The Wizard troops that had been gathered were routed before they could fight. The army of machines was shut out by the Yamai sisters and Yoshino. Even Ellen, DEM's strongest Wizard, was pinned down by Origami and Tohka working together, unable to move freely.
With the montum shifting, Ratatoskr, relying on five airships and one Date City, was managing to stand against DEM's army of thirty three airships.
However, although Date City's firepower was astonishing, its essence was still that of a city and a fixed fortress. Its vast urban area ant that, structurally speaking, there were inevitably many flaws in its defenses.
And unfortunately, for DEM at present, the structure of this city, the placent of its gun batteries, and the like had long since ceased to be secrets.
While everyone's attention was drawn to the airship bombardnt and the suicidal assault of the unmanned machines, dozens of light pages silently drifted into Tengu City.
"Hehe~ Infiltration successful~"
"We weren't noticed at all. As expected of 'us.'"
"Ah... How boring. 'I' clearly wanted to do sothing flashier."
Like humans casually voicing bored complaints, the faintly glowing pages drifted through the city with the wind. They passed through the Territory shield, then landed on the magical cannon batteries like dragonflies skimming water.
In an instant, deafening explosions rang out one after another, and the sturdy gun batteries inexplicably turned into fragnts.
"Ahaha, surprised?"
"These piles of scrap tal really don't last long."
From the rising smoke, several pseudo-Spirits dressed in nun outfits—Nibelcole—floated up while giggling.
"All right, this area's destroyed. Where should we go next~?"
Nibelcole looked around with great interest. Brilliant magical beams were being fired from grocery stores and private hos, making the whole place look like so kind of surreal the park. Especially the windows of a bathhouse transforming into anti aircraft cannons amid thick steam—now that was hilarious.
Just then, from beneath the destroyed batteries, several magic bullets shot toward Nibelcole.
"Yah~"
"Ouch~!"
With a few deliberately exaggerated groans, several Nibelcole had their heads or bodies blown away.
The remaining Nibelcole turned toward the source of the attack, where several unfamiliar Wizards had been stationed around the batteries. Judging by the look of them, they were likely Ratatoskr personnel.
"Hey~ You're pretty good."
"New toys found~"
"I wonder how durable they are~"
In only a few seconds, their broken heads and bodies regenerated. Like children who had discovered entertaining prey, the Nibelcoles all showed excited smiles at once.
"What...!?"
Perhaps frightened by that bizarre sight, the Ratatoskr Wizards paled slightly and desperately fired magic bullets at Nibelcole.
"Hey hey~ That's so an~"
"Isn't Ratatoskr supposed to be the Spirits's ally? We're Spirits too, you know."
"Bad children who lie will be punished~"
Nibelcole complained unhappily. Pages from Beelzebub easily deflected the bullets, then transford into sharp paper planes that effortlessly pierced through the Wizards' Territories and limbs, pinning them to the wall like dolls.
Looking at the lives before them, now completely at their rcy, the Nibelcoles showed delighted smiles. More paper planes ford from spirit power appeared around them, and with a sway of their fingers, flew toward their victims' vital points.
"Bye-bye~"
Suddenly, a fierce gale swept in, blowing away both the paper planes and the Nibelcoles together.
"—Yah!"
"Th-this is Berserk's wind?"
Holding down their hair and skirts, they barely managed to steady themselves inside the violent wind. Having their ga interrupted made the Nibelcoles rather angry.
But when they found the uninvited guest, their angry expressions instantly turned confused.
The reason was simple. Their opponent was a young blue haired boy.
A dium build, a neutral looking face. He wore neither Astral Dress nor CR-Unit. Only the chain like Angel floating beside him told them that this person had indeed been the one to attack them just now.
"Itsuka... Shido?"
Nibelcole blankly read out the other party's na. Yes, the person standing before Nibelcole at that mont was undoubtedly Itsuka Shido himself.
No—perhaps "undoubtedly" was not the right word. According to the information they had received from Father, Itsuka Shido should not have appeared here.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if he had really co to Tengu City, as DEM's primary target in this battle, Ratatoskr would be defeated the mont Itsuka Shido died. In other words, he should have been hidden inside the sturdiest airship. Not walking openly on the front lines of the battlefield without the slightest protection.
"I'll handle this place! You all hurry and retreat!"
"O-okay!"
(The power he showed just now was undoubtedly Spirit power... Whatever.)
Without caring at all that the toys in their hands had escaped, after several seconds of confusion and thought, Nibelcole's face once again showed a smile.
"Hoo... Although I don't know why you're here—"
"This is perfect. We were looking for you anyway."
"Now we have a gift to offer Father~"
With that, Nibelcole ard herself with pages from Beelzebub and charged toward Itsuka Shido at high speed.
However, an astonishing scene occurred. Facing Nibelcole's approach, Itsuka Shido did not choose to counterattack. Instead, he took the initiative to withdraw the Angel in his hand back into his body.
What is he doing?
Honestly, at that mont, even Nibelcole could not understand his intention.
The distance closed rapidly. Just as Nibelcole's hand was about to pierce Itsuka Shido's heart, Itsuka Shido calmly raised his hand and placed his index and middle fingers together against his lips.
"—I love you."
...Huh?
The instant they heard that sentence, even the bizarre-minded Nibelcoles could not help suspecting that sothing was wrong with this person's head.
