There are countless sorrows in this world.
So lose their lives in wars, so are born with severe illnesses and have little ti left, so have neither clothes to cover themselves nor food to fill their stomachs, and so suffer unreasonable discrimination.
In this world, the biting cold wind that erodes the weak blows everywhere.
Seeing all this through the television, newspapers, magazines—and her own eyes, the young girl was filled with frustration born from a sense of powerlessness.
She felt disgusted with her inactive self.
She wanted to do sothing she could.
She wanted to lend a helping hand to those in trouble.
The young girl was a kind person, and also a fortunate one.
Born into a wealthy family, she grew up carefully sheltered by her parents like a treasure. Encountering no restrictions or dissatisfaction, she spent seventeen years of her life smoothly and successfully.
However, the young girl did not beco arrogant because of this; instead, she developed a humble personality, neither arrogant nor rash.
To fill that sense of frustration in her heart, the young girl tried many things. She used her spare ti to participate in city environntal volunteer activities; she used her pocket money to support donation drives for severely ill patients or disaster refugees; when encountering people in difficulty, she would naturally offer her help.
But the young girl's heart was not satisfied by this. Because she found that her efforts had no aning at all. The city did not change in the slightest, the world continued to operate ruthlessly as always, and everything she did sank like a stone in the ocean, unable to cause even a ripple.
Insight, knowledge, ability—this was the limit she could reach at seventeen. After realizing this, as if admitting defeat, the young girl stopped and continued her peaceful daily life.
But even so, a trace of obsession remained in her heart.
That was a naive sense of justice. To put it nicely, it was innocence; to put it harshly, it was childishness.
'If I possessed power, would the current be able to change things?' —The young girl wondered in confusion.
One day, a day just like any other. 5:00 PM.
The young girl and her classmate, Yamauchi Sawa, were walking on their way ho, dyed by the setting sun.
Because her mother was allergic to cats, the young girl couldn't keep a cat at ho. So, having a soft spot for cats, she often went to Sawa's house to shalessly snuggle the Arican Short hair cat.
After agreeing to go to Sawa's house the next day, the young girl bid farewell to Sawa and walked toward her own ho.
However, sothing strange happened. Even though the young girl hadn't taken a detour, she sohow wandered into an unfamiliar street. She couldn't hear any sounds other than her own footsteps. It was like trespassing into another world, eerily silent.
What followed was an anomaly completely different from her daily life.
A ferocious monster, its true form unknown, enveloped in black mist.
Faced with the unknown terror, the young girl couldn't help but want to turn and run, but tripped and fell to the ground due to excessive panic.
At this mont, the monster also noticed the young girl's presence. Step by step, like a predator driving its prey into a corner, it approached her.
Just when the young girl thought she was at a dead end, a woman suddenly appeared and exterminated the monster before her.
It was a breathtakingly beautiful young girl wearing a dazzling dress, with a lancholic expression.
The surviving young girl expressed her gratitude to the woman in front of her and learned the truth about the monster from her.
"Spirits. Evil monsters that lurk in the dark corners of the world, devouring humans and destroying the world."
"If left alone, this town will soon be destroyed."
"Do you want power? The sa kind of power as . Your compatibility with the Sephira Crystal is very good. If you are willing—I hope you will save the world with ."
To be honest, if those words were spoken normally, the young girl would have just treated them as the delusions of a chuunibyou patient and kept her distance. However, after witnessing the monster called a "Spirit" and the woman's power that defied common sense, the other party's words beca full of persuasion.
Moreover, the other party's words also ignited the trace of obsession in the young girl's heart.
Rather than unease and fear, what overflowed in her heart was a high-spirited excitent of having her confusion unraveled.
Thus, to the woman's proposal, the young girl nodded silently.
"That's great. Having you is equivalent to having the strength of a hundred people."
After expressing her joy like this, the other party confessed her true na to the young girl.
"—Please take care of . My na is Takamiya Mio. Also known as... an ally of justice."
Looking back now, that was exactly the mont the young girl nad Tokisaki Kurumi's life completely derailed.
——————————
"Hah— Hah— Hah—!"
