The main monitor on the bridge of Fraxinus showed a window of the Tengu Tower observation deck shattering just as an alarm began to blare.
“…?! What is—?”
“Two powerful Spirit signals detected!” Deep Love Minowa shouted. “We’re getting a category E!”
“What did you say?!” Kotori frowned, troubled.
A category E Spirit signal. In other words, an individual whose Spirit power differed from that of a normal Spirit—the sort of power an inverted Spirit displayed.
For once, they had been expecting a signal like this. They knew the inverted Tohka was on the observation deck.
Actually, “on” wasn’t exactly the right word. The main monitor showed two Spirits standing nonchalantly against the glass wall of the tower, long hair dancing in the wind.
“…!”
While Kotori’s attention was focused on the main monitor, another alarm began to sound. This one was a shrill siren with an ominous air.
It was not something she could hear from inside of the airship. It was a spacequake alert, which had been triggered by the intense Spirit power exuded by the two girls standing on the side of Tengu Tower.
Normally, a spacequake alert was issued when fluctuations were observed where a Spirit from the parallel world appeared in this world. It seemed that the country—or more specifically, the AST—had not missed these anomalous Spirit signal values.
People quickly and immediately vanished from the streets of the city. They were all hurrying to evacuate to their closest shelter.
“Ngh…” Catching glimpses of the sub monitor out of the corner of her eye, Kotori grimaced and clenched her hands into fists.
Ratatoskr was an organization with a mission to save the Spirits. She couldn’t simply sit back and watch in an emergency like this. And yet, no specific solutions came to mind.
They may have been able to shut down the rampaging Spirits if they used the weapons or CR units equipped on Fraxinus. But that would make them no different from the AST or DEM. And if the power of the Spirits was not nullified somehow, any such attack would simply be an endless deferment of the issue.
Even Realizers weren’t capable of sealing the powers of the Spirits. In which case, Kotori and her team had thus far…
“Ngh!” Kotori grimaced at the sudden pain stabbing into her head. Something wasn’t adding up. She felt like a single puzzle piece had gone missing. A complicated labyrinth missing a path forward.
As Kotori’s thoughts raced with no end in sight, a crew member called out to her abruptly, “Commander!”
Facing off on the wall of the observation deck, the two Spirits kicked off the ground—or rather, the wall—and closed in on each other instantaneously, the start of a battle in which gravity was very much not involved.
One Spirit was inverted, clad in an Astral Dress the color of night, a single-edged sword in her hands: Tohka.
The other had long, wild golden hair and carried a polearm with a key-shaped end—if Origami was to be believed, this was Mukuro.
They both kicked off the wall, scattering immense Spirit power as sword and polearm clashed. The aftershocks of each blow shattered the observation deck windows one after the other, sending glittering pieces of glass flying.
“…! We can’t just sit here and watch. Keep damage in the area to a—” Kotori abruptly interrupted herself when an alarm began ringing to indicate a transmission on an outside line.
“A transmission?” She frowned. “From where?”
“A normal phone line,” a member of her crew called in response. “It’s Origami Tobiichi’s cell phone!”
“What?!” she yelled. “Put her through!”
After a burst of static, Origami’s voice came over the speakers. “Kotori! It’s Tobiichi!”
“Origami!” she said. “What on earth did you do? Tohka is… And who is that other Spirit?!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll explain later. There’s no time now. Please help us! We can’t get near them like this! Can you please use Fraxinus’s Territory to hold them back a little?”
“I…I think that’s possible, but we won’t be able to completely constrain Spirits as powerful as the two of them. At best, all we can do is make their bodies feel heavier. That alone won’t—”
“I can take it from there!” A voice came over the speakers, interrupting her. Not Origami. The voice of a boy.
“Wha—?” Her eyes grew wide in surprise. Surprise not only at the unexpected voice, but at her own curious sense of relief. “Wh-what are you talking about? And who are—?”
“I don’t have time to explain now, but I’m the only one who can stop them. So please. Will you trust me and help us?” the boy pleaded.
“…”
Kotori was forced into silence for a few moments. She made up her mind. “Deploy a Territory in the area where Tohka and Mukuro are fighting!” she ordered. “Fire Yggdrafolium at the same time! Let’s minimize the damage around them!”
“Commander?!”
Her crew cried out in disbelief. This was only natural. Origami’s cry for help was one thing, but Kotori was now taking at face value the words of a total stranger.
For some reason, though, she couldn’t help but feel that her decision strangely clicked into place. Almost like she’d had this sort of back-and-forth countless times. Like he’d pushed her to extremes over and over again. Like she’d been forced to go along with his recklessness more often than she cared to recall.
Kotori flicked up the stick of her Chupa Chups, flapped the jacket hanging over her shoulders, and called out, “Listen up. We’re doing this. We fight our own way, hmm?”