Malice. Killing intent. It gnaws at the girl's heart. Too kind, yet unable to withstand or deflect such overwhelming hostility alone.
The world spins, twists, maddens.
"…!"
A voiceless scream echoes under the rain-soaked, overcast sky. Surrounding her is only malice, killing intent—nothing else.
Her courage-giving hero, Yoshinon, is gone.
Her comforting heroine, Kurumi, is absent.
Her rescuing hero, Shidou—still hasn't come.
"Kyaa…!"
Without her Astral Dress, Yoshino would be dust. Bullets meant to kill her explode on impact, slamming her small frame mercilessly to the ground.
Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary…! Someone, anyone, anyone—no one's here.
"Ah—"
Killing intent rains down. Fear engulfs everything. Her gentle heart—erased.
"—Zadkiel…!!"
The ravaging begins.
"…Huh?"
The robed girl lets out a stunned gasp upon seeing the Angel. A rabbit-eared puppet—unmistakably Hermit's Zadkiel. But its size—
"KWOAAAAAHHHH!!"
—too massive.
"Too big! It's taller than a building. Growth spurt doesn't cover this," the robed girl says.
"Naturally. A Spirit's Angel isn't ordinary," Kurumi replies, unfazed, testing the frozen ground.
"Sure, but that big? Dozens of times its original size."
They quickly realize it's not just size. Zadkiel's roar unleashes relentless cold, freezing Tenguu City's streets. The intensified rain turns to ice on contact, expanding a frozen domain—endlessly.
Tenguu City is no longer livable. A world of ice.
"Yoshinon… was a safety," Kurumi murmurs, gazing at Yoshino with melancholic, sorrowful eyes. Her asymmetrical hair, protected by her Astral Dress, sways undimmed in the cold.
"Yoshinon's puppet, housing another personality, restrained Hermit's power?" the robed girl asks.
"Yes. You suspected it was her emotional anchor. But it's more."
Kurumi's deduction unveils the painfully kind, warped truth of the girl.
"She doesn't want others to suffer what she hates. A childish dream, realized through Yoshinon," Kurumi explains.
"…That girl…"
"A limiter. Another personality to avoid harming even her attackers, controlling her Spirit power. That's my conclusion."
A saint. The word crosses the robed girl's mind. Yoshino's kindness expects no reward, met only with humanity's killing intent. Inevitable—Spirits are deemed absolute threats.
"What a kind, warped child."
No salvation, no reward for her kindness. The robed girl pities her, but only Kurumi—or one other—could save her now.
"!!"
"Oh?"
The robed girl kicks off the building, Kurumi dances into the air. Instantly, ice spears erupt from the frozen ground, large enough to skewer a person. More appear, accelerating. The robed girl lands deftly on one, Kurumi floating beside her, both eyeing Yoshino.
"Without Yoshinon, Yoshino can't restrain herself," Kurumi says.
"Resulting in Zadkiel's full power—and this silver world," the robed girl adds.
Ice everywhere, a barrier swallowing Tenguu City—Yoshino's invasive castle.
Zadkiel shifts, roaring louder, arching back, mouth agape as if absorbing something. Both sense a change. The robed girl recalls a month ago—Princess's enraged Angel unleashing its ultimate strike.
"This is bad."
Shidou gained more than the puppet at Origami's house.
Her feelings. Her burdens, her reasons for fighting Spirits. Five years ago, a massive disaster—a fire caused by a Spirit—forced Shidou's family to relocate. Origami lost her parents in it.
She fights to prevent such tragedies, to avenge them. Shidou couldn't call her wrong—he had no right. She wields weapons to spare others her pain. Who could deny her nobility?
(But…!)
Tohka, Yoshino, Origami—why must such kind girls fight to the death? Origami can't attack without a Spirit's presence. Shidou, able to trigger that condition, has no hesitation. With resolve, he bolts from her apartment—
"Why's there a glue trap at the entrance?!"
He struggles against the bizarre snare, designed to stop escapees. Escaping takes time. The trap, plus discarded high-end energy supplements in the trash, points to one conclusion—
"Nope! Not thinking about it!"
Praising his resilience, he narrowly escapes—his chastity nearly didn't. Shaking off dark thoughts and clutching the puppet, he opens the door to—
"What… is this?"
A frozen world. Tenguu City's normal streets are gone, replaced by a stunning silver expanse.
"Shi… dou—"
Stunned, he hears static through the earpiece, silent since entering Origami's. It's faint but unmistakable—Kotori's voice.
"Kotori!? I got the puppet! Where's Yoshino—"
"Get—Shidou—run!! Onii-chan!!"
"What?"
Her scream, stripped of commander's poise, pierces through the cleared static.
"Ah—"
A white cold engulfs his vision.
This is it.
He knows he can't escape. In slow motion, the cold wave consumes him. He'll die.
Faces flash—Tohka, Yoshino, Kotori. He can't die here. Yoshino needs him. He'd leave Tohka alone, make Kotori cry. And her—he hasn't told her anything.
Time doesn't stop. Closing his eyes to the merciless wave—
"…Huh?"
A floating sensation. Opening his eyes, he sees not death but Tenguu City's silver streets.
"Wah!?"
Falling fast, he lands on icy ground, crashing onto his rear.
"You okay, Itsuka Shidou?"
Groaning, he looks up—white.
"You… are…"
Not Tohka, but another girl prompts his stunned voice. A girl in a spotless white robe, like an RPG mage, roughly Kotori's height. Instead of a staff, a white sword—sheath, guard, handle—hangs at her waist. Not just pure white, but almost transparent, like nothingness. Her presence, or lack thereof, stuns him.
Kurumi, Tohka, Yoshino radiate intensity. This girl's the opposite—barely there, yet present. A contradiction. She ponders his question briefly, then speaks in a theatrical tone.
"Just a passing Spirit."