"Dealing with this Spirit is really troublesome."
When Shiki transformed back into Shido and returned to the airship, the first thing he saw was Kotori’s frowning face. He watched as she paced back and forth in front of the command deck while underneath her feet, a blond hunk lay sprawled out, occasionally getting stepped on the back or head by Kotori but seeming indifferent to it, his eyes closed as if he were enjoying himself.
"Kotori, do we really have to seal them?"
Shido chose to ignore the scene as this was pretty much an everyday affair on this warship. Instead, he was more concerned about another matter.
"To be honest, I don’t see the need to seal these two Spirits at all."
If Shido had any doubts before meeting them, after his interaction, for the first time, he felt it wouldn’t be a problem not to seal a Spirit. On one hand, he was resistant to the idea of kissing a male, and on the other, after speaking with them, Shido realized these two Spirits weren’t as lacking in common sense as Shika, nor did they have unsolvable problems like the Yamai Sisters. In fact, they seemed to be thoroughly enjoying life. From their conversation, Shido could tell that they genuinely liked traveling around the world, appreciating the scenery and culture... To be honest, even Shido was tempted to consider going on a global trip after graduating from high school, to seek pleasure in the unknown like them.
"They don’t seem to pose any threat to the world, and I feel those two Spirits are pretty harmless. There’s really no need to seal them..."
Shido wasn’t wrong—the goal of Ratastok was always "to let Spirits experience the beauty of this world so they wouldn’t destroy it." However, Fang Zheng and Yoshino were clearly enjoying life more than they had anticipated... even more than most people here, actually.
To be honest, even Kotori Gokawa was a bit envious of them. If only she could go on an impromptu trip around the world with Shido... Ah, but that remained just a dream.
"That’s true, but... uh..."
Even Kotori hesitated this time.
"Plus, sealing involves a kiss, right? Let’s not even talk about whether I can kiss another grown man, but even if I did, I’ll have to revert to my male form one day, right? Wouldn’t it be even more terrifying if my true identity were to be exposed?"
Deep down, if Shido were to find out that the girl he dated turned out to be a guy in disguise, he thought he’d be distraught. He had no doubts that if his true identity were revealed, the other party might just blow up the world.
"You have a point... Alright, I’ll consider it, but..."
As she spoke, Kotori looked at Shido with a mischievous smile.
"You still have to put in the effort for tomorrow’s date, right? We’ve already made plans, so we can’t just cancel. They seem nice, but they’re still Spirits. What if they get cranky for being stood up and pose a danger? So... please do your best, Sister Shiki?"
"...Kotori, you’re scheming against me!!"
"It’s your responsibility, Shido! Saving the world is up to you now. Tomorrow is the most important date for the girl, and it’s my brother’s first time going out with a man! As your sister, I won’t let you embarrass yourself!"
As she spoke, Kotori snapped her fingers and two personnel appeared behind her, grabbing Shido by each arm.
"Go on, let’s make my sister the most beautiful woman in the world!"
With screams, Shido disappeared into the depths of the corridor...
Meanwhile, as Shido was undergoing a transformation by the loving hands of his sister, out in the woods outside Celestial City, Fang Zheng and Yoshino were having a secret meeting with a woman.
Of course, this wasn’t the kind of clandestine activity one might do in the seclusion of a forest, but it was certainly secretive enough.
The girl tilted her head back, letting out a soft moan, her eyes barely open, giving off a blurry radiance. Then her body suddenly trembled, and she leaned against the tree behind her, gasping for breath.
"Can’t you absorb power in a more normal way, Kurumi?"
Looking at the panting Kurumi, and Yoshino beside him with flushed cheeks, covering her eyes but peeking through her fingers, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly.
"This isn’t good for Yoshino’s moral education. Don’t lead her astray."
"Hehehe, I can feel it, the power of darkness coursing through my body, even my soul is thrilling at its touch! Yes, that’s it! With this power, I can change the world, my Seal will soon be released... Aaah, I can feel it... the long-missed voice of darkness..."
Watching Kurumi spread her arms in front of him, as if she had undone her seal, Fang Zheng couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of his eye. In fact, the reason things had turned out this way was simple—the Kurumi that appeared here wasn’t the real one.
