Shido and the others, including Yutsuki, had always thought that summoning a massive army of clones was the trump card Arusu Marina prepared to deal with them.
Looking at the data from all aspects, although the abilities of the individual clones were lower than Marina herself. But Marina, possessing administrator permissions, enabled her clones to possess spatial distortion abilities. They could also use the Territory deployed within the Realizers to execute various fierce attacks similar to Wizards. Multiplied by the nurical advantage. It indeed made Tohka and the others feel it was sowhat tricky to deal with.
However, it could at most be called tricky, not a threat. Marina knew herself that clones of this level, no matter how many there were, could at most serve the purpose of delaying ti.
Indeed, if she finished off Yutsuki, Ratziel left in the real world would disappear, and then the virus net sealing this computer space would also disappear. At that ti, relying on her own administrator permissions, she only needed to command the Fraxinus's Magic Convergence Cannon to attack the ground or shut down the airship's engines to crash to the ground. No matter what Itsuka Shido and the others in the computer world did, it would be ga over. However, Marina knew it was impossible to achieve this directly.
So, Marina's first goal was not to kill Yutsuki, but to first seize the remaining managent permissions on Maria. As long as she completely controlled this world and restricted Yutsuki's power, Marina without a doubt will be winning.
However, to seize this remaining ten percent of permissions, Marina had to make Maria voluntarily connect to the Fraxinus main computer. To do this, Marina had to disguise herself as an acquaintance of Maria to lower her guard.
The reason Marina wanted to scatter Yutsuki and the others wasn't to defeat them one by one. It was to hold them off and prevent them from regrouping with Shido and Maria. After all, if the original body of the person she disguised herself as appeared, Marina's intentions would be noticed by Shido and the others.
Marina's transformation was rely borrowing the data of the Spirits stored in "Fall in Love, MY☆LITTLE☆SHIDO ②". Due to the nature of the ga, the Spirits' abilities were not included in the settings. In other words, during the transformation period, Marina was completely powerless.
The reason she disguised herself as Yutsuki was also because of this. Among all the Spirits, Marina had only truly conversed and interacted with Yutsuki. If it were Tohka and the others, flaws would easily be discovered by Shido, who had always been getting along with the Spirits. Moreover, as Shido and the others' operation this ti was also proposed by Yutsuki, the possibility of Yutsuki's words being doubted was relatively low.
Disguising as Yutsuki, eting Shido and Maria, tricking them into thinking she had already left, and then inducing Maria to connect to the main computer, taking the opportunity to seize her permissions.
Although the disguise was still seen through by Shido, the plan was still proceeding according to Marina's script.
"How is it? Faker, how does it feel having everything taken away from you."
"Mari...na..."
Looking at the extrely pained Maria, an excited smile appeared on Marina's face.
Grabbing Maria's slender neck with one hand, she lifted Maria up gently. As long as she wanted to, she could completely format Maria's data here, making her disappear from this world.
Marina believed that as long as she ended Maria's life here, neither Shido nor Yutsuki would choose to accept her anymore. As soone currently in the position of a villain boss, this was the most natural course of action.
For so reason, Marina couldn't harden her heart no matter what.
It wasn't because she couldn't accept seeing a face identical to her own dying. It was because the action of killing Arusu Maria violated a basic setting that ford the personality of "Marina".
No, strictly speaking, it was the basic morality that humans in this world should abide by.
—Cannot murder a blood relative.
"Relative... To think I treated this faker... as my own younger sister..."
Marina widened her eyes in disbelief.
The construction of Maria's personality and the type of program were built using Marina as a blueprint, so her physical structure was naturally the sa as Marina's. If put through human DNA testing, Marina and Maria would absolutely be identified as twin sisters. (Original Author (smirking secretly): Actually, strictly speaking, from this perspective, Marina is more like Maria's mother. But wouldn't that make Maria seem very old? So Marina just... you know.)
Just when exactly did she develop this kind of perception?
[Uwaaaah—Why is your sister so hard to please, Marina!]
Yutsuki... Marina gritted her teeth angrily.
"Are you kidding ! I won't accept it!"
As if competing, she wanted to increase the strength in her hand. However, besides the operation of stripping permissions continuing, as long as the action involved taking Maria's life, her body instinctively resisted.
Affected by the unexpected situation, Marina's vigilance towards her surroundings dropped, ignoring another person present.
"—Raphael."
Powerful wind force gathered at the soles of Shido's feet, producing imnse thrust. Like a bullet fired from a chamber, Shido closed the distance with a speed beyond common sense, arriving in front of Marina.
The power of the Yamai sister!?
A shocked look appeared on Marina's face. Because Shido's movent was too sudden, she had no ti to defend.
However, unexpectedly, Shido didn't choose to attack Marina, nor did he take away Maria, who was currently in pain. Steering the fierce wind under his feet as nimbly as manipulating his own limbs, Shido shifted his body, tracing a semi-circular arc to get behind Marina. His movents were so fluid they couldn't help but remind one of basketball players who excel at dribbling past opponents.
