Facing the battle situation that was gradually slipping out of control, Mikoto clapped her hands together.
"Kaguya, Yuzuru, I'm leaving the satellite to you!"
A small mirror flew out from the shrine and landed in the girl's hand. Mikoto raised the sacred mirror high. The black rays, as if drawn by so invisible force, bent away from their course and fell into the mirror. At the sa ti, a faint light blood across the mirror's surface, flickering in and out like hazy moonlight.
"Kuhaha! As long as that black one doesn't get in our way, a tiny satellite is nothing for us, the children of the storm!"
"Gratitude. We will definitely send the satellite higher!"
Once the inside of the barrier beca safe again, Kaguya and Yuzuru worked together to send the satellite even higher into the sky.
"Tohka!"
"Mm, let's go, Shido!"
The two raised Sandalphon and carved a shining trail into the sky.
Countless Bandersnatch flew around the satellite, opening defensive Territories. Even so, they could not stop the power of the Angels, and more than that—
"Disappear!"
Mikoto turned around and aid the sacred mirror at the satellite. At this mont, the mirror stored countless amounts of the black Spirit's spirit power. That purified power gave off silver light as bright as moonlight, pouring out like the Milky Way spilling onto the earth and swallowing the satellite in the sky.
After taking a full-power strike from all three of them, the satellite, nearly evaporated until almost nothing was left, exploded violently and scattered the remaining fragnts across Tengu City, creating several craters of various sizes, almost like spacequakes. Mikoto, anwhile, did her best to raise the barrier and protect everyone from the satellite's explosion.
Now that everyone had already entered the shelters, the only people who would have a headache were probably the repair teams responsible for restoring the buildings. And this was already the best result Shido and the others could achieve.
"Senpai!"
"Yeah, I know."
Watching the Bandersnatch scatter like frightened birds, Mikoto and Shido looked at each other. Although the satellite problem had been solved, there was still another problem before them.
With Tohka's help, Shido ca to Tsukuyomi in the air. Standing on the land ford by the divine realm, Shido looked at the black Spirit not far away, hoping Mikoto could send him to that girl's side.
Mikoto nodded. She raised her hand, and a string of kagura bells appeared in her grasp.
"...If this is recited, the heavenly gods will push open the rock door of Takamagahara1 and listen as they part the eightfold clouds of heaven with fierce force. The earthly gods will rise to the peaks of tall mountains and low hills..." (TL:this line send ntal pain to my head)
She shook the kagura bells and began chanting a norito prayer1.
In response to the girl's movents, layer after layer of torii gates extended from the divine realm and approached the black Spirit.
"Ugh..."
Countless wings poured a rain of black light down on the divine realm, making Mikoto let out a painful groan.
After all, that satellite had been a weapon ant to blow all of Tengu City away in one strike. With the explosive formula strengthening it, the satellite's earlier explosion had terrifying power.
Even with Yoshino's ice barrier and Miku's song supporting her, Mikoto, as the main defense, felt her spirit power rapidly nearing exhaustion.
In truth, it was not only Mikoto. Most of the Spirits present were already worn down. They waved their Angels, trying to intercept so of the wings and reduce Mikoto's burden, but that was only a drop in the bucket.
"Damn it!"
Realizing that the Spirits were almost at their limits, Shido sped up and ran through the thousand torii gates, trying to approach that black Spirit.
Before long, the thousand torii gates stopped not far from the black Spirit. Although the best option would have been to pull her inside the barrier and seal her, Mikoto clearly no longer had that much power to spare.
"Please stop! We don't an you any harm!"
Shido stood inside the barrier and shouted toward the black Spirit nearby. However, she showed no reaction at all. Only the countless wings continued bombarding the thousand torii gates.
"Please! Don't do this!"
Shido's voice did not reach the Spirit's ears. The Spirit nearby seed to have no consciousness at all. She was simply rejecting them by instinct.
[Shido... Mikoto is almost at her limit.]
"Guh..."
Hearing Kotori's voice, Shido clenched his fists in frustration.
In the next instant, they were transferred back to Fraxinus, while the black Spirit hid her form inside black spirit power and vanished soon after.
"What the heck was that black one?"
"Indignation. It was almost like she ca here specifically to attack us."
Kaguya and Yuzuru said angrily.
"B-but... why..."
"Ah, I got it! That must be so new weapon from that AST or whatever, right!"
Yoshino and Yoshinon spoke one after another.
"It's impossible for it to be AST."
Mikoto shook her head. If that were the case, Origami would definitely have told her.
"Ugh... Mmm..."
Tohka racked her brain for a while, until smoke seed to rise from her head.
"It was the sa when Natsumi was attacked. It really is like she ca here specifically to attack Spirits."
Kotori bit the Chupa Chups in her mouth. Since she knew Mikoto had soone connected to AST, she ruled out the possibility that the black Spirit was AST's ally or weapon. As for DEM, since the black Spirit had just fought Ellen, she could not be on DEM's side either.
"So, a 'Spirit Hunter', then?"
Reine reached that conclusion.
"Another dangerous one after Kurumi, huh. Looks like everyone needs to be even more careful from now on."
Kotori sighed. A Spirit that hunted Spirits. That really was not sothing anyone could laugh about.
"Well, in any case, at least we destroyed the satellite, so we've achieved our expected goa—"
Just as she was about to say that, a sharp alarm rang through the bridge.
"Wh-what is it?"
Kotori asked.
"A reaction from an explosive formula has appeared inside the enemy airship!"
Hearing the crew's report, everyone's eyes widened in shock. The explosive formula was exactly the formula attached to the satellites to increase their power. In other words, inside that fleeing airship, there was still one more satellite!
But right now, every single person was already exhausted.
"There's no choice. Everyone, let's go together."
Mikoto said.
"Yakumo-senpai..."
Shido looked at the girl with worry. Mikoto, who had almost single-handedly endured the satellite's explosion and all of the black Spirit's attacks, should have been the most exhausted among all the Spirits.
"It's okay. Thanks to them not dropping the third satellite imdiately, I managed to rest a little."
Mikoto smiled. However, Shido felt that smile was a little forced.
But right now, there was no better option. Everyone left Fraxinus and flew below the fleeing airship.
Fraxinus would handle restraining the airship itself. What they had to do was no different from before. They simply had to detonate that satellite in midair.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Mikoto opened her barrier and held up the satellite.
"No good. It's too low."
Since it had been dropped directly from the airship, the satellite was at a very low altitude. Although its power was reduced because of that, if it fell to the ground, it would still be enough to turn that entire area into scorched earth.
Even worse—
"We have to lift it higher. If we break it here, just the storm caused by the explosion will be enough to cause huge damage on the ground."
Mikoto said with difficulty.
[!!!]
But in the very next instant, Tsukuyomi suddenly beca as hazy as thin fog. After defending against the satellite explosion, the black Spirit's attacks, and using the thousand torii gates to send Shido before the Spirit, Mikoto's spirit power was nearly exhausted.
is the celestial realm in Shinto mythology and the primary dwelling place of the heavenly gods, known as the amatsu-kami.
ancient, rhythmic Shinto ritual prayers recited to address the deities
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