After Fang Zheng had laid out the plan, Kurumi began the task of searching for the Second Elf. However, because the DEM Corporation had hidden the Second Elf so well, up to this point, Kurumi still hadn’t found any clues. To increase efficiency and for safety’s sake, Kurumi didn’t choose to have her real body follow Fang Zheng. Instead, she sent a clone through shadow teleportation to Fang Zheng every day to absorb the power of Zero Hour Resurgence and to report recent developments.
And the problem lay with these clones.
The clones of Kurumi were brought into existence using one of her angel Chronos’s abilities—Bullet of the Eighth, which mirrored her form across different time axes. Naturally, this included several of Kurumi’s past selves from long ago, like the one currently standing before Fang Zheng, who was Kurumi from five years ago. Unlike the current Kurumi, the one from five years ago didn’t tie her hair up into a ponytail; she had long, straight black hair and was wearing a black and white, gothic-style dress, with a patch covering her left eye. How to put it...
She always gave off the impression that she might suddenly blurt out lines like "Burst forth, reality! Shatter, spirit! Disappear, this world!"
And, indeed, that was the case.
"Thank you for your power, oh eternal Dark King. ’I’ will forever serve you, so please look forward to the performance of ’me’ as a Dark Fallen Angel."
"Ah... uh... then I’ll leave it to you."
Listening to the eyepatch-wearing Kurumi’s chunibyo-filled lines, Fang Zheng had to forcibly suppress the urge to retort and simply nodded. Before, when he’d been startled by Kurumi’s Chronos ability, Fang Zheng had carefully considered experimenting with it after regaining his power over time manipulation. But now... Fang Zheng had decided he would never ever resort to using that ability in his life.
It was just too high a level of cringe, exposing his dark history in front of others .
"So, returning to the main issue, how are things over there?"
Putting away Zero Hour Resurgence, Fang Zheng asked, and the eyepatch-wearing Kurumi shook her head.
"DEM really knows how to hide things well. Despite ’my’ infiltration into many of their branches, ’I’ have not found any trace of the Second Elf. At least we are certain that the DEM Corporation indeed captured the Second Elf, but right now, it’s unclear by what means they’ve sealed her away. Hmph... As expected of the nefarious Organization secretly manipulating this world, even my powers can’t penetrate the Dark Abyss..."
Things on my end have been going smoothly."
Fang Zheng hastily cut off the eyepatch-wearing Kurumi’s chunibyo speech, partly because of consideration for Kurumi’s real self and partly... because it was really not good for Yoshino’s emotional upbringing.
"I have seen the boy named Shido Gokawa, and he indeed has the ability to seal the spiritual powers of Spirits..."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng recounted all the information he had acquired from Ratastok. After listening to Fang Zheng’s explanation, the eyepatch-wearing Kurumi nodded.
"So that’s how it is, using love to seal the power? Hmm, it seems that this boy called Shido Gokawa will be a significant obstacle. However, there’s no need to worry; in the face of our Pitch Black wings’ power, his resistance will be hopeless and fragile!"
"Let’s assume that’s the case... Oh, and could you please tell Kurumi to retrieve physically isolated hard disks, if she finds any? I might attempt to decrypt their contents. Also, regarding Shido Gokawa, I have been investigating and found that he seems to have been adopted by the Gokawa family. I’m trying to find Shido’s biological parents, as they might have some clues. But so far, I’ve made no progress."
The confidential documents in DEM’s public network had been almost entirely decrypted by Fang Zheng, but they contained no information about the Second Elf. Upon consideration, if the documents were highly secret, they would definitely be in a physically isolated intranet, to which Fang Zheng had no access.
"All right, I’ll relay the message to ’me’."
"Tell her to be careful too, and not to neglect her safety. If push comes to shove, we’ll implement Plan B."
The Plan B Fang Zheng mentioned was his backup plan. If they couldn’t find what they were looking for in secret, then he and Kurumi would join forces and directly attack the DEM headquarters. Of course, this was a last-resort measure.
"Understood, then that ends today’s communication report. My great King of the Night, I wish you all the best."
The chunibyo-laden Kurumi said this while lifting the hem of her dress, quickly sinking into the shadows.
"Ah, one more thing. Allen Mira Mathers from DEM will be coming here soon. Although I don’t know what she’s up to, please be extra cautious, okay? Fare thee well... hoo-hoo-hoo..."
With those words, the eyepatch-wearing Kurumi disappeared into the shadows.
Watching the spot where the eyepatch-wearing Kurumi vanished, Fang Zheng silently swore that he would never use this ability in his lifetime, no matter what.
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