Once the side effects were gone, Mio handed one of the Spirit Crystals to Kurumi.
With everyone watching closely, Kurumi was surrounded by a wave of energy.
As the bright light flared and slowly faded, Kurumi's new form was revealed.
Just like her original Spirit form, she now wore a red-and-black gothic lolita dress. Her smooth, black hair was tied into twin tails.
On her beautiful, pale face, her left eye had changed—it now looked like a golden clock.
That mismatched gaze, along with her outfit, gave her an air of mystery and seductive charm.
"Is that… Kurumi's Spirit form?"
Ellen looked at her closely and quickly recognized the outfit—it was a Spirit's Astral Dress.
"But Kurumi's is different from Mio's. Even her eye changed!"
Sawa, Kurumi's close friend, stared in surprise at her left eye.
The golden clock stood out the most.
"That's because my power is related to time~," Kurumi said casually.
"So having a clock in my eye makes sense, right?"
Kurumi clearly liked how she looked.
She walked over to a mirror and checked herself out, then rushed over to Rin Yuki.
She wrapped herself around his arm, leaned in close with a playful grin, and asked:
"Hey, hey, hey! Yuki-kun, how do I look in this outfit?"
"Do you like it?"
She smiled teasingly as she waited for his answer.
"Mhm. It suits you."
"Kurumi's already beautiful, so her Astral Dress looks amazing on her too," Yuki replied with a small nod.
"Hehe~!"
Kurumi looked very happy with his compliment.
After testing out her powers a little, she asked Yuki to set up a training ground—she wanted to spar with Ellen.
Ellen agreed right away.
She and Mio often had practice battles, and although Ellen never beat Mio completely, her special armor—made from Asgardian materials—helped her survive even Mio's strongest abilities.
Once Ellen agreed, Yuki set up a battlefield for the two of them.
Ellen stood ready in her battle suit, holding a photon blade.
Kurumi stood across from her. Behind her, a huge golden clock appeared. She held a rifle in one hand and a pistol in the other—her signature weapons.
"Go ahead, Kurumi. You can attack first."
Ellen gave her the first move.
Kurumi didn't hesitate.
"Zafkiel!"
She called the name of her Angel. The clock behind her started to glow as it sent energy into her rifle.
"Seventh Bullet!"
Bang!
A single shot rang out, aimed straight at Ellen.
Ellen narrowed her eyes. Just one bullet?
She reacted instantly and tracked the projectile.
"There's some weird energy inside that bullet…"
She could tell right away that it wasn't normal.
Instead of dodging, she chose to block it—curious to see what the bullet would do.
She raised her photon blade—
Clang!
The bullet hit the blade—and a strange force wrapped around Ellen's body.
She tried to move… but couldn't.
From where Sawa, Karen, and the others were watching, Ellen looked completely frozen—not even blinking.
"This… is this time stop?" Karen asked, adjusting her glasses.
"Yes. Kurumi's power is time. She can control it," Mio confirmed with a nod.
"Time… I didn't think she'd be able to do this!" Sawa said, surprised and just a little jealous of Kurumi's new power.
Yuki didn't say anything—he just smiled.
Thanks to his upgrades, the Spirit Crystals were much stronger than they used to be.
Not only did they no longer have side effects, but they now had inversion functions too. That meant Spirits could enter their Inverse forms whenever they wanted—no need for extreme emotional triggers like in the original timeline.
After confirming that Ellen was frozen, Kurumi grinned.
"First Bullet!"
But this time, she pointed her gun at herself.
Sawa gasped.
"K-Kurumi?! What are you doing?!"
"Don't worry. It's just part of her ability," Yuki said calmly, patting Sawa's head to reassure her.
Sawa took a breath and nodded, trying to relax.
Bang!
Kurumi shot herself.
But instead of falling, she disappeared.
Then—she appeared right behind Ellen.
"Hehe~! Ellen, you lose!"
Kurumi pointed her gun at the back of Ellen's head and ended the time stop.
"I lost… but only because I didn't take you seriously enough," Ellen admitted.
Now that she understood how Kurumi's power worked, she realized she had let her guard down.
"Hehe~!"
Kurumi didn't get cocky. She knew this win wasn't because of strength—it was because of surprise.
In terms of raw combat power, Ellen was still way ahead of her.
Sure, the Seventh Bullet (Yud Bet) could freeze her opponent in time. But if Ellen had dodged the bullet, Kurumi wouldn't have stood a chance.
Still, the fight gave her a better understanding of her own strengths and limits.
Later, after saying goodbye to Yuki and the others, Kurumi and Sawa walked home together.
Kurumi had her head down, deep in thought, thinking about how to make sure enemies would always get hit by her Seventh Bullet.
She was so focused, she didn't even hear Sawa calling her.
"Kurumi! Kurumi! Are you even listening?!"
"Huh?"
Kurumi blinked, snapping out of it and looking at her pouting friend.
"Ah, sorry, Sawa! I was just thinking about something."
"Ugh! Can't you at least pay attention when I'm talking?!"
Sawa sighed in frustration.
"So… now that you're a Spirit, what are you planning to do?"
"Are you still going to college?"
She asked the very practical question about their future.
"Of course I am! Sure, being a Spirit means I can fight to protect the world from darkness—"
"But using my identity as a college student to hide it?"
"Now that's cool, right?!"
Her wine-red eyes sparkled.
"Oh my god, are you going through your chuunibyou phase again?"
Sawa rolled her eyes.
"What 'darkness'? The world's totally peaceful right now!"
"There are aliens, Sawa! Aliens!" Kurumi shot back, totally serious.
"What if they come back someday? We can't just ignore that!"
"So, Sawa! You should become a Spirit too! We can fight together—"
"No way! Not happening! I'd rather wear a combat suit like Ellen's!"
Sawa shut it down right away.
"Aww, too bad!"
"But I didn't expect you to be into mecha gear, Sawa! That's a surprise~!"
Sawa didn't answer that one.
"More importantly, what about your left eye? Even after you turn off your Astral Dress, that golden clock is still there."
"How are you going to explain that to your parents?"
She looked at the hair strand Kurumi had pulled over her left eye to hide it a little.
"I'll just say I'm wearing colored contacts! Easy!"
"…Wow. You've really thought this through, haven't you?"
"Naturally! Hehe~!"