There were no civilians left in Tengu City. They were all hiding in the shelters because DEM activated the space quake alert to surprise attack the spirits.
—It's impossible to make her see reason, Itsuka-kun. Origami-san won't listen to us.
Shido and Artemisia were facing a girl with short, silver-white hair and blue eyes who was prostrating a CR unit in the middle of the street.
Her name was Tobiichi Origami, a friend of Shido's in the past, as she had disappeared from the boy's life about 3 months ago.
—There had to be a way to get her to react. Origami would not join DEM on his own.
He was not willing to give up on her. When he learned that Origami had dropped out of high school to study abroad, he went to her house to prevent her from leaving. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Nothing was left when he broke into the girl's home; she was no longer in the country.
—I know she is important to you, Itsuka-kun, but we can't take the risk. All her attacks are with killing intent; if we are careless, we will die.
The yellow-haired one told him of the danger involved in trying his idea. She was already quite experienced in combat, so analyzing the situation was not complicated.
—Killing them won't be a problem. Anyone allied with the spirits deserves to die, whether they are human or not.
The girl's words left Shido shocked. The Origami he knew would never have said such a sentence. Something didn't add up; DEM had done something they didn't know about.
—Origami, answer my question... Why did you decide to join DEM?
He asked firmly, but with the hope that she would recognize him or at least answer the question; however, the girl just looked at him indifferently.
—I don't have to explain myself to someone on the side of the spirits.
With the answer given by Origami, he confirmed the assumption he had from the beginning. Origami did not remember him because DEM did something to him while he was with them.
—If I can't get you to listen to me... I'll make you do it, Origami! Sandalphon!
A sword manifested in Shido's hands. It was Tohka's angel, the weapon he used in most situations because of its versatility.
—That's the way to talk, Itsuka-kun!
Artemisia readjusted her grip on her weapon and stood on guard. The advantage they had was quite clear. Two against one, it wouldn't be a problem to beat her.
[PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM, PLUM]
Seven Bandersnatch landed around both young men, surrounding them and reducing the space they had to move.
—I see you are not capable of accomplishing the mission on your own, Adeptus Four.
The robots did not come alone. They were accompanied by a woman with light blonde hair, purple eyes, pale skin, and a slender body, wearing a much more advanced armor than Origami.
—Ellen Mira Mathers.
Artemisia blurted out the newcomer's name. She had heard of her in the past, even got to see her in person, but never wearing such armor.
—Artemisia Bell Ashcroft. —Ellen spoke in a calm voice—. One of the most talented mages decided to join Ratatoskr and collaborate with the spirits. What a disappointment.
She tried to provoke her to lose her temper and come to attack her; however, Artemisia didn't care at all about that comment. After discovering what DEM was doing, she didn't regret her decision.
—It may be a disappointment for you, but it was the right decision for me. I would much rather join an organization that seeks peace than one that seeks to cause chaos in the world.
Ellen was annoyed by the comment; her attempt at provocation hadn't worked, and Artemisia turned the tables on her.
—Ellecchi, why did you leave without saying anything? We were having a good time!
A woman, apparently 19 years old, with short, ash-gray hair and turquoise eyes, dressed in a nun's outfit, long boots with black laces, a black veil attached to a feather, a feather duster, and a floating book, arrived at the scene of the confrontation.
—Nia?
—Nia-san?
The two teenagers were astonished by Mangaka's appearance. It was unexpected that she came to help them.
—Oh, hi Boy, I saw that they were in trouble and decided to come to help them.
After greeting them, she looked at their outlook and smiled confidently. She grabbed the book floating in front of her, opened it, and emerged a sheet of paper, which shot up into the sky.
—Maria, destroy all those bandersnatches!
The sheet of paper changed shape until it became a white-haired girl with light blue eyes. The curious thing was that she was wearing a black headband with a white cross in the middle of her head and a white suit of advanced technology.
—You know it wasn't necessary to shout, Nia. We are not your servants
The proud smile was wiped off her face, she intended to show off her skills before Shido and Artemisia, but Maria was making fun of her; if she continued to say things like that to her, she would be humiliated before her creation.
—But I believe you, at least, have some respect for your creator!
While the creator and creation argued, Ellen got fed up with the pathetic show and attacked Artemisia and Shido. Origami, determined to finish them both off, joined Ellen to attack them in a joint attack.
—Artemisia!
—Itsuka-kun!
Both warned each other of the approaching danger, preparing to block the onslaught of the two wizards; however, a slash of energy was sent to Origami and Ellen. The latter rose, dodging the attack, while Origami blocked it with her sword.
—¡¿...?!
What Origami didn't count on is that the power of the attack would be higher than what she was used to, which caused her to jump towards another part of the immense city.
—Well done, Tohka-chan. Our plan worked perfectly!
Nia shouted proudly at the success of the plan she had worked out with Tohka before coming to help Shido and Artemisia.
—Tobiichi Origami!
The purple hair shouted at her rival and flew past everyone with her limited astral dress and angel in hand.
Shido saw where she was headed, worrying about her. Artemis noticed the drastic change in his face and rested one of his hands on her shoulder, thus catching the boy's attention.
—Itsuka-kun, go with Tohka-san. She won't be able to convince her alone. Origami-san will not listen to a single word from her mouth.
She looked him in the eyes with a totally serious look. She was sure that Tohka would not make Origami come to her senses, she was a spirit, and the only thing it would cause in her would be to feed her hatred for spirits even more.
Shido understood Artemisia's point and nodded slightly; he wouldn't let Origami hurt any spirits.
—Be careful, Nia, Artemisia.
After saying those words to them, he made Tohka's angel disappear and ran off in the direction where Tohka and Origami had gone.
—You won't be able to run away from this place without destroying the Bandersnatch in front of you, Itsuka.
Ellen exclaimed indifferently, confident that the multiple robots would attack him. But to her pleasant surprise, seeing that the robots took no action to prevent his escape, Shido passed through their midst without any trouble.
Ellen arched her eyebrow in confusion, they were supposed to attack him before approaching them, but nothing happened; it was as if someone was controlling them from a distance.
—Surprised, Elecchi? —Nia asked with a mocking tone—. Imouto-chan predicted they would do something like this, So she took some precautions.
The situation Ellen was in had completely turned around. Ratatoskr was the one who had the upper hand now.
—That's enough of their stupid games. -she held her sword in one hand and adopted a defensive posture-. Let's end this right now.
Artemisia did the same as Ellen but concentrated the energy of her territory inside her weapon. On the other hand, Maria stared at the powerful wizard while Nia spread her arms wide and let her book float in front of her.
—May the strongest mage win!
—You won't be able to beat both of us, Ellecchi!
In this reality, Artemisia rejected Westcott and Ellen's proposal to join DEM; listening to them talk, she felt something strange about them; it was as if they were pretending to be the type of person they were not originally.
Days later, intrigued by the company's motives to incorporate her into their ranks, she investigated what they did for a living and their future goals. To her surprise, there was no information related to that company. It was as if it did not exist.
Time passed, and she decided to travel to Tengu City and infiltrate a school to discover by her means what that mysterious company was hiding and, by the way, get rid of that deep sense of curiosity that disturbed her for weeks.
However, over time, she met several girls and a boy from an organization called Ratatoskr, who explained to her DEM's true intentions, leaving her surprised and relieved that she had not accepted such a proposal. Still, she did not know that she would be the key to winning this conflict. She was...
The golden hope that everyone needed