"Oh my, what a lovely young lady! Welco to my concert!"
"…Eh?"
Minerva looked completely at a loss. Staring at the vast sea of people around her, she asked hesitantly,
"This is… a shelter, isn't it?"
"That's right. But it's also my concert."
The girl nad Miku nodded and explained warmly,
"Look, this place is so spacious, and there are so many spectators. Wouldn't it be such a sha not to hold a concert? It's rare for Honey to ask for help, so of course I have to do my very best. Right, everyone~?"
Miku called out toward the audience. Imdiately after, cheers like crashing waves rushed toward Minerva.
"Wh-what kind of joke is this?! Are you ssing with ?!"
Minerva felt as though her thoughts could not keep up with Miku's rhythm. The overwhelming feeling of standing on soone else's ho stage made her embarrassed and angry.
"Not at all. I'm very serious. For a beautiful girl like you, please, you must join my concert!"
However, faced with Minerva's attitude, Miku was not frightened off at all. Instead, she stepped forward, took her hand, and spoke with righteous conviction.
"Believe . As long as you listen to my song, no matter what terrifying or unpleasant thing you've encountered, you'll forget it completely."
"I-is that so…"
Her voice, as sweet as soft honey, echoed in Minerva's ears, making her cheeks heat slightly.
For so reason, although Miku's strength was not great, Minerva did not have the slightest thought of breaking free. On the contrary, anticipation and joy slowly took root deep in her heart. Even the fear of being chased by a Spirit gradually faded within that sweet voice.
Resting for a little while should be fine.
Just as Minerva was about to nod, a shout from the audience jolted her awake.
"Careful! That person is DEM's squad leader! She's the one who ordered people to attack the shelter!"
Hearing soone recognize her, Minerva's expression changed. Looking toward the voice, she saw Kusakabe Ryouko, who should have been in another shelter with Artemisia, now appearing in the corner of this shelter.
Not only that, when Minerva looked carefully, the Wizards who had previously been knocked down by Artemisia had also been transported here.
That Spirit caught up!
The instant she realized that, a chill spread across Minerva's entire body. Driven by fear, Minerva panicked and drew a small knife, taking the girl before her hostage.
"Nobody co closer! Otherwise, I won't be polite with her!"
Minerva pressed the small knife against Miku's neck and shouted in panic.
Seeing their idol in danger, the citizens all fell into rage. They looked ready to rush forward and fight Minerva with their lives, but because they were worried their idol would be hurt, they could only glare angrily at Minerva while continuously cursing and insulting her.
However, Minerva no longer had the energy to care about these fans. Her entire mind was focused on guarding against the Spirit hiding who knew where.
"Mm… Although this kind of play is fresh too, unfortunately, my heart and body already belong to Darling and Honey."
However, faced with Minerva's threat, the girl before her showed no nervousness at all. She did not look like she had any awareness of being a hostage.
"Shut up! If you don't want to get hurt, then behave and cooperate!"
Moving the knife a little closer to her neck, Minerva threatened sternly. In response, Miku rely sighed helplessly.
"Really, there's no helping it. Drop your weapon and sit."
"Hah? What are you talking ab—"
Hearing Miku's almost commanding tone, Minerva could not help feeling disbelief. But before she could finish speaking, her body threw away the weapon on its own and obediently crouched down on the ground like a puppy.
"Eh? Wh-what's going on?!"
Minerva shouted in panic. She kept trying to struggle and stand up, but her body went against her will and did not move at all.
"This power… don't tell …"
In an instant, Minerva seed to understand sothing. She raised her head and looked at Miku, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
"You… are a Spirit too?"
In response, Miku playfully winked.
In that instant, Minerva's face turned completely pale.
"Ah~ What a sha. A scarred, tanned gyaru—eting such a rare type for the first ti, I wanted to play a little longer."
Studying Minerva's face, Miku said regretfully.
