After thrusting Michael into Mukuro's body, Shido nervously observed Mukuro's reaction.
He didn't dare to relax just yet. Although he had successfully used Michael on Mukuro according to plan, it was actually Shido's first ti using this Angel. His usage of Michael was entirely learned on the spot while facing Mukuro, and his understanding of how to use it was basically just immitating. He wasn't sure himself if this would unlock Mukuro's heart.
However, he did feel like he unlocked sothing.
"Did it... work?"
Looking at the dazed Hoshimiya Mukuro, Shido asked sowhat uncertainly. Of course, there was no one here who could answer his question.
However, calling it a failure wouldn't be quite right either. After all, if Shido's Michael hadn't worked, with Shido being so close right now, Mukuro definitely would have attacked long ago.
"Forget it... Anyway, let's regroup with everyone first."
Agonizing over it alone here wouldn't yield a conclusion, so Shido decided to just take Mukuro back to the Fraxinus EX.
However, just as he was about to move, he suddenly felt a hint of incongruity.
"It's so hot..."
That's right, it was the temperature. At so unknown point, the temperature around Shido had risen to the point where he was sweating profusely. And this was the result after adjustnts by the Leaf of Yggdrasil's Territory. Currently, the temperature around Shido exceeded hundreds of degrees Celsius, and the visual information received by his eyes seed slightly distorted under the influence of the high heat.
For so reason, this feeling reminded Shido of a car engine overheating due to excessive RPMs.
"What exactly happened...!?"
Suddenly, Shido's pupils contracted sharply. He saw, at a distance of probably less than three hundred ters away, a fiery red airship suddenly appear in the empty void of space.
That was not the original paint color of this airship, but a change in the tal deck baked under ultra-high heat.
(Run!)
Even without fully grasping the situation, intuition told Shido that he was currently in imnse danger. Without any hesitation, he imdiately took Mukuro and rapidly retreated, wanting to put distance between them and this airship.
However, before retreating even a few ters, Shido felt like he hit an invisible wall.
Only then did he realize that he and Mukuro had already been trapped inside a large-scale Territory.
"—Sandalphon!"
Holding Mukuro's waist tightly with his left hand, Shido raised Tohka's Angel high with his right. The heavy greatsword slashed down fiercely, cutting a gap in the cage ford by the Territory installation.
However, even though the Territory failed to trap Shido, it successfully consud Shido's precious escape ti.
At this mont, the airship was still a hundred ters away from Itsuka Shido, and there were only five seconds left until its self-destruction.
...
The battle between Tobiichi Origami and Artemisia had entered a stalemate.
If evaluated solely on the level of a Wizard, even equipped with the most advanced Realizer, Tobiichi Origami's chances of winning against Artemisia were at most thirty percent.
But after using the Spirit's power simultaneously, the situation changed. The variable wings dispersed by tatron not only made up for Brunhild's lack of long-range firepower, but Spirit energy could also be superimposed with magic to amplify Brunhild armant, strengthening the sharpness and destructive power of the long spear.
Because of this, Tobiichi Origami finally had the power to fight against Artemisia.
"Phew... That was a bit dangerous just now."
Barely dodging tatron's continuous shooting in a rather awkward posture, Artemisia put distance between herself and Origami. Looking at the slightly scorched mark on her shoulder armor, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"A mixture of Spirit energy and magic, huh. How interesting... Well, now is not the ti to play, I need to decide the outco quickly—"
Artemisia's words stopped midway.
The reason was simple. She saw the Goetia—the airship piloted by Ellen Mathers—falling towards Earth, trailing black smoke.
"Ellen!? Goetia actually lost...!?"
For the first ti, Artemisia, who had always given off an unhurried feeling, showed a shaken expression.
Normally, Artemisia's distraction would undoubtedly be an excellent opportunity to attack for Tobiichi Origami. However, at this mont, her attention was also stolen by the changes on the other side.
(When did that airship get so close to Shido?)
