Michael, an Angel shaped like a key. A conceptual armant possessing the two authorities of [Open] and [Close].
[Close] — Inserting the Angel into a target and turning it to the right can seal specified functions of the target.
[Open] — Inserting the Angel into a target and turning it to the left can manipulate space as the target, consciously selecting locations to open passages called [Doors]. It is deduced to also possess the authority to undo the effects of [Close].
Effective range of abilities — Unknown. Limits of abilities — Unknown. Whether it possesses other abilities is yet unknown.
This was the ability analysis Ratatoskr made of the Spirit Zodiac based on the video acquired from space.
To put it bluntly, this is probably the strongest and most rule-breaking Spirit they have encountered so far.
"Shido, are you ready?"
"Mhm... I'm ready."
Taking several deep breaths, after stabilizing his emotions, Shido nodded firmly at Kotori.
At this mont, Itsuka Shido was standing on a raised platform in the center of the temporary command room. He wore a helt type communicator equipped with goggles on his head. The command room's caras were filming his body from all angles without any blind spots, and a 3D model displaying various physical data could be seen on the large screen.
Honestly, Shido had the illusion right now that he was a new product being showcased at a product launch event.
"Excellent." Hearing Shido's answer, Kotori nodded and shouted loudly to her subordinates, "Then let's continue. Operation—Long Distance Love, comnce once again!"
Following Kotori's order, the crew in the command room began their respective tasks.
"Understood. Autonomous cara number one approaching the target."
"Territory deployed. Image projection preparation comncing."
"Synchronization complete. Target ntal state monitoring in progress."
"Projection preparation complete."
Imdiately after, Itsuka Shido felt himself jump from the underground facility's command room to the space outside Earth's atmosphere.
Of course, this wasn't a spatial jump in the true sense. Rather, Kotori and the others were projecting a holographic 3D image of Itsuka Shido's physical data and movent information from the command room through a cara in space.
"..."
Having no leisure to admire this vast and boundless universe, Shido turned his gaze forward.
There floated a girl with incredibly long, radiant golden hair, drifting as naturally as a star in space.
"Appeared again... thou hast..."
Seemingly sensing Shido's gaze, Zodiac slowly opened her eyes.
"Yo... good morning."
Keeping his tone as calm as possible, Shido showed a friendly smile and greeted her.
Zodiac wordlessly raised her staff, inserted it into space, and gently twisted it.
The next instant, Itsuka Shido's projection was shot full of holes by countless beams of light like a honeycomb.
"—!"
His vision abruptly snapping back to the command room, Shido rested his hands on his knees. Looking at his perfectly intact body, a drop of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Shido-kun, are you alright?"
"Mhm, I'm fine. Please do it again!"
After wiping the sweat off his face, Shido nodded firmly.
Actually, this was already his fourth attempt to contact that Spirit in space. However, whether it was because she was naturally combative or because she was highly vigilant after being attacked by DEM just now, every ti Shido appeared, she attacked without a second word.
The first ti, his chest was pierced by shattered flying tal debris.
The second ti, his head was directly smashed by her staff.
The third ti, his limbs and neck were pierced by multiple tal shards.
And just now, was the fourth ti.
Although it was only a 3D projection being attacked, so Shido himself didn't feel pain and his body wasn't damaged, the incredibly realistic visual and audio impact was absolutely not a pleasant experience either.
"Rember not to push yourself. If you feel tired, you can take a break."
"It's fine. Please continue."
Gently shaking his head and politely declining everyone's concern, Shido looked at the Spirit on the screen and spoke with full confidence.
"Just now... although it was only one sentence, she really did speak to . I want to take this opportunity to keep trying to communicate with her!"
The Spirit before him was indeed strong to the point of breaking the rules, but that had nothing to do with Itsuka Shido.
Make them fall in love, seal their Spirit power. This was the approach he had persisted with until now.
As long as he could save Spirits from their plight, Shido didn't mind repeating this process no matter how many tis.
"Very well, a good resolve. Let praise you a little, Shido."
A hint of a curve appeared on the corner of Kotori's mouth.
"Then, projection will resu in five seconds. Shido, get ready."
"Mhm."
Then, the scenery before Shido's eyes switched back to space. And this ti, the Spirit didn't attack imdiately like the previous tis.
"—Most bizarre."
The Spirit spoke in a calm tone without any inflection.
"Why hast thou still not perished after several tis?"
Seeing the other party finally react with sothing other than an attack, Shido hurriedly said.
"Ah, ahh! Nice to et you. I wanted to talk to you, which is why I used this 3D projection... ah, wait! Stop! Don't dig your staff into soone's stomach while they're talking."
"Is this a 3D projection? Hmph, to think such a wondrous thing exists in the world."
Saying this, the Spirit stabbed her staff into Shido's stomach and muttered to herself while stirring it around.
