"The plan failed."
At the headquarters of the DEM Japan Branch, Westcott looked out the window at the peaceful, tranquil Tengu City dyed red by the dusk, speaking with a hint of resignation.
"Failed? What happened?"
Standing by on standby behind Westcott in her business suit, Ellen asked in confusion.
"Mhm. I've been monitoring Fraxinus, and they didn't make any unusual moves. Although Ryougi Yutsuki is outside my surveillance net, it is hard to believe she could disarm all the bombs in such a short amount of ti. Let see..."
Saying that, Westcott summoned Beelzebub, attempting to uncover the truth. Soon, he obtained the intel he wanted and let out a sigh of defeat.
"Tobiichi Origami convinced the AST squad to dispose of the bombs. I see, what an unexpected blind spot. It almost reminds of the feeling of being bitten by my own pet dog when I was a child."
"The AST..."
Not expecting a Wizard squad she had never taken seriously to be the ones to foil the plan, Ellen raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.
"Should I go and give them a 'warning'?"
"...No, forget it. Our official reason for being stationed here is to assist them in annihilating Spirits. Right now, they were rely doing their job: preventing civilians from being attacked by unidentified terrorists. If you go, it will only draw suspicion onto us."
After a mont of thought, Westcott shook his head, stopping Ellen.
Although he could easily make up a plausible excuse to have the AST higher-ups disband that squad, it would also create quite a bit of trouble and increase the uncertain elents in his plans. If possible, he wanted to avoid any unnecessary complications.
"Well, strictly speaking, it can also be considered a success..."
"Westcott-san!"
Just then, the automatic door of the office suddenly slid open, and Artemisia barged in hurriedly.
"Oh, what's wrong, Artemisia?"
Looking at his abruptly visiting subordinate, Westcott asked with a curious expression.
"Please stop this absurd operation imdiately!"
Completely discarding her usual grace and elegance, Artemisia marched straight to Westcott's desk, shouting without any hesitation.
"Artemisia!! Who gave you permission to speak to Ike in that tone?!"
Seeing her behavior, Ellen frowned, raising her voice to reprimand her.
"You too, Ellen! Can you accept such a reckless operation?!"
Completely unfazed by Ellen's aggressive attitude, Artemisia looked straight into her eyes and retorted.
"Planting bombs in the shelters, and then using the spatialquake alarms to lure civilians into those shelters to detonate them. Do you have any idea how many casualties this will cause?!"
"Hoh~ Are you intending to disobey orders?"
Hearing Artemisia's questioning, Ellen narrowed her eyes, a hint of murderous intent seeping into her words.
"I beca a Wizard to end the harm spacequakes cause to the people. If the orders are reasonable, I will naturally follow them. I do not mind dirtying my hands, and I would not hesitate to sacrifice my own life. But this operation, in my eyes, is nothing but the senseless murder of innocent civilians. Forgive , but I absolutely cannot comply."
canswered as if stating an absolute truth.
"Now, now~ Both of you, calm down."
Watching the two at each other's throats, Westcott chuckled softly, interjecting in a completely relaxed tone.
"Artemisia. It seems you have so misunderstandings regarding this operation."
Sitting back in his CEO chair, Westcott crossed his legs, speaking with unshakeable composure.
"Misunderstandings?"
Artemisia showed a confused expression.
"First, the only reason I planted those bombs was simply to check Ratatoskr. I hoped to use whatever shred of conscience and humanity they still possess to force them to abandon their foolish endeavor of protecting the Spirits. Even if they remained stubbornly oblivious, I would have rely ordered a frontal assault. I never had any intention of actually detonating those bombs. Furthermore—"
Seeing Artemisia's highly skeptical expression, Westcott shrugged and added,
"Before you arrived, we had already decided to abort the operation."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Artemisia froze for a mont.
"Ah~ Even if it was just an act, it was indeed taking it too far. 'How are you going to take responsibility if they actually explode later?'—Right before you barged in, Ellen was chewing out for that exact reason."
"Eh? Is that true, Ellen?"
"..."
Glaring speechlessly at Westcott, Ellen let out a cold scoff and answered with visible displeasure,
"Of course. Just how many reckless demands do you think Ike makes? If we just let him do whatever he wanted, DEM would have gone bankrupt ages ago."
"I... I see..."
Realizing everything was a misunderstanding, Artemisia, who had been so forceful monts ago, now looked like a child caught making a mistake, lowering her head in deep embarrassnt.
"I am incredibly sorry!Westcott-san! I acted impulsively, didn't ask for the full story, and behaved so rudely!"
