BOOM—!
A torrent of magical energy surged from the main cannon of Ellen's ch. The next mont, a massive explosion went off between Ellen and Yutsuki, sending billowing waves of heat and thick smoke rolling out in all directions.
From the thick smoke of the explosion, Yutsuki was blown away by the shockwave, her body plumting straight towards the ground.
"Yuzuru, hurry."
"Understood. El Nahash!"
Yuzuru swung her arm forcefully, using her chain like a rope to catch Yutsuki mid-air.
Seeing Yutsuki's injuries, Yuzuru and Kaguya both gasped.
Her black trench coat Astral Dress was torn to shreds, and her entire body was covered in cuts and burns. Bright red blood trickled down Yutsuki's face, slowly dripping to the ground.
"Blood!? Pull yourself together, my comrade! Don't die, Yutsuki!"
"Idiot Kaguya... don't just say soone's going to die so easily."
Hearing Kaguya, who was so panicked she reverted to her normal way of speaking, Yutsuki slowly opened her eyes and helplessly chopped Kaguya on the head with the side of her hand.
"Worry. Yutsuki, is your body okay?"
Seeing that Yutsuki was still conscious, Yuzuru breathed a sigh of relief and asked worriedly.
"Uh—I'm doing alright. At the very least, I won't die from this."
Supported by Yuzuru and Kaguya, Yutsuki slowly stabilized her body in the air.
Although her injuries looked exaggerated, they actually weren't that serious. It was mostly superficial wounds from the heatwave and the tal shrapnel carried by the explosion. While this would be quite dangerous for a normal human, thanks to a Spirit's naturally superior physical constitution, the wounds quickly stopped bleeding.
Though it was still incredibly—painful!
Even moving slightly sent chains of severe pain shooting from the large and small wounds all over her body. Honestly, if it weren't for considering the current situation, Yutsuki might have just collapsed on the ground, crying and screaming in pain.
"Phew... as long as you're okay." Hearing Yutsuki say she was safe, Kaguya finally sighed in relief, then asked curiously, "But my comrade, you really are amazing. Honestly, judging from the situation just now, I thought even you, the Shrine Maiden of lightning , would at least be near death."
"Agreent. Although it's a bit rude, seeing Yutsuki this energetic seems unbelievable to Yuzuru."
"Sorry I didn't get beaten into half-paralysis."
The corner of Yutsuki's mouth twitched, and she rolled her eyes at the Yamai sisters in annoyance.
(Well, actually. I really did almost go et my parents in heaven this ti.)
Wiping the blood from her forehead, Yutsuki looked at Ellen flying out of the smoke, still feeling lingering fear.
"A misfire..."
Ellen's face was extrely grim right now.
According to her plan, with the power of Rhongomiant, she should have easily pierced through the protection of that incomplete Astral Dress and obliterated Ryougi Yutsuki. But what she never expected was that the magical energy transmission lines inside the barrel of Rhongomiant were blocked by unknown, tiny particles. The massive amount of magical energy only released a tenth of its power; the rest was backed up inside the gun, ultimately venting itself in the form of an explosion inside the chamber.
If she hadn't deployed her Territory for defense in ti, Ellen might have been caught in her own magic.
"What did you do? Ryougi Yutsuki?."
Ellen glared at Yutsuki and demanded an answer. She wasn't naive enough to think her CR-Unit failed a quality check and broke down at such a crucial mont.
"Well... while I was hacking into your ch, I just coincidentally used the leftover iron sand from when I fired the railgun to block so of the magical energy output channels in your cannon."
"Blocking the magical energy transmission routes... such a thing... !?"
Ellen's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Well, no point acting surprised now. Strongest Wizard."
Even though the wounds all over her body were aching, Yutsuki felt incredibly refreshed having survived, and a smile ford on her lips.
"You should know, I read through most of the data inside DEM a long ti ago."
"—!"
It would have been fine if she hadn't ntioned it, but Yutsuki's words instantly reminded Ellen. Back then, because of Hacker, she had to spend day and night dealing with complaints from Wizard departnts all over the world. Ever since Ryougi Yutsuki appeared, her computer and phone hadn't been quiet for more than a few seconds. At the worst tis, she even had nightmares about being chased by an endless pile of paperwork until she woke up.
"...Unforgivable."