Even though it didn't hurt, the bizarre visual experience of having a foreign object stirring in his stomach made Shido feel sowhat unsettled.
"Um... more importantly... could you tell your na first?"
Hearing Shido's words, the Spirit stopped stirring Shido's stomach and looked up at him.
"True na? Very well, my na is Mukuro—Hoshimiya Mukuro."
(Mukuro. So that is your na?)
"Now then, who art thou? To ask another's na without first stating thine own is an act of rudeness."
"Ah, sorry. I am—"
[Shido, the choices are up.]
Just as Shido was about to answer, three options suddenly popped up on the goggles' screen.
① I am Itsuka Shido. Let's be friends.
② I am Itsuka Shido. Beco my lover.
③ I am Itsuka Shido. The man who will beco your master. Beco my at slave, I'll train you into a body that can't live without (Recomnd choosing this one, do your best! —By Arusu Marina).
(Marina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Feeling the malice from the artificial Spirit, Shido couldn't help but roar in his heart.
However, to Shido's shock, after a round of discussion and screening by everyone, this option ③, which looked the most like courting death, was actually approved.
[Anyway, it's just a 3D projection right now, there's no loss if it gets killed. Use this opportunity to properly confirm her reaction patterns. Do your best, Onii-chan! Try to sound as domineering and forceful as possible!]
"..."
The corner of his eye twitching continuously, although Shido had countless "WTF" lines he wanted to shout out right now, Mukuro was still waiting for his reply, and he couldn't keep her waiting too long.
Doing as told, the resigned Shido took a long, deep breath.
"I-I am Itsuka Shido... the man who will, beco your... master... Be-Beco my at... s-s-slave! I'll make you... fall into a st-st-state where you c-c-can't live without ..."
Not domineering at all, not only did he stutter, but he also bit his tongue at the end. If possible, Shido really wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Itsuka Shido... Understood. I shall tentatively commit thy na to mory."
Mukuro nodded in understanding. Other than that, she had no reaction.
[She doesn't care at all!?]
Cries of exclamation from everyone ca through his earpiece.
Shido was also very surprised. Although he knew this option wouldn't generate a good reaction, the other party wasn't angry, nor was she embarrassed and furious. This indifferent attitude truly surprised him.
[She could say Shido's na, so she must have heard it. But there are no changes in her ntal state or affection level... Being too calm is actually making uneasy.]
Kotori couldn't help but frown. An ominous premonition arose in her heart.
"It is my turn to ask. For what reason hast thou co ti and ti again? What is thy purpose?"
"Eh? Ah. I..."
Just as Shido was about to answer, Mukuro suddenly pointed her Angel towards Earth.
"3D projection... Which ans, thy true body is hidden sowhere on that star, correct? I dislike falsehoods. From now on, whenever thou speak a lie, I shall drop a teor upon that star."
"Wh—!?"
Shido gasped. Recalling the teorite that crashed into the sports field earlier, he found it hard to speak for a mont.
"What is thy decision?"
Mukuro looked at Shido with a calm gaze. From her eyes, Shido couldn't tell at all whether she was joking or serious.
[...It seems that playing tricks will only backfire. Shido, just tell her the truth.]
"Mhm... I understand."
Nodding, after deliberating the lines he was going to say in his mind, Shido answered Mukuro.
"I am—here to save Spirits like you."
Then, Shido poured everything out. He told Mukuro about his purpose, the existence of Ratatoskr and DEM, and his ability to seal Spirit power.
"I see, there is no falsehood in thy words. To think such imnse changes have occurred on this star while I have been wandering."
Seeing Mukuro believe his words, Shido breathed a secret sigh of relief.
"Ah... so, can you return to the ground and let seal your Spirit power?"
Although it was a bit direct, since the other party already understood his purpose, beating around the bush was aningless. After hesitating for a mont, Shido asked Mukuro.
"Nay."
Mukuro flatly refused. However, Shido wasn't surprised by this reaction.
"Indeed. Suddenly asking you to accept all this is asking too much. But..."
"I am not doubting thee."
"Eh?"
Mukuro's answer made Shido freeze.
"I know thy words are not false. I also know thou seek to do good. However, I have no intention of accepting thy charity, nor do I have any thought of returning to the star, that is all. I rely wish to drift between heaven and earth."
Hearing Mukuro's answer, Shido couldn't help but say anxiously.
"B-But. If that's the case, DEM might attack again."
"D-E-M?"
Repeating the word Shido said with a clumsy reaction, after pondering for a mont, Mukuro finally understood Shido's aning.
"If thou speak of the mundane iron from earlier? Such mundane things, no matter how many tis they attack, are no match for ."
"No. DEM has Wizards far stronger than those machines just now, it's very dangerous for you to continue like this."