Itsuka Shido sprinted wildly on the street illuminated by the setting sun.
(Run! Run! Or I'll be killed!)
His clothes were already soaked with sweat, and his calves had lost feeling due to the lactic acid produced by prolonged intense exercise. But even so, the danger signals transmitted by his instincts still urged him to keep running.
This was perhaps the so-called "killing intent." Even without looking back, Shido could feel a chill.
Right now, he was being hunted by an "enemy." Just as the na implies, if he was caught, he would die.
He didn't dare to rashly use Spirit power or Angels, because this wasn't an opponent that could be easily resolved with just brute force. Blindly launching an attack would only cause him to ss up his own footing, be caught off guard by the opponent, and hasten his own death.
—Getting closer! She's getting closer!
There were no so-called cannonballs or slashes, nor were there any so-called traces or sounds. But the violent beating of his heart kept telling Shido that the Grim Reaper's scythe was silently drawing near his neck.
(Damn it! How can I just surrender like this!)
Shido gritted his teeth unwillingly.
While using trees and buildings to conceal his tracks, he kept running. Although Shido didn't think this would shake the opponent off, it could at least disrupt her to a certain extent. In fact, at the beginning, when he foolishly ran to an open sports field, it was Ga Over directly because of a single snipe.
Running continuously through Tengu City following the route in his mory, Shido suddenly turned at an intersection, and then imdiately took another turn, dashing into an alleyway.
"Partial Manifestation—Raphael!"
Shido leaped forcefully, a whirlwind gathering at the soles of his feet, moving rapidly through the complex alleyway.
After about ten seconds, and after passing more than ten forks, Shido arrived at the exit of the alleyway, which opened up to a shopping district crowded with people.
Causing a commotion wasn't a good plan. Shido retracted the Angel and blended into the bustling crowd.
(No signs of an Angel being used, nor any sight of a Wizard's Territory... Safe.)
"Phew..."
Shido breathed a sigh of relief, feeling sowhat at ease. Clearly, the other party had no intention of causing a commotion in this kind of place either.
"As long as I hold out for one more minute, it will be over."
While moving along with the flow of the crowd, Shido checked the ti on his phone.
"Too bad, you lost, Shido."
Right at this mont, the wicked laugh coming from behind made Shido feel like his heart almost stopped from the scare.
Turning around abruptly, Shido saw Yutsuki Ryougi, wearing casual clothes, standing one ter behind him.
"This ti's lesson: don't think that only Angels and CR-Units pose a threat to your life."
Saying that, Yutsuki pointed her right hand at Shido in the shape of a gun.
"Bang~"
"Zadkiel!"
Almost at the exact sa ti, Shido summoned an ice wall as a shield and rapidly retreated to widen the distance from Yutsuki.
BOOM——!
Before he could even react to what had happened, Shido only felt a massive impact suddenly strike him from the side. By the ti he realized it, his limbs were already twisted in weird directions, and he was tumbling mid-air.
(That's... a truck?)
Scanning Yutsuki's side with his vision, Shido finally realized that what sent him flying was a large truck that had suddenly lost control.
Shido widened his eyes in surprise. Only now did he understand that Yutsuki's action just now was rely a feint to attract his attention.
"You've got to be kidding... You don't have to play like this, Yutsuki."
[Damage taken by Itsuka Shido exceeds the specified limit. Judged as dead. Scenario simulation ended, entering punishnt mode.]
Hearing Maria's report in his ear, Shido's face instantly turned ashen.
"Wai—"
Before Shido could finish his sentence, the scenery before his eyes went completely black. Imdiately after, Shido felt the world spin around him, his body sucked into an invisible, violent vortex.
(Stop... Wait... Blergh... Ugh...)
His body spun uncontrollably, his sense of direction completely ssed up, the concepts of heaven and earth changing every second. Perhaps this was how clothes tumbling in a washing machine running at full speed felt. Shido couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Nausea. Unprecedented nausea. Even though he hadn't eaten, Shido felt a strange sour taste rising from the depths of his throat.
Although he didn't know what it felt like when a person truly died, Itsuka Shido swore from the bottom of his heart:
He absolutely never wanted to die again!!!!!!
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