However, it wasn't over yet.
"—Sandalphon"
A giant sword with luxurious decorations appeared in Shido's hand. Shido raised the Angel in his hand and slashed downwards towards a void area.
Snap—! Like the sound of sothing being cut off, the giant red crystal in the room flickered restlessly a few tis. At the sa ti, Maria's pained expression gradually eased, and an inexplicable repulsive force bounced Maria away from Marina's hands.
Marina's face was written full of dumbfoundedness.
That strike by Itsuka Shido just now actually physically severed the connection between Arusu Maria and the Fraxinus main computer. Impossible, how did he know?
"Now, give Maria back to ."
Yuzuru's Angel—'El Nahash', flew out from Shido's other hand. The long chain wrapped around Maria's slender waist and pulled her into Shido's arms. After retrieving Maria, Shido increased the wind force under his feet and widened the distance from Marina.
Marina reached out her hand towards Shido. A sliver of white light began to gather in her palm. After a mont, she silently put her hand down again.
Forget it... anyway, having had her remaining permissions seized, that child is no longer any threat.
"Maria, how are you, are you okay?"
"Yes... I'm okay..."
Maria gave a reassuring smile to Shido.
Although Maria looked very weak right now, she shouldn't be in any life-threatening danger. Shido couldn't help but sigh in relief.
"Ara ara, heroically rescuing the princess in distress from the Demon King's hands. Itsuka Shido, you really did sothing very much like a Hero."
"Marina..."
Marina chuckled and scanned Shido's entire body with observing eyes. It seed the high-speed movent just now placed quite a burden on Shido's body. One could vaguely see wisps of healing flas burning on Shido's body.
Yatogami Tohka's greatsword, Yamai Yuzuru's chain, Itsuka Kotori's flas. Glancing over the manifested Angels on Shido, Marina finally focused her gaze on Shido's right arm—a dark blue gauntlet flashing with a tallic luster.
"Yutsuki's Ratziel... the miracle of analysis and calculation, huh."
"Correct." Being seen through the crucial point by Marina at a glance, Shido didn't hide or deny it.
If it weren't for this Angel, Shido alone couldn't possibly wield the powers of multiple Spirits simultaneously.
"Even if you can summon the Angel, you can't perford its true value."
Seeing what could be called her natural enemy, Marina didn't show too much fear. The execution of hacking techniques, besides the Angel's calculating power, also required the user themselves to have knowledge of Realizers. Clearly, Itsuka Shido did not possess the latter condition.
"Ugh..."
"Looks like I hit the mark." Marina chuckled lightly. "I was indeed a bit startled just now, but basically all the permissions are in my hands now, so that child is useless. Since the concept of Spirit Power has already been manifested, I'll let you see it—my Astral Dress."
As her voice fell, Marina's attire began to change. The originally black nun's outfit opened from the middle, the buckle strings beca loose, and the originally solemn nun's habit instantly turned into a highly revealing black trench coat. Countless jet-black ribbons fluttered in the air, slowly gathering together, finally unfurling from both sides of Marina's back like wings.
At this mont, the girl looked like a fallen angel descending into hell.
The world around Marina started going berserk. Space was kneaded into a ss like playdough. Just looking at Marina like this gave one a strong dizzy feeling, making one want to throw up.
"Shido..."
"This is a bit bad..."
Shido felt his palms sweating slightly.
Compared to the suffocating oppressive feeling when he first t Spirits like Tohka—no, even above that.
It felt as if the enemy he was facing at this mont was this entire world.
...
"What's going on? These guys seem to have suddenly gotten stronger."
Tohka swung Sandalphon, forcing back the Marina clones approaching her, and said with a surprised face.
"Strength, speed, agility. Every attribute of the enemy is constantly rising. At the sa ti, the generation speed of the clones also shows signs of accelerating."
Analyzing the enemy's changes at a glance, Origami, whose face was usually emotionless, rarely frowned.
"Yatogami Tohka, although saying this is not my true intention. But given the current situation, we might need to join forces."
After struggling slightly, Tohka nodded.
"Ugh... I understand. Although I don't want to. But I'm also very worried about Shido, I'll listen to you."
...
"Ko-Kotori-san! This is..."
Dodging a magic bullet brushing past her head, Yoshino had a panicked face.
Kotori looked at the enemies whose arrogance suddenly surged in front of her, a trace of solemnity appearing in her eyes.
"Mhm... Obviously their power is much stronger than just now. It seems sothing went wrong on Maria's end."
"My~....Marina-chan's clones seem to be even more nurous than just now. Their power also seems to still be rising... Could it be that Yoshinon and Yoshino's situation right now is a bit bad?"
