"Uuuu, this feels so good." Looking up at the moonlight in the sky, Tohka contentedly rubbed her stomach. That fish she caught—if it had been in the hands of some of Japan's top chefs—it definitely would have been prepared even more deliciously. But Tohka couldn't be bothered to care about that; no matter how well others could cook it, she wouldn't be eating it now anyway.
"Uuuu, that fish was worth at least several hundred thousand, maybe even over a million yen…" But at that moment, Shido was groaning beside her. This meal was definitely the most extravagant he had ever eaten. Honestly, that bluefin tuna Tohka caught purely by dumb luck was the best he'd ever seen—no contest. If it were sold in Tokyo, it could easily fetch tens of millions. Yet Tohka just grilled it casually, and if some culinary masters knew about this, they'd absolutely lose their minds. And, uh, his family's been pretty tight on money lately too, so that's why he reacted so strongly.
"Seriously, it's just a fish. Is that reaction necessary? Uuuu, though I must admit, this meal was a bit expensive…" Alright, she'd been about to tease Shido, but Tohka couldn't keep it up. To be fair, even back in Marvel she'd never eaten something this extravagant—this thing really was too valuable.
"You really can eat, huh. You finished more than four-fifths of that fish by yourself. In other words, you ate over a hundred pounds of tuna. And yet your stomach hasn't changed at all. It's unnatural." But compared to the two of them worrying about the price of the meal, Origami's focus was completely different—and actually the only one that was remotely normal. After all, she'd just watched Tohka eat a quantity greater than her own body weight, and yet Tohka looked completely fine.
"Hey, hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Hearing this, Tohka immediately bristled. Come on, she didn't always eat this much! What was Origami implying? That she was just some gluttonous rice bucket? Ridiculous—she usually didn't eat nearly this much. If she did, given Japanese produce prices, she'd have gone bankrupt long ago.
"Hey, weren't you supposed to be our judge?" But just then, Yuzuru suddenly turned to Tohka. After all, the two of them had been silent for quite a while now—and Tohka had been so preoccupied eating fish that she'd forgotten about it.
"No, uh, that's not it—I mean, you, you two…" Fine, Tohka couldn't get the words out. These two were both tsundere types—each wanted the other to survive. So, no matter what she said, she'd end up offending someone. And not just one of them—she'd offend them both. In other words, Tohka had no idea what to say. If she spelled it out directly, they'd probably explode.
"Understood. We have always wanted to settle this between us. So, it's normal that you can't judge." But at that moment, Yuzuru's voice calmly floated over.
"Hey, hey—you two aren't seriously going to…" Now even Shido, who had just been spectating, sensed something ominous. But since he wasn't close to them, he had no idea how to persuade them. All he could do was glance over at Tohka.
"..." Of course, Tohka also noticed his expression—but all she could do was give a helpless shrug. You've got to be kidding—she was actually hoping the two of them would leave for a bit. Because she could clearly sense it: they were already being targeted by someone. And this feeling was completely different from the past few days—it wasn't mere surveillance anymore. This was a hunter locking onto its prey.
Knowing exactly what was happening, Tohka had already begun preparing to deal with that person. The trio had inadvertently bought her a lot of time—not that they'd done it on purpose just to bother Ellen. But if they had done it on purpose, Ellen would probably never have been caught by them even once. After all, just like natural "darkness" is the most deadly, unintentional sabotage was the most dangerous of all.
"Hmm?" But right then, Origami abruptly stood up. She left with a solemn expression, and neither Shido nor Tohka asked what she was going to do. After all, this wasn't the first or second time. Whenever Origami looked like that, it meant she had a mission.
"Tch, so she's been called away too." Watching Origami stride off, Tohka didn't try to stop her. She guessed it was those people using a fake AST order to lure her away. According to what Tohka knew, AST was supposed to be part of the Self-Defense Forces. DEM was a giant multinational corporation. The two probably had some sort of cooperative arrangement. So right now, even though Ellen and the others didn't fully control DEM, they couldn't act openly in front of Origami. Most likely, she'd been ordered away by a forged command.
"Hey, hey, Tohka, can't you think of something?" But unlike Tohka, Shido was getting flustered. Because just then, Yuzuru and Kaguya were standing face to face again. Neither spoke a word, but violent winds were erupting between them, pinning Shido to the ground so hard he couldn't move.
"In that case…"
"Then as usual: the one who falls first loses."
But before Shido could say anything else, Yuzuru and Kaguya both donned their equipment in almost perfect unison. The instant they finished, they collided—and transformed into twin streaks of light shooting up into the sky. At the same time, the previously clear sky instantly filled with dark clouds, and a raging storm engulfed the entire island.
"It's fine—let them fight. We have another guest to greet. Isn't that right, the DEM Corporation's Chief Wizard—who might be the world's most powerful wizard—Ellen Mira Mathers?" Ignoring Shido's words, Tohka slowly stood up. In the same moment, her purple-black armor materialized over her body. Her gaze fixed on the jungle's edge in the distance.
