Breathing slightly hard, Yatogami Tohka gripped Sandalphon in her hand. A trace of exhaustion had appeared on her face.
Counting from the mont DEM officially began its war against them, three or four hours had already passed. The stalemate against Ellen Mathers, dealing with the rampaging Wizards, resisting the invading drone army—continuous high intensity combat with no real break had been steadily wearing down the Spirits's stamina.
"Ah—!"
Forcibly pushing away the Ryougi Yutsuki beside her, Tohka swung her arm, and spirit power ford a sharp crescent along her blade.
Then, Ryougi Yutsuki's body split in two before Tohka's eyes.
"Pfft…"
Crimson liquid spilled from the girl's mouth. As if waking from a dream, the original coldness and madness gradually faded from her face, and the eyes staring at Tohka revealed disbelief.
"Toh… ka?"
"…"
Hearing that perfectly identical cry, Tohka could not help stiffening. Her pale face showed a trace of panic.
In the end, the girl turned into pitch black paper and scattered into the air. Just as Tohka confird that sight, Origami's voice suddenly reached her ears.
"Don't space out!"
At the sa ti, a pure white laser swept past behind her and swallowed another Ryougi Yutsuki that had been silently approaching.
"…Thank you, Origami."
Taking a deep breath, Tohka thanked Origami, sothing rare for her.
"Are you all right?"
Origami frowned and asked quietly.
"…I'm fine. That fake Yutsuki's reaction just now felt a little too real, so I froze for a mont."
Tohka shook her head, then looked at another group of Ryougi Yutsukis gradually approaching them. A trace of caution and gravity flashed through her eyes.
"Origami, have you found the real Yutsuki?"
"Not yet."
Origami shook her head.
Since earlier, Origami had been moving through this area, constantly trying to find the real Yutsuki among the pseudo Spirits. But after several attempts, she had returned empty handed each ti. Whether asking about past events or confirming her condition, these pseudo Spirits could answer easily. Just a mont ago, Origami had even mistaken a Ryougi Yutsuki who made the Ignore and Do Not Respond gesture as the real one, and she had nearly been caught by a sneak attack.
The Yutsukis that looked fake would show reactions like the real person the instant they were defeated. The Yutsukis that looked like the original would often turn hostile the mont they lowered their guard. This chaotic feeling of disconnection left even Origami unsure where to begin.
Although it was absurd, they, the companions who had spent many days together with Yutsuki, truly could not distinguish the real Yutsuki from the creations made by a Wizard who had only t Yutsuki a few tis.
—This is so troubleso. Wouldn't it be better to just cut them all down with one strike?
"—!?"
Tohka widened her eyes, startled by the thought that had suddenly appeared in her own heart.
[Tohka, your ntal state values are dropping. Calm down. The one you cut down just now was not the real Yutsuki.]
"Mm, mm… Don't worry, Maria. I know."
Maria's warning ca through the earpiece. Tohka nodded, but her expression still looked sowhat unstable.
This phenonon was not happening only to Yatogami Tohka. According to Fraxinus EX's emotional detection system, the other Spirits were also showing similar symptoms to varying degrees.
Understanding sothing rationally and accepting it emotionally were still fundantally different. Confusion and anxiety from being trapped in the maze, tension and unease from worrying about accidentally injuring a companion—although the Nibelcole created by Ai Mulian had not caused actual physical harm to the Spirits, they had brought ntal pressure far beyond expectation.
[This is bad! If this continues, the Spirits's power may go out of control! In the worst case, one of them might even invert.]
[Commander, we should have them retreat first, reorganize, then formulate a new battle plan.]
[But Yutsuki-san's whereabouts are still unknown. If they retreat now…]
Through the lingering sound in the earpiece, Tohka could faintly hear the crew discussing things. Although Tohka was not good at thinking about complicated matters, she still understood that the problem might be more troubleso than imagined.
Once again shaking off the fake Yutsukis entanglent, Tohka raised her head unintentionally while dodging.
The sky was dyed red. The sun overhead had unknowingly sunk halfway behind the mountains.
Normally, at this ti, she should have been sitting on the sofa in the Itsuka household, waiting for dinner with her heart full of expectation.
(I'm hungry… I wonder if Shido is all right… hm?)
Tohka unconsciously narrowed her eyes. Beneath the sunset shining over the ruins, a dark shadow silently rose.
Bang!
With a faint sound of tearing air, a bullet pierced Ryougi Yutsuki's chest.
"Ara ara~ I only happened to pass by and take a look, but I never expected to see such an interesting situation."
Tokisaki Kurumi leapt lightly out from the darkness. With a slightly amused smile, she looked around at the surrounding Ryougi Yutsukis.
"Tokisaki Kurumi?! Why are you here?"
Tohka asked in surprise.
"Ara, if it isn't Tohka-san and Origami-san. I am very glad to see you both in good health."
Tokisaki Kurumi gave a slight curtsy. Noticing the guarded attitude of the two, she spoke sowhat helplessly.
"Please don't be so distant toward . I ca here out of kindness after seeing that you were in trouble."
"To help?"
Hearing that, Origami frowned.
"What do you an? Can you distinguish the real Yutsuki?"
Unfortunately, Kurumi only shook her head helplessly.
"What a sha. I cannot distinguish the real Yutsuki-san either. However, I have another way to solve this problem."
