"Pfft— Hah! F-Finally made it out!"
Breaking free from the aggressive, crushing crowd, Shido propped his hands on his knees, panting heavily, entirely drenched in sweat.
Hundreds of thousands of people were chaotically cramd into these few small streets. The sensation was hundreds of tis more terrifying than housewives fighting over discounted items at a supermarket. His body was completely at the rcy of the shoving coming from all directions. His bones and muscles were compressed to the point where he felt he might be crushed to pieces in the next second. If he had tripped, he likely would have been trampled into at paste by the rolling tide of humanity.
If he hadn't used an Angel to protect himself in ti, honestly, he probably would have died just now.
Once his breathing steadied slightly, Shido wiped the sweat from his forehead. However, he noticed that the sticky sweat was mixed with a crimson liquid.
Shido's pupils violently contracted.
This wasn't his blood. Looking back at the main street, Shido noticed that beneath the feet of the panicked citizens fleeing for their lives, blood reeking of iron was flowing constantly across the ground, gradually draining into the gutters.
"Blergh—"
A wave of nausea surged from his stomach. Shido's face instantly turned ashen, and he instinctively covered his mouth and nose.
(Calm down... calm down... you have to calm down... Itsuka Shido... Yutsuki said... the more chaotic the situation, the more you cannot lose your head.)
Pain, fear, doubt, anxiety, anger... Suppressing all the negative emotions, Shido took a deep breath, forcing his consciousness to remain clear.
(First, I need to figure out the current situation.)
Not long ago, while he and Origami were buying groceries in the shopping district, several explosions and tremors suddenly occurred. This was followed by the spatialquake alarm and the broadcast announcing the massive destruction of the underground bomb shelters.
Was that why the citizens, who were highly trained in evacuation procedures, were panicking so badly as they rushed toward the remaining shelters?
(But... did a new Spirit really appear?)
Shido couldn't help but feel a sliver of doubt. As far as he knew, excluding Westcott who stole Nia's power, the only known Spirits he hadn't sealed were the unidentified Phantom and Kurumi.
But would a spatialquake really happen right now? The shelters were destroyed, and then the spatialquake alarm followed imdiately after. No matter how you looked at it, it was hard to believe this was a coincidence.
(If it wasn't an accident, but man-made...)
If the tragedy before him was man-made, there was only one possible culprit: the enemy who had been constantly trying to murder him recently—DEM.
(Are you kidding ? Just to kill , they're willing to drag this many innocent civilians into it?)
Shido grit his teeth, clenching his fists so tightly it felt like his nails were biting into his flesh.
Calm down! Calm down!!
Warning himself once more, Shido suppressed the urge to go and stop the civilians, turning around and moving away from them.
DEM's target was him. Perhaps using the power of the Spirits, Shido could stop the civilians' panic. But at the sa ti, DEM's Wizards and drones were probably rushing toward his location. If a battle broke out in such a densely populated area, the civilians would only be caught in the crossfire, resulting in even greater casualties.
(Get away from the crowd as much as possible, then figure out a way to get ho and regroup with everyone.)
"Ratziel!"
[Received—Partial Manifestation—Haniel.]
Quickly, under the power of Haniel, Shido's appearance and clothing morphed, turning him into an inconspicuous, middle-aged man.
After completing his disguise imdiately, Shido took out his earpiece while hurrying along, attempting to contact Kotori.
Soon, a response ca from the other end.
[Shido, are you okay?! Eh? Why are you a middle-aged man? Where did Shido go?]
"Kotori. It's , Shido. I used Haniel to disguise myself."
Hearing the panicked voice in his ear, Shido replied helplessly.
[I-I see. Anyway, as long as you're safe, that's what matters.]
Hearing that it was indeed her brother's voice, although Kotori felt a bit weirded out, she still breathed a sigh of relief.
"Kotori, how is Origami?"
[Don't worry, we've contacted Origami too, she's fine. Compared to her, Shido, your situation is much worse.]
"So this really is DEM's doing, huh?"
[Mhm, it's great that you grasped the situation so quickly.]
Kotori spoke with a grave tone.
[Listen to , Shido. Don't worry about the civilians; the AST is already stepping in to handle the situation. For now, all you need to do is stay as far away from the crowd as possible. We are moving toward your coordinates to beam you aboard the airship—]
Suddenly, midway through Kotori's sentence, a chilling dread shot up Shido's spine from behind.
[Manifest—Zadkiel!]
Almost simultaneously, Shido erected an ice wall behind him.
The next second, Shido felt a violent tremor run through the ice wall. It seed sothing on the other side was launching an attack against him.
CRACK! Soon, unable to withstand the assault, massive fissures spiderwebbed across the ice wall.
Looking in the direction of the attack, Shido saw a group of young girls wearing black nun habits, bearing faces he found all too familiar.
—Hehe, found you.
[Manifest—Raphael!]
Without hesitation, Shido abandoned his disguise, switching Haniel for Raphael. Utilizing the Angel's high-speed movent, he instantly shook off the Nibelcole.
[What happened, Shido?]
"DEM found ."
Shido answered hurriedly. Looking at the Nibelcole chasing after him, he felt a wave of confusion. He had clearly disguised himself, so how was he found so quickly?
[I'm on my way—Well, although that was a very interesting idea. It would only work if the enemy didn't possess Beelzebub. Actually, even without it, they could easily lock onto you by detecting your massive reserve of Spirit power, or by simply looking for the person moving in the exact opposite direction of the shelters.]
