Date A Live - Volume 20 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

The Benevolent God 

“--Now, what do you think Tenka? From here, you can see all of Tenguu City.” 

Climbing over a long flight of stairs and reaching a hilltop park, Tohka spoke in a somewhat proud manner. 

Yes. This was the park they visited last year when Shidou and Tohka went on their first date. Located at the end of the staircase and extending alongside the plateau, it was a scene suitable for being called a superb view. Despite being a little laborious to come here, this spot alone was worth it. 

However, after looking around, Tenka moved her lips as if noticing something. 

“Hmm……aah, here. I remember from inside your--” 

“Muu, what was that……”

Tohka grew despondent hearing what Tenka had said. So, Tenka quickly shook her head. 

“No, I remembered wrong. This is the first time. Tell me about it.” 

“! Ooh, is that so!”

Tohka’s expression brightened. Seeing this, Tenka let out a soft sigh. “……Haha.”

What was contained in that sigh was neither inconvenience nor boredom, but rather a feeling close to a peace of mind. Looking at this, Shidou involuntarily loosen his cheeks. 

Certainly, Tenka’s goal was still not known and she also didn’t change from being an opponent where even the slightest hint of negligence couldn’t be afforded. However, when spending time together like this, he couldn’t help but see Tohka and Tenka as a younger sister that wanted to introduce what she treasured and an older sister who cared about her younger sibling the most. 

No, these were Tohka’s actual feelings. After passing through the row of cherry blossoms, Shidou and Tenka were led by Tohka to various places--and these places, restaurants and game centers, were all locations Tohka had previously been before with Shidou or the other Spirits. 

Surely, as her other self, she couldn’t wait to show all of this to Tenka. 

--The fun things she had seen in this world. The happy times spent with everyone. 

As Shidou narrowed his eyes deeply moved, Tohka clapped her hands together as if remembering something. 

“Right, eating soft serve ice cream while watching this scenery is also excellent……hold on. I’ll go to the store below and buy some!” 

“Eh? Then I’ll also go--” 

“No! You two sit on this bench for a while!” 

Tohka raised her palm to interrupt Shidou’s words. Before he could finish speaking, she had already rushed down the stairs they had climbed up. ……Indeed, rather than Shidou helping, it seemed Tohka would be able to finish this much faster by herself. 

“…………” 

“…………” 

But in this manner, a new problem had arisen. Shidou, who was left alone with Tenka in this park now that Tohka was gone, fell silent as his cheeks dripped with cold sweat. 

With today’s date, his impression of Tenka had changed. However, that was only the case when with Tohka and her attitude towards Shidou hasn’t changed much since the beginning. 

Still, he couldn’t let this silence continue further. From the beginning, today’s date was intended to be with Tenka. If he couldn’t open her heart, it would probably be impossible to seal her reiryoku. 

From this perspective, this moment was brought by Tohka’s consideration. Considering that over,

Shidou clenched his fist to encourage himself forward. 

“A-anyway……let’s sit down first.” 

“……Hm.”

After a brief response, Tenka sat down on the bench facing the outer edge of the park. 

Even though she unexpectedly responded back--this just likely obeying the words that Tohka had left. The outcome of deciding victory or defeat in this match had just begun. Shidou sat down besides Tenka as he continued to speak. 

“Hey--how was it today?” 

“…………”

“I enjoyed it. It seems like Tohka also did as well. Is there any place that you liked?” 

“…………” 

“Like the rows of cherry blossoms or the game hall. D-did you find the sakuramochi delicious?” 

“…………”

As Shidou tried to nonchalantly throw a topic to talk about, Tenka merely just looked silently at the cityscape. 

“Muguu……” 

Despite Shidou’s mind already feeling dejected, he still couldn’t afford to give up. He desperately tried to think over if there was a topic that would warrant Tenka’s interest. “Ah, that’s right Tenka. Um--”

“--Why has it become like this.” 

Suddenly, as if to interrupt Shidou, Tenka muttered coldly. 

“Eh……? W-what are you saying?” 

“All of today. --Why did Tohka manifest me? Why did she bring me along on your date? Isn’t it Tohka’s wish to be with you?” 

“That’s--” 

Shidou’s words came to a halt here. 

This wasn’t on the account of Shidou not being able to reply back. The reason why Tohka invited Tenka on this date was because she wanted to enjoy it with Tenka. She only wanted to show her other self the wonderful things that she knew. 

But, Shidou still felt concerned. 

Tenka’s words. --Why was Tenka saying this. 

It was no exaggeration that Tenka was a godlike entity at the moment. But that was why Shidou felt a sense of incongruity. Being easily swayed by Tohka--no, it was as if Tohka was at the center of this world so to speak. 

“Tenka, you--” 

And so, Shidou subconsciously raised the question. 

A question he had already been asked once. --The question that became the starting point for all other questions. 

“--Why did you create this world?” 

“…………”

Hearing what Shidou had asked, Tenka swayed her brow as it twitched. 

Seeing her expression, Shidou thought for a split second that he had made an error. However, having already been said, there was no way out anymore. Moreover, this was something that needed to be addressed eventually. 

Tenka stayed silent for a while, but eventually she snorted from her nose and raised her chin to look down on Shidou. 

“Like I already said, it was because I thought it wasn’t bad to possess the world at the palm of my hands--” 

“--That’s a lie.” 

“…………”

As Shidou spoke while staring directly at her, Tenka frowned while lightly clicking her tongue. 

“You speak quite self-confidently, human. Need there be a reason to pursue strength? Why would I lie?” 

“That--I don’t understand. But, no matter what, I don’t believe you did this for that reason.” 

“How comical. What the hell do you know about me?”

“--I know. At the very least, you love Tohka and it’s in your natural disposition to never concede. And also--you are really kind.” 

“You bastard.”

At the same time Shidou said that, Tenka breathed out in anger as she suddenly stood up from the bench. In an instant, as if conveying her annoyance, she radiated an invisible shockwave from her body. The bench was crushed, the ground caved in, and the nearby fence was released into the sky. Even Shidou was not spared as he was blown away from that spot. 

“Ku……!” 

Despite rolling on the ground, Shidou quickly stood up to face Tenka. Seeing Shidou like this, Tenka narrowed her eyes in a moody manner. 

“Tolerating your insolence and mockery ends now. Raise your head. I’ll detach your head from your shoulders.” 

While speaking, she raised her right hand. Then, jet-black light gathered there to form a giant sword. --<Nahemah>. It was the Demon King wielded by Tenka. 

“Ku……!?” 

Confronted by this ominous feeling of dread, Shidou involuntarily felt his eyebrows tense up. 

Having spent a day together, Shidou felt that Tenka wouldn’t seriously try to kill him. But what was now being emitted from Tenka was unmistakably clear murderous intent. 

Did he have the wrong impression or did Shidou say enough for Tenka to change her mind? Although it wasn’t clear which one it was, he could indeed be killed like this. Shidou sharpened his gaze, concentrated his mind as he shouted loudly. 

“--<Sandalphon>!” 

In response to his call, the Angel of the Sword that formed a pair with <Nahemah> had manifested. Shidou gripped the hilt as he assumed a stance while feeling cold sweat from the tension. 

“<Sandalphon> huh. How courageous of you to choose that to cross swords with me.” Tenka kept a cold look as she raised <Nahemah>, closing in on Shidou in a split second. “Ku……!”

With his life hanging by thread, Shidou parried the sword swung downward. Each time the reiryoku of the Angel and Demon King clashed with each other, a huge shockwave was dispersed to their surroundings. 

