"Why, why hasn't Commander Itsuka attacked?!"
An anxious shout echoed in the dim conference room.
However, the owner of the voice wasn't physically present. Above the round table in the center of the room, a holographic projection was roaring.
Elliot Baldwin Woodman sat at one corner of the round table. Not far behind him, his secretary Karen Mathers was standing by silently.
The three holographic projections of Ratatoskr mbers before them—including the man who was roaring just now—were all high-ranking executives from branches around the world participating in this eting.
"Attack! Attack, Commander Itsuka!"
Roland Kleinthon. A middle-aged man with an appearance reminiscent of a bulldog and a slightly impatient personality.
Although his behavior didn't quite suit the status of an executive attending a round table eting... his anger wasn't inexplicable. The scene currently broadcasted on the screen could be said to be the worst-case scenario Ratatoskr could have envisioned.
Looking at the boy in the forest continuously releasing terrifying Spirit power, with the montum of the eruption seemingly still rising... leaving it be would undoubtedly lead to a repeat of the tragedy from 30 years ago. Although the other two weren't as uncomposed as Kleinthon, their complexions were absolutely not much better.
"Mr.Woodman."
A gaunt man wearing a monocle, giving off the impression of a rat—Fraser Douglas—began to speak. From the projection, Woodman could sense the other party's panic and dissatisfaction.
"If this continues, a large-scale spacequake will truly occur. Why did you entrust the launch authority of solely to Commander Itsuka?"
"Exactly. No matter how excellent her grades are, she's still just a middle schooler. And the target is her own brother. Do you really think she can make the correct judgnt?"
The last committee mber—Kilian Walrunstead, a man resembling the sly and cunning cats often seen in cartoons—chid in with his protest.
(If I gave the launch authority to you guys, you'd definitely fire without hesitation.)
The silent Woodman sighed helplessly in his heart.
Ratatoskr was an organization founded to save Spirits. But the only ones who truly adhered to this ideal from the bottom of their hearts was the faction led by Woodman. The others were all involved for so kind of profit to varying degrees.
Of course, Woodman didn't think this was wrong. To be precise, prioritizing one's own interests was the most normal attitude for a human being. Conversely, perhaps he was the strange one.
Therefore, at this mont, when the risks outweighed the rewards, these people would naturally abandon the Spirits without hesitation.
"Gentlen, please calm down."
Woodman spoke in a steady tone.
"Indeed, what is happening now might be the worst-case scenario we predicted. —However, this does not an everything is set in stone."
Woodman's words brought a montary silence to the scene, but soon, Kleinthon angrily accused him.
"What are you saying at a ti like this! How exactly can we change this situation!"
"As long as Commander Itsuka hasn't given up, I too will not give up."
"You—"
Kleinthon widened his eyes in anger. Although the other two didn't speak, they were clearly also infuriated by Woodman's seemingly unreasonable thought process.
Of course, Woodman still had so confidence in whether Itsuka Shido could regain his consciousness. But he didn't feel it was necessary to tell the three n before him the reason behind this possibility.
What he needed to do right now was to buy ti for Itsuka Kotori.
"You have a point. Kleinthon, I also know my words are asking a bit much. How about this. From this mont on, for every minute that passes, I will transfer one percent of my shares in Asgard Electronics to you three."
"Wh..."
The three of them were astonished by the bait Woodman threw out.
Asgard Electronics—a technology company affiliated with Ratatoskr. It was also the only company currently capable of manufacturing Realizers besides DEM Industries. This was both Woodman's lifeline and sothing the three of them deeply coveted.
However, the bait was clearly too tempting, making it sowhat suspicious instead. The three of them couldn't help but start weighing the risks against the benefits. For Woodman, this was exactly what he wanted. The more suspicious they were, the more ti it bought for Kotori.
However, the Spirit power value displayed on the screen was still rising, and the noisy alarm interrupted the three n's thoughts.
"...As I thought, it's no good! Expanding the paths is already impossible. Letting the situation develop will only cause irreversible damage. What we need to do now is to put him out of his misery as soon as possible."
Saying that, Kleinthon took out a small device from his pocket.
Seeing the item in Kleinthon's hand, Woodman held his breath. He recognized it; it was the activation device for , which should have only been possessed by Woodman and Kotori.
"Kleinthon, why do you have that!?"
"Hmph—Isn't there a saying that goes 'better safe than sorry'? If you want sothing like this, there's always a way to get your hands on it."
Kleinthon proudly curled the corners of his mouth. Although Walrunstead and Douglas looked surprised by Kleinthon's action, they had no intention of stopping him.
"Stop! Don't do sothing stupid—"
Ignoring Woodman's words, Kleinthon pressed the button without hesitation.
