At the main entrance of DEM's first building, the shutter, already mangled by Mana, warped further before exploding in a blaze of light.
"What?! Mana!" Shidou shouted.
"I'm fine," Mana replied, emerging unscathed from the smoke, her face a mix of warrior's resolve and anger.
A silhouette cleared the smoke, revealing a familiar figure. Shidou's eyes widened. "White Licorice?!"
"Not quite," Mana said. "DW-029R Scarlet Licorice. A sister unit to the experimental White Licorice."
Shidou remembered it from months ago. Unlike Origami's white model, this one was blood-red. A wasteful organization to craft two defective units, yet here it stood, blocking his path.
"New look, Jessica?" Mana taunted. "Your smug face is ruined."
"Haha! Mana! Takamiya Mana!" Jessica cackled, bandaged and broken, yet grinning maniacally. "How's my Licorice? I won't lose to you. Not you!"
Her sanity was gone, shattered by force. The strongest power drove her mad laughter before Mana.
"Jessica! Stop Licorice now! You know it's beyond you!" Mana yelled.
"Hahaha! I feel great! Because… I can finally kill you!" Jessica shrieked.
A deafening blast and shockwave erupted as blue and red clashed, their battle soaring skyward, too fast for human eyes. Without hesitation, Shidou sprinted toward the entrance.
"Shidou, it's dangerous! Don't go alone! Wait for Mana!" Kotori's voice crackled.
"If I wait, they'll reinforce security! I can't slow Mana down. Charging in is better than staying out!" Shidou countered.
"Wait! We're finding—" Kotori's voice cut to static as Shidou entered, the building's field blocking comms. Alone, he raced up the stairs, driven by one goal: save Tohka, the girl captured protecting him. He wouldn't let DEM steal her smile.
Dozens of floors blurred past as he ran, until—
"Intruder!" a man shouted.
"Who are you?!" a woman demanded.
"Damn!" Shidou cursed, spotting two wizards in unfamiliar wiring suits. Light-armed but deadly. He dashed down a corridor, dodging as gunfire rang out, magic-infused bullets grazing him, embedding in walls and floor.
"Stop, or we shoot!" they yelled.
"You're already shooting!" Shidou snapped.
He was cornered. Their arbitrary fields would trap him, a mere human, in seconds. If caught, Tohka was lost.
"No way I'll let that happen!" he growled, mind racing for a solution. Powerless, he couldn't protect or save anyone. He needed power—to destroy.
"Use it with a righteous heart," a voice echoed.
"No… that's not enough," Shidou muttered.
Destruction alone couldn't save. He couldn't succumb to it. Hand on his chest, he prayed. His path held power—not just to destroy, but to protect, to save everyone. He wanted strength to fulfill that.
With a righteous prayer, he voiced his wish, calling a miracle.
"Lend me your power!" he roared.
Light surged. The wizards faltered. "What?!"
"An… Angel?!"
Their shock was evident, but Shidou's resolve burned unyielding. He knew this miracle, this Angel. Gripping the sword's hilt, he raised it, proclaiming its true name.
"Sandalphon!"
The golden blade, Tohka's ultimate weapon, gleamed in his hands. A novice compared to her, he knew brute force wasn't enough.
"Infuse your honest wish into the Angel. Sandalphon will answer," the girl's teaching resounded.
The Angel reflected the heart. His wish was singular: save Tohka. Sandalphon blazed, lighting his path.
"Haaah!" Shidou roared, swinging Sandalphon. A radiant slash blasted one wizard, field and all, through the wall, out of the building.
"Guh?!" the wizard groaned.
The second wizard, unscathed, drew a laser edge, closing in. Shidou blocked with Sandalphon, but the trained wizard outmatched him. A magic-charged knife plunged into his side.
"Argh!" Shidou gasped, pain searing as the wizard twisted the blade. His vision whitened, yet he swung Sandalphon's hilt, striking the wizard's head.
"Don't… get in my way!" he bellowed.
"What?!" The wizard collapsed, knocked out by the spirit-infused blow.
Panting, Shidou gripped the knife, yanking it out with a grimace, blood spraying. Agony threatened to topple him, but he stood firm.
Camael's flames ignited, healing his wound. He couldn't fall. If he did, Tohka's smile was lost. Unacceptable.
