Asura

Inside the underground shelter.

Counting complete, Yisha frowned again. “Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one… thirty-two. One is missing.”

Just as she was about to check who was absent, a mischievous voice echoed in her ear.

[Hey, hey, hey, Sis, can you hear me?]

“It’d be hard not to hear you!”

Instantly recognizing the speaker, Yisha retorted, exasperated.

Her near-tardiness that morning was largely due to the very person now speaking: her younger sister, Shimazaki Yina.

[Ehehe, Sis, don’t always frown. You’re so pretty; isn’t it a waste to always have such a cold expression?]

Yisha instinctively touched her face. She didn’t think she was frowning, did she?

[Are you touching your face? Hehe, I’m just kidding.]

“Yina!”

Though slightly annoyed, Yisha felt more amusement than anger. Only Yina dared to be so impish in front of her.

[Putting that aside, did you hear the alarm?]

“I did. It’s the first time.”

The other person’s tone shifted from cheerful to serious. She knew precisely what the alarm signified; a Spatial Quake was far from simple.

It was a global catastrophe, not an ordinary natural disaster.

Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions—none of these compared to a Spatial Quake!

[Get ready. I’m checking the sensor data now.]

“I’m going to check it out,” Yisha stated, her decision made.

[Should I eliminate it?]

“No, just observe. Gather some intelligence. So far, we’ve only seen footage, never a live specimen.”

[And when it comes to combat, videos are the least reliable source.]

“Understood. The landing zone is the shopping district. I’ll wait for you at home.”

The communication was unilaterally cut. Yisha looked at the crowd, a mix of emotions swirling within her.

“Big Sister Yisha, I finally found you!”

At that moment, a voice broke through Yisha’s thoughts. Her eyes widened slightly as she recognized the newcomer.

The child who had come for her was none other than Xin Xin, one of the orphans.

Yisha had brought the sisters Xin Xin and Xin Yue to the orphanage. Initially, they struggled to fit in with the other children, causing Yisha and Yina considerable worry.

“What’s wrong?”

“Kotori is my friend. She said she went to the school building to get something, but she hasn’t come back yet, and I can’t find her anywhere.”

“I heard you were the last one to see her, so I wanted to ask if you know where she is.”

Yisha’s pupils contracted slightly. Looking at the child, frantic with worry for her friend, she was suddenly reminded of her own friends, far away in another world.

No one would calmly wait when their friend might be in deep peril.

Yisha crouched down, looking directly into Xin Xin’s eyes. She patted the child’s shoulder, her voice gentle.

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back to you.”

“Then, thank you, Big Sister Yisha!”

Xin Xin lifted her small face, a smile blooming. She returned to where her class was waiting for Yisha to bring Kotori back.

To the children of the orphanage, Yisha was an omnipotent big sister; anything she promised, she would surely deliver!

Watching her retreating figure, Yisha’s eyes narrowed slightly, her hand slowly clenching into a fist.

She truly disliked people who ran off and disappeared at critical moments, causing their friends to worry.

Taking out the attendance roster, Yisha, relying on her memory, quickly flipped to Itsuka Kotori’s class.

Xin Xin’s question reminded her: the missing person from the earlier count was Itsuka Kotori. Where on earth had that girl run off to?

Didn’t she know a Spatial Quake was imminent?

Yisha paused when she saw Itsuka Kotori’s family information. There were no parents listed in the contact details, only her older brother.

‘Were her parents abroad, unable to care for her?’

Despite her many conjectures, Yisha immediately called the person named Itsuka Shido, for the sake of her student.

The city was deserted, as if the usual bustling vibrancy that rarely diminished even late into the night had merely been a dream.

Now, awake, everything had vanished.

This very emptiness, paradoxically, made the boy sprinting through the city streets feel fortunate.

‘Seven more intersections. Next, a left turn!’

His body was utterly exhausted, a viscous, metallic tang coated his throat, and his mouth was parched beyond belief.

Every moment, his legs screamed in protest, but Shido refused to halt. If he stopped, he might not be able to save his sister!

Beep—You have an incoming call. Beep—You have an incoming call…

He pulled his phone from his pocket; the number was unfamiliar.

“I’m busy right now. Please call me back later.”

Having said this, Shido, who was about to hang up, suddenly froze. The words that followed from the other end utterly shocked him.

“Is Itsuka Kotori with you? I’m her teacher. She said she went back to the school building for some materials, but I can’t find her.”

