Whoosh.
A circular void appeared amidst the ethereal sea of clouds.
Mukuro Hoshimiya swiftly leapt out, barely taking a deep breath before sensing the increasingly rapid spatial fluctuations behind her.
Without even thinking, she knew that the pitch-black nuisance and that big bully Luo Shu were hot on her heels.
"Damn humans."
At this point, Mukuro could only curse under her breath before activating her ability again to jump to a more distant location.
At that very moment, the key-shaped hollow shadow where Mukuro Hoshimiya had been standing gradually brightened, followed by a surge of sealing power that locked down the surrounding space.
During the eight-minute-long chase, Mukuro hadn't merely been fleeing.
Leaving behind Spiritual Power for delayed activation of seals was a technique she'd quickly mastered in this short timeframe.
In this state, Luo Shu and Natsuki Minamiya's pursuit noticeably slowed, granting Mukuro some rare breathing room.
However, such tactics had become increasingly difficult to employ since about a minute ago.
That nuisance chasing her clearly surpassed her by more than a margin in spatial techniques.
Every location Mukuro jumped through had been interfered with by Natsuki's space-sealing techniques.
If not for Master of Seal and Unlock's ability to open any seal, she would have been caught by Natsuki five minutes ago.
The only reason she could still evade was that Natsuki's spatial abilities couldn't suppress Master of Seal and Unlock, forcing her to trail behind.
Yet even so, Natsuki's pursuit was accelerating, as if she was rapidly growing stronger through these spatial clashes.
Facing such a rapidly evolving enemy, Mukuro knew she had to eliminate her before being overtaken.
But that other nuisance, who always acted alongside the spatial nuisance, had permanently sealed away that idea.
'If I stop now, I'll be killed!'
A Spirit's sensitivity to danger kept warning Mukuro.
Something terrifying would happen if she fell under that man's gaze.
This realisation made Mukuro dare not stay in one place for even a second.
Thus, she found herself fleeing like a stray dog through the otherworld and cosmic space.
Though admittedly, part of this predicament was of Mukuro's own making.
"My consecutive escapes should have let them deduce Master of Seal and Unlock's movement range. If I maintain this a while longer to reinforce their assumptions, I can escape directly to Earth after leaving behind my strongest spatial seal."
Indeed, the space channels opened by Master of Seal and Unlock weren't limited to small satellite orbits.
In truth, Master of Seal and Unlock could open channels from satellite orbit all the way to Earth.
This was the capability Mukuro had been deliberately concealing.
Of course, initially Mukuro hadn't planned to hide this.
She'd simply intended to use spatial jumps to evade Luo Shu, planning to trouble him later.
But unexpectedly, Luo Shu had summoned Natsuki, who possessed spatial techniques capable of pursuing her.
Under these circumstances, Mukuro became wary of reckless movement.
She feared accidentally jumping toward Earth, only for Natsuki to follow, creating endless complications.
Therefore, she deliberately maintained Master of Seal and Unlock's jump distances to mislead her pursuers.
Once their mental patterns were established, she would immediately escape to Earth.
This momentary movement would undoubtedly leave the spatial nuisance stunned for a brief period. And with that window of opportunity, Mukuro Hoshimiya could find a hiding place on Earth and completely conceal herself.
"Time's almost up."
After several more spatial jumps, Mukuro stood amidst the sea of clouds in the otherworld, having calculated that the spatial nuisance would catch up to her in 1.5 seconds. She began reserving vast amounts of Spiritual Power to create a powerful spatial blockade.
0.5 seconds passed. Overflowing Spiritual Power formed the shape of a key mid-air.
1 second passed. Beads of sweat instantly dotted Mukuro's forehead.
1.2 seconds passed. Mukuro knew it was time to flee.
She immediately prepared to use Master of Seal and Unlock to open a passage and leap away.
Just then, a black-red figure suddenly appeared before her, its energy signature suggesting it had jumped from reality into the otherworld.
"What?" Mukuro exclaimed in shock.
Similarly, Kurumi Tokisaki was momentarily stunned: "Eh?!!"
In an instant, Kurumi reacted, raising the short gun she had prepared and aiming to fire.
She even accompanied the action with a threatening shout:
"Wah!!"
"Eek—!!!"
Mukuro had no time to reserve energy and immediately abandoned her previous plan, initiating a spatial jump towards the starry sky.
Kurumi only had time to raise her gun before seeing Mukuro flee towards reality like a startled bird.
