Switching focus, things were going horribly for Shido, who was currently trying to capture the Spirit.
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"Aru! Your name is Aru!"
Shido almost yelled out the name—which had been suggested by the "divine" strategists aboard the Fraxinus—with his eyes closed. However, before he finished speaking—
"Beep—beep—!"
A piercing alarm instantly filled the entire Fraxinus bridge, and red lights flashed frantically.
"Blue Mode detected! She is unhappy!" a crew member reported in a panic.
On the main screen, the gauge representing the Spirit's favorability plummeted like an avalanche.
At the same time, in the real-time feed, the classroom floor where Shido was located was violently bombarded by continuous small spheres of light, creating a sound like invisible machine-gun fire—"Doonk ka ka ka ka ka ka ka ng!"—kicking up clouds of dust!
"Waaah!" Shido shrieked, clutching his head, shrinking behind the podium, his heart filled with despair and self-reproach.
(I knew it! What kind of name is 'Aru'? It doesn't suit her at all! I truly am an idiot!)
"... Kotori?" Reine's confused voice came through.
"Huh? That's odd. I thought it was a good name with a classical flavor," Kotori analyzed, feigning composure, though her tone now carried a hint of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, in the center of the classroom, the girl holding sandalphon had clear veins throbbing on her forehead, her eyes dangerously narrowed, and her voice filled with suppressed fury: "... I don't know why, but I feel like I've been played."
"I'm... I'm sorry... Wait a moment..." Shido poked his head out from behind the podium, looking at the mess on the floor and the girl's increasingly sour expression, frantic as an ant on a hot pan.
A name, a name, a name... He desperately searched his mind for every female name he knew, but due to extreme nervousness and the suddenness of the situation, his mind went blank; he couldn't think of anything.
Time ticked by, second by second. The girl's patience was clearly running out rapidly, and the tip of sandalphon seemed to be gathering an ominous glow once more.
(It's over... I've run out of options...) Shido felt a profound sense of helplessness.
Just at this critical moment—
A clear, familiar voice, yet one carrying an indescribable arrogance and penetrating quality, like an icy spring, distinctly sounded from outside the classroom door:
"Tohka."
Shido was stunned. That voice...?
The voice paused, seemingly to ensure the pronunciation was precise, then added the full name: "Yatogami Tohka."
Immediately afterward, the half-destroyed classroom door was gently pushed open.
A figure stepped slowly inside, silhouetted against the faint light filtering in from the hallway.
Shido's eyes widened. He could barely believe what he was seeing—it was Chinatsu!
No, at this moment, she should be called the Spirit who was the Herrscher of Heavenly Judgment!
Why was she here?!
The "Chinatsu" before him was completely different from the broken, sorrowful appearance she had when they last parted.
She wore Herrscher attire in black and white, ornate and slightly rebellious in style. Her skirt moved without wind, and the dark feathers at her collar gently swayed.
Her pale long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and faint purple electric sparks seemed to jump at the tips of her strands.
Most striking were her eyes: the golden pupils no longer held the sadness or madness from before, but were instead settled with a pure arrogance and detachment, as if she were looking down upon all living things.
Her aura was contained yet immensely powerful, as if the power of destruction was firmly locked within her body. Only the invisible pressure made the air feel slightly viscous.
"Tohka?"
The girl in the center of the classroom, now the Princess, repeated the name in confusion, seemingly unfamiliar with the pronunciation.
"How... how do you write this name?"
Chinatsu did not respond to Shido's astonished gaze. She walked straight toward the podium, ignoring the smoking craters on the floor, picked up a piece of chalk, and smoothly wrote two elegant Chinese characters on the blackboard—
Tohka
Seeing the characters on the board, the Spirit girl's eyes lit up slightly.
She seemed to achieve Understanding. She stepped forward, and instead of using the chalk, she extended a slender finger, micro-light condensing at the tip, and carved deep marks directly into the blackboard, tracing the two characters for "Tohka."
The action possessed an innate sense of power, yet was strangely focused.
Just as she drew close to Chinatsu, her nose twitched, as if she had smelled something familiar.
She abruptly lifted her head, her amethyst-like eyes fixed on Chinatsu. Her initial confusion was rapidly replaced by immense delight!
"It's this scent!"
Tohka cried out in surprise. Without any warning, she opened her arms and lunged toward Chinatsu, who was standing by the podium, like a swallow returning to its nest!
"Eh?! W-wait!"
Chinatsu clearly hadn't anticipated this. Her aloof and arrogant expression instantly collapsed as she scrambled to catch the "large hanging ornament" that had suddenly leapt at her.
(Stupid Tohka, what are you doing!)
Tohka ignored everything, hugging Chinatsu tightly like a puppy finding its owner. She buried her face in Chinatsu's neck and took a deep breath, loudly declaring with absolute certainty:
"It's this scent! Last time, this boy had your scent on him! You must be my companion!"
Shido: "!!!"
He was completely petrified where he stood. His brain had first crashed due to Chinatsu's sudden appearance, and now it was utterly overloaded by Tohka's astonishing words and actions.
(I had Chinatsu's scent on me?! When?! Was it because we had contact before... and her aura lingered?! When was that?!)
(And... Tohka... she just recognized Chinatsu as a companion?! And hugged her?!)
Watching Chinatsu—who had been aloof as an Ice Queen just a second ago but now looked flustered and overwhelmed by Tohka's enthusiastic hug—and then looking at Tohka, who was clinging tightly to her, radiating happiness and dependence... Shido felt his worldview violently shaken once again.
The scene unfolding before him was entirely outside the scope of his Understanding and beyond any contingency plan the Fraxinus had prepared.
(W-what exactly is going on here?!)
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