"Ah, it's nothing..."
Shidou spoke in surprise, but at that moment, his receiver suddenly emitted a sharp burst of static. He had to cover his ears and crouch down in pain.
Seeing his reaction, Mana shrugged her shoulders.
Incidentally, before Mana had even arrived, Tenki Sanluo had already stepped aside on her own.
"Ah... it's natural you'd be shocked. Though I might've gone a bit overboard... well, there's a reason for that — I'll explain later."
As Mana spoke, Kurumi slowly stood up from the ground and parted her lips gracefully.
"My, my... interrupting my little rendezvous with Shidou-san — don't you think that's quite rude?"
"The rude one is you! How dare you attack my brother! What are you plotting?"
After Mana's retort, Kurumi widened her eyes in apparent surprise, as if hearing it for the first time.
"So, Mana, you're Shidou-san's little sister? Indeed... now that you mention it, you do look alike."
"Hmph, none of your business."
Mana replied coldly, lightly rotating her neck.
Instantly, the mechanical components on her shoulders tilted forward in sync with her movement and began to transform midair. In the end, the front ends of the white parts split into five sections, resembling human fingers.
Next, the ten components in total—five on each side—started charging, releasing bluish-white light.
"Prepare to die, Nightmare!"
With a snap of her fingers, Mana commanded the floating parts to aim at Kurumi, firing ten beams of light simultaneously.
It all happened in the blink of an eye. Yet Kurumi swiftly twisted her body and evaded the attack with graceful movements.
"Hehe, that was dangerous~"
"Tch."
Mana clicked her tongue in irritation and flicked her fingers again.
The beams that Kurumi had just dodged suddenly defied the laws of physics, changing trajectory midair and flying back toward her.
This time, it was a strike from her blind spot.
Even Kurumi couldn't avoid it. The light pierced through her legs and abdomen, and she let out a heartbreaking scream before collapsing onto the ground. Blood began spreading across the floor.
"...!"
Seeing the gruesome scene before him—especially after what had just happened—Shidou couldn't help but furrow his brows.
"Tokisaki Kurumi... oh, Kurumi. You really do love to play. Spending hundreds of rounds with someone like that—I don't know whether to call you patient or just hopelessly bored."
Tenki Sanluo spoke indifferently. It didn't matter to her—it was only a clone anyway, not worth lifting a hand for.
"Stop struggling, you monster."
Mana raised her right hand without emotion. The floating parts immediately flew back, merging seamlessly into the two shield-like components on her shoulders. From their tips, a massive energy blade materialized.
"!"
Shidou held his breath.
He had seen that form before—the same energy sword that, in a past recording, had killed Kurumi.
"Ma...na... wait..."
Instinctively, he called out without knowing why.
"What is it? I'll finish her off soon. Please wait a moment."
"No... you can't kill her!"
At his words, Mana's eyes widened in disbelief.
And not only hers—even Tenki Sanluo, still calmly watching the show, raised an eyebrow.
"Is this guy brain-dead? He just barely escaped death, and now he's defending the Spirit who almost ate him?"
"...I see. So Nightmare has been living as a human, transferred into your class, hasn't she? Brother, I can't tell you the details, but starting today—you must forget about that woman. She's not human. She cannot be allowed to exist in this world."
With that, Mana walked toward the fallen, barely breathing Kurumi.
"...! That's not the point! Stop! Please stop!"
Shidou pleaded desperately, not even knowing why.
Meanwhile, Kurumi, whose throat was letting out faint, meaningless sounds, managed to speak weakly:
"...Heh... Shidou-san... you truly are... a kind person..."
Mana frowned, raised her sword, and brought it down toward Kurumi's head.
A sickening sound echoed—and Kurumi fell silent forever.
Mana gently waved her right hand, and the mechanical components on her arms reassembled back onto her shoulders.
"Why..."
Shidou's voice trembled as he looked at her back.
Mana sighed softly and turned toward him.
"If I hadn't come, you'd be the one dead right now. I can't understand why you'd try to protect her."
"Ugh..."
Shidou was speechless.
"Brother, from now on, forget that woman. She was never meant to exist in this world..."
As she spoke, Mana's sharp gaze turned toward Tenki Sanlu, who was still watching indifferently. Her AST equipment began to glow faintly with bluish-white light.
"You too—the wicked Spirit who stood by and watched."
"Oh?"
Tenki Sanluo's eyes lit up with amusement. No wonder the girl hadn't deactivated her combat equipment yet—she'd been waiting for her all along.
Letting go of her black hair, Sanluo straightened up, a pure, innocent smile spreading across her face as she took a few slow steps toward Mana.
"So, you're saying I shouldn't exist either? Just because I didn't stop Tokisaki Kurumi earlier?"
"Don't think I didn't see you aiding Nightmare—helping her manipulate my brother! I only prioritized eliminating Nightmare first. Now it's your turn!"
The mechanical parts on Mana's body reassembled into her hands again, forming another energy blade. Her cold eyes locked firmly onto Tenki Sanlu.
"Oh?"
So she wasn't bluffing after all—she actually intended to fight?
Interesting. If she truly knew who Sanluo was, there was no way she'd act this arrogantly.
"Fine then. Show me, Miss Takamiya Mana—the one who slaughtered hundreds of Tokisaki Kurumi's clones—just how strong you really are."
"Clones...? What clones?"
Sanluo ignored Mana's puzzled expression and smiled faintly, raising her right hand to summon her own Astral Dress.
But suddenly—both Shidou, who was completely dumbfounded, and Mana, who was preparing to fight, felt their bodies lighten. The world around them spun violently.
The next moment, they were instantly transported to
"Hm? They're gone?"
Sanluo looked around. Even with her exceptional Spirit senses, she couldn't detect their presence anywhere.
Originally, she had planned to take this chance to manifest her Astral Dress, turn Tenguu City into a sea of fire, and capture Shidou as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Tokisaki Kurumi.
But now—they had escaped?
Just then, Sanluo felt her entire body growing light and hollow. It was the sign of an impending Lost—she was about to disappear.
"Hehe... guess we'll play again next time."
...
When Shidou and Mana arrived aboard the airship, they saw Kotori sitting at the command seat, her expression unusually dark as she stared at the main monitor.
The once-bustling
"...Kotori?"
"...Shidou. Hold on a moment."
Kotori's tone was different than usual—low, tense, as though she had just returned from the brink of death.
"I see now... so this is the legendary airship of the
In contrast, Mana seemed completely oblivious to the grim atmosphere aboard the ship. She looked around curiously.
"And to think, Kotori—you're actually the commander of this airship. It seems, then, that my brother was sent by your organization to directly confront Spirits, wasn't he?"
As she spoke, Mana's tone grew sharper.
"Itsuka Kotori—you made my brother do something so dangerous, I—"
"Mana. Look at this. Reine."
Following Kotori's order, Murasame Reine immediately handed Mana a tablet containing the newly analyzed Spirit data — information on Tenki Sanlu.
"!!! This is..."
"I'll give you a proper explanation later. Takamiya Mana, for now—please leave the ship."
Kotori's voice was low, oppressive. After reading the report, Mana's expression turned serious as well.
"I understand."
As for Shidou, he was completely lost—he couldn't make sense of any of it.
But he didn't dare to ask questions. Not until Mana had left via the teleportation device did he finally open his mouth:
"Kotori... what was that all about...?"