"Ufufu, we'll be counting on you to support us if we have to battle, Shido-san. Shido-san's Territory feels so good that I might get hooked up on it."

"O-oh, leave it to me."

Kurumi was clearly just saying something to provoke him, but Shido tried to reply as normally as he could.

Their current formation had Tohka at the front, Shido in the middle and Kurumi and Maya at the back. That said, Kurumi had moved a little ahead to stick close to Shido. Although she didn't say anything about it, Shido did catch Tohka looking back with a less than happy expression on her face.

They had been walking for about 20 minutes now. They had yet to encounter more enemies, so things were generally peaceful… and even somewhat boring, which is what led Kurumi to begin teasing Shido.

[Shido, another probe here would be good.]

"Alright."

Shido took out another probe and planted it where Marina indicated. These probes do a very simple but important job. They scan an area around where they are planted, sending data back to headquarters, which would help other teams when they came to collect material, researchers when something was discovered, and much more.

While not exactly action-filled, which was a little disappointing, this would probably end up being quite a good first mission to have on the Spirit Team's records.

"Shido, we might as well also scout ahead."

"Right."

Shido expanded his Territory, and then Maya held his hand. It was a bit embarrassing, but it couldn't be helped. Shido was amazed at how easily she integrated with his Territory, using it as if it were her own. He had heard it was a very difficult thing to do, so he couldn't help but be impressed.

After a few minutes, the probe finished its job, and so did Maya. She let go of Shido's hand, and her cheeks were a little red, so she was probably embarrassed about holding his hand for that long.

"Maya, you're amazing. It's not like we practiced for long, but you can pull such a hard thing perfectly."

"It's not perfect. I don't get nearly as much information as using my own Territory, and I have to focus to really make the most of the distance, which is why it takes so long."

Even if she said that, Shido still thought it was amazing. It was an unexpected benefit that came from when Shido first expanded his Territory. And she would probably get better at it with time, so it was quite promising.

"... Anyway, I found something weird in that direction. Maybe we should check it out?"

[The probe was also having trouble scanning things that way. It was returning some weird data. Be careful.]

Maya told Shido that she had detected some monsters over that way, but they didn't seem particularly strong. After checking with the girls, Shido decided that they should try and check it out.

To save some time, they decided to fly to their destination. That allowed them to avoid a majority of the monsters, although they did also notice something strange.

All the monsters they met seemed to be heading a certain way. It was almost like they were humans on a pilgrimage, or animals being hoarded.

And the way they were going was the way Shido and the girls were going to investigate. There was clearly something going on in that place.

"Is this a thing that normally happens?"

"I've never heard of it at least."

Kurumi answered Tohka's question and Maya shook her head from side to side. Shido began to wonder if it might be too dangerous, so he thought to ask the AI assistants.

"Maria, Marina, should we continue or turn back?"

[ ]

Rather than a reply, what Shido got back was… a song? He could hear someone singing, but it didn't sound like either Maria or Marina's voice.

For a second, Shido thought that it might be interference from some radio, but that was just absurd. There was no radio in the Neighboring World. He told the girls about the problem he was having and asked for their opinions.

"What should we do?"

"It still seems safe, so I think we can go further."

"I'll keep looking ahead. We can always turn back."

"Umu! I agree with them."

Kurumi, Maya and Tohka seemed to be willing to continue on. In that case, Shido decided that they should continue forward. With Maya on the lookout, it was unlikely that they'd be caught by surprise.

They continued flying towards their destination, and it wasn't long before the doubts on their minds were answered.

" "

Or, to be more precise, they were replaced by other doubts.

They found a girl singing. There were humanoid monsters already found in the Neighboring World, but none of them could be mistaken for a human. There was always something off about them.

But not this time. This girl looked to be perfectly human, and she seemed to be about the same age as them.

She had long golden blond hair and wore a dress resembling that of the idols you'd see on TV, though hers was mostly dark colored. Her voice was also quite beautiful, enchanting even.

"Hm? Oh, I hadn't called out to you four. Actually, you're not like these children. Are you maybe lost?"

Although they had been hearing her sing, they were still surprised at hearing her speak.

It would be hard to call her a monster now. In that case, one thing came to everyone's minds. The rumor about the people that go missing in a Spacequake surviving in the Neighboring World.

"N-no, we're not lost. What's your name?"

Shido asked without thinking. If they had her name, it was possible Maria and Marina could check to see if she really was someone who had gone missing.

