“Tohka?!”
“I came to help, Shido!”
Shido was briefly thrown off by Tohka’s sudden appearance, but he quickly made a request of her.
“Tohka, help Kurumi outside and draw their attention.”
Shido figured that if Tohka created a diversion outside, the security inside would thin out even further.
Even now, Kurumi and Mana were already drawing fire, so there were barely any guards left.
Of course, having Tohka accompany him was an option, but he feared that if she saw him get hurt, she might go berserk. To avoid that, he asked her to head outside instead.
“Mm-hm. Understood. If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”
Fortunately, Tohka didn’t question him and did exactly as he asked.
Feeling both sorry and grateful, Shido resumed his ascent through the floors.
After sending Tohka away and climbing for a few more minutes, Shido ran into another crisis.
“Ghk...!”
He was surrounded by several remaining guards and pinned to the floor by a [territory] effect.
Not long after sending Tohka away, he was already incapacitated again. Shido couldn't help but feel pathetic.
“Hmph. How pathetic.”
A woman’s voice rang out, and a figure appeared after smashing through the window.
“[Gabriel] [Solo].”
It was Miku.
Miku manifested only a portion of her angel, using its power to brainwash the guards into dropping their weapons.
“Miku?”
“Could you not call me so casually? It leaves a stain on my cute name that simply won’t come off.”
As she continued to criticize Shido, the brainwashed spirits she had subdued appeared behind her.
“What should we do, big sister?”
“Let’s see. Your angels seem too cumbersome to use inside a building, so please take care of the Wizards outside so we won’t be disturbed.”
At Miku’s command, the spirits immediately turned and departed to deal with the Wizards.
Shido wondered, Why is Miku helping me?
While he welcomed the assistance, considering the blatant hatred she had shown toward men before, there was no logical reason for Miku to help him.
“What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to save Hieta?”
Shido pushed his curiosity aside and decided to prioritize saving Hieta.
Whatever her motives were, she was here to assist in the rescue, so he decided not to worry about it for now.
And so, their awkward escort began.
*****
“Hieta!”
I woke up to the sound of Itsuka-kun’s voice.
Those bastards. What the hell did they inject into me to keep me this drowsy?
“Hieta!”
“Itsuka-kun!”
With my hands and feet bound to a chair, I was finally reunited with Itsuka-kun.
“And... [Diva]?”
For some reason, [Diva] was standing beside Itsuka-kun.
Judging by Itsuka-kun’s expression, she didn’t seem to have brainwashed him, but I had no idea what her angle was. I had no choice but to remain suspicious of her.
“Huh? What is this mess? You’re tied up so pathetically. Wouldn’t it be better to just die like that?”
“Miku!”
“Yes, yes. I’m sure the great apostle of justice, Shido, wouldn’t think so.”
What exactly had that girl come here to do?
She just kept mocking me, and when Itsuka-kun tried to stop her, she turned her mockery toward him instead.
I really had no clue what her goal was.
“Ah, right. There’s one thing I forgot to mention. Itsuka Shido, you should not stand there.”
“Itsuka-kun! Behind you!”
The photographer—no, the woman called Ellen—stabbed Itsuka-kun in the back with a sword.
Itsuka-kun collapsed instantly, bleeding.
[Diva] seemed to use her angel’s power to stop Ellen, but it was futile.
“Spirit [Knight], Higakieta Hai. From this moment on, I’m going to kill your friend, Itsuka Shido. Use every bit of your power to stop Ellen’s sword. Your will, your angel... and if that still isn’t enough, reach beyond that.”
With those words, the devices binding me snapped open.
Slowly, my body, which had been sluggish and hard to control, began to respond again.
“Good... So that’s how you want to play it, huh?”
If they were going to let me loose like this, then I had no choice but to truly make a mess of things.
How dare they touch someone close to me?
You’re all dead. Seriously.
I immediately pulled a straight sword from my inventory and equipped it.
Then, I unleashed a bolt of lightning toward the wall separating me from Itsuka-kun.
Krakakakakakak!
Cracks spider-webbed across the wall from my barrage. Ellen, watching this, looked slightly flustered as she hurriedly pressed her sword against Itsuka-kun’s throat.