“Ho, you stopped it. But how long can you persist with something of that level.” 

“Ku--aaaaaaah!”

Shidou ignored the screams within his body as used all of his strength to deflect <Nahemah> and swing <Sandalphon> forward. 

Of course, he didn’t believe that such an attack would work on Tenka. He predicted that the results would either be blocked or avoided. However, since it was impossible to keep receiving Tenka’s attacks forever, there was no other choice but to initiate this attack. 

However-- 

“……!?” 

Shidou held his breath. 

As soon as Shidou swung down with <Sandalphon>, Tenka relaxed both of her hands and let

<Nahemah> fall from her hands. 

It was as if--she was prepared to accept Shidou’s attack. “------”

Shidou rushed to change the aim of his swing. However, it was extremely difficult to divert the path of <Sandalphon> once it was already been swung down. The Angel of the sword was poised to cut down Tenka’s unprotected shoulders-- 

“--Shidou!” 

But, just at that moment. 

While thinking that such a cry echoed, Shidou felt an impact collide at the right side of his body as he was pushed to the ground by that force. 

“Ouch……T-Tohka?” 

Although astonished by what just had happened, Shidou called out the name of the girl who rushed to embrace him. She was in such a panic that the soft served ice cream in her hands was thrown aside to the ground. 

“Shidou, although I don’t know what happened, please calm down. Tenka is not a bad Spirit.

Tenka created this world--” 

“Tohka.”

Tenka raised her voice to stop Tohka. However, Tohka didn’t pay attention to this as she continued to speak. 

“--Tenka created this world, all for my sake.” 

“--Haah, this really is another huge mess.” 

Wearing the CR-Unit <Vánargandr>, Mana, who was floating in the sky, sighed while watching the scene below. 

But that was also a matter of course. After all, in Mana’s field of vision were the massive ruins of destruction that gave the impression of being over 100 years of accumulated catastrophes. 

The trees were torn down, the ground was hollowed out, and the well maintained sports facilities and public plaza no longer left even a vestige of their former appearance. If showing a photo of this scene to an unaware stranger, it would likely be described with the words “Monster Movie”, “Open Field before Sowing Seeds”, and “Chocolate Cereal”. From this horrible picture, it was unimaginable that this was a green nature park just a few hours ago. 

“If Tohka-san’s power is sealed, the entire world will be restored to how it once was but……ah, ah, really.” 

Recognizing the power and dread of the existence of a Spirit again, Mana sighed once more. 

Despite this, as a result of the fierce battle, the dense remnants of reiryoku could be felt in the surrounding area. 

“……Oh, that’s right.” 

Mana shook her eyebrows as if suddenly remembering something. 

Although it was overlooked for a while due to the many violent acts of the Spirits, there was another reason for why Mana had come to this natural park. 

Yes. In order to search for Spirits that had already exhausted their reiryoku. 

After receiving the report for the end of the battle, Mana cooperated with <Ratatoskr>’s personnel to protect the Spirits……but as of now, there was still some Spirits who weren’t found. 

She issued a command in her brain to activate the Realizer manifestation device mounted on < Vánargandr>. Then, a map of the surrounding area was projected onto Mana’s retina. ……Of course, the terrain has changed drastically from the original topography, so it could only be used for rough coordinates. 

As Mana smiled wistfully, the projected map displayed an icon indicating a life response. 

“--Oh, it’s over there.” 

Mana turned around in the sky and propelled her thrusters to descend straight down to the location indicated by the icon. 

She twisted her body as she landed on the ground. The ensuing wind pressure swayed the leaves of the trees that still remained around. 

“Now--” 

While saying so, she walked to the side of the Spirit who was there--<Ratatoskr> commander Itsuka Kotori was laying on the fallen leaves, in a scandalous appearance after losing her Astral Dress. 

“Kotori-san, Kotori-san. Are you okay?” 

After shaking her shoulders, Kotori let out a small groan as she slowly opened her eyes. 

“Hm……Ma, na……?” 

“Yes. Thanks for the hard work.” 

Mana smiled while replying back. Kotori then observed her surroundings before looking down at herself. 

Then--she immediately stood up, covering her body with her arms. 

“M-Mana, what did you do……!” 

“Please calm down, Kotori-san. You’re still only half-awake.” 

“Eh? Ah……”

After being reminded, Kotori was able to recall the situation. After glancing at her own appearance again, she let out a heavy sigh. 

“Aah--yeah. I lost.” 

“Unfortunately, that seems to be the case.” 

As Mana said that, she took out a set of replacement clothes from a bag and handed it over to Kotori. 

“Please. Although it has gotten warmer, you’ll catch a cold if you stay like that forever.” 

“Un……thank you.”

“No, no. Compared to that, are you okay to stand up? Everyone has gathered together. ……Aah, of course, the search was only done by female personnel, so please rest assured.” 

“I can’t miss that.” 

Kotori laughed as she spoke, letting out a sigh and putting her sleeves on before inquiring. 

“--Speaking of which, who eventually won at the end? Origami? Or Mukuro? No, it may have been a Spirit that wasn’t there at that time. So then……was it Kurumi?” 

As Kotori spoke with an uneasy look, Mana lowered her gaze while shaking her head slowly. 

“The winner--seems to be Yoshino-san.” 

“--Huh?”

Hearing what Mana had said, Kotori widened her eyes in surprise. 

“Yoshino? You’re saying Yoshino……that Yoshino?” 

“Yes. Well, that’s just what Mana has heard. If there is another Yoshino-san besides the one

Mana is familiar with, maybe it’s that one.” 

Listening to Mana reply in a joking manner, Kotori crossed her arms with an astonished look. 

However, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t understand that reaction. In fact, Mana had a similar response when she had first asked Maria about the results of the battle. 

That was not to say that Yoshino’s power was inferior to other Spirits. Yoshino’s <Zadkiel>, which could control cold air and water, was a mighty Angel not to be outdone. Depending on the method of fighting, there was indeed a chance for victory. 

However, due to her gentle personality, pacifistic nature, and usual calm demeanor, one would not make an immediate connection between Yoshino and victory. 

“I see……Yoshino.” 

“Yes……Maria was also very surprised.” 

Mana gave an exaggerated nod before shrugging her shoulders. As an aside, since Nia was defeated midway, the individuals onboard <Fraxinus> had also disappeared and Maria was forced to complain using the speaker on the bridge again. It seemed that she wouldn’t be humoring Nia with any tasty snacks for a while. 

“Please, come over here.” 

“Yes……”

Mana reached out her hand to help Kotori stand up. Then, she covered her Territory around

Kotori’s body as they both ascended up into the sky. 

After flying low for about a minute, they reached where the other Spirits were being looked after just like Kotori. The appearance of <Ratatoskr>’s female staff members could also be seen around. Now, everyone had changed clothes and footwear, with hot drinks being distributed around. 

“Ah, Mana-san, Kotori-san! Over here, over here!” 

Miku, who noticed Mana and Kotori approaching, was vigorously waving her hand. Although Mana noticed that her left hand seemed to be clinging onto someone resembling Natsumi, she decided to ignore this as she landed on the ground once more. 

“Hi, everyone. How are you all feeling?” 

Kotori smiled while walking towards everyone. In response, the Spirits also returned the smile while giving a collective shrug. 

“Well, fighting against each other wasn’t bad. But it’s a shame that I couldn’t win.” 

“Agreement. Standing up and clashing against each other in earnest was quite a comfortable feeling.” 