"Isn't it bad manners to ask for someone's name without giving yours first?" The girl said, but she got closer to Shido and then started looking at him up and down, and even smelling him. "You're making my head go weird, is it some perfume? Anyway, since you're interesting, I'll tell you. My name is Lilith."

Lilith… that was a strange name, at least, it didn't go with her appearance. Maybe it was a common name overseas? Maria and Marina still weren't responding, so Shido committed that name to memory for now.

"Sorry. I'm Shido."

"Maya."

"My name is Kurumi."

"I'm Tohka. Say, Lilith, do you know… if there are more people here?"

Maya and Kurumi were surprised at Tohka's sudden question. Although Shido was also surprised, he knew where she was coming from.

This might be a chance to find her missing sister.

"More people? There are, but most of them are sleeping. Only us Demon Kings are allowed to walk around. Ah, but we're not supposed to let the people from your world see us. Oops, I might have messed up."

Demon Kings? All of them were confused by that name. They thought about asking Lilith for more information, but they were interrupted before they could.

"Hm? Ah, duty calls. I'll see you all later, don't get eaten by the monsters."

Lilith… simply took off flying, and the monsters followed her as they could. She wasn't wearing a CR-Unit, yet she simply flew as if it was the most natural thing.

There was clearly something going on here. Although none of them said a word, all four of them wanted to investigate further. They considered going after Lilith, but they were stopped by Maria and Marina.

[Finally. Where were you all? There was something blocking our signal.]

[More importantly, please head back. You all need to escape soon.]

Although the AI girls didn't give any relevant information, their tone clearly indicated that things weren't all right. Although it was a shame to let go of Lilith, Shido and the girls headed back to their meeting point with the others.

/

Kaguya couldn't help but feel that there was some sort of conspiracy going on here.

Kaguya is really beautiful and has a nice figure, but, thanks to her twin sister, Yuzuru, she developed a bit of a complex about it. Especially her breasts.

And somehow, she ended up in a team with the bustiest members of the Spirit Team. Even though there was no way this was the case, she thought that she could see their breasts bouncing with each step they took.

Kaguya did understand the logic behind this team. She and Yuzuru were a great combination, maybe because they're sisters, and both had shown skill in both melee and ranged fighting, allowing them to cover for each other as needed. With Miku's Territory giving them support, it was unlikely that they'd have problems in a battle.

Still! She couldn't help but think that the AI girls were messing with her.

"Warning. Watch out, Kaguya."

"W-woah!"

Because she had let her mind wander off, Kaguya hadn't noticed she was walking near a small cliff. She ended up losing her footing and tumbling down.

Luckily, she didn't fall too far because she was stopped by a tree. Despite the CR-Unit protecting her, it still hurt.

"Warn me properly next time!"

"Apology. Yuzuru will keep it in mind."

"It doesn't sound like you're reflecting at all!"

Kaguya got up and walked back to where the others were as she tried to brush the dirt off of her body.

"Oh no! Did you get hurt? Don't worry, let me handle it with a kiss~!"

Miku was attempting to kiss Kaguya, who had to actually try and dodge or hold her back. It was amazing how differently she acted when there were just girls around and when Shido was around.

While Kaguya was trying to not get kissed by Miku, Yuzuru was wondering whether to help her sister protect or lose her first kiss. Maria and Marina told Yuzuru to plant a probe and take a little look around.

"Hm? Curiosity. Everyone, Yuzuru found something."

Kaguya's lips were ultimately saved by Yuzuru calling out to them. She then pointed to what she said she found.

It was an icy field in the middle of this lush green land. It was clearly out of place, which made the girls curious about it.

[Our sensors are having trouble getting a reading there.]

[If possible, try to take a look. It's fine even if it's from afar.]

The girls nodded to each other, and then they began to fly. Once they were in the air, Miku expanded her Territory. That not only boosted their abilities, it even boosted their eyesight.

They began to fly around the icy field. Although not as good as getting a reading with one of the probes, Maria and Marina would be able to analyze things from the recording of what the girls are seeing.

Overall though, there wasn't much to see. It was simply an icy field in the middle of the overgrown forest. Weird as it was, there didn't seem to be anything more to it, and the Neighboring World was home to such oddities.

"""!"""

But then, the girls heard a sound. It was hard to describe, but if they had to, it was the sound of something being frozen.

Looking in the direction the sound came from, they saw another icy field. It clearly wasn't there before, and it was still growing, so there was a good chance that they could find out what was causing that.

Nodding to each other, the girls moved to the other icy field. This one did have something for them to see.

"Is that… a person?"

