"—<Unlock>."
Mukuro stabbed her key-shaped angel <Michael> into the void. As she turned, a passageway was instantly unfurled in that space, forcefully drawing the many heaps of floating rock and rubble machinery around Mukuro.
"Evanesce."
When Mukuro declared that, in a split second, multiple gates were unlocked in a way that enclosed the twins.
The projectiles which had vanished, flew out from the gates simultaneously. It was an endless barrage from all directions, leaving no blind spot unharmed.
However, Syouji and Shidou were not just going to stand around and let those projectiles hit him. They raised their left and right hand respectively towards the front and declared.
"<Banishment>"
"<Zadkiel>...!"
From Syouji's left hand, multiple orbs were ejected and honed in on the incoming debris, teleporting them away as they touched. Whereas, frigid ice crystals danced around Shidou's surroundings, beginning to take the shape of a rigid shield.
The incoming debris colliding with the chunks of frozen water created shock waves pounded into the fragments of frost. Witnessing the event, Mukuro indistinctly narrowed her eyes.
"Hm, thou art able to command other Angels verily. All the more resentful. Art thou in sooth a mortal being?"
"I've already told you the truth. It's your choice if you want to believe me or not. We're the sons of the first Spirit. And we've come to reach you no matter what."
Syouji gazed into Mukuro's eyes as Shidou took a deep breath, depicting an illusion within his mind. With the songstress <Gabriel>, Shidou poured all his might into his voice.
"Go!"
While empowering himself, Shidou threw Syouji towards the floating Mukuro at a high velocity. Yet, at the next moment—
"......Eh?" Syouji stopped in midair as several human figures draped in a suit of machinery suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"My apologies, this Spirit belongs to us." The blonde girl retracted her laser saber as she spoke in an apathetic tone.
"You're..." Syouji murmured.
"You're that guy that busted out [Material A]...!" Samaelpointed out as the others gasped.
"You! We were in so much trouble with Ellen because of you!" Samir shouted with resentment in his voice.
"I'll cut you up just for that!" Samuru declared brandishing his laser saber.
"You all should calm down. We can't make any more mistakes." Samson said that while looking into Syouji's eyes.
At that point, Syouji heard a voice in his head.
—[...Be careful. Try not to overdo it.]
Shinji said in a tired voice.
—I don't plan to go down without a fight, Shinji.
—[That's not what I am concerned about.]
At that point, Syouji remembered who they were. That was Artemisia Bell Ashcroft, one of DEM's industries Wizards, along with the <SAMM> units.
It looked like they had come to the cosmos along with <Goetia>. Regardless, Syouji was unable to perceive their presence until it was too late.
Artemisia's sword took aim and rushed towards Syouji.
However, as Syouji prepared to defend himself, the <SAMM> units rushed past him and flew towards his twin brother, Itsuka Shidou. He was done for, screwed, toast.
Upon that, Syouji's hands were covered in a bright light as a staff appeared in between them, blocking Artemisia's lazer sword. Currently, he didn't know if <Camael>'s flames could heal decapitation.
But he was not about to stand still and find out. However, there was another issue. His brother Shidou was over there being threatened by four highly dangerous Wizards. Furthermore, if they were to die here, they would definitely assault Mukuro without hesitation.
But with the presence of her Angel <Michael>, it was possible for her to escape and she was even powerful enough to kill Artemisia and the others. If the latter were to happen however, it would equate to Mukuro sealing her own heart forever.
Her options would be death or eternal stagnancy.
For Mukuro, Shidou and Syouji's death merely meant that she would be left with those two remaining choices.
"Something like that... I won't let that happen!"
Syouji managed to control his body before making a shockwave of spatial distortion, making Artemisia fly backwards. However, it couldn't be that simple as Syouji teleported to Shidou's side before parrying all of the <SAMM> units attacks by crossing his hands.
Fighting through his headache, Syouji once again teleported to Artemisia whose laser sword was drawing closer to Mukuro.
The tip of Artemisia's sword formed with enormous magical power grazed Syouji's neck, as he winced in pain as he focused his power again before sending out another shockwave towards Artemisia at a point blank range, causing her to lose her balance.
However—
"....U-Ugh!" Artemisia gasped in pain.
"Huh...?"
As blue flames licked Syouji's neck wound, he glanced up at the mysterious figure that appeared in front of him.
"Syouji, are you alright?"
"Tobiichi Origami..." Syouji widened his eyes as he called out the name of the girl who had appeared before him. Origami stood there adorned in a suit of machinery.
