About three weeks had passed since Shido and the girls began living in the Spirit Mansion. Of course, they have also been training all this time as well.

Today, they were in the Neighboring World with the objective of testing their current strength. After all, no matter how much they train, the only real way to know if they were ready for the battle was to try on a real fight.

Once they arrived at the Neighboring World, they separated into smaller groups and began to hunt down monsters. One of the groups was made up of Kurumi, Kaguya and Yuzuru.

"Kuku, foolish machines who pretend to be human, you will never take over the world as long as I live."

Kaguya, with her weapon, the Angel Raphael in the form of a lance, in hand, said as she pointed towards the next group of enemies.

The three of them had flown into a part of the Neighboring World that looked like a mechanical city. Or maybe steampunk would be a more accurate description.

One might have thought that this was some city from somewhere that was swallowed up by a Spacequake, but that idea would be swiftly shot down. For one, the placement and architecture was all over the place, completely random. In all likelihood, this had somehow been created by the Neighboring World.

It mattered little to Kaguya though, since she was currently deep in her fantasies. She was imagining herself as the protagonist of one of those stories where humanity must be saved from a future ruled by machines.

The monsters she was currently facing were humanoid in shape, but they clearly weren't human. Their arms and legs were unproportionally long for their bodies, and their faces only had one red glowing "eye" at the center.

These machines leaped towards Kaguya once they noticed her. There weren't just one or two of them, but dozens or maybe even hundreds. Someone more prudent might have tried for stealth, but that wouldn't give the epic fight Kaguya was looking forward to.

Their running and jumping was enough to leave small holes where they had been previously standing. They were clearly strong, a normal NWET squad would have had no choice but to retreat.

But Kaguya wasn't part of any random NWET team. She was part of the Spirit Team, and she now had her Spirit CR-Unit, Hod, so she had no need to fear.

She waited until the monsters were in range and then began taking them out one after another. Her movements were smooth and precise, almost like a dance.

… At least in her head. Reality wasn't quite like that, but there was no need to ruin her fun.

However, the monsters' numbers were far too great. It seems that they have some kind of collective consciousness, or at least a way to call reinforcements, because it felt like all of them were headed towards Kaguya.

Even with Hod, she wouldn't be able to handle all of them. But, as mentioned before, she wasn't there alone.

"Ara, looks like you're in quite some trouble."

"Warning. Kaguya, why did you rush ahead?"

Kurumi and Yuzuru landed next to Kaguya and joined in on her fight.

Kurumi's red and black dress-looking CR-Unit seemed to even flutter in the wind as she moved and took aim with her Angel, Zafkiel, which took the form of an antique-looking gun.

Yuzuru's Spirit CR-Unit was Hod like Kaguya's, and her Angel was also Raphael, but hers took the form of a pendulum with a pointy tip. While Kaguya's Raphael specialized in short to mid range combat, Yuzuru's specialized in mid to long range.

The twins' CR-Unit actually covered very little of their bodies, it actually manifested only as a few chain-like things around their bodies and a single wing on each of their backs. Their plugsuits were only a pair of shorts and a breastband, the only difference being that Kaguya's was pinkish purple while Yuzuru's was blueish purple. While everything that needed to be covered was covered, they still had a lot of exposure.

"Kaka, I knew you would come for my aid, my servants. Now, let's rid this place of these monsters."

"Exasperation. You really can't be helped."

"Fufu, but this really might be a good way to test our new power."

As Kurumi had said, this wasn't a bad way to test their current fighting capabilities.

Just as Mio had previously said, she took advantage of the twins' shared compatibility to try an experiment. Each of their Sephira rings was made using only half of a Sephira, and there didn't seem to be any perceivable performance drop or any other bad effects, so that's what the Yamai twins are currently using.

Kurumi sniped the enemies from afar, Yuzuru mowed down their numbers as they approached, and Kaguya got rid of all who got close. They seemed untouchable as they completely destroyed hundreds upon hundreds of enemies.

Although these monsters looked like humanoid machines, they didn't leak any oil or anything like that when killed. Just like all the other monsters in the Neighboring World, they simply vanished after a while.

After a few minutes, they stopped coming out. It seemed like this trio really had destroyed each and every one of these monsters.

Once the adrenaline died down, they all let out a sigh.

"Kaka, we have emerged victorious! The machines proved ultimately unable to- ouch!"

"Reapproaching. Don't do this again, Kaguya. You would have been in trouble if we didn't intervene."

"S-sorry…"

Kaguya was about to begin a victory speech when Yuzuru scolded her. Although the feeling of power from the Spirit CR-Units was great, all it took was a wrong move for them to be killed even with that power.