"It's fine, it's fine! It's my fault too for not informing you of the operation's cancellation in ti. You don't need to bla yourself."
Westcott waved his hand magnanimously.
"Since Ike already said it's fine. I will let it slide just this once."
"Yes, thank you very much."
Artemisia finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Well, you ca at a perfect ti. Artemisia, Ai Mulian is still on standby outside. Go inform her that the operation is canceled and order her to retreat."
"Yes."
"No need, I'm already back."
Right then, Mulian's voice echoed from outside the room. As the automatic door opened, they saw that her uniform was torn to shreds, and grueso wounds covered her body.
Seeing Ai Mulian in such a battered state, all three of them were taken aback.
"Ai-san. Report your situation."
"Yes, Ellen-san. I went to the designated location to lie in ambush as planned, and encountered an attack from Nightmare midway."
"Nightmare... Just as I thought..."
Hearing Ai Mulian's report, a delighted smile curled on Westcott's lips, and he spoke in a remarkably friendly tone.
"Mhm. What a pity you couldn't fulfill your wish."
Hearing this, Mulian shrugged, looking highly disappointed.
"Yeah... Well, I won't give up though."
"That's good to hear. Good work on this mission. You can submit the detailed report later. For now, head to the dical departnt for treatnt. Artemisia, take Mulian there."
"Yes."
Artemisia nodded. She walked over to Mulian's side, taking off her own coat to drape it over her shoulders.
"Mulian, are you okay? Do you want to carry you there?"
"It's fine, they're all just superficial wounds. But thanks for the coat, I'll wash it and return it to you later."
...
"Ike, would you mind explaining?"
Watching the two leave the office, Ellen spoke up.
"Explain what?"
"Don't play dumb with . Whether it was the attacks over the past few days, or this operation just now. Nightmare has been obstructing us as if she knew our moves in advance. With Beelzebub in your possession, there's no way you don't know the reason behind it."
"Ehh~ You really have no sense of fun, Ellen. Keeping things like this a secret until the perfect mont is what makes it entertaining... Well, since we go way back, I'll make an exception and tell you."
Noticing the anger brewing in Ellen's eyes, Westcott raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and honestly confessed.
"Exactly as you suspect, Nightmare has been obstructing us fully aware of our attack plans."
"Did she infiltrate our ranks without us noticing?"
"Impossible. If she could do that, she would have killed ages ago." Westcott shook his head and explained, "Rather than predicting it, it's more accurate to say she actually experienced it. Using her Angel, Nightmare reversed ti, overturning established events, continuously allowing Itsuka Shido to escape his fated death."
"Reversing ti..."
Ellen's expression grew sowhat grim.
Although it was incredibly hard to believe, she actually knew that this world had indeed been altered due to a change in history. Besides, if the power of the Spirits couldn't even manage sothing like this, there would be no point in Westcott wanting to monopolize them.
"...I see. This makes things troubleso. Does that an no matter what moves we make, the enemy will always find counterasures to break them?"
Just then, the Nibelcole suddenly popped out of Beelzebub, gathering around Westcott and chiming in.
"Phew— So that's what happened."
"I knew there was sothing wrong with that girl. It was like she foresaw exactly when and where we would attack."
"Exactly. Otherwise, Ellen aside, there's no way we would have failed."
"...The bugs sure are noisy today. Should I spray so insecticide?"
"Eek! Ellen's mad!"
Veins popped slightly on Ellen's forehead as she spoke in a low, nacing voice. The Nibelcole shrieked in mock terror, hiding behind Westcott.
"Well, the problem isn't nearly as severe as you make it out to be."
Westcott answered with absolutely zero sense of urgency.
"In the end, this is nothing more than a war of attrition to see who gives up first. For us, it's rely a few painless retreats. But for Nightmare, it's an entirely different story."
At this point, as if unable to contain the pure joy swelling in his chest, the corners of Westcott's mouth curled up uncontrollably.
"Ten tis—twenty tis—thirty tis—forty tis—fifty tis—sixty tis—seventy tis—eighty tis—ninety tis—a hundred tis. Ellen, can you imagine it? Trapped in repeating ti, no matter how hard you struggle to change things, the only outco you get is the death of soone important to you—the suffocating sense of powerlessness and pure despair."
"..."
Trying to imagine the scenario Westcott described for just a second, even Ellen felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Anyway, for us, it just ans waiting a few extra days. So, why don't we treat this as a little sideshow to pass the ti? Let's just sit back and watch Nightmare inevitably break down and self-destruct at the end of the ti loops she created herself."
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