“Damn! Sure enough, this sort of thing isn’t fair! Let’s try a written test contest next time im?to- chan!” 

And so, while there were some Spirits like Nia who were expressing their regrets, generally speaking everyone had a refreshed look from using all of their strength. Kotori gently sighed as she turned to face Yoshino. 

“I’ve heard about the results. --Congratulations, Yoshino.” 

“Ah--”

Hearing what Kotori had said, Yoshino slightly trembled as she shrank her shoulders back. 

“Thank……you. But……” 

“The winner should be more grandiose, Yoshino-san. Please be more confident. You won by being the last one standing among the Spirits.” 

As Mana was speaking, Yoshino frowned in confusion. 

“Um……really--can it be counted as my win?” 

“Eh?” 

“Yoshino!” 

At that moment, after seemingly escaping from Miku’s clutches, Natsumi raised her voice. 

“N-Natsumi-san……” 

“……Are you still saying that? That’s no good. A win is a win. That person said so as well.” 

“A-alright……”

Hearing what Natsumi had said, Yoshino hesitated for a moment before nodding. Listening on to their conversation, Mana inclined her head in confusion. 

“That person--who is that? What are you talking about?” 

“That’s……”

As Yoshino was about to speak-- “--Kihihi, hihi.”

Ominous laughter erupted from somewhere. 

“……! Tokisaki Kurumi--” 

As Mana cautiously called out that name, the shadows on the ground distorted with Kurumi emerging from there in a black and red dress. 

“Yes, yes. Thank you for the hard work sheltering everyone, Mana-san.” 

“You--”

Looking at her appearance, Mana raised her eyebrows. 

The reason was simple. Kurumi’s body right now was still wearing an Astral Dress. 

Kurumi was also a participant in the battle royal. Moreover, that conflict had already come to an end with Yoshino’s victory. In other words, Kurumi should have also been defeated by someone during this and it would be strange if she was not in a state where she could no longer manifest her Angel or Astral Dress. 

Perhaps noticing Mana thinking this, Kurumi raised the corners of her lips to smile. 

“--Please rest assured. I have already lost. I have no intention of nitpicking Yoshino-san’s victory.” 

“If so, then what’s that thing fluttering on your body? Wasn’t the condition for defeat to exhaust your reiryoku to the point where you are unable to manifest an Angel or Astral Dress?” 

“Yes, yes. You’re right. As you can see--I was defeated by Yoshino-san to the point where I can no longer reveal the Angel <Rasiel> or <Spirit Dress of God’s Authority no. 2>.” 

“……What did you say?”

Mana narrowed her eyes upon hearing Kurumi’s words. 

Upon a closer look, what she was wearing now was--the Gothic Lolita style skirt before taking in Nia’s Sephira Crystal. “…………”

Indeed, that judgement wasn’t impossible if twisting the interpretation of the rules a bit. 

However, for the sake of victory, Mana couldn’t understand why she would act to use a loophole in order to be defeated. She snorted from her nose ever so unpleasantly. 

“……That’s just trifling with cheap sophistry. What the hell are you planning?” 

“Ufufu, for a very simple reason. I needed to retain my reiryoku even after the battle royal was over. --In order to complete some unfinished business.” 

“Unfinished business?” 

“Yes, yes.”

As Mana furrowed her brow while asking, Kurumi continued to smile fearlessly. 

Then, she pulled two ancient pistols from the shadows and directed both of them towards Mana. 

“--After thinking it over, I wish to properly settle this dispute with Mana-san.” 

Then, Kurumi’s smile grew darker. Confronted by this unexpected situation, the Spirits were all noisily in an uproar. 

“Kurumi……!?” 

“Ha……w-what are you doing?” 

“That’s right. Why are you pointing a gun at a friend?” 

The Spirits all spoke out one by one. However, Kurumi didn’t remove her faint smile and lose sight of Mana. 

“……To pull out gun, that’s troubling even if it’s a joke.” 

“Ara, ara. You’re still intending to allow me to treat it as a joke? Is it because of being part of

<Ratatoskr>, that you think I’ve become too soft--well!” 

With a cry, the trigger was pulled. From Kurumi’s rifle and pistol, dark shadows solidified into bullets were shot in rapid succession. 

“Fu--” 

However, Mana, with her vision and reaction time enhanced by the Territory, captured the trajectory of the bullets and unswervingly sank her body to dodge the blows. 

“Fine. My body was aching watching everyone fight anyway. I’ll perform your last rites now!” 

Mana kicked against the ground, using that momentum to avoid the bullets and narrow the distance to Kurumi in an instant. She extended out <Wolftail> in her right, brandishing it in order to aim at mowing down Kurumi’s head. 

“Kihi--” 

However, Kurumi, having foreseen this attack, reclined back to avoid the blow at a very close margin. 

Despite this, Mana had already predicted something of that level. She opened her left hand

<Wolffang> in order to continue chasing after Kurumi, whose posture had crumbled-- “Wha……!”

Suddenly, Mana’s breathing collapsed. 

As her consciousness was sharpened to the limit through the domain of her voluntary territory, the sight of a muzzle being pulled out from the shadow on the ground was reflected in her eyes. 

Although she hurriedly tried to pull back, it was already too late. Accompanied by an icy low pitched sound, the bullet fired had struck Mana’s neck. “Ku--ah……!”

With a cry of anguish, Mana collapsed onto the ground. Kotori and the others quickly rushed over. 

“Mana!” 

“A-are you alright!?” 

Hearing the Spirits’ voices being full of concern, another Kurumi emerged from the ground.

--Likely it was the original Kurumi. 

“Ufufu. It’s not like Mana-san to be fooled by such a low level approach.” 

“But if Mana-san was really serious, my head would have been already detached from my neck.

If she was really trying to kill me, she would have taken one more step forward.” 

The Kurumi first present--or rather a clone spoke while stroking her neck. Then, the original Kurumi opened her eyes in astonishment. 

“--Ara, ara. In other words, you were trying to make me powerless without killing me. You’ve really become--so gentle.” 

Kurumi sighed before continuing to speak. 

“……Gu--” 

While listening to such voices, Mana touched her neck with her trembling hand. 

--No pain. Bleeding--was absent as well. In other words, this was no ordinary bullet. So which bullet was it? Since time hadn’t stopped it wasn’t the Seventh Bullet <Zayin>. Then-- “……Ah, ah, ahhhhhhhhhhh……!?”

The next moment, Mana felt the contents of her head overwhelmed like a spectacular mess. She felt a dreadful dizziness as the urge to vomit surged like the raging waves. Her field of vision flickered as her body collapsed from the anguish of being stun like a pincushion. 

“Mana! Mana! Hey, Kurumi……! What did you just do to Mana!?” 

Kotori’s angry voice echoed in her head. Then, she heard Kurumi laughing. 

“Did I already say it? I’ve come to properly settle this dispute. --But, it is disappointing that Mana-san really wasn’t planning on killing me.” 

“What the hell are you talking about--” 

“--Aaaaaaaaaaaa--!”

As if to interrupt Kotori, Mana screamed like a ferocious beast. 

Then, as the feeling snarling her head began to settle down, she powerlessly tried to stand up while sweating profusely. 

“Mana!” 

Kotori shook her shoulders. Mana somehow managed to adjust her breathing as she raised her face. 

“Kotori……san……” 

However, she suddenly noticed that something was amiss. --Her body felt heavy. There was no freedom in her limbs as if her body was bounded by a mass of iron. 

