On the ever-troubled islands of Japan, within one of its cities—
Life was still relatively peaceful, and the AST members stationed there carried out their patrols dutifully.
"Captain!"
At the AST base in this city, a squad member named Ma Anna poked her head out while the captain was reporting to her superior.
"The car's ready!"
"Ah, got it."
After responding, the captain turned to her superior.
"Apologies, sir. I'll head out for patrol first."
"Go ahead, Sergeant Tokugawa."
With permission granted, Captain Tokugawa quickly left the base with Ma Anna to patrol the city.
Ma Anna said, "It's pretty quiet, huh? There haven't been any Spirits lately. Japan's situation is really different from the West."
Tokugawa Sakura replied, "Yeah. Maybe the Spirits have gathered elsewhere."
The silhouettes of the two young women grew smaller as they walked down the narrow corridor bathed in the setting sun.
Ma Anna: "Well, that's fine by me!"
Tokugawa Sakura: "You seem pretty happy."
Ma Anna: "Of course! The people in this city are safe, our comrades are doing their best, and I have to give it my all too!"
Tokugawa Sakura: "Ah, yes."
They exited the base, and an AST off-road vehicle was already parked in front of them.
As they walked toward it, Tokugawa Sakura thought to herself:
Everything we've built so far hasn't been for nothing. As long as we keep moving forward, our path will continue to extend…
However, the moment her right hand touched the car handle, a spatial quake alarm blared.
Just like Pavlov's dogs, all unrelated personnel immediately evacuated in an orderly fashion to the underground shelters. Meanwhile, every AST member, inside and outside the base, dropped what they were doing and rushed to the front gate, ready for deployment orders.
Due to the PTSD caused by the previous two appearances of Genie (Shura), every time a spatial quake alarm sounded anywhere in the world, AST members instinctively responded according to Genie (Shura) protocols.
If it was her, they'd be fulfilling their duty.
If not—then all the better.
Captain Tokugawa didn't even get into the car. She immediately began issuing urgent orders to the AST members, commanding them to move at once. There wasn't a second to lose.
However—
It was already too late.
Just as the AST units dispersed to execute their orders, an immensely powerful spatial quake descended.
Before they could even react, the AST members were torn apart—disintegrated by the quake's force, including the captain who never made it into the vehicle.
There was no need to guess—only Genie (Shura) could cause such a vast and destructive spatial quake.
On the bright side, this swift and clean annihilation at least spared them from the usual melodramatic scenes like "Captain, what are you doing?!", "Well, my aim was pretty good," or "Don't stop!"—the kind of tragic comedy immortalized in "world-famous paintings."
On the other hand, this kind of instant team wipe felt even more humiliating—worse than being devoured by some flying-disc monster—because they didn't even have time to react before dying.
Still, while this city was annihilated, AST forces in nearby cities, upon confirming that the spatial quake had been caused by Genie (Shura), immediately left behind their pre-written wills, donned their mass-produced CR-Units, and—with a resolve to die—took to the skies to confront the Spirit.
However, when the girls reached the airspace above the devastated city and readied their weapons—
They couldn't find Genie (Shura) anywhere.
That was strange. Based on the last two encounters, Genie (Shura) should have taken to the skies by now, either to observe the situation or to move on to another city.
Suspicious, the AST members dared not move recklessly, afraid Genie (Shura) might slip away to attack another city while they let their guard down.
Following their captain's command, the AST units circled the ravaged area from ground to sky, conducting detailed scans and patrols to prevent the Spirit from escaping the perimeter.
As for Tianqi Sanluo (Apocalypse Sanluo)—she hadn't attacked again because she had discovered something far more interesting.
When she first arrived in the city through the spatial quake, her Spirit intuition quickly sensed that something was watching her—lurking in the shadows.
As the dust settled, Tianqi Sanluo scanned her surroundings. There weren't many places to hide, yet that unsettling sensation of being observed only intensified.
"Burning Immortal Flame."
Upon softly calling the name of her angel, a fiery-red crescent-bladed polearm, nearly eight feet long, appeared in her hand.
If she couldn't find the rat's hiding place—then she'd simply burn down the entire city to smoke it out.
Having made up her mind, Tianqi Sanluo swung Burning Immortal Flame. The searing flames roared forth like dragons, consuming spiritual energy to keep burning even within the massive crater left by the spatial quake. They spread outward, engulfing the ruined city and reducing the remaining buildings to ash.
With a light tap of her foot, Tianqi Sanluo floated upward, coldly watching the catastrophe she had unleashed.
The flames burned.
The city groaned.
Everything resembled hell itself.
But Tianqi Sanluo didn't care. What mattered to her was finding that damned rat watching from the shadows.
The fire spread to every corner of the city—yet she still couldn't find the observer.
"A Spirit?"
The thought crossed Tianqi Sanluo's mind. Yes—only another Spirit could pull something like this off.
So, her fourth manifestation had brought her face-to-face with one of her own kind at last.
(The illusion from before didn't count.)
Finally meeting another Spirit, Tianqi Sanluo smiled—a harmless, almost innocent smile. She slowly descended, the flames around her raging high. Raising Burning Immortal Flame, she planted it before her and said coldly to the burning wasteland:
"Come out. There's no need to keep hiding."
No one appeared.
"I don't have much patience. You'd better come out obediently—or else…"
She didn't finish the sentence.
With a swing of her Burning Immortal Flame, rings of fire-elemental energy spread outward from her position, triggering a massive explosion.
"Ah la~ ah la~, how frightening, Miss Genie (Shura)."
A sultry voice accompanied by the sound of a saxophone echoed from nowhere. Suddenly, a patch of shadow appeared on the scorched ground, and from it stepped a girl wearing a black-and-red Gothic dress. Her long black hair, like a waterfall, was styled into uneven twin-tails—one long, one short, like the hands of a clock. What intrigued Tianqi Sanluo most was her left eye, which resembled a golden clock face, its hands ticking softly.
"Genie (Shura)? Is that the nickname you gave me—or one those humans made up?"
Tianqi Sanluo narrowed her eyes; to her, names were meaningless.
"My, my, I could never presume to name such a terrifying creature."
The Gothic girl lifted her skirt slightly and gave a graceful curtsy, as if she were some noble lady from high society.
"My name is Tokisaki Kurumi, identification name: Nightmare. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Genie (Shura)."
A very calm and civil conversation—
If one ignored who they were, and what they were capable of.
Tianqi Sanluo raised an eyebrow. "You're a Spirit?"
"Indeed."
The moment Kurumi finished speaking, Tianqi Sanluo swung Burning Immortal Flame—
And sliced her cleanly in half.
The strike was so fast Kurumi didn't even have time to react. Her bisected body collapsed weakly to the ground.
"How fragile. Are all Spirits this weak?"
Tianqi Sanluo stepped forward, looking down at the corpse beneath her feet.
"Hm? Her spiritual energy seems unusually weak… and why hasn't that shadow beneath her disappeared?"
"Ah la~ ah la~, you noticed? Just as the rumors say, Miss Genie (Shura)."
As the voice spoke again, countless pale hands stretched out from the shadow, dragging the bisected body down into darkness. Moments later, a new Kurumi Tokisaki emerged from the shadows before Tianqi Sanluo.
"A clone? Or resurrection? No—it's the former, isn't it?"
"To attack someone unprovoked—how very fitting of you, Miss Genie (Shura)."
Though Kurumi still wore her smile, the killing intent in her eyes was now impossible to miss.
"Spare me the nonsense."
After confirming that this was just another clone, Tianqi Sanluo lost interest in one-shotting her and stepped back a few paces.
"What is your purpose?"