"Over there…" Shido instinctively looked in the same direction. He quickly saw a figure standing there—or rather, not only a human figure. Several mechanical units flanked that central person. And the woman in the middle, Shido recognized instantly. After all, she'd been loitering around them for days.
"You're saying… DEM?" Hearing Tohka, Shido froze. He hadn't imagined that person was such a high-ranking DEM officer.
"Yeah—that's your sister's boss, right? If I remember correctly, she's also your sister's mentor. Though you shouldn't feel grateful—just look what they turned your sister into." Tohka shrugged indifferently. Whether that was true, she didn't really know, but it didn't matter if she was making it up. And as for Shido's sister—in this timeline, she hadn't continued chasing Kurumi because of Tohka's interference. Instead, she'd been captured by Kotori and sent for treatment. Right now, she was undergoing adjustments to her body. If they'd done nothing, she wouldn't have survived ten more years. Then again, by now she was already over forty. Honestly, thanks should go to DEM—otherwise Shido might never have met her again. And even if he did, would he even recognize her? Imagine a woman in her mid-forties calling you "big brother." Most people would run away on the spot.
"So, you already knew my name. And that armor—clearly not your Astral Dress. Nor is it any known Realizer unit. Where exactly did you get this equipment? Even Ratatoskr can't manufacture something like this. Hell, neither can we." On the other side, Ellen had also donned her Realizer suit. It had to be said: in this armor, she was an entirely different person. She still looked a little vacant—but even so, she exuded overwhelming presence and killing intent. If Ai Yamabuki, Mai Hazakura, and Mii Fujibakama saw her like this, they'd definitely never dare treat her casually again.
But Ellen was frowning at Tohka. She could clearly feel it: the tech level of Tohka's gear was in no way inferior to her own. Which meant there must be some other force backing Tohka. But no matter how she racked her brain, she couldn't think of any company with the capacity to produce such equipment. So, she was hesitating. As Westcott's assistant, she knew very well that he hadn't fully consolidated control over DEM yet. Offending some unknown major power was incredibly risky. Even though she was confronting Tohka, she was already contacting Westcott.
"Ah, you don't need to know that." To Ellen's questions, Tohka had no intention of answering. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't—this world didn't have a Stark Industries. And as for Ellen's discreet communication, Tohka didn't notice—she was secretly manipulating her own controller, too.
"I understand. Priority target: 'Princess.'" Just then, Ellen refocused on Tohka. She drew the energy blade from her back and pointed it at Tohka. As she moved, the robots on either side advanced, stepping toward where Tohka and Shido stood. Clearly, she planned to capture Tohka first. After all, they'd already sealed off this area. As long as they were discreet, no one would know. And if any unknown forces did come asking questions, they could just deny everything.
"Oh my, can't wait any longer?" Watching the approaching machines and Ellen herself, Tohka remained utterly calm. She had already finished her preparations and casually tapped "confirm."
"Hey—can you hear me?" But suddenly, Ellen realized her earpiece had gone dead. Like Shido, she'd always kept a channel open.
"All right, Commander. We've locked onto the Ratatoskr battleship. The main cannon is charged and ready to fire." Meanwhile, DEM had fully committed. Now that Ellen had engaged Tohka, they were ready to obliterate Ratatoskr.
"Beep… beep… beep…" But right then, every operating system aboard the battleship abruptly froze. That wasn't the worst part—the worst part was that the energy cannon activated anyway.
"Damn it—what the hell is this?" The commander who'd been calmly giving orders was now pale with panic, staring at the main display showing the cannon locked onto none other than Ellen herself.
"This is bad! Commander, someone hacked our system! But they left so many traces—give us a few minutes and we can retake control!" It had to be said—Tohka was no professional hacker. She'd gotten in, sure, but left way too many breadcrumbs. So, the DEM team quickly found her trail and began cracking her locks. If it were Tony Stark instead of her, they wouldn't just have lost control—the entire ship would probably have ended up in Tony's garage.
"What the hell happened?!" Ellen had no idea what was going on above. All she knew was that her comms were dead and her 'Hound' units were all down.
"Hehe, Ellen, have you ever heard of 'justice from the sky'?" With a wicked smile, Tohka looked calmly at the startled Ellen.
"Hmph." Though she had no clue what Tohka was implying, Ellen wasn't about to waste time guessing. She leveled her blade straight at Tohka. If she captured her, everything else would be irrelevant.
But before she could charge, she felt it—she was being targeted. People at their level were sensitive to this kind of thing. She immediately abandoned her attack.
"BOOM." And in the next instant, a massive beam of light crashed down from above, enveloping Ellen just as she shifted into defensive stance. The impact echoed in a deafening roar.