Thinking of this, Mana changed her mode of thought. Certainly, her body was currently dressed in a mass of metal called the CR-Unit. The reason she was able to move freely was because her entire body was wrapped in the Voluntary Territory. Does that mean Kurumi’s bullet inhibited the formation of the Voluntary Territory? 

“…………, ……” 

Suddenly, while considering that possibility, Mana looked up at Kurumi with a stinging glare. 

“Ufufu, isn’t that unsightly look of crawling on the ground quite suitable for you?” 

“……It feels disgusting. --Rather than dying, to be saved by you.”

As Mana spoke while distorting her lips, Kurumi smiled happily once more. 

“--Ara, ara. I intended to pull them all out, but it seems there was one fang left.” 

While listening to that joke, Mana lowered her head as she lost consciousness. 

“For Tohka--this world was created……?” 

As Shidou was left confused, alternating between staring at Tohka who was hugging him and Tenka whose expression remained unchanged. 

Then, Tohka opened her lips to begin to speak. 

“……Umu. After making Tenka appear in the classroom, a little bit of her consciousness flowed into my head. It was just like the feeling of the pathway of the seal.” 

“----?” 

Shidou felt his throat gulp as he reached out for Tohka’s extended hand to stand back up. 

So that was it, Shidou remembered that sensation. When sealing a Spirits’ reiryoku through a kiss, part of that Spirits consciousness or memories might flow in as well. Not to mention Tohka and Tenka were a pair that shared the same body. It wasn’t unthinkable to imagine this would happen with those two living a shared existence juxtaposed with each other. 

“……Sorry Shidou. I should have told you earlier. But……” 

“No, it’s okay. ……Compared to that, thank you for stopping me, Tohka. If I continued like that, I might have cut Tenka.” 

--Of course, he didn’t believe that single blow from himself was enough to kill Tenka. Staring at Tenka while thinking over this, Tenka snorted from her nose in displeasure. 

“An unnecessary act. Even <Sandalphon> used by that human is enough to break this temporary body. --There’s not much time left. At the very least, you should spend the remaining time left alone together with that human.” 

“Tenka……” 

Tohka’s expression changed quite sadly. 

Looking at this exchange between these two, Shidou felt his expression tense up even more. 

“Wait a moment, I can’t keep up. What are you talking about?” 

“…………”

“…………” 

Listening to what Shidou was asking, both Tohka and Tenka closed their mouths. But after a while, Tohka seemed determined to raise her face.

“Do you remember Shidou? When we fought against Mio, before Shidou used the Sixth Bullet

<Vav>--the world where all of the Spirits were killed.” 

“! That’s--”

Shidou gasped for air in vain. Needless to say, that event was deeply engraved in his memories--but he didn’t expect Tohka to remember the world before it was changed. 

However, it was reasonable when considering it over. The current Tohka had taken in Mio’s

Sephira Crystal within her body. So even if she knew this, it wasn’t unbelievable. 

“Aah……I remember. At that time--I had given up when Tohka saved me.” 

“……Umu. That’s exactly it.”

“Eh?” 

As Shidou asked, Tohka continued on while keeping a distant look. 

“At that time, all of the Spirits were deprived of their Sephira Crystals by Mio and died from

<Ain Soph Aur>. --But, only I somehow managed to recover within Mio’s consciousness. It was thanks to Tenka being there.” 

“……Humph.” 

As Tohka turned towards her, Tenka averted her eyes away. Although her expression was still cold, her behavior seemed to be acting to cover up her own embarrassment. 

“I was just a voice calling out. There was a more fundamental reason why Tohka could wake up in that woman’s body. --You best remember, human. The Spirits whose Sephira were taken by that woman were exposed as human corpses. But only for Tohka, even her body didn’t remain.” 

“Umu--” 

Nodding to Tenka’s words, Tohka turned over to look at Shidou. 

“Everyone else were ex-humans who were turned into Spirits by Mio’s hands. But I alone--had been born as a personality from within the Sephira Crystal, a pure Spirit so to speak.” 

“…………” 

Shidou nodded silently. --He had already known this. It was because he had heard it from Tohka herself before sending his consciousness back to the past through the Sixth Bullet <Vav>. 

Then, Tenka softly sighed while picking the topic back up. 

“The Spirits are that woman--Takamiya Mio and those granted Sephira Crystals by her. Even when tracing the source of that power, all of it still belongs to Takamiya Mio.” 

“Tell me, what does that mean?” 

--Thump. 

Shidou felt his heart pound violently. 

“So what will happen to the Spirits now that woman has disappeared? What about the Sephira Crystal within our body?” 

--Thump, thump. 

His heartbeat grew even fiercer. 

It was as if report a danger to Shidou. 

The words that will follow--as if begging him to not listen to that. But the truth was mercilessly told. 

“--With the elimination of Takamiya Mio, the powers of all of the Spirits will disappear. 

Everything will return back to normal. Humans will be restored back to humans, but those that lack a vessel--will revert back into nothingness.” 

“------------” 

--A fierce dizziness attacked his entire body. 

His heart rang like than the morning bell, his breathing became shallower and faster, sweat spewed out from his pores as his back was soaked. 

--Just now, what did Tenka say? 

For a moment, he suspected that his ears and head were out of order. No--this wasn’t a suspicion but rather a wish. Every cell composing his body was trying to reject the information that was just provided. How can he deny this? It didn’t matter if this was a bad joke that Tenka rushed. He hoped desperately she would huff coldly in her usual manner and inform him that was a lie. 

With movements like a rusty machine, Shidou turned to Tohka for his final salvation. 

“…………” 

But Tohka’s sad smile shattered all of his last hopes. “Hey……please wait. This……what, ah……” 

A hoarse voice emerged from his throat. 

Tohka gently reached to cover Shidou’s shivering hands. 

“If Mio’s Sephira Crystal disappears, I will also disappear. Tenka, who realized this, absorbed that Sephira crystal in order to create this world. 

--All so I could spend a little more time with everyone before everything ends.” 

“….........”

Upon hearing Tohka’s words, Tenka silently looked away while crossing her arms. But that silence was more eloquent in conveying her kindness than mere words could. “Toh, ka……”

Shidou was trapped in a mess of thoughts, not knowing what to say other than dumbly call out her name. 

“--……” 

But then he noticed. 

Tohka’s hand, which was grabbing his own, was also slightly trembling. “------”

In an instant, Shidou’s confusion was met with the feeling of cold water being splashed on his face. 

Perhaps because Tohka’s condition was extremely calm, he hadn’t been able to notice such a natural thing until now. 

The hopeless information had brought a sudden shock. It was natural to be confused and desperate, shuddering while feeling helpless. 

However, the one definitely most afraid--was Tohka herself. 

Yet, Tohka still had a gentle expression while quietly telling the truth to Shidou. 

Why? --She had decided. To prevent Shidou from being scared. To not spent the last of her limited time crying and filled with grief. 

Therefore, he couldn’t remain like this. Shidou suppressed violent emotions bustling within his heart as he tightly gripped Tohka’s hands. 

“! Shidou--” 

“--Tohka, I……!” 

But, just as Shidou was trying to convey his decision to Tohka. 

“……!? Wha--” 

As if the world was pulsating, an earthquake trembled.

Then, the sky lost its color as if having been bleached--from the horizon a crack emerged. It seemed as if there was a huge existence trying to crush the world itself. Confronted by this abnormal phenomenon, Shidou couldn’t help but widen his eyes. 

