Just as Mikoto had expected, after noticing that Shido and the others had retreated, Ellen did not continue the fight and left as well.
On the bridge, the screen showed endless darkness. When that dark spirit power completely scattered, the monitors were no longer able to capture any trace of that Spirit. She vanished completely from the image.
"How is it, Reine?"
Kotori turned and asked.
"No good. There is no spirit power reaction."
Reine shook her head. Just like before, that Spirit had suddenly emitted powerful spirit power, then vanished without leaving even a trace behind, like a ghost.
"We can't leave this alone."
Kotori said. Judging from the spirit power residue left in Natsumi's wound, it seed the one who attacked her was not Ellen Mathers, but the black Spirit.
[Was she trying to kill Natsumi? If so, that would reasonably explain why she attacked Shido when he was trying to save Natsumi.]
Kotori bit the Chupa Chups in her mouth and thought.
Though it was a decent explanation, sothing still felt off. Leaving aside the fact that Spirits almost never had grudges against other Spirits—in such a vast world, excluding the special case of Yamai, the chance of two Spirits appearing at the sa ti was even lower than winning the lottery.
And…
[Sohow, that Spirit didn't seem to have emotions like revenge.]
Kotori watched the previous footage again. She felt that, when that Spirit faced Natsumi and the other Spirits, her killing intent was chanical, containing no anger, humiliation, sadness, or any other emotion.
"Forget it. No matter what, the most important thing right now is still Natsumi."
Kotori sighed and set the matter of the black Spirit aside for now. At present, Natsumi was badly wounded and had temporarily lost the ability to use Haniel. Just a while ago, all the Spirits had also returned from their loli forms. On the other hand, Natsumi had been saved by Shido, so there should now be a possibility for communication and conquest.
So the urgent task was to arrange for Shido to conquer Natsumi before she recovered her power and escaped.
"Just in case, move Natsumi to the underground facility first."
Kotori said. It was far too dangerous to let an unsealed Spirit who still held hostility stay on Fraxinus. If she caused a scene, the airship might even crash.
"After she wakes up, call Shido over."
Kotori stood and headed toward the underground facility where Natsumi would soon be transferred.
______________
Several hours later…
"You said Natsumi woke up? Mm, I'll head over right away!"
Receiving Reine's notification, Shido nodded and said.
"Yakumo-senpai, Natsumi is…"
"Mm, I heard too. Sorry, Shido, you go first. I have sothing to do…"
Mikoto gave a wry smile.
Although she was very concerned about Natsumi, ever since she saw that black Spirit, one lingering thought had been circling in her mind.
That Spirit looked like Origami!
By coincidence, her phone had received a late ssage from Origami, so she decided to et her.
"Is that so? I understand."
Shido nodded.
After parting from the boy, Mikoto arrived at the place where she had agreed to et Origami. Since it was just noon, the two found a Western restaurant and sat down.
"Sorry, Mikoto. I couldn't catch Natsumi."
Origami said as soon as they sat down.
"It's okay. She isn't that easy to find, after all. And… actually, we already caught Natsumi this morning."
Mikoto shook her head and comforted her.
"No, actually, I found Natsumi… Wait, you said you already caught Natsumi?"
Origami showed a surprised expression.
"Mm… Wait, Origami, you said you found Natsumi?"
This ti, it was Mikoto's turn to be shocked. If Origami had found Natsumi, didn't that an Origami had been near them at that ti?
"It is embarrassing to say, but at the mont I found Natsumi, I suddenly lost consciousness. It seems my condition has not fully healed."
Origami said with an apologetic expression. By the ti she woke up, everything around her had been left in ruins, and Natsumi had already disappeared.
[Lost consciousness…]
Mikoto frowned slightly. Although she did not want to think that way, a black Spirit had appeared at the sa ti Origami lost consciousness. It was hard not to connect her with that Spirit.
"Hey… Origami, have you recently encountered a being whose whole body looked like it was covered in mosaic?"
Her first thought was that Origami might have encountered Phantom and beco a Spirit. However…
"No… I have not encountered such a strange being."
Origami shook her head. She could not rember ever eting that kind of lifeform.
"Is that so? Thank goodness."
Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief. Not eting Phantom ant Origami might not have beco a Spirit, though it did not rule out the possibility that, like Kotori, her mory had been sealed.
"What exactly happened, Mikoto? You seem a bit strange."
Origami asked. Sohow, compared to Natsumi, Mikoto seed more concerned about her personally.
"Actually…"
After thinking it over, Mikoto told her about the black Spirit they had encountered today.
"Although I couldn't see that Spirit clearly, she looked a lot like Origami."
"No… that's impossible. How could I be a Spirit?"
After hearing it, Origami laughed in disbelief and waved her hand.
"First, if I were a Spirit, AST's spirit power detection devices would have found imdiately. Besides, I have no reason to beco a Spirit."
"Uu… But as AST, Origami, you…"
Mikoto still could not completely let go of the thought.
As for spirit power observation, Natsumi's appearance had already proven one thing: so Spirits could hide their spirit power. Otherwise, when she disguised herself as Yoshinon, she would have been discovered by the instrunts long ago, not to ntion AST's equipnt, which to them was a very outdated model.
Also, although Origami herself had said she was willing to help Mikoto save Spirits, the girl was still a mber of AST. To Origami, Spirits were still targets that needed to be eliminated.
"Actually, I have already decided to leave AST."
At that mont, Origami smiled and said.
"Eh?"
Mikoto was surprised.
"There is nothing strange about it. Since I have already realized that not all Spirits are evil, I no longer have any reason to stay in AST."
Origami smiled.
Even if she remained in AST, that organization, which had been influenced too heavily by DEM, could not truly eliminate Spirits in a aningful way. At the sa ti, she had also understood that among Spirits, there were gentle girls like Mikoto. On top of that, deep in her heart, there seed to be another voice telling her that continuing like this was wrong.
There were as many reasons to leave AST as one wanted.
"I see. Sorry, I really shouldn't have suspected you, Origami."
Mikoto smiled apologetically.
Origami had not encountered Phantom, had not had any spirit power detected, and had no motive to kill Spirits. Suspecting a friend who had helped her so much made Mikoto feel guilty.
"No, it's okay. After all, she looked very much like , right? If I encounter such a girl in the future, I will pay attention."
Origami smiled, showing no sign that she minded Mikoto's suspicion.
After settling the worry in her heart, the food that had just been served looked much more delicious.
"Ah, Origami's steak looks really tasty."
"If you don't mind, should I share so with you?"
"Mm-hm. Oh, would you like to try so pasta?"
"All right. It looks wonderful."
Inside the restaurant, the girls happily exchanged bites of each other's food.
(TL:man...the fact that this fanfic choose to start with this tiline is really interesting, imagine all the drama, when the day previous tiline Shido take over and don't know who Mikoto is, oh yeah...I can sll the drama)
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