A streamlined pure white CR- Unit, which was equipped with pauldrons and a breastplate resembling european armor. Her weapon, rather than a sword, looked more like an elongated spear.
"<Brynhildr>... I see. The other me gave it to you huh?" Syouji said that as his pupils dilated, admiring the view in front of him. "You look stunning."
"Yes, thank you. Let's talk later." Origami said that, blowing a kiss towards Syouji causing him to let out a flustered smile.
"Yes, ma'am... be careful."
After that exchange, Origami swung her spear at Artemisia, who had lost her balance from the shockwave.
"Kuh...."
"Ugh...."
Due to their territories impacting each other, they could perceive each other's energy and tenacity. Both Origami and Artemisia vaguely distorted their expressions into grimaces as a result.
Their intense magic concentrated at a single point, discharging blinding streaks of light, throughout the cosmos.
And at the same time as that,
"Shidou!"
"Shidou!"
Two voices called out to Shidou as his wrists were gripped by monstrous strength threatening to dislocate them, pulling him away from the identical super soldiers.
"Ugah?!"
Shidou couldn't help but yell, before realizing what happened afterwards. In a flash, the place where he was floating was bombarded by multiple sword slashes. If Shidou were in that place, he would have turned into minced meat.
"Are you okay, Shidou?!"
"Ah yeah, thanks alot Tohka!"
Shidou called out one of the girls name who saved him as he wiped sweat away from his forehead. However, upon that,
"Only to Tohka? I'm here too, hmph! Don't go looking at each other with love eyes, we're still in the middle of a fight!"
The one who said that was Mayuri whose long blond hair somehow flowed in the cosmos. Nevertheless, she was right as innumerable humanoid figures appeared behind them. It was the <Bandersnatch> units.
"Tohka, you take those creepy robots down. I'll handle these... abominable children."
"Un! Let's go!"
Tohka loudly made a war cry towards the <Bandersnatch> units as Mayuri fended off the <SAMM> units with great difficulty as the bio-engineered soldiers snickered at her attempts to fight.
"Shidou, let's go! We have to do our part too!"
"Y-Yeah!"
At that moment, taking advantage of the chaos, Syouji quickly returned to Shidou's side before charging towards Mukuro as Shidou readied his key.
At the same time as that, in the middle of the pitch-black cosmos, two shadows clashed and drifted by each other.
Origami manipulated her own territory and observed the balance regulator, receiving several pressing attacks from Artemisia in the process.
"Fuh—"
"Too naive!"
Origami fired a shot with her spear, but was obstructed by Artemisia using her laser saber as magical energy dispersed as a light sparked.
"Kuh—"
One slash after another, Artemisia began to slowly reduce the distance as Origami's face became drenched in sweat. Being given the latest equipment did not fill the disparate gap between their abilities at all.
This fact made her think about the time she squared up to Ellen Mira Mathers, albeit to have crumbled from her opponent's godly strength.
"Ooh..." Deeply satisfied in Origami's expressions, Artemisia let out a hum.
"That Combat Realizer Unit of yours is rather eccentric If I must say. That spear can absorb any magic scattered in the surroundings and turn that power into the sharpened age of a blade. A battle of stamina would mean the end for me."
"......."
Origami furrowed her eyebrows. It was true that her spear <Einherjar>, possessed that attribute as she stated.
Because of that, Origami was able to control and wield the generated magical power to coerce her adversary into a war of attrition.
"Such a CR-Unit beholds a new sight for me. Yet, you are a Wizard yourself. For whose sake do you side with the Spirits?"
"......." A sense of distress resided within Artemisia's words.
Artemisia was supposed to be well-acquainted with Origami. Unless she was an amnesiac, it was very difficult to imagine how she could have forgotten.
But it was then that she remembered, a crucial information. Along with Syouji, she heard from Mana that Samuel Mathers had gone through almost the same thing. His personality and demeanor completely changing from what they knew. Perhaps the same happened with Artemisia.
Upon that, she decided to ask for herself.
".....Artemisia. Why did you defect from the SSS and join DEM? You weren't even the slightest bit tolerant of them."
"....? What are you saying? How did you even get a hold of my name? Not to mention... what is the.... SSS.... supposed to be...?"
Artemisia's face blatantly displayed her misgivings. She wrinkled her brows, supporting her aching forehead with her hand.
"Agh.... Huh...?"