“This, is……” 

“--Humph.”

As if to interrupt Shidou’s voice, Tenka squinted while looking up at the sky. 

“Because you were so slow, it is already coming.” 

“Coming……what are you saying!?”

As Shidou asked while yelling, Tenka kept staring at the sky. 

“--The end of this world.” 

“……Kurumi, will you explain this to us?” 

Lifting her gaze from Mana on the floor, Kotori let out a voice marked with doubt. 

However, Kurumi, who was under Kotori’s scrutiny, merely gave a playful smile while shrugging her shoulders. 

Certainly, Kurumi had shot Mana. However, there wasn’t a single wound on Mana, who had received the bullet. Despite losing consciousness, her pulse was still stable. Kurumi, in the end she-- 

As Kotori was considering this over, Origami came from behind and squatted down to observe

Mana’s condition. She opened the lid on the back of the CR-Unit and frowned slightly. 

“--This is.” 

“What, what happened, Origami.” 

As Kotori asked, Origami pointed to the flashing red light on the back of the device. 

“The Realizer of <Vánargandr> has failed. The commands from the transmitter have not been received. To be more precise, the response itself is gone.” 

“……! That means that--”

“Yes. It’s just like an average person who is not a Wizard wearing the device.” 

Origami lowered her eyes to focus on what seemed to be a button on the back of the device. 

The next moment, Mana’s body faintly glowed as the CR-Unit returned back to being the emergency dressing device. Origami carried Mana, who was now in her civilian clothes, so that she could lie on a blanket set by one of <Ratatoskr>’staff members. 

After looking at this scene, Kotori turned her attention towards Kurumi. 

“……Kurumi, no way you--” 

“--Kihihi, hihi.”

Kurumi playfully laughed while shrugging her shoulders. 

Then, as if matching with that, the gun in her hands, her Astral Dress, even her clone, all melted away in the shadows. 

“That’s a full-fledged Fourth Bullet <Dalet> with all of the reiryoku left within me. 

--Are fangs and claws truly necessary for a wolf that has lost its killing intent?” 

“------”

After hearing Kurumi say that, Kotori was at a loss for words. Then, the voices from the puzzled Spirits echoed from behind. “Um……what does this mean?” 

“Mana-san……will she be okay?” 

Kotori glanced over to them, nodding a “yes” to them with sweat dripping down her face. 

“……As everyone knows, here is an ideal world created by Tohka. Everything is convenient, everything goes smoothly. Even DEM’s magic treatment that eroded Mana’s body has become ‘non-existent’. However, if Shidou’s date goes smoothly, the world will be restored to its original state. --That of course means Mana’s body as well.” 

“Eh? Then you’re saying--” 

“Amazement. I can’t believe it all at once.” 

Upon listening to Kotori, the Spirits all turned to Kurumi with widened eyes. 

Everyone probably understood. --Kurumi had used rewinding time ability of the Fourth Bullet

<Dalet> to restore Mana’s body to a state before DEM’s magic treatment had occurred. “--Ara, ara. I’ll be embarrassed if everyone stares so much.”

With everyone’s attention on her, Kurumi twisted her naked body. Kotori sighed at this gesture as she took out a change of clothes from a bag that a staff member had brought and threw it to Kurumi. 

“Change of clothes. Can’t you not always be like this?” 

“My apologizes for imposing on your care.”

Kurumi said while changing clothes. Miku’s voice was heard yelling, “Ah! Just a little longer--!” from behind. However, Kotori choose to ignore this for the time being as she turned to speak to Kurumi. 

“…..Thank you. Compared to that, she’s okay now? That child is almost like my little sister.

--But, what a surprise. I thought that you and Mana have been mutually trying to kill each other for a while now.” 

“Ufufu.”

As Kotori spoke, Kurumi lightly shrugged her shoulders. 

“Certainly, a lot of ‘us’ have been killed by Mana-san……but in the end that was all DEM’s doing. And--” 

“And?”

“Actually, I don’t hate it. An ‘ally of justice’ like Mana-san.” 

After frivolously saying those words, Kurumi smiled. 

“……Hmm?” 

Although it was difficult to judge if this was intentionally a joke, but feeling that those words were too mismatched for Kurumi, Kotori couldn’t help but smile as well. 

Then--it was just at this moment. 

The surrounding air trembled just like an earthquake as the sky was bleached white. 

“Ha……!? W-what is this……” 

“Kya--!? A cataclysm!?”

Immediately, the voices of the surrounding Spirits were full of confusion and panic. During that time, Kurumi quietly looked up at the sky and muttered.

“Ara, ara. Finally, is it time?” 

“Kurumi, do you know what is happening!?” 

“Yes. To express it simply……this world is about to reach its end.” 

Kurumi sighed a little as she spoke. In turn, Kotori let out a “wha…..!” as her eyes widened. “It can’t be, you’re saying that Shidou didn’t make it in time!?”

Then, another Spirit came from behind to console Kotori. --It was Nia. 

“--Okay, okay, calm down imoto-chan. It’s not over yet. Probably not.” 

It seemed just like Kurumi, Nia had expected this to occur. She continued to speak in an extremely calm manner. 

“We’ve done all we can do. What happens next depends on boy. We need to believe in him and wait.” 

“But--” 

As Kotori furrowed her brow anxiously, Nia placed her finger in front of Kotori’s lips to prevent her from speaking. Then, she continued to speak while giving a wink. 

“You should know that boy is at his coolest during these moments, right?” 

“…………” 

Listening to Nia, Kotori gently sighed. 

Then, in the same manner, the Spirits that all looked uneasy also realized this. They then turned to each other and nodded. 

“Yes……if it is Shidou-san, I’m sure it will be fine.” 

“Mun……I have faith in Nushi-sama.”

“Kaka, we have already done this far. He is not the sort of man who would waste that in vain.” 

“Trust. No matter what sort of opponent, Shidou will definitely prevail.”

“That’s right?. Even Inverse Tohka-san will surely be defeated!” 

“Yes. One would have to be certainly weak to lose to a woman like her.” 

“……Is that okay since that Tohka seems to be the ruler of this world? Can’t she hear you say that?” 

In that manner, everyone spoke out in turn. Hearing their voices, Kotori exhaled gently while scratching her head. 

“……All right, everyone is daring to throw me out and boast like a little sister would. --In that case, it is also impossible for me to not believe in him.” 

As Kotori spoke, the Spirits strongly nodded in agreement. Kurumi looked at them with satisfaction before turning to the sky. “Now Shidou-san. The next step is your moment.

--Come slowly, please don’t regret it.” 

--Cracks emerged from the sky, peeling off just like an eggshell. 

--The surface of the ground creaked as the constant tremors resounded like a scream. 

It was the feeling that a single creature known as the world was about reach the end of its life. Looking at this horrifically illusory scene, Shidou lost the ability to speak for a while. 

But, among them. 

“--Humph.” 

Tenka, standing at the edge of the park, didn’t tremble at all as she snapped her fingers. Immediately afterwards, the ice cream that Tohka had dropped earlier was restored to its original state and settled into Tenka’s hands. 

Tenka continued on while licking the ice cream. 

“So it turned out to be a superb view. --Staring at the end of the world with ice cream in hand feels unexpectedly quite good.” 

“……Hey, what are you doing!?”

Faced with Tenka’s unexpected move, Shidou couldn’t help but scream. Then, Tenka turned her eyes to glare at him. 

“What are you doing. Are you going to waste the snacks that Tohka brought?” 

