"These two...seriously, their brains are oxygen-deprived? Damn it—Final Sword (Halvanhelev)." After all, these two were trying to vent their frustrations on her and hadn't intended to take her life. Just look—they hadn't even released any killing intent, so Tohka couldn't very well just smash their attack outright. If she did, where would that leave their pride? So, she could only brace her giant sword in front of her—there was no way she could use her Astral Dress to block this. What a joke—even though her Astral Dress had plenty of defensive enhancement, using it to defend against a liberated Angel's attack would be no different from courting death.
"Hurricane Knight (Raphael)— Skyrunner (El Kanaph)." No matter how much Tohka was cursing in her heart, no matter how frustrated she felt, their attack still arrived on schedule. So, she could only swallow hard and face it head-on.
"Ah—aaah!" The first moment she came into contact with an Angel released by the two of them together, Tohka almost lost it. This attack was simply too strong—even though she knew they hadn't used full power; she still felt tremendous pressure. After all, Angels came in different types, and theirs was obviously an explosive type of offensive power.
So, when the attack struck her Final Sword's massive blade, it immediately forced Tohka backward.
"Boom." A deafening crash followed, and Tohka couldn't hold out for more than a few seconds before the attack drove her down into the ground. Another explosion rang out, and in the distance, Shido Itsuka clutched his stomach in dismay as he stared at the massive crater Tohka had made.
He was a little relieved to discover that it seemed like nobody would have to come deal with the fire here anymore—because she'd smashed such a big pit that seawater was pouring up from it. The flames had completely vanished. Though of course there was a downside: the already small island had now been split into two parts again. As for Tohka herself—he couldn't see her for the time being, but she was probably fine.
"Um... Yuzuru, do you think maybe we went a little overboard? Is Tohka okay?" High in the sky, gazing down at the wrecked island with its shattered trees and seawater flooding in from all sides, Kaguya asked uncertainly. Judging by the devastation, the attack had been way too powerful. Even the two of them weren't completely confident they'd have survived it unscathed.
"Uh." Hearing Kaguya's question, Yuzuru didn't say her usual stock phrases—no 'denial' or 'agreement.' She just stood there a bit stunned, opened her mouth, and finally said, "She should be okay. After all, Tohka's strength is enormous—this attack shouldn't have been enough to seriously injure her. Besides, we didn't even use our full power."
Well, it was probably the first time the two of them had practiced releasing their Angel. Though they'd known the attack would be powerful, they hadn't really grasped how much. Seeing this outcome left them both a bit dumbstruck. Then again, it made sense—since each of them only possessed half the power, their understanding of the Angel was also only halfway. Well, fine—what DEM had gloriously tanked in the original, Tohka had taken this time.
Whether Tohka was hurt—this wasn't something only the two of them wanted to know. Up in the sky, the observers from Ratatoskr were also desperate to find out. After all, the force of that attack was truly staggering.
"Ugh...ugh...so dizzy...what happened...who am I, where am I, what did I do..." But soon everyone's worried hearts could finally relax, because Tohka floated back up wearing her old casual clothes, her eyes spinning around in circles but with not a single wound on her body.
Mainly, that attack had actually struck the weapon in her hands, so she hadn't borne the brunt directly. At least it hadn't locked onto her personally. That let her use enough strength to spread out the force and protect her back from being scraped raw. But because of that, she'd lacked protection in front—and with the stormy Skyrunner, she'd been smashed down spinning in a 360-degree drill. She'd gouged a hole straight through the little island like a giant drill bit.
But here was the problem: Tohka wasn't some professionally trained athlete. So, she'd been knocked out cold right away. Honestly, even if she had been trained, she probably still wouldn't have survived spinning like that—the rotation speed was about as fast as a car racing down the highway. It was only thanks to Tohka's monstrous resilience that she wasn't in pieces—anyone else would probably have died from just grazing that attack, let alone taking it head-on.
"Target confirmed—Tohka has no fatal injuries. Also, the Captain's emotions are stable and her affection rating is acceptable—uh, though it's Tohka's. So, should we proceed with recovery?" But at that moment, the Ratatoskr team monitoring from the sky immediately contacted acting commander Kyouhei Kannazuki for instructions. After all, Kotori Itsuka was currently in a roundtable meeting, so her little fanboy Kannazuki was standing in as commander.
"No need. Since Tohka is still unconscious, we'll wait until she wakes up. You all saw those two's destructive power—do you really think our warship can withstand an attack like that? So, enough talk—just wait until she comes to." After thinking for a moment, Kannazuki made his decision. First, Tohka wasn't Shido—strictly speaking, she was only an ally, not really under their control. Second, if she woke up confused and they ended up fighting, that would be nothing but trouble—everyone would lose. So, after considering it, Kannazuki decided they'd leave it until tomorrow. As for sealing her...well, back when they'd faced Kurumi, they hadn't been able to test that, so this would be a good opportunity. Anyway, their true purpose was to help Spirits live normal lives—up till now, Shido had been the only candidate, but now that there were others, there was no need to insist on anything. The hidden masterminds only cared about Shido gathering all the Spirits' powers to become immortal—they didn't particularly care about anything else.
