Chapter 350 - 3: Unbeatable Even at Full Strength

Chapter 350: Chapter 3: Unbeatable Even at Full Strength

Metatron’s bombardment sheared away the upper floors of the school building. Unlike Kurumi, who planned carefully, Origami charged ahead like a brute without considering tactics—just as she always did whenever she obtained new equipment, immediately picking a fight with a Spirit and then getting beaten.

Once she knew her enemy’s identity, she would kill her. That was how Origami thought, and she could feel that she was stronger with Metatron than Yimi had been.

"The First Spirit..."

"I see."

Reine rose without a scratch. Takamiya Mio, who was one with her, appeared beside her as well. The two interlaced their fingers, clasped hands, and completed their fusion.

The fully manifested Takamiya Mio smiled at Origami. She ignored the hatred Origami made no effort to hide and looked at her with the tenderness of a mother gazing upon her daughter—even though this "daughter" was ultimately destined to have her life taken by Mio.

"Not yet."

Little Shiori had not gained enough power. Revealing herself now was far too early. But it was already too late to say that, wasn’t it?

Takamiya Mio raised a hand. Before she could even summon her Angel, she sensed something and tilted aside, causing Kurumi’s ambush shot to miss.

"Reine-sensei... No, I suppose I should call you Takamiya Mio-san." Kurumi cast Origami an exasperated glance.

How could someone so beautiful have the personality of a reckless brute?

Still, Kurumi could not simply watch another Spirit—one who was, for the moment, on the same side—be killed.

"Kurumi? It has been such a long time."

"To greet us so cheerfully, as though we’re one happy family... You’re as vile as ever." Even Kurumi’s sinister smile was becoming hard to maintain.

"You’re no different, Nightmare." Origami glanced at her, with no intention of accepting the Worst Spirit’s goodwill.

Tokisaki Kurumi restored her smile. "True. Origami-san has always been that kind of child. Still, since we share an enemy, let us call a temporary truce, at least here."

She turned back to Takamiya Mio. "Compared with me, this wicked woman’s sins are clearly far heavier, wouldn’t you agree?"

"Even if you say that, Kurumi has always been my dear friend."

Mio’s expression did not change. She retained the same gentle look. "Not only Kurumi. I sincerely respect everyone who was sacrificed."

"You call that respect?" Origami clenched her teeth so hard her molars nearly cracked and combined all her floating cannons into a finishing move no weaker than Tohka’s Halvanhelev.

"Metatron—Artelif!"

Papa, Mama, GunGun...

"Give them back to me!"

"Zafkiel!" Kurumi summoned her Angel as well and provided long-range support.

Takamiya Mio sighed. The Angel of a god bloomed in the shape of a flower, blocking their attacks while releasing "pollen" that killed anything it touched.

"Origami-san!"

"Origami!"

Tohka flew in at high speed and pulled Origami away. The glare of Origami’s own attack had blocked her vision, preventing her from noticing Mio’s counterattack in time.

"Yatogami Tohka..."

Tohka did not answer, as though she were simply helping a friend. She pointed the broadsword in her hand at Mio and demanded in confusion, "Why would you do this, Reine?!"

As the first Spirit—other than Kotori—to be won over, Tohka had undoubtedly received more care from Reine than anyone else.

"I would like to hear that answer too." Itsuka Kotori, also in Spirit form, stared expressionlessly at the woman she had regarded as her closest friend.

"Why did you kill that child?!" Yoshinon, speaking on Yoshino’s behalf, shouted in fury.

"I see. So everyone already knows?"

Takamiya Mio did not deny it. After Yimi had been thrown into the Neighboring World, she had vanished completely. Even Mio could not find her there or in reality.

Yimi had clearly lost the fight, yet somehow it was as though she had won.

Before seeking Kurumi, Shiori had warned the other Spirits. If Mio could kill Yimi, she might attack them as well, so Shiori had to make sure everyone stayed cautious.

"How cruel. You already saw through me, yet still pretended you knew nothing." Mio held her chest with a troubled expression.

The situation had escaped her control. Her identity had been revealed before Little Shiori absorbed all the power. Continuing with the original plan was probably impossible now.

Spirits One, Two, Three, and Seven had not been sealed. Reality had diverged far too much from her expectations. Did she have no choice but to restart the plan?

* * *

How had things ended up like this?

After escaping that hellish place and breathing fresh air again, Nia, whose heart had been shut down, gradually began letting her imagination wander again.

She was a manga artist and a bit of a pervert. Remembering how she had just eaten, her mind involuntarily produced an image: a cat walking upright, gripping a leash in its forepaws, with the other end attached to a collar around Nia’s neck...

Nia slapped both cheeks.

That was going much too far. Still, she would probably remember for the rest of her life how a cat had fed her milk-soaked biscuits, and how she had been too weak from hunger to do anything but lie on the ground and eat them.

Could an ordinary cat possess that kind of strength? It had even prepared a little bowl for her, yet there had been no fluctuation of spirit power. Had the torture finally driven her insane?

No. Rather than insanity, the truly unbelievable thing was how calm she felt now. She should have been on the verge of collapse.

The last person Rasiel had been unable to investigate was the First Spirit who gave Nia her Sephira Crystal. Was this cat connected to the First Spirit?

Nia, dressed in a nun’s habit, followed behind Yimi and finally took the initiative to speak. "Are you looking for something?"

Yimi had been sniffing around, trying to locate Origami.

"I’m looking for... Origami."

"Origami—is that a person’s name?" Nia nodded, choosing for the moment to ignore the fact that the cat could talk.

Everything that had just happened was more absurd than a talking cat. Even if the cat spun her tail like a propeller and took off vertically, Nia would no longer show surprise.

Nia opened the book in her hands. "Origami... Tobiichi Origami. I see. She lives in Tengu City, doesn’t she? That’s some distance away. I have bad news: right now, her life is in danger."

"Her life is in danger!" Yimi jumped in fright.

It was all the System’s fault for sending her one month into the future. She had no idea what had happened.

"If I don’t worry about AST or DEM detecting me, I can fly there quickly with spirit power. Even so, it will take at least an hour."

Yimi could not wait that long!

She took a Teleport Crystal from her inventory. In this world it had no fixed destination either, but that did not matter, because her Luck had always been EX.

...

They had gone all out and still could not win.

Inside Takamiya Mio’s barrier, Ein Sof, Origami forced her battered body upright.

Within this domain, the First Spirit was a true god. Any wound they managed to inflict healed in less than a second.

Even all ten Spirits together—with the Yamai sisters counted separately—were no match for her.

Of course. The Spirits’ powers had all been bestowed by the First Spirit.

Papa, Mama, GunGun...

"Reine, let’s talk!"

Shiori, meanwhile, was trapped outside the barrier. With her spirit power exhausted, she could only ram its exterior with a children’s wiggle car, yet she failed to leave even the faintest crack in Ein Sof.

"What are you doing?"

As if she were hearing things, Shiori heard Yimi’s voice behind her.