Inside the Fraxinus bridge, the strangely flat emotional value curve exploded in everyone's hearts like a thunderclap.
"A-all of it was a disguise?" a crew member muttered in disbelief.
After a brief moment of shock, Kotori snapped back to reality, her Commander's decisiveness instantly overriding her confusion. She took the precious jewel out of her mouth and held it in her hand, her gaze sharp as an eagle's.
"Attention, everyone!" Her voice was decisive, shattering the silence of the bridge.
"The emotional reaction of the Heavenly Judgment is a fake! Repeat, her 'despair' and 'anger' are highly likely to be an act! Her purpose is unclear, but this is an excellent opportunity for us to glimpse her true intentions!"
She quickly issued instructions: "Maintain the highest level of monitoring! Record all data, especially any subtle changes in her physiological and Spirit Power parameters! Until Shido wakes up, do not take any action that might provoke her. Observe quietly!"
Murasame Reine stared intently at Chinatsu's seemingly heartbroken profile on the main screen and added, "There might have been an unexpected glitch in her plan... She probably didn't anticipate that Tohka would refuse her invitation."
This assessment made everyone's hearts tighten again. What would a Spirit whose purpose was unknown, who was an excellent actor, and whose plan had been thwarted, do next?
... Below the stage, Chinatsu was waiting for Tohka to take her hand, completing the final scene of this "tragic hero recruiting a comrade."
However, what she received was Tohka's tearful, trembling, yet firm refusal.
"...No."
"I... I can't go with you."
"This place... this is Shido's world... I cannot destroy it."
"...I cannot become the person he hates..."
(...Huh?)
Chinatsu's outstretched hand froze in midair. All the subsequent lines and performance plans she had prepared internally stalled at that moment. Her brain seemed to crash for an instant.
(What am I doing... I just wanted to have some fun, incidentally raise the difficulty level for the Fraxinus, and advance the 'Anti-Entropy' persona...)
(But... "I cannot become the person he hates"?)
(Even after being treated this way, after being abandoned by this world in the cruelest manner, the first thing she thought of was not becoming the person Shido "hates"?)
(For the one being toyed with, for this silly girl, this persistence in kindness seems... a bit too heavy.)
(Silly Tohka's kindness... truly exceeds my expectations.)
Tohka's tearful words, like an incredibly fine yet incredibly tough needle, precisely pierced through her layered heart, penetrating the "performance stage" she had constructed with an outsider's, playful mentality.
Everything she had prepared for her performance suddenly became so pale, ugly, and... hollow in the face of this paramount, pure goodness, this persistence that seemed almost "foolish."
This almost foolish, reckless kindness, this adherence in despair to a promise made to others, even those who had passed away.
The purity of the commitment... exceeded all her expectations and calculations.
(This is fine too... It looks like I should make my exit...)
After the initial shock, an indescribably complex emotion surged in her heart. It was not the irritation of a thwarted plan, but something... heavier.
The "cold resolve" and "disillusioned sorrow" on her face began to show subtle cracks, like melting ice.
The hand outstretched toward Tohka did not immediately retract, but the slight tremor in her fingertips was no longer pure acting; it carried a trace of genuine helplessness.
She looked at Tohka's tear-stained but resolute face. The deliberate emptiness in her golden eyes was gradually replaced by something deeper, mixed with pity, sadness, and a trace of... indescribable emotion.
"...I understand."
Her voice was hoarser than before, but it lacked the deliberate coldness, containing instead a complex bitterness. "Even after being treated like this, you still choose to... protect everything he loves?"
Her gaze seemed to penetrate Tohka, seeing the small light of this world that the boy had once tried so hard to show them.
"...This kindness, truly..." She paused, as if searching for the right words, finally letting out an almost inaudible sigh, "...It breaks my heart."
The instant her words fell—
Her "emotional value," which had been maintained at a stable baseline, showed a violent fluctuation for the first time—one that even the Fraxinus's precise instruments could not ignore!
Almost simultaneously, the analyst staring intensely at the data suddenly widened his eyes, his voice rising in excitement:
"Fluctuation! It appeared! The Heavenly Judgment Herrscher's emotional value is showing a violent fluctuation! The peak type is... complex! A mix of shock, shame... and strong recognition?! It's not the preset anger or sadness pattern!"
On the screen, the emotional value curve, which had been perfectly flat, suddenly shot up into a sharp and complex peak!
"What?!" Kotori instantly straightened up, her eyes blazing. "A reaction generated when she heard Tohka's refusal, especially the phrase 'I cannot become the person he hates'?"
"That's correct!" the analyst confirmed.
Reine immediately made an accurate judgment: "A crack has appeared in her performance. Tohka's purity broke through her carefully constructed emotional disguise and touched her true heart... at least a part of it."
Kannazuki stroked his chin, his eyes glinting. "Oh? It seems our'star actress' isn't completely heartless. This unexpected, genuine emotion is more valuable than any performance."
Kotori made an immediate decision: "Record all data! Focus the analysis on the triggers and patterns of her emotional fluctuation! This is key to our Understanding of her behavioral logic! Maintain silent observation, and do not take any action that might interfere with the current situation!"
Below the stage, Chinatsu felt as if a pebble had been tossed into her rock-solid, utterly calm heart, creating ripples she had never anticipated.
Tohka's blindingly pure kindness acted like a mirror, reflecting the paleness and ugliness of all her current calculations and acting.
The "cold resolve" on her face finally began to crumble, showing a distinct crack.
A trace of panic and... wavering, which she herself had not anticipated, flashed in her golden eyes, which were usually in complete control.
She looked at Tohka, at this stubbornly heartbreaking girl, and a truly heartfelt sentence, completely outside of her plan, involuntarily slipped out in a low voice:
"...You truly are an... idiot..."
The words were very soft, but they seemed to drain all the strength and desire to perform from her body. The deliberately created arrogance and coldness melted rapidly, like ice and snow under the sun.
In that sentence, there was no longer any lofty authority, nor any deliberately staged tragedy, only a pure emotion, mixed with helplessness and a subtle stirring that she herself had yet to clarify.
She no longer attempted to persuade, nor did she need a "perfect" reason to leave the stage.
She simply gave Tohka a deep, complex look, as if to firmly engrave this stubbornly heartbreaking girl and her kindness, which still shone brightly amidst despair, into her heart.
Then, she said nothing more.
The outstretched hand dropped down limply and completely. She just stood there quietly. The surging Spirit Power around her seemed to become slightly unstable along with her internal confusion, and the spatial distortion phenomenon subtly fluctuated.
She did not leave immediately, but the intention to withdraw had formed. This carefully planned "performance," due to one girl's purely good choice, reached its conclusion in a completely unexpected manner.
And the one who had styled herself as the "director" and "lead actress," felt genuine disorder and wavering in her own script for the first time.
Just as Chinatsu decided to exit and was preparing to quietly open a portal to leave this troubled place, an abrupt change occurred!
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