Chinatsu looked at the stalemate before her, then glanced at Shido, who was sitting on the ground, his eyes darting between Tohka and Origami, clearly unable to continue their "friendly discussion." She sighed softly in her heart.
(Alright, it's hopeless. With Origami's interruption, the main AST force will probably arrive any second now. This "Anti-Entropy recruitment" and "Shido correction" are completely ruined today. Staying here would not only be in the way but might also drag me into bigger trouble.)
She knew very well that the key to what came next was whether Shido could establish initial trust and connection with Tohka.
Her presence as a "cold and dangerous individual" would only make the atmosphere more tense and make Shido feel constrained.
(So be it, I'll leave the stage to you. Tohka, I hope Shido, that idiot, can seize the opportunity…)
Her mind made up, Chinatsu no longer lingered. She didn't even look at the ready-to-fight Origami.
Ignoring the wary Tohka and the hesitant Shido, she simply turned around indifferently, her pale long hair tracing a cold arc in the air.
She took a step, walking unhurriedly towards the gap in the wall that Origami had crashed through.
Outside were the AST members suspended in the air, and in the distance, the faint outlines of Fraxinus.
Under everyone's gaze, Chinatsu stepped out, treading on thin air.
A strange scene unfolded—the space beneath her feet seemed to transform into an invisible mirror, and with each step she took, imperceptible ripples spread out, precisely solidifying and extending.
They formed transparent yet solid steps. She ascended them, as if walking on an invisible stairway, her posture elegant and composed, carrying an almost innate arrogance that seemed to look down upon all living beings.
"!"
Origami's breath caught.
Although the target, Heavenly Judgment, was moving away from Shido, which aligned with her expectations, the opponent's effortless ability to manipulate space as if it were an extension of her own body once again made her feel immense pressure and the insurmountable gap in their power.
She stared intently at Chinatsu's retreating figure, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Confirming that Chinatsu was indeed moving away from the classroom, Origami immediately seized this brief interval, quickly flew to the window where Shido was, and through her faceplate, urgently and gravely whispered, "Shido! It's too dangerous here! Get out!"
Her gaze swept quickly over Shido and Tohka, carrying an undeniable warning, but even more so, an anxiety born of worry.
After speaking, she dared not linger. The thrusters on her back reignited, and she ascended, joining the other arriving AST members, encircling Chinatsu from a distance.
At this moment, the entire AST temporary command channel was in chaos!
"Target confirmed! It's Heavenly Judgment! Repeat, it's the Spirit codenamed Heavenly Judgment!"
"All units, attention! Highest alert level! Prioritize target lock on Heavenly Judgment!"
"Maintain distance! Repeat, maintain absolute safe distance! Do not provoke!"
A sense of panic silently spread among the AST members.
No one knew the terror of this Spirit better than they did.
The devastating battle footage from the industrial district last time had already been repeatedly played and analyzed internally.
—Just the aftershocks of the colliding powers had easily flattened the entire area; in direct combat, she had overwhelmingly defeated the world's strongest magician, Ellen Mathers, and Takamiya Mana, and even the several elite aerial ships and supporting armed forces dispatched by DEM were no match for her.
This was an extremely dangerous Spirit, possessing absolute power, and clearly lacking goodwill towards the human organization DEM and even human society as a whole!
Every appearance of hers could signify a catastrophic conflict.
Therefore, although their mission was to deal with Princess, when Heavenly Judgment appeared and displayed hostility, all firepower and all attention were involuntarily drawn to her.
In comparison, Princess, who was still in the school building and had not shown direct aggression, seemed to have her threat level instantly lowered.
All AST members, including Captain Ryouko, nervously gripped their weapons, their Realizer devices operating at full power, and their Territory overlapping to construct layers of defensive barriers.
They hovered in the air as if facing a formidable enemy, forming a loose encirclement around Chinatsu, who was calmly walking in the air, yet no one dared to open fire first, nor did anyone dare to approach too closely.
Chinatsu seemed oblivious to the tense standoff around her. She continued to ascend unhurriedly, the spatial steps beneath her feet continuously extending, as if she were about to step directly into the clouds.
Her golden eyes calmly swept over the nervous AST members around her. There was no emotion in her gaze, neither the tension of being surrounded nor contempt for her enemies, only a deep, unsettling indifference.
She was simply executing her exit, nothing more. As for these ready-to-fight humans, in her eyes, they were perhaps no different from dust on the roadside.
This absolute calm and arrogance, on the contrary, transformed into a heavier pressure, weighing on the hearts of every AST member.
And at the shattered classroom window, Shido stared blankly at the figure ascending into the sky, unhurried even as countless weapons were pointed at her. Then he looked at Tohka beside him, who had relaxed slightly due to the AST's diverted attention but was still gripping sandalphon, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
(Chinatsu… what exactly are you…)
He knew he had to seize this precious time, inadvertently created by Chinatsu, when the AST was preoccupied.
He turned his head, looking at Tohka again, trying to make his voice sound calm and sincere:
"Tohka, shall we… continue our conversation from earlier?"
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