A huge crisis.
Right now, they were standing at the edge of an enormous crisis.
Although they had won the Tenou Festival, Miku had not kept her promise. Instead, she had manifested her Angel, Gabriel to control everyone in the venue—even the Spirits—and brainwash them into her slaves.
Her power was so strong that it could even pass through electronic devices. Kotori and the others, who were far away on Fraxinus, had not been spared either. At the mont, the airship was also in complete chaos.
The only person who could help Shido was Tohka, who had not heard the song because she had both ears plugged with earphones playing music.
And what was even worse, just a few minutes ago, Shido had been restrained by the audience, and Miku, who had touched "Shiori's" body from close range, had discovered the worst possible secret.
In other words, the current Miku was no longer the yuri type onee-sama.
She was a queen who had completely snapped and gone berserk.
There was no other choice. He had to use the trump card Mikoto had worked so hard to find for exactly this kind of situation.
"Listen to , Miku!"
"Don't talk to ! Don't make that filthy voice! Don't pollute the air by breathing! Please—hurry up and die already!"
However, Miku, now in a full rage, refused any form of communication.
"Why do you hate n? Why do you hate humans? Even though…"
Even so, Shido had to say it.
No, he had to keep saying it.
Because he understood. Miku did not look down on humans because she truly saw them as lower beings.
She was afraid of them.
If she believed, she would be betrayed.
If she entrusted herself, she would be abandoned.
If she trusted, she would be deceived.
That was why, from the start, she held no expectations at all. She stood above others, told herself she was different, and refused to trust anyone no matter what.
That was Miku's way of protecting herself.
But even so, what she was doing was wrong.
Shido was certain of that.
So he put all his strength into his voice and shouted.
"Even though… even though you're human too!"
[!!!]
In that instant, Miku's voice stopped.
The girl widened her eyes and stared at Shido in disbelief.
"Not all people are as awful as you think! Please, I really want to save you! Believe !"
"You only just lied to , and now you're saying such pretty words? Besides… besides, what do you even know!? What kind of despair I went through, what kind of betrayal I suffered—you don't know anything, so don't act all fake and self righteous!"
Her song was everything to her.
Everything she was ant standing on a stage and living as an idol.
Yet that self had been rcilessly killed by humans.
The man in front of her understood nothing, yet he acted as if he wanted to save her. That made Miku furious.
"I know! Of course I know! I know about you as Tsukino Yoimachi, Miku! I know about how you were slandered because you refused the casting couch demand! And I know about—how you lost your voice!"
[!!!]
Shido's words made Miku tremble again from shock.
[Why? Why does this person know all that?]
That should have been impossible.
In order to cut ties with her past, she had personally erased the existence of Tsukino Yoimachi.
So why did anyone still rember the girl she used to be?
For a mont, Miku fell into confusion.
"What happened to you really does deserve sympathy. That producer and the magazine reporter make angry too. Those fans who turned on you are disgusting too. But… hating everyone because of that is still wrong!"
Shido continued.
"Stop saying nice sounding things. What do you understand!?!!!!!!"
"Uwaa!"
Miku's voice beca a solid wall of sound and blew Shido away.
"Are you all right, Shido!"
"Yeah, thanks, Tohka."
A soft feeling ca from behind him. Tohka had rushed over and caught him.
"It is because I have this 'voice' that I was able to beco an idol again. Without this 'voice'… who would ever co listen to my songs again!?"
To Miku, her voice was everything.
She had known that ever since she was young. Studying, sports—she could not do any of them. Only singing. Only that singing voice had been proof of her worth.
After losing her voice, she had once wanted to die.
Cutting her wrists, lying on train tracks, jumping off a building—whatever thod it was, a self who could no longer sing could just be thrown away.
Just like a broken appliance being thrown into the recycling bin.
But at that mont, "God" had appeared before her.
[You who are disappointed in humanity. You who have despaired of the world. Do you want power? A great power strong enough to change the world.]
That was why she would never let go of it.
She would never lose it again.
To Miku, that "voice" was her entire world.
"If that's how it is… then I'll be your fan! That voice that has no charm power in it, but still sings with all its heart—even if the whole world abandons it! I'll keep being your fan!" (TL: he does this early in this series huh?)
[!!!]
The boy's words made her tremble again.
His voice carried no disguise. It sounded as if he was betting his life on every word.
"Aaaaah—! Enough! I don't want to hear any more of your stupid words! Go, Spirits! I won't say anything like capture him and torture him anymore! Kill him—!"
If their conversation continued, she felt as though the self she had built up all this ti—the self that refused to trust humans, the self that looked down on humans, the self that treated humans as toys—would vanish because of his words.
Afraid of that, Miku shouted her order.
The Spirits—Yoshino, Kaguya, and Yuzuru—imdiately charged forward, trying to purge the man who had shaken their onee-sama.
Boom!
At that mont, a large hole was blown open in the ceiling.
"Nii-sama, are you all right!"
"Mana?"
What appeared before Shido's eyes was Mana, whom he had not seen in a long ti.
She was wearing an unfamiliar CR-Unit, standing between the Spirits and Shido with a brave, sharp posture.
"Why are you here?"
"I have left DEM now. For the ti being, I'm under Ratatoskr's care."
Mana said brightly.
After being taken away from the SDF hospital by Ratatoskr personnel, Mana learned that DEM had perford so modification on her without her knowledge, which greatly shortened her lifespan.
Naturally, she left DEM. During this period, she had been recuperating on the airship.
"Right now, Fraxinus's communication systems are a ss, but Reine-san and Shiizaki-san were not on the bridge at the ti, so they were lucky enough not to be affected by the song. They have restored the transporter. I will have Nii-sama and Tohka-san sent away now."
Mana said.
"Wait. Before that… please help persuade Miku!"
Shido pleaded.
"I can, but are you sure this is all right?"
"What do you an?"
Hearing Mana's words, a bad feeling rose in Shido's heart.
"Not long ago, Mikoto-san… was captured by Ellen Mathers of DEM."
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