Chapter 39: The Choice of White Kurumi
"Whoa!! Good thing I dodged that!"
"W-what's going on here?!"
"Why would Ms. Kurumi's friend attack Satoru?!"
"Wait, Satoru just used his ability directly. Does that mean he was actually pretending not to know?"
"Seems like it. Satoru really is reliable when it matters~"
"Weren't you just saying he always fails at critical moments?"
"Ahem! I don't remember saying that. I said he's being careful!"
The gossip shifted rapidly. Though less than a minute had passed, everyone's opinions had almost completely changed.
But admittedly, everyone was looking at Satoru with renewed respect.
They originally thought he hadn't considered the consequences and was just showing off, but now it seemed...
"Could it be that Satoru anticipated this danger and deliberately set the teleportation point so far away?"
The safety measures were actually serving their purpose.
Ayano analyzed seriously while watching the screen, and everyone nodded with dawning realization.
If they hadn't witnessed this situation, they would never have thought about it—who would notice such small details?
With that much distance, even if he couldn't win the fight, he could always retreat and escape with his "whole family."
Of course, that would be a last resort, not something to be done unless absolutely necessary.
"Probably, but looking at the current situation, it might not be that convenient. Little Kurumi's friend seems to have spatial abilities too—short-distance teleportation should still be possible~"
Nia spoke up quietly at this point, her tone as casual as usual.
But her sitting posture had changed from curled up while gaming to sitting upright... while gaming, occasionally glancing at the screen.
"But following that logic, long-distance teleportation might not be possible, right?"
"Exactly. But her slashes can tear through space, so Satoru can't teleport in front of her—that would end badly~ Right now he's just looking for an opportunity to escape~"
"Eh? Not to resolve the situation?"
"How could he? An Inversed Spirit is very powerful, and Little Kurumi herself is extremely strong to begin with. Satoru just got his Angel—the combat difference is too large. He basically has no chance of winning~"
"..." xN
Hearing Nia's somewhat gleeful laughter, the surrounding girls felt somewhat speechless.
Even in such a dangerous situation, she was still making sarcastic remarks!
But when they saw the look in Nia's eyes, they all fell silent.
Because her eyes showed rare seriousness, and she kept holding a pen, looking like she was ready to write something at any moment.
Though they didn't know what use it would be, since she was a Spirit, this must be some kind of ability.
It seemed she was taking this much more seriously than they had imagined...
Meanwhile, they were just worrying pointlessly here, unable to do anything useful.
So the girls couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty, turning to watch the screen with renewed tension.
No matter what, they hoped things would turn out safely for Satoru over there.
Fortunately, no further fighting had broken out over there, and the two were still conversing rather harmoniously.
Yet they remained perplexed—what could possibly have driven Ms. Kurumi's friend to attack them?
Logically speaking, her friend should also be a good girl. It was precisely because of this that Kurumi would go to such extremes for her sake, right?
"I see~ It seems I couldn't quite conceal my emotions back then. After all, it's rare for me to get a chance to come out~"
"I told you, something felt off at the time. Good thing I was somewhat prepared. Though I've roughly guessed the reason, I'll ask anyway—why did you try to absorb me?"
"Because to manifest two of us simultaneously, I needed to obtain another Spirit's Reiryoku, or even an Angel, to maintain long-term stability. With such a perfect candidate right here, of course I chose to devour Satoru~ Don't worry, I'll preserve Satoru's consciousness—I only need your Angel~"
"..." xN
Was that really the only reason?
They had thought they were friends, yet now they were crossing blades again over such an absurd justification...
Oh, actually, upon closer reflection, perhaps it wasn't so unreasonable.
Even setting Sawa aside, Kurumi herself had previously attacked and attempted to absorb Nia for the sake of Reiryoku.
So even if White Kurumi genuinely intended to do this, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise.
After all, now that she'd achieved her goals, it wasn't impossible for her to continue resorting to any means necessary...
"As expected. Sigh, this is truly troublesome. This personality of yours is far too extreme. Couldn't you summon a more reasonable one? That gentle girl from earlier was actually quite nice."
"...Oh my~ You saw through me~ Or is this another of Satoru's abilities?"
"A bit of both, I suppose. Your mental state is unstable—it's only natural you'd do something insane. Good thing I brought you here, otherwise they might have been in danger. But... since you're here now, it seems I have no choice but to eliminate you."
"..." xN
He...
Was he really not planning to escape??