DEM

Watching the collapsing building disintegrate into a pile of rubles, Kusakabe's lips twitched. They were ordered not to engage in battle since the Spirit was inside a building but a group of Wizard sent by a big shot flew towards them and told them not to interfere.

Leading the group was a mature woman with long, curly dark hair and sharp, icy blue eyes that held a fox-like cunning. She wore a CR-Unit adorned in a sleek blend of dark pink and grayish-red, exuding both charm and power.

Her name was Jessica Bailey and she was also known as Adeptus 3 making her the third strongest Wizard in the world.

She had been sent by Isaac Westcott to investigate and determine whether they could catch a glimpse of the so-called male Spirit.

When Isaac Westcott heard the appearance of a male Spirit that was given the name Shadow, a spark of intrigue flickered across his expression. Initially, he wanted to come in person to see 'Shadow' or capture him, should the opportunity arise.

However, he had an important business to attend to, causing Isaac Westcott to be in dilemma. He had considered sending Ellen Mira Mathers his most loyal subordinate and the strongest Wizard in the world but she flatly rejected the idea. She insisted that her duty was to remain by his side, ensuring his protection.

Isaac could only shake his head and sigh, thinking how strict Ellen could be. His thoughts then turned to Takamiya Mana, another of DEM's strongest Wizards, but she was already occupied with a mission. As for Artemisia Bell Ashcroft… he stopped himself from thinking any further about her since her situation is special.

In the end, Isaac Westcott decided to send Jessica Bailey and see if she could assess Shadow's strength. Although Shadow was classified as an A-Class Spirit, there was little data on his Angel, making it difficult to gauge his true capabilities. As a precaution, they designated his threat level as A-Rank.

Nevertheless, Isaac Westcott knew that Shadow was more than meets the eye. As the first male Spirit in history, there was no way he was ordinary. Isaac refused to believe that Shadow didn't possess something truly fascinating, something worth uncovering.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but reveal a twisted smile. The unknown always excited him, and Shadow was a mystery just waiting to be unraveled.

He was truly eager to go to Tengu City and have a long conversation with Shadow, but first, he had to finish his business first.

Back to Tengu City.

Jessica watched the crumbling building with a cold expression. Although she had a cold look, her expression was different from Origami's detached and indifferent face, instead, Jessica Bailey had a cold yet arrogant look on her face.

At first, she was displeased to be assigned to such a small city, seeing it as a waste of her time. However, the moment Isaac Westcott revealed that her mission was to gauge the power of Shadow, her dissatisfaction vanished, replaced by eager anticipation.

She had heard of 'Shadow', being the first ever male Spirit to appear. Jessica's curiosity was also piqued by this Spirit. So when she was tasked to scale 'Shadow', she became excited.

Yet, after arriving in Tengu City, she discovered that Shadow had not appeared for the past few weeks, leaving her unhappy and displeased.

Jessica and her team from DEM were stationed at the local DEM branch in Tengu City. While there, they received an invitation from the higher-ups at AST to visit their facility.

With nothing else to occupy their time, Jessica saw no reason to refuse the invitation. Upon entering the AST facility, she and her team quickly noticed the stark difference in equipment, the AST's CR-Units were noticeably a lower grade compared to the advanced models used by DEM.

Jessica scoffed internally at the sight, though she kept her expression neutral. She looked down at AST for having such low-grade CR-Units, plus, they couldn't even take down a single Spirit. This made her even more feel that she was superior compared to the Wizard of AST.

When the Spatial Quake alarm rang, the Wizards of AST immediately sprang into action, swiftly assembling and deploying for battle. Jessica watched their hurried movements with mild amusement, curious to see how they would fare.

Meanwhile, Jessica and her team were just watching from the distance. Seeing that they were helpless just by being obstructed by a building, she knew the reason why they didn't attack and couldn't help but laugh arrogantly internally.

Suddenly, Jessica received an order from DEM's higher-ups granting them permission to take over the battle. This immediately made Jessica elated since the Spirit that they were tasked to hunt down was Hermit who was known to be docile and not attack. Additionally, they could mock the Wizard of AST indirectly with this. 

Jessica immediately commanded her team and flew straight towards Kusakabe and Origami. Meanwhile, the other Wizards of AST also flew in their direction.

Kusakabe and Origami looked in the direction of Jessica and her team and they couldn't help but frown. 

Jessica flew in closer, her expression calm yet exuding an air of superiority.

"We'll be taking over from here," she stated, her tone indifferent but unmistakably arrogant.

Kusakabe, Origami, and the rest of the AST Wizards stiffened at her words, and they couldn't help but reveal a displeased expression on their face, especially since Jessica's condescending attitude made it even worse.

"How could that be?!" Kusakabe exclaimed, shocked that they were being replaced so abruptly. Frustration welled up inside her, and she was about to protest when her communication device suddenly rang.

"You should pick that up." Jessica said casually while looking at Kusakabe with an indifferent expression. This made Kusakabe become more irritated by Jessica's attitude causing a vein to almost pop on her forehead.

Despite her irritation, Kusakabe took a deep breath and picked up the communication device. The line connected immediately to AST's base, and she listened as her superior relayed orders.

Her expression darkened further with each word, her frustration barely contained.

 "Seriously...?"

The conversation confirmed what Jessica had already stated, the task had officially been handed over to DEM. Kusakabe couldn't believe that they were really replaced by the Wizards from DEM to do the job.

Even though she was furious, Kusakabe couldn't do anything and could only obey the orders. 

After putting down her communication device, she let out a helpless smile and shifted her eyes at Origami and her team with an apologetic look.

"We're officially off this mission," she said, her voice laced with reluctant acceptance. Though she hated to admit it, there was nothing they could do since the higher-ups had made their decision.

Kusakabe didn't want to say it, but Jessica was an Adeptus 3 and her abilities and experience were more than them. So while she was helpless, she also knew that this could be a valuable experience for them to watch them execute their task.

However, she still felt annoyed by Jessica's haughty expression and hoped that they fail miserably.

"The assignment is yours." Kusakabe said, maintaining a neutral expression, forcing herself to remain professional.

"Good. Now, just watch back there as we show you how to deal with Spirits." Jessica nodded with a satisfied smile. 

With that, she turned to her team, swiftly issuing commands. The DEM Wizards moved with precision, positioning themselves as they prepared to engage.