Gulp—
Shido couldn't help but secretly swallow a mouthful of saliva. Although Mukuro said she had sealed her emotions, her killing intent towards him was already palpable just by looking at her.
"Michael."
Softly calling out the true na of her Angel, Hoshimiya Mukuro inserted the staff into the void and twisted it slightly to the left.
"—Lataib."
As soon as her voice fell, a door opened behind Mukuro, violently sucking the floating rocks and chanical debris around her into it.
At the sa ti, countless doors unfolded around Shido. The rubble and tal flying out of the doors turned into swift, fierce arrows, shooting from all directions.
If Itsuka Shido had been alone, he probably would have been shot full of holes like a hornet's nest by now.
Of course, if he had been alone.
[Shido! Leave it to !]
Maria's voice ca through the earpiece. Following that, the Realizer floating beside Shido—the Fraxinus EX's Leaf of Yggdrasil—began to blink with a faint blue light.
Imdiately after, the volu of the Territory enveloping Shido shrank slightly, dragging Shido's body into motion.
Like a fish swimming freely through a deep sea coral reef, despite the seemingly inescapable, dense barrage, Maria accurately detected the flight trajectory of every stray shot, guiding Shido safely through the gaps in the barrage without a scratch.
"That's amazing, Maria!"
Shido couldn't help but express his admiration.
[Calculations of this level are a piece of cake for .]
"..."
Seeing her attack deal no damage to Itsuka Shido, Mukuro didn't show the slightest fluctuation. The Angel in her hand twisted again.
In a gap between the barrage, a door appeared out of thin air less than two ters in front of Itsuka Shido. A massive steel rebar thrust out from the door like a long spear.
Perfect timing, extrely close range, a judgnt made in re instants robbed Shido of any chance to dodge.
"—!?"
Shido's pupils contracted sharply. With a judgnt almost bordering on instinctive reaction, instead of retreating, he advanced, thrusting his right hand forward and activating the Spirit power within his body.
"—Zadkiel!"
Clear blue chilling air, acting as an extension of Shido's arm, touched the rebar first.
In just an instant, the rebar turned into a long icicle. Not only that, the crystal-clear ice seed to possess a life of its own. Like blue roses stubbornly growing on an alpine glacier, it continuously expanded outward, freezing the touched rubble into ice, and then continuing to spread with that as a foundation.
Soon, the barrage fired by Mukuro was completely swallowed by the ice. A giant tree of ice, intricately spreading, quietly grew in this space.
Mukuro's pupils shrank slightly, and she twisted the Angel to the right, hurriedly closing all the doors. She realized that the chilling air emitted by Itsuka Shido just now not only froze the rocks and tal debris but was also attempting to freeze her Michael through the doors.
"Thou canst use other Angels? Ever more suspicious. Art thou truly human?"
"I am human, at least that's what I think myself."
Noticing Mukuro's wary gaze, Shido answered with a bitter smile.
That strike just now wasn't just Yoshino's Spirit power. The Spirit power of nine people within Shido's body was driving the Angel Zadkiel simultaneously, thereby exceeding the power of the original.
"Don't worry, I won't use that move a second ti."
What Shido wished for was to save people, not kill them. A move with such large-scale destructive power would only arouse the Spirit's vigilance.
Moreover, Kotori and Yutsuki had already instructed him long ago: unless it was a special circumstance, he was not allowed to use the Spirits' Angels for anything beyond self-preservation.
The current Shido also realized that if he truly broke that promise, he probably wouldn't be able to consider himself human like he did now.
"...Ratziel."
[Command received — Comncing limitation of host's Spirit power output scale — Task complete.]
Following the response from the dark blue tal bracer, the giant ice tree lost the support of Spirit power. As if its skeleton had been stripped away, it crumbled bit by bit in the weightless vacuum of space.
"...Thy Spirit power has weakened. To place shackles upon thyself, what is the aning of this action?"
Mukuro asked, very puzzled. To this, Itsuka Shido smiled faintly and answered honestly.
"Because I don't want to hurt you, Mukuro. In order to open your heart, I have to show my sincerity."
"...Incomprehensible."
"It's fine if you don't understand, I'm coming over right now. Wait for , Mukuro."
After saying that, Shido took a deep breath.
"Gabriel—March."
The rousing lody vibrate through the Territory, thereby enhancing Shido's physical capabilities.
Shido kicked off, using the ice block beneath his feet as a springboard, and approached Hoshimiya Mukuro at super high speed.
However—
[Shido, stop!!]
"—!?"
Shido alertly stopped in his tracks. At the sa ti, the Territory enveloping him abruptly moved backward under Maria's control.
The next mont, a laser beam swept across the position Shido had just occupied.
Who is it? Shido turned his head and looked in the direction of the attack.
"Hello, thank you for your care last ti, Itsuka Shido."
The blonde girl wearing a CR-Unit—Artemisia—greeted Shido with a smile.