Shido waved his hands. Desperately trying to explain the danger of DEM to Mukuro. However, even upon hearing that the other party possessed the omniscient Demon King "Beelzebub", Mukuro's expression didn't change at all.
"Indeed, to make enemies of them is sowhat troubling. However, even if I truly cannot match this D-E-M thou speak of, I need only use Michael to open a [Door] and escape. Or perhaps, do they possess a monster capable of pursuing at the speed of light?"
"This..."
Shido was montarily at a loss for words. Indeed, if Mukuro could really do that, then even if Westcott possessed the omniscient Demon King, catching Mukuro would be extrely difficult.
But, the reason Shido wanted to convince Mukuro to return to Earth wasn't just that.
"But, there are many fun things on the ground too. There are many Spirits like you. Staying in a place like this, isn't it very lonely...?"
"Lonely? Nay." Mukuro gently shook her head. "I am deeply honored by thy concern. But that is a misunderstanding on thy part; the emotion of loneliness does not exist within ."
"How is that possible? Don't push yourself, everyone is very nice, they will definitely accept you."
"Nay, I dislike falsehoods. Loneliness, pain, sorrow, outrage, and even excitent, joy, pleasure, and love, I feel none of them. The seven emotions and six desires of humans have all been locked away by my [Segva]."
"Eh?"
Shido frowned in confusion.
"You locked..your heart...?"
Then, Shido heard unimaginable facts from Mukuro's mouth.
Michael is an Angel capable of locking all things in the world, and one of its functions is to place a shackle on human emotions—the heart—and seal them away.
For this reason, although Mukuro currently retained the ability to communicate normally with people, she could not produce any feelings of joy or sorrow.
"Dropping the teor was not out of anger either, but rely to serve as a warning to those who disturb my peaceful slumber."
Hearing Mukuro's words, Shido realized that from the very beginning, when Mukuro answered his questions, she hadn't shown any emotion.
If eting Origami before was like a cold doll whose emotions couldn't be read. Then the impression Mukuro gave him was more like a hermit, or perhaps an immortal who had seen through the vanity of the mortal world.
Thinking that Mukuro would continue drifting in this dull, dark space forever, Shido couldn't help but grit his teeth.
"That... isn't that just too sad? Please, return to Earth. I want you to find happiness."
"..."
Staring silently at Shido for a mont, Mukuro slowly said,
"—Itsuka Shido. Thou seem to have a misunderstanding."
"Mis...understanding?"
"Exactly. —My happiness is not sothing thou canst decide on thine own."
"..."
Shido was montarily choked up and unable to speak.
Neither resorting to violence nor getting excited, Mukuro continued calmly.
"Indeed, there are Spirits saved by thee—I have no intention of denying this. However, I am myself, content with my current situation; what thou hast done is aningless to . To , whether it is salvation or happiness, it is all ddling. Thy actions are rely using to satisfy thine own sense of accomplishnt."
"..."
Gazing at the silent Shido, Mukuro continued presenting her views,
"Moreover, suppose my power is sealed. Can I truly attain a safer life than here? Thus far, have the Spirits saved by thee and thine organization never been attacked by enemies after being sealed?"
"...Phew."
Shido exhaled deeply, a bitter smile appearing on his lips. Honestly, Mukuro's overly piercing questioning made him montarily have the illusion of confronting another person in his mories.
"...Why dost thou laugh? Art thou mocking ?"
"No, no! I was just thinking, if I hadn't been asked similar questions before, I probably would have been left speechless by you right now."
Hurriedly shaking his head to clarify the misunderstanding. Then, Shido seed to relax his shoulders, and answered earnestly, word by word,
"Indeed, as you said. Even after sealing their Spirit power, everyone's life isn't peaceful and worry-free. Enemies have indeed attacked us many tis."
"Then why..."
"Therefore, I will protect them!" Shido shouted before Mukuro could finish. "From the mont I seal their Spirit power, I swore that no matter what happens, no matter what danger we encounter, I will protect them with all my might. I have that resolve, and I have that confidence!"
Staring into Shido's eyes, Mukuro slowly said,
"...I see, I truly understand that thy words are not re boasting. I shall retract a portion of my statent. But even so, drifting is my own decision right now; thou still hast no right to force thy goodwill upon ."
"Hmph, I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Hearing Mukuro's words, a smile appeared on Shido's lips.
"...What is the aning of this?"
"If you really chose to stay here of your own free will, there is absolutely no need for you to seal your emotions. Not feeling lonely because you put on a lock? Isn't that very strange? Isn't it because you couldn't bear the loneliness that you locked your heart away?"
Shido looked into Mukuro's eyes and said confidently.
At this mont, after a long silence, Mukuro finally spoke,
"I no longer have mories of the past... Whether thy hypothesis is true, I cannot answer. However, in the past I fell into misfortune because I possessed emotions; this has no aning to the of today."
