Ellen Mathers, piloting the [pendragon], slowly descended from the smoke-filled sky like an Angel of Judgment.
She finally hovered a few meters above the ground, her cold gaze, like two materialized daggers, fell upon Shido, who was kneeling beside the pool of blood, his face streaked with tears, yet stubbornly raised his head to meet her eyes.
Itsuka Shido suppressed the sob in his throat and the trembling in his body, stubbornly raising his head to face that gaze which seemed capable of freezing the soul.
Tear tracks had not yet dried on his face, mixed with dust and blood flecks, making him look utterly wretched, but in his eyes, reflecting the flames of the battlefield, burned an untamed flame, completely different from his outwardly weak appearance.
Her eyes held a hint of scrutiny, a touch of impatience, and a trace of suspicion she could no longer ignore.
"It's you again, boy."
Her voice emerged, carrying a metallic, grating quality, unnaturally clear in the dead silence of the battlefield.
"Last time, at the scene of the 'Princess' hunt, you also suddenly intruded." Her gaze seemed to pierce through Shido's soul.
"At the time, I thought you were merely an unfortunate civilian—someone with bad luck who failed to evacuate in time and happened to stumble upon the Spirit subjugation... lucky yet unlucky."
Her tone slightly intensified, carrying an undeniable sense of oppression.
"But now, this happens again."
Her gaze swept over Shido, then landed on Chinatsu behind him, who was in the pool of blood, still wearing that maniacal smile.
"One coincidence might be accidental. But the same 'coincidence' happening twice, precisely at the core of high-risk Spirit-related incidents..."
She leaned forward slightly, the invisible pressure nearly suffocating Shido.
"Is this truly coincidence, or... premeditated?"
Facing Ellen Mathers' sharp gaze, which seemed to see through everything, and her icy questioning, Shido's heart pounded, and his back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
He gritted his teeth tightly, forcing himself to calm down. (I can't expose them! I absolutely cannot expose Fraxinus and Kotori!)
He took a deep breath, using all his strength to straighten his back. Although his voice still trembled slightly, his gaze was exceptionally firm as he met Ellen Mathers':
"There is no premeditation! I'm just... just someone who couldn't stand by!"
His voice was hoarse with emotion, "When I see someone who needs help, when I see someone injured, I can't just ignore it! It's that simple!"
His gaze involuntarily turned toward the weakly breathing Chinatsu in the pool of blood. The genuine pain and heart-wrenching resolve that instantly surged in his eyes became the most powerful validation of his words:
"She is my friend! She is someone important to me, someone who makes my heart race!"
"How could I... how could I just watch her die like this, while I stand by like a coward and do nothing?!"
He poured out his complex yet genuine feelings for Chinatsu without reservation at this moment, offering it as the most direct and powerful reason for his actions.
(Yes, this is it! I am just an idiot driven by pure passion and impulse! A fool whose head was clouded by emotion, disregarding his own safety! A... normal high school student who cannot stand by and watch the person he likes die!)
Shido screamed internally, trying to use this pure, even somewhat foolish "sense of justice" and "personal affection" to mask the more complex truth behind his actions.
Ellen Mathers quietly listened to Shido's defense, her cold eyes lingering on his face for a long time, as if judging the veracity of his words.
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