Kotori's expression darkened as she ended the call with Schicksal.
She felt utterly stifled, as if Schicksal was her personal curse. Why did every recent headache have to be tied to them?
"What's wrong, Kotori?" Murasame Reine, who had been watching her, asked curiously.
Though Reine carried a heavy burden of guilt toward Kotori for personal reasons, she genuinely regarded her as a close friend—even if that friendship could be sacrificed for the greater purpose guiding her life.
Because of that, Reine was deeply compelled to make things up to Kotori wherever possible.
So long as it didn't interfere with her own goals, she paid careful attention to Kotori's feelings.
"It's nothing, just… never mind." Kotori took a deep breath and didn't explain further.
What could she even say? That Mobius had rattled her so badly with just a few words that she'd made a critical error in judgment? How embarrassing.
Besides, her own emotional state was far less important than the situation with Tohka.
The girl shifted her gaze back to the monitor, which showed the mountain range at the edge of Tengu City.
As a city surrounded by mountains, such terrain wasn't unusual—what was unusual were the two figures clashing mid-air, filling the sky with deafening impacts.
Tohka was strong—especially when going all out. This was the first time Kotori had witnessed a Spirit fighting at full power.
The slashes that casually tore the earth and reshaped the landscape were, to Tohka, nothing more than stray sword pressure. When she swung her massive blade in earnest, such attacks fell like rain.
Yet, the girl facing her was trading blows on equal footing.
That blue-haired girl with a ponytail gave Kotori a strange sense of familiarity, though she couldn't recall where she'd seen her before.
It was unbelievable—a single human holding her own against a Spirit for so long. Even if she seemed to be barely holding on, it was still absurd.
"How's Shiori?" Kotori asked abruptly.
"Shin has already teleported back near the battlefield," Reine adjusted her glasses. "Aside from the abdominal piercing injury, she's unharmed. It healed completely in just three minutes."
"I see…" Kotori let out a slight sigh of relief. Though she knew Shiori possessed some sealed Reiryoku, she'd never actually seen it in action, so she'd still been somewhat worried.
"Now all we can do is wait… Will DEM and AST arrive first, or Schicksal?"
Even as she said it, everyone knew DEM would likely get there first. That Wizard had probably sent a distress signal before the fight even began, while they'd only contacted Schicksal after it started.
Reine's gaze lingered on the blue-haired Wizard.
If it were anyone else, the moment they harmed Shiori—even accidentally—Reine would have sentenced them to death. But… for this girl, things were different.
Takamiya Mana, the younger sister of the person she loved, the one who—alongside Shin—had accepted her and become family in her eyes.
Because of that, Reine couldn't bring herself to harm her.
Their worst fears were realized as DEM reinforcements soon appeared on the detectors. The absence of Ellen's magical signature was good news, but the unusual strength of the other signatures made it clear these weren't DEM's usual Japan-based forces.
Probably an elite unit from headquarters. Their equipment and skill were terrifying. If they reached the scene, Tohka wouldn't last long…
"What about the Immortal Blades?" Kotori turned to Usami Tomoko, who was monitoring the radar.
"They've mobilized, but… they've only just set out." Tomoko's expression was grim. Their notification had only just reached Schicksal. Less than five minutes had passed—for them to prepare and depart in that time was already impressively fast.
But… DEM would arrive first.
"All we can do is pray Tohka holds on…" Kotori's brows furrowed deeply. She'd considered joining the fight herself, but it wasn't that simple.
In theory, sealed Reiryoku could flow back under intense emotional fluctuation—but the current situation wasn't enough to push Kotori's emotions to that degree. After all, she'd undergone training; her abilities and mental fortitude were truly fit for her role as commander.
Making her lose emotional control was exceedingly difficult.
Unaware that the situation was about to take a turn for the worse, Tohka continued to vent her rage without restraint.
Her golden greatsword, over twenty meters long, whipped up fierce wind pressure with every swing. Rampant spiritual power capable of reducing entire buildings to dust surged around her.
"How dare you! How dare you!! How dare you!!!"
Mana had endured the enraged Spirit's full assault for nearly five minutes. Her arms felt numb, a ringing filled her ears, and her equipment blared overheating alerts from the strain of maintaining the Territory.
It wasn't that Mana lacked the skill—in fact, even though Tohka gave her immense pressure and a sense of crisis, there were significant mitigating factors.
Not only was she using a standard-issue portable Realizer instead of her custom gear, more importantly, she had no will to fight.
The attack meant to kill the Spirit had been intercepted by her sister, leaving a grievous wound. The shock had nearly shut Mana's mind down.
Her brain, which should have been coordinating with the Realizer, was useless, forcing the Device to operate at risk of self-destruction.
Mana knew she had to snap out of it, or she might die here—but controlling her emotions wasn't easy.
"Damn Spirit!" In the end, she directed all her blame onto the Spirit. If her sister hadn't pushed the Spirit aside, she wouldn't have been hurt.
Whether this misplaced anger was right or wrong, the girl used her burning desire to kill the Spirit to regain focus.
An unprecedented killing intent surged within her.
Vast computational power flooded the Realizer, pulling it back from the brink. At the same time, Mana stopped engaging head-on. She dropped altitude, used the Territory to cloak herself, and began using the forest's complexity to her advantage.
If she'd been using her proper gear, such tactics wouldn't be necessary. Holding off the Spirit for five minutes might seem impressive, but based on Tohka's displayed combat power, Mana saw it as nothing special. Five minutes? She could have finished the Spirit in five.
(A/N: Wizard combat power is inconsistent in lore. Artemisia and Mana are roughly on par, maybe Arti is slightly stronger. But with her computational power-enhanced Realizer, even ordinary Wizards can fight Spirits—and she powers five units alone.)