She moaned and groaned in pain, forcefully shaking her head as if to rid herself of the horrible headache and fixed her vision onto Origami.
"...Forget it. It looks like you intend to keep standing in the way of completing my mission."
Artemisia narrowed her eyes and swung her sword again, renewing her battle stance.
"Forgive me, but I must eliminate you."
"...!"
In an instant, Artemisia closed the distance between her and Origami without warning. However, luckily the laser sword was blocked in the nick of time by Origami's <Einharjar>. However, that did not slow down Artemisia's assault.
"Kuh..."
Fending off every strike seemed impossible for Origami as her abdomen was struck by a direct thrust, sending her staggering backwards. Trading blows, Origami was once again made aware of the difference in their abilities.
Origami possessed the self-confidence not to lose to any other Wizards, but Artemisia herself was part of the exception. Qualities such as magic capacity, control, the scope and precision of their territories didn't play a part in the comparison.
And maybe even the foundation of her abilities was at the utmost peak of what the human body could achieve without further alteration. In that regard, perhaps she surpassed Origami, as a Wizard, in literally every aspect possible.
"....Ugh, I can't—" Origami had a reason to win this fight.
"You're very strong indeed, Artemisia Ashcroft. More than I am—"
For a moment as time seemed to slow down around her, she glanced towards the boy with pale blue hair standing against a Spirit with golden hair. He had a resolute and confident expression as though he did not even consider the thought of failure.
That's right. Failure was not an option for her too. Origami concentrated on the emotions boiling up within her chest as she deeply inhaled.
"—But I'm not just a Wizard. I cannot fail. Not when Syouji is trying his best too."
When Artemisia was about to swing down her sword, she widened her eyes in shock. Her aiming system had completely detached itself from Origami. There was nothing she could do about that as Origami's body started to emit light.
"This is..." Artemisia stared at Origami with stupefied eyes.
Her metallic suit of armor blended with her limited Astral Dress from which a glorious radiance emanated. Exactly, the limited Astral Dresses affect the attires that the Spirits wear. Of course, since she was wearing a CR-Unit right now, that event was inevitable.
Spirit and Wizard, an incompatible pair fused into harmony. A Spiritualized Wizard. Most likely, Origami was the only one in the world capable of manifesting such a technique.
"With this, I'll be able to face you." After calmly proclaiming that, Origami's pure-white Astral Dress fluttered like a wedding dress as she fixed her eyes on Artemisia. Upon that, Artemisia whose eyes widened like round marbles, issued a response.
"A Spirit? Haha... so apparently, that's the case. You were there during my subjugation of <Sister>. Wearing your CR-Unit made me fail to recognize you." Saying that, Artemisia curved the corners of her lips and chortled.
"All right... now I can slay you without any regrets."
"...Why don't you come over here and say that."
[=]
"Well then, let's dance." Mayuri said as she provoked the <SAMM> units with a beckoning finger.
The identical looking teenage boys in front of her had striking Ash-Gray Hair and a dull purple colour which gave off a lifeless look, strengthened by their extremely pale skin. They looked sickly, but due to the CR-Units they were able to fight and move around freely.
"Hee, who do you think you are?" Samael pointed out with a disgusted scowl.
"Does she think she can take all of us on?" Samir said with a curious expression.
"Whatever, let's just hack at her and see if she bleeds!" Samuru said that with his tongue out.
"Calm down. Just attack her with uniformity." Samson instructed.
Upon that, the four <SAMM> Units began to approach towards Mayuri who summoned two golden wheels each in her left and right hand. Mayuri deflected Samson and Samael's attack's before focusing on Samir and Samuru who were more brutal and agile.
"Guh—" Mayuri felt a strike on her abdomen by Samuru before being punched in the face by Samir who let out a hysterical laughter.
"Bwahahaha! Look at her struggling to fight! How amusing!" Samael mocked while holding his stomach while laughing.
Upon that, Samuru kicked her on the side and took the opportunity to slash at her side as she muffled her scream by biting her lip, as she bled out from her side.
Fortunately, she was able to deflect the attack by throwing a golden wheel and enlarging it to make a distance between her and the <SAMM> units.
"You bastards... don't mock me!" Mayuri wailed as she barbarically held the golden wheels. She then threw them towards the <SAMM> units one by one.
Samson dodged the golden wheels approaching, but was grazed as the last one enlarged itself at the last second.
Samuru relentlessly cut them down before they could even touch his body, with extreme precision as Mayuri kept on her barrage of attacks.
