Chapter 60 60: Melee (Final)
The moment their lips touched, sealed memories alongside Spirit energy flowed into Shido's heart like a warm current. He finally understood—it was that pixelated, mosaic entity that had turned Kotori into a Spirit!
However... there was no time to think about that now. The crisis was right on their heels.
"I found you, Shido-san."
At the corner of the maze, Kurumi's figure appeared right in front of Shido.
It was simply the most perfect timing. For some reason, the Spirit of Fire had fallen unconscious, leaving only Shido. With absolutely no one to interrupt her, she could take her time and eat him.
"Kurumi..."
Shido gently set Kotori down, stood up, and looked at Kurumi.
"Hmm?"
"Your goal is me... or rather, the Spirit energy inside me, right?"
"Ara~?."
"Then, at least let Kotori go. Her Spirit energy has already been sealed by me."
Realizing there was nowhere left to run, Shido looked Kurumi in the eye and pleaded.
[!!!]
Faced with a boy willing to sacrifice himself for the Spirit of Fire, Kurumi fell into a moment of doubt.
For the sake of her ultimate wish, Shido's power was absolutely necessary. But did she really need to eat him right now? Did she really need to devour a boy who was willing to lay down his life for a Spirit—even a Spirit like herself?
It was just a brief moment of hesitation, but in that very split second, the dark of night descended.
"Shido!"
Entering from the maze's exit, Mikoto manifested her Angel the exact moment she saw Kurumi and Shido. The mirror maze was instantly transformed into a divine realm, separating the two of them.
"Yakumo-senpai!"
Seeing Mikoto's figure, the heavy anxiety in Shido's heart instantly vanished.
"Ara ara~. This is the second time you've interrupted my date with Shido-san, Yakumo-san."
Bang!
Following the gunshot, a bullet of shadow struck the barrier. Kurumi was in a terrible mood. The reason? Because once again, she felt the sheer malice of the world. Her plan to eat Shido had been ruined time and time again. First by the AST, and now by Mikoto.
"Unfortunately, both last time and this time, the rights to Shido's date belong to me. Kotori is one thing, but Kurumi-san is completely out of the question."
Mikoto raised her hand. Tsukuyomi altered the ceiling of the mirror maze, turning it into the night sky of the divine realm, finally allowing Fraxinus to lock onto their coordinates from above.
The next second, a pillar of light enveloped the two of them. Reine successfully retrieved Shido and Kotori using the teleporter.
"Is Yakumo-san also a corrective force of history born to obstruct my wish?" (TL:interesting take)
Kurumi raised her gun once more. Compared to Kotori, the girl in front of her was the biggest headache. To Kurumi, an Angel that completely rejected the interference of time was an almost insurmountable wall.
"A corrective force? Kurumi-san, what exactly is your ultimate wish?"
Mikoto had always wondered why Kurumi was so desperate to gather massive amounts of Spirit energy, even if it meant committing murder. Although the more Spirit energy a Spirit had, the better, going to such extreme lengths definitely meant she had a clear, specific goal.
"Ara, I'm afraid I have no comment on that."
There was no reason to reveal her plans to the enemy, especially since doing so would let Shido know about her wish as well.
"If you don't want to say it, fine. But are you sure you want to waste your painstakingly gathered Spirit energy here? You don't have any reason to fight me anymore, do you?" Mikoto said. Shido had already been teleported away, meaning Kurumi had lost her reason to continue this battle.
"Kihihihihihi! If I kill Yakumo-san here, Shido-san will have one less bodyguard protecting him from now on. Isn't that right?"
"I don't know what you're so angry about, but fine. Until you cool your head, I'll be your opponent."
Mikoto sighed. Even though she didn't know why, she could clearly see the anger burning in Kurumi's eyes. It wasn't directed at her, but at something unseen.
[!!!]
Hearing Mikoto's words, Kurumi froze for a second. She was angry?
[Ah...]
Because she felt the corrective force of history, because her ultimate wish was being obstructed... thinking about it carefully, she had indeed lost her cool, exactly as Mikoto said. The so called corrective force was just a series of coincidences. Even if she killed Mikoto, someone else would just stop her the next time she tried to eat Shido. It might be Mana, it might be another Spirit, or it might be the AST.
[Honestly. Executing a plan with half hearted resolve, and losing my cool on top of it... that doesn't sound like me at all.]
She had hesitated to eat Shido more than once, and she had lost her cool due to history's corrective force. Realistically, she should have retreated the very moment Zayin failed to fire. Instead, she ended up wasting even more clones and Spirit energy.
[I'll humbly accept this as a lesson before executing the final plan.]
With that thought, Kurumi lowered her gun. At the end of the day, there was absolutely no way to kill Mikoto here anyway. It was an Angel that could never win, but could also never lose.
"I will take my leave for today. Next time, I will carefully choose a time and place where Yakumo-san is not around, and take my time eating Shido-san. Well then... good day."
Elegantly lifting the hem of her skirt, Kurumi slowly sank into the shadows.
[!!!]
Outside the mirror maze, Origami was fighting desperately against Nightmare's clones, as well as Princess and Hermit, who had suddenly arrived at some point. Even though she said she was willing to forgive those two Spirits, actively interfering with the AST's work was a different story. But right at that moment, a sharp, piercing pain stabbed through her brain.
"That's enough, Origami! Everyone! Cover Origami's retreat!"
Ryouko, who had been keeping a close eye on Origami's condition, didn't miss that tiny warning sign—Origami's brain was reaching its overload limit.
"But..."
"Do you remember what I told you, Origami?"
Even though Origami wanted to keep fighting, Ryouko shook her head. Coincidentally, Nightmare's clones also began to retreat. Princess and Hermit simultaneously flew off into the distance.
"I understand."
In the end, Origami nodded and deactivated White Licorice.
"Alright. It's not like we didn't achieve any results today, so cheer up."
Ryouko patted the girl's shoulder. In this battle, they had managed to eradicate over ten of Nightmare's clones. All things considered, it was a very respectable result.
With everyone choosing to take a step back, this massive free for all battle centered around Shido finally came to a close.
After surviving that series of chaotic events, Shido's life finally returned to normal.
_________________
In the afternoon, he and Mikoto strolled through the shopping district, buying ingredients for dinner.
"Come to think of it, how did you know Kotori could just be sealed directly without a date, Senpai?"
"Honestly, you still have a long, long way to go when it comes to understanding girls, Shido."
Looking at Shido's puzzled face, Mikoto smiled wryly and tilted her head. Having secured ten limited edition La Pucelle cream puffs for herself, she pressed a finger against her lips in a secret gesture.
As a result, Shido had absolutely no idea what kind of magic Mikoto had used until he finally gave up and asked Reine later.