Dozens. Hundreds. Perhaps thousands.
Countless ribbons of light wove together into a net with no gaps, trying to trap Yutsuki inside and crush her there.
"Raphael!"
With the future observed by Ratziel, Yutsuki summoned the Yamai sisters's Angel without hesitation. Just before the encirclent fully ford, she used the wind to accelerate and shot out through a tiny opening.
"tatron——Shesh!"
The mont she escaped, Yutsuki turned around and summoned Origami's Angel. Hundreds of floating cannons appeared in midair and launched a carpet bombing at the ribbons.
Violent explosions roared below without pause. The black-and-white ground cracked under the bombardnt, and a huge crater was carved open.
However, the main target of tatron's attack——the ribbons attached to Mio's Astral Dress——showed no damage at all.
Seeing that, Yutsuki frowned in surprise.
She had already expected that tatron would not be enough to destroy Mio's Astral Dress. After all, even Tohka's Nahemah had failed to cut through it. But she had not expected those soft ribbons to remain completely unhard even under such heavy fire.
Yutsuki's instinct told her that the difference between her and Mio might not be sothing as simple as firepower.
"Ain Soph——Anaph (Branch Sword)."
At that mont, the towering tree Angel behind Mio moved.
Silicon crystal like branches pierced out from the dark curtain above. Their shape looked similar to the tail section of Fraxinus equipped with the Leaves of the World Tree, but both their number and scale were many tis greater.
They were the branches of Ain Soph.
Mio pointed a finger toward the sky, then gently drew it downward.
Answering Mio's movent, the branches hanging in the air like the Sword of Damocles suddenly stretched toward the ground.
A few seconds later, the branches wrapped around all of tatron. The thick limbs tightened like a crushing machine and violently snapped the floating cannons apart, turning them into particles of light.
At the sa ti, the ribbons below also moved, stabbing toward Yutsuki. Branch swords from above, ribbons from below——they attacked Yutsuki from both sides.
It was already too late to dodge.
"Michael!"
Yutsuki summoned the key-shaped Angel into her hand, inserted it into empty space, and twisted it to the left.
"——Lataib!"
In an instant, two giant door opened, taking in the deadly ribbons and branch swords and transferring them to the other side.
And the exit of the Gates Yutsuki had set was right in front of Mio.
Countless ribbons and branch swords surged toward Mio like a huge wave, ready to swallow her.
"I see. Using my Astral Dress and Angel to attack is indeed a good idea."
Seeing Yutsuki's excellent response, Mio could not help praising her.
"But——"
Just before they struck Mio, the ribbons and branch swords were suddenly controlled by an invisible force. They split into two streams and passed around Mio from both sides.
"My own Angel would never attack ."
"Tch."
Seeing that her attack had failed, Yutsuki clicked her tongue. She gripped Michael and prepared to attack again.
"Michael!"
"Command....."
Just before Yutsuki could activate Michael, Mio gently raised her hand. Ain Soph behind her began to glow faintly.
[Future Calculation——Activating——]
In that instant, Yutsuki saw Michael, which should have opened a door near Mio, sohow appear behind her instead. The tip of the Angel stabbed toward the unguarded back of her neck.
"——!"
Yutsuki forced her head to the right. In the next second, Michael, which she had thrust forward, stabbed out from behind her neck with only a hair's breadth between them.
Cold sweat appeared on Yutsuki's forehead. She looked at Reine with horror in her eyes.
(What just happened? Ratziel.)
[Report. Spatial coordinate positioning has shifted by approximately 265 ters. Beginning coordinate correction...]
Mio stared at Yutsuki for a while with a frown, then made another declaration.
"Command....."
In an instant, Yutsuki felt as if several tons of lead had been placed on her body.
[Warning——Detected gravitational force within the area has changed to 100G——Adjusting spirit power distribution ratio based on current data——Enhancing physical ability with spirit power——]
Once the sluggishness in her body eased, Yutsuki bent backward and dodged Mio's ribbon.
(So she can freely change the laws within the area covered by the Neighboring World. As expected of the prototype of a Territory... What a cheat of an Angel.)
After experiencing several changes in the environnt, Yutsuki finally confird Ain Soph's true authority.
"..."
Seeing her attack dodged again, Mio's expression grew heavier.
She had clearly increased the gravity in this world a hundredfold, yet Yutsuki had adapted to the change in less than two seconds and avoided the attack with movents as agile as parkour.
