Let's rewind ti a few minutes and shift our view to another battlefield.
Unlike Shido's side, which was turned into an icy wasteland by Yoshino's freezing air. The battlefield on Ellen's side was filled with flying dust kicked up by the fierce winds of Yuzuru and Kaguya. Using the best mobility among Spirits, Yuzuru and Kaguya darted around like monkeys in a forest, playing a ga of tag with a group of Wizards.
"Kuku—So slow! Too slow. Pitiful Wizards! Your movents look as comical and ridiculous as slow motion to my demonic eyes."
"Mockery. You're nowhere near good enough to catch Yuzuru and Kaguya at this level."
Flying high in the sky, Kaguya and Yuzuru purposely struck cool poses while showing provocative smiles at the Wizards.
"It's no use, Executive Director Mathers. We can't catch up to Berserk."
"Not enough training."
Seeing her subordinates panting heavily, Ellen let out a long sigh. Although she knew from the start that those who couldn't even keep up with her speed definitely wouldn't be able to catch Berserk, the fastest among the Spirits. But seeing them in such a pathetic state, Ellen couldn't help but shake her head, pondering just how much she needed to intensify their training plan once they returned.
Even with Kaguya and Yuzuru acting arrogantly around her, Ellen surprisingly didn't rush to attack. Instead, she calmly analyzed the current situation.
Although the situation seed like a complete ss on her side, it wasn't actually that bad. For so reason, the child sized Berserk was clearly weaker than she had seen them before. As long as they deployed their Territories, the strong winds they created wouldn't have much of an effect.
Furthermore, Berserk didn't seem to have any intention of fighting them to the death. Although they kept provoking Ellen's side, they were actually just using hit and run tactics to harass them. And while harassing, they constantly made sure to avoid getting too close to Ellen.
Obviously, the enemy was just stalling for ti.
(Diva's song is coming from the spacequake broadcasts; I can't pinpoint her location. And I haven't seen Itsuka Shido or any of the other Spirits either. Did they lure away to fight Tobiichi Origami and take back Witch?)
Realizing she had fallen for a decoy tactic, Ellen didn't show much anxiety on her face. After all, their rival Ratatoskr's airship was stationed right above Tengu City. If Ellen and her team started hunting Spirits, there was no way the other side wouldn't react. She and Ike had predicted this from the beginning.
The real prey was never Witch to begin with. Of course, if Tobiichi Origami was capable enough, Ellen herself wouldn't mind collecting a few more Sephira Crystals.
Looking around, as expected, the culprit who had lured Ellen over with that initial extre long-range railgun shot was nowhere in sight. However, Ellen knew very well that the girl in the black trench coat must be hiding sowhere on this battlefield.
Unlike Spirits like Princess and Berserk, who were known purely for violence. In Ellen's eyes, Hacker was more like a cautious, cunning beast, like a snake. Silently lurking in a corner of the battlefield, manipulating everything from behind the scenes. She would only bare her fangs when she confird the perfect mont.
(Then, I'll create that perfect mont for you myself.)
A cold smile ford on the corners of Ellen's mouth.
"Enough! All of you, fall back. Useless."
Pretending to be impatient, Ellen coldly ordered all her subordinates to fall back. Then, Ellen looked towards the Yamai. The thrusters on her equipnt generated a massive acceleration, and she charged straight toward the Yamais all by herself.
"Kuku—So the final boss has finally appeared? But if you think you can catch the Children of the Typhoon with that kind of speed, you're too naive."
"Explanation. Yuzuru and Kaguya haven't even reached their top speed yet!"
Saying that, Kaguya and Yuzuru sped up again, pulling a large distance away from Ellen.
"Huh?"
To Yuzuru and Kaguya's shock, Ellen, who had been chasing them, seed to step on an invisible pedal mid-air. She maintained her high speed, completely reversed her direction 180 degrees, and flew back towards her subordinates' position.
"Found you!"
Sure enough, among her subordinates, Ellen saw a girl who clearly didn't fit in.
