Scammers

“Beep… beep… beep…”

The instrument’s interface displayed ‘Measuring…’ as the AST personnel waited silently in the air.

After an indeterminate period, the instrument finally responded. However, the outcome surprised no one.

“No viable methods yet, and no assault orders have been given.”

Kusakabe Ryoko felt a headache brewing as she stared at the ‘No Result’ displayed on the instrument.

A week prior, Princess had arrived in the city. Origami, in her Shura Mode, had intervened to protect innocent civilians.

However, before she could make Princess vanish, two violent explosions disrupted their battle.

Thanks to the explosions, Princess was lost. The molding machine, capable of activating Shura Mode, had to be sent back to the factory for extensive repairs.

Even now, Kusakabe could not forget the developers’ bitter complaints.

“Link system corrupted, over fifty percent of the magical energy transmission routes destroyed, and the remaining ones are cracked from overload! The armor itself needs a complete rework! Excellent! Did you throw it into a nuclear bomb test to gauge its defense?!”

In a sense, the developers were not wrong. That particular explosion differed significantly from typical ones; they had detected spiritual energy within it.

The comparison results startled everyone.

An S-rank Dancer.

It was DEM who demanded a change to this Spirit evaluation. Their assessment was SS, yet they provided no rationale until the SSS division submitted an observation report.

That report instilled a degree of fear in everyone, yet it couldn’t directly explain its findings. Ultimately, it was neutralized with Dancer’s initial C-rank classification.

At present, they were utilizing a wide-range spiritual energy detector, capable of identifying the spiritual energy fluctuations of recorded Spirits. Naturally, with other wavelengths filtered out, it could function as a radar.

The ‘No Result’ indicated that Dancer was not within at least a one-kilometer radius. This meant they could confidently engage Princess.

Confronting two Spirits simultaneously was an unprecedented challenge for them, save for facing Berserk.

“Captain, what’s the situation?”

The team members waited silently amidst the dense forest. Origami aimed her sniper rifle at a gap in a distant school building, though Princess remained outside her field of vision.

“We wait. Either she reveals herself, or we receive an assault order.”

Kusakabe issued the operational directive, and the group settled into their wait within the thick woods.

–”Sister, I’ve arrived. Be careful on your end.”–

–”Understood. Remember to use your Angel to conceal yourself. I sensed someone watching me when I was pursuing it earlier.”–

Yisha instructed, then her body descended like a swallow into the shadows. After rolling to absorb the momentum, she continued her advance toward the school building, where her target—Princess—awaited.

A dial tone hummed in her ear, and Yisha realized Yina had hung up. Abandoning any further attempts to suppress her speed, she leveraged the building’s structure and blind spots to steadily approach the high school.

Reaching the edge of the final building, Yisha halted. Her brown eyes reflected everything before her.

Like a masterpiece left by a god stepping upon the mortal realm, nearly a third of the school building had been obliterated by the spatial tremor. Even half of the adjacent sports field had transformed into a massive crater.

“This truly is magnificent. Right, among all the Spirits, Princess has the highest-grade spatial tremors.”

Recalling the data she had gathered on Spirits, Yisha felt a pang of frustration.

Given Princess’s combat prowess, a swift, single-strike kill was nearly impossible. Initiating battle would inevitably expose her.

While she wasn’t concerned about interruptions, that prior sense of being watched made her uneasy, as if someone were observing her from an unseen vantage point.

‘Was it the descended Princess? What exactly did she want? To wear me down, to lure me in, or was she simply desperate?’

Yisha mentally listed several possibilities. Ultimately, she suppressed the thought of ‘just going for it,’ recognizing it as impulsive.

If it were either of the first two scenarios, going in would likely mean her death. But if it were the third…

Considering the third possibility, Yisha clenched her hand. She had pursued this entity for two years, and now, with such a clear advantage, she was reluctant to give up.

