"Is it done yet? It looks like the Yamai sisters are almost unable to hold that woman back." After all, she had knocked Westcott unconscious, and although his life wasn't in immediate danger, it still took Miku quite a bit of effort to control him. Fortunately, in this state, he couldn't resist at all, so Miku's control went relatively smoothly. But the problem was, seeing Westcott lying there with one arm destroyed and nailed to the floor, Ellen up in the air had gone berserk, launching a suicidal assault on the Yamai sisters.
Facing Ellen, who didn't care about her own life, Kaguya Yamai and Yuzuru Yamai had also fallen into a defensive posture. After all, their goal was just to stall her—there was no need to fight her to the death.
"All right, it's done." As Tohka finished speaking, Miku nodded in satisfaction. Clearly, she had already obtained the information she wanted, so she asked, "Since that's the case, how do you plan to deal with this guy?"
"This guy..." Her eyes glinted coldly as she looked at Westcott lying on the ground. Right now, he was in a truly miserable state. His armor-like Realizer unit had been smashed to tatters by Tohka, his whole body covered in blood. And since she had withdrawn her weapon, fresh blood was continuously gushing from his chest and severed arm. She knew this man was basically the most active threat in this world—if she killed him, it would pretty much end things by seventy or eighty percent. But she didn't finish her sentence, because in that moment she suddenly felt a chill. Without thinking, she threw herself on top of Miku. "Careful."
Obviously, Miku hadn't expected Tohka to suddenly pounce on her. Caught off guard, she was knocked flat on the ground. But just then, a golden flash mixed with blue streaked past. However, it didn't attack Tohka or Miku—it instead scooped up the unconscious Westcott and swiftly flew into the distance. Not only that, the frenzied Ellen in the sky finally reacted at that moment. She abruptly stopped her attacks and fled without a backward glance. After all, facing Ellen's desperate assault, the Yamai sisters had only been defending to keep her from getting past them. When Ellen retreated at lightning speed, the two of them had no time to react.
"Ow… Who was that?" Flattened by Tohka, Miku groaned and rubbed her head—she'd banged it because Tohka's movement had been a little too forceful. But in that instant, she'd more or less seen the figure who carried Westcott away—it was a blonde girl wearing blue Realizer equipment.
"About that…" Frowning as she looked at the remaining bloodstains, Tohka hadn't seen clearly since she'd been covering Miku. But she could count on one hand the people capable of exerting pressure on her even in this state. Rolling her eyes, she quickly thought of someone. "Could it be…the one guarding that Spirit is back? Come to think of it, that's probably the only possibility. Miku, did you get a good look at her?"
"Blonde hair, blue Realizer equipment." Miku didn't hesitate to answer.
"Then it must be her—that should be DEM's second seat, Artemisia Bell Ashcroft. If I remember correctly, she's supposed to be the one watching over that Spirit. Why would she be here…? Well, it's possible my actions caused such a stir that they called her back as a precaution." Thinking it over, Tohka decided that was probably it. After all, she'd toyed with Ellen like a monkey earlier—Westcott was likely to summon reinforcements just in case. But there was no point dwelling on it—her goals were already accomplished. Though she did want to deal with that woman eventually, there would be plenty of chances in the future.
"All right, that's that—mission complete." Even though Westcott had been rescued, Tohka didn't care. Her plan was temporarily fulfilled. Killing Westcott had just been a bonus—she wasn't in a rush to finish him off now.
Around this time, the fighting outside also came to an end. With Westcott gone, the remaining DEM members still able to fly quickly withdrew. Staying any longer would only increase their losses. As for the AST soldiers who'd been caught between Kurumi Tokisaki and DEM—they finally let out a collective sigh of relief and retreated without looking back. Like hell they were going to stay. Hadn't they seen how many Spirits were gathered here? All of them exuded killing intent, looking completely different from before. Especially Tohka's battle with Westcott—it had destroyed the entire rooftop of the building. They'd even witnessed sides of her she'd never shown them before: ruthless, decisive. So, they had no desire to linger. Anyway, it was clear these Spirits held a grudge against DEM, not them. As for arresting Spirits—uh, maybe some other day.
"My, my… Tohka's hidden cards really are powerful. That man's strongest defense equipment was shattered by her. And that Westcott…heh, I wish him luck." Watching the end of the battle from aboard Ratatoskr, Kotori let out a cold laugh. DEM—and especially Westcott—were their mortal enemies. How could she not be pleased by this?
"Whew…that was terrifying. Who'd have thought Tohka was capable of something like this?" On the other side, Shido sighed in amazement. Despite her usual air headedness, when Tohka put her mind to it, the results were terrifying.
"Yeah, indeed. Though I'm not sure what exactly they're after, it looks like there's more to come." Kyouhei Kannazuki nodded thoughtfully. He had also realized that Tohka's true objective wasn't simply to show off.
"All right—let's head back. We can discuss our next move tomorrow. It's already late." Whatever everyone else was thinking, Tohka didn't know. But glancing around at the aftermath, she understood that this was about as far as things would go today. Whatever came next could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, they needed to rest properly. After all, if they were planning to rescue that imprisoned Spirit, there was no way DEM hadn't prepared defenses. There was bound to be another big fight. Besides, with Westcott injured, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon—so they still had time.