“No, I didn’t mean that--mogaah!?”

In the middle of speaking, Shidou felt his eyes forcibly rolled back. The second ice cream, which had been restored in rhythm to Tenka’s finger movements, had leaped into his mouth. “S-Shidou! Are you alright!?”

Tohka asked quite worriedly. Incidentally, the last ice cream had gently landed on Tohka’s hands. “Uhuh……ugh.”

Shidou forcibly swallowed the ice cream shoved in his mouth and nodded to respond back to Tohka. 

Then, as if to follow this, the shaking from the world grew stronger-- An enormous ‘something’ appeared amidst the fallen sky.

“Wha--what……” 

Looking to the sky, his voice leaked out as he was overcome by surprise. 

That thing--it was an enormous hand. 

A radiant white hand shone from the other end of the broken sky, shattering the remaining portions of the original sky. 

Then, like bathing in the debris in the sky, the owner of that hand emerged. Seeing that, Shidou felt his breathing clog up.

But that wasn’t impossible either. Rather than that appearance being completely unknown to

Shidou--it was because it was known that he fell into physical disorder. 

--Standing on top of the heavens, a giant. 

The figure of a beautiful girl with long hair was standing there. 

An expressionless face. A pair of eyes that lack any sort of consciousness. Except for that long hair, there was nothing covering up that grayish glossy skin, with the curves of the breasts and abdomen completely exposed. 

And growing from the back--was countless huge wings. 

An appearance precisely like an angel from the old myths. Everyone knows this, but it was the greatest illusory scene never seen beforehand. 

However, it wasn’t those factors that caused Shidou’s eyes to be mesmerized. “Mi, o……?”

Stunned, he let out his voice. 

That’s right. The giant from the other side of the broken sky had the exact appearance as the Spirit of Origin •Takamiya Mio. 

“--Ugh.” 

Then, as if listening to Shidou’s whisper, Tenka pursed her brow. 

“--It’s too pitiful to compare it to that woman. --It’s not self-aware. Merely only information engraved on itself to imitate the appearance of Takamiya Mio.” 

“……Do you know what that is?”

As Shidou asked, Tenka threw the ice cream cone into her mouth while replying back. 

“The embodiment of the Sephira Crystal’s defensive instinct--its ‘immunity’ so to speak.” 

“Immunity……?” 

“Yes. The power of Takamiya Mio’s Sephira Crystal is too great. Even the body of her daughter Tohka was not fully compatible with it. Until now, I’ve been using reiryoku to tamper with that, but even that seems to have reached the limit.” 

Despite this, Tenka continued on. 

“Well, maintaining it this long was already impressive. --Give thanks to the Spirits later.” 

“Eh?”

Hearing this, Shidou rounded his eyes. So, Tohka added a supplement to what was said. 

“It seems Kotori, Origami, and the others have given us power to help make this world last a bit longer. Likely without everyone’s help, it would have become this a lot faster.” 

“Oh, so that’s what they were doing......!?”

Suddenly, just at the moment Shidou said that. 

---------------------------------- 

The enormous ‘Mio’ gave a cry as if singing. “! Shidou!”

“--!?” 

At the same time he heard his name being called out by Tohka, his body was suddenly pulled to the side. 

Then, at the next moment, perhaps as the lips of ‘Mio’ squeezed shape to let out a sigh--the elevated park that Shidou and the others were located at disappeared as the entire ground was hallowed out. 

“……!? Wha--” 

Shidou, who escaped into the sky under Tohka’s arms, felt his voice chock at the terrible sight.

It was neither crushed nor torn. A literal ‘disappearance’ where not even rubble or debris was left remaining. Just like using an eraser on the unsatisfied portions of a sketch, an unnatural blank space was born there. 

“Unnn! Un?!” 

As Tohka landed on the ground that was barely left, she let out such a voice. She seemed to be asking, ‘Are you okay Shidou!” but for some reason her voice sounded inexplicably unclear. 

Looking closely, he could see her mouth holding the ice cream cone just like a bird’s beak. It appeared that she didn’t want to throw away the ice cream in her hands so she hastily threw it into her mouth. 

“T-Tohka……” 

It was an excessively Tohka like act and demeanor even during this crisis. Shidou couldn’t help but smile towards that. 

Then, as if responding to this, the huge “Mio’ echoed a voice once again.

----?Non-conforming body. Avoiding attacks. Survival, conformation. Proceed, destroy. ?

“……” 

The tone of Mio’s voice spun just like the cold words coming from an inorganic machine. From that extraordinary sense of unease, Shidou frowned involuntarily. 

The Mio that Shidou knew was already dead. He was forced to recognize that fact once again. Rather than resembling her more, it was better that the voice was completely different. 

“Humph--” 

While huffing from her nose, Tenka danced in the air to evade the attack. She then let out a small sigh before landing besides Tohka. 

“It’s quite crude. It must view me as an intolerable ‘pathogen’ that needs to be expelled. Despite its master undoubtedly no longer being alive, it can still think to that level.” 

She spewed those words out. However, from her gaze a feeling similar to pity could be felt. 

“What are you going to do……?” 

“This should be known. This is a rejection system formed to eliminate the foreign object known as ‘me’. It won’t stop attacking until eliminating ‘me’. If so, then there’s nothing more than to defeat it.” 

Well, Tenka continued to speak while narrowing her eyes. 

“To defeat it is the equivalent of breaking the Sephira Crystal. A few minutes or a few hours later--no matter the difference the end of this world will still be the same.” 

“Wha……!” 

Shidou shuddered upon hearing what Tenka had said. That’s right. The end of this world was also the equivalent for being the end of Tohka’s life. 

Perhaps guessing his thoughts from Shidou’s expression, Tenka added a supplement to what she said before. 

“--From the moment this happens, destruction became inevitable. Either being killed by this now or killed after knocking that down.” 

“…………”

His heart was shaking despite his resolve to steel himself. Shidou gritted his teeth and clench his fist firmly to the point that his hand was bleeding. 

But at the next moment, a gentle voice could be heard speaking to him. 

“Wait a while, Shidou. I’ll finish this soon. 

--Our date is still going on.” 

“……! Tohka--”

After hearing her say that, Shidou swiftly inhaled a single breath in. 

And so, he swallowed the surging emotions--choosing instead to smile back. 

“……Aah, yeah.” 

That’s right. Answers and the like, there was no need to think about it. 

Even if it was only for a few minutes, as long as there was time to be spent with Tohka--there was no other choice but for him to defeat this intrusion. 

As this idea was being transmitted back to Tohka, she nodded with a smile. 

“But can you really defeat that? It’s too absurd……” 

Shidou looked up to the huge ‘Mio’ and frowned. Then, Tohka shook her head once again. “--Aah. If it is us, then.”

Tohka said while nodding one more time as she took a step forward towards ‘Mio’. 

Then, as if to match her, Tenka also stood next to Tohka. 

“--Sorry, Tenka. Please lend me your strength.” 

“What’s the need to apologize? I am you. --From the very beginning, I intended to do this.” 

Tohka and Tenka exchanged brief words and softly nodded to each other, embracing each other at close quarters. 

At the next moment, the silhouettes of the two fused into one--releasing out a dazzling light. 

“------!” 

From the extraordinary light, Shidou reflexively shielded his eyes. And then, when the light had finally settled down.

--There was a single girl wearing a beautiful Astral Dress standing in their place. 

“Toh, ka--?” 

Seeing that figure, Shidou called out her name while stunned. 