Kaguya seemed to be seriously reflecting on it, so Yuzuru decided to leave it at that. Kurumi didn't join them, as she was busy observing something. Maria took this chance to talk with them.

[Although I have to second Yuzuru, I also have to congratulate you on a job well done. It would have taken at least a small army of regular NWET members and a very bloody battle to do what you three just did in a few minutes.]

"W-well, it's thanks to the Spirit CR-Units and Shido's ability."

"Happy. But Yuzuru and the others have also been training hard to make the most of the power that we've been given."

Of course, since the day they were given their Spirit CR-Unit, Kaguya and Yuzuru have never missed a day with Shido's ability. Thinking about that made them blush, but they couldn't say they weren't looking forward to doing it again later.

With the number of Spirit CR-Units having greatly increased, the time Shido spent using his ability also increased. If not for Maria and Marina managing his schedule, it's possible he would have gone crazy by now.

Speaking of, Marina noticed Kurumi wasn't joining in on the conversation, so she decided to check on her.

[What's up?]

Kurumi walked over to Kaguya and Yuzuru and whispered in a low voice.

"I think there's a Nibelcole observing us from there."

""Huh?""

Kaguya almost looked, but Yuzuru stopped her. It was obvious Kurumi wanted to pretend she hadn't noticed.

Maria and Marina analysed the data from Kurumi's POV.

[It does appear to be the case.]

[Be careful. Although you were able to win this pretty easily, the Nibelcoles are in a different league.]

It was as Marina said. The Nibelcoles, the opponent they really needed to be able to face hundreds of if they wanted to rescue Beelzebub, were much stronger than the ones they had just faced.

Although everyone on the Spirit Team had grown much stronger, it was still unknown if they could face the Nibelcoles. The prudent thing to do would be to pretend to not have noticed and retreat.

But it seems that the Yamai twins disagreed.

"Kuku, perfect. Yuzuru, let's show them the true power of the children of hurricane."

"... Agreement. Let's do it, Kaguya."

Before Kurumi or the AI girls could say anything, Kaguya and Yuzuru were already acting. They flew up a bit and called out the name of their Angel.

""Raphael""

The wings floated off their backs and attached to each other, forming an arched shape. Yuzuru's pendulum formed a string between the tips of the two wings and Kaguya's lance was knocked in like an arrow.

That was the third form of Raphael, a combination only possible for Kaguya and Yuzuru.

"Huh?!"

By the time the Nibelcole could let out that voice, it was already too late.

Kaguya and Yuzuru pulled back the arrow (lance) and then released it. Not only that, they used their Territory to manipulate the wind, allowing the arrow (lance) to gain even more power.

The Nibelcole wasn't even able to react. The arrow (lance) pierced through her and instantly killed her, nearly exploding all of her body.

"Alright!"

"Celebration. We did it, Kaguya!"

Kaguya and Yuzuru were happy. With this, they had proved that they were able to fight a Nibelcole with their current strength.

However, Kurumi did not share that happiness. Neither did Maria nor Marina. And they had their reasons for that.

"So, until I give it back, I'll be taking Hod from the two of you, and I'm also banning you from making use of Shin's ability until then."

""U-understood…""

Kaguya and Yuzuru replied. Mio made them sit with their knees on the floor as she scolded them after she heard what they did, and now she was finally giving out their punishment.

Going slightly back in time, not long after Kaguya and Yuzuru defeated the Nibelcole, everyone gathered together and then returned to the normal world and then the NWET base.

After that, they met up with Mio, Ellen and Karen, and Maria and Marina began to make their report about their combat data. In general, the Spirit Team had performed really well, and Ellen was quite pleased with their strength.

But that was only expected, after all, most members now had their Spirit CR-Units.

Yes, it wasn't just Kaguya and Yuzuru who gained their Spirit CR-Units. In these three weeks that they had been living in the Spirit Mansion, Kotori, Yoshino and Natsumi had also gained theirs. Needless to say, that was largely thanks to Marina's random events.

In other words, the only members who had yet to get a Spirit CR-Unit were Miku and Maya.

Thanks to that, a great increase in fighting power was observed in this squad. Shido was still lagging behind a bit, trying to learn how to make use of all the Angels, but he was also steadily evolving.

"U-um, can I ask why they're being punished? Wasn't defeating the Nibelcole a good thing?"

Shido timidly raised his hand and asked. Everyone else seemed to have understood, or at least accepted it, but Shido still had questions.

"Oh Shin, I understand you also feel punished since you're losing two girls, but you don't have to try and defend them. Rather, as the captain, you should take a firm stance and enforce their punishment."

