Chapter 39: The Saving Mission

"...ah?" In the darkness, Miku rapidly blinked her eyes. Earlier, She had been swallowed by Kurumi's shadow -- frowned and looked around. There was nothing other than a large sea of darkness. "Aah, what's going on--! Where is this place--?" "This is inside Kurumi's shadow...a good place for us to have finally a decent conversation" There was a sound from behind her. Miku turned back and noticed the source of the voice. "You !?" She widened her eyes in an instant, but then immediately put up an annoyed expression, as though she was about to scream. But, just as she put up that stance. The shadows nearby began to creep out and restrain Miku. "Hii...?" Miku's body froze like a statue. It was followed by a muffled voice out of nowhere. "Kihihi, don't be naughty, Miku-san" At the same time, the giggles of a few people spread in the air. "--Alright, so the first promise has been fulfilled. Now, Shidou-san, it is up to you. We do not have time now, and also your new girl is giving me a hard time so Please hurry." "Alright" Shidou then turned towards Miku. "Miku" "...hmph" Miku turned away from Shidou as he called her name. Though she wasn't attacking Shidou as she had understood the circumstances, it didn't mean that she would listen and concede to Shidou's words. With an unhappy face, she remained silent as she crossed her arms. Shidou walked to Miku and deeply bowed his head. "I need to apologize to you for deceiving you earlier. I'm sorry...!" Miku glanced at Shidou and pouted. "...terrible. You're the worst--. You hid your gender to befriend me, and you even let me see that unclean object...!" With that, Miku's hands began to shake uncontrollably. "...no, that's not it, Miku, from a practical viewpoint..." "What did you say!?" "No, nothing..." Shidou hurriedly shook his head. Having said an unnecessary sentence, this wasn't the time to joke around. "--Miku. Alright. Listen to me." "..." Miku didn't respond. However, Shidou continued. "Tohka--you remember when we were on the stage... the girl with the tambourines? Yes, that's her. I think you should have also realized, that Tohka is similar to Yoshino and the others, that they are Spirits. Besides--Miku, you should have also seen it. Tohka was captured by the DEM Wizard" "..." As though she remembered something, Miku, who hadn't reacted, seemed to have one to the phrase [Spirit], and her shoulders trembled slightly. "I... need to rescue Tohka now." "...ha?" Having heard Shidou, Miku raised her head and let out her first sound in a while. However, she seemed to have an unhappy expression. "Rescue her...? Why are we going to rescue her?" "To say why... that would be because Tohka is extremely important to me." Listening to Shidou, Miku widened her eyes as though she was surprised, and huffed in a mocking tone. "Important... ah, I see, I understand now. Though right now I still don't know much of it. But she is indeed a beautiful girl, wouldn't it be a waste not to rescue her?" "...ha?" Shidou tilted his head as he couldn't understand what Miku was driving at. "Because the target of your sexual desires was abducted. If you die here, you would completely lose everything, wouldn't you? Therefore, wouldn't it be happier if you live--" "Wha... what are you saying now?" Listening to Miku speak such harsh words, Shidou was stunned and couldn't raise an objection. "Because, isn't that what men mean, when they say someone is important to them" "...Your bias is very strong, indeed" "Hah, and why wouldn't it be? Men like you are all the same. Driven by selfish desires, incapable of true sincerity. You speak of importance, but it's all just empty words." Miku's voice trembled with a mix of anger and despair as she interrupted him, her words laced with bitterness. "...What makes you think that way? What happened in your past to make you believe that all men are like that?" Shidou asked, a glimmer of curiosity shining through. The way she spoke, it felt as though she had personally experienced the pain and disappointment she described. That was the conclusion he drew from her words. "What's the point of telling you? Will you just claim that you're different and that you'll be an exception? So I can drop all the pain I want to forget what they did to me. You're truly the worst if you think that way," Miku's voice trailed off, leaving the rest of her sentence hanging in the air. "I will not... After all, that would be nothing but hypocrisy coming from me," Shidou's gaze softened, and his voice resonated with sincerity as he reached out to her. "I don't know what you've been through, that's why I have no right to claim I am different, However, instead, I'll show you what kind of man I am in the real world. And based on that, you can judge." "Huh?" "All I want you to do is step aside and let me save what is important to me. Once I've completed what I need to do, I will return here. This time, without Kurumi, just by myself. I will not resist. And then, you can decide what you want to do with me. I hope you understand," Shidou explained, his sincerity shining through his words." "You... Why...!?" Before she could voice her thoughts further, her attention shifted upwards, the dark space had begun to disperse. "I'll assume we agreed, I hope you won't break it as you did with the first one" And in the next instant, Kurumi's voice began to spread from the surroundings. "While I'll hate to intrude on your pleasant conversation... I'm afraid my abilities are reaching a time limit" "Don't worry, we've agreed," "W-What? Don't decide that on your own--?!" Miku's words were abruptly cut off. Contrary to the sensation she felt when being pulled into the shadows, this time Miku experienced a weightlessness surrounding her. Her brain felt as though it was violently shaken, and her vision was instantly filled with a myriad of colors. In an instant, Miku found herself back on the stage at Tenguu Square. "Uu, uwahh..." It was glaring to her eyes as if she had just been pulled out from the shadows. But her eyes quickly adjusted to it-- and she saw the situation on the stage. Several Kurumis were surrounding Shidou as though they were protecting him. Opposing them were Yoshino, on Zadkiel and Kaguya and Yuzuru arming Raphael. The hostility between them was apparent. Shifting her eyes a little to the side, she saw a scene she hoped she didn't "What is the--" Standing