As soon as the spatial tunnel opened, the air in the forest rippled with an eerie disturbance.
Tohka's instincts flared. The Sandalphon snapped into her hands and she swept her gaze warily around her.
"Someone's coming," she warned in a low voice.
Rei Ao, still cradling the naked Ellen, did not even look back; only his rainbow‑colored pupils flickered faintly.
"A rather interesting guest has arrived."
Shadows writhed across the ground like living creatures, and from the darkness a figure slowly rose to her feet.
A gothic dress in orange and black, mismatched long stockings, and—most distinctive of all—the golden clock‑face eye.
Kurumi Tokisaki gave the group a graceful curtsy.
"My, my. How lively."
Her syrup‑sweet voice carried a dangerous undertone. Her eyes drifted across everyone, finally stopping on Rei Ao.
"This handsome gentleman—may I ask your name?"
Tohka stepped in front of Nia, sword leveled at Kurumi.
"Kurumi Tokisaki! What do you want?"
Kurumi hid a laugh behind her hand.
"Now, now, Tohka-sa , no need to be so tense. I merely sensed a fascinating aura and came to have a look."
Her gaze never left Rei Ao.
"After all, anyone who can subdue the DEM Corporation's Second Executive‑Division Director so easily is worth some curiosity."
Nia's pupils shrank; her fingers trembled.
She furtively opened her pocket tome, [Rasiel], scanned a few lines, and grew paler by the second.
"R‑Rei Ao…"
Her voice shook. "Be careful! She's Kurumi Tokisaki—the 'Most Evil Spirit'—a walking calamity who's killed tens of thousands!"
A hush fell over the forest.
Ellen squirmed in Rei Ao's arms, a flash of anger in her eyes.
"Kurumi, she—" Tohka's grip on her sword tightened.
Kurumi's own eyes narrowed slightly—and then:
"Ah‑hahaha…"
Her laughter rang like silver bells.
"That's right—I'm that wicked spirit."
She tilted her head at Rei Ao, danger glittering in her eye.
"So, Rei Ao-san, what do you intend to do? Smite evil in the name of justice?"
Every gaze locked onto Rei Ao.
He only stroked Ellen's hair, a playful smile curving his lips.
"Killed tens of thousands?" he said, as casually as discussing the weather.
"And what's wrong with that?"
"W‑what?" Nia blurted.
Rei Ao set Ellen down gently and walked toward Kurumi.
With every step, the rainbow light in his eyes grew brighter.
"Kurumi-san hasn't been killing at random, has she? Animal‑torturing perverts, child‑trafficking scum, lunatics running human experiments…"
He stopped before her and brushed a hand across her cheek.
"Compared with that, I actually find you rather adorable."
Kurumi's smile froze.
Her pupil contracted; the hands of the clock spun wildly.
How could this stranger know that every target she'd chosen was an irredeemable villain?
"You… investigated me?"
For the first time her voice lost its composure.
Rei Ao shook his head. "No need. Because…"
He leaned to whisper in her ear, a voice only she could hear:
"I have destroyed over a hundred worlds—ended more than a billion lives with my own hands."
"Beside that, your tally looks like a courier delivering boxed lunches."
Kurumi staggered back, disbelief etched on her face.
She had a reason for every kill.
Yet this man spoke of billions as though listing breakfast options.
"Liar…"
Nia's hands shook as she turned pages of the [Rasiel].
"My angel should pierce all falsehood… So why is everything about you completely blank?"
Rei Ao looked at her, multicolored light swirling in his eyes.
"Simple, dear Nia. I do not belong to this world; your omniscience cannot reach me."
"An… inter‑world being?" Ellen struggled to take it in.
"That's impossible—there's nothing in spatialquake theory—"
"And that is exactly why DEM keeps failing."
With a snap of his fingers, a black trench coat appeared on Ellen, covering her bare body.
"A mind chained to a single world can never grasp the breadth of the multiverse."
Kurumi steadied herself, clock‑eye fixed on Rei Ao.
"Rei Ao-san, for what purpose have you come to this world?"
"Purpose?" He tilted his head. "If I must give one… at the moment it's simply to help Tohka clear away a few nuisances."
Silence.
"Y‑You can't be serious," Nia muttered, pushing up her glasses.
Ellen sneered. "Help Spirits? A being of your power aiding Spirits for nothing in return?"
"And what about you?" Rei Ao shot back.
"Ellen Mira Mathers—one of the founders of the Spirit phenomenon thirty years ago—why do you help DEM hunt and kill your own kind?"
The words detonated like a bomb.
"What?!"
Tohka stared at Ellen. "You created the Spirits?!"
Kurumi's eyes widened, stabbing toward Ellen.
"One of the founders? Interesting."
Ellen's face went ashen; her lips quivered, yet no rebuttal came.
Rei Ao let the topic drop. He raised a hand and traced three streaks of light in mid‑air.
"Since everyone is so curious, why not see for yourselves?"
The three rays shot into the foreheads of Nia, Kurumi, and Ellen.
The instant they touched, they merged with their minds, an ocean of information flooding in.
[Ding! Targets selected for sub‑group transfer: Kurumi Tokisaki, Nia Honjo, Ellen.]
The existence of a cross‑dimensional chatroom, the countless interconnected worlds, Rei Ao's role as its master—everything poured into them…
~~~
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