"R-right…"

It seemed that it was something so obvious that Mio didn't even think Shido didn't actually understand, so he couldn't say anything more.

Luckily for him though, Kurumi seemed to have noticed his very real doubt and walked up to him to whisper in his ear.

"Shido-san, information is a very important resource. It was already bad that the Nibelcole learned of the Spirit CR-Units, but now they also know we've gained the power to defeat them."

"I see… but isn't it fine since that Nibelcole was defeated?"

"Maybe. But we don't know for sure if there weren't other Nibelcoles, and we also don't know if they can somehow share their memories or something like that."

"Ah, now I get it."

Shdio now understood why Mio was punishing Kaguya and Yuzuru. Because of what they did, they confirmed that they could defeat a Nibelcole, but the enemy also learned that. There was a chance everything would be fine, but there was also a chance that things would get much worse because of that.

Now that he understood it, he couldn't disagree with his mother. Although the twins were looking at him with pleading eyes, he couldn't do anything to help them.

After a while, Mio let out a sigh.

"... That said, let's talk about the elephant in the room. I have been thinking about the operation to rescue Beelzebub and, although it's a bit earlier than planned, I think I will greenlight it."

Everyone had trouble believing their ears for a second. Although they had evolved considerably since they went to the Spirit Mansion, they still weren't completely sure if Mio would allow them.

As if to answer in her place, Ellen spoke up.

"Well, the combat data is pretty conclusive. It won't be easy, but it shouldn't be impossible either. The little incident this time is a bit worrying, but there's nothing to be done about it now."

Certainly, it would be hard to raise complaints about their combat ability. Normal monsters posed little challenge to them now, and while a great number of Nibelcoles would probably still give them trouble, it was no longer a hopeless battle as it had been before.

Next, it was Karen who took the word.

"As for Shido's ability, we have been reviewing the Spirit Mansion footage. You have clearly gotten much better from how you started, and while there is room to grow, we have arrived at the conclusion that Shido could bring back a Demon King's memories, assuming your ability really can do it."

Shido felt like a big weight came off his shoulders. While it might sound weird, he was giving his best during all the events that had been prepared for them. He wasn't really sure if he could say he "evolved" but there was certainly an improvement, at least from what the girls told him.

But then, something came up on Shido's mind. He just realized something Karen had said.

"... Wait, you said you reviewed the footage?"

"Yeah."

"As in, the three of you?"

Karen, Ellen and Mio looked at each other for a second, and then nodded.

"Don't worry about it. We were the only ones who watched it and it's all stored in a secure folder. … We also made sure to keep a professional eye the entire time."

"It was, um, interesting. Shido really has grown up, in all kinds of ways."

"As a mother, I do have a few things I'd like to add. Tohka, try to not get left behind. Origami, Kurumi, you two on the other hand are going too fast. Yoshino, Natsumi, have more confidence in yourselves. Kotori, Kaguya, Yuzuru, you're doing great, keep it up. Maya… actually, you seem to be thinking of something, so I'll leave you to it. Miku, I'd like to see my grandchildren someday, so try to avoid a repeat of that."

Not just Shido, even the girls got a bit embarrassed this time. It was completely understandable, since they just learned that their embarrassing moments had been seen.

As Mio had said, Tohka was taking things slow with Shido, she enjoyed going shopping for groceries with him, calling it a date, they would kiss and touch each other a bit, but that would be the end since Tohka would be embarrassed to go further. On the other side of the coin, Origami and Kurumi had gotten a habit of eating things of particular shape in front of Shido, and while they had yet to act, they seemed to have been planning to go all the way sooner rather than later, so Mio thought it would be prudent to stop them a bit.

Yoshino and Natsumi seemed to lack confidence, as Mio said. They never initiated anything, and in fact only got involved when whatever event that was happening forced them to. They only managed to get their Spirit CR-Units because they had both been picked at a "pretend to be a Demon King" event, though they didn't give much trouble for the maintenance.

Maya was similar, but rather than shyness, it seemed like she simply preferred watching, which reminded Shido of the day he saw her pleasuring herself. As for Miku… she had also been picked in a "pretend to be a Demon King" event, but when Shido tried to touch her, she kicked him right between the legs, and the event was canceled due to an emergency.

Rather, Shido got more worried that Kotori, Kaguya and Yuzuru seemed to be at what Mio judged to be an appropriate level. They were the ones that tested Shido's self control the most, and he honestly was never sure if he'd be able to hold himself back.

In any case, they got the authorization for Beelzebub's rescue mission. Mio said that they would plan things for the remaining week, but she also warned them that, if their performance dropped, she would cancel the operation.

For now, the only thing they could do was keep going forward.