They saw a blue haired woman at the center of that field. She was wearing a mostly black dress, which looked completely out of place for how cold it looked, not to mention she didn't even have shoes on. Rather, the ice seemed to be spreading from her feet.

Needless to say, their first thought was that it could be one of the Neighboring World's monsters, but they quickly dismissed it. Could a monster look so much like a person?

She was quite far away, so it was hard to really make out many features. Though the woman's big bust was clearly noticeable. Kaguya started to believe that the gods themselves were the ones playing with her.

"What should we do?"

"That's…"

Miku didn't know how to answer Kaguya's question. It was clearly something to be investigated, but at the same time, it would be a lie to say that they didn't smell danger.

Miku was thinking of asking the AI assistants for their opinion, but she ended up not needing it.

That's because the woman noticed them. Then, she fired a big ice spike at them.

"Woah!"

"Evade. She's attacking us."

Everyone managed to dodge, but the woman wasn't done. She fired even more ice spikes at them. Monster or not, she was clearly hostile, and if the speed of those spikes were any indication, then she was too much for Miku and the twins to handle.

They were having a lot of difficulty dodging the spikes, sometimes barely scraping by. Their suits were being torn and parts of their CR-Units were being damaged. Even if they were just barely avoiding direct hits, this spelled trouble for them.

"We can't fight, let's just escape!"

Miku shouted. Everyone heard her from their communication device and did their best to try and land while avoiding the spikes. Luckily, the woman didn't seem much interested in them, so she didn't give chase as they tried to escape.

Once they noticed they weren't in danger anymore, the girls let out their breaths. There was ice on parts of their CR-Units and skin, so it made them wonder how bad things would have been if they had gotten hit directly.

[Everyone, quickly get back to your meeting point!]

[You all have to escape quickly!]

Maria and Marina's transmission came suddenly. Kaguya and Yuzuru froze up for a second without knowing what to do, but Miku, who was more experienced, quickly got them to move.

"Let's go. I don't know what happened, but we can't waste any time."

They took off flying, and Miku even used her Territory to make sure they would reach their meeting point as fast as possible.

/

The team led by Origami, made up of her, Kotori, Yoshino and Natsumi, ended up going in a direction that took them out of the overgrown forest the others were in.

The place they were at looked like a barren wasteland. The only things that could be seen were rocks here and there. It was a far cry from the lush forest they had seen previously.

And what's even stranger was that the two environments simply switched, as if there was an invisible line drawn on the ground, rather than a gradual change, as would have been more natural on Earth. The Neighboring World was home to such oddities.

"Haaaa!"

Kotori was out in front battling a monster made of rocks. That was one of the reasons why Origami had chosen to advance into this place. She had fought such monsters before, and knew that they were slow and durable, good for training recruits.

Yoshino and Natsumi were also getting some training in. There were also earthworm monsters crawling around in the ground, and they'd try to attack Kotori, who was busy dealing with the rock monsters. Their job was to give her cover.

"But you can't forget to protect yourselves as well."

Origami said as she slashed an earthworm monster that was just about to launch at Yoshino. From how both her and Natsumi looked back surprised, it seems they really hadn't noticed.

"I don't expect either of you to be like Maya, but try to expand your Territory to search for enemies nearby. Even if it doesn't work, you'll at least be able to react faster."

"Y-yes."

"I'll try…"

The girls followed Origami's order, expanding their Territories. Yoshino didn't seem to be able to detect anything, but Natsumi… it seemed like she could learn it given some time. Still, they were so close together that they weren't making the most of their Territory, but this should do for now.

As for Kotori… Origami wanted to tell her to be more calm and try to use her sword properly, but Kotori was simply destroying the rock monsters with brute force. Not only that, she seemed to have a smile on her face, as if enjoying it.

Maybe she was simply the berserker type of fighter. As long as she could control herself, she could still be useful in the Spirit Team. Sometimes, brute strength is all you need.

Once Kotori finished the rock monsters and there didn't seem to be any more earthworms around, Origami told them to rest while she planted the probe in the area.

After moving to the indicated location, Origami planted the probe and waited a few minutes until the results came. She expected to simply be told to continue onward, but the next words she heard from Maria were completely unexpected.

[Origami, there's something flying towards your direction.]

Origami looked in the direction Maria pointed out to her. She did catch sight of something flying in her direction, but it was too fast to make out. Still, it looked like… a person.

Whatever it was, it soon closed in, and it hit Origami before she could even react. Origami was sent tumbling away, and she barely managed to stop herself in time to catch the figure for a split second before it started moving again.

"... Tohka?"