Suddenly, the channel on the earpiece seed to have been hijacked by soone else, explaining things to Shido with utmost calm.
"Yutsuki?"
Shido couldn't help but cry out.
[Sorry, Shido. Since there's a chance your call with Kotori-chan is being intercepted, I forcefully hijacked the line. What's your situation?]
"I'm fine for now—No, wait..."
Performing a hasty side roll to dodge a Spirit power bullet fired from ahead, Shido looked at the Nibelcole appearing in front of him, correcting himself with lingering dread.
"The situation is extrely bad..."
—Hehe, didn't expect this, did you?
—You didn't really think you could get away, did you?
—We've already completely surrounded you.
—Run~ Why aren't you running anymore?
—Sorry about this, but for Father's sake, please die, Itsuka Shido.
The voices of the young girls echoed from all directions. On the buildings, in the shops, by the trees, on the streets—in every corner of the city, Shido could see the identical black-clad nuns.
Shido felt the corner of his mouth twitch slightly.
"How should I put this... what an intense feeling of déjà vu. I feel like this isn't my first ti experiencing this scenario."
[Well, I had you do that training specifically to prepare for this exact situation. How is it, Shido? Can you hold out until I get there?]
"Uh... hard to say. I never actually cleared that training in the end, you know."
Shido replied with a wry smile.
[It's fine. Although you didn't notice it yourself, you were holding back the entire ti back then. Oh, right. Marina asked to pass a ssage to you.]
"Marina? What ssage?"
[Those guys are definitely not my sisters! One Maria is enough of a sister for .]
Hearing this, Shido froze for a mont, then nodded in sudden realization.
"...Understood."
[Also, I believe in you, Shido.]
With that, Yutsuki temporarily cut the communication.
(She believes in , huh...)
Slowly exhaling, Shido raised his head, looking at the Nibelcole tightly surrounding him, intending to trap him like a rat in a cage.
Inexplicably, the tension and anxiety he felt just monts ago vanished into thin air because of Yutsuki's words.
When facing danger, the emotion entrusted to him was no longer worry, but absolute trust.
"Sorry, but I have absolutely zero intention of being killed by you!"
—————————————————————— Viewpoint Shift ——————————————
Manifesting her Astral Dress, Yutsuki carried a large pitch-black leather case on her back. Relying on the superior physical capabilities of a Spirit, she moved rapidly between the skyscrapers.
"Mukuro! What's the situation on your end?"
[Apologies, Sister. Muku has encountered enemies here and cannot break away for now. Thy Lord...]
"It's fine. I'll go rescue Shido. Just focus on dealing with the enemies in front of you."
Hearing the tearful edge in Mukuro's voice, Yutsuki offered a comforting word before terminating the communication. She gritted her teeth in frustration.
(Damn it, just how many 'Nibelcole' did Westcott summon?!)
She had consecutively contacted everyone. Without exception, Tohka, Yoshino, Natsumi, Yuzuru, Kaguya, Miku, Mukuro, and Origami—who was currently closest to Shido's location—were all ambushed by dozens of Nibelcole. While not in mortal danger, they were pinned down and unable to move.
And Kurumi was currently locked in combat with Ellen Mathers.
At this very mont, the only one capable of moving freely was Yutsuki, who hadn't been discovered by the Nibelcole.
"Kotori, you and the Fraxinus EX cannot go to Shido's location."
[Why?!]
Hearing Kotori's confused voice, Yutsuki explained.
"The explosions just now were likely set off by Westcott's forces to herd the evacuating civilians toward Shido's location. Even if Shido wasn't trampled to death by the crowd, it managed to separate him from Origami. But I fear they had another motive for doing this."
[Another motive?]
"Tengu City has twenty-six underground bomb shelters. Currently, only four remain intact. But who can guarantee that those remaining shelters aren't rigged to explode as well?"
[—!?]
Seeming to grasp Yutsuki's aning, every crew mber aboard the airship inhaled sharply.
[Are you saying DEM... intends to take all the residents of Tengu City hostage?]
Kotori asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, but if I were Westcott, that's exactly what I'd do."
[...I understand. I'll handle the bombs in the shelters. Yutsuki-nee... I leave my brother to you.]
"Yeah."
After ending the communication, Yutsuki quickened her pace, rapidly closing in on Shido's location.
Calm down... You have to stay calm... Ryougi Yutsuki...
Yutsuki continuously reminded herself. She knew she absolutely could not waver. If she panicked, everyone would lose their footing.
She couldn't rush. Right now, the only person who could evade Beelzebub's detection was herself. Stealth was her only advantage at the mont. If she recklessly used Spirit power, she would be stalled by the enemy as well.
Relying solely on her own leg strength, it would take quite so ti to reach Shido's location.
(No need to rush... No need to rush... With Shido's strength, he'll be fine.)
Yutsuki knew Shido's true strength better than anyone. Whether it was manipulating Spirit power, utilizing Angels, or handling crisis situations, even though she was constantly harsh with her words during training, she actually held Shido in very high regard.
Setting aside an unexpected sneak attack, Shido was more than capable of handling such a blatant, frontal assault.
As long as Shido... didn't choose to do sothing stupid at a critical mont.
(—!? Doesn't count, doesn't count! Why am I randomly setting up flags for no reason!)
Shaking her head desperately to throw away the distracting thoughts, Yutsuki spurred herself forward, rushing toward Shido's location at top speed.
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