She hid in the corner, observing, much like a hunter. Yet, she hadn’t even mastered the most fundamental rule of a hunter: never act rashly due to momentary greed.

A dark shadow stirred in the corner, immediately capturing her attention.

Without a sound, Yisha moved silently to the shadow’s rear. However, the cunning foe she’d envisioned failed to materialize; it was merely a young boy.

“Ah!”

The boy seemed to hear something. Turning his head, he was startled by Yisha, who stood behind him like a phantom, causing him to collapse backward from his kneeling position.

“I’m not a bad person, little one. What’s your name?”

Yisha knelt, offering a smile to ease his fear, and extended a hand to help the boy up.

“That’s what all the bad guys in movies say.”

The boy looked at her, then blurted out that remark.

“There’s nothing on you worth taking, and even if I truly were a bad person, there’d be no need to kill you, right?”

Yisha felt she was being unfairly accused.

“There is, though. Because if you see someone’s face, you have to kill them—”

The boy suddenly realized he had been staring at Yisha’s face and quickly covered his eyes with his hand, cutting himself off.

“You’re just suffering from chuunibyou! Movies aren’t necessarily reality!”

Yisha felt a surge of exasperation. Her intention in helping the boy was to get him to leave quickly, preventing him from being caught in the crossfire should she battle Princess in this area.

Yet, this boy stubbornly insisted she was a villain, the kind who would silence witnesses. How was she supposed to explain herself?

“Sister, you understand chuunibyou too?”

The boy immediately lowered his hands, his eyes sparkling as if he had found a kindred spirit.

Yisha gave up trying to reason with him. Her priority now was simply to get him to leave.

“Not only do I understand it, I’m practically a master. Isn’t that right, Wielder of the Ebony Flames?”

As she spoke, she struck a particularly chuunibyou pose, precisely the one beloved by the protagonist in that anime.

“Sister, you know so much!”

Seeing this, the boy seemed to drop his guard. He scrambled to his feet and applauded Yisha’s actions.

A visible dark line seemed to descend from Yisha’s forehead. She felt as though her sense of dignity had significantly dwindled ever since Yina had forced her to watch those anime.

How had she managed to pull off such utterly cringe-worthy lines and actions with such a cool demeanor?

“Now you believe your sister isn’t a bad person, right?”

“No.”

The boy shook his head.

A hint of darkness crept into Yisha’s smile.

“Sister, just call me Tianxing.”

The boy extended his hand, seemingly to shake hers.

“Oh, Shimazaki—”

Yisha also extended her hand. However, Tianxing’s hand did not meet hers; instead, it moved directly toward her body.

The young woman felt a flicker of confusion. She looked at Tianxing, as if to question his intentions, but her attention was instantly seized by his slightly parted mouth.

A sound like a massive beast inhaling filled her ears as air was drawn in through the boy’s nose and mouth in great gulps, creating even a slight breeze.

“!”

Boom!!!

Just as she registered what was happening, Tianxing’s hand landed on her chest. A tremendous roar erupted, and Yisha’s body was sent flying backward, only coming to a halt after smashing through three walls.

“Cough, cough! Damn it! Cough, cough, cough…”

The searing pain in her chest prevented Yisha from regaining her composure. Through the smoke, the boy’s clear voice drifted leisurely to her ears.

“Why aren’t you a bad person, Sister? You killed three hundred and eighty-four members of my family, destroyed two of our crucial experimental bases, and even stole our most important treasure. Why do you still believe you’re not a bad person?”

The dust was swept aside by a pair of hands already clad in leather. Tianxing stepped forward, and Yisha’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“Allow me to introduce myself, Ms. Shimazaki Yisha. My name is Kanzaki Tianxing, and I am the enforcer responsible for retrieving you.”

His student uniform had been replaced by armor. His body was now covered in a combination of a wired suit, numerous lightweight protective plates, and those very gloves—an outfit she knew all too well: a Realizer Unit, specifically a Combat Realizer Unit (CR-UNIT)!