Second Office Building, Advanced Technology Research Institute.
Because of the commotion caused by Kurumi, the normal office workers and researchers on night duty had long since evacuated. The vast majority of wizards had also left to deal with Kurumi's attack. So in this long hallway, besides Yutsuki and Kurumi, there was no one else. It was dead silent.
"Targets discovered! Spirit count confird, two! Don't move, or I will..."
[Invasion complete. Realizer deactivated.]
Before this group of wizards, who popped out from who-knows-what bushes, could raise their weapons, Yutsuki dismantled the Realizers connected to their wired suits. Then, without any suspense, Kurumi's shadows moved silently to their feet. Deprived of a little bit of ti and a large amount of stamina, these background characters collapsed to the ground unconscious before they could even finish a complete sentence.
"My, my. Even though the main force has already been taken care of, these patrolling wizards actually still have the guts to stand up. What courage." You have to know, standing here right now were Hacker and Nightmare, the most dangerous and evil combination to humanity.
"DEM's standard operating procedure is wiping out Spirits. Eighty percent of the wizards here have probably been brainwashed with so 'Spirits are enemies of humanity and must be destroyed' ideology. Although wizards in every region are pretty much the sa..."
During the free ti while looking through the computer, she glanced slightly at the wizards on the ground. Honestly, they should be thanking Ryougi Yutsuki. If she wasn't here and it was just Kurumi alone, these wizards would definitely be swallowed up as fertilizer for ti, without even a speck of dust left behind.
Directly ignoring the unconscious wizards collapsed on the ground, Kurumi and Yutsuki continued their job of finding the locked-up Spirit.
"Is this the room where the Spirit is locked up?"
After walking for a while, Kurumi asked Yutsuki.
"No, that's the backup Realizer storage room."
Yutsuki walked right past it without even looking.
"Then what about this room?"
Kurumi pointed at another room and asked.
"Conference room for research materials."
"Then it must be this one~"
"...Kurumi-san, that is the n's locker room." Yutsuki looked at Kurumi like she couldn't handle her anymore, and answered, "If you think the locked-up Spirit has been doing beep and beep things with the people from DEM, you can go in and take a look. After all, DEM doesn't give Spirits any human rights. In a way, you can't say the possibility is zero. But I'll turn a blind eye to the weird sll coming from the unwashed underwear inside, so you can go in by yourself."
"...You're joking, Yutsuki-san."
Stiffly pulling back the hand that was about to open the door, Kurumi obediently followed Yutsuki up the ergency stairs to the next floor.
...
Kurumi let out a breath and said with a questioning look: "Then where exactly is this so-called Spirit quarantine area? You know, we are already on the top floor!"
That's right, Kurumi and Yutsuki had already reached the highest floor of the building—the seventeenth floor.
Yutsuki ignored the rooms they passed by without even looking. And the clones Kurumi sent out to investigate confird that there really weren't any locked-up Spirits in those rooms.
"Well... I believe very few people even within DEM itself know about the locked-up Spirit. If it were , to keep this a secret, I definitely wouldn't put her in such an obvious place."
Yutsuki said plainly while flipping through the computer in her hand.
"Then... where is the locked-up Spirit being kept?"
To Kurumi's question, Yutsuki sighed and said: "I can't guarantee if she's still locked up here, but if there's a possible place where a Spirit could be kept, this is the only place left."
Saying so, under Kurumi's surprised gaze, Yutsuki lifted a cover on a side of the wall that looked like it had nothing on it, revealing a small touch screen.
"Only the area behind this wall has been disconnected from the whole building's network system. Looking at the building blueprints I got my hands on, it seems a very large part of the space here was marked as solid... I can only say, these people's minds are so focused on research that the cover-ups they make are this idiotic."
"..."
Kurumi clearly didn't want to comnt on this.
Behind the cover was a multi-layered lock with a password, plus fingerprint, cornea, DNA scans, and so on. But for Yutsuki, known as the Spirit most dangerous to humanity with the ability to control electromagnetism, these things were basically as useless as if they weren't even there.
Faint blue-white electricity flashed slightly. After a few beeping sounds, a section of the wall quickly and slowly caved inwards, revealing a hidden passage.
"About a month ago, it seems an unknown cargo nad 'Material A' was shipped here. On the surface, they said it was research material for developing anti-Spirit weapons, but the specific contents were completely unknown. There was no storage record on the electronic inventory at all."
Yutsuki pointed inside the hidden door and explained to Kurumi.
"If you want the locked-up Spirit, I think this place is the most likely."
Then, Kurumi didn't reply to Yutsuki's words. Instead, with anxious steps, she dashed straight toward the hidden door.
She feels a bit like she's losing her cool... Whatever. The traps have already been disabled anyway.
Yutsuki frowned. Then, she slowly followed her in.
"..."
After entering, what she saw was a pure white and empty space made of inorganic materials. It looked sowhat similar to the Spirit reception area Yutsuki saw on Kotori's airship back then.
Yutsuki looked around. Besides a few restraint chairs and office equipnt, there was nothing else.
"...Looks like she's not here."
But she had definitely stayed here.
Although very weak, there were indeed lingering Spirit waves from a Spirit using their powers in this room. Yutsuki gently held her chin with her hand, a thoughtful look appearing on her face.
"...Mhm, it seems she was moved away before we got here."
Not knowing if it was just her imagination or sothing, Yutsuki felt a sense of disappointnt coming from Kurumi.
Like the feeling of disappointnt when you're traveling and think you're almost at the finish line, only to find out you've only gone halfway.
"Kurumi, can I ask you a question?"
"Hm? Please go ahead."
Yutsuki took a deep breath, lowered her voice, and asked.
"What is your goal... or rather, what is your wish?"
Yutsuki knew Kurumi was a murderer, but definitely not a homicidal maniac.
From the very beginning, all her actions, while seemingly moody and unpredictable, actually had a very clear purpose.
Rather than saying she was swallowed by her own power and heading towards destruction, the impression Kurumi gave Yutsuki was more like she willingly stepped onto the path of destruction to achieve a certain goal.
"Why do you desire the Spirit power sealed inside Shido? Why did you want to know where the locked-up Spirit was? What is your goal? I feel like, since I've helped you twice already, I should have the right to know your wish."
"Hehe... You really are cunning, Yutsuki-san." After a soft sigh, a rare bitter smile appeared on Kurumi's face. "Rather than the word 'wish,' 'tragic wish' would actually be much more fitting..."
"Tragic wish..."
Yutsuki whispered this word.
"My goal is to return to thirty years ago and kill the very first Spirit that was born into this world... This is!"
"This Spirit power... Shido!"
The topic was forcefully cut off right at the most important part. Yutsuki and Kurumi's faces changed at the sa ti. They looked towards the central main building—where Tohka was locked up—with grave expressions.
Being Spirits, in a way, they could understand so things more sensitively than machines.
A Spirit power was currently changing in a very strange direction.
Like a white piece in Othello being eaten and turning into a black piece. The feeling that its entire nature had been completely flipped.
Although there were still many things they didn't understand, Yutsuki knew this was definitely not a good sign.
"It looks like this might not be the ti for a leisurely chat, Yutsuki-san."
Kurumi looked at the top of the building. The incredibly pitch-black light that flashed made a deeply aningful smile appear on her face.
"...Yeah. Although I'm super curious about the rest of what you were going to say, it looks like we really have to put it aside for now..."
Pressing her temples, Yutsuki showed an expression of having a massive headache.
User Comments
0 comments from readers