Melusine cast a slightly surprised glance at Honjou Nia, but upon reflection, it wasn't hard to understand.
After a moment of thoughtful silence, Melusine spoke to Nia.
"Nia, try using Rasiel to look up information about me."
"Eh?"
Nia's eyes widened in shock.
"W-why?"
As if a layer of disguise had been torn away, Nia became flustered. "This kind of disgusting ability... you really want me to use it on you?"
"There are things I need to verify. At least for now, it's still within my control."
Melusine remained calm, as if discussing something unrelated to herself. "You may not want to know about me now, but who can say what the future holds? Someone might use your ability against me. With my supervision, at least I can make you forget immediately if you see something you shouldn't."
"F-Forget? Isn't that a bit extreme?"
Panicking, Nia hugged her arms and backed toward the foot of the bed. "I-I don't want to! Why do I have to go through something so terrifying? I don't even want to look!"
Pitiful, weak, and helpless.
"The worst part is... you're making a lot of sense."
Nia frowned in frustration. "Someone who can use my ability... you're talking about Itsuka Shidou, right? Actually, I'm quite interested in him. The ability to seal Spirit powers... to be honest, I'd like him to seal mine."
It was clear that Nia truly rejected her omniscience.
However, Melusine was actually referring to Westcott. In the original story, it was Westcott who stole Nia's Spirit crystal and obtained the Demon King Beelzebub.
Besides Westcott, it seemed Tokisaki Kurumi had also used Nia's Angel?
Everyone was fighting over Rasiel, while the original owner despised her own ability. If Rasiel had a consciousness, it would probably be crying.
"Looks like you've already used Rasiel to investigate Shidou."
"Just a basic understanding. I still feel uncomfortable snooping into others' privacy..."
Nia scratched her head awkwardly. "Knowing everything about someone makes interactions awkward, doesn't it? Spoilers are the worst!"
On this point, Melusine agreed with Nia... Back then, Guanya and Lin Wanyu had a huge argument over spoilers.
"But... to have my powers sealed, I need to have strong feelings for that Shidou boy... so annoying..."
Suddenly, Nia spread her arms and lunged at Melusine. "My heart already belongs entirely to Ran-chan! In this life, I won't love anyone else!"
However, before Nia could embrace her, Melusine extended her arm and pressed a hand against Nia's face.
"Life is much longer than you think, especially since you're a Spirit, not human... Besides, I never intended to take your heart."
"Ugh, don't be so heartless, Ran-chan..."
"Enough playing around."
Ignoring Nia's antics, Melusine pushed her away. "You haven't done what I asked. Hurry up and use your Angel to look up information about me."
"Well then..."
Nia turned her head back, eyes sparkling as she looked at Melusine. "Afterward, can I get a kiss on the cheek as a reward... Wait, wait! I'm kidding! Just kidding!"
As the shimmering dagger once again rested against her neck, Nia quickly surrendered.
Perhaps because Melusine stood right behind her, Nia's hands trembled as she activated her ability, fearing that Rasiel might reveal something it shouldn't, prompting Melusine to silence her.
However, her fears seemed unfounded.
"Eh? Why is it like this again?"
Nia's eyes widened in surprise. On the pages of Rasiel, nothing appeared.
Well, not exactly nothing... If she searched for information about Melusine since her appearance over a month ago, there was some data. But beyond that, there were vast blank spaces and some blacked-out sections.
According to Nia, this was the same phenomenon when she searched for the "Master" Melusine mentioned.
"Maybe it's because you were always with your Master before becoming a Spirit, and his influence affected you?"
Nia could only make such a guess.
However, Melusine had other thoughts.
The reason there's no earlier information on Rasiel might be because I wasn't in this world at that time? Even if Rasiel claims to be all-knowing, it's probably limited to this world. If it could access information from other worlds, that would be too overpowered...
But if that's the case, shouldn't there only be blank spaces? Why are there blacked-out sections?
Those black blocks gave the eerie feeling that something was originally there but was deliberately obscured.
The question was, if Melusine's intuition was correct... who did it? Why? And how?
Moreover... what information was hidden in those blacked-out sections? If events from other worlds couldn't be observed by Rasiel, did she leave some record in this world before? But she remembered this was her first time here...
Asking Nia yielded no useful clues, as she was equally baffled by the situation.
Although the test results weren't ideal, they weren't bad either... Since Nia couldn't use Rasiel to access Melusine's crucial information, others likely couldn't either.
Melusine's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden presence of a third party in the room.
"Hehehehehe..."
Shadows spread abruptly in the corner, so dense that even the sunlight from the window couldn't dispel them.
A melodious yet chilling laughter emanated from the darkness.
Melusine and Nia simultaneously turned toward the shadows. Even Nia's usual playfulness vanished, replaced by a serious expression.
"Good day, Miss Lancelot, Miss Honjou Nia."
Starting from the head, a nightmare emerged from the shadows, wearing a flawless, elegant smile. She lifted her skirt slightly and bowed to the two.
"I am Tokisaki Kurumi. Pardon my intrusion."
"Tokisaki Kurumi, the Spirit who manipulates time..."
Nia still held Rasiel, her gaze toward Kurumi full of caution.