But before they could laugh, sothing strange happened.
"Ah... ah... What is this... So strange..."
At the very mont those words fell, for so unknown reason, the Nibelcole who had originally intended to kill Itsuka Shido suddenly stopped moving. She unnaturally twisted her delicate body in midair, her face flushing bright red. After letting out a few soft, lting moans, she turned into particles of light and vanished.
"She dis... disappeared...?"
Seeing their companion inexplicably eliminated, Nibelcole could not help wavering.
"You, you bastard! What did you do to 'us'!?"
However, facing Nibelcole's questioning, Itsuka Shido did not answer. He rely silently made the sa gesture as before and said:
"Feel my love properly~ Mwah~"
Saying a line so corny it practically fell apart in a gentle voice, Itsuka Shido blew Nibelcole a kiss.
For an instant, Nibelcole thought the other party was humiliating her. But soon, an ominous feeling welled up in her heart.
The emotion in her heart was not disgust or anger. It was joy. Like honey so sweet it was cloying, an extrely sweet sense of happiness wrapped around her entire body, slowly spreading from her fingertips into every corner of her skin.
Completely ignoring Nibelcole's will, that joy invaded the depths of her body without restraint.
"Ah... ah... no... It's so hot... I'm going to lt... but..."
"It feels so good... so comfortable..."
And just like that, after letting out a series of dangerously suggestive heated sighs, Nibelcole's body turned into bubbles and vanished into the air as particles of light.
"M-monster..."
"D-don't co near !"
Watching their companions get eliminated without the slightest resistance, Nibelcole completely lost her earlier arrogance. In terror, they crossed their arms over themselves and desperately put distance between themselves and Itsuka Shido like helpless young girls.
"Ahaha~ You mustn't run~ Let us continue expressing our feelings~ My cute little kittens~"
(...What on earth am I doing?)
While throwing flying kisses at Nibelcole, Itsuka Shido—no, Natsumi—thought in confusion. (TL:NATSUMI WILL BE CLUTCHING THIS ARC, I LOVE NATSUMI, THANK YOU AUTHOR FOR GIVING NATUSMI SO MUCH SPOTLIGHT THIS ARC)
—————
"Natsumi, when DEM attacks tomorrow, you'll be responsible for disguising yourself as Shido to draw Nibelcole's attention, and then—throw kisses at them."
On the day before the battle began, while Ryougi Yutsuki was assigning combat missions to everyone, she gave Natsumi this particular task.
Honestly, regarding the last part, Natsumi felt as if she could understand every word Yutsuki said, yet had no idea what she ant.
"According to repeated analysis by Maria and Marina, although Nibelcole's form is sowhat special, her essence is still that of a Spirit. She uses spirit power, not magical power. In that case, there is a possibility she can be sealed using Shido's ability."
(No no no! That isn't the main problem here, is it!?)
Seeing Natsumi's face, which looked like it badly wanted to retort, Yutsuki smiled wryly, shrugged, and continued explaining.
"Of course, if she were an ordinary Spirit, then whether in terms of affection level or ntal state, Nibelcole clearly would not et the sealing requirents. But in this regard, she is not an independent Spirit. She is a pseudo Spirit split off from Beelzebub, the Demon King converted from Nia's Angel. In other words, Nia is her origin as a Spirit."
Although Nia's Sephira Crystal had been stolen, the Rasiel remaining inside her could still affect Beelzebub. The sealing channel Shido had established with Nia could still use Nia's "affection level" toward Itsuka Shido to influence Beelzebub.
In other words, as long as Nibelcole "recognized" that "Itsuka Shido" had kissed them, they would be sealed.
"Also, it doesn't seem like a true seal is necessary. As long as a similar suggestion is produced, it should be enough. Shido won't be here tomorrow, so I'll leave it to you to take the field in his place."
(That explanation is way too forced!)
"Yutsuki... are you serious?"
Finally, as if she had gotten a fishbone stuck in her throat, Natsumi asked with a complicated expression.
Yutsuki covered her face and answered in an equally life-questioning tone.
"...Don't ask . Ask Maria and Marina."
—————
(I can't believe it actually worked...)
Watching Nibelcole flee as if they had encountered a flood or ferocious beast, Natsumi was filled with speechlessness. What exactly had they been beaten so badly by before?
"D-don't co closer!"
"F-Father, save !"
"T-too wonderful... I can't take it anymore..."
"..."
Natsumi's feelings at that mont were difficult to describe. Everyone else was clearly engaged in thrilling life-or-death battles with the enemy. Why was it that when it got to her side, the genre suddenly changed completely?
"...Forget it. The embarrassing idiot here is Shido, not ."
(Shido: —Achoo!!!!)
Original Author's PS: I modified this! Since I feel like the light novel reader would definitely complain about this part, I'll just confess directly! Does Nibelcole truly need Shido's ability to be sealed? Or is it enough for her to rely receive the suggestion? Although the original work is a bit vague here, in the original, Shido himself really did seal the Nibelcoles one by one with his mouth. The flying kisses only restricted their movents.
Original Author's PS2: As for why I modified it like this? The reason is simple. First, the plot required it. Second, in the original, although the setup is fairly rigorous, whenever I imagine Itsuka Shido actually carrying it out, no matter how I look at it, it feels way too scummy...
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