A aningful smile rose at the corner of her mouth as Kurumi said,
"As long as all the fakes are killed, the problem will naturally be solved."
(…Eh?)
Hearing that simple and brutal answer, Tohka and Origami could not help freezing.
Kurumi clearly had no intention of waiting for their decision. The darkness beneath her feet suddenly spread, and hundreds of clones stepped out from within, letting out dense chuckles that made one's scalp tingle.
"Exactly. Such a simple problem, isn't it?"
"You are worrying too much and making things complicated."
"The real Yutsuki-san certainly would not be killed by us."
"Heeheehee. We can even replenish so spirit power along the way. Two birds with one stone."
Amid the laughter, Kurumi's clones suddenly scattered like vicious hunting dogs, rcilessly surrounding and hunting down the Nibelcole disguised as Ryougi Yutsuki.
Bang!
A flintlock bullet struck a Nibelcole's thigh, and she fell to the ground, gritting her teeth as she looked at Kurumi slowly approaching.
"Kurumi, isn't your attack a little too vicious? I helped you so much before."
"There is no need to pretend. If you were truly Yutsuki-san, you could have avoided that attack with future calculation."
Looking down at the Nibelcole that was still pretending to be Yutsuki, disgust flashed through Kurumi's eyes.
"Besides, even if by so chance you were the real one, I could heal you with Dalet, could I not?"
Hearing that, the Nibelcole's expression could not help changing.
"You lunatic…"
Bang!
"Mm… You are right. If Yutsuki-san really said that to , perhaps I would not need to be this angry."
Looking at the Nibelcole scattering into paper, Kurumi exhaled, then licked her lips and spoke as if savoring it.
"Thank you for the al~"
And so, gunshots, wild laughter, furious roars, screams—Kurumi's unrestrained noise echoed through the air, adding several more layers of madness to the already chaotic scene.
After escaping the Nibelcole's entanglent, everyone stood aside and looked at one another, montarily unsure what to do.
Just as Kurumi had said, no matter how perfectly the Nibelcole imitated Yutsuki, they were fundantally only clones created from pages of Beelzebub. In every aspect, the upper limits of their abilities were different from Yutsuki herself.
However, Tohka and the others clearly could not act as decisively as Kurumi. After all, although the essence of this battle was a clash between Kurumi and Nibelcole, visually, it looked more like Tokisaki Kurumi slaughtering Ryougi Yutsuki.
"Did Yutsuki… make Kurumi angry sohow?" (TL: In a way~)
Unable to bear watching directly, soone turned their gaze aside and muttered quietly.
"Hmph! Nightmare is that kind of existence. If she truly intends to harm Yutsuki, I will be the one to punish her!"
"Concern. In any case, we should have Yutsuki apologize to Kurumi later."
The battle ended very quickly. Under Tokisaki Kurumi's relentless, furious assault, the Nibelcoles that had previously filled the place like a sea of people were reduced to only one in the blink of an eye.
"Ah… Kurumi, although I admit you did help a lot, could you not choose such a disturbing thod?"
The last remaining Ryougi Yutsuki sighed and spoke helplessly.
"Well, Yutsuki-san left aside and went to war with DEM by herself. I was very hurt, you know? Very sad. So sad I nearly cried."
Kurumi answered theatrically. However, when she saw Kurumi still walking toward her with her gun raised, Ryougi Yutsuki's mouth could not help twitching slightly.
"Hey, hey, still going? Isn't your suspicion a little too heavy?"
"Is it? I do not think so."
Kurumi glanced around at the Spirits, then looked directly into Yutsuki's eyes and asked in a low voice,
"Rather, if you are the true Ryougi Yutsuki, what would you do at a ti like this?"
Hearing that question, Ryougi Yutsuki's expression froze as if petrified for a long while. Then she smiled bitterly, spread her hands, and said,
"You're right. Considering there may still be hidden Nibelcole, for safety's sake, you should shoot first. Sorry, Kurumi. I made you do sothing this unpleasant."
"…"
Hearing that answer, Kurumi could not help frowning. A mont of hesitation flashed through her eyes, then she fired a shot into Yutsuki's abdon.
The bullet pierced her stomach. Under everyone's panicked gazes, Yutsuki swayed and stepped back twice. Her body gradually beca illusory and transparent, and a sheet of pitch black paper fell to the ground, finally turning into dust-like light and vanishing.
A fake?
Looking at this scene, even Kurumi, who had been sowhat ntally prepared, could not help feeling shocked.
Every Ryougi Yutsuki here was fake? The real Yutsuki had not been here from the beginning?
Then… where exactly had Yutsuki gone?
"Speaking of which, where did that arrogant usurper go? She created a pile of fake comrades, then disappeared."
Kaguya asked in confusion. In response, Kotori on the airship side could not give an answer for the mont either.
[We still don't know. We've already checked all surveillance on our side. We didn't capture Ai Mulian's escape path at all. It's as if she vanished into thin air—aaaaaaaah!]
"Ngh!"
From Kurumi's perspective, Tohka and the others, who had originally been speaking with Fraxinus, suddenly covered their ears as if they had heard so noise.
"What are you doing, Nia? Why did you suddenly yell so loudly? I almost thought I went deaf."
Ignoring Natsumi's complaint, Nia said excitedly,
[I understand! So that's what happened! Damn it, why did I only realize now?! The Phantom Library! Biri-chan is inside the Phantom Library right now!]
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