"Please don't be so wary. I come without ill intent."
Facing Nia, Kurumi's smile softened, showing more sincerity.
Since she had a request for Nia, Kurumi did her best to display goodwill.
However, Nia didn't seem receptive.
"How can I not be wary?!"
Nia shouted, then suddenly clung to Melusine's neck. "You're feminine, mysterious, both alluring and cute, and you have the super popular 'bad girl' persona in anime. The scariest part... you can summon all your past selves, meaning marrying you equals having a massive harem! As a love rival, you're a disaster!"
Like a kitten bristling over its territory, Nia bared her small fangs at the stunned Kurumi. "Listen up! Ran-chan is mine! If you want to take her from me, you'll have to step over my dead body... meow!"
Unable to tolerate Nia's outburst, Melusine expressionlessly flicked her forehead.
The force of the flick was evident from Nia's reddened forehead and the tears welling up in her eyes.
Ignoring Nia's whimpers behind her, Melusine gazed calmly at Kurumi with her golden eyes. "What brings you here, Kurumi?"
"Hmm... I've come to find you, Lancelot."
Kurumi composed herself and once again presented a flawless smile to the two. "The omniscient Spirit is an unexpected bonus. I've been searching for years."
Melusine, of course, knew Kurumi's reason for seeking Nia: to obtain information about the First Spirit and how to kill her.
While Nia's Rasiel could provide information about the First Spirit, discovering a method to kill her... that was wishful thinking on Kurumi's part.
"Though I'm eager to get an answer from Miss Honjou Nia... I haven't forgotten my true purpose here."
Kurumi glanced at Nia, then turned to Melusine, her lips moving slowly.
"Miss Lancelot, Mr. Shidou... is in danger."
...
DEM Japan Branch.
This used to be a towering skyscraper, but now, everything above the 18th floor had completely vanished. Through the gaping space, one could see clouds gradually dyed red by the setting sun.
And standing beneath that twilight sky was a figure emanating overwhelming demonic presence.
Fear was spreading. Everyone nearby was being suppressed by the violent aura radiating from her.
In a word — a demon.
If gods truly existed in this world, then that person could only be called a Demon King.
She created terror through slaughter, ruled others through fear, and wielded power with absolute dominance.
"T-Toka…"
Beneath the rubble, Yoshino struggled to raise her head, barely managing to open one eye. Her voice was weak as she called out the other's name, praying that the girl before her might return to the one she once knew.
Embedded in the nearby wall, Yamai Kaguya was unconscious, blood trickling from her temple.
"Urgh…"
Yamai Yuzuru's condition was even worse. One hand, clad in jagged black-purple armor, was wrapped tightly around her throat, eliciting a low, pained groan from her lips.
The Demon King showed no reaction to Yuzuru's suffering. Her cold, proud eyes gleamed with a sharp light like that of a drawn blade.
"So weak… and you dare raise a hand against me?"
Holding Yuzuru aloft with one hand, she raised her black greatsword with the other.
"Then die."
Those simple words declared her sentence — and she meant it. She truly intended to kill Yamai Yuzuru.
"Stop… Stop it, Toka!!"
Inside the ruined building, Itsuka Shidou clutched the unconscious Yatogami Tohka in his arms. His bloodshot eyes locked on the Demon King floating in the air.
Tohka didn't seem to bear any visible wounds, but Shidou's clothing was slashed all over — more than a dozen cuts, large and small. One particularly deep tear ran from his chest down to his side. Yet, not a single wound could be seen on his body — only the thick layers of dust clinging to his clothes and hair.
"That's Yuzuru! Toka, don't you remember? And Yoshino, Kaguya — have you forgotten them all?!"
His shout pierced the air and reached the ears of the Demon King. Her cold expression twisted into something painful and distorted, and her eyes, still glowing with fury, turned toward Shidou.
"Shut up already!"
With that, the Demon King swung her massive sword in rage.
The next instant, a black-purple wave of sword energy tore through the air, rapidly swelling to over ten meters long.
Even before it reached him, just looking at that blade of energy made Shidou's eyes burn with pain.
Gritting his teeth, he hugged Tohka tightly with one arm, while raising the other high.
"Sandalphon—!"
Spiritual power surged, stirring violent winds. In response to his call, a gleaming greatsword appeared in Shidou's hand. He swung it down toward the incoming blade, now surging with destruction and fury.
The Demon King's furious strike collided with Shidou's storm-wrapped sword.
The clash lasted only a heartbeat — then both energies shattered simultaneously, the released force slicing indiscriminately through everything around them.
A sense of imminent death engulfed Shidou. Yet in that brief moment of clarity, he did something unthinkable.
Facing the oncoming storm of sword energy, knowing he couldn't dodge in time, Shidou turned his back to the attack — shielding Tohka tightly in his embrace.
Schlick.Schlick.Schlick.
Fine blades of energy tore into Shidou's back — cutting through skin, muscle, veins, bone.
Each wound ignited with blue flame, healing only to be cut open again the next instant.
The sound of swords carving through flesh echoed again and again.
A thousand cuts, ten thousand cuts—this was no metaphor. Right now, it was Shidou's reality.