Tenguu City — Rindōji Girls' Academy.
A girl wearing a black and red dress with a black jacket draped over it gently tapped the ground with her right foot, and her body floated up like a balloon.
As she rose higher, Apocalypse Sanluo saw the city's iconic landmark — the Tenguu Tower.
Before her last *Lost*, she had deliberately used her brief and precious time to etch that building deeply into her memory. As long as she saw it, she could confirm she had arrived in Tenguu City.
"...It feels like it has been a long time."
About three months had passed since Apocalypse Sanluo's last visit to Tenguu City.
Thanks to her improved control over her spiritual power, during Astralize she no longer had to worry about being confined only to Tenguu City. With some effort, she could even go to other cities to vent.
But with every action she took, the world's alert level shot straight up again.
According to information she had obtained by chance, various organizations similar to the AST around the world had even held joint meetings to discuss how to respond when *Genie (Shura)* descended, in hopes of minimizing casualties.
The results, she had no idea. She only knew that they reacted far faster; the moment she started moving, they sent interception units and sounded alarms to evacuate civilians.
Perhaps they believed that as long as there was no spatial quake, people hiding in shelters would be absolutely safe?
Well, although shelters around the world had been rebuilt over twice as deep to deal with her spatial quakes—and even with her power, without using a spatial quake to open the way, it was extremely difficult to drag all those people out and kill them—
Still… in her eyes, all their efforts were *muda*.
During her last Astralize, when faced with a fierce interception unit, Apocalypse Sanluo remained expressionless and raised her right hand high.
And then—
After enduring an unknown amount of bombardment with her Astral Dress, the tearing air and collapsing space triggered a massive explosion that swept across the entire city. Those unlucky enough not to have reached the shelters vanished without a trace.
Yes—Apocalypse Sanluo had finally discovered a way to trigger a spatial quake with her own will.
She remembered before Lost, when Shido and Kotori were on their date—she had asked Kurumi how to cause a spatial quake, but Kurumi rejected her outright, saying it was troublesome, inconvenient to teach, and that she wouldn't do it for free.
Judging from her expression, Kurumi clearly had no intention of teaching her at all.
What was that girl even thinking? They were allies in killing, weren't they? Was she worried about losing business? Or perhaps—
Recalling Kurumi's behavior and words, a possibility suddenly flashed through Sanluo's mind.
"Tokisaki Kurumi… could it be that you're killing people because you *have* to?"
The thought was just speculation, and it had nothing to do with her interests anyway.
For now, Apocalypse Sanluo took a deep breath and slowly descended.
Three months had passed already. She wondered whether Shido Itsuka still had some amusing drama for her to watch.
During these three months, it wasn't as if she hadn't come here. For example, two months ago, she descended near Tenguu City. After eliminating the local AST and coming to find Shido, she discovered he wasn't there.
Would she be able to find him this time?
Thinking this, Apocalypse Sanluo looked around.
This was indeed inside Tenguu City—and it seemed to be a high school campus. But why was the atmosphere so heavily feminine?
And for some reason, she felt this wasn't an ordinary high school at all. The style was totally different from Raizen High. For example, that medieval-style castle-like building in the distance—no ordinary person would ever live in something like that.
"...A spiritual wave?"
Just as she was wondering what kind of ridiculous place she had landed in, Sanluo suddenly sensed a fluctuation of spiritual power from the castle.
"There's a Spirit here?"
Before coming to Tenguu City, the only Spirit she had met was Tokisaki Kurumi. After arriving: Tohka, Yoshino, Kotori… encountering three of them in such a short time.
Seeing so many Spirits gathered in one place made Sanluo suspect there was something seriously off about this city… or maybe it was just a survivor's bias.
Shaking the thought from her head, she hid in a dark corner, planning to find some unlucky girl, rip off her clothes, and wear them herself to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Before finding Shido, she might as well look around a bit.
After a while, a tall, ornate iron gate of the Western-style castle swung open, and a girl with long blue-purple hair, wearing a sailor uniform and boasting a voluptuous figure, stepped out.
A classic "Spirit-class beauty."
"...This one's a Spirit?"
From the faint spiritual energy emanating from her, Sanluo was almost certain this girl was a Spirit.
Still, to live openly as a Spirit in a city high school—she sure had guts.
Or… was she simply very skilled at hiding herself? Otherwise, a Spirit's power wasn't something that could be concealed easily. In daily life she would inevitably use spiritual power unconsciously. Even getting past the AST would be a massive challenge.
"This uniform is really weird."
Muttering to herself, Sanluo used her power to transform her Astral Dress into an identical sailor uniform.
There was an inexplicable sense of shame… but that wasn't important.
Now that she had fitting clothes, there was no need to continue hiding.
Even if the girl was a Spirit, she definitely wouldn't be her opponent.
"Eh?"
The moment Sanluo entered her field of vision, the girl's eyes widened in clear surprise.
But soon, she smiled charmingly and approached Sanluo.
"Hello there. Are you new here?"
"Ah, you could say that."
Sanluo replied while carefully observing the girl's expression, hoping to catch some clue.
Unfortunately, the girl didn't seem to recognize her identity at all—she completely assumed Sanluo was a new student.
…At this time of year, would a new student really show up? Or was that just how this school worked—transfer students anytime?
Might as well go along with it for now.
Having received Sanluo's vague confirmation, the girl didn't mind her cold tone and instead smiled warmly, extending her hand.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Yoisaki Miku. Welcome to Rindōji Girls' Academy!"
"Oh?"
Sanluo narrowed her eyes and shook her hand.
A girls' academy? From the name alone, a school that only admitted female students? How peculiar.
Also… how had this girl lived peacefully in human society without detecting that she herself was a Spirit? How careless could she be?
"And may I ask your name?"
Miku's smile remained enchanting, but her voice carried a thin layer of spiritual power, gently stimulating Sanluo's eardrums. If Sanluo weren't also a Spirit, she would probably have revealed her name unconsciously under the influence of that charm.
"No comment."
"Eh?"
Realizing her voice didn't work, Miku blinked in confusion, then tried again:
"Please?"
This time the spiritual power wasn't faint at all—Sanluo could easily sense it even without focusing.
Of course, such low-level charm was still useless.
But Sanluo reconsidered. Refusing directly would be boring.
Since she had run into such a special Spirit, how could she *not* have a little fun?
And if she played along, she might get something interesting out of it.
"...Apocalypse Sanluo."
Pretending to be controlled by Miku's voice, Sanluo frowned slightly as she spoke.
Seeing her charm take effect again, Miku instantly brightened and took Sanluo's hand.
"Sanluo-chan, is it? Welcome."
"Sorry, I don't like people calling me by my name."
Sanluo said this while acting troubled, as though suffering aftereffects from Miku's charm.
"Oh, I see—alright then, Tenki-san."
Miku's expression shifted slightly, but in the end—perhaps unwilling to lose a brand-new toy—she compromised, addressing her the same way she did Shido.
"Well then, Tenki-san. Since you're new here, would you like to come to my place for some afternoon tea?"
After chatting for only a short while, Miku immediately revealed her true intentions and invited Sanluo to her home.
"Heh… let me see what tricks you have."
Sanluo sneered inwardly, though outwardly she answered obediently:
"It would be my pleasure, Lady Miku."
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