Samir deflected the golden wheels away from himself, while those that he could not deflect he merely cut down before dodging.
Whereupon, Samael dodged them all effortlessly while somehow performing acrobatics in the vast emptiness of the cosmos.
Then, not giving them time to recover, Mayuri stretched her arms forward in front of her before clasping them together.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she envisioned her goals. She had to stall them long enough for the twins to seal Mukuro. She had to control her Angel. This event is crucial. She needed to stand her ground long enough to make a difference. Perhaps even cripple DEM's forces.
Yes, something like that.
Mayuri concentrated her Reiryoku outside of her body, before gritting her teeth. If she wasn't careful she could end up going berserk. Her Angel could end up going bersekf again... but she had to risk it.
At this moment, she could most likely die or be captured by DEM. Syouji and Shidou could fail at sealing Mukuro, and it would all go to hell after that. She couldn't let that happen.
"<Kerubiel>—!" Mayuri summoned her Angel.
Usually, this would be a good thing. However, unlike most cases, Mayuri does not have complete control of her Angel. But she could control it if it's only within a certain size.
Right now, it was only half of its original size, which was enough for her to control as a protective Golden cage encased her as she held her side.
Although it was true she possessed the most destructive Angel, she did not have as much combat experience as Origami or Tohka. But this did not mean she was not a force to be reckoned with.
The top of her angel formed into a large drill-like form with large angel wings and Golden wheels grew at its side, which were being shot at the direction of the four <SAMM> Units who were expertly dodging her assault.
"Is that all you've got?!" Samuru said with a crazed smile.
"Haa...? I'm not even close to being done yet."
Mayuri said that as she glared at a specific spot.
Upon that, <Kerubiel> began charging up lightning on its tip and fired at the <SAMM> Units who were maneuvering out of the way of the blasts of lightning.
"Where are you aiming?" Samael mocked with an amused smirk.
"Are you even trying to hit us?"
"No. You should really pay attention more to your surroundings next time." Mayuri said while sticking her tongue out mockingly.
Upon that, Samson looked around, witnessing the scene behind him as he widened his eyes in disbelief. That was because the four airships behind them were shot down by Mayuri's <Kerubiel>.
Perhaps due to the fact that sound does not travel in Space, they were unable to hear of the ships' destruction.
Then, at that point, perhaps taking advantage of their confusion, Mayuri disengaged <Kerubiel> as her body was surrounded by light before vanishing, but not before sticking her tongue out at the bio-engineered soldiers in front of her as she bled out.
"You... clever girl." Samson spoke. "Fall back for now... this war isn't over yet." As Samson commanded, the others clicked their tongues before following behind him.
[=]
In the next instant, when Mayuri opened her eyes, she found herself in the infirmary of the newly built <Fraxinus EX>.
"Congratulations. You're the first to be sent to the infirmary. Way to beat the record, idiot."
"Oh shut up, Syouji..." Mayuri sighed as Syouji tapped her on the forehead harshly.
"No! I was the one who allowed you get out into the battlefield. Do you know what Miku would have done to me if I hadn't pulled you out? No, more than that, the other Syouji won't let me hear the end of it!"
Syouji's clone let out a sigh, pinching his nose bridge in frustration to ease the headache he was experiencing.
Truthfully speaking, back then she almost vanished from existence as she nearly spent all the reiryoku reserve she had to exist.
Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't return, but it would take some time. Nevertheless, Syouji's concerns were understandable. They were not actually sure if she would return the same way, if she were to ever vanish again.
"What happened? Where is Miku anyway?" Mayuri questioned as Syouji showed a wry smile.
"Well, she tried sneaking in earlier, but I kind of stopped her." Syouji said that with a shrug.
"I have to get back to the bridge soon, so... watch out for any of Miku's shenanigans if she ever tries to sneak in. Although, I doubt that she would."
When she heard that, Mayuri nodded before closing her eyes to rest. She had no choice but to leave it to the others to finish the [War].
End of Chapter
Oh dear God, this took so much time. But it was worth it though. Sorry I haven't been able to post any chapters lately, I've been busy with my midterms and semi-finals.
Also, I was thinking after Syouji successfully rizzes up Mukuro, I might spend some time developing hiss relationship with new timeline Origami. I feel like that could be quite fun to do. Just the two of them bouncing their weirdness and stalking each other. Something like that. And then Syouji's chemistry with Kurumi will be next. That will be fun!
Anyway, that being said, I hope you enjoyed.