(Ellen is slightly stronger than Artemisia. The gap between these three isn't huge.)
(Mana once single-handedly took down the entire Fraxinus without a scratch, fought Ellen evenly, and only lost due to a careless mistake—nearly getting killed. Aside from being caught off guard by Kurumi's Angel once, her track record is solid.)
If she'd fought seriously from the start, even with equipment limitations, she could have won. But with her current gear, it was hopeless.
"Stop dodging!" Tohka yelled.
The change in tactics was clearly effective. Unable to clearly see her target, Tohka wasted vast amounts of spiritual power, achieving little more than deforestation.
Just as Tohka considered simply leveling the entire area, she suddenly sensed incoming danger. Her body moved before her mind, twisting aside.
A cool gust brushed past Tohka's ear, followed—a moment later—by the sound of something cutting through the air.
Another enemy!?
Tohka's face tightened as she looked into the distance.
A squadron of twenty-four units came into view.
"Target confirmed. Identification: Princess."
The leader was a golden-haired girl whose Realizer stood out from the rest, with cat-ear-like headgear, a waist frill, and wing- or spider-leg-like attachments on her back.
Seeing her, Mana breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Arti."
"Your condition seems off, Mana. What happened?" Artemisia's earlier sneak attack had been prompted by sensing Mana's unstable magical readings.
"…Yeah, but let's talk later." Mana pressed her lips together and flew up from the forest.
Her distress was evident. Tactfully, Arti didn't press further, steering the conversation back to combat.
"Alright. I brought your CR-UNIT. Rest a moment, then we'll attack together—though you might not make it in time."
As she spoke, a squad member handed Mana a nearly two-meter-long black case.
"Thanks."
Using the Realizer to adjust its mass, Mana floated the case behind her. Without another word, she flew toward the ground to switch equipment.
"Numbers won't help you," Tohka declared, raising her Angel toward the obvious leader, Arti.
But despite her bold words, inwardly she was tense.
This fight had once again reshaped her view of humans. She'd thought Durandal and Ellen were extreme exceptions—yet today, she'd encountered another human she couldn't easily defeat.
Just days ago, humans had seemed like beings she could swat aside with minimal effort.
Her earlier unchecked use of spiritual power had left her in less-than-ideal condition. But fleeing was out of the question.
She could never let go of what they'd done to Shiori.
Seeing the hatred in Tohka's eyes, Arti's expression turned serious. "I'm sorry, but I must eliminate you."
The DEM squad quickly spread out, attempting to encircle Tohka.
Under normal circumstances, Tohka wouldn't have considered human encirclement a threat—but now, cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She swung her blade to release sword pressure while rapidly retreating.
"I won't let you escape!" Arti moved even faster.
Her spiderweb-like attachments erupted with magical thrust, and in a blur, she not only split Tohka's purple sword pressure in two but closed the distance instantly.
"You won't beat me in speed." A white-and-blue-edged greatsword descended toward Tohka's face.
Tohka instinctively tried to block with Sandalphon, only to remember she'd merged it with her throne to form the Final Sword.
Normally, a larger blade meant greater destructive power—a clear advantage. But in close quarters, it became a liability.
Even without much common sense, Tohka knew she couldn't retract the oversized sword in time—it was simply too unwieldy at this range.
"Damn it…!" With no other choice, Tohka coated her left hand in spiritual energy and grabbed Arti's blade.
Sparks flew as energy met metal. Tohka's Astral Dress wasn't as fragile as it looked—despite its dress-like appearance, its AAA-grade defense surpassed any energy shield.
Reinforced with a barrier, it held firm against Arti's strike. The impact forced them apart.
But unlike Tohka, Arti had plenty of experience fighting evenly matched opponents and was highly skilled in teamwork.
With deliberate force, she directed their separation so Tohka hurtled toward the ground. That brief descent gave the other squad members time to complete their encirclement.
As Wizards from DEM headquarters, each possessed skill at or above division captain level. Twenty-three advanced energy weapons aimed at Tohka. Faced with that threat, she immediately tried to break out before they fired—but no matter how she moved, the squad shifted in perfect sync.
Danger!
If Tohka could sense it, so could Kotori.
Kotori's palms were sweaty against her chair. Tohka was the first Spirit they'd made contact with, and she got along so well with Shiori.
If Tohka died, not only would they lose perhaps the most approachable Spirit they'd ever meet—Shiori would be devastated.
White light bloomed, bright enough to challenge the twilight sky.
Realizing escape was impossible, Tohka gritted her teeth and formed a barrier of spiritual power, hoping to withstand the combined assault. But her already-depleted energy warned her she wouldn't emerge unscathed.
"Fire." Once the target was fully locked, Arti gave the order.
Blinding light erupted from twenty-three barrels. Tohka clenched her jaw, with no way out and no time to plan beyond surviving this volley, she poured everything she had into her shield.
A massive explosion tore through the ground—far more destructive than an A-rank Spatial Quake. Arti was confident nothing could survive that—not even herself, or Ellen.
But as the light faded, an incomprehensible sight greeted them.
A sturdy tree had risen from the earth, forming a barrier two meters high. Visible scorch marks on its surface were rapidly healing before their eyes.
What was this? Why had a tree suddenly appeared here?
And how could a single tree withstand their combined firepower?
Under the baffled gazes of the DEM forces, the tree seemed to fulfill its purpose, slowly unfolding from the center to reveal Tohka—sitting on the ground, looking dazed—and a petite, golden-haired figure holding a white lance.
"Am I too late?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.