"I-I'll do anything… Please, please don't kill …"
Her confidence had been shattered by Mukuro. Her pursuit had been denied by Artemisia. Her body was controlled by Miku. Minerva's remaining spirit finally collapsed, and with tears rolling in her eyes, she begged.
"Don't worry. I won't kill you."
Miku smiled and shook her head. Then she bent down and whispered lightly beside Minerva's ear,
"But~ as a bad child who has done so many bad things, you must accept punishnt."
In an instant, a numbness like electric current spread from Minerva's brain through her limbs. Feeling Miku's sweet whispered words, a dazed blush surfaced on Minerva's face, and her legs unconsciously pressed tightly together—
——————
"To perform teleportation so easily… Is this the power of a Spirit?"
After coming to another shelter through Hoshimiya Mukuro's door, Artemisia looked at the sudden sea of people before her and could not help asking in awe.
"Just how many people are here?"
"Muku did not count carefully. Muku only gathered everyone underground here."
After sweeping her gaze over the shelter, Mukuro shook her head and answered.
"Everyone?!"
Although she knew Mukuro's ability was very special, Artemisia never imagined that Mukuro could gather all the citizens from every underground shelter into one place.
Ignoring Artemisia's shocked gaze, Mukuro slowly descended toward the center of the shelter.
Artemisia looked carefully. Ryouko, Leonora, Ashley, and Cecile—basically everyone she knew was gathered here.
"Everyone!"
Artemisia called out in surprise.
"Cough, cough—"
Noticing Artemisia's arrival, Ryouko cleared her throat and said sowhat awkwardly,
"Artemisia, you're all right too."
"Mm. What about Leonora and the others? Is everyone all right?"
"They're fine. They're all injured, but none of the injuries are serious. Nothing life-threatening."
"Thank goodness…"
Artemisia let out a relieved breath, then asked in confusion,
"What's wrong, Ryouko? Your face looks a little red."
"Ah? This? Ahaha…"
Hearing that, Ryouko scratched her cheek with a bitter smile and silently shifted her gaze.
"Mitsu, sit!"
"Woof."
"Paw!"
"Woof!"
"Roll over!"
"Woof woof~"
At that mont, Minerva was lying on her back on the ground, raising both hands and legs. Like a puppy, she exposed her stomach in front of Miku.
"Ah… good, good. Mitsu is so obedient. Is it more comfortable here? Or here?"
"Ah… ah… woof (♡﹃ ♡)…"
Under everyone's gaze, Minerva lost herself in enjoying Miku's affection, drooling from her mouth while making extrely indecent panting sounds.
"Is that… Minerva?"
Artemisia asked in disbelief.
"Mm. According to that Spirit, she no longer poses any threat."
After listening to Ryouko explain the whole story, Artemisia's mouth twitched slightly. Looking at the enemy who had nearly driven her into a deadly situation not long ago ending up like this, she did not know what to say for a mont.
"Miku. Everyone is gathered."
Mukuro seed long since used to this and reminded her helplessly.
"Mukuro-san! You're finally back!"
Seeing Mukuro appear, Miku imdiately bead, abandoned the unconscious Minerva, and spread her arms, preparing to give Mukuro a loving hug.
Mukuro had long been prepared for this. She shifted sideways and dodged Miku's embrace.
"Aww~ Mukuro-san really is shy."
Although she failed to take advantage, Miku was not discouraged. After noticing Artemisia, her eyes instantly lit up.
"Oh my goodness! Such a beautiful girl! A foreigner? Mukuro-san, where did you pick her up? Hello! I'm Izayoi Miku! Please, you absolutely must co listen to my concert! You're so badly injured! Don't worry, I'll use my song to heal you right away—"
"Th-thank you—"
Unable to quite handle Miku's enthusiasm, Artemisia beca flustered for a mont. Fortunately, Ryouko tily rescued her by bringing the conversation back to the main issue.
"Um, could you explain the situation to us now? Spirit—no, Mukuro-san."
