.
“You won’t lay a hand on my sister!”
The ice belonged to Yoshino, who continued to suppress the doppelgangers rising from the ground.
“Yoshino...!”
“I’ve got three cute spirits on my side, so there’s no way I’m losing.”
Miku spoke confidently, clearly feeling the advantage of her position.
Looking at her, the Kurumi clones spoke in unison, “““Ah~ Sure enough, if you want to deal with spirits, it’s hard without an angel~”””
It was true.
Up until now, Kurumi had not been properly utilizing her angel.
Bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
The clones raised their guns simultaneously and fired at the Yamai sisters.
The bullets were barely blocked as Yuzuru swung her chains in a defensive arc.
“How laughable! Did you really think such an attack would work on the Princess of the Wind!”
“Come forth, [Zaphkiel].”
Ignoring Kaguya’s boast, Kurumi summoned her angel.
She activated [Aleph], pointing it at herself—the version of her currently holding Shido.
“Then please take care of it, me.”
“Yes~ Understood, me.”
The moment the conversation with herself ended, Kurumi fired. The clone struck by [Aleph] accelerated instantly, carrying Shido and rushing toward Miku.
“Ah!”
“What are you people?!”
Yoshinon rained blocks of ice down upon them as they approached, but they dodged the onslaught and reached Miku.
Then, Kurumi summoned another doppelganger and dragged both Shido and Miku into the shadows.
“Kurumi, this is—!”
“I kept my promise, Shido. Now the question is how to get her to keep hers~”
With those words, Miku and Shido were completely swallowed by the darkness.
“I have nothing to say to you!”
Miku’s voice echoed through the void.
“What kind of place is this? If I try to use my power, I’m interrupted—and above all, I’m stuck here with filthy you!”
“I’m sorry I tricked you. But please don’t drag the others into this! Let everyone go now—”
“Shut up!!!”
Miku cut Shido off, screaming.
“Shut up! Don’t talk! After humiliating me like that, how can you be so shameless?!”
Seeing Miku yelling with her back turned, Shido spoke calmly.
“Miku. It’s fine even like this, so just listen. Hieta... the man you made a bet with, the one who went up on stage. You remember him, right?”
There was no way she wouldn’t.
She had been profoundly shocked to learn that he was, in fact, a man.
A revelation that jarring wasn't going to vanish from her memory so easily.
“You may have already guessed, but he’s a spirit too.”
Shido was bluffing slightly.
He couldn’t easily explain Hieta’s past, and since Hieta's power was immense, calling him a spirit wasn't an unreasonable lie; it was believable.
“In all that chaos, he was kidnapped by a DEM Wizard.”
Miku, unaware of the kidnapping, lifted her head in surprise.
“I’m going to save him now!”
Miku merely turned her head and scoffed, “Haa~? Why would you do something like that?”
“Why? Because Hieta is important, of course!”
To Shido, Hieta was essentially his best friend.
A man who was sharp in some areas and completely oblivious in others.
A man who never treated others' lives lightly, yet treated his own as nothing more than a tool.
Even those who had killed him in the past had only been subdued, not slaughtered.
And now, that man had been taken.
Shido was shaken, but the one taking it hardest was, naturally, the Fire Keeper.
Who wouldn't be devastated when the person they loved was kidnapped?
Rinne had been deeply shaken as well.
From her perspective, Hieta was her benefactor—the one who had saved her when she was on the verge of death.
Even Tohka, who wasn't particularly close to him, had gone blank for a moment. To all of them, Hieta was an important person.
That was why Shido was determined to save him.
“He’s a man, isn’t he? Are you a homosexual? Is this just about getting back the one person who can solve your sexual frustration?”
“What the hell are you talking about!!!”
Shido’s voice spiked instantly.
Miku’s view of men as sex-crazed monsters was bad enough, but the fact that she was suddenly linking him and Hieta in that way was the most horrifying part of all.
“If not, then fine. So what exactly does it mean for a man to be 'important'? What, are you saying you’d give your life for him?”
“Of course.”
Shido answered without a moment’s hesitation.
Shido had always watched Hieta.
He had seen Hieta throw his life away time and again to save Shido, other people, or spirits.
That was why he respected and admired him.
Shido had felt crushed even by Kurumi's presence, but Hieta never gave in; he always looked toward the future.
Of course, that was possible because Hieta was a special case—an immortal—but even so, Shido's respect was genuine.
That was why he could answer immediately.
“If I save Hieta, I’ll come back here with him! So Miku, don’t make this any worse and just wait quietly!”
There was a bit of a bluff mixed into those words as well.
Shido did intend to return, but he was completely ignoring Hieta’s own opinion on the matter.
Still, if he didn’t frame it that way, Miku wouldn't stay quiet. Shido braced himself for the inevitable backlash from Hieta and pushed forward.
“And you expect me to believe that? Even if it were true, you’d die before you ever reached him. I’ll pray for your soul.”
“That’s—!”
“So the promise doesn’t hold. If you understand that—”
“Right, the promise!”
Hearing Miku, Shido remembered the pact between Hieta and Miku.
“You have a promise with Hieta, don’t you!”
“I...?”
Miku, who had been about to object, remembered the promise she had made.
“That’s invalid! You tricked me about being a man—”
“But that has nothing to do with the promise!”
“I can’t accept something like that... Sealing my spirit power? Absolutely unacceptable!”
“Then let’s change the terms. Help me save Hieta! I’ll talk to him about the rest.”
It was a request bordering on the unreasonable.
After all, the one who had made the promise was Hieta, not Shido.
But it was a proposal made possible by the belief that Hieta would listen to Shido and agree.
“Embarrassingly enough, you’re right. Even with Kurumi’s help, there’s no guarantee we can save him. But if you’re there, maybe we can actually do something!”
“Wasn’t your goal to seal my spirit power? Why would you go this far...?”
“I told you! Because Hieta is important!”
Shido’s matter-of-fact answer irritated Miku.
The man she knew wouldn’t be like this.
The person she knew wouldn’t act this way.
Annoyed, she snapped, “I refuse! Why should I? A man who tricked me can die for all I care!”
“Miku!”
“I’m done! I don’t want to hear another word from you! It’s all lies! You must have some ulterior motive! There’s no way a cunning creature like a human would cherish someone that much!”
Miku shouted, almost as if she were having a fit.
Shido tried to respond, but Kurumi informed him that they were out of time and dragged him out before he could say another word.
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