It was clearly not the first time his fist had been raised. The corner of Su'er's mouth was already red and slightly swollen, and a trace of blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth.
Swoosh—!!!
They had completely surpassed Couronne and Nonna's visual limits. They only heard a sharp, ear-piercing sound echoing in the small cave. They covered their ears hard because of this pain that was about to become a substantial injury. When they finally recovered from the shaking dizziness, they found that the world seemed to have changed.
In just an instant, the dark cave, which could only be barely illuminated by the orange glowing mineral lamps, was now brightly lit by scattered light belts. Even the shadows in the corners had no place to hide. Schwi, who was originally behind Couronne, had already rushed to Riku's side in an instant. Her open mechanical wing was extended horizontally, and on it, there were sparks of spirits spreading out in a ring shape.
That was the attack that Think had released in the blink of an eye. The fragments of the luminous green light bullets melted a layer of the surface of the hard rock when they fell on the ground. The light golden-haired Elf already had layers of magic spell formulas unfolded around her. The abnormalities of her eyes and ears were simply no longer hidden. These deadly spell formulas were rotating, ready to go but always holding back.
The brown hood that was wrapped around her body was torn apart in an instant. Schwi's mechanical body, which was completely different from an Imanity's, was completely exposed. One of her arms had been transformed into a silver-white blade that was held against Su'er's neck. This was also the reason why Think's subsequent actions had all stopped.
Acting completely at the same time as Think, and even a bit faster, Jibril directly tore off the hood wrapped around her. Her restrained wings spread out wantonly to both sides. The halo on top of her head also reappeared and was spinning rapidly. The pure white light was gathering in her hand.
A standoff was formed in less than a second. It was not until a few seconds later that a few of the Imanity's nerves and brains reacted to what had happened.
"Stop!"
"Stop it now!!"
They shouted in unison to stop them. Su'er wanted to sit up but felt the sharp edge at his neck. He could only stare motionlessly at the top of the cave... and Riku.
Hidden behind Schwi's small body, Riku also did not dare to make any move at this moment.
"Wha-what-what?! Schwi? Sister Think?? Little Jibril?" Unlike Riku, who already knew the inside story, and Couronne, who had already found the abnormalities and had an expectation in her heart, Nonna's brain was about to go on strike as she witnessed the tense standoff and the scene filled with obvious killing intent and the oppressive force of spirits.
The blue-purple-haired little girl was completely unable to understand the pressure brought by the streams of spirits that were confronting each other at such a close distance. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about it for long.
Just as Nonna was trying to understand all of this, a green light hit her back and made her fall asleep for a while. Her softly falling body was also lifted by magic and moved to a rock bed on the other side. The tense standoff continued.
"Ah ah ah ah ah! Everyone, calm down! Just, just, just sit down and talk properly first!" Couronne was speaking so fast that her words were stuttering. She was so anxious that she was stuttering. She was waving her hands wildly in the air, wanting to pull both sides away but was forced back by the shining light.
"Oh my~~~, do I finally have a chance to attack?" Jibril did not hear Couronne's words at all. Her small face was slightly flushed. She was smiling evilly with anticipation. "A piece of scrap metal that has been disconnected and is acting alone. Is today my lucky day? A chance to take this ultimate head that is even rarer than a Dragonid's head, which has a rarity of 5, into my collection?"
Jibril felt a strong desire to collect the moment this Ex-Machina named Schwi stepped into the cave. It was as if a little cat was scratching her heart. If Su'er hadn't poked her with his eyes a few times, Jibril felt that she couldn't even hold back the drool she was unconsciously drooling.
God knows how much pain she had to endure by staying in the same room with such a precious head. In order to reduce that torment, Jibril could only force herself to lie flat, trying her best not to let her eyes drift to the direction where the Ex-Machina was. After all, from the current situation, this Ex-Machina was on their side.
Damn it... I have to endure~
But fortunately, it seems that she doesn't have to endure it now?
Jibril was eager to try.
"...The first... no one can be killed..."
As if she hadn't heard Jibril's words, Schwi's eyes showed clear signs of a mechanical aperture rotating. Her words were timid. It was almost impossible to hear them without listening carefully amidst the sounds of spirits flowing. The Ex-Machina's voice was trembling almost imperceptibly. Was that fear?
Can machines also feel fear?
Su'er couldn't know. The Ex-Machina's shrinking words were still muttering.
"...The second... no one can be allowed to die..."
As if it were her creed, even though she didn't need to breathe, in Su'er's eyes, this Ex-Machina's chest was slightly rising and falling, as if she were mimicking the actions of a human breathing deeply. Her arm, which had been transformed into a blade, gradually deformed and contracted after her words fell, until it became a normal hand covered with human-like skin again. However, the abnormality on her body could not be covered back no matter what.
The light circles that were flashing and spinning rapidly on her head and chest gradually slowed down and dimmed. As if she had done something wrong, the Ex-Machina lowered her head and stood there blankly.
"...Put it away," Su'er took in all of Schwi's words. He couldn't tell what kind of emotion he was feeling at this moment. Was it anger? Or helplessness? Su'er could only repeat it again to Think and Jibril.
For a long while.
"...Tch," In the end, Jibril still didn't forcefully attack. She just let out a disgruntled click of her tongue. The gathered spirits scattered again, and Think also dispersed her dense magic spell formulas.
Losing the illumination of the spirits, the cave once again turned into a state of dim light. But the unconscious Nonna and the abnormalities on a few of the non-Imanity races meant that the atmosphere between the few of them could never go back to the state where they pretended not to know.
"Thank you," To be honest, Jibril's cooperation made Su'er feel a bit relieved. The pink-haired Flügel was now gradually getting over her obsession with heads. At the very least, when they first met, Su'er was very sure that Jibril would hunt a head like Schwi, which was over the standard of rarity, at all costs.
After getting along for so long, he also had an accurate understanding of the Flügel's grading standards.