"Hmm. That is fine."
Mukuro nodded and explained why she and Miku were here.
It was complicated if explained in detail, but simple if summarized. In short, Mukuro and Miku were hidden pieces sent by Yutsuki to protect the citizens.
When the battle began, Yutsuki sounded the spacequake alarm and guided the citizens into evacuation. Although this could prevent them from being caught up in the front line battlefield, the citizens gathered in the underground shelters would undoubtedly beco fish in a jar for Westcott.
Just like during that bomb incident, Westcott knew the citizens could be used as hostages to threaten Yutsuki. In the sa way, Yutsuki also knew that Westcott had no moral burden when it ca to using such cruel and lowly tricks.
As it happened, Mukuro and Miku's abilities were very suited to relocating and calming civilians. Moreover, both of them had a certain resistance toward taking lives, so Yutsuki arranged for the two to mix into the evacuee crowd in order to deal with unexpected situations.
"I see."
After understanding why the two Spirits were here, Ryouko raised another question.
"This is the underground center of Tengu City, right? According to your companion, DEM has already blocked the outer exits. How are we supposed to escape from here? Don't tell we're retreating through the surface."
Ryouko looked uneasy. It was not that she suspected the two of having ulterior motives, but according to their explanation, the surface was currently filled with flying firepower. Even for Spirits, safely evacuating so many citizens should have been impossible.
"No. Gathering everyone here makes it easier to relocate them all at once."
Muku shook her head. While explaining, she pressed the communicator at her ear.
"Marina. Are there any citizens missing?"
[No. I just compared the number data. All evacuated citizens are present. The rest is up to you.]
"Muku understands."
Letting out a long breath, Mukuro tightened her grip on the staff in her hand and spoke in a low voice.
"Release—Astral Dress, Number Sixth, Eloah!"
In an instant, fierce spirit power erupted from Mukuro's body. A translucent film of light extended from her qipao and armor, forming her full Astral Dress.
"This is…"
Seeing Mukuro's transformation, Ryouko's expression changed. The spiritual wave value displayed on the detector had long since exceeded safe standards. Under normal circumstances, the resulting spacequake could completely destroy all the underground shelters.
"Michael—Lataib."
Mukuro stabbed her Angel into the earth. A dooropened beneath everyone's feet, covering the entire shelter. Looking across it, the enormous door seed to have no boundary. Only a hazy, empty black hole subrged their ankles.
The door slowly rose upward. A strange sensation ca from the parts of their bodies swallowed by it. Faced with this bizarre situation, the citizens hypnotized by Miku did not struggle or panic in the slightest, as if naturally accepting everything.
For an instant, Ryouko felt as if this black hole was an indescribable mouth, and they were food about to enter a Spirit's stomach.
"It's all right, Ryouko. She is not our enemy."
As if noticing Ryouko's panic, Artemisia patted her shoulder to comfort her. Ryouko hesitated for a while, but in the end, she still closed her eyes, suppressed the urge to struggle, and allowed Mukuro to use her Angel.
"We have arrived."
Soon, Mukuro's voice entered her ears, and Ryouko nervously opened her eyes.
Soft, flat grassland. A cold, clear wind. The sun hanging in the western sky. In the distance, Tengu City was like a burning toy city, billowing with thick black smoke.
Only then did Ryouko understand that they had been moved from the sunless underground to the outskirts of Tengu City.
"Hmm… Here, there is no ambush. You can stay here… and wait for everything to end."
Mukuro panted as she spoke. Relocating such a massive number of people at once had clearly consud a great deal of her spirit power.
"Are you going back to Tengu City next?"
Artemisia asked.
Hearing that, Mukuro raised her brow slightly and did not speak.
Seeming to take Mukuro's silence as confirmation, Artemisia said seriously,
"I'll go with you."
(TL:Yo 800k view.....when...?)
User Comments
0 comments from readers