"Don't say these useless, discouraging words." Kotori annoyedly tapped the head of Yoshinon, who had transford into the giant rabbit Zadkiel, with her Camael, a fighting smile curling up the corners of her mouth. "Now, Shido must definitely still be fighting too. As a little sister, how can I be discouraged just like this? Yoshinon, Yoshino! Get fired up and let's go together!"
"My, my~ Kotori-chan is full of fighting spirit. Then Yoshino-chan, let's go—"
"O-Okay..."
...
"Ara ara, the clones that were already defeated actually stood up. This tenacious vitality like weeds is truly amazing."
Kurumi's face showed an unexpected expression.
"Ugh—I can't stand this zombie-like feeling..." Miku showed a bitter expression and said with a headache. "Rather, this is a bit bad, isn't it."
"Is that so~ I actually feel quite happy. The opportunity to let squander 'ti' so casually, I'm afraid there won't be a second ti besides right now. Right? 'We'. Hehehehe—"
"Mhm, mhm!"
"Getting stronger just ans they're slightly harder targets."
"Such a rare opportunity—I have to enjoy it properly!"
Miku looked at Kurumi, who had completely turned into an evil villain's smiling face, and sighed helplessly.
"I really can't handle Kurumi-san... Well, I want to quickly get to Darling and Honey's side. Please be as fast as possible."
...
"Report. The enemy's combat power index is rising rapidly."
"Ku—To actually develop resistance to the binding power of my Demonic Eye?"
Hearing Kaguya's words, Yuzuru tilted her head in confusion.
"Question. Isn't Kaguya's Demonic Eye's power Future Sight?"
"U-Um, my Demonic Eye has three taboo seals. Future sight is only the first layer—!!"
Before Kaguya could finish explaining her added settings, powerful gravity swept over Kaguya's entire body, making her body as heavy as if filled with rcury. It felt similar to the gravity manipulation brought by a Territory, but the power was many tis stronger. It slowed down Kaguya's proud speed just like that.
The next mont, dense barrages of bullets surrounded Kaguya.
Fortunately, Yuzuru, who was outside the area, manipulated her chains and pulled Kaguya out from the dense barrage.
"Oh oh... Thanks for the rescue, my other half."
"Struggling. Kaguya needs to lose weight."
"I-I-I haven't gotten fat!"
However, while the two were chatting, Marina's clones had unknowingly surrounded the Yamai sisters from all directions.
"Proposal. Kaguya."
"I know."
The two looked at each other and nodded with a tacit understanding.
"Although we planned to compete to see who defeated more. But it seems we no longer have the luxury to play around. The compass of fate turns here. The rged wings will stir up a new storm..."
"Shorten. Raphael—El Kanaph (Sky Dasher)!"
...
"What is this... I have this bitter feeling of playing an extra-stage bullet hell ga where I was just about to clear the stage, suddenly being forced to load a save and play again."
Looking at Marina's army, which she was just about to clean up completely, reviving in the blink of an eye and upgrading into an ocean of Marinas. Yutsuki couldn't help but cover her face, look up to the sky, and let out a heavy sigh.
It seems sothing went wrong on Shido and Maria's end. I have to hurry over...
"This is the price of your naivety—Hacker."
"Starting the second playthrough!"
"Regret it, regret it! And then just die."
Hearing the laughter of the surrounding Marina clones sweeping over her eardrums like a wave, Yutsuki scratched her long hair irritably, and finally dropped her shoulders in resignation.
"I originally didn't plan on being so ruthless... Marina, you forced . —Ratziel!"
Following Yutsuki's shout, a cold electronic voice echoed throughout the entire space.
[Understood. Invasion comncing, locking range, scanning—Virus confird, antivirus comncing.]
At this mont, to the countless Marina clones, it felt as if they were witnessing the end of a myth.
Starting hundreds of miles around Yutsuki's center, space began to tremble uneasily, as if being devoured by an invisible ferocious beast. The data streams that were originally flowing everywhere in this space began to crack, dry up, and finally disappear one after another. Even the countless clones of Marina couldn't avoid being affected and were decomposed into garbled code.
In the end, when that electronic voice announced [Antivirus complete], the surroundings of Yutsuki had completely turned into chaos. Not a single Marina clone existed. No, it should be said that besides Yutsuki, there was nothing left.
Yutsuki held her forehead with a headache and wailed.
"Ah—Such a huge area, after I go back, how much ti will I have to spend to restore it...."
Thinking of the future she was about to face after going back, Yutsuki instantly felt like she was going to be played to breaking point.
Original author's PS: As for exactly what kind of mood Yutsuki is in right now. I feel like it's similar to a few months ago, when a piece of soap fell from the cabinet from the sky and scored a direct hit on my computer's hard drive. As a result, I had to spend money to buy a new hard drive, reinstall the system, and then watch as the ga saves and various resources I had worked hard to accumulate for months turned into bubbles... I just want to say—have you experienced despair?.
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