As for whether Tohka might be injured—none of them gave it much thought. They were well aware of her physical data. Just like their commander, she belonged to the sort who could barely die even if they tried. Since she hadn't lost any limbs, there was nothing to worry about. Even if she'd sustained internal injuries—like organ damage—it would heal soon enough. In fact, if that had happened, some of them would probably have been secretly pleased. Tohka's misfortune had always been something the Ratatoskr crew enjoyed watching.
"Tohka, are you okay—whew, thank goodness." While the folks up top were calmly discussing what to do next, down below, Kaguya and Yuzuru weren't so composed. When they saw Tohka floating up out of the water, they rushed down, scooping her up and checking her over from head to toe. Only after confirming she had no injuries did they breathe a sigh of relief. But then the two immediately faced off again—because...
"In that case, today this princess shall look after Tohka." Kaguya grabbed one of Tohka's arms and pointed dramatically at Yuzuru with her other hand.
"Objection. You were the one who proposed this, and it was your arrow that fired the attack. As the instigator of all of this, you should not be the one to look after Tohka." Yuzuru retorted with perfect composure.
"You—you—you..." Sure, Kaguya usually acted the livelier one and Miku the quiet one, but whenever they argued, Yuzuru always had the upper hand. So, this time, Kaguya was momentarily at a loss—but she quickly fought back: "Since I caused it, of course I have to take responsibility."
"Denial. Kaguya would only make everything worse."
"What do you mean—argh, you're infuriating me! You think I'm afraid of you?"
"Agreement. In that case..."
"Hey—knock it off already!" Down below, Shido, who had just managed to calm down, found himself panicking again. Because as the two squared off, the winds they'd barely managed to stop began swirling up once more. So, he yelled at the top of his lungs. Tohka was clearly out of commission—if these two started fighting again, there'd be no one left to stop them. So Shido, who had hoped to stay out of sight, had no choice but to intervene.
"Hmm?" The two girls turned their fierce gazes on Shido in unison.
"Uhh..." Caught in their combined glare, Shido started sweating buckets. Anyone who had never faced the full presence of a Spirit could never understand this kind of pressure. But fortunately, Shido had long since gotten used to it, so he steeled himself and continued, "You can do this...or this...or this..."
"..."
"Uuugh...what have I even been through...damn it, why is everything still spinning—everything's whirling around..." The next morning, Tohka groggily opened her eyes. Thanks to last night's high-speed spinning, her vision was still blurry—everything looked like it had triple afterimages. It made her so frustrated she felt like dying. Honestly, the only clear memories she had were of the Yamai sisters' attack, the stormy arrow, and then nothing. Oh—and the dizzying stars flying around as she spun like crazy. As for any protective measures, she'd probably only managed them by instinct.
"Mm...so soft...what the heck happened here—why is this happening..." Rubbing her aching head, Tohka slowly sat up in bed. But just then, she realized her hands were resting on two soft, springy things. She'd been in situations like this before—like when she was with Miku...so she froze instantly. Trembling, she looked to either side—and what she saw nearly made her cough up blood.
Because there, lying stark naked on either side of her, were two girls who looked exactly the same. And since her vision was still hazy, she didn't just see two—she saw six or eight of them.
"Pffft." Tohka almost sprayed a mouthful of blood. Only now did she realize she herself was also completely unclothed—and draped over by their arms and legs. She'd been too dizzy to notice any of this last night.
"Hey—hey—what is this?! And why are you both lying on me—get off—I can't take this anymore!" Tohka finally felt she had to do something. If this went on, she'd probably die from blood loss.
"Mm...you're awake...that's good." Yuzuru, the first to stir, let out a breath of relief and hugged her tightly, rubbing her cheek against Tohka's.
"Damn it—you got ahead of me again!" Kaguya, waking up a moment later, refused to be outdone. She grabbed Tohka in a hug as well. The reason she'd woken up later? Well, Tohka had instinctively grabbed the bigger one first...
"You two—explain to me—what the hell happened here." Even though they were clinging to her, Tohka had no clothes on. To avoid disgracing herself any further, she demanded answers immediately.
"Um...well..." The two exchanged a look. Then they began recounting everything that had happened the night before—how they'd gone overboard, vented their frustrations, and ended up blowing the island in half.
"That bastard—since when does 'taking care of me' mean 'sleeping with me'..." Tohka quickly understood why this had all happened. That bastard—no wonder, he'd spent too much time with those Ratatoskr perverts in the sky—he'd become just as shameless.
"Ugh—whatever—let's at least put on some clothes first...damn it—why is my head still spinning..." Even though she wanted to chop that guy into pieces, she had to get dressed first. Running out there like this would be no different from being a total pervert.