Thinking of this, Ellen's heart was instantly tangled in dark sludge.
"Yes... that's right... Not eliminating you back then was the biggest mistake of my life... This ti, I will make you see hell..."
Speaking coldly, Ellen snatched a laser sword from one of her subordinates.
Caledfwlch was knocked away by Yutsuki's railgun earlier, and Rhongomiant had misfired. Yet, Ellen's aura right now was far more overwhelming than before. Her murderous intent splashed everywhere, like an Asura stepping out of hell.
Just looking at her from a distance made the Yamai sisters shiver.
"Ugh—my comrade , it seems you've accidentally awakened a terrifying beast."
"Tremble. Honestly, Yuzuru doesn't want to fight soone like that. It's almost as scary as Yutsuki when her lunch was interrupted the first ti we t."
"I wasn't that scary back then... right?"
Yutsuki broke into a slight sweat. Although she wanted to ask what exactly their first impression of her was, considering the situation, Yutsuki decided to put that question aside for now.
"Kotori, how's it going on Shido's end? Did he rescue Natsumi?"
Activating her earpiece's radio, Yutsuki asked Kotori on the airship.
[Yutsuki-nee? Thank goodness, you're not dead.]
"Why is your first reaction always that I'm dead..."
Yutsuki asked, lines of frustration on her forehead.
[Ahaha... don't worry about the small details. Shido just brought Natsumi back to the airship. We're teleporting you now.]
Kotori laughed dryly and changed the subject. As for the fact that she sent a ssage to Shido saying "Yutsuki-nee fell into Ellen's trap and is severely injured" just seconds ago, Kotori decided to quietly swallow that secret.
"Since things on that end are finished. We should retreat too."
Since Shido successfully rescued Natsumi, Yutsuki and the Yamai sisters clearly had no reason to stay here and foolishly fight a death match with Ellen, who had clearly gone into berserk mode.
"Don't even think about escaping!"
"That was close!"
The thrusters on her back instantly generated massive acceleration. In the blink of an eye, Ellen was in front of Yutsuki, swinging her sword down. Luckily, the Yamai sisters reacted in ti, pushing El Nahash's speed to the limit in an instant, and used their excellent mobility to dodge Ellen's attack.
"Ow, ow, ow—!"
Although she wasn't hit, being dragged at high speeds by Yuzuru and Kaguya aggravated Yutsuki's wounds, causing her to gasp in pain.
"As I thought... retreating will be very troubleso if we don't stall her. Good thing I prepared a backup plan."
Saying that, Yutsuki used her ability to adjust her earpiece's communication frequency, connecting to the spacequake broadcast room.
"Miku—I'm counting on you for the rest!"
[Mhm, I've been waiting for a long ti honey~]
Then, a cheerful, lodious sound rang out across the battlefield, completely unfitting the mood. Imdiately after, the inspiring march that had been echoing in the area turned into a beautiful, delicate song, as charming as if the musical notes were directly entering people's hearts.
"Diva's song—This is bad!"
Hearing the singing around her, Ellen's eyes widened. Diva's tune wouldn't affect her, but clearly, her subordinates didn't have the ability to block out the song's interference.
Sure enough, the Wizards who had been following her suddenly acted like dolls that had lost their souls, frantically converging on Ellen's position. They blocked Ellen's path.
"Well... I originally prepared this as a trump card in case Origami joined DEM and attacked even Shido without rcy. I didn't expect it would save us instead."
She let out a slight breath of relief. Using the opening created by Ellen being held back by her own subordinates, Yutsuki, Yuzuru, and Kaguya were teleported back to the airship.
"Is it here?"
After letting Shido and the others go, Origami rushed to Ellen's battlefield.
[Please go save Yutsuki!]
Although she had made up her mind to draw a clear line between herself and the Spirits when she joined DEM, seeing Shido looking so worried and anxious... although reluctant, Origami still ca to check if Ryougi Yutsuki was alive or dead.
However, things were a bit different from what she expected. Origami didn't see any trace of Ryougi Yutsuki. Instead, the Wizard nad Ellen Mathers was completely surrounded by her Wizard subordinates, who were hopping around like zombies.
"Did she escape?"
Origami raised an eyebrow in surprise. Honestly, she really didn't expect that, with her signature hacking ability sealed and being caught off guard, Ryougi Yutsuki could still manage to escape from Ellen.
