Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 60 60: A Turning Point Brought by a Nightmare

As the saying goes, plans never survive contact with reality.

No matter how perfect a plan may be, reality always moves in ways no one can predict, and there is no guarantee that so accident will not occur and throw everything off course.

By that standard, even gods are no exception.

Because gods may be omnipotent, but they are not omniscient.

And more importantly, Ryougi Yutsuki was not a god.

Although she had successfully helped Shido escape the cage ford by Miku's rampage, she had not anticipated that this did not necessarily an Shido and Tohka were safe.

Sharp blades of light rampaged through the streets, clashing violently with the glowing greatsword in a storm of sparks. The tallic collision was so piercing it seed able to stab straight through the eardrums, and the shockwaves spread outward, tearing large openings into the nearby walls.

"Puh…"

After an intense blade exchange, Tohka was forced back by the enormous force behind her own Angel-Sandalphon. She was driven back more than twenty ters before planting Sandalphon into the ground to steady herself.

"Tohka!?"

"...I'm fine, Shido. This level of injury is nothing."

After shaking her head to reassure Shido that she was unhard, Tohka aid Sandalphon once again at the enemy before her.

"Hm… a little better than the last two tis I saw you. To be able to withstand my attacks for so long! Worthy of praise!"

As the dust from the battle slowly dispersed, a woman erged from the smoke—wearing a pure white piece of armor unlike the "wiring suit" used by AST. It was the cr-unit Pendragon, and from within it stepped a woman with long, pale-gold hair.

Ellen Mira Mathers—the strongest wizard in humanity.

"Why are you here?"

Shido stared at the wizard before him and asked.

He clearly rembered that during the sumr, she had been pierced through the abdon by Yutsuki's Railgun, then struck head on by Sandalphon that Shido had summoned. Her injuries had been so severe that rely surviving had seed like a miracle.

dical technology had advanced along with the developnt of Realizers, and now even severed arms could be reattached by the next day. But according to Kotori, Ellen's injuries had involved many vital organs. Even with modern technology, she should have needed at least two months.

"Hm, nothing worth being surprised about. DEM is one of the world's most advanced companies when it cos to Realizers. As the strongest human, how could I be asured by ordinary standards? Besides, for this operation, Ike was the one who personally treated my injuries. It's perfectly natural that I recovered."

She said it in a tone that made it sound entirely reasonable, which only made the strangeness of the situation more apparent.

However, Tohka clearly did not care all that much.

"Hmph! Strongest human, huh? Yutsuki said it already: 'Anyone who has lost twice in a row to a certain soone can only strut around among humans and call themselves the strongest human (laugh).'"

Shido looked at Tohka in surprise as she fired off the taunt. Yutsuki really had said sothing like that in casual conversation, but he had not expected Tohka to actually repeat it.

That excellent taunt struck exactly where it hurt most in Ellen's heart.

"...I'd love nothing more than to go over there and settle things with that Hacker right now, but this ti, after all, it's Ike's order…"

After a mont of silence and after discarding the excess feelings in her heart, Ellen blinked and raised the laser sword in her hand to chest level.

"Then, beginning now, the capture of the suspected Spirit 'Princess'—Yatogami Tohka—and the suspected Itsuka Shido begins."

The next instant, the white armored figure vanished from sight, and in the next instant, a massive impact sent Shido flying without rcy.

"Tohka!"

Shido shouted toward where Tohka had been, trying to confirm her safety.

But at that mont, Tohka could no longer answer him.

Erging from the smoke, Ellen held the now unconscious Tohka, whose Spirit form had been forcibly dispelled, and said in a cold, emotionless voice:

"Target one, Yatogami Tohka, has been captured. Next, we proceed with the capture of the girl suspected to be Itsuka Shido."

Though she was slightly curious whether the person before her had awakened so strange fetish, that clearly had nothing to do with the mission.

"Shido… run… now…"

"Damn it…"

Shido clenched both fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his teeth grinding hard enough to split his lip.

He knew that fleeing was the best option right now. But in reality, there was no way Shido, with nothing but an ordinary human body, could escape from Ellen, who was equipped with a Realizer.

And besides, abandoning Tohka while she was in danger and fleeing alone was sothing he could not accept.

"Hm, so you chose not to run, but to face directly. For that courage alone, I'll grant you a little respect."

"Hmph… personally, I don't think being praised by one of Yutsuki's defeated opponents is anything worth getting excited about."

After being hit twice right where it hurt psychologically, even Ellen's normally cold and iron-faced expression showed a trace of anger.

"Hmph, I have no intention of wasting ti arguing verbally with you lot. Soon enough I'll refute everything with reality. Pray that by then you'll still be able to hear it!"

"..."

It's possible!

Calming the frantic pounding of his heart, Shido took a deep breath.

Recalling the two previous experiences, he delayed by speaking while also, through intuition, forming his wish. As his feelings gradually poured out, a power slowly began to take shape in his hand.

"Co forth—Sandalph…"

"Ara ara, not yet."

A coquettish voice suddenly rang out.

"If Shido-san gets captured, that'll be a real problem for ! I'll be irritated!"

"Who is it?!"

At that mont, a seductive voice echoed from all around, causing Ellen to sharpen her vigilance.

"This voice…"

Shido widened his eyes in surprise, halting the movent of his hand.

"Zafkiel—Zayin.'"

A black bullet suddenly shot out from the shadows, flying from an especially tricky angle—directly from Ellen's blind spot—toward her temple.

Even so, Ellen reacted imdiately, using the search of her Territory to detect the ambush at once. Her body spun halfway in the air with the thrust of her cr-unit, and she swept her laser sword precisely through the projectile, cutting it down.

