Facing Ellen as she fired Rhongomiant, Mikoto brought her hands together as if in prayer.
Beneath the night, the doors of the shrine opened, and a small mirror flew into the girl's hand.
The blast was so bright it could not be looked at directly.
Magic power, almost solid in form, beca a pillar of light that could only be described with the word "spear", striking straight into Tsukuyomi.
That attack easily pierced through the barrier and rushed toward Shido, Mikoto, and Miku, who stood within it.
[!!!]
Ellen widened her eyes.
She had never imagined that she could break through Miko's defense so easily.
No.
It had not been broken through.
Miko had deliberately allowed Rhongomiant to enter the barrier.
Realizing this, Ellen hurriedly shifted her Territory into defense mode, but it was already too late.
Before the spear of light could hit the three of them, it was absorbed into that small mirror.
Then, the mirror shone with silver light.
Spirit power beca a rushing torrent and shot toward Ellen.
That light was like moonlight, carving a beautiful trail through the sky.
Boom!
"I see. So this is the killing move Yakumo-san was hiding. How dangerous."
In the sky, Kurumi watched Ellen take the hit and could not help rembering the ti when she had caused a spacequake, and Mikoto had once pointed that mirror at her.
"It absorbs the enemy's attack and reflects it back… no, perhaps it would be more correct to say it 'purifies' it before firing it back."
A spacequake ant nothing against a Spirit.
And yet, back then, Mikoto had tried to reflect Kurumi's attack.
Combined with the fact that Ellen's golden cannon blast had turned silver, that was proof that it had been processed after being absorbed before being reflected back.
"Ara, ara. What a dangerous trap, Yakumo-san."
Kurumi smiled.
An Angel with no attack power at all.
Against an enemy like that, it was only natural that the attacker would put everything into one full-powered strike.
But that was exactly where the trap lay.
A full-power attack would be reflected back by the mirror hidden inside the shrine, making the attacker drink the bitter result of their own blow. (TL:full counter~)
And now, Ellen had fallen into Mikoto's trap and paid the price.
"Guh…"
Even so, perhaps this was only natural for the strongest Wizard on Earth.
With the defense she had raised in the nick of ti, Ellen managed to avoid the worst possible outco—being killed together with Westcott by her own Rhongomiant.
Her wiring suit was in tatters. Her beautiful white-and-gold CR-Unit was covered with scorched marks. Blood stained the corners of her mouth and many parts of her body. rely floating in the air while carrying Westcott already seed to be her limit.
"There's no helping it. Let us retreat for now, Ellen."
Westcott, who could tell at a glance that Ellen could no longer continue fighting, spoke.
"After all, I am already used to waiting. Besides, making Miko invert is already a gain. Then… farewell, Takamiya—no, Itsuka Shido." (TL:you asshole snake~)
With Westcott's words, Ellen squeezed out the last of her strength, gathered a Territory, controlled her thrusters, and left the battlefield together with Westcott.
Only one word was left behind, weighing heavily on Shido's mind.
Takamiya.
At the mont, Miku had been conquered, and Yoshino, Kaguya, and Yuzuru had also broken free of Miku's control during the ti when Miku had lost her "voice."
As for Mikoto, the girl looked unwillingly at the two people leaving through the sky.
Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott.
Ellen Mira Mathers.
As long as those two were alive, Shido, herself, and the Spirits's lives would remain trapped under an endless threat.
But there was nothing they could do.
Even if she wanted to chase after them, the sky was still filled with DEM Wizards and Bandersnatch units.
"Let's go back, Shido."
Although she did not know why, at the sa ti that her consciousness recovered, she had regained all of her spirit power.
However, this place was still a battlefield. It was not a suitable place for sealing.
And so, everyone returned to Fraxinus.
With that, the operation finally ca to an end.
On the other side…
"Origami! Origami! Origami—!"
Origami opened her eyes and saw the anxious face of her captain, Kusakabe Ryouko.
"I… what… happened…"
Her head felt heavy and dull, as if it had been struck by a large hamr. The pain made it hard to organize her thoughts.
"That's my question. How are you feeling right now? What exactly happened?"
Ryouko asked anxiously.
After Origami had left the base without permission, so ti had passed before the DEM branch, which had been stuck in a difficult battle, finally sent a request for AST support.
When Ryouko gathered the team, she discovered that Origami was missing.
Then, while supporting DEM, they found the girl unconscious inside a building.
"I don't know… I can't rember…"
Origami placed a hand against her forehead.
No matter how desperately she thought, she could only rember coming here to help Mikoto.
After that, she could not rember anything.
"No helping it. It's probably amnesia caused by your injuries. We're going back first. Heal up before anything else. As for your punishnt for leaving without permission, you'd better prepare yourself."
Ryouko looked at Origami.
The girl was covered in wounds, and there was a lot of blood on the ground.
Those were injuries caused by a large-caliber magic cannon.
But what concerned her even more was the dried blood at the corners of Origami's eyes.
It looked almost as if she had encountered so unspeakable despair and had even shed tears of blood.
[Good. There's no record of CR-Unit use at the base. It should be leftover SSS equipnt that was never recovered.]
Looking at Origami's equipnt and wiring suit, Ryouko thought this silently.
As long as they hid the fact that she had used a CR-Unit, then leaving without permission could be argued down to a cautious disciplinary handling.
Ryouko glanced up at the sky.
Nightmare, Hermit, Princess, Diva and Berserk, who had caused chaos not long ago, had already disappeared along with Miko.
And so, the AST mbers also left Kagamino City.
Under Ryouko's command, Origami lay on a stretcher and stared blankly at the distant sky.
For so reason, her heart felt heavy.
As if—there is another version of herself sleeping inside her heart.
On the other side, shadows writhed in the darkness of the building.
Even though dawn had already co, the spacequake alarm still echoed throughout the city.
At this mont, countless girls with the sa face stood in the empty ruins.
"Second Office Building. Target not found."
"Advanced Technology Research Institute. Wrong guess again."
"First Office Building. Only Yakumo-san was there."
Kurumi's clones reported one after another.
"It seems… this place was wrong too."
Kurumi sighed after using up countless clones.
Give and take.
As paynt for helping Shido, Kurumi had intended to use the chance created by Shido and the others drawing attention to search for the Second Spirit being held by DEM—the Spirit who knew of the Spirit of Origin.
That was one of the two necessary conditions for Kurumi's deepest wish.
Using Yud Bet to return thirty years into the past, kill the Origin Spirit, and erase the existence of Spirits from the world.
Without the Second Spirit, even if Kurumi devoured Shido's spirit power, she would not be able to act.
That said, this ti had been wasted effort.
"Well, let's just consider it rent for resting at the shrine."
Kurumi stood up, turned elegantly, and vanished into the shadows of the ruins.
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