[Continuing her unique wager with you, Natsumi faced various subsequent ordeals.]
[First, there was Kurumi. Natsumi was completely manipulated by Kurumi, her disguise couldn't fool Kurumi's eyes. After all, Kurumi had been with you the longest among the Spirits, and her familiarity with you naturally allowed her to recognize Natsumi.]
[Next was Nia. With the help of her Angel, Rasiel, Nia even knew when Natsumi would come find her. She outright made Natsumi work as her manga assistant. Halfway through drawing, an angry Nia directly kicked Natsumi out.]
[Yoshino, due to her innocent and kind-hearted nature, didn't guard against Natsumi. But don't forget, Yoshino has her puppet, Yoshinon! Natsumi was of course recognized. Moreover, Yoshino herself was very familiar with your scent.]
[It was just that, due to her kind personality, Yoshino didn't expose Natsumi's true identity. Instead, she chatted and played with Natsumi very amiably. After a whole day, a satisfied Natsumi felt she couldn't deceive Yoshino any longer and voluntarily admitted defeat.]
[After that came Yamai Sisters, Miku, Ellen, Karen, Kotori, Shiori, and even Mana… Natsumi failed to deceive any of them. She encountered one unexpected situation after another.]
["Darn it, why are these people so smart? It shouldn't be like this."]
[Back in her room, no longer in her mature, enchanting form, Natsumi stared at you, cheeks puffed up in anger, accusing you of cheating.]
["Haha, I've been watching you the whole time, Natsumi."]
[Your time with Natsumi had already made this Seventh Spirit open her heart to you, even revealing her deeply inferior inner self. While not entirely convinced by your words, Natsumi still tsunderely humphed a few times, indicating she wouldn't believe you so easily.]
["I don't care! I still have one last chance!"]
[The last chance was undoubtedly the Eleventh Spirit, Westcott. Transforming into your appearance, Natsumi ran out late at night.]
[The next morning.]
["I'm truly sorry, everyone. I was wrong."]
[Hanging a sign with words to that effect, and dressed in child's clothing, Natsumi clearly didn't know what terrifying past she had experienced. But it was obvious she had suffered quite a blow from Westcott.]
[After that, Natsumi, having lost the wager with you, was 'forced' to have her spiritual power sealed by you. She began living with you all, 'compelled' to enjoy a new family life.]
[Incidentally, during this period, Natsumi had multiple roles: good friend to Yoshino and Yoshinon, manga assistant to Nia, plaything for Miku, the woman most afraid of Westcott, and also...]
["Meow."]
[Although you had once said Natsumi's true form was very cute, with her Angel, Haniel, she was still very skilled in the art of transformation. Wearing the same catgirl outfit from your first meeting, this time you learned how Natsumi's tail was attached, and incidentally helped her take it off.]
"Mio-nee, where are we going?"
Mukuro was a child adopted by the Spirit of Origin, Mio, at a very young age. The reason was very simple: among the tasks Ryuya had given Mio, one was to change herself and visit children in welfare homes and orphanages.
Obediently following Ryuya's words, Mio went to an orphanage. At that time, Mio was already planning how to bestow her power upon Ryuya, so she immediately took a liking to Mukuro, this girl with the potential and talent of a Spirit.
Taking Mukuro away, she bestowed upon her the power of the Sixth Angel. The ability of the Sixth Angel was very special… it could seal any existence, concept, or even rules.
For example, in the original work, Mukuro sealed the memories of other Spirits and could even seal others' powers, including things like stopping the Earth's rotation wasn't a problem for her.
Having always been by Mio's side, in Mukuro's memory, she and Mio had traveled to every corner of the world since childhood and done many things ordinary people would never do in their entire lives.
She felt life with Mio was very happy and beautiful. But in recent months, Mukuro noticed some problems.
"Mio-nee, what are we eating today?"
"Mio-nee, watch the road."
"Mio-nee, what are you...?"
Somehow, the Mio in her memory, who was omnipotent and practically divine, often seemed distracted lately, even abandoning many of her usual habits.
Staying in Tengu City all this time, Mukuro felt her sister might have something on her mind.
"Where to? Ah, to... pray for blessings, I suppose."
Time flew by, and the New Year was quickly approaching. Mio remembered that when she was with Ryuya before, they had visited these so-called places of gods.
She remembered Ryuya saying that praying to gods was not as good as praying to him, as he was stronger than all the gods in the heavens.
"Heh..."
Recalling the beauty of the past, a slight smile unconsciously appeared on Mio's lips. Silently thinking, 'It's almost time, it's almost over,' she knew only two Spirits remained unsealed by Ryuya.
The first was Himekawa Mukuro. The second wasn't actually Origami, but a girl who had long become a Spirit and then failed.
Pondering whether that person's existence had stabilized, hesitating, Mio and Mukuro heard some voices… the noisy sounds of girls.
"Ryuya, Ryuya, there are so many people here!"
The voice was light, lively, and energetic. Tohka, who always had energy no matter the time, was wearing beautiful winter clothes today.
She wasn't wearing leather or down jackets. In this season, she wore a pink tracksuit with a small capelet, fully displaying youthful vitality.
"There really are a lot of people, but it's almost New Year, so it's normal."
With her emerald-like eyes scanned the surroundings, Natsumi rarely saw so many people.
In the past, when she appeared in her true form, she was always disliked. Now accustomed to no longer using her illusory appearance, she basically didn't transform unless she was alone with Ryuya.
"Natsumi~~~"
Wearing a face mask because she was too famous, Miku usually had to wear a bit of disguise when going out.
She directly pounced on the small, cute Natsumi, treating her completely like a mascot, whining and grumbling.
Besides them, the other Spirits were also present. Everyone had decided to do New Year's worship activities together.
"Sigh, worshipping to gods?"
Able to sense that there were no so-called gods in the world, and even if any existed, they were just insignificant spirits, Ryuya felt somewhat speechless about the girls' actions, but he still went out with them.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly sensing a familiar presence not far away, Ryuya glanced over but found no one there.
'Strange, my intuition can't be wrong. Is it Mio?'
Firmly trusting his sixth sense, Ryuya guessed Mio might have hidden in a separate space again.
There was no helping it. He wasn't familiar with the laws of space yet, as abilities like spatial manipulation belonged to Kurumi's Inverse Form, the White Queen, and her power, Lucifugus.
Sighing, Ryuya continued praying for blessings with the other girls.