And then, at the next instant, Ellen froze completely like a statue posing in place.

Space freeze—no, to be more accurate, the ti of that tiny portion of space had been halted.

Shido knew this ability. More accurately, he knew the Spirit who used it.

"Kurumi…"

"Ara ara ara~ Shido-san, long ti no see."

"Wah—!"

A playful giggle brushed against his ear. Shido's shoulder jerked in surprise, and he let out a startled cry.

A tight black dress composed of blood red and abyss black tones. Jet-black hair tied asymtrically on both sides. A clock face in her left eye, with a clock hand moving once every second.

A perfectly sculpted face that was impossible to believe was natural, adorned with a smile that mixed in a bizarre, intoxicating charm.

"Hihihi~—Shido-san's outfit is quite cute too. Oh no~ I'm getting addicted! I'm getting excited~ So, Shido-san, please co with first and leave here~"

"Eh?"

Before Shido could even react, Kurumi had already placed her hands on his shoulders, and his body, unable to resist, sank into the shadows.

Imdiately after that, the pause effect of Zayin ended. Ellen looked at the street where Shido had vanished and tilted her head in deep confusion.

————————————————————————————————————

"Mm! This should do it."

As her body erged from the shadows, Kurumi chuckled softly and released her hold on Shido.

"Ah!"

The mont the restraint on his body was released, Shido lost his balance and sat down on the floor.

He realized that he was now inside a room resembling an abandoned building.

Looking at the beautiful girl before him, to be honest, he felt a chill as though he himself were the prey.

"Don't worry. Today I have no intention of eating Shido-san~"

Perhaps because Shido's reaction looked a little downcast, Kurumi blinked and shrugged.

Though he was uncertain, Shido also knew that if Kurumi had truly wanted to take advantage of him, she would not be wasting ti chatting here.

"Kurumi… thank you… and also, could you help ? Please save Tohka!"

Hearing Shido's heartfelt plea, Kurumi looked at him with an intrigued smile.

"Hm… a mont ago you were still afraid of , and now you're asking for help. I wonder if Shido-san has a thick enough skin, or if he's simply a fool?"

"I know that. But I can't save Tohka by myself."

Even if he could summon Sandalphon, so what? If he could not defeat Ellen—who possessed strength that rival even the Spirit—then Shido, with no combat experience and no swordsmanship training, would not be able to save Tohka. At best, all he could manage was a desperate struggle before death.

"And I don't even know where Tohka was taken. Even if I did, DEM would definitely have prepared heavy defenses. The wizard who captured Tohka must still be there too. I can't save her alone… so please, save Tohka! Even if it ans you have to eat …!"

Before Shido could finish, Kurumi raised the flintlock in her hand and pressed it to his words.

"Please do not say such things, Shido-san. Sothing like that— even if I really did save Tohka, she definitely wouldn't survive it. I dislike doing things that are aningless."

Although she was smiling as she said it, Shido could sense a trace of anger in Kurumi's eyes.

"S-Sorry!"

"Mm… but to be able to consider that much, I must say I'm looking at Shido-san in a new light."

Kurumi slowly lowered the gun and curved her lips into a smile.

"Heheh, rest assured. As for the reward, Yutsuki-san already negotiated that with ."

"You know Yutsuki?!"

Shido's eyes widened to their limit. To be honest, hearing Yutsuki's na here, he could not hide his surprise. He had never expected that Yutsuki and Kurumi had t before.

"Mm… before Shido sealed Yutsuki-san, we t once. Compared to back then, Yutsuki-san looks much better now. As expected of Shido-san!"

Though Kurumi's words were a little suspicious, now was clearly not the ti to dwell on that, so Shido did not press further.

"What did Yutsuki discuss with you?"

Hearing his question, Kurumi lightly pressed a finger to her lips and replied with a charming smile.

"Yutsuki-san promised that if Miku-san, after the contest was decided, tried to break the agreent and use coercive thods, then I would be responsible for receiving the escaped Shido-san and assisting you in Miku's capture. In exchange, she will help infiltrate DEM's headquarters."

"Infiltrate DEM's headquarters? For what?"

"Well… that is not sothing Shido-san should concern himself with."

Seeing that Kurumi had no intention of answering, Shido gave up asking.

"Hard to believe you agreed to such a request."

"Ara ara, if Shido-san becos even more delicious, I'd be delighted~"

"..."

Seeing Shido's speechless expression, Kurumi wore a mischievous, delighted smile.

"Well… Tohka-san was captured, and I was watching from the sidelines without acting, so I do bear so responsibility. I'll help as a bonus."

"Mm, thank you!"

Nodding in gratitude, Shido suddenly thought of sothing.

In many places he did not know about, Yutsuki had already thought through every difficulty on behalf of Shido and arranged a path for him.

No complaints. No demands. Only silent support at the greatest possible level.

"Yutsuki… is she okay?"

Looking toward the brightly lit Tengu City Plaza in the distance, Shido murmured with concern.

————————————————————————————————————

"Here, Onee-sama, this is dessert after dinner—chocolate mousse cake."

"Mm~ Yutsuki-san~… feed ~"

"Honestly, there's no helping you. Here! Onee-sama, ah—"

"Ah—so delicious. Yutsuki-san's cooking really is wonderful~!"

"Then, would you like another bite, my Onee-sama?"

"Mm-mm, ah—"

At this ti, the certain soone Shido was worrying about was, in a butler outfit cosplay, happily in a feeding play scene with a certain idol young lady—both in the mood of "one strikes, the other endures."