He wasn’t entirely unprepared for this. In fact, she had repeatedly attacked without provocation the last time he’d spoken with her as well. He would have died several times over back then had he not been communicating via a three-dimensional projection.
Of course, being prepared for an attack and being able to immediately react were two separate matters. Under the direction of a Spirit’s power, the rocks firing toward him transformed into an extremely small-scale meteor shower. The deadly, misshapen projectiles shot toward Shido, each with enough force to break bones and pierce flesh.
“Hngh!” He crossed his arms and folded into himself to try and protect his head. He had Kotori’s healing flames. So long as he could avoid instant death, he could recover from any wound.
Yet he wasn’t hit once.
“Huh?” he cried out, bewildered.
The obvious response. Every bit of the innumerable chunks of debris Mukuro shot at him slipped past and shot off into the darkness of space.
Mukuro hadn’t had a change of heart and shifted her line of fire, though. It was more like his own body was evading the debris, like a buoy pushed aside by the waves to clear a path for a boat.
“What the…,” he said, stunned, and a familiar voice came from the communication device in his ear.
“Not letting her take you down. Not my Big Bro.”
He’d recognize that voice anywhere. It was his little sister, Ratatoskr commander Kotori Itsuka.
Yes. The reason Shido could safely float through outer space in the flesh was solely due to Kotori and the massive airship she commanded, Fraxinus EX. In position behind him, the ship had set up a Territory, acting as backup to keep him safe and to help his voice reach Mukuro in the vacuum of space.
“In principle, it’s the same as Fraxinus’s Avoid. The Territory detects approaching objects and prevents contact with your body.”
“Huh. Okay,” he said. “Thanks, Kotori.”
“Only gonna thank Kotori?” another voice grumbled in his ear.
“Ha-ha! Thanks, Maria.” Shido smiled wryly as he replied to Fraxinus’s AI.
“That’s more like it. However, please do not grow overconfident. The Territory covering you isn’t as strong or precise as the one surrounding the hull of the Fraxinus. Small projectiles present no issue, but it would stand little chance against a direct attack from the Angel. And—”
“Sorry,” Kotori interrupted Maria. “But don’t expect too much guidance from us. We gotta take care of an unwelcome guest.”
“Right. Got it.” An unwelcome guest. Shido glanced back, and then his face hardened.
The reason was simple. A number of enormous silhouettes was approaching Fraxinus from their blue home planet.
DEM Industries airships.
Four ships had appeared right before Shido’s sortie to attack Fraxinus, and now they were charging full speed ahead. In the center of the group was Goetia, an airship with which Fraxinus had unfinished business. However advanced Fraxinus might have been, it would have its hands full with that attack. It couldn’t watch over Shido at the same time.
Shido nodded firmly, steeling himself once more as he turned back to Mukuro.
“The Territory is plenty,” he said quietly. “Leave this to me.”
His opponent was a Spirit with unfathomable power. And her heart was locked tight. Nothing he said would reach her—her responses thus far proved that much. Although it wasn’t like he was helpless before her, with no tricks up his sleeve. He had just one means of opening her heart.
“…”
He held out his right hand, took a heavy breath, and concentrated. He visualized his mind growing smaller and changing in nature. Guided by his desire to save Mukuro, he brought forth a shape from the depths of a hazy light. Then he called the name of that shape—the name of the Angel with unparalleled power. The name of the “key” that might end this stalemate.
“Haniel.”
The moment he uttered the name, he felt a hint of warmth like a spurt of blood shoot through his body. His hand glowed, and the long shaft of a weapon manifested in his palm.
It wasn’t quite a lance, nor a longsword. With long, slender, hard bits bundled together at one end, this was less a fighting staff or weapon of war—it was more reminiscent of a common broom.
“…Hm-hmm?” Mukuro reacted to the Angel Haniel’s abrupt appearance. “An Angel? And yet I perceive no Spirits.”
She then narrowed her eyes, as though it all suddenly made sense.
“Oh-ho. This, then, would be the sealing of Spirit powers you spoke of. Hm-hmm. I know not the principle at work, but it would seem you have stolen the Angel from the Spirit. Only natural that you would seek Muku’s power as well.”
“Okay, you don’t have to make it sound like I’m some villain,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You’re right, this isn’t my power. But I didn’t take it. I’m just borrowing it so I can save you.”
“You still speak?” she said coldly. “Have you not learned? ’Tis impossible. While that does indeed appear to be an Angel, no Angel could best Muku’s Michael.”
“Yeah? In that case…” Shido smiled slightly and gripped Haniel’s handle tighter. “Haniel. Kaleidoscope!”
Haniel shone faintly and changed shape instantly, like clay being twisted and kneaded. A few seconds later, the glow faded, revealing an entirely different Angel from moments ago.
A staff in the form of a key. Haniel had transformed into the very object Mukuro held, the Angel Michael.
Her heart had been locked by the Angel she possessed. Which meant that she was the only one who could open her heart. The sole exception to this ironclad rule—the only loophole—was Haniel.
“…What?” Mukuro let out a dubious cry. This was indeed unexpected. “Curious. You have copied Michael?”
“Bingo. Now…” Shido turned the Michael in his hands toward Mukuro, the staff’s ornamentation jangling. “…I’ll be able to speak with the real you.”
“Such insolence.” She sniffed. “You would do well to know your place. You imitate Michael’s shape, but you could never master my Angel.”
“Who’s to say? Let’s give it a shot,” Shido said, willing his pounding heart to slow as he gripped Michael with both hands. “Here we go, Mukuro. I’m gonna open your heart.”