At this ti, the DEM transport plane that escaped from Nerylulia Island had rapidly flown across the Pacific Ocean and entered the airspace over Japanese territory.
Knox couldn't help but sigh in relief.
At first, he suspected that headquarters sending so many forces to escort the transport of Material A was making a mountain out of a molehill. A hundred top-tier Wizards and hundreds of the most advanced Bandersnatches were more than enough to conquer a small country. But looking at it now, he was too naive.
Spirits, the most dangerous and terrifying moving disasters in the world.
Honestly, if he hadn't seen the hell on earth on that island with his own eyes, Knox really wouldn't have felt the reality of those words.
If the Adeptus 2 Wizard hadn't arrived in ti, he would probably be a corpse by now.
(I'm so glad I'm not a frontline Wizard.)
He felt genuinely fortunate from the bottom of his heart that he didn't have to face such monsters.
[—This is Control. DF0806, please respond.]
The voice coming from the communicator pulled Knox's thoughts back to reality.
"Yes, this is DF0806."
[Please change course and bypass point E139.]
"Change course?"
Knox couldn't help but turn his head to look at his old buddy Barton in the co-pilot seat. From each other's eyes, they could both see a hint of confusion.
"Did sothing happen?"
[On the scheduled route, a suspected Ratatoskr Wizard is engaging in combat with Executive Director Mathers. To avoid any mishaps, please change course.]
"...Understood. DF0806 changing course, bypassing the E139 area, proceeding to destination."
Although he was a bit curious about why a battle would occur in such a place, he probably wouldn't get an answer even if he asked. Knox obediently replied.
[Communication ended.]
After hanging up, Knox shrugged at Barton.
"...You heard it too, prepare to change course."
"Understood... But still, isn't this a bit too cautious? Even for Wizards, it's impossible to fight at an altitude of over a thousand ters, right? Is it really because the cargo we're transporting is so important?"
Barton asked with a puzzled face.
"Well, that's probably part of the reason. But it's mainly because of Director Mathers. Other Wizards might be fine, but that lady is a different story. If we leisurely fly in the airspace above her battle, we might get pierced straight through by a stray bullet suddenly popping up from below the next instant."
"N-No way... you're just joking, right..."
Barton's face turned pale, and he said with a dry laugh. To this, Knox pointed at the transport compartnt behind them and answered expressionlessly:
"The 'Material A' we are currently transporting behind us was reportedly captured by Executive Director Mathers herself."
To forcibly capture a walking natural disaster alive. What that implied went without saying.
It could be said that in the eyes of ordinary DEM employees, Ellen Mathers was an existence even more terrifying than Spirits, sothing that couldn't be asured by common sense.
Gulp—
Barton swallowed hard and said no more, quickly operating the transport plane to prepare to change course.
Beep—Beep—Beep—!
Suddenly, an ear-piercing alarm sounded in the cockpit. Subsequently, the entire transport plane shook violently as if it had crashed into sothing.
"! What happened?"
"Could it be, is this Executive Director Mathers' stray bullet?!"
"Idiot! It would be great if it was just that!"
After cursing loudly, Knox looked at the abnormally jumping values on the dashboard, his lips trembling as he answered:
"This is... a Spirit's spirit wave reaction."
"Wh..."
Hearing this, Barton's face instantly turned ghastly pale.
"Did 'Nightmare' catch up?!"
Knox shook his head with a grave expression.
"No... it's different from the reaction earlier... Plus, this is..."
Involuntarily holding his breath, Knox slowly turned his head. Behind the iron plate separating the cargo hold, the carefully sealed Material A was stored.
Barton also noticed this. The shaking just now wasn't so much an impact from the outside, but rather a collision from the inside.
"Could it be—?! N-No way, right? 'Material A' should be dormant."
"Indeed... but..."
The values displayed on the dashboard left Knox speechless.
From the location coordinate broadcasted by Control, another indescribably massive spirit wave appeared.
And at this mont, this spirit wave was resonating with the spirit wave of 'Material A'.
______________________
"Ugh—"
Taking off the soaking wet dress and changing into the boys' school uniform, Yutsuki hid by the entrance of the banquet hall, carefully poking her head out to observe the situation inside.
(Tohka... is she okay?)
Watching Tohka taking small steps towards Shido inside the room, Yutsuki thought uneasily.
"Hm? What are you doing here, my compatriot?"
"Pointing out. Yutsuki looks as suspicious as a thief right now."
Familiar voices sounded from behind. Yutsuki turned her head and saw Yuzuru and Kaguya.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm worried about Tohka, so I'm observing secretly."
"No... if you want to watch, you can just go inside."
Kaguya retorted speechlessly.
"Agreent. There's no need to hide."
"Well... about that... it's a long story."
Yutsuki scratched her nose sowhat awkwardly. They were indeed right, but after what just happened, Yutsuki didn't have the guts to face Tohka and Shido.
Fortunately, the Yamai sisters didn't plan to press further. Instead, they crouched in the corner with Yutsuki, observing secretly with great interest.
"I don't hate secret missions like this."
"Agreent. The heart pounding feels a bit thrilling."