[—Activation confird, comncing attack on the target.]
Hearing the electronic voice echoing in the room, Woodman's heart sank completely to the bottom.
However—
[Beep—Super user command received, modifying attack target.]
...Eh?
The command that sounded imdiately after left everyone, including Woodman, completely bewildered.
Suddenly, a slew of complex windows popped up on the screen in the center of the round table, and a massive amount of intricate, dense code rapidly scrolled before everyone's eyes.
[Ah, I didn't expect it to actually happen. Seriously, that girl's premonitions are way too accurate.]
[Big sister, stop ssing and hurry up and help.]
[Yes, yes...]
(Are these... those two artificial Spirits from the Fraxinus?)
Looking at the black and white nuns appearing on the edges of the screen, Woodman thought in surprise.
Arusu Marina, Arusu Maria. The artificial intelligence installed on Kotori's airship, which was currently at headquarters for remodeling. They were a product accidentally born during a hacking clash between Shido's group and DEM.
Because they showed no signs of being hazardous like Spirits, and were themselves highly valuable artificial intelligence, the other three didn't consider them a threat at the ti. In fact, since that incident, they had indeed been very well-behaved.
[Coordinate modification complete, target locked—(XXX, XXX), (XX, XX), (XXX, XX).]
"Wh—"
"Isn't that—"
"Wait!?"
Hearing the attack coordinates for announced by Marina, the faces of the three n, excluding Karen and Woodman, turned completely pale in unison.
[Nice to et you, Mr Kleinthon, Mr Walrunstead, Mr Douglas. I am the artificial Spirit of the Fraxinus, Arusu Maria. Right now, I am here to pass on a ssage from a certain lady.]
On the screen, Maria lifted the hem of her skirt in a lady-like curtsy, a friendly smile on her face.
[Stay out of our family matters!]
————————
Kotori held her breath for a mont. She looked at the device in her hand in disbelief. She clearly hadn't pressed the button, but the ssage displayed on the screen indeed showed that had been activated.
"What's going on? Is it a malfunction?"
Origami hurriedly asked. She had been guarding against Kotori pressing the button since earlier. This unexpected turn of events caused a rare look of panic on her face.
"No, that's impossible. But why would it—"
Kotori shook her head, denying the possibility. With cold sweat covering her forehead, she frantically typed on the keyboard, trying to cancel the launch sequence.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it—"
However, it was still too late.
A flash as bright as the morning star appeared in the pitch-black night sky.
"Shido—!!"
It's over! Kotori thought in agony.
Next, Shido's body would be pierced by the satellite cannon. Even her healing abilities wouldn't be able to save him, and he would leave her side forever.
Not wanting to accept this reality, Kotori tightly shut her eyes.
One second passed—
Two seconds passed—
Three seconds passed—
"Huh..."
Neither the expected sound of the explosion nor the shockwave ca. Kotori opened her eyes in confusion. She found that everyone was looking at her with puzzled expressions.
"Ahem... Um, everyone, what happened to ?"
Coughing sowhat awkwardly, Kotori asked seriously.
"If you're talking about those three shooting stars just now, they've already disappeared to the other side of the sky in different directions."
Natsumi answered.
Three? Kotori looked up at the sky in confusion.
Undoubtedly, the light just now was the blast from , but why wasn't Shido the target? And why were three shots deliberately fired in different directions?
"Ah? Marina and Maria. Oh, I see. Thanks for your hard work."
Suddenly hearing this conversation beside her, Kotori snapped her head around. Ryougi Yutsuki had just hung up her phone. Unlike the other Spirits, there was no surprise on her face, as if she had expected this situation.
"Yutsuki-nee..."
Kotori felt she understood sothing. The only person in the world who knew of 's existence and could hack in to modify its attack commands was right here.
"Just think about it a little. How unrealistic is it to have a middle school girl kill her own brother with her own hands. Setting aside whether it's cruel or not, whether you could actually go through with it is a problem in itself. Whoever gave this to you either believed from the bottom of their heart that you wouldn't do it, or they're a complete idiot."
Seemingly understanding Kotori's confusion, Yutsuki explained with a matter-of-course expression.
"In that case, it wouldn't be strange if one or two guys secretly prepared the sa thing behind your and Woodman's backs, right?"
"Ugh..."
A very persuasive deduction, especially seeing the situation just now, it left her speechless. Kotori looked at Yutsuki with a slightly dissatisfied gaze.
"Now, now, don't look at with that 'if it was like this, why didn't you tell sooner' look. I only prepared it just in case."
Gently patting Kotori's small head, Yutsuki looked at Shido gradually moving further away and said in a deep voice.
"I told you, it's fine... so it will definitely be fine."
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