Dem from Neryl Island
The transport plane maintained its altitude and sailed smoothly.
Although a spirit had attacked them just as they were leaving Neryl Island, they had quickly recovered from the temporary emergency. If they continued like this, they would definitely reach their destination on time.
Just as the pilot, Knox, was thinking this, a voice came over the communicator.
"—This is the control room. DF0806, please come in."
"Yes, this is DF0806."
"Please change your route. Bypass point E139."
"Change route?" Knox said, looking at his co-pilot, Burton. "What's happening?"
"What happened?"
"On your scheduled route, we suspect a Ratatoskr wizard is fighting with Executive Minister Ellen. To be safe, please change course. We can't afford any mistakes."
Hearing the communication from the control room, Knox looked confused.
Hearing the message, Knox looked confused. "A fight? In a place like this?"
"Yes. Please repeat your instructions." The controller didn't answer his question, only urging him to comply. Knox thought, "What a guy who doesn't know how to adapt."
"Understood. DF0806 is changing its scheduled route, bypassing point E139 and proceeding to its destination." After Knox responded, the controller said, "Communication ended," and the line went dead.
"You heard it too, right? We're changing our route."
"I did… But you have to admit, they're being extremely cautious. Even a battle between wizards couldn't happen at this altitude. I bet it's because the cargo is so important," Burton shrugged.
There was some truth to what he said, but Knox just shook his head quietly.
While Burton's words made sense, Knox just shook his head. "That's the main reason… but not the only one. You heard who was involved: Ellen. If it were an ordinary wizard, it wouldn't be an issue, but she's different. She could be flying gracefully through the air one moment and get hit by a spear flying up from below the next."
"How… How is that even possible?" Just as Burton said this, sweating, the cockpit instruments suddenly showed abnormal values and an alarm began to blare. The transport plane shook violently as if it had been hit.
"! What is… going on?!"
"Could it be… a stray shot from Executive Director Ellen?!"
"Idiot! She wouldn't fly here! This isn't a wizard… it's a spiritual wave reaction!"
"What?!" Burton's face went pale. This wasn't surprising, as their plane had been attacked by spirits not long ago.
"Are you saying that Nightmare is catching up to us…?"
"No...it's different from Nightmare just now. This is...!" Knox held his breath and looked back.
Of course, all he saw was his seat and the wall of the cargo hold. But behind that wall was the cargo room, which should contain [Material A], sealed multiple times. Burton must have realized it by now: the vibration wasn't from the outside, but from inside the machine.
"Could it be—! No… no way! [Material A] should be completely dormant…!"
"I know. But this reaction…" As he said this, Knox noticed an abnormal value on the instrument. It showed three spiritual wave reactions. One was on the transport plane, another at the bypass point the control room had mentioned, and a third was rapidly approaching the bypass point.
All three spiritual waves seemed to be resonating with each other, growing more and more intense.
…
In the air, Katsu's heart suddenly felt a sharp pain, and he clutched his chest. "What's going on… It hurts—" he cried out in a low voice. His eyes suddenly glowed crimson.
"[Ding! Alarm! Host has fallen into an abnormal state and is about to…]"
The system's voice rang in his ears, but they felt filled with mercury, making it impossible to hear. Then, the entire world seemed to go quiet. The heat rising through his body was driving him mad.
"Ahhhhh!!!!" Katsu roared, and red and black flames, ice crystals, and fierce winds erupted around him. His speed dramatically increased, and he rushed in a certain direction, his face contorted with madness like a wild animal.
…
At the same time, in the swimming pool, Reine watched as Shidou suddenly knelt on the ground, clutching his chest and screaming. Reine's expression turned grim as she sensed Shidou's power suddenly going haywire. "I'm too late!"
"Reine… run away!!" Shidou shouted, then shook his head violently. He roared like a wild beast, as if he could no longer bear the pain. A shockwave emerged from him, sweeping away everything nearby.
"Shidou!" Kotori yelled loudly, but there was no response. Shidou's eyes were blank, staring into space with no expression on his face.
"Kotori, what happened to Shidou?" Tohka asked, panicked.
"I don't know…! The deadline shouldn't be here yet!" As Kotori spoke frantically, Shidou, who was floating in front of them, began to change. The spiritual energy swirling around him glowed even more strongly, expanding until it surrounded the entire facility.
"Shidou!" Before Tohka could finish her words, the light from Shidou's body pierced through the ceiling of the banquet hall.
Kotori swallowed hard. "How could this happen? There should still be time."
Despite her extreme nervousness, Kotori hadn't lost her mind. A glimmer of hope remained in her heart, and its name was Katsu. "Brother Katsu… If Brother Katsu is here, maybe there's still a way." After all, every time they were on the brink of despair, he had protected everyone and gotten things back on track. This time would be no exception, she told herself.
"What happened to Shidou?"
"I don't know—"
"But his spiritual power is so strong."
"Should we go help?" The other spirits talked among themselves around Kotori.
At that moment, an extremely shrill alarm blared throughout the room.
"Commander! This is bad! For unknown reasons, Katsu-kun has also gone berserk!" Kanbutsuki's voice echoed, and the next moment, a crazy-looking Katsu appeared on the screen.
The highest-alert space earthquake alarm sounded throughout the city.