Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 306 306: Melee (Part 3)

Right as Itsuka Shido burst into the territory created by Beelzebub with massive montum, a figure appeared on the other side of the black mud, silently stepping onto the dark earth.

"...Spirit Dress of God's Authority, Number 2 (Yod)."

The intruder muttered softly.

The Astral Dress deployed at minimum scale, with tiny streams of electricity clinging to the soles of Ryougi Yutsuki's shoes.

When the blue-white electricity t the polluted black mud, it was like dropping a thousand-degree iron ball into ice. The black mud let out a faint sizzle and dissipated into pale mist.

Feeling the solid ground beneath her feet, Ryougi Yutsuki didn't hesitate and sprinted towards the center of the black mud—where Honjou Nia was.

"—"

Unlike the situation on Itsuka Shido's side, the "monsters" ignored Ryougi Yutsuki, the "intruder". As if they couldn't see her at all, they lumbered on, expanding the territory of the black mud.

(Just as I thought. Nia's Angel can't detect .)

Seeing the monsters' reaction, Yutsuki concluded.

Even before Nia inverted, her Angel—Rasiel—had no effect on Ryougi Yutsuki. It couldn't search for her information, and the interference power of "Future Entry" couldn't affect her either.

At first, she thought her own Angel, Ratziel, had the ability to block Rasiel's searches. But in reality, she hadn't summoned her Angel at the ti. Moreover, if that were the case, Shido, who had sealed her Spirit power, shouldn't have been affected either.

What Rasiel couldn't lock onto was solely the person "Ryougi Yutsuki."

By the way, coming up with the idea to use her novel as a continuation of the manga was just an inspiration she got after vaguely noticing this.

Although Yutsuki still didn't understand the reason behind it, it didn't stop her from using it to her advantage.

"THINK OF A REASON TO——LIVE!!!!"

On the other side, Shido's spirited shout echoed as he fought against the monster army.

(Good job, Shido. Keep their attention just like that.)

Yutsuki thought to herself.

So far, excluding Nia, Yutsuki only knew of two cases of Inverted Spirits—Tohka and Origami.

The differences between these two cases were obvious. Tohka's inversion was like a change in personality; although she indiscriminately destroyed her surroundings, her actions carried a clear consciousness. Origami's inversion, on the other hand, was like a soulless robot, attacking indiscriminately purely on instinct.

Judging from the current situation, Nia's inversion leaned more towards the latter.

Destroying purely on instinct, reacting to hostility and Spirit power, with no sense of the Spirit's original consciousness guiding the actions.

Therefore, Shido and Yutsuki split into two groups.

One group: Shido charged head-on, ostentatiously using Angels to taunt the monsters and draw Nia's attention with his Spirit power fluctuations.

The other group: Yutsuki took advantage of the opening created by Shido, using the minimum amount of Spirit power to hide her presence and sound, sneaking up to Honjou Nia to subdue her.

As Shido's attacks grew fiercer, the monsters on Yutsuki's side finally reacted. They stopped expanding the black mud and gathered towards Shido's direction.

Like a nimble monkey swinging through the jungle, Yutsuki used the moving monsters as stepping stones, leaping continuously. In this way, the distance between Yutsuki and Nia closed at an astonishing speed.

Ten ters.

A distance Yutsuki could cross in less than a second.

"—?"

However, at this mont, Nia, who was sitting blankly on the ground, suddenly turned her head. Her lifeless eyes locked onto Yutsuki's gaze.

In an instant, several monsters that were heading towards Shido changed their target and surrounded Ryougi Yutsuki.

Indeed, conceptually, Beelzebub couldn't detect Yutsuki's existence. But once locked on by the naked eye, Nia could still command her Demon king to attack Yutsuki.

(Tch, of course it wouldn't go that smoothly.)

Yutsuki clicked her tongue secretly.

The monster she was stepping on started writhing, the deford black mud attempting to swallow Yutsuki like a man-eating plant. Yutsuki didn't hesitate, kicking off the monster and jumping down.

"Phew..."

Yutsuki let out a soft breath to keep her mind calm.

Strictly speaking, she and Shido were completely different types in combat.

Shido was the type to follow the emotions in his heart. The stronger the emotion, the firr his will, and his action and combat power would grow stronger accordingly.

In combat, Yutsuki would suppress her emotional fluctuations to a minimum, maintaining a calm and rational mindset to analyze the battle situation and make judgnts.

—Five.

In a flash, Yutsuki made her assessnt.

Although so monsters had noticed her, most were still focused on Shido. Given their movent speed, they wouldn't reach her in a short ti.

Right now, the only monsters truly blocking the path between her and Honjou Nia were five.