"Guess I broke that promise already," Shidou chuckled, flames flickering as he walked, wondering what the promise-hating girl would think.
"Sorry, Kurumi. I'm thinking of you, but I can't keep that promise," he said, envisioning her resigned smile as he ran again.
A flash. Seconds later, a Bandersnatch split, exploding as a white shadow leaped from its remains.
"What?!" a wizard gasped.
"Pardon," the white-haired girl said, slicing his gear and kicking him to the ground. She repeated this, disabling wizards and drones, then grabbed a Kurumi clone's hand, dangling to survey the chaos. Missiles and magic light marred the night sky.
"So many. Quite a scale," the girl remarked.
"Kehehe! Power is troublesome. They can crush anything," the clone laughed.
"No matter how rotten inside, a good facade works. Especially that," the girl said, eyeing the main building where Tohka was held, Shidou infiltrated, and that awaited.
What would Isaac Westcott, that creature, do seeing Shidou? Be shocked, like seeing a ghost? No, he'd laugh, mocking himself and all. That's who he was.
"Can't you fly without me?" the clone asked.
"I can, but mine's flashy. I'd be a target," the girl said. Her subtle ability was better for stealth, so she leaped, not flew.
"Inconvenient. Spirits fly easily," the clone teased.
"I'm no ordinary Spirit… warped, worthless," the girl said.
The clone froze, meeting her gaze. Beneath the playful facade, the girl's words weren't humility—she believed them, her truth. Denying herself without question, she sparked sadness and anger in the clone, likely influenced by a certain boy.
"You—" the clone began.
"Aren't those AST?" the girl interrupted, pointing.
"Indeed. Just deployed, but not thrilled," the clone noted, spotting Captain Ryouko Kusakabe directing her team, sans Origami.
"Hard to say if that's good or bad," the girl muttered. Origami's suspension was lucky, keeping her safe under a caring leader, though she might defy orders.
"No way she'd—" the girl paused as static buzzed her earpiece, still connected to Fraxis.
"Kotori Itsuka?" she asked.
"Good, you're still on. I need a favor, urgently!" Kotori's frantic voice came, barking orders to her crew.
"Busy, huh? What's up?" the girl asked.
"Shidou rushed in alone! I know it's reckless, but can you help him?"
"A crisis, indeed," the girl said.
Kotori's urgency suggested Shidou acted before she could coordinate. Protecting him was critical, and her quick call was sharp, but the girl had concerns. Facing that was premature, to be avoided. Calling Kurumi was the best option.
"Got it. I'll tell Kurumi—" A gust's roar cut her off. The clone staggered, and the girl's eyes widened at her.
"That was…" the girl said.
"This reaction…?!" Kotori's shock echoed via Fraxis's radar.
Seeing her destination, the girl understood. No need to fetch Kurumi or intervene herself.
"As always, Shidou's a magnet for Spirits," she said.
No need to disrupt his knack for winning Spirits.
"Haaah!" Shidou swung Sandalphon, its slash toppling another wizard.
"Ugh…" His body groaned, forcing him to stop, wincing. Wielding an Angel as a human took its toll, eroding him. He lacked the capacity for such miracles.
Yet Camael's flames healed him, letting him fight on. Without it, the wizards' numbers would've overwhelmed him. Unknown to him, wounds that should've lingered vanished, as if time rewound. He didn't notice—or couldn't afford to. Instinct, not knowledge, might've sensed it.
"There he is!" a wizard shouted.
"Damn… how many?!" Shidou roared, slashing Sandalphon again, blasting wizards and their fields. Some remained, and he raised his sword—only for searing pain to halt him, his arm feeling torn apart.
"Argh!" He dropped the sword.
"Got you!" a wizard roared, closing in.
No time to recover, no strength to block. Shidou braced for the blade, eyes shut. But it never came. Glass shattered along the corridor, distracting the wizards.
"What?!" they gasped.
"Pathetic," a voice said.
"Huh?" Shidou blinked, stunned as she appeared, her voice beautiful.
"Gabriel—Solo!"
A silver cylinder, part of a massive pipe organ, bent like a microphone, amplifying her voice—Miku Izayoi's.
Her song echoed, instantly sapping the wizards' will. Shidou snapped back, staring at the songstress in her dress-like astral garb, her face twisted in displeasure, descending before him.
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