Perhaps because he had concentrated all his attention on Mukuro, or perhaps because the other party could conceal her presence, Shido hadn't noticed her existence until Maria warned him.
Realizing the other party ca with ill intentions, Shido's expression grew serious.
Then, very abruptly, Artemisia pushed her speed to the limit, rapidly closing the distance to Shido, and swung her blade directly aiming at his neck.
"Zadkiel!" Barely capturing the opponent's movent, Shido summoned a wall of ice as a shield. Although it only blocked for a second before turning into fragnts under Artemisia's slash, it bought Shido ti to put so distance between them.
[Shido, hurry and put so distance between you. You are no match for Artemisia!]
"Understood!"
Shido's only goal was Mukuro, so naturally he wouldn't get entangled in a fight with Artemisia. He imdiately summoned Raphael to accelerate and shake off the enemy.
However, in his desperation, Shido forgot one point: what he had to face now was not only Artemisia.
"Michael—Lataib."
"Wh—!?"
In front of Shido, the doors connecting spaces opened again. The barrage shooting out from them blocked Shido's path. At the sa ti, although Artemisia was also caught in the crossfire, she deployed her defensive Territory and flanked him despite the barrage.
In an instant, Shido was forced into a desperate situation by the pincer attack of the Wizard and the Spirit.
To Hoshimiya Mukuro, although both were enemies, Itsuka Shido's threat level was clearly higher than DEM's. The enemy of her enemy, while not an ally, could be utilized.
As for whether this action was despicable or not, it was not within Hoshimiya Mukuro's consideration. Rather, to her, who had already sealed away her emotions, the concept of despicable simply did not exist in her code of conduct.
"Terrible luck, Itsuka Shido."
Taking advantage of the opening when Shido was defending against Mukuro's attack, Artemisia appeared before him, her blade pointed straight at his throat.
However, contrary to the expected sensation of cutting through skin, flesh, and bone, the magical blade was firmly parried by a suddenly thrust long spear before it could sever Shido's head.
(A Wizard from Ratatoskr?)
Artemisia frowned, looking at the uninvited guest who suddenly blocked her path.
"Are you okay, Shido?"
"Origami?!"
Shido looked at Origami in surprise. The girl was currently wearing a beautifully streamlined chanical armor. The components covering her shoulders and chest resembled European armor, and she held a sharp long spear tightly in both hands.
"You looking like this..."
"We'll talk later. Leave her to ."
Before Shido could ask, Origami dashed forward, caught up to Artemisia, and swept her spear towards her.
"Kuh..."
"...Ugh."
The clash of weapons, the collision of Territories. In just their first exchange, Origami and Artemisia understood each other's strength, their expressions inevitably turning grave.
Magic turned into sharp blades, tracing shining trajectories in the pitch-black universe with every collision between the two.
"Shido!"
However, before Shido could catch his breath, Tohka, having deployed her partial Astral Dress, rushed to his side, grabbed his arm, and moved him away from his spot.
At the sa ti, several doors appeared out of nowhere, and beams of Spirit power converged on the exact spot Shido had just been occupying.
If Tohka had been a step slower, Shido's life, which had just been saved by Origami, would have almost been lost again imdiately. Thinking of this, Shido couldn't help but break into a cold sweat in retroactive fear.
"You're not hurt, are you, Shido?"
"Mhm, thanks Tohka, you're a lifesaver."
Shido turned his gaze to Mukuro. Although the other party still maintained a cold expression, Shido vaguely sensed Mukuro's regret.
Sighing slightly, Mukuro used her Angel again, launching an attack on Shido and Tohka.
[Shido, a large number of drone reactions appearing behind you.]
Moreover, it didn't end there. Although Origami had successfully drawn Artemisia away, as a byproduct, a large number of Bandersnatch arrived on the battlefield a step later, launching attacks against the enemies present. (Author: "Tachibana, couldn't you change it up from these mob fighter jets that have been shot down who knows how many tis?")
Shido imdiately used Zadkiel to summon ice to block the bombardnts of magic and Spirit power, while Tohka summoned Sandalphon to shoot down the incoming rocks and tal.
In an instant, Shido and Tohka were caught in a storm where Spirit power and magic intertwined.
However, right in the center of this vortex of crossfire, Itsuka Shido remained strangely, incredibly calm.
Unlike Artemisia, who was clearly targeting Shido from the start, the drones obviously couldn't make agile judgnts in selecting enemies. So of the drones didn't attack Shido, but locked onto Mukuro instead.
Although the situation on Shido's side was not optimistic, Mukuro's side had also lost its previous leeway.
This is a chance!
"Tohka!"
"Umu! I'll clear the way!"
Clearly, Tohka and Shido were on the sa wavelength. When it ca to combat judgnt, Tohka was far more than just a little bit better than Shido.
Thus, Tohka and Shido advanced instead of retreating, charging deep into the teor shower composed of artillery fire and debris.
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