The direction of the sandstorm changed.
It was not a natural weather shift. Under the pressure of two massive amounts of spirit power, the sand that had been drifting with the wind now floated in the air as if gravity had vanished. The grains trembled in place, forming a clear boundary line between the two Spirits.
The reddish brown earth rippled like a wheat field blown by the wind. Iron sand separated from the ground, gathered together, and ford dozens of giant black serpents. With cutting force great enough to slice through a building, they lunged toward Tohka from every direction.
"Petty tricks."
Tohka only snorted in disdain.
She raised a barrier to keep the iron sand away for a mont, then tightened her grip on Nahemah.
One slash.
Tohka did not make any complex movent. She simply lifted her Demon King and swung it forward. A vast wave of sword pressure scattered the iron sand that had wrapped around her. At the sa ti, it swept away the sandstorm blocking her vision, carving open a straight path toward Yutsuki.
Tohka lowered her body.
With a single charge, she appeared in front of Yutsuki.
"Die."
Nahemah followed the force of her dash and slashed out. Its cruel blade cut through Yutsuki's neck, splitting her in two.
However, there was no feeling of cutting through flesh.
Tohka looked surprised as Yutsuki's body faded like smoke and vanished.
(An illusion?)
Tohka frowned in confusion.
But before she could think further, a Railgun blast suddenly erupted from empty space behind her.
If it had been anyone else, that shot would have landed cleanly. But Tohka relied on her extraordinary intuition and sharp reflexes. The mont the shot fired, she reacted. Using brute strength, she swung Nahemah around and forcefully blocked Yutsuki's cannon shot.
"——Michael, Lataib."
There was no ti to breathe.
A door suddenly opened in front of Tohka.
Yutsuki leaned out from inside it, holding a key-shaped staff and thrusting it toward her.
Tohka had fought Mukuro before, so of course she understood what would happen if that Angel pierced her.
But faced with Yutsuki's attack, she closed her eyes.
By shutting out the misleading visual information, Tohka quickly sensed a slight shift in the spirit power wave coming from the Angel.
"Caught you!"
Tohka swung her left hand through empty air and firmly grabbed the handle of Michael. With Nahemah held in her right hand, she slashed toward the left side of her body.
"——!?"
Seeing Tohka grab Michael barehanded, Yutsuki showed a hint of surprise. She clearly had not expected Tohka to break through her technique so quickly and counterattack right away.
Of course, Yutsuki was not about to let herself be caught.
——Future Calculation.
Without hesitation, Yutsuki released Michael from her hand. Following the sword path predicted by Ratziel, she skillfully dodged every slash from Tohka, then leapt backward.
"Don't think you can run!"
Tohka tried to chase after her, but sothing locked around her feet, stopping her from taking the step she wanted.
Tohka looked down.
Before she realized it, both of her feet had been frozen in hard ice.
"tatron."
Yutsuki's whisper reached her ears.
In the next second, countless feathers appeared out of thin air, surrounding Tohka from every direction.
"——!?"
Tohka's pupils shrank sharply.
"Kadour."
The mont the word fell, tatron released a rain of pure white lasers, as if trying to turn Tohka into a hornet's nest.
After the round of fire ended, Yutsuki withdrew tatron and observed Tohka's condition.
Although Tohka's Astral Dress had suffered many tears and breaks, she had not taken any serious injuries. Her sharp, hawk-like eyes still glared at Yutsuki without backing down.
"You actually endured that. Amazing, Tohka."
Yutsuki could not help praising her.
"...Hmph. That was nothing."
Tohka took a deep breath and said coldly.
"Michael, Zadkiel, tatron... I see. Before coming to , you stole the power of the other Spirits, didn't you?"
"To be exact, not all of it. Most of it."
Yutsuki shrugged.
"To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, let explain first. I didn't kill them. I only removed their Sephira Crystals and turned them back into ordinary humans."
"Oh... So this is your thod? How laughable. If this is the reason for your confidence, then you're making a huge mistake."
As if she had understood sothing, Tohka sneered.
"No matter how many Angels you possess, I will destroy them, along with that confidence of yours."
"..."
Yutsuki did not respond to Tohka's threat. She silently took out a blue tal card and inserted it into her Angel.
[Tactical Realizer Unit——verification code AW214——Wizard System connection complete——Are you ready?]
"Henshin."
[Armant complete! Magical Rider——Th! Th! Th! Th! Thor.]
As the electronic voice from Ratziel rang out, the Wizard armor nad Thor equipped itself onto Yutsuki's body. The chanical bow in her hand split into twin blades, one held in each hand.
"——!?"
Seeing Yutsuki's transformation, Tohka's eyes widened.
But the feeling in her eyes was not fear.
It was anger.
She could clearly sense that after equipping that armor, Yutsuki had not beco stronger. Instead, it was as if she had shackled herself with an absurdly heavy weight. Her strength had dropped by several levels.
"What kind of joke is this?! Are you looking down on ?!"
"Please don't misunderstand. I have always been very serious."
Facing Tohka's furious rebuke, Yutsuki remained calm.
"Before coming to you, I defeated several Inverted Spirits. Every one of them had lost the reason they once had as humans, becoming violent like wild beasts. Only you are different. Even after Inversion, you still possess the intelligence to hold a conversation. At first, I thought that was simply an individual difference. But now, it seems there is sothing fundantally different between you and the other Spirits. Besides, Tohka, after that exchange just now, you should have realized it too, right? You are not my opponent."
"..."
Tohka's expression darkened. She said nothing.
But that silent response was as good as admitting Yutsuki's guess.
In truth, that was exactly the case.
Although Tohka had been acting strong and domineering on the surface, during that short clash, both her injuries and the amount of spirit power she had consud had already reached a fairly dangerous level.
The reason she was still talking to Yutsuki now was to buy ti to catch her breath and recover.
If not for that, she would not have bothered listening to Yutsuki talk. She would have simply cut her down.
Yes.
Although she hated to admit it, if the battle just now had continued, Tohka would have lost.
But——
"Even so, you still took a stance to fight . And after I explained the thod of extracting Sephira Crystals, your hostility beca even clearer. Adding in the information I had before, if this isn't about protecting the pride of the strong, then there is only one reason why you insist on fighting to the death."
Saying that, Yutsuki sighed and asked Tohka.
"With my thod, Tohka cannot be saved... No, more accurately, she would die. Is that right?"
"...Oh? And what if I say yes? What if I say no?"
Tohka did not answer. Instead, she gave a vague counter-question.
"Nothing changes. Whether you admit it or not, my plan won't change."
Yutsuki pointed her blade at Tohka and answered with certainty.
"I told you before. The result of a battle isn't just who lives and who dies. Last ti, my loss left you unable to accept it. This ti, I will win in a way that makes you accept it completely. Then you will tell the information I want with your own mouth. After that——I will search for a way to save Tohka."
Hearing Yutsuki's answer, Tohka froze for a mont. Then, the corners of her lips slowly rose.
"Hmph——As expected, you really are an idiot."
Tightening her grip on her Demon King, Tohka charged toward Yutsuki with blazing fighting spirit.
"If you can do it, then try!"
And so, the blades of Demon King and Angel clashed heavily against each other.
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