And not only that, Michael, which she had just sealed, had already been analyzed by Yutsuki, who was now using it smoothly again.
(Ratziel... What a troubleso Angel.)
Mio could not help thinking that.
Her Ain Soph could distort every law within the area covered by the Neighboring World. However, Yutsuki could use Rasiel to detect the changes inside the Neighboring World imdiately, then use Ratziel to calculate and understand those laws while predicting the future. Combined with Yutsuki's naturally calm and decisive personality, she displayed an unbelievable ability to adapt inside this Neighboring World.
Because of that, a battle that should have ended in one strike still had no result.
"In that case, forbid it."
Mio quietly declared. In her heart, she ordered Ain Soph to nullify Ratziel's authority.
"..."
However, to Mio's surprise, the tree Angel behind her did not release the divine light that twisted the laws like before.
(The command... didn't take effect?)
Mio widened her eyes in surprise.
"Lightning Spear."
At that mont, a blue white bolt of lightning slipped through the gaps between the ribbons and branch swords, accurately aiming for Mio's face.
Whoosh——with a flash of white light, the lightning was blocked by Mio's Astral Dress and broke apart into tiny arcs.
"Tch."
Yutsuki clicked her tongue in annoyance and imdiately moved away to dodge Mio's attack.
Yet just as Yutsuki was troubled by her inability to break through Mio's Astral Dress, Mio was also beginning to feel so irritation.
A mont ago, she had tried to make Ain Soph seize control of Ratziel, but unexpectedly failed.
In fact, it was not only that. When Ain Soph struck tatron earlier, it had also failed to follow Mio's order to steal control from Yutsuki. In the end, she had no choice but to destroy it instead.
(What is going on?)
Mio felt confused.
Ain Soph had not stopped working. When she gave commands like "forbid escape," "distort spatial coordinates," and "increase gravity," the Angel had certainly answered her wishes.
However, whenever the target was set as Yutsuki, Ain Soph fell silent.
Rather than refusal, that reaction was more like confusion from not understanding the intent behind its master's command.
(Ryougi Yutsuki... cannot be locked onto conceptually?) (TL:Upscale is crazy)
Ain Soph was an Angel that worked on the conceptual level. Yet when the target was set as the individual called Ryougi Yutsuki, the information returned by the Angel under her control was always blank.
After receiving such an absurd answer, Mio was left at a loss.
"Forget it."
Although it bothered her, this was clearly not the ti to think about it. Mio quickly stopped hesitating and focused on the battle before her.
"Command...."
Mio gave Ain Soph another order.
Although she could not directly lock onto Yutsuki, Mio could still use Ain Soph to modify the laws inside the Neighboring World, indirectly placing pressure on her.
No matter how excellent Yutsuki's adaptability was, there was still a limit. Facing such constant changes in the environnt would consu a massive amount of spirit power.
Sure enough, under the laws Mio kept adding one after another, Yutsuki slowly began to fall behind, like a doll being toyed with.
(I've won.)
Although the fight had unexpectedly entered a deadlock, if this turned into a battle of endurance, Yutsuki would definitely run out of strength first.
However, unlike Mio's original prediction that it might last a day or two, the deadlock ended after only half an hour.
"Guh——"
Blood burst from Yutsuki's mouth. In the next mont, Yutsuki, who had been flying at high speed, fell like a bird with broken wings and crashed heavily onto the ground.
"What happened?"
Facing this sudden change, Mio was filled with doubt. Worried that it might be one of Yutsuki's tricks, she did not rush to attack. Instead, she watched her movents carefully.
"Cough, cough! Ugh——cough! Cough, cough, cough——ah——aaaaahhh——"
However, the situation Mio was worried about did not happen.
Yutsuki lay on the ground, coughing with a heart-rending sound. With every cough, a pool of blood splattered onto the earth.
Mio could clearly see terrifying light patterns like cracks appearing all over Yutsuki's skin, making her look like a glass bottle covered in fractures.
"I see... So this is why you were able to absorb the Sephira Crystals."
Seeing Yutsuki's symptoms, Mio finally understood.
Unlike Shido, who had been designed from the start to absorb and contain the Spirits's power, Ryougi Yutsuki was a Spirit. Though her body was far stronger than a normal human's, it was still not strong enough to endure so many Sephira Crystals.
And the most fatal part was without doubt the filtering of Inverted Crystals.