This sentence further increased the possibility that Kotori was at the family restaurant. The thought made Shido clench his teeth involuntarily.

‘A family restaurant? She could go there any time!’

“She’s, she’s with me now. You don’t need to worry.”

He actually wanted to tell them the truth, but a Spatial Quake was imminent. If he revealed the situation, he would only add another person to worry.

“Alright. I hope you both stay safe.”

The other person seemed to sigh in relief, then the call ended.

Putting his phone away, Shido pressed on towards his destination.

Yisha put away her phone. While no one was paying attention, she slowly moved towards the exit, slipping away unnoticed under the cover of shadows.

No one observed her disappearance, save for Xin Xin, to whom she had promised to find Kotori.

Reaching the surface, she glanced around, confirming no surveillance or people were present. She then lightly pressed her hand to her face a few times, before removing an incredibly thin object.

“No matter how long I wear it, this thing on my face always feels unnatural.”

Holding the silk mask in her hand, Yisha tossed her hair, wiping away some residual keratin from the edges.

In fact, Yisha’s face hadn’t changed drastically from before. Her nose bridge was simply more defined, her lips a richer red, and the lines of her brows and face a little softer.

Yet, these subtle alterations brought about a completely different impression. Where before her appearance leaned towards the neutral, now anyone seeing this face would undoubtedly perceive her as a girl, despite her masculine attire.

“Well then, let’s go see.”

With those words, the girl strode forward, heading towards the shopping district.

Shido darted through the streets, an unprecedented urgency etched onto his face.

Alas, he was human, not a god.

Exhaustion shortened his strides, the heat parched his throat, and even the air seemed to recoil from him.

Yet, the urgency in his heart, his affection for his sister, and his sense of responsibility as her brother forbade him from stopping.

He grabbed a roadside railing, allowing him to turn without losing speed, then accelerated once more.

The family restaurant was almost in sight. Just five more minutes, no, three minutes, and Shido would be there!

Unfortunately, fate often enjoyed playing tricks on mortals, especially delighting in plunging them back into darkness just as dawn was about to break.

A violent tremor began at a single point in the sky, then expanded relentlessly. The fierce winds generated by its rapid expansion effortlessly blew Shido off his feet.

Bang!

Launched from the ground, Shido crashed back down hard, then struggled to get back up. But the sight that met his eyes left him stunned.

“What is this?”

The street, once lined with towering buildings, had now been reduced to shattered ruins; not a single structure remained intact.

The colossal crater in the road looked as if a god had scooped it out with a spoon, yet he knew it was no divine creation.

“A Spatial Quake…”

This was the calamity known as a Spatial Quake, a disaster of global proportions.

For fragile humans, it was utterly insurmountable; to touch it was instant death.

Forcing his body, which was on the verge of collapse, to stand, Shido’s pupils contracted the next moment.

In the massive crater carved by the Spatial Quake, a graceful and beautiful girl opened her eyes.

Her beauty was a force, an unreasonable splendor that seized all gazes, rendering everything else meaningless. Such a being stood at the center of the colossal pit.

Dressed in indescribably luxurious attire, seated upon a golden throne, the girl surveyed the world as if she were its absolute sovereign.

Her amethyst-bright eyes shifted, noticing Shido at the edge of the crater. She turned, drew the blade embedded in her throne, raised it high, and then swung it forcefully towards him.

Rationally, Shido knew the blade itself couldn’t reach him at this distance. However, a wave of purple energy, emanating from the swinging sword, sliced past him at an unimaginable speed, effortlessly demolishing the already precarious high-rise building.

Witnessing this unbelievable scene, Shido turned back, terrified to find the blade now right before his eyes. The sharp edge’s keen aura stung his skin, and the cold light reflecting off it once again forced Shido to confront reality.

This beautiful girl now stood before him, wielding a massive sword, poised to sever his head.

Unparalleled terror, an unprecedented chill, gripped Shido. He stared at the girl before him, his mind screaming to flee, yet his body remained frozen, rooted to the spot like a statue.

When animals encounter inescapable danger, they often abandon resistance. What Shido faced now was, quite literally, a natural disaster.

However, the girl did not immediately strike. Instead, a pained expression crossed her face as she parted her crimson lips.

“Are you… here to kill me too?”

With just that one sentence, Shido perceived emotions he himself had once known.

He looked at the girl. Her amethyst eyes held such desolation, filled with pain, despair, hatred, and the bleakness of having given up everything.