Although she didn't understand why the girl was wearing a school swimsuit with cat ears like a loli under her black trench coat Astral Dress... Ellen was certain she was Ryougi Yutsuki.
(Holy crap! You can do that?!)
Seeing Ellen completely ignore the laws of physics and pull off a feint in mid-air that no one could have expected, Yutsuki couldn't help but wonder if Newton was going to jump out of his grave.
Just as Ellen thought, Yutsuki had hidden her presence from the start, cleverly using her light-bending ability to stay hidden nearby and observe the battlefield.
There was no need to ntion Ellen's strength. Even against a fully inverted Tohka, she wouldn't be at a disadvantage. Although Yutsuki hadn't fought Tobiichi Origami, soone who could pilot a deadly machine like White Lycoris couldn't be an easy opponent either. On the other hand, everyone on Yutsuki's side had their powers sealed and was turned into children by Natsumi. Let alone saving Natsumi, it was already a miracle they hadn't gotten caught themselves.
So, when Yutsuki first heard the news of Natsumi being hunted by DEM, and learned that Ellen and Origami were among them, she made a split-second decision.
She would use the massive aggro she had built up with Ellen to lure her away. Miku would take control of Tengu City's spacequake broadcast system to provide support for the entire area with her songs. Tohka would hold off Origami, and Yoshino would use Zadkiel to freeze the other Wizards' Territories. Shido would handle any unexpected situations on Natsumi's end and act as a final failsafe against Origami.
anwhile, Yuzuru and Kaguya, with the highest mobility, were in charge of holding back and harassing the Wizards and Ellen, while Yutsuki secretly covered for their safety.
However, things didn't develop exactly as Yutsuki predicted.
Although she knew Ellen was constantly on guard against her, Yutsuki never expected to be discovered the very instant she revealed herself.
"Tch—Ratziel!"
[Understood. Hacking initiated... Authority read... Sync operation... Pincer Cannon... Railgun charging initiated...]
Since she was discovered, Yutsuki had no choice but to face her head-on. She took out her newly bought tablet and started hacking into the Realizers of the Wizards around her. At the sa ti, the arms of the chanical bow in her hand folded into a Pincer Cannon, locking onto her wrist and gathering iron sand from the ground.
"You finally showed up. Hacker. I've been waiting for you to use that!"
Seeing Yutsuki's actions, a smile appeared on Ellen's face. From inside her Realizer, she pulled out a small, grayish-white tal box.
What is that?
Noticing Ellen's action, Yutsuki frowned in confusion. In her mory of the blueprints for Ellen's CR-Unit, Pendragon, there was no such equipnt.
"Vaccine box—activate."
Ellen pressed a button on the box. Then, the other five sides of the box opened small holes, emitting a faint, ominous black light in all directions, enveloping the entire battlefield.
"This is... Spirit power!?"
Yutsuki's eyes widened in surprise. She could clearly feel that the light radiating from the box in Ellen's hand wasn't the magical energy used by Wizards or an application of a Territory, but the Spirit power fluctuations naturally produced when a Spirit uses an Angel.
In other words, that box was a Spirit's Angel, or rather, the box contained a portion of a certain Spirit's power.
Although Yutsuki had been on guard the mont Ellen took out that weird box, what happened next still made her eyes widen in shock.
[Error—! Error—! Error occurred—Intrusion interfered by unknown power—Analysis failed—Re-analysis initiated—]
Her Angel, which had always perfectly executed her wishes, let out an alarm it had never made before. The calculations for the hacking were completely interrupted. The Wizards she expected to disarm were all standing around her unhard.
This ant that the DEM Wizards, who Yutsuki hadn't even considered a threat before, instantly beca her biggest danger other than Ellen.
"To all mbers—Hacker spotted. Position locked—Execute Plan B."
"Understood. Binding Territories deployed."
The next instant, all the other DEM Wizards focused their Territories entirely onto Yutsuki. Although the precision of each individual Territory wasn't very high, with their numbers stacked, Yutsuki felt the air around her solidify like concrete, binding her completely. Let alone escaping, even moving a finger was incredibly difficult.