The figure that had come flying in was actually a girl, and she looked a lot like Tohka, but was lacking her bright expression. She was also wearing a black dress that seemed like a cross between a dress and armor, and she had a sword on her hand, though it was most definitely not the standard CR-Unit sword Tohka had.

The girl started moving towards Kotori, Yoshino and Natsumi. Her intentions were clearly not to have a conversation.

"Watch out!"

Origami tried to warn them over the communications device, but the girl was too fast.

Kotori barely had time to try and defend herself. Kotori's CR-Unit's sword broke with a single hit of the Tohka-lookalike's sword. Kotori was sent flying and ended up hitting rock, further damaging her CR-Unit.

"Gah!"

The impact was so strong that she seemed to lose consciousness instantly. Yoshino and Natsumi were too shocked to react, the girl looked at them and simply ignored them, instead choosing to close in on Kotori.

She raised her sword. Her intent was clear. She was going to kill her. The Tohka-lookalike brought down her sword.

But it just barely missed Kotori. That's because Origami launched herself at the girl, and their swords clashed.

"You're not Tohka, are you?"

"... Tohka? That name… who?"

The Tohka-lookalike girl seemed confused, but she still easily brushed Origami aside with her superior power. Still, it's not as if Origami could simply give up. So long as the girl intended to harm them, she needed to put up her best fight.

Yoshino and Natsumi ran up to Kotori. That's good, they realized that they should focus on giving her first aid. They would only get in Origami's way if they tried to help her.

Not that Origami had much hope, from what she'd seen so far.

"D-do your best…!"

Maybe without meaning to, Natsumi still had her Territory expanded. Origami felt her body becoming lighter. This was clearly a support Territory.

During this past week, Natsumi only showed below average aptitude for most things. Granted, she was hardly the only recruit to be like that in their first week, but there was also the matter of them being a special team.

Still, she was now using her Territory to support Origami and try to hold back the Tohka-lookalike girl, and without even meaning to. It wasn't as good as Miku, and it definitely didn't hold a candle to Shido, but it was still good to have some support.

Maybe Natsumi's true strength lies in being a jack of all traits, capable of providing assistance however needed at the time, rather than focusing on a single thing.

In any case, thanks to Natsumi's support, Origami was somehow able to defend against the girl's attacks. No, to be more precise, defending was all she could do, but that was already amazing considering the girl's power.

Just holding on was good enough. Origami trusted that Maria and Marina were getting backup. She just had to hold on until then.

Still, simply getting Shido and the others here wouldn't change much. To fight this girl, you'd probably need at least someone on the level of-

"Haaa!"

After a few minutes, the girl put more power into her strike, probably out of irritation of not being able to deal with her. Origami obviously knew her opponent wasn't going all out, but the sheer amount of strength still surprised her.

Knocked off her stance, Origami ended up letting the enemy pass her. It seems she had realized Natsumi was the reason Origami was able to compete and was aiming for her. Natsumi was paralyzed from fear and unable to move.

But then, something hit the girl's face. It was a shot from Yoshino's gun. It dealt no damage, of course, but it at least caught the attention of the already irritated girl.

Not that that was any good. It simply changed who would die first.

Origami threw her sword at the girl, who easily brushed it off into the sky.

"You're all annoying."

That seemed like it would be the end. The girl was ready to swing down her sword and start ending their lives one by one.

But it never happened. She felt something hit her on the back of the head. Ellen had arrived, grabbed Origami's sword from the air, and swung it down with so much strength that it broke on the girl's head.

Still, it did no damage worth pointing out. The girl turned around, irritated at the sudden appearance, but then she noticed Ellen's real plan.

"Pierce, Rhongomiant."

The back of Ellen's CR-Unit, Pendragon, changed to form a cannon. She fired the cannon before the Tohka-lookalike girl had any chance to react.

They couldn't tell if it had done damage, but it sent the girl flying. For now, that was a chance to escape they had to thank the heavens for.

"Quickly, let's go."

Ellen grabbed the unconscious Kotori. Origami followed behind, and so did Yoshino and Natsumi soon after.

Thanks to being in Ellen's Territory, they met with Shido and the others soon. Needless to say, they had no time to explain, so they all quickly escaped the Neighboring World.

Under Ellen's instruction, Shido and Miku activated their Territory which, combined with Ellen's, allowed them to quickly get back to base. Luckily, no one was gravely wounded, and even Kotori only needed a couple of minutes in a medical Realizer to be back to perfect health.

After that, considering the day's events, they were dismissed. However, everyone knew that something awaited them tomorrow.