"I see. To you who sealed your emotions, it might be a trivial matter of no consequence. But as my reason for taking action, it's more than enough."
Hoshimiya Mukuro didn't choose to stay here, she escaped here.
"Eating, playing, sleeping, even studying boring textbooks at school—to , all of those are much happier and more interesting than hiding in this empty universe staring blankly!"
"Boring. That is rely thine own opinion. Do not force thy prejudices upon , hypocrite."
Seemingly losing interest in Shido, Mukuro swung her staff, pointing it towards Earth with a hint of a threat.
"Our conversation ends here. My only prayer is eternal tranquility. If any miscreants appear here again, I shall use the power of 'Michael' to halt the star's rotation."
"Wh—!?"
Hearing these words, Shido widened his eyes in shock.
"Also declare this to D-E-M. Farewell then, Itsuka Shido."
Saying this, Mukuro raised her staff and inserted it into the autonomous cara projecting the image.
"I won't give up! Mukuro!"
Realizing Mukuro's intention, at the very last mont before the image disappeared, Shido shouted with all his might.
"I will definitely co before you again. At that ti, I will unlock your heart, and bring you salvation—"
—[Segva].
——————————
The scenery before his eyes returned to the familiar underground command room. Perhaps because the autonomous cara in space had been sealed by Mukuro, Kotori and the others tried several more tis to project Shido's image into space after that, but none succeeded.
"Sorry everyone, I failed."
Shido lowered his head sowhat ashadly. If he hadn't let the blood rush to his head at the ti, maybe he could have answered Mukuro's questions in a smoother way.
"There's no need to bow your head and apologize. You spoke very well, Shido-kun!"
"Dinsion Breaker" Nakatsugawa stepped forward, patted Shido hard on the back, looking very happy.
"Ah, the way you retorted against Mukuro just now was really cool. I got a bit fired up watching it."
"I-Is that so?"
Shido scratched his cheek sowhat embarrassedly. To this, "Bad Marriage" Kawagoe also nodded in strong agreent.
"That's right, a man should have his own bottom line. If you lost your montum at a crucial point back there, it would have been very hard to stand back up."
"And the day after that, your wife divorced you, didn't she?"
"—Pfft."
"Well... you shouldn't take Kawagoe's words seriously. But just now when you said you wouldn't give up, you did really well, Shido-kun."
"Indeed. The other party completely denied our work. Although there's no actual loss, if you hadn't retorted back then, we'd still feel a bit down emotionally. Do your best, Shido-kun, we'll support you."
To this, female crew mbers like "Nail Knocker" Shiizaki and "Deep Love" Minowa also expressed their praise and support for Shido.
"Honestly..." Kotori sighed helplessly and said to Shido, "It's good that you weren't defeated in the argunt by Mukuro just now, but don't get carried away by this, Shido."
"Mhm, I know."
Shido nodded.
Honestly, if he hadn't spent a night pondering this issue in the virtual world back then, Shido felt he would have been questioned by Mukuro to the point of breaking down. But now, he already had an answer in his heart.
He wasn't acting as soone else's marionette, nor was he trying to gain a sense of accomplishnt through the act of saving Spirits. He was acting on his own will to approach the Spirits, understand their pain, and then find a way to help them.
To do this, the first thing Shido had to do was unlock the Heart Lock sealing all of Mukuro's emotions.
"Kotori, please help this ti too."
"What are you saying?"
Hearing Shido's words, Kotori shrugged, finding it a bit funny.
"Everyone here originally gathered for the sake of saving Spirits. Even if you didn't say it, we would continue."
"...Um, sorry to interrupt when the atmosphere is so good. Can I co in now?"
Everyone couldn't help but look in the direction of the voice, only to see Yutsuki leaning against the fra of the automatic door, looking at them with a helpless expression.
"Yutsuki, you're here. Are things at school resolved?"
"Mhm, everyone has safely evacuated to the air-raid shelters. It seems to prevent secondary damage from the teorite, the school has issued a class suspension notice. The specific tifra is still under discussion, though."
After briefly reporting her situation to everyone, Yutsuki walked into the command room and turned her gaze to Hoshimiya Mukuro playing in the recorded footage on the screen.
"So this is the newly appeared Spirit, Hoshimiya Mukuro?"
"Mhm, that's right. Eh? Yutsuki, how do you know her na?"
Shido asked with a puzzled face.
"When I just arrived, Marina briefed on the progress here, and I pretty much heard your conversation with Mukuro."
"I-Is that so?"
"Give up."
"Eh?"
Shido couldn't help but let out a confused sound. Yutsuki turned back to look at Shido and spoke in an extrely calm and crisp tone.
"Give up on conquering the Spirit this ti. Shido."
(TL:I need to pulled up my elden ring language for mukuro,annoying as hell but I really like her accent in the show.)
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