Instinctively, an ache began in Shido’s chest. He didn’t want to see such an expression on the girl’s face; he didn’t want to see anyone suffer so deeply again.

“You…”

An incoming shell from the distance interrupted his words. The girl merely glanced at it, then slowly raised her hand.

Instantly, an explosion, intense heat, and a shockwave engulfed the crater. Shido, with tightly shut eyes, felt no pain.

He began to wonder if the shell had directly sent him to heaven. Why else would it not hurt at all?

Opening his eyes, he saw a thin purple membrane. Turning his head, he saw the girl standing amidst the explosion, her hair fluttering in the wind.

The purple membrane must have manifested to protect her.

“Spirit wave reaction confirmed. Codename: Princess. Commencing attack!”

A crisp female voice echoed from above. Shido looked up and saw a group of women, clad in mechanical armor and wielding Gatling guns, flying through the air.

Seeing the first volley had no effect, a second wave of attacks immediately followed. A barrage of missiles flew towards the girl, but she was long accustomed to such assaults.

“How many times must I say it? These things are useless against me.”

Maintaining her shield, the girl gripped her blade tightly and swung it repeatedly. The surging sword waves annihilated the missiles, with several even striking those flying towards her.

“What in the world is happening?”

Shido was momentarily unable to comprehend. In such a short span, his entire worldview had nearly shattered.

A peerlessly beautiful girl had appeared in the post-Spatial Quake crater, possessing strange powers only seen in anime or manga.

Then, a group of mechanized girls, flying through the air, launched an attack on her.

What had happened to this world for it to become like this?

As the dust from the explosion settled, a white-haired girl among the mechanized squad halted her movements. The reason was simple: she saw another person beside Princess, immediately aborting her intention to pull the trigger and continue the suppressive fire.

The boy, protected by the shield and trembling from Princess’s terrifying presence, appeared in her line of sight.

“Shi…do…”

Slowly uttering the boy’s name, the white-haired girl couldn’t understand why he was here, appearing on a battlefield where the world’s calamity was being fought.

“Origami, don’t stop!”

The captain’s voice jolted her back from her surprise. She increased her flight unit’s power supply, dodging Princess’s sword wave.

Staring intently at Itsuka Shido, Origami didn’t know what had happened or why he was beside Princess. However, one thing was absolutely certain: she had to save the boy from the Spirit’s grasp.

Yet, based on past data and combat experience, Princess was an exceptionally powerful close-quarters Spirit.

Even Origami, despite her excellent melee combat record within the squad, wasn’t confident she could successfully rescue the boy from that distance.

“I’ll have to use that!”

Realizing she had no other choice, Origami gritted her teeth, resolving to activate that demonic gift—even though it was something she was strictly forbidden from using unless a dire emergency arose!

Princess, continuously wielding her blade, stood at the center of the crater, like an unyielding monarch on the battlefield.

Even amidst the heart of the conflict, she maintained an aggressive stance, relentlessly assaulting her enemies.

Block, intercept, confine, strike—she repeated this sequence, attempting to eliminate an enemy and alleviate the pressure of combat.

However, one woman consistently appeared at just the right moment to deflect her sword waves.

Judging by her occasional shouts, she appeared to be the commander of the group, and also the strongest.

Swoosh!!!

Hearing the whizzing sound, she caught the projectile with her free left hand. The crisp metallic clang, usually heard when blades clashed, echoed, causing Princess to frown.

The projectile in her hand was not a bullet, but a light blade, whose edge was now slowly dissipating due to a lack of energy supply.

This not only made her frown but, having extensive combat experience with the mechanized girls, she knew light blades were their only melee weapons.

To throw away their sole close-combat tool just to breach a shield? That seemed foolishly reckless.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the captain, who had repeatedly blocked Princess’s attacks and commanded the battle from the sky, suddenly grew anxious, shouting the name of the disobedient squad member.

“Origami!”

Her flight unit, her armored suit… Origami’s equipment underwent a transformation under her precise control.

All external devices shifted positions, changed forms, and finally enveloped her slender body. They warped, separated, and reconnected, wrapping around the girl as if to devour her.

By the time Princess noticed Origami, the transformation was complete. A black mass of iron dropped from the sky to the ground, slowly unfurling its grotesque and terrifying form.

The original mechanized girl was gone, replaced only by a weapon of war that perfectly embodied oppression and fear, barely retaining a humanoid shape.

“Shura Mode activated. Countdown initiated.”

A cold, electronic voice automatically sounded in the ears of all the mechanized girls.