At this mont, Yutsuki finally realized sothing.
She had been played!
Whether it was Ellen's feint to lure her out, the weird little box that sealed her hacking abilities, or the Wizards' unified and unhesitating counterasures afterward—it was obvious that this was a trap designed specifically for her from the very beginning.
Capturing Natsumi was just a smokescreen to fool people. From the very start, the target Ellen and her team wanted to hunt was Yutsuki.
What do I do?
Cold sweat ran down her forehead as she faced this absolute kill box designed for her. Yutsuki gritted her teeth, constantly telling herself to stay calm. But in her state of being turned into a child by Natsumi, let alone dealing with Ellen who would reach her in the blink of an eye, she couldn't even break free from the surrounding Wizards' Territories.
Just as Yutsuki was feeling overwheld, the burden on her body suddenly lightened a bit. Yutsuki noticed her body had returned to its original form.
Without even having ti to think about why the seal Natsumi put on her suddenly broke, Yutsuki took a deep breath and quickly gave an order to her Angel.
(Ratziel! Modify the effect range of the previously established sonic wave formula.)
[Received. Sonic wave formula construction initiated... Spirit power wavelength, period, amplitude calculation... Range increased... Calculation complete.]
To Yutsuki's relief, although her wireless interference thods were sealed by Ellen using so unknown ans, Ratziel's own calculation abilities weren't affected.
Next, Yutsuki opened her mouth wide and yelled at the Wizards around her.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh——————"
The next mont, invisible sound waves spread outwards. Although she couldn't produce an enchanting song that confused people's minds like Miku's Gabriel, the sound waves laced with Spirit power still passed through the barriers of the Territories and entered their ears. The high-decibel ringing sent the Wizards around Yutsuki into a semi-unconscious state.
The control of a Territory is managed by the Wizard's brain. When they aren't fully conscious, the precision of the Territory drops drastically. Instantly, Yutsuki felt the binding force on her weaken significantly. Seizing this chance, Yutsuki fired the railgun she had charged up earlier at an angle. The wind pressure from the shot blew the surrounding Wizards away, and Yutsuki used the recoil from the railgun to fly out of the Wizards' encirclent.
"Even when your hacking skills are sealed, you can still quickly calm down and react, huh."
A smile appeared on the corners of Ellen's mouth. Yutsuki's sonic attack didn't affect her at all. Watching Yutsuki escape from the trap she and Ike had carefully laid for her, even though they were enemies, Ellen couldn't help but admire Ryougi Yutsuki's powerful adaptability.
"But precisely because of that, I absolutely cannot let you live, Ryougi Yutsuki."
Through her control of her Territory, Ellen ignored the inertia caused by the laws of physics from her extre high speed flight within her domain. Without slowing down at all, she pulled off a second logic-defying directional change, caught up to Ryougi Yutsuki, and grabbed her tightly by the neck.
Using her Territory to bind Yutsuki so she couldn't struggle, Ellen gave a flat evaluation.
"Well... I have to admit. Putting aside the power of a Spirit, you are an excellent talent as a warrior. If you were a human and not a Spirit, I'd want to scout you for DEM."
"Tch... save your sleep talking for when you're actually dreaming..."
Feeling the pressure binding her from all sides, Yutsuki barely managed a smile.
(Ratziel, you made direct contact, right? Initiate hacking.)
[Understood—Wired intrusion initiated—Error—! Interfered by unknown power... Recalculating ti required for intrusion... 632.45 seconds!]
God damn it! What happened to the 2.56 seconds we agreed on?! Yutsuki couldn't help but curse in her head.
"It looks like you're still making so final, desperate struggles."
Looking at the Vaccine box that suddenly shattered in her other hand, Ellen frowned.
"If it weren't for the Vaccine box Ike invented, there were many monts in this battle where you could have turned the tables. What a sha. I will accept your Sephira Crystal with respect."
"Rhongomiant—!"
The next second, the giant cannon mounted on Ellen's ch fired a powerful beam of magical light at point-blank range, right at Ryougi Yutsuki.
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