Looking at the airship that had appeared before Itsuka Shido without anyone noticing, Origami widened her eyes in disbelief.
And what shook her even more was the imnse magic the airship was currently emitting, as if it would erupt at any mont.
"Shido!!"
Recklessly pushing her thrusters to maximum horsepower instantly, Origami pushed her speed to the limit, rushing to rescue Shido.
However, the laser sword swung by Artemisia blocked Origami's path at this mont.
Blocking Artemisia's slash with Brunhild, Origami looked at the airship constantly closing in on Shido, a flash of anxiety in her eyes.
"Is it okay for you not to go help Ellen? Artemisia?"
Hearing Origami's words, Artemisia remained unmoved, answering very calmly.
"Don't get it wrong. While Ellen's defeat was indeed unexpected, it is not the key to success or failure today. Our goal today is to shoot down the Spirits."
"—Kuh! Move!"
Seeing the other party refuse to make way, Origami gritted her teeth anxiously.
Just then, a "Whoosh—!" sound was heard. The airship—Fraxinus EX—was increasing its horsepower, flying over Origami and Artemisia at full speed.
"Release all remaining 'Leaves of Yggdrasil'! Switch to Defense Mode and seal off that airship! Lock all the shockwaves of the explosion inside the Territory!"
[It's no good, Kotori. According to calculations, that airship will self-destruct in five seconds. Before the 'Leaves of Yggdrasil' finish sealing it off, the airship will explode first!!]
"Damn it! What do we do then?"
Kotori clenched her fists anxiously. At this rate, Shido and Mukuro would definitely be caught in the explosion caused by the highly compressed magic and die.
[Kotori-chan, attack that airship directly with the focused magic cannon.]
Yutsuki suddenly said.
"But that won't stop the explosion!"
[Trust !]
"—!"
With the current situation leaving no room for Kotori to think, she could only choose to trust Yutsuki, gritting her teeth and issuing the order.
"Target: enemy airship—Mistilteinn, fire!"
Fraxinus EX's main cannon erupted with the torrent of energy it had been charging for a long ti.
Simultaneously, four "Leaves of Yggdrasil" flew in front of Fraxinus EX's main cannon. Their Territories connected with each other, forming a massive square shield.
The next mont, the focused magic cannon bombarded the shield ford by the "Leaves of Yggdrasil". But under the control of magic redirection, the shield was not destroyed. Instead, borrowing the reaction force generated by the focused magic cannon, it shortened the distance to the self-destructing airship at a highly visible speed.
Because there was no extra magic to generate a defensive Territory, two seconds later, the shield crashed into the deck of the airship without any hindrance.
Unlike a direct hit from a focused magic cannon, the shield spread the energy of the focused magic cannon from a point to a surface. The blast did not pierce the airship, but turned into thrust, pushing the entire airship away.
In the remaining three seconds, Ryougi Yutsuki pushed this airship that was about to self-destruct nearly six hundred ters away from Shido.
Then, in this silent, pitch-black world, a bright red fireball exploded violently.
...
After her heart was unlocked, Hoshimiya Mukuro did not lose consciousness. She maintained a very clear understanding of the situation happening around her at this ti.
It's just that the emotions that had precipitated due to years of sealing were too massive, subrging Mukuro like a fierce, rapid torrent. Just differentiating those chaotic emotions pushed her brain to its limit; she had absolutely no spare capacity to react to the outside world.
Well, the first emotion to erge initially was, as expected, anger.
If described with a color, it would be fiery red. If described with taste, it would be spicy. If described with temperature, it would be as boiling hot as magma about to erupt. Regardless of the reason, Mukuro's peace was disturbed, her life was threatened, and her heart was forcibly unlocked with her own wishes completely ignored. Even though her choices didn't cause trouble for anyone, she was subjected to such unfair treatnt. Any one of these was a more than sufficient reason for anger.
Next, the emotion that occupied Mukuro's heart was fear.