Inverted Crystals were energy bodies humans could not absorb. Mio understood this better than anyone. More than ten years ago, she had used countless innocent lives as expendable tools before completing the filtering of nine Sephira Crystals.
But Yutsuki had used her own body as the vessel to complete that brutal task.
Those crack-like light patterns were unhealable hidden wounds left inside Yutsuki's body from filtering the Inverted Crystals.
Honestly, in Mio's eyes, this was self-destruction close to suicide.
"Do you understand what you are doing, Yutsuki?"
Mio looked at Yutsuki with pity. She did not take advantage of her weakness to attack.
If Yutsuki had taken things slowly, filtered and absorbed one Inverted Crystal, then rested for a while before absorbing the next, perhaps after twenty or thirty years, she could have overco the damage caused by the filtering and taken all the crystals into herself, becoming an existence equal to Mio.
But instead, she had chosen the shortest possible route. In just three months, she had taken every Sephira Crystal into her body.
Even a nourishing ginseng could beco deadly poison if taken in excess.
Even if Mio did not act, Yutsuki would die in the near future.
"Cough, cough——Of course... I know..."
Only after a long while did the light patterns on Yutsuki's body finally fade. Her trembling body slowly steadied.
She slowly pushed herself up. Blood flowed from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
After wiping the blood from her face, Yutsuki spoke calmly.
"I knew long ago... this body won't last many years... But if it's used to save everyone... that is enough."
"Why... go this far?"
Looking at Yutsuki, who was barely standing yet still refused to admit defeat, Mio could not help feeling shaken.
"Why cling to this future even when you have hurt yourself this badly? You love Shin too, don't you? You should also want Shin to live, shouldn't you? Why? Why allow Kurumi to fall? Why give aningless hope to this world?!"
"Well... why indeed?"
Hearing Mio's questions one after another, Yutsuki lifted her head and answered as if recalling the past.
"At first, I didn't really love Shido. I was just very happy when he said he was willing to beco my family."
As she spoke, a happy smile appeared on Yutsuki's face.
Looking back, the half-year she had spent with Shido was so clear in her mory, yet also so very far away.
"To save Spirits like , he had to put himself in danger again and again. That scared . I was afraid of losing the family I had finally gained."
Gradually, a hint of helplessness entered Yutsuki's voice.
"I had no right to persuade him to give up, and I didn't want him to give up either. The way he threw himself forward to save others was my ideal and my admiration. So I only taught him how to protect himself and often reminded him to value his own life."
At that point, Yutsuki angrily clenched her teeth.
"But! That idiot only acted like he took my words seriously! In reality, every ti soone else was in danger, he would throw his own life away without hesitation. He never cared about how worried the people around him felt! Every ti! Every single ti!"
Before she knew it, tears spilled from Yutsuki's eyes. Her scolding voice began to tremble.
"He couldn't stand seeing others cry. He couldn't bear seeing anyone in despair. In the end, because of that stupid obsession, he threw his life away for soone else. And in the last mont before he died, do you know what he said?"
Looking at Mio through her tears, Yutsuki showed a helpless and sorrowful smile.
[Everyone... I leave them... to you...]
"It wasn't fear of death... It wasn't a plea to live... That bastard... was still thinking about others..." (TL:AHHHHHHHH)
In that instant, as if the dam holding back her emotions had collapsed, Yutsuki roared at Mio with everything she had.
"What am I supposed to do?! What should I do?! I was left behind! Left in this future with nothing in it! If I don't stay, who else can fulfill Shido's wish?!"
"...Ryougi Yutsuki."
Facing the emotions Yutsuki poured out, Mio no longer felt only pure anger. A complicated sadness also appeared in her heart.
At the sa ti, she understood.
She and Ryougi Yutsuki were two beings who could never accept each other.
Mio chose to deny this future in order to revive the dead Shin.
Yutsuki chose to accept this present in order to fulfill Shido's wish.
The paths they had chosen did not simply cross at one point by chance. They ran in completely opposite directions. If they wanted to move forward, they had to trample over everything the other stood for.
Perhaps Ryougi Yutsuki had understood that from the very beginning. That was why she absorbed all the Sephira Crystals and gained the right to fight Mio.
"Then... thank you for giving ti to adjust, Mio."
Slowly steadying herself, Yutsuki took a deep breath and spoke softly with an ugly smile.
"Looks like... the ti I bought was enough."
"——!?"
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble————————
Before Mio could understand the aning of Yutsuki's words, this chessboard world made of black and white squares began to shake violently.
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