He was well aware of his own somewhat dazed question, but he couldn’t help himself anyway.

--The girl that appeared here was clearly Tohka, but her atmosphere was a bit different from Tohka. 

Her beautiful hair was tied up in a single ponytail; the Astral Dress covering her entire body was just like a princess in armor. On her back, there were beautiful wings reminiscent of Mio’s Astral Dress. 

From her eyes, there was a slight difference in color. 

The right eye resembled Tohka, while the left eye felt like Tenka. 

As Shidou stared, he finally figured out the true identity of the mysterious feeling given by this girl. 

That’s right. The girl in front of his eyes--Tohka and Tenka, it was the appearance of the two completely fused as one. 

“--Umu.” 

The girl nodded quietly. That reliable and gentle tone was undoubtedly Tohka’s voice. “--I’m heading out now, Shidou.” 

Tohka left those words behind as she leaped into the sky to attack that giant. 

--This was truly a mysterious feeling. 

Tohka and Tenka, it should be a single existence returning back to its original state, but her body felt full of power like never before. 

Almost overflowing with reiryoku, her Astral Dress released dazzling radiance. Right now it felt possible to crush a star with a single finger. ……Of course, she didn’t intend to do such a thing since Shidou would scold her for that. 

(--This is natural of course. I have been using that reiryoku to maintain this world and suppress the ‘immune function”. Although it’s not complete, we are at the same level of power as mother.) “Ooh!?”

Then, suddenly hearing Tenka’s voice echo in her head, Tohka yelled out in surprise. (What are you surprised about now? Wasn’t I just absorbed into you just now?) “Muu…..no, but even so, I didn’t expect to hear a voice in my head.”

Tohka slowly tightened her fist as the outline of her lips formed a smile. 

“But--um, how to describe it. This feels good. The feeling of fighting alongside with Tenka is being strongly conveyed. If possible, it would have been nice to be able to talk to each other earlier. Have you always been within me?” 

(Don’t be unreasonable. After all, the only reason I can be with you is due to the act of forcibly taking in mother’s power.) 

“Mu……I see. But……” 

Tohka nodded as her smile grew thicker. 

“--Even if I can’t hear your voice, Tenka has always been with me. At that time--even at that time as well. Thank you so much.” (…………Humph.)

As Tohka finished speaking, Tenka breathed out as if a little embarrassed. 

(--Compared to this, concentrate on that. It’s the system authority left in Takamiya Mio’s Sephira Crystal. In other words, it has the same level of strength as us. Don’t let your guard down.) 

“Umu! I understand!” 

As Tohka responded to Tenka’s voice, she spread out her arms in the air. Then, she chanted, the name of the strongest Angel she had the most faith in. “--<Sandalphon>!”

In an instant, the empty space trembled as a golden throne manifested from the light. 

But that wasn’t all. Continuing on, Tohka yelled. “--<Nahemah>!”

She called out the name of the honorable Demon King. 

Immediately, in response to her voice, the darkness coiled together as a silver throne with a sword on top revealed itself. 

That’s right. It was Tenka’s Demon King, <Nahemah>. 

Tohka, who had merged together with Tenka, could also exert this power now. 

“Fu----” 

Tohka pressed her hands forward. Then following those movements, the huge swords on the two thrones were pulled forth and settled into Tohka’s hands. 

On her right hand <Sandalphon>. On her left hand <Nahemah>.

With command over two incomparably powerful kings, Tohka screamed as she swung down with both hands. 

“--Ooooooooooooooooooooooooh--!” 

A sword flash from both <Sandalphon> and <Nahemah> tore apart the air and bisected both arms of the huge ‘Mio’.

----?Damage. Both arms. Target. Survival. Exclusion. Exterm--? 

Particles of reiryoku fluttered and sparkled from the cross section of the huge ‘Mio’s’ arms, as it stirred its body in agony. However, Tohka’s attack didn’t end here. She swung a slash from both swords again, both light and darkness engraved a cross-shape into ‘Mio’s’ chest. 

But--just at that moment.

----------------------------------

The huge ‘Mio’ let out a consciously loud howl, bending her head backwards, as a new face grew from the space above her breasts. 

“Wha……!?” 

(Tch--) 

Such an act was truly beyond all expectations. Tohka widened her eyes as she heard the sound of Tenka clicking her tongue in her mind. 

Meanwhile, ‘Mio’s’ fresh face squirmed her lips to release a sigh. --Yes, it was the same movements she made when annihilating the elevated park in an instant. 

“Ku……!” 

She focused her concentration as she filled her body brimming with reiryoku. The next moment--an invisible shockwave struck Tohka. 

“……! Tohka--” 

Shidou, who was looking at the battle between ‘Mio’ and Tohka on the ground, screamed. 

The moment Tohka cut off both of ‘Mio’s’ arms, a new face grew from her chest and fired an attack aimed at Tohka. 

“Ku……!” 

The ground behind Tohka was wordlessly erased in a split second. Although Tohka managed to consolidate her defenses to avoid being eliminated, that didn’t completely offset the power of that sigh. She was shot down from the sky and collided at the place where the ground used to be. 

“Ku, ah--” 

Tohka used her sword as a cane in order to stand up. With cracks emerging everywhere on her Astral Dress, it seemed she was reaching her limit even being able to stand up with her two feet.

--?Arms. Regeneration. Target. Conformation.?

However, ‘Mio’s’ attacks didn’t stop there. ‘Mio’ grew two new arms at the stump of her old torn ones, stretching it out towards Tohka. 

“Make it in time……! <Raphael>!” 

Shidou focused his consciousness to exert the power of the Angel sealed within his body. 

With wind covering his body, he soared into the air. Flying at a high speed, Shidou called out the name of the next Angel. 

“<Metatron>!” 

In an instant, countless ‘feathers’ appeared around Shidou, emitting rays of light towards ‘Mio’ all at once. But-- “Wha……!”

The light beams emitted from <Metatron> only thinly pricked ‘Mio’s’ skin. Moreover, the wounds inflicted were regenerated in mere seconds. 

But was also reasonably expected as well. Even though this huge ‘Mio’ was like a system without a will, it was still a part of Mio’s Sephira Crystal. --Only those with the same power as Mio could harm Mio. This was a fact he painfully experienced in the previous battle. 

“Ku--how can I……give up! And my date with Tohka isn’t over yet……!”

He summoned one Angel after another, releasing repeated attacks in an effort to stop ‘Mio’. However, ‘Mio’ kept attacking Tohka, remaining in state oblivious of Shidou’s existence.

Staggering, Tohka was using all of her might just to avoid this attack. 

“Mio……!” 

Shidou knew that ‘this’ was not Mio. 

However--it became unbearable to hold back his screams any longer. Mio, the one who had sacrificed her life to save everyone. 

The one thing he never wanted to see again was her face being used to attack Tohka. 

“Mioooooooo--!” 

--Then. 

It happened at the same time Shidou was screaming. 

“----Don’t worry.” 

Shidou had just heard such a voice. 

“……Huh--?” 

Shidou unintentionally stopped his hand, as he looked at the huge ‘Mio’s’ face. 

That face still showed no expression. It was just mercilessly trying to eliminate Tohka’s existence. 

Then, he noticed. Rather than hearing that voice directly in his ear, it was heard directly in his head. 

“Just now, was……” 

As Shidou opened his eyes, he placed his hand against his forehead. A hallucination caused by the extreme condition.

No. 

The voice of ‘Mio’ uttered to mislead Shidou? 

No. 