'Who would have thought that travelling through the otherworld would lead to such a coincidental encounter with her? There wasn't even time to react...'
As Kurumi thought this, the figures of Luo Shu and Natsuki Minamiya appeared before her.
There was no time for communication—or rather, a mere exchange of glances made it clear to all three that they understood each other's intentions.
Natsuki Minamiya immediately released Luo Shu, while Kurumi directly fired the Seventh Bullet at him.
And in that same instant, Luo Shu spread his arms, allowing the Seventh Bullet to strike him.
Bang.
The Seventh Bullet hit Luo Shu between the eyebrows.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Luo Shu, with his arms outstretched, turned grey and remained suspended mid-air.
Seizing the opportunity, Natsuki Minamiya reached out, grabbed Luo Shu, and initiated another spatial jump.
During the jump, Natsuki unexpectedly found the spatial blockade to be unusually weak. Though it caused some delay, she quickly caught up to Mukuro Hoshimiya.
...
Meanwhile.
Copernicus Command Centre.
Ania, wearing a fully enclosed helmet, took a deep breath as she stared at the data screen displaying the calm spatial ripples in the cosmic starscape.
Then, Tabane Shinonono's voice came through:
"There are six predetermined judgment points. Mukuro's next jump should appear at one of these six coordinates."
"To be safe, we'll maximise the device's function and interfere with all six coordinates simultaneously."
"If we can briefly disrupt the target's luck, causing just a momentary error in opening space, our objective will be achieved."
"Can you do it?"
Hearing this, Ania merely scoffed:
"Who do you think I am?!"
"Excellent!"
Tabane responded with a laugh, then turned to look at Lacus, who was biting her thumb.
Seeing this, Lacus exhaled in relief and said softly:
"Let's begin."
Ania held her breath.
At that very moment, the staff suddenly shouted:
"Spatial reaction detected at Location 3!"
"Spatial reaction detected at Location 5!"
"Abnormal fluctuations in spatial waves detected. Unable to pinpoint landing coordinates."
The instant the staff shouted, Ania's forehead veins bulged as she immediately activated her ability, remotely manipulating the luck of six coordinates across space.
Invisible ripples traversed space and descended upon the six coordinates.
Including Coordinate 5.
Mukuro Hoshimiya hastily appeared here. With no time to wonder who that black-haired, heterochromatic girl was, why she had appeared in the adjacent realm, or why she had attacked, Mukuro hurriedly opened a passageway.
At that exact moment, in her panic, she instinctively made a biting motion.
Tiny tears instantly welled up in Mukuro Hoshimiya's eyes.
She'd bitten her own tongue.
Simultaneously.
Natsuki Minamiya appeared behind Mukuro Hoshimiya, gripping Luo Shu, whose time had been stopped. She immediately locked onto the girl in space who was clutching her mouth with tear-filled eyes.
In an instant, colour returned to Luo Shu's body that should have turned grey, having absorbed the time-stop effect and transformed it into a calamity under his control.
His pitch-black eyes turned towards Mukuro Hoshimiya.
Deep within those dark pupils, Mukuro's reflection appeared.
The next moment.
—Calamity Bestowal!
—Time Stop.
Instantly, Mukuro Hoshimiya was engulfed in monochrome, her entire body drained of vibrant colour.
Her time had been stopped for 3.5 seconds.
By the time Mukuro regained awareness, a fist entwined with the Concept of Calamity was expanding infinitely in her vision!
BOOM!
Black-red lightning exploded violently in the empty void of space, surging outwards.
The conflict between the Concept of Calamity and reality fundamentally disrupted the surrounding matter, plunging everything into chaotic ruin. Countless black-red lightning bolts rampaged like a thunderstorm.
When everything finally settled.
Luo Shu finally exhaled in relief, listening to the shouts of "Success!" through his communicator as he gazed at the figure struck by his fist.
He saw Mukuro Hoshimiya with her eyes rolled back, head tilted to the right, limbs spasming unnaturally enough to reveal glimpses of skin.
Fortunately, only Luo Shu and Natsuki Minamiya witnessed this scene. Even so, Luo Shu's expression turned peculiar upon seeing the full power of his Concept Entanglement for the first time.
Especially when considering Mukuro's beautiful appearance and the fact that she appeared to be an extremely innocent 17-year-old girl, his mood became particularly complicated.
Regardless, Luo Shu knew this chase had reached its conclusion.
—Mukuro Hoshimiya, containment complete!