Hearing Kotori's words, the Spirits all expressed that they were willing to help Shido.
In the end, this was sothing everyone had to face together. It should never have been sothing Kotori carried alone.
"Everyone…"
Looking at everyone gathering around her, Kotori gently wiped away her tears.
This should be fine now.
Seeing Kotori like that, Mikoto thought with relief. She did not resent Kotori. From a certain point of view, the girl's resolve was worthy of respect.
But Mikoto could not agree with her thod.
Because to Mikoto, and to everyone else, Shido was soone who could never be replaced.
Then there was only one answer left.
Save Shido.
This was not the kind of choice made by a shounen manga protagonist getting fired up in the heat of the mont. At least for Mikoto, there really was a way to save Shido.
She gently touched her lips with her fingers. There, it felt as if the boy's sowhat forceful, yet sowhat gentle touch still remained.
That's right… If I use "that", maybe…
"Dainsleif activation confird. Beginning attack on target."
At that mont, the control device that had fallen to the floor let out a voice that froze everyone's blood.
"What happened? Did it activate because it hit the floor?"
Origami picked up the device and asked in disbelief.
"Impossible. An impact at that level wouldn't activate Dainsleif!"
Kotori shook her head strongly. No matter what, this was sothing like a nuclear launch button. It required a series of checks such as fingerprints and retinal scans before it could be activated. There was no way it would lack safety asures against being accidentally dropped.
"Don't tell soone in Ratatoskr…"
Mikoto's expression turned ugly. Thinking carefully, Ratatoskr was an organization, and Kotori was only one commander within it. She was not an absolute ruler. So it was not impossible that soone else had that button and pressed it directly after judging that Shido was close to going berserk.
Mikoto looked at Kotori. The girl's uneasy expression showed that she had thought of the sa thing.
However, now was not the ti to investigate who had pressed that button. Even if Mikoto wanted to make a straw doll of that person and nail it to the sacred tree ten thousand tis, the most important thing right now was still protecting Shido.
Looking at the orbital cannon falling from the sky like a teor, Mikoto did not hesitate. She manifested her partial Astral Dress and rushed upward.
"Wait! That's too dangerous—"
Kotori tried to stop her. It was not that she did not want to save Shido. But right now, everyone was in a state where their spiritual power was blocked. Under those conditions, even Mikoto probably could not stop Dainsleif's strike. The only result would be another death.
However…
Boom—!
Mikoto flew directly above Shido. The night turned into a do and accurately blocked the orbital cannon from high in the sky.
Dainsleif's power was enormous. Fortunately, Ellen and the others were still locked in battle with Mana and Hina. With no worries behind her, Mikoto focused all her power into one point and turned it into layers of barriers to defend against the cannon strike, stopping Dainsleif's bombardnt perfectly.
If Shido were in better condition, maybe this would actually be unnecessary.
Mikoto thought that after blocking Dainsleif.
At this mont, Shido had already gone berserk. He had even forgotten how to manifest his Angels, simply releasing a storm of spiritual power without restraint. If not for that, Shido, who possessed multiple spiritual powers, could also use Tsukuyomi. At that point, even if soone at Ratatoskr smashed the Dainsleif button to pieces by pressing it over and over, it probably would not an anything.
"What's going on, Mikoto? Your spiritual power recovered?"
Looking at Mikoto as she flew back down, Kotori could not hide her shock.
"Um… well, that's how it is. Ehehe…"
Mikoto gave a guilty smile and stuck out her tongue. After blocking a cannon blast of that level, anyone would understand that Mikoto's spiritual power path had already recovered.
"Fine. I'll ask you properly about that later. Right now, the important thing is Shido."
Kotori sighed. It would be a lie to say she did not care that Mikoto had gotten a head start, but now was not the ti to think about that.
"It's fine."
Hearing Kotori's words, Mikoto gently shook her head.
In the end, from the mont Shido kissed her, the situation before them was no longer completely hopeless.
Because…
"My power might have been born to help Shido."
As the girl said that, she raised her hand high.
"Tsukuyomi—Exorcism Arrow (Yata no Kagami)!"
The strongest defense born to protect Shido.
The purifying arrow born to stop Shido from going berserk.
The girl's Angel seed as if it had been born specifically to protect Shido. (TL:holy sudden sweet drop)
"I see. Well done!"
After understanding Mikoto's idea, Kotori had to admit that, in a certain sense, Mikoto getting a head start had truly helped them greatly.
"Guaaaaaaaaaah!"
But things were not as simple as they had imagined. The arrow Mikoto fired was dodged by Shido. Shido, who had been standing still like a target until now, suddenly flashed to the side.
Although he had already lost the reason to manifest his Angels, he still kept the instinct to avoid attacks.
"Damn it. In that case…"
Mikoto raised her hand and gathered a second arrow.
"Help Mikoto. Stop Shido!"
Origami said. Mikoto's accuracy was definitely not low, but Shido was moving toward the nearby forest.
A storm of spiritual power swirled around him. For Kotori and the others, who still could not use their spiritual power, even getting close was impossible.
"This is bad…"
Mikoto tried to predict Shido's path. Since the target had lost reason, that itself was not difficult.
The problem was that Shido had accidentally rushed into the forest and vanished from her sight.
With no other choice, she canceled her shooting stance to avoid wasting spiritual power, then chased into the forest with everyone.
"At this rate…"
The forest was filled with trees, and the storm of spiritual power stirred up by Shido was uprooting them, tangling them around him, or throwing them away with sheer force.
It would be very hard for the Exorcism Arrow to hit its target in this chaos.
And the Spirits who could help Mikoto drive Shido out of the forest or stop his movent had no spiritual power.
For a mont, the situation began to turn worse.
[It seems the situation is more troubleso than I imagined.]
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang out.
Looking carefully, they saw that, at so point, a being whose gender, appearance, and even voice could not be clearly identified had appeared in the forest.
"Phantom!"
Kotori's eyes widened.
She looked at the Phantom who had once turned her, Miku, and Origami into Spirits, and her heart surged with shock. Why had the other party appeared here? What exactly was she planning? Kotori could not guess at all.
[I see. He really is in a dangerous state right now. I do understand your painful resolve. However, I would be troubled if he did not continue living.]
Phantom said that to Kotori.
Then she landed beside Shido. While following Shido, she touched his forehead with her hand.
"Guaaaaaaaaaah!"
Along with Shido's sowhat painful cry, the storm of spiritual power wrapped around him weakened.
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