“G-Goetia! Shots fired!” the crew called out from the lower deck.
“Successful defense with Territory! No damage incurred!”
“…Tch!” Kotori scowled, infuriated.
If Goetia had fired a normal magic weapon, Fraxinus’s Territory would have easily repelled or absorbed the force. The bridge wouldn’t have shaken to nearly that extent. Knowing that she couldn’t get past these defenses, Ellen had purposefully aimed for the Territory itself to rock their ship. She was knocking at the front door.
“Ellen Mathers must think we’re just gonna sit back and take it!” Kotori bit down hard on the Chupa Chups in her mouth.
With exquisite timing, a buzzer sounded over the speakers on the bridge to notify receipt of an external transmission.
Kotori didn’t have to think too hard about who it might be. “…Put her through,” she said grumpily.
“Yes, sir!” a crew member called in response.
A heartbeat later, static raced across the monitor, then the image of a young woman. Almost colorless Nordic blond hair, skin as pale as a hospital patient. Although her body was wrapped in a Wizard’s platinum wiring suit, the neck and arms that could be seen were so thin, they looked as though they would snap like twigs under the slightest strain.
At a glance, she seemed like a normal—or weaker than average, even—foreign girl. But her blue eyes were filled with absolute confidence in her own power.
The ends of Kotori’s eyebrows twitched at the sheer hubris on display. “…Ellen Mathers,” she said tersely.
“It’s been a while since we came face-to-face, Kotori Itsuka,” Ellen replied, her cheeks pushing up into something akin to a smile.
It was not the first time Kotori had seen this girl smiling at her like this. Before Shido used the power of Zafkiel to change history, Kotori and Fraxinus had faced Ellen and lost.
“So, here you are,” she said. “Haven’t learned your lesson, huh? Well, you’ll have a little extra trouble this time.”
“Heh-heh,” Ellen chuckled. “Does your confidence come from that ship? From the look of it, I’d say it’s new. What a shame I have to shoot it out of the sky again.”
“Shut your mouth—” Kotori interrupted herself with a gasp. Again. Ellen could have meant only one thing by that.
But Fraxinus had lost to Goetia in the old world, before Shido changed it. The Ellen of this world shouldn’t have known that.
“…Oh, is that it, then?” Kotori muttered. “Beelzebub strikes again.”
The all-knowing demon king Beelzebub, stolen by Isaac Westcott. Normally, he, Ellen, and the rest of DEM would have had no way to know about the pre-reform world, but with this power, plucking that information out of the ether was a simple task.
“Hmph.” She sniffed. “Seems like that CEO of yours is having a good time with all this. Like a kid with a new toy.”
“A kid, you say?” Ellen sounded amused. “Heh. I cannot say you are entirely off the mark.”
“Yeah. I mean, this isn’t a manga,” Kotori said. “If he had a lick of sense, he wouldn’t have come barging into the enemy’s headquarters.”
“…?” A hint of distress flickered across Ellen’s face for the first time. Her voice shook dubiously—or perhaps indignantly—when she spoke again. “What did you say, Kotori Itsuka? Ike attacked the Ratatoskr base?”
“…”
Kotori swallowed hard. It was clear as day. Ellen didn’t know that Isaac Westcott had paid the Ratatoskr base a visit.
“…Huh. From that reaction, I’d say you’re out of the loop. Which—wow. I mean, I know you act like you’re his right-hand woman, but not being informed of such a critical mission… Maybe he doesn’t actually trust you that much?”
“…”
Ellen glared at Kotori, a far cry from her confident swagger of only moments ago. She mouthed something to herself, and her expression regained its usual icy chill as she pushed back her long bangs.
“That was a cheap shot. You think I would trust the words of the enemy?”
“Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself. Or are you scared?”
“There is no point in listening to your ravings. However. I suppose… Fine. If you insist, I will go ahead and confirm,” Ellen said, and sharpened her gaze as she continued, “It will take five minutes, at most.”
The communication was abruptly cut off, and in place of Ellen’s face, the main monitor showed the DEM airships. With Goetia at their center, the other three ships were deployed to run down Fraxinus.
The battle’s starting formation was extremely easy to understand.
Kotori snorted and started issuing orders to her crew. “Set Territory attribute to defensive and retreat! The other ships besides Goetia might be small fry in comparison, but we still don’t need them surrounding us. Before they try anything—”
“Kotoriii!” Miku cried. “Please transfer us outside of the ship first! We’ll take care of those extraaa enemies!”
The other Spirits chimed in with their agreement.
“Kotori, take Goetia…!”
“Keh-keh! Tohka and Origami have departed for Shido. Then shall we not safeguard this place to ensure they have somewhere to return?”
“Gang…” After a moment’s hesitation, Kotori shook her head slightly. “No. Please. You all stay here.”
“But—!” Miku protested. “We waaant to help!”
“Relax,” Kotori said with a smile. “We might need your help here.”
“What…?”
“Doubt. What do you mean?”
The Spirits cocked their heads, confused.
“I’d rather take care of this on my own somehow. But this is Goetia we’re up against. If—” Kotori turned her gaze on each of the Spirits in turn and stopped. For a simple reason—they were one Spirit short.
“Huh?” She frowned. “Where’d that kid—?”
“Goetia is approaching!” A crew member’s voice rang out from the lower deck and pulled Kotori’s attention.
There was no time to sit and deliberate carefully. If her runaway Spirit had gone and hid because she was afraid of the battle, Kotori wouldn’t hold it against her. She had absolutely no intention of twisting anyone’s arm to help her. She waved a hand and issued orders.
“You girls are on standby for now. All hands! Brace yourselves! Here we go!”
“Roger!” The voices of the crew echoed from the lower deck.
Kotori licked her lips and fixed her gaze on the platinum airship on the main monitor. “We’re coming, beloved and fated rival. I’ll let you have a little taste of the new Fraxinus’s power.”
She thrust a finger out at the monitor and called out the magic words.
“Now, let’s begin our date!”