atop a mound of Kurumi clones, Hikaru stood holding one of the clones by her neck, lifting her off the ground. The clone appeared to still be alive, albeit barely. With a swift movement, Hikaru broke the clone's neck, causing her limp body to fall alongside the others. "Onee-sama?!" Hikaru called out, her voice filled with alarm and anguish, as blood continued to trickle from her body, staining her once pristine white maid uniform a deep shade of red. "O, onee-sama...!" "Aneue-sama! Are you alright!" "Relief. As long as you're fine" Shortly after, Yoshino and the others called out to Miku, as they saw her emerge from the shadows with Shidou. At the same time, Kurumi neared Shidou, "Did everything go okay?" "yeah, I think so... " he said as he looked at his surroundings. "you don't see something like that every day huh?" he said as he looked at his surroundings. Following her line of vision, a massive amount of Kurumi corpses could be seen. It seemed that there had been a violent battle. "well it's not very easy when you have four Spirits as your opponents" "Anyway, we don't have much time to waste. Let's retreat now," "As you command, Shido-san," As he turned for a final glance before leaving, his gaze fell upon the normally docile Yoshino who was staring at him with hostile eyes. "I won't forgive... onee-sama's enemies..." "...No wonder I always disliked mind-control stories," Shido thought to himself. "Zafkiel-- Aleph[The First Bullet]" Kurumi raised her gun Aiming the acceleration-granting bullet to herself. Turning around, "Ohr Malkhut [speed-100%]" he declared, matching Kurumi's accelerated pace. "They're running away!" "questioned. "What should we do, Onee-sama?" Remaining silent for a moment, as she looked at Shido's back. "I'm tired. Help me back to my room," she finally said. "Got it!" "Acknowledged. We understand," Part 2: The hands of the clock had just crossed the peak and had begun moving downwards for 2 hours. Under the faint glow of the moon and the stars, Shidou and Kurumi looked at the tower in front of their eyes. "Tohka is... right here" He said in a low voice as he looked at his surroundings. The current location of Shidou's group is a corner within the office street of Kagamiyama City, east of Tenguu City. Because few people were out at this time, the buildings were illuminated with a faint light, letting out a mysterious pressurizing aura. Looking up. At the end of the road, Shidou's group was on, was an extremely massive building. "Have you noticed it?" Noticing Shidou focusing on the building, Kurumi, who was standing beside him, asked. "From here on, everything is facilities belonging to DEM. All those buildings that you see, are offices and research facilities." "All of them... " "Mm, it is the gigantic structure in the middle of these buildings. But unfortunately, I do not know specifically her location within the building." "So that's the case..." "There is nothing to talk about if we can't get there. Let us advance without being noticed – then" Kurumi turned around to have her back against the wall, facing Shidou as she spoke. "From now on, I will be infiltrating DEM territory with Shidou-san – before that, let's discuss our plan." "How?" "Eh. The plan by itself is simple. Firstly, Shidou-san and I will head to the first office building of DEM's Japan branch. Are there any issues before this?" "Ah" "Even so, this is the main focus of DEM in Japan. It is impossible that there are no precautions." "...true." Shidou awkwardly nodded his head. Their enemies are the makers of the Realisers, DEM. Although it is currently night, and hence nearly impossible for a battle of a large scale to happen on an empty street, it is also impossible to take their opponents lightly. "So, after arriving at the target block, I will summon [us] within their territory, and begin the attack on the other facilities." "I see... then let's start, every second we waste her, tohka wait for me more" Listening to his words, Kurumi lightly nodded her head. " always behind you shido-san" Shidou clenched his fists and encouraged himself. Together with Kurumi, they moved towards the DEM building. But – the instant they entered DEM's premises. Shidou and Kurumi frowned simultaneously and looked at each other. It was a familiar feeling. Although it was slight, it felt like an invisible brush was brushing over their body. "Oi, what was" Shidou was about to speak to Kurumi—before he stopped. No, to be precise, it was covered by a louder sound.—WOOOOOOOOOOO— At the same time, Shidou and Kurumi entered DEM's premises, and a sharp sound began sounding within the surroundings. Instantly, Shidou thought it was an alarm used to detect intruders. But... that's wrong. He had heard this sound before. "A spacequake warning...!?" Shidou scowled. Indeed. This is an alarm indicating the imminent disaster that occurs when a Spirit appears – the area alert for a spacequake. "A Spirit has appeared!? In this area!?" It was an unbelievable moment. Shidou hurriedly looked around. The workers and convenience shop employees working overtime were all surprised and began to evacuate. The entrances of the underground shelter were opened, and the city was immediately transformed into one defense against a spacequake. "No, it does not seem so." Kurumi said with her eyes slit. "I don't feel the spatial movement from when a spacequake occurs. At least, I Don't think it's a Spirit crossing over to this world from the other one." "Then, this alarm is..." "...This is merely my hypothesis. I believe it is DEM who has sounded the alarm. Shidou-san Should have felt it earlier, the feeling of when you are being touched by a Wizard's Territory." "But, this is a spacequake alarm... isn't it?" "That is correct. There are a few possibilities, such as—" Shido's eyes widened in realization. "trying to raise a commotion with the intent of removing witnesses..." Saying so, shido looked up towards the sky. Following her line of sight, "Yeah, you right shido-san" In the sky, against the backdrop of the moon and the city's buildings, a few silver marionettes in CR-Units floated in the air. Their heads were covered in helmets resembling those worn by motorcycle riders, and their limbs were over-developed and reversed compared to human anatomy. "Of course, it would be strangely easy if we were to reach their base without any struggle," Shido whispered to himself.