“You bastards!”
Seeing Ellen act as if she were truly going to kill him now, I felt a surge of pure rage.
I hadn’t been calm when she stabbed him in the back, but now that he was on the verge of death, the anger was overwhelming.
I swung the straight sword with all my strength and shattered the barrier.
And with that, Itsuka-kun’s throat was cut.
“......”
Is it true that when a person becomes truly angry, they become strangely calm instead?
Now that I was in this state, I realized the saying was true.
“Hoo...”
I let out a slow breath.
Calm down first.
If I let my anger take over now, I’d be giving them exactly what they wanted.
Look at that—Itsuka-kun was wearing the Ring of Favor and Protection I gave him.
That ring, for whatever reason, takes a death in place of the wearer once, provided the wearer is a living being without souls.
And yet they expected me to stay calm over something like this?
When someone close to me had nearly died because of me?
Grit.
I ground my teeth.
So what if I had the strength of a Dark Souls character?
I couldn’t even protect one person.
Just as I was feeling that deep rage and preparing to cut Ellen’s throat on the spot—
“A, a, aaaaaaa――!!!!!!”
Tohka’s scream rang out beside me.
“...Tohka?”
Thanks to Tohka appearing out of nowhere, I was able to stop myself from killing everyone in the room.
The problem was that Tohka’s condition was strange.
“Hahahaha!!! Hahahahaha!!! This, this! It’s going in a completely unexpected direction! The kingdom has been reversed!”
Isaac was laughing his head off at Tohka’s appearance.
“Now then, humanity. Bow your heads. The demon king has returned in triumph!”
With Isaac’s words, a dark violet current began swirling around Tohka.
*****
“That’s... [Sandalphon]...?”
Itsuka-kun, who had somehow revived, spoke up.
I shifted my gaze from Tohka to him.
“Itsuka-kun! Are you all right?”
“Y-yeah... But Tohka...”
“After she saw Itsuka-kun die, she screamed and turned into that.”
I didn’t know why she had changed like that either.
Tohka’s trademark giant twin-bladed sword, [Sandalphon], had lost its white luster and turned completely black.
Even the angel itself was leaking an ominous red light.
“Where am I?”
Tohka’s voice, too, was different from her usual innocent tone.
It was stricter. More savage.
If the normal Tohka felt like a friendly neighborhood mutt, this Tohka felt like a proud, predatory wolf.
“You there. Answer me. Where is this?”
“...Me?”
The changed Tohka pointed at me and demanded to know her location.
No, I’ve been kidnapped this whole time, so how would I know?
“Hieta. This is DEM Industries’ Japanese branch.”
“Uh... Isn’t this DEM Industries’ Japanese branch?”
Thanks to Itsuka-kun quietly prompting me, I was able to answer.
“A place I’ve never heard of. Then why am I here?”
With the questioning starting up, my anger had vanished, replaced by utter bewilderment.
“Uh... Maybe you came to save me?”
The mood demanded an answer, so I offered my best guess.
It was obvious Tohka was here because Itsuka-kun had come to rescue me.
Since Itsuka-kun remained silent beside me, my guess seemed correct.
“Excellent. The original objective was to reverse [Knight], but now that [Princess] has reversed, that no longer matters. This is the first time I’ve seen such a splendid reversal. Look, Ellen. That is our dream, our desire.”
That Isaac bastard called the changed Tohka a “reversal.”
So his original goal had been to reverse me.
He was completely insane.
“Now, get to work. Since the target you’ll eliminate has finally appeared, strongest Wizard. At last, let us cut down the wicked demon king and make her our cornerstone.”
“Yes. I understand, Ike.”
Ellen responded and swung her sword at Tohka.
The changed Tohka casually blocked Ellen’s attack with her angel—though I didn’t even know what to call that weapon anymore.
“Ghk!”
“Wah?!”
The problem was that the resulting shockwave sent both me and Itsuka-kun flying backward.
“As expected, she’s different from the [Princess] we've known. Otherwise, this would be a problem.”
After her attack was blocked, Ellen backed away from the changed Tohka.
“What are you? Why are you swinging a sword at me?”
“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to die from this point on. All we need is that power!”
Ellen charged at the changed Tohka once again.
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