Definitely just now-- 

“--You have power. Help Tohka.” 

“………!”

With conviction, Shidou raised his face. 

“--------” 

The huge ‘Mio’ raised its freshly grown arm to challenge Tohka. A ray of intense reiryoku was emitted from each fingertip, changing the surrounding scenery in an instant. (Tohka!)

“U, mu……I’m fine. I can somehow avoid it.” 

While Tohka managed to move her aching body, she responded to voice inside her head. 

“But this is turning into a one-sided defensive battle. There must be a clue caught in its behavior to begin the counterattack-- 

And so, as if to stop those words, the rays of light began to dance chaotically. 

The reason was simple. ‘Mio’s’ hand began firing many rays of light. Starting from its palm, as mentioned earlier, ‘Mio’s’ small face began to expand. 

“Ku--” 

--Careless. Tohka’s face stiffened as she frowned. ‘Mio’s’ rays of light were only a decoy.

It was all for the sake of releasing the strongest “sigh” at the timing where Tohka could not avoid-- 

But. The expected impact didn’t come for some time. The moment that ‘Mio’ was trying to release that “sigh”. “--Ain Soph Aur>!”

As she wondered where such a cry resonated from, a huge flower appeared above ‘Mio’s’ head. 

The huge flower with the statue of a girl at the center of its petals shed down light into the sky--silencing both arms as ‘Mio’s’ face that was about to release the “sigh” at Tohka. 

It was neither crushed nor torn. It was as if all life was lost from the part where the light touched as ‘Mio’s’ arms fell to the ground. Seeing that sight, Tohka involuntarily widened her eyes. “Wha……!?” 

(It’s that idiot.) 

Tenka’s voice echoed in her head as if to match Tohka’s astonishment. 

But that wasn’t unreasonable either. After all, it was one of Takamiya Mio’s Angels--the Angel of death that would plunder away all life, <Ain Soph Aur>. 

However, Tohka’s surprise was not only for the appearance of <Ain Soph Aur>. The voice that had called out the name of that angel was unmistakably-- “Shidou!”

“--Aah!” 

As Tohka called out his name, Shidou rose above the ground as he strongly nodded back. Yes. It was unbelievable that it was Shidou who had caused Mio’s Angel to manifest. “Let’s go Tohka. --Let’s finish this early and continue the date.”

Shidou smiled as he spoke. Tohka widened her eyes in surprise for a moment-- “……Umu!”

And with that, she returned the smile. 

“------------” 

‘Mio’ stirred in agony, moving to cut off its own right arm as a matter of course. The next moment, a new arm was grown again from the cut surface. It began to shake once again to fire off beams of light. 

(Hmm, as one might expect it is certainly tenacious. --Can you keep going?) 

“Aah, of course!” 

Responding to Tenka’s voice, with <Sandalphon> on her right hand and <Nahemah> with her left hand, she swung down and sliced off “Mio’s’ finger. 

Meanwhile, Tohka weaved and danced in the sky, approaching closer to ‘Mio’s’ body. “------------”

Detecting Tohka’s approach, from its original head, the pit of ‘Mio’s’ stomach grew as she tried to release the ‘sigh’ from its face. 

However-- 

“--<Ain Soph>.” 

At that moment, Shidou’s voice echoed again from somewhere. A huge tree bearing a statue of a girl appeared behind “Mio’s’ back--from there as the starting point, a monochrome space began to spread out. 

The Angel of laws, <Ain Soph>. If tracing the origin, it was no exaggeration to say that this world was formed by the power of this Angel. 

Captured by the power of its roots, ‘Mio’s’ movements came to a complete stop. “--Haaaaaaaah!”

It was not like Tohka to miss that chance. With both <Sandalphon> and <Nahemah> swung, Tohka vertically bisected ‘Mio’s’ body. 

However, even then ‘Mio’ would not fall. Even when bounded by <Ain Soph>, the sliced left and right halves extend out a tentacle like protrusion as if trying to recombine once again. 

“Ku……this is endless!” 

Tohka unintentionally furrowed her brow. Then, as if responding to that, Shidou raised his voice. “There must be something like a core that makes up that ‘Mio’! I have to break it!” 

“Wha……Shidou?”

(That’s surprisingly accurate. But how does he intend to do that?) “--Please leave it to me.”

Shidou smiled as if he could hear Tenka’s voice echo in Tohka’s head. Then, he kicked off against the ground, dancing through the sky and reaching above ‘Mio’s’ head. 

And so, he shouted. 

The name of that Angel. 

“----<Ain>!” 

That moment. 

“------------” 

As if considering the pure white light released from Shidou’s hand, ‘Mio’ screamed a tremendous cry. 

That should be it. What Shidou revealed was the last angel possessed by Mio--the moment it was activated, the Angel of the void <Ain> returned everything to nothingness. 

--After a few seconds later, the light gradually faded away. 

There was no longer the appearance of a huge “Mio’ there. 

No--to be precise, the entire huge exterior was erased. Only the human sized core of ‘Mio’ remained, covered in <Ain Soph> as if playing around. 

“Now! Tohka! Tenka!” 

Shidou screamed to urge the two. In response to that, Tenka smirked a little in Tohka’s mind. (--Ha! Are you done already? And here I was starting to get a better opinion of you, human.) Upon hearing that, Tohka smiled once again.

“What are you saying, Tenka. It’s not necessary to get a better opinion of Shidou--he’s the best!” 

Tohka spoke loudly while raising <Sandalphon> and <Nahemah> into the sky so they would overlap. 

At that moment as if to match that motion, the two thrones floating behind Tohka broke into pieces and attached themselves to the two swords Tohka had raised. 

Before long, inside the violent torrent, a huge single swinging sword revealed its appearance. 

<Sandalphon>’s <Halvanhelev>. As well as <Nahemah>’s <Paverschlev>. 

By bringing the two together, Tohka carried the greatest and strongest Angel and Demon King. 

“----<Yezelhlev>----” (Kanji reads as Sword of Genesis) 

As Tohka lifted the sword with every ounce of power from her body, she looked quietly at

‘Mio’s’ core. 

While carrying the same appearance as Mio, the core was now the size of a human being, but that thing was no longer Mio. 

Seeing that nostalgic figure, Tohka recalled a certain memory in her mind. 

After acquiring Mio’s Sephira Crystal into her body, Mio’s memories had been entrusted to her. 

--It was the memory of when Mio accidently produced Tohka. 

While being cautious of her status as an unexpected irregular, she did not break the Sephira Crystal. It could be described as a single exception besides herself and she couldn’t bear to kill another pure Spirit. 

It may have been pity or it may have been the kindness of a mother. It can be said that regardless of which whim, Mio’s choice lead to Tohka’s life and brought about this moment right now. “Mio--” 

Tohka’s head recalled another memory. 

It was the world of memories created by <Ain Soph>. Mio and Reine, Shinji and Shidou, all of them existed in the memories of that dream. 

But it was Shidou’s words that brought an end to that happy world that seemed to last forever. 

(Mio, you created me to create an existence that could kill you.) 

Tohka didn’t know if Shidou’s words were correct. 

But if that was really her hidden wish that Mio herself didn’t even noticed-- 

There might have been one more reason to not kill Tohka’s unexpected existence. 

“--Sorry. It’s because of my selfishness; I’ve kept you waiting for such a long time.” 

Tohka quietly whispered-- 

“----Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooohhh--------!!” 

Swinging down with the huge sword, the surrounding space and ‘Mio’s’ core were bisected in half.