—Hot! So hot!
It felt as if a massive amount of fuel had been entirely ignited in an instant. Even a slight breath seed to turn into raging flas. The blood flowing in his veins was as scalding as magma, and his internal organs suffered as if they were being burned by fire. Itsuka Shido even felt like he would be burned to ashes just like this.
However, in contrast to his scalding body, Shido also felt an incredibly piercing cold.
It wasn't as intense as the ice and snow of winter, but rather felt like being in the bottomless depths of the sea. A massive sense of pressure bound his body, and a bone-chilling coldness, like a venomous curse, seeped into his body thread by thread from his skin, freezing and paralyzing his senses.
He couldn't see, hear, touch, or sll... The dulling of his external senses weakened his nerves, making even his heart unconsciously turn freezing cold.
(So... uncomfortable... what exactly is...)
With his last remaining shred of consciousness, Shido began to think hazily.
(Right, during PE class...)
He probably didn't dress warmly enough today. During PE class, Shido felt his body temperature suddenly start to rise. However, not wanting to make Tohka and the others worry, and not wanting to trouble the teachers and classmates, he planned to just tough it out through sheer willpower.
(Speaking of which... what did I do... back then?)
He vaguely felt that sothing abnormal had happened, but his sluggish mind made it impossible for Shido to even recall such things.
(Ugh... so uncomfortable... is a fever... really this serious of a problem?)
The scalding heat and piercing cold tortured Shido from the inside out. Yet, Shido wasn't even allowed to struggle, and his consciousness powerlessly sank towards the depths.
(Like this... what will happen to ... soone... I...)
Unease and panic spread through his heart. Shido tried to cry out for help, but right now, he couldn't even be sure if he was making a sound.
—It's going to be okay.
Suddenly, a sensation appeared on his palm. It seed he had grasped sothing, sothing very warm.
—I am right here.
A familiar and reliable voice echoed in his heart. It was unbelievable; although he could still feel the pain, he wasn't as afraid anymore.
(Ah... it's you... Honestly... you helped again...)
While feeling relieved, Itsuka Shido also felt a slight sense of frustration.
(Say... Yutsuki...)
Holding tightly to the only remaining warmth in his hand, before sinking to the bottom of the sea, Shido softly muttered.
(In your heart... what exactly am I...)
___________________
In an underground facility belonging to Ratatoskr, Itsuka Kotori was sitting at a round table with a group of stuffed animals.
Of course, this wasn't Kotori's personal hobby. A wireless speaker was installed beneath each stuffed animal, each connecting to high ranking executives of Ratatoskr distributed worldwide.
[Commander Itsuka. What exactly is going on here?]
From the speaker under a crying-face mouse stuffed animal ca a distressed voice matching its expression.
[The probability of Itsuka Shido going berserk is extrely low; wasn't that the response given previously?]
"...There is no problem with the data itself. This situation should have been avoided. This is entirely my responsibility."
Facing this questioning, Kotori answered in a calm voice.
[Do you think this is a problem that can be solved just by you taking responsibility?!]
On the other side, a drooling bulldog stuffed animal let out an angry roar.
[He currently has the Spirit power of nine Spirits stored inside him. If it erupts... do you not know how massive of a disaster it will cause?!]
[Calm down. This is an unavoidable ergency. We cannot put all the bla on Commander Itsuka. Besides, it was precisely to prevent this kind of situation that we prepared 'Dáinsleif'.]
The ugly cat stuffed animal next to it spoke in a frivolous tone. It seed to be defending Kotori, but Kotori frowned and showed a look of disgust.
After all, when they agreed to the operational strategy of using Shido's ability to seal Spirits, the one who proposed the opposing condition was this ugly cat.
[But right now, Itsuka Shido is an incredibly special existence to the Spirits. If we kill him, the Spirits will simultaneously go berserk. In the worst case scenario, they might even invert, right?]
[Under normal circumstances, that is indeed highly likely, but we don't need to worry about that right now.]
[Mhm... true, but if we do that, wouldn't all the Spirit power we painstakingly gathered be gone?]
[But it's still better than triggering the worst case scenario.]
[That is true...]
"..."
Unable to suppress the irritation in her heart, Kotori secretly gritted her teeth.
Because in their discussion, Kotori felt that these higher-ups showed absolutely no respect, or even concern, for Itsuka Shido's life or death. To them, he was rely a tool in their hands—if it beca useless, they would just discard it. It was as simple as that.
Although she really wanted to rush up and beat these stuffed animals to a pulp, Kotori knew it would be a aningless action and would only put their side in a more disadvantageous position.
And so, ignoring Itsuka Kotori's opinion, the stuffed animals reached a conclusion on their own.
[Then it's decided. Commander Itsuka, if anything happens, we leave his disposal to you. I believe you will definitely make a calm judgnt.]
The ugly cat's voice carried a faintly obnoxious tone.
"..."
[Ah... right.]
Seemingly rembering sothing, the bulldog stuffed animal suddenly interrupted.
[Hacker... the Spirit nad Ryougi Yutsuki. Has she made any strange moves?]
[...]
[...]
As soon as he spoke, the other two stuffed animals fell silent, seemingly waiting for Kotori's answer.
"...Everything is normal. Just like the other Spirits, she remains stable. Nothing strange."
Kotori frowned deeply. Fortunately, because most of the committee mbers here didn't want to expose their identities, they deliberately avoided using video calls. Thus, her expression wouldn't be seen by the other party.
[I see.]
Hearing Kotori's report, a sense of relief inexplicably spread among the stuffed animals.
[Phew... no movents yet... huh?]
[But we can't let our guard down. She is not like ordinary Spirits. Even DEM suffered greatly at her hands; even sealed, she cannot be ignored.]
[That's true. Choosing to actively contact us definitely ans she has so motive. Honestly, if she goes berserk, in a sense, it would be even worse than Itsuka Shido.]
"—!"
Hearing this, Kotori felt her anger was about to break past its critical point.
Kotori naturally knew that the reason Yutsuki accepted the seal so readily was purely because she possessed the mories of the previous world. However, these people would obviously never believe that; they would only suspect Yutsuki of having so dangerous motive.
She didn't want to destroy anything, nor did she want to take anything from anyone. She rely wanted a peaceful ho, a quiet life. Yet, simply because of the inherent danger of her abilities, she beca a target to be guarded against.
'What do you people know about Shido and Yutsuki-nee?!'
Just as Kotori couldn't hold back and was about to roar out loud, the squirrel stuffed animal at the deepest part of the round table—the chairman of this roundtable eting—Elliot Woodman suddenly spoke.
[Do not misunderstand, Commander Itsuka.]
"Eh...?"
[Your most important job right now is not to make a decision when the worst happens, but to do everything in your power to prevent the 'worst' from happening.]
"...!"
[I leave it to you, Commander Itsuka.]
"—Yes!"
The old man's solemn voice gradually cald Kotori down. After straightening her posture and saluting, she replied with unwavering determination.
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