If described with a color, it would be dark blue. If described with taste, it would be fishy and astringent. If compared to a temperature, it might be even colder than polar ice. Mukuro felt as if the blood in her body stopped flowing, her limbs grew numb and lost sensation, and every breath of air was as heavy as lead.
The reason was also very simple. Mukuro realized that she was facing the threat nad death.Currently unable to move, Mukuro could not evade death, and could only watch helplessly as death approached her.
However, Mukuro's emotions told her that she did not want to die.
"I will definitely protect you."
Yet in the end, fear was dispelled by another strange emotion.
A soft pinkish-white color, a comforting sweetness, as warm as hiding under a small kotatsu in winter, making one involuntarily feel safe and want to close their eyes for a short nap.
—Thump! —Thump! A steady heartbeat sounded in Mukuro's ears.
Raising her head slightly, Mukuro looked at the face of the boy holding her tightly in his arms, the boy she called a hypocrite. A warm current surged in her heart.
(Ah—I see.)
At this mont, Mukuro finally understood that the emotion overflowing in her heart was an emotion called happiness.
(Muku... why did I discard such wonderful emotions?)
...
The heatwave generated by the explosion spread over a radius of a kiloter, catching Shido and Mukuro within it.
Although the self-destructing airship was pushed away by Yutsuki at the last mont, sparing Shido and Mukuro from the fate of taking a direct hit from the explosion, the massive impact force generated by the hot wind sent them uncontrollably plumting towards Earth.
Inevitably, Shido and Mukuro fell into the atmosphere with their physical bodies.
The Leaf of Yggdrasil responsible for deploying the Territory only lasted for a re three seconds before turning to dust from the friction with the atmosphere.
"—Zadkiel! Raphael!"
Shido hurriedly summoned the Angels of Yoshino and the Yamai sisters. While driving the hurricane to slow down their fall, he used ice to create a shield to defend against atmospheric friction.
However, both the accelerated fall caused by gravity and the speed at which the ice lted far exceeded Shido's expectations. At this rate, Shido and Mukuro probably wouldn't survive crossing this atmosphere of over a thousand kiloters.
"It's okay... Mukuro... I will definitely protect you."
Holding Mukuro tightly in his arms, Shido spoke slowly.
Honestly, saying he wasn't afraid or panicked would be impossible. After all, judging by common sense, Shido's current situation could only be described as certain death.
But he could feel that Hoshimiya Mukuro in his arms was even more afraid than he was.
Logically speaking, if Shido hadn't unlocked Mukuro's heart, plunging her into her current chaotic state, Hoshimiya Mukuro could have completely summoned Michael and sent herself to a safe place.
If he let Mukuro die because of his goodwill, Itsuka Shido was destined to never forgive himself for the rest of his life.
(Even if I die, I have to protect Mukuro...)
Promise , prioritize your own safety above all else.
Yutsuki's words flashed through his mind, and Shido couldn't help but sigh with a bitter smile.
(...No, this way of thinking is wrong.)
To cherish his own life more. That was the promise Shido made with Yutsuki.
His life no longer belonged solely to himself. If he put his life on the line every ti to save a Spirit, what a massive tornt it would be for the people who care about him and cherish him.
Therefore—
"We both have to return to Earth safely! There is no second choice other than this!!"
Just like that, Shido shouted with all his might.
"—Ratziel!!!!"
[—Received—Atmosphere thickness, environntal conditions—Falling speed, angle calculation—Michael maximum movent distance—Door deploynt location—Number of uses—Estimated Spirit energy consumption—Calculation complete—]
As if responding to Shido's intense desire, the dark blue tal bracer on his arm emitted a dazzling light.
"Haniel—Kaleidoscope!"
Gripping the key-shaped staff transford from the broom tightly, Shido thrust it flawlessly into the void.
"Michael—Lataib"
ORiginal author's PS: In the original story, Shido fell straight down to Earth and didn't die. Honestly, I didn't think it was strange at first, but when I actually looked up information on the atmosphere, I felt Shido is simply a monster.
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