"..."
Rolling her eyes in annoyance at her two bad friends, Yutsuki turned to look at the two people in the banquet hall.
(Ah—Oh no!)
Seeing Tohka trip and fall to the ground because she wasn't used to the high heels, Yutsuki's face instantly turned pale.
"Wh-What should I do... She didn't get hurt, right? Band-aids! Antiseptic! No, I need to go to the infirmary!"
"Uh, my comrade... there's no need to get so shaken over such a small thing."
"Sweatdrop. Yutsuki looks just like a mom secretly tailing her kid because she's worried about them going grocery shopping alone."
Pulling back Yutsuki, who had abruptly stood up, Yuzuru and Kaguya couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Is that so? Is she really okay? Those are high heels, you know?"
"I told you she's fine. Why fear such a mundane object? It's not like they're the cursed red shoes."
"Speechless. Yutsuki is making a mountain out of a molehill."
"Uh..."
Although she couldn't understand where their confidence ca from, Yutsuki also realized she was overreacting. Seeing Tohka climb up from the floor by herself, Yutsuki sighed in relief and continued to observe.
Tohka didn't walk straight to Shido this ti. Instead, she took a slight detour and picked up a bunch of food from the dining table.
"My half... she wouldn't happen to be tempted by the food in front of her, would she?"
"Worry. It would be bad if her attention was drawn by the food."
Seeing Tohka's actions, a hint of unease appeared on the Yamai sisters' faces.
"Don't worry, this is Tohka's strategy."
However, Yutsuki answered with an expression of absolute certainty.
Sure enough, Tohka didn't just start gorging herself at the dining table. Instead, she filled two large bowls with food and walked over to Shido. You could say this was Tohka's signature style.
"Excellent! That's the rhythm! Go Tohka, completely srize Shido!"
Looking at Yutsuki excitedly clenching her fist in the shadows, Kaguya and Yuzuru exchanged a glance and asked in confusion:
"My comrade... just to ask, are you worried that our familiar won't be able to make Shido's heart throb?"
"Huh? Who would worry about that? Tohka is such a good girl, how could Shido's heart not throb?"
Yutsuki looked at Kaguya as if she were crazy, then turned her head, her gaze fixed firmly on Shido.
"I'm just thinking, if Shido dares to use this chance to bully Tohka, I will definitely teach him a lesson later."
"..."
Looking speechlessly at Yutsuki, who was inexplicably furious, Kaguya and Yuzuru sighed deeply.
"Sotis... I really don't understand if Yutsuki likes Shido or hates him."
"Agreent. Yuzuru feels a bit sorry for Shido."
However, Yutsuki didn't hear the Yamai sisters' lants, because Tohka was preparing to do a feeding play with Shido. In other words, the clash between the two had officially begun.
Honestly, Yutsuki was even more nervous than during her own date.
(Excellent, just like that, just push forward like that Tohka—Ugh ah—!)
Suddenly, an inexplicable burning sensation surged from within her body, making Yutsuki clutch her chest in agony and lean against the wall.
(So hot... what the hell?)
It felt like threads of fire were burning inside her body. The blood flowing in her veins was stiflingly hot like boiling water, and her heart, acting as the engine, beat rapidly as if overheating.
(Is this... Spirit power resonance?)
Yutsuki felt that the last sliver of Spirit power remaining in her body was boiling and rioting on its own, completely ignoring her will.
At the sa ti, for so reason, these words began to surface in her mind:
—Save...
—Save ...
—It hurts, please save ...
(Who?)
"Yutsuki! What's wrong?"
"Panic. Are you okay, Yutsuki?"
"I'm fine... I'm okay."
Soothing the rioting Spirit power in her body, Yutsuki wiped the sweat from her forehead and waved her hand to show she was fine.
Before they could feel relieved, an anomaly also occurred with Shido and Tohka.
"Sh-Shido!? Are you okay! What exactly happened!?"
It was exactly the sa as Yutsuki's symptom just now, but much more severe. Shido collapsed weakly beside Tohka, covered in cold sweat, clutching his chest, and letting out an agonizing scream.
"Ugh—Urgh, ah, aahhhhhhhhhh!"
A massive shockwave erupted from Shido's body, blasting Tohka away from him.
"Tohka! Are you okay?!"
"Mhm... I'm fine."
Tohka shook her head and stood up from the ground. It didn't look like she suffered any serious injuries, and Yutsuki sighed in relief.
"More importantly, what about Shido? How is Shido?"
"About that..."
Yutsuki looked up with a headache.
Currently, Shido was floating in the air. His transformation ability seed to have worn off, and the tailcoat he was wearing had reverted to his original school uniform. He didn't react at all to Tohka's calls; he rely stared at the ceiling expressionlessly.
Yutsuki could clearly feel that Shido was wrapped in a dense, chillingly powerful aura of Spirit power.
This was the situation Kotori had always been worried about: Spirit power going berserk.
Subsequently, amidst a bizarre, never-before-heard alarm blaring, the Spirit power around Shido surged wildly again. After engulfing the entire banquet hall, it broke through the ceiling and flew towards the surface.
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