Boom—
Suddenly, a loud crash rang out. Ellen suddenly increased the output of her Territory. The transparent barrier expanded violently, blasting away the Wizards controlled by Miku.
"Tobiichi Origami?"
"Yes! Executive Director Mathers."
Seeing that Ellen noticed her, Origami landed in front of Ellen and gave a standard military salute.
"Why are you alone? Where are the Wizards who stayed behind with you?"
Seeing only Tobiichi Origami report back, Ellen frowned and asked.
"So were frozen by Hermit's ice, and others were controlled by Diva's song. They are currently all unconscious."
"As I thought..."
The veins on Ellen's forehead bulged slightly.
She couldn't really bla them. As DEM Wizards, their abilities were already stronger than average local Wizards. However, reaching her level, or the level of Mana or Jessica, was incredibly difficult to begin with. It couldn't be helped that they couldn't do much in a group battle against Spirits.
Letting out a slow breath, Ellen cald down and decided to view the problem objectively, stopping herself from doing sothing foolish like punishing her subordinates out of personal emotion.
However, to help them survive the grueling battles to co, Ellen decided to give them so personal instruction once they returned to headquarters.
While the DEM Wizards were still unconscious, the hell they were about to face had already been decided. Ellen adjusted her mood and connected to the comm line with Westcott back at the hotel.
"Yo, Ellen. And Tobiichi Origami. How is the battle going?"
Westcott's usual frivolous and easygoing tone ca through the earpiece.
"I am very sorry. Ike, the annihilation of Hacker and the capture of Witch have both failed."
Without feeling guilty or trying to hide it, Ellen calmly reported the battle situation here truthfully to Westcott.
"Pfft—What's with that? Hacking into the Realizers' system authority is one thing, but to accurately cut off the CR-Unit's magical energy transmission lines in that situation... Should I say her will to live is too strong, or is she just an absolute monster!"
Westcott made an exaggerated sound over the comms. However, Origami didn't hear any actual panic in his voice.
"I am very sorry."
"You did your best, Ellen. I didn't expect Ryougi Yutsuki to have that trick up her sleeve either. I thought things would be a bit too simple."
Shaking his head lightly, Westcott sat at his desk, resting his chin on one hand, looking at the docunts in his hand, and chuckled lightly.
"Although it's very regrettable that that strike earlier didn't finish off Ryougi Yutsuki. For , just confirming that the Vaccine box can reliably affect Ryougi Yutsuki's Angel is the biggest gain."
Just as I thought. Material A's Angel and Hacker's Angel might look completely different and have different functions, but they are the sa type of power.
These thoughts flashed casually through his mind. Westcott continued.
"Tobiichi Origami."
"Yes!"
"For your first job, you've done exceptionally well."
It sounded like a boss expressing care and concern for a subordinate, but to Origami, Westcott's smile looked like a knife hidden behind a smile.
"Although I really want to say that, my subordinates reported that before they were frozen by Hermit's freezing air, they spotted a boy who looks very much like your classmate near Witch—Itsuka Shido, right? I heard you two are lovers."
The mont Westcott finished speaking, Origami felt Ellen's beam sword stop right next to her neck.
Origami answered without changing her expression.
"That is correct. It is true that Itsuka Shido and I are deeply in love and inseparable lovers in our private lives. However, the reason I didn't pursue them just now was because I sensed a strong magical reaction locking onto from high above. Based on my judgnt of the situation, I believed that pursuing them would only unnecessarily increase our casualties."
"A magical reaction from high above... Ratatoskr's airship?"
Hearing Origami's defense, Ellen frowned slightly. She had to admit, the magic convergence cannon striking down out of nowhere from an unreachable high point was indeed an annoying factor. The reason for this decoy assault plan was also to eliminate the airship from suddenly interfering like last ti when they tried to kill Ryougi Yutsuki.
"Besides, when I agreed to your invitation, I made it very clear, didn't I."
Origami replied coldly.
"Every single Spirit in this world, I will eliminate them one by one!"
Dark emotions churned in her eyes, and Tobiichi Origami's tone was as cold as bone-chilling ice.
Hearing Origami's answer, a smile ford on Westcott's lips.
"Forgive my rudeness earlier. Then, I will look forward to your performance, Tobiichi Origami."
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