Chapter 47: Reappearance Of The Spirit, The Princess

Shidou Shiori stood frozen in place, staring blankly into the distance. Her mind was still short-circuiting from the sheer embarrassment of what had just happened.

"Nee-san! Nee-san! Oi, snap out of it!"

Kotori's voice snapped her back to reality.

"Ah—Kotori… I… what the hell just happened…?"

"Tch, damn it! That Demon King is seriously hard to deal with!"

Shiori's face turned red again as she shook her head violently, trying to erase the memory of her disastrous confession.

Just as she was about to return to class, a sharp, blaring sound echoed throughout the school.

WOOO—WOOO—WOOO—

The spacequake alarm.

"Attention. A spatial quake precursor has been detected in this area. This is not a drill. Please proceed to the nearest shelter immediately. Repeat—"

Hearing the emergency broadcast, Kotori immediately teleported Shiori to Fraxinus.

"Another Spirit appearance?"

"Yeah. It's Princess again. Predicted manifestation point—Raizen High School."

Meanwhile, in AST's underground command center, Tobiichi Origami was suiting up. She stood before a newly upgraded CR-Unit, her fingers brushing the armor's cold metallic surface.

Ryuu's words echoed in her mind.

"That's nothing but junk metal."

A sharp glint flickered in her eyes. She had to prove him wrong.

"Origami! Stop dawdling and get suited up! We're deploying!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Ignoring the bruise-like red mark still lingering on her neck from Ryuu's grip earlier, Origami activated her CR-Unit and locked in. She was ready for battle.

Ryouko Kusakabe, AST's squad leader, took one glance at Origami's injury and frowned.

"Hey, Tobiichi, what's with that mark on your neck?"

"It's nothing, Captain. Just from training. It won't affect the mission."

Ryouko wasn't convinced, but now wasn't the time to pry. The Spirit was the priority.

---

Ryuu had already received a message from Kotori—Tohka was about to appear.

While the rest of the students evacuated, their homeroom teacher, Okamine Tamae, suddenly noticed Ryuu still sitting at his desk.

"Ryuu-kun, the spacequake alarm is going off! You need to evacuate!"

"Sensei, you should head to the shelter. I'll be fine."

"Huh? No, no, no, you—wait, where did you go?!"

Before she could finish, Ryuu had already vanished.

Tamae-sensei blinked in confusion before scrambling toward the shelter.

"Man… the people in this world are really carefree. Their students disappear, and they don't even check."

From within his Kamui dimension, Ryuu watched as the spacequake erupted. A massive explosion engulfed his classroom in an instant. Yet, despite the destruction, the school building itself remained intact—proof of how common these incidents were.

And at the center of it all…

A girl stood alone.

Her long violet hair swayed in the aftershock, her amethyst eyes reflecting sadness.

Yatogami Tohka.

---

On Fraxinus

Kotori scowled as she scanned the school.

"Where the hell is he?! We just scanned the whole building, and there was no sign of him!"

A crew member frantically checked the monitors. "Commander, we've got visual! The Demon King has appeared!"

"What?! He wasn't there a second ago!"

Kotori turned to the screen—and immediately, she stiffened.

Ryuu wasn't just standing there.

He was looking straight at the camera.

Smirking.

Almost as if to say: You found me.

Shiori, who had been anxiously watching, let out a relieved sigh.

"Whew… at least I don't have to go down there now."

Kotori's expression darkened.

"Oh, yes, you do."

"EH?!"

Before Shiori could protest, she was teleported back to school.

---

Back at the School Building

Tohka tensed as she stared at Ryuu. Her grip tightened around Sandalphon, her celestial sword.

"You again," she said warily.

She still remembered their last fight.

The way he had blocked all her attacks effortlessly.

The way he had smiled while doing it.

"Are you here to kill me too?" she asked.

Ryuu sighed.

"Not this again."

"You've really gotta lighten up," he said. "Suspicion, paranoia, attacking everyone on sight… aren't you tired of living like this?"

Tohka's cheeks puffed in frustration. "Wha—what nonsense are you spouting now?!"

With a sharp swing, she unleashed a powerful shockwave straight at him.

Ryuu simply smirked.

He didn't move.

Didn't even flinch.

Because the attack… wasn't aimed at him.

It sliced clean through the air beside him—an intentional miss.

"Hah. She's holding back."

If that's the case…

He might as well test something.

"After our last fight," Ryuu said, "you should already know. You can't beat me. Do you really still want to fight?"

Tohka hesitated. "Then tell me—who are you?"

He grinned.

"Ryuu, the Demon King. I'm looking for my subordinates."

"Demon King…?" Her eyes narrowed. "Liar. You're no different from those humans. You're just here to—"

"To kill you?" He chuckled. "Not interested. In fact, if you want, I can send everyone who's ever hurt you straight to hell."

Tohka froze.

Her breath hitched.

She turned away, gripping her sword tightly.

Freedom.

Living without fear.

She had never even considered such a thing possible.

"First of all," Ryuu continued, "I'm not with AST. Second, I don't give a damn about the humans trying to kill you. Third—" He leaned against a nearby desk, crossing his arms. "I can offer you a way out of this mess."

Tohka looked at him again, uncertainty in her eyes.

Could she trust him?

She had no reason to.

But…

She had no reason not to, either.

---

On Fraxinus

Kotori watched the exchange closely, lollipop still in her mouth.

"Tch. This guy is seriously dangerous."

Shiori, who had finally regained her bearings, sighed in relief.

"At least they're talking and not fighting," she muttered.

"Don't relax yet, Nee-san," Kotori warned. "It's still too soon to know if this is going to go our way."

Shiori groaned. "I still don't get why I'm even here. What exactly do you want me to do?!"

Kotori smirked.

"Simple. You're going to win the Spirit over before the Demon King does."

Shiori's face went pale.

"EH?!"

"Now get down there and charm her!"

"WHAT KIND OF INSANE PLAN IS THAT?!"

As Shiori was once again forcefully teleported, Kotori leaned back in her seat and sighed.

"Between my idiot sister and that ridiculously overpowered Demon King… I swear, I'm gonna need an even bigger stash of lollipops for this."

====

Support and read advance chapters on Patreon.com/Zexxxxy