Two slightly larger ones stood in front of Nia, guarding her like bouncers. The other two were rushing towards her, seemingly intending to flank her along with the one she had just stepped on.

Yutsuki snorted softly. Without retreating, she sprinted forward before she could be flanked.

The monsters were nearly four ters tall, quite imposing, but their movents were relatively simple and sluggish. Yutsuki zigzagged her way forward, slipping through the gap between two "monsters" and breaking out of the encirclent.

—Two left.

Yutsuki dashed to the feet of the remaining two monsters.

"Ratziel."

She softly called out her Angel. But this ti, the blue-white lightning didn't materialize into a chanical bow. The electricity wrapped around Yutsuki's fingers, flickering with a faint light.

As if wielding a sharp blade, she swiped her fingers across the surface of a monster, leaving behind a trail of light.

[Understood, initiating task execution... Spirit power analysis complete... Transportation dium severed... Task complete.]

At the sa ti, using the line of light as a boundary, the commands issued by Beelzebub to the black mud were intercepted by Ratziel. The monsters that were about to attack Yutsuki collapsed with a loud crash, as if they had lost their skeletons.

The collapsed monsters turned back into sludge, forming a two-ter-high wave that blocked the advance of the monsters behind.

Although it would only take two or three seconds for Beelzebul to restore those two monsters, that ti was enough for Yutsuki.

Yutsuki arrived at Nia's side.

Even though Beelzebub's abilities were practically cheating, Nia's own combat ability was very poor. Obviously, she was no match for Yutsuki.

Twisting Nia's arms behind her back to lock her joints, Yutsuki pinned her firmly to the ground.

Although she had lost her sense of self, the pain from her body still caused Nia to let out an instinctive wail.

"Sorry, Nia. Don't lose consciousness from the pain, okay."

Yutsuki said softly.

If it were just about subduing Nia, Yutsuki actually had a much more effective and quicker thod to knock her out directly.

But just doing that wouldn't an the problem was solved.

Yutsuki knew that up to this point, this was still not the "future" they had observed through Future Peeking.

Just then, behind Yutsuki, from the distant sky, a blinding light suddenly flashed.

In less than a breath, that flash of light broke into the battlefield at an astonishing speed.

———————————

Tengu City, inside the temporary command room of the underground facility.

Sitting in the Commander's seat, Kotori clenched her teeth in frustration, her fingers tapping incessantly on the desk.

Her mood right now was understandable. At this mont, Tohka, Yoshino, the Yamai sisters, Miku, Natsumi, and Origami were engaged in a fierce battle with the strongest Wizard, Ellen. Yutsuki and Shido were both working hard to save the inverted Nia.

Only she had to sit in the underground facility far away from the battlefield, watching silently.

"Kotori... calm down..."

"Commander, are you unaccustod to that chair? If you don't mind, I am willing to offer my body as a human chair to bear the Commander's wrath. Ah—"

"It's fine... Thanks, Reine."

Casually delivering a slap to Kannazuki, Kotori exhaled softly and shook her head at Reine.

A superior's unease will transmit to their subordinates. After being reminded by Reine, Kotori quickly adjusted her mindset.

Right now, the Fraxinus was undergoing modifications at headquarters, and most of the equipnt in the underground facility had been destroyed during Shido's berserk incident and was still not fully repaired.

Honestly, the rear support Ratatoskr could currently provide Shido and the others was very weak.

But even so, Kotori chose to stay here.

It wasn't that she hadn't considered fighting alongside everyone. But considering the unstable condition of Kotori's Spirit power, she clearly couldn't be counted on as combat strength.

Moreover, even putting aside the instability of her Spirit power, everyone agreed that Itsuka Kotori as a "Commander" was far more excellent and reliable than Itsuka Kotori as a "Spirit".

Trust everyone, and answer their trust in .

Thinking of this, the sharpness returned to Kotori's eyes.

"Commander! A high-intensity magical reaction has appeared at Yutsuki's 6 o'clock position. Confird to be a DEM Wizard!"

Just then,Shiizaki reported.

"Marina! Maria! Can you identify them?"

[Confird. The target is Artemisia Bell Ashcroft, the forr top ace of the British anti-Spirit unit SSS.]

"Transmit the information to Shido and the others imdiately."

(The top ace of the SSS. To think DEM had a Wizard like that.)

Although she was sowhat ntally prepared, knowing the other party's true identity still surprised Kotori a bit.

However, surprise aside, Kotori's job remained unchanged.

(Do your best, Onii-chan, Yutsuki-nee.)

After silently praying in her heart, Kotori aid at the exact mont the enemy broke into the battlefield and pressed the button beside her hand.

—BOOM!

The next second, following the sound of an explosion, the